Parker to West Ham

Looks like Parker is going to West Ham for £7 mill, and that has got to be good business. What is surprising is that on the BBC forum , Newcastle fans do not seem concerned that he is leaving. The consensus seem to be that he did not play to the level of his first season at Newcastle and appeared at the latter part of last season to be unhappy and uncommitted. This could be a Parker trait as we all know how he behaved when things did not quite go his way.
Parker gets my vote as the best and most complete player, ever to wear a Charlton shirt.

THANK GOODNESS FOR THE PLAY-OFFS

This Bank holiday, has to be, the wettest and coldest I can remember for late May . Its been raining steadily, since 6pm last night and its still coming down in torrents, as I write this at 9.45am . The South seems to be hardest hit, with the I. O.W. receiving 2.05 ins yesterday. In my area, on the Downs in the South East, the maximum temperature today, is expected to peak at 7C, which is more like a January Day. Anyway thank goodness for the play-offs, as they have been the highlight of my weekend. Congratulations to Blackpool and Bristol Rovers for winning promotion and commiserations to the gallant losers Yeovil and Blackpool. All four teams played their part in two very entertaining finals, which leads me to eagerly await, today's final of West Brom v Derby County. It is ironic that both Dein Kiely and Chris Perry could end up playing their final seasons in the premiership. Both left Charlton with their heads held high and I for one feel Perry should never have been let go and Kiely has proved he still has got what it takes, after helping Portsmouth survive last season and now helping West Brom to the Championship final.
In the past, as we sold another of our best players, for an average fee apart from Parker, I used to follow the results of the team they were transferred to and always wanted them to do well, so today for that reason only, I hope West Brom win.

Who would be a manger today when the match today is being billed as the £60 million match.
Please don't think I am xenophobic , but it has been refreshing to see mostly young British players giving their all in the play-offs. The Premiership has only 4o% UK players, playing regulary at the weekends and I feel that is too low. Zola, Henry, Bercamp, Ronaldo, and now Drogba have enhanced and graced the Premiership, but there are too many mercenaries who are here just for the dosh. There are plenty of good young players who are never given the chance, and have to settle playing in the lower leagues. Its highly unlikely to happen, with free trade and all that, but we should restrict each club to having four overseas players, that way, we will see the best overseas talent, which in turn will help the good, up and coming young British talent. The saying if your good enough is just not true . Bentley of Blackburn is a prime example, he is now playing some of the best football of his career , but with his talent it could have been a lot earlier, if given the chance.

THE BEGINNING OF PARDEWS TEAM

Hreidarrson to Pompey on a free

Today, it has been confirmed that Herman Hreidarsson has moved to Portsmouth on a free transfer. A clause in his contract allowed him to move to a premiership club, if Charlton were relegated. Full marks to Hreidarsson, because that clause makes him very bankable, as a free agent, the trouble is Charlton have probably missed out on a fee, of at least £750,000, as surely in today's market, we would have expected to receive that. Difficult to blame him though, because at 32, he has at the most two seasons in the money league.

At one time time, we had offers of over two million and looking back at the way Hreidarrson played last season (sometimes a liability) we should have taken the dosh. Portsmouth supporters better be prepared for relegation, as each of the three clubs Hreidarsson has played for, eventually got relegated.

Darren Bent to Arsenal-Just another rumour.

Seems at the moment, Benty is going to at least half the clubs in the premiership, the latest being a loan move to Arsenal next season and in return, we get two lonee's from Arsenal. That would be a fantastic move for us, but I cant see that happening, as surely, if Tottenham and Liverpool came in with a £15 million bid , the club and the player would have to jump at the chance and I hate to say this, but Darren deserves better than Charlton.

Benty should be playing at the highest level and in Europe and good luck to him, as he is surely one of the most loyal people in this money grabbing game.

WHAT NIL READERS

How the hell do you get on Forever Charlton .
Anyway at least this Blog is a sort of diary and I'm sticking with it. For a middle aged man with teenage kids I'm behaving more and more like them, and you know what, I like their music more than they do. The new ManicStreet Preachers single and album is great ,The best they have recorded for ages .

