Luton Depression and Northern Rubble

Watching teletext last night and the results came up as FT Luton 1 Charlton 1. For some reason I thought- oh! at least we have a replay . Woke up this morning realising that there would have been extra time- too many Suffolk Ales.
Feeling a bit flat today, even though I knew we
would struggle as always in the Carling Cup .
It would have been nice to carry on our winning ways. It seems our away form is indifferent and Coventry is going to be a real test.
A couple of crappy jokes
Never mind what is happening at Northern Rubble
look how Japan has been affected.
September 2007 NEW YORK(Rooters)-
Japanese Banking crisis continues on back of the US Sub Prime Collapse. The knock on affect in Japan shows no sign of letting up.
In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded. Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank plans to cutback some of its branches.
Yesterday it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and more than likely will go for a song.
Today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived and 500 back office staff at Karate Bank also got the chop.
Analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank and staff fear they may get a raw deal.

A good day all round-Charlton 2 -Leicester 0

Well I would like to start by thanking Confidential Rick for organising a pre-match lunch, that with good company and a couple of pints, went down very well. The panoramic view of the Valley from Legends is just, well Legendary and it is well worth having a meal just for that experience. Like quite a few Bloggers I go back to the dark old days, when the Valley was a creaky run down antiquated old rust bucket, but I loved it all the same. The Legends experience does bring it home, as to how far this humble club of ours has come.

Charlton 2 Leicester 0

Well we started off where we had left off against Norwich and played some neat sweet football. At times it was all too easy . Leicester looked like a team with lots of willing but very little else and Megson has his work cut out, although his tactics were spot on in the second half when substitutions enabled Leicester to stifle our midfield. The defensive pairing of Bougerra and Fortune look as solid as a rock and a resurgent Danny Mills is lovin it and the crowd have taken to him as well. Powell as always, 100% effort and calmness. Difficult at the moment to see why we would change the back four, but sterner tests are ahead. Midfield lost it in the second half with Reid having his worst game of the season . Zheng went AWOL , Semondo was my man of the match, he is a real find and I fear that Wenger may want get his greedy little mitts on him if he carries on playing the way he did yesterday. Sam did well in the first half, but faded badly in the second. The most ironic part of the match, was when Kishishew had the best shot of the match from 25 yards, which Weaver did well to parry. I was a fan of Kitch , but when did he ever get a shot on target for us. Iwelumo and Varney started well, but tired and I would liked to have seen Tordorov and Mcleod brought on earlier, to freshen things up. At 2-0 there is always that chance of come back and it would of been the icing on the cake, to of got a third.

Weaver 7 It is always difficult for a goalkeeper when you are out of the game for long periods. From the East stand his calling for the ball could be heard loud and clear and I think he is starting to settle.
Mills 8 Looks like a new lease of life for him-long may it continue
Bougherra 8 Im starting to realise why we paid a couple of million for him .
Fortune 8 Looks comfortable along side Bougherra.
Powell 8 Exemplary
Semondo 9 So comfortable on the ball and a great tackler, my man of the match.
Reid 7 Tried so hard but not a lot came off . Looked tired towards the end.
Zheng 7 Was he on the park in the second half
Sam 7 Needs to work on his crossing, still a 100% better than Rommad'als
Varney 7 Good start and will be a real asset when he is 100% fit.
Iwelumo 8 Not at his best, but is such a trier and he does win so many balls in the air.
Subs Mcleod Ambrose. Sodjie 6

With a helping hand -Leicester really go for it

Charlton 3 Leicester 3

Its seems at the moment our defence is about as consistent as the Government are at handling the current credit Banking crisis . So with that in mind tomorrow is going to be a combination of all the rides of the Fun Fair. Be prepared for your nails to be bitten down to the quick as Charlton concede 3 soft goals before half-time , then a magnificent fight back with Reid, Varney and a late equaliser from super sub Mcleod to grab a point.
Team for tomorrow
Weaver
Mills
Fortune
Bougherra
Powell
Semedo
Zheng
Reid
Sam
Varney
Iwelumo
Subs Todorov, Ambrose, Holland, Randolph, Mcleod
Attendance 24,111

Older readers or bloggers will remember Len Glover, who played for Charlton 195 times and scored 24 goals between 62/63 to 67/68. He became a firm favourite of mine after some fantastic performances in an average Charlton side. He was transferred to Leicester in 1967 for £80,000, at the time a record fee for a winger. Those where the days. It seems that he is held in even higher esteem by Leicester City supporters, where he went on to make over 234 league appearances mostly in the old First Division. Without saying too much, its seems that Len went on a long holiday a couple of years back.

