What a mess but as always Come on You Reds

Gutted, despondent, finding it difficult to be motivated, that is how I feel at the moment, but I still support my team, because Charlton are in my blood and I have been through far worse in my 40 years of supporting the club.

Who do we blame for the right royal mess we are in. Luckily work has been manic and I have been distracted from the the horror show of the last two weeks. I was in the office listening on my computer to the nightmare unfolding at the Valley and at 1-4 Pardew was gone, doesn't take a genius to work that one out. The Board tried their best to replace Curbishley (no easy task) and Pardew who I thought at the time was a super choice . There has always been a bit of a niggle and doubt in my mind about Pardew. Was he made an offer he couldn't refuse on Christmas Eve 2006, as he did tell the media he wanted a break from football, but Charlton forced the issue and changed his mind. So was there a reluctance right from the start. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and how many times have we said to ourselves if only I knew then what I know now. Pardew did his best , the fans did there best and the Board did there best when you consider they had not replaced a manager for 15 seasons.( Unless you count Steve Gritt in 1996) but it has failed miserably. Are we any better off than 12 years ago????? Yes we are, with a super ground, a better fan base-minus the boo'ers, all we need is a decent, driven, motivated manager.

Expectation! how can I bury it and just pretend I can live with the current situation. Can I be satisfied if we avoid relegation, then look forward to next season .
By nature I am competitive and I have to confess that I have always put playing sport above watching my beloved Charlton, but I have always tried my best to work round it. When I first went to senior school I made the school first eleven and held that position for six years which was great because the matches were played at 10am which meant in the afternoon I could watch Charlton play. After leaving school I carried on playing football but the unfortunate side to that was I missed some Charlton matches because invariably in the winter 2.00pm were normal kick-off times. Once I gave up playing football, it has been easier, but playing tennis does come first so if that makes me a plastic I apologies, but over the last 4 seasons I have been to 90% of home games. Why am I telling you this, don't really know, maybe I'm depressed and need some counseling, probably most of us Charlton supporter could do with some therapy. Once a Charlton supporter always a Charlton supporter.

Come on you Reds.

The Dawn of a New Era and Im not talking about Charlton

Well it happened last night and America has changed forever-what a wonderful event which hopefully will make America seem a far more liberal, enticing and open Country and be seen in a softer light through out the World. Not since Kennedy has so much excitement been felt on these shores. Of course Kennedy was not an Obama because he got away with his womanising and possibly a bit of corruption in the voting to oust Nixon in 1960. But Obama like Kennedy was, is a great public speaker and that possibly is the only connection they have. Obama is nobodies puppet but he has promised his daughter a puppy for the White-House.
Last week on a rainy Thursday night twelve of us hardy club tennis players sat round a large table with a beer in hand and talked about the American election. The usual banter with a few jokes thrown in (not aimed at anyone in particular) made for a lively debate . Unfortunately the main conclusion is that Obama wont survive his term -what a terrible thought that some crazed Southern Redneck might end the dream. Lets hope that the family man who typifies the American dream that anyone of any race can make it to the top wont be cruelly cut down . What morbid thoughts and I can find a connection with Obama and Pardew . When it was announced Pardew had become the new manager of Charlton I was so happy I could hardly sleep that night(-Actually it