NO LONGER A SELLING CLUB

Well, good news today, we have signed two strikers, that I feel, fit the bill required to return us to the Premiership. All we need now is a midfield ball winner, like a young Kinsella or a Parker(a player like him only comes along every two decades, so forget that one)
Robinson -never stopped running, but also had the skill. Pardew knows exactly what he wants and I belief, he is the best manager that we could have, to get us back to the premiership.
What I mean by no longer being a selling club, is that we are in a position to keep
Darren Bent and Luke Young if they are prepared to stay, unfortunately they want to return to the premiership and I for one don't blame them, but it will be their choice.
Going back years, I can think of several good players(Alan Campbell, Len Glover, Paul Walsh , Robert Lee and many others,
leaving the club, for very average fees, with no attempt to keep them, because the Board(Michael Glikstin for one) wanted the dosh and was not prepared to put a penny into the club. Apparently when Alan Mullery was manager, he went to the board and said , "we have a reasonable squad and if the Board could fund three or four new players, we could challenge for promotion" . Glikstin, allegedly said "we don't really want to go up as it would cost too much". The next day Mullery resigned.
Murray and the Board have been fantastic for this club and will continue to be so. Next season they deserve success and I hope they/we are rewarded for their belief in Pardew, although I have my doubts that it will be plain sailing and the fans loyalty will be tested. The dreaded play-offs could be a possibility. The best matches I have seen this season, are the play-offs, Southampton v Derby, Yeovil v Forest, they put the Cup-Finalists to shame. Man Utd., got exactly what they deserved , why the hell didn't they go for it, they have by far the better team.
Teams who reach the play-offs, have far more to lose than a Cup-Final. The worst advertisement for premiership Football and it was shown live to world wide audience of 400 million.

THE BOOZE RUN

Time for another cultural trip to Calais, to visit the Art Galleries and Museums, or just another stock up on Booze at 35% of the UK price . Funny, the Government are trying to stop boozing and smoking, as the nations health suffers, but the taxes they charge on alcohol and tobacco, keep the National Health going. Catch 22 (great film by the way) . Anyway, I'm not on commission, but if you want a free trip and can pre-spend £200, then go to Oddbins .
We love going to pubs, but unfortunately, the best ones are in the sticks, I cant have more than two pints of Real Ale, unless we spend a fortune on taxis. The best pub close to us is the Botley Hill Farmhouse at Warlingham Surrey and not only that, its a great music venue. We are just about to buy our tickets, to see the only tribute band to Jethro Tull , in the UK, how sad is that. When I was at school, all my mates were Reggae or Motown boys, but me no, I was Tull, The Who, Woodstock and Ten Years After. At 14 I turned up at the Valley in multi coloured flares and long hair and grey long coat, got a few looks but at that age who cares.

Another great pub is the

The White Bear, near Biggin Hill, Kent. The surrounding countryside is superb and the food is great. The pub is about 400 years old and if you like cold winter evenings sitting round an original open log fire, then this pub has it all.

GETTING READY FOR NEXT SEASON

Having just looked at my credit card statement and seen £475, debited to my account, the adrenaline buzz is already starting. My commitment to the cause is greater than ever and this club, which I have supported for over 40 years, will always be in my heart.
The rebuilding starts now and Pardew will build a strong, exciting young team.
Come on you Reds.

AND THE OSCAR WINNERS AND LOSERS ARE

The last day of this seasons premiership, provided more drama than any glitzy Hollywood Oscar ceremony.
Sitting in our dining room, on a very wet afternoon watching Sky Sports, the remote control was never out of my hand, as I switched from Sky
511 to 513 all afternoon. What drama, excitement, it had it all and it was all live, unbeatable entertainment .

The surprised winner, as the loser looks on.

Surprised loser 10 points clear at one
stage.

The Director , Lucky to have such a strong cast.


The financier, Mr Omelette .




The real winner, and the innocent amongst the sleaze.

CHATHAM MARITIME WALK

Last Sunday, we visited St Mary's Island and walked the Chatham Maritime path round the Island . The Island, is undergoing massive redevelopment after

the closure of Chatham Docks in 1984. My photographs(Yes I did take them), make the Island look very attractive and it is, but there is still a lot of further developments

required, before it will be a major attraction on the busy Medway.

