From a depressed CND -Charlton 1 Sheffield Wed 2 and Cool Hand Luke is Dead

Charlton 1 Sheffield Wednesday 2

What a beautiful day Saturday was, only spoilt by my heavy hangover from a tennis Club Curry evening the night before, which was great, but if I'm going to be playing tennis in the morning I must lay off the Cobra's and after meal Brandies. Saturday started sweaty and increased when I started playing tennis, but they say sweating gets rid of impurities, so thankfully by the end of the match I was very pure. An horrendous journey to Valley meant that I arrived 18 minutes late but as I sat down Varney scrambled the ball home and people around me said can you do that again next week. Ten minutes later Varney hit the post and Gray completely messed up on the rebound -what a miss and if he had scored I think it would have been game over as Wednesday hardly threatened. As the first half progressed, we became more and more unconvincing and on 40 minutes the whole defense went to sleep, which allowed Small to run almost 35 yards right across our hesitant defense and place a neat shot into the corner of the net via a post. Terrible defending again allowed Tudgay two minutes later to waltz through the defense leaving Weaver with no chance for the second. The crowd went quiet and I have to say Hudson who had his worst game in a Charlton shirt was mostly to blame for both goals.
In the second-half, Wednesday shut up shop and we never really looked like getting an equaliser. These are strange and dark times being a Charlton supporter and its being made even harder by the heady success of the last ten years, which leaves me with higher expectations than I should have.

Weaver 6 On a good day he may well have saved the first shot . He looked slightly out of sorts.
Youga 6 Can do so much better
Cranie 6 An ok game I would prefer him to partner Hudson.
Hudson 5 Every player has to have an off day and he certainly did on Saturday
Primus 5 What is the point of playing an unfit 35 year old
Sam 5 Lacking in confidence-why play him
Holland 7 He playing well but needs the enthusiasm that he has to be reciprocated by the other players
Bailey 5 Like Hudson his worst game in a Charlton shirt
Bouazza 6 Had some good runs but the final ball lacked composure
Varney 7 Good game but a little too greedy at times
Gray 5 He has to improve

Subs 5 Todorov -looked so unfit- difficult game to come into Basey 5 did nothing Ambrose 6 actually looked quite sharp .
Crowd 7 Good support in the first half but went quieter after the two crazy Wednesday goals

Paul Newman

Ok Paul Newman had a great life and he fulfilled most of his dreams, so at 83, he did not die before his time. Great movies like Cool Hand Luke , Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , The Sting and one of his finest performances ,The Road to Perdition made Newman one of the Hollywood greats.
I'm not gay and even if I was I'm sure nobody would care, but if I had a choice of who I could resemble, then a young Paul Newman is the one bloke I would not mind looking like.














Arsenal 1 Hull City 2

So great for football and the fairy story lives on for Hull -We have been there and I want to experience it again.

Champions -Champions-sorry its tennis again

OK nobody is going to care a Flying Monkey about this but in these dark financial days of meltdown I need a fucking boost . After playing tennis last I night I had a phone from our club captain to say our Vets team had won the North Kent Summer league First Division in which I played in all 10 matches only losing once. Promotion to the Premier league will mean a massive leap up and most teams like Beckenham, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells have top County players, but what the hell we will give it a good go. Believe it or not a few years ago when our humble team was playing in the top league we played (not Vets) Bromley who are National Super league Champions and one player in their team was Delgardo who has qualified for Wimbledon -needless to say we were lucky to win a point . When I was playing football I received loads of medals but with tennis I have only won a handful-so this latest one with a shield and a presentation by the LTA will be most welcome.
Makes me realise how good it is to play sports at a competitive level which I have done all my life and will continue to do so

Im feeling Bonny with our win at Donny

Doncaster 0 Charlton 1
Don't care how we played -one shot, one goal, one corner, who the hell cares, we needed 3 points and we got them. Over my forty two years of supporting Charlton I have seen plenty of smash and grabs from the opposition, so I'm not feeling sorry for Doncaster right now. We need to build on this result and I'm going for a 2-0 win at Forest with Varney and ZZ the scorers

Come on you Reds

The World is in Turmoil
People in the Cities, people in the Shires are all feeling very nervous about their jobs and who can blame them. We are on the verge of a major recession and unlike the last one this is so sudden.
I am a Director of small independent publishing Company and I fully expect our Company to be hit really hard. Unfortunately Advertising is the first expenditure to be cut back and we are already feeling the pinch . Things will get worse before they get better and I hope we can ride out and pull back from the precipice. At 53, I feel, I am out of the job equation, and what really hit home is when the best car insurance quote comes from Saga .
Oh well! what the hell - worst things happen at sea-so its onwards and upwards

We need cheering up-The following might

The credit crunch to hit some people hard

How Murray was stitched up by a reporter

According to a recent Tim Henman interview, Andy Murray was stitched up when being interviewed with Henman just before the World Cup 2006. Scotland had just failed to qualify and Henman started taking the mickey which led to some good natured anti-English retaliation by Murray- very much in jest, but the reporter who wanted a good story and headlines made them out to be Murray's true opinions.
Wyn Grants report that Murray's coach is a fanatical Charlton fan may have some truth as Murray was at the Wolves game which was announced at half-time and received a mediocre applause. The Jury is still out on Murray even amongst the Charlton crowd with the guy next to me saying" Murray's great" and the guy behind me saying" I just don't like him". Personally I like winners and Murray certainly has my support. Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe were players I really admired although I'm going to counteract it all by saying Bjorn Bjorg is my all time tennis hero, which is just as well, because he is a fellow Charlton supporter.

