Charlie Manuel is loyal to his players. That’s one of his greatest attributes as a manager.

For weeks, months… the entire season, Manuel has reiterated his unwavering support for Brad Lidge.

Lidge nearly blew his 11th save of the season Tuesday night, but Ryan Madson cleaned up the mess in a 5-3 win over Washington. After the game, Manuel, who hours prior had declared Lidge his closer (still), the skipper didn’t sound too sure.

“There comes a time when, I don’t know …” Manuel said. “We’re trying to win a championship.”

Manuel made the tough, but correct decision to pull Lidge from the game with one out and the bases loaded. Madson retired Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn to seal the victory.

Brad Lidge is walking on thin ice.

“I have all the respect in the world for Brad. I know how good a closer he is, and I know how great he can be. I’ve still got all the confidence in the world in him. But I’m sitting there and I didn’t have a very good feel about the game. And I made up my mind that I wanted to try Madson. Things will work out and be OK, but at the same it’s real tough.”

What does it all mean? In my view, Manuel will stick with Lidge for at least one more game. Obviously, Lidge has been a problem all year, and it appears nothing will be straightened out before the end of the regular season. At this point, as a fan, you just have to ride out the storm …