The History of the Island is fascinating, going back to Roman times, when the Island was little more than a marshy swamp criss-crossed by tidal channels. They constructed the first road and established a ferry route from the Island to the Hoo Pensinsular, and was in use right up to the final years of the last century.
The photo on the the right, shows Upnor Castle in the distance, which was the only defence in 1667 , when the Royal Navy suffered its biggest Navel defeat to the Dutch Fleet that sailed up the Medway after capturing Sheerness. The Dutch sank a number of ships,which resulted in declaration of peace soon after.
THE BASINS
The picture above shows one of the basins now restored, to accommodate very attractive, desirable housing. At the height of Victorian England , thousands of convicts were used to dig out St Mary's Creek and construct , in its place, basins one, two and three (The picture shows one). The spoil was used to construct the Island. Many convicts and prisoners of war died in appalling conditions on decommissioned navel vessels, whilst building the basins. Completed in 1870, the three basins were used by Chatham Dockyard and Royal Navy Warships for over a 100 years. It was closed in 1984, resulting in the loss of 7000 jobs. The Island was seriously contaminated by waste, which resulted in years of massive clean-up and soil testing, before it could be commissioned for house building .
In the mid 1990's, the government announced the regeneration of the Island and to date more than 500 million pounds has been spent on re-development and I think in 5 years time, it will be place, that we would consider retiring to,when that comes about, but I might add, that's a long way off. We
loved the place, its well worth a visit.

BLOGGERS AND READERS UNITED

Its obvious, I will never pass the N.Y.P.D. (New York Prose Demands), as I am more of a finance man than a writer, but one thing this Blog will hopefully do, is improve my English and spelling-maybe. As a new blogger, I am trying not to copy other bloggers ideas, or the way they write their Blog entries, but it is quite difficult, when there are so many great bloggers who support Charlton. Confidential Rick is the most unique new blogger and he has set himself a high standard.
It has always been difficult for me to juggle my love of playing football and watching Charlton.
If I had one wish, it would to have excelled at one particular sport, I have always been Mr average, playing for my school team at Football, Cricket and Basketball, but excelled at none, later on, playing local amateur football and now tennis, all very average, and so is this blog.
It has amazed me how many Charlton bloggers, and readers of these blogs there are, and after Mondays jump into the precipices, reading them has made me a feel a hell of lot happier and a lot more positive. Often I get well and truly beaten playing tennis and can be down for a couple of minutes until I hit the bar afterwards, with my first pint, I'm back up again, that's how I feel about Charlton .
Many thanks you bloggers and readers.

I COULD HAVE BEEN A TOTTENHAM SUPPORTER

My Dad was born in Bermondsey on July 4th 1923. His family traditionally worked in the Borough Market near London Bridge and lived in Hackney. Life became very tough, when at the age of seven, his mother died of a heart problem, that today would require a simple procedure to save her life. He lived with his father and two brothers in a two bedroom flat, which would have been cramped to say the least. My grandfather was a Tottenham man who would take the eldest son(my father) to see Tottenham on a Saturday afternoon, after working in the market in the morning. Alf Ramsey was one of their favourite players and they described him as calm and cultured on the ball and a tough tackler, characteristics that would serve him so well in 1966, when he became a national hero.
During the war, my Dad at the age of 17, was posted to the Isle of Dogs as a radar engineer, trying to pinpoint the German Bombers that flew over the Channel and caused so much death and destruction to the East End of London . We would listen to many war time stories, which were frightening, but also fascinating and exciting . One terrifying experience, told many times, one morning whilst he was having a shave in the army washroom, a Doodle Bug exploded nearby destroying the surrounding buildings, the washroom was left mostly intact and his only injury was a cut to his cheek, probably caused by the shave. After the war he was recruited by the Civil Service as an engineer in Radar, this meant after his marriage and four children later, we finally settled in Sidcup Kent as he was transferred to Woolwich Arsenal.
At the age of nine, my Dad started taking me to Borough Market to see his brothers and my cousin. To me the market was very exciting, with all the hustle and bustle and smells that go with a thriving market. Unfortunately I had started to support Manchester United(I was saved later) much to the annoyance of my Dad who was hoping I would support Tottenham. After many times asking my Dad to take me to a match, he suddenly announced that we were going to see Tottenham play Manchester United, which was like music to my ears. We went with my uncle and cousin and watched Charlton, Law, Best, Greaves, Jennings and Gilzean strut their stuff in front of a capacity crowd of 57,000. Tottenham won 2-1, with Best scoring United's goal, but there was something missing. The next couple of weeks, a friend at school kept on talking
to me about Charlton, our local club and I gradually got enthralled by it and asked my Dad to take me. My first game at the Valley was Charlton v Preston North End. We arrived about 2.50pm and as we walked up the grassy slope and viewed this vast stadium, (then, it really was like looking down into the Grand Canyon) the players looked like ants as they warmed up. The Valley at that time was the largest stadium in England with a capacity of 76,000, and the East terrace was as large as Wembley's. The 11,000 crowd, seemed to make more noise than the 57,000 attendance at the Tottenham match I had seen, and as Matt Tees, surely the skinniest football ever to play professional football, scored his second goal in a 2-0 win and Charlie Wright made some great saves, we could not explain it, but we were both hooked and only missed two games at the Valley over the next eight seasons . Four seasons ago, one of my proudest moments, was taking my son and dad to the Valley, to watch us lose 1-0 against Fulham (Euell missed a penalty ). My Dad had moved away when he retired and found the travelling too much to get to Valley very often, so this was his first visit to the New Valley. When we sat him down to watch the match, his face was a picture of delight and my son who is not a football fan, said to me recently " I'd never seen him so excited as he talked all day about matches we had seen at the Valley". He died six months later, but its a good memory of three generations having a great time .
If Charlton do lose tonight, which I expect , it will not be the end of the world and we will bounce back, as we have in the past.
Come on you Reds