There and back to France in 8 hours


Yesterday I took a day off work to do my quarterly trip across the Channel and stock up on wines and my favourite beers, Suffolk Ale and Old Speckled Hen . At a third of the UK price it means I can spend the savings watching Charlton and going out to a restaurant once a week. (what savings on alcohol, some people might not look upon that as a saving) Its ironic, as you could say the Government fund the NHS on taxes they charge on Beer and Cigarettes in the UK and the French get a few hundred million a year of money that should be spent here, but isn't because of the high taxes. Catch 22 - those heavy smokers and drinkers (which does not include me ) who buy their fix in the UK are indirectly paying for their nursing care in the end.

Great performance says Mystic CND

Well I predicted the score correctly and was only 8 supporters out on the attendance figure. A good night and its been a long time since I have been able to report, that every Charlton player, played their part, in what proved a harder game to win than it should have been. We more or less dominated from the start and looked solid in all departments. Weaver made one excellent save in the first half, after being virtually redundant for most of it. Bougherra and Fortune looked the perfect partnership in the middle, hardly putting a foot wrong. Powell and Mills kept the game flowing nicely, feeding Sam and Reid continuously. If there was any weakness and this is being harsh, the game should have been over by half-time and on another day playing like we did, 3-0 would not of flattered. Varney who played very well holding the line with Iwelumo, should have scored in the second half, when clean through, but shot straight at the goalkeeper. The longer the game went on, the more I started to think it was going to be a very entertaining 0-0 draw, or Norwich were going snatch one against the run of play. Enter McLeod who I had not seen play before and had my doubts about him, after reading a Bloggers report that said McLeod is not good enough for the Championship. Well he certainly proved that theory wrong, because he virtually won the game for us. His control and pace suddenly scared the pants off a solid Norwich defense and has probably given Pardew a selection headache for the Leicester game. Reid who had a great game, missed a couple of sitters just before the penalties, but thankfully kept his nerve to make the scoreline a justified 2-0. A good night was had by one and all(apart from the Norwich fans of course.)
Weaver 7 Didn't put a foot wrong, although out of the action for long periods
Mills 7 Solid performance and kept his cool for once
Bougherrra 8 Looked very good last night and is looking much more assured.
Fortune 8 Great game
Powell 8 Looks so fit and still as enthusiastic as ever for a 38 year old.
Zheng 7 Ran his socks off
Semedo 8 Looks so comfortable on the ball-a real find
Sam 8 Must be a head of Thomas now
Reid 9 Not everything went right for him but I think he's loving it at Charlton
Iwelumo 8 He looks clumsy but he gets stuck in were it hurts and at the moment he gets my vote as the best player so far this season
Varney 8 looks the bees an eees
McLeod 9 The pressure was on but he delivered and won us the three points.
Ambrose/Sodje 6- 60 seconds on the park.

Norwich & The Broads and a 2-0 win will do nicely

Charlton V Norwich
We need a win tomorrow and I will be there
wearing my lucky Fred Perry Sweat Shirt. Please could we have a straight forward 2-0 win . My team for tomorrow
Weaver, Powell, Bougherra, Sodje, Mills
Reid, Ambrose, Semedo, Zhi,
Varney, Sam.
Attn 21, 525
Subs Thomas, Fortune , Randolph Tordorov if fit
Mcleod
Edit: Late News Tordorov and Iwelumo will be fit as they came off with cramp -were having a laugh here
Revised team Weaver, Powell, Bougherra, Sodje, Mills, Reid Ambrose, Semedo, Zhi, Tordorov, Iwelumo,
Subs Thomas, Randolph, Varney , Fortune, Sam

Come you Reds

Norwich and the Broads
More than two weeks ago we visited Norwich for the first time. The historical town centre was a complete surprise and well worth a long weekend stay. The surrounding area also has the beautiful Norfolk Broads and as you can see from my photo's, three hundred yards from any car park, you have the place to yourself, well almost. The picture on the right shows the magnificent Norwich Cathedral . Norwich is the most complete Medieval City in Britain and I can tell you it has some lovely oldie worldie pubs and great shopping, unfortunate for my wallet. We stayed at the Ramada Jarvis hotel on a long weekend cheapie which included a fantastic breakfast and dinner. Just beware the ring road is almost as bad as any that I have encountered driving around Paris, one wrong turn and you go back to start . Carrow Road I know exactly where it is
we involuntarily passed it six times.