Andy Murray pretty good with a tennis ball

It could be a long hard winter Charlton 1 Wolves 3

Rarely have I felt so low coming away from the Valley after another home defeat. Last season we lost eight at home and that was against Championship opposition -not Premiership which I could live with. This season after two home wins I thought the Valley was becoming a fortress and away teams would find it really difficult to take a point let alone a win. A very frustrating afternoon after a great start with Bailey my man of the match scoring a wonder goal, we simply slipped into last seasons style of play where most of the players didn't seem to know what the other is doing. For me Bailey is a class act and unlike some other blog reports I think he had a great game and his passing ability really shone through. We must build the team round him and Hudson the only other player who deserved any credit. Wolves played well but certainly not exceptionally so and they more or less strolled the second half to earn themselves an easy win. I had a great start to the the day with a very competitive tennis match in glorious autumn sunshine, followed by a couple of pints of Whistable ale (I would recommend this beer to any real ale drinker who likes a light refreshing tasty ale) and a dash to the Valley followed by a lovely walk through Charlton Park, surprisingly so, as I approached the Valley I was not filled with confidence and sometimes you just have that feeling that the team is just not good enough as our two homes wins against Swansea and Reading were certainly not a stroll in the park.
This is hard times being a Charlton fan and we are slowly becoming a Norwich, Ipswich, but hopefully not Leicester.
Oh well worst things happen at sea, but maybe we will have to settle for a few seasons of being in the wilderness.

Come on you Reds.

Weaver 7 Played well and was not at fault with any of the goals
Craine 6 Thought he had a good game but possibly should have stopped the cross for the second.
Fortune 6 Ok but that was all
Hudson 7 Played well
Youga 6 Can play so much better
Holland 7 Chased and ran himself into the ground
Bailey 8 Best Charlton player and passed the ball as well as DB at his best
Sam 5 Confidence at an all time low
Varney 6 Ran as usual but just lacked that cutting edge
Gray 5 Was he playing
Bouazza 6 Definitely a confidence player

Come on folks -Murray F------ Magnificent

Sorry-but when tennis is played at this level there is nothing to beat it -well maybe Charlton winning at Wembley or England for that matter . Nadal what a gent -Murray simply awesome.
Murray is going to make a few more friends now as the majority of the crowd wanted Nadal to win
but grit and determination got him through it. Personally I think Murray has the best all round game when he is playing at his best.

Forget football Murray is playing the game of his life

Murray is two sets up against Nadal in the US Open, even if he loses the writing is on the wall -Murray to win a grand slam next year.

Great news -Zheng wants to extend his contract.

Zheng wants a new contract

According to the official website and other media sources ZZ has declared his love for the club, is desperate to stay, and wishes to extend his contract. This is very good news indeed .. The most skillful and high profile player we have will be with us until at least January and I hope much beyond that. The Board has effectively sold our best players along with the so called dead-wood to balance the books and I think enough is enough. They do need to invest a little and we must surely now exploit ZZ marketing potential to the largest football supporting nation in the world. If Bailey is played in the centre of the park and plays the way he did against Reading then I think we will see the best of ZZ playing a free and roaming role.

Curbs

Unbelievable treatment of a man who deserves to be held in high esteem not only by Charlton but West Ham . The best Charlton manager in the history of the club who gave little o'l Charlton fans the time of their lives. Take yourselves back to the dark old days and then to the seven years of premiership football, which for most of us oldies was a never ending roller coaster. Players came to play for Charlton that we could have only dreamed about 20 years previously. Curbs maybe not every ones cup of tea, but he is a dam-site better than the majority of Premiership managers . Take Arsene Wenger for example -great manager great tactician but my god he talks a load rubbish sometimes and of course Arsenal players can do no wrong even when the evidence is highlighted on television. I do remember when Charlton drew 1-1 with Arsenal in 2003 (Best Charlton team I have ever seen) and Wenger accused Holland of diving for that great Di-Canio penalty - We so deserved that point as at times we matched Arsenal but all Wenger could say is Arsenal were cheated.

Assessing Curbs transfer dealings

Obviously the signing of Darren Bent was his crowning glory and the return on him has been fantastic, but there are others who were good signings.
Good signings

Luke Young , Mark Fish , Jason Euell, J Johansson , Chris Powell, S Barlett, D Kiely, A Todd,
M Holland, C Perry, Hreidarsson, Jensen.
All of these players cost the club large fees but overall they were not a waste of money.

Worst Buy - was Marcus Bent followed by Francis Jeffers who could have been a good buy but it all went wrong.