THE DAY WE WERE BIGGER THAN TOTTENHAM

About three seasons ago on the day we signed Danny Murphy from Liverpool after turning down Tottenham's generous offer for little old Charlton, I was listening to Talk Sport on the radio and the presenter raised the question,are Charlton a bigger club than Tottenham because of the Murphy affair. Well I had to laugh, there were at least ten irate phone calls from Tottenham fans totally wound up by the suggestion. The presenter just wanted to provoke ,
so the switchboard would be jammed, it worked a treat. There was not one Charlton caller ,I think we all sat back laughing as we know our place, and if you go back as a supporter beyond 86/87, then you realise the fantastic progress the club has made is unprecedented, and expectations are a lot lower than newer supporters, who have only known us as a premiership club.
Well as we view the signing today, with Murphy admitting that he made a mistake(git), I'm glad that we are not bigger than Tottenham, because the expectation of their fans is so high, and how would they cope with relegation staring them in the face, there would be riots on the streets.
At the moment I think Tottenham have potentially one of the best sides in the country outside of the top four and I hold out little hope for Monday night. Charlton have been struggling for the last two seasons to play good football and this season, that lack of quality has been exposed.
If we are relegated I think Pardew is the best man for the job and will rebuild the side to play exciting attacking football . Its what the fans want.

LETTER FROM AMERICA OR SHOULD I SAY LETTERS

Alistair Cooke , a person I could listen to and read his Letter From America all day. A great loss and sadly missed, but he had a very good innings, living to the grand old age of 95. When I first started listening to him on the radio, I thought like many, he was an American, with that New England tone, but he was born in Salford Manchester and won a scholarship to Cambridge, he became an American citizen in 1941, and lived the rest of his life in Manhattan New York . Well worth clicking on the link and sitting back listening to his dulcet tones one evening.
Anyway, hope this doesn't go to their heads, its been said before New York Addick and Chicago Addick certainly write very well, although not in the same league as the great man himself, their latest blog entries are excellent. Just don't know how they find the time and energy to write so well, but keep them coming because they are a very good read and certainly unexpected from a football blog.
Come on you reds.

THE WARMEST 12 MONTHS

This photo taken from our back garden in February, could soon be a thing of the past if rising temperatures continue to spiral at its unprecedented rate. April in England and Wales will be the warmest on record. The CET (Central England Temperature) is the oldest recorded measure of weather in the world with data going back more than 348 years.
The average temperature from May 2006-April 2007 is 11.6c beating the previous record of 11.1c 12 month period ending October 1995. The effects of temperature rise are being experienced on a global scale. Here in the Uk and especially in the South East we have just had the mildest and wettest winter for over a hundred years and now at the moment we are suffering a major drought, as there has be no appreciable rain for 9 weeks.

BROMLEY FC IN THE FINAL

Something to cheer about if your a Bromley supporter( Bromley 1 AFC Wimbledon 0) Rymans Premier play-off Semi-Final.
Video