Supporting Charlton to be given a Government Health warning (part two)

Doctors are now advising supporters of Charlton Athletic to seek medical help and have their Blood and Cholesterol level checked immediately. For the last four years Doctors have been advising patients with High Blood pressure to actively start supporting Charlton as a form of therapy, as the non- action on the pitch, was considered therapeutic . Unfortunately there has been a dramatic turnaround this year and several people have noticed they are suffering heart palpitations. Doctors are to hold urgent talks with Charlton Manager Alan Pardew to sort out his defense or face the consequences of an epidemic. Doctors are also advising supporters not to listen to Charlton matches live on the radio when driving, especially if they are with their wife or partner who may be particularly talkative . Several explosive arguments have occurred, when the driver has answered yes!
to a question similar to" do I look fat in this". This has been happening whilst Charlton are seeking an equaliser, after gifting the opposition their normal two goal start.

Sunderland 1 Leeds 0(Ian Porterfield )

Back in the Sixties and Seventies Cup-Finals were the highlight of the year. Live matches on television were so few and far between- Home Championship(wish it would return) World Cup and the European Cup being the exception. On the morning of a Cup-Final I would switch on the black and white television and from about 8am to 5.30pm, be super glued to watching every snippet of information and highlights on the BBC. After the Cup-Final was over, all the local parks would be packed with kids including myself, trying to emulate the stars of the day. Obesity although around was never mentioned, as we kids seemed to be so much more active, with walking to school( 3 miles a day for me ), daily PE lessons and Computers were the size of a house and nobody knew what they looked like.
I have always gone for the underdog in Cup-Finals and in 1973, even more so. Bob Stokoe had been sacked by Charlton in September 1967 and at the time was a shock to me, as I had only been supporting Charlton since March of that year and to an eleven year old I thought we had a good manager and team. Stokoe became manager of Sunderland in 1972, who at the time were struggling in the old 2nd Division. Sunderland's Cup run, was exceptional and I followed it closely, watching the highlights whenever shown on TV. Sunderland reached the final after beating Arsenal in the Semi's and faced the mighty Leeds . What a match, one of the all time greats and after Ian Porterfield had given Sunderland an unlikely lead it was one way traffic, with only Bob Montgomery keeping Leeds at bay, with some fantastic saves. During the second half Montgomery produced the second greatest save I have ever seen (Banks against Pele being number one) when he somehow tipped Peter Lorimars thunderbolt from about three yards onto the bar. The biggest upset in a Cup-Final, those were the days, so unlikely to happen now as the gap between the Championship and the Premier would be the equivalent of the Southern League and the First Division in 1973.
(Just for the record -Charlton lost to Bolton 4-0 after a 1-1 draw at the Valley in the third round).
Ian Porterfield a sad loss at such an early age

A Guinness a day

Medical science has now proved that a Guinness a day is good for you. That's why the little Irish fellow is playing so well, he's back on the Guinness.

Calm Down-Calm down

Will everyone please calm down, I'm not used to all this over confidence and optimism . What is going on, Charlton fans normally think the worst, even 2-0 up with 5 minutes to go the opposition are going to get two in the last minute, you know its true. Even across the pond, we now have New York stating that we are not only going to win the league, but by a clear 10 points(please come true) .
I'm just not used to it, for I am ever the eternal pessimist regarding Charlton . It must go back to the days when getting any information on the radio or television regarding Charlton, was like our overseas supporters club are suffering now. 1976 Burnley 1 Charlton 4 with 18 minutes to go, I'm playing in a match, when someone shouts from the touchline Charlton are 4-1 up, my match finishes, I'm in the changing room on a high, get changed, into the clubhouse waiting for the 5pm scores, pint in hand, First Division scores come up, then the Second Division, I blink, then nearly choke on my beer, Burnley 4 Charlton 4- noooooo. My teammates take the piss out of me for the rest of the evening, as I'm the only Charlton fan amongst Millwall and Palarse and I'm sulking. This match has always stuck in my mind and from thereafter I have never taken any scoreline as a done deal . So until the final whistle blows and its a mathematical certainty I'm taking nothing for granted and personally I think we are in for a very hard nerve racking season.
Come on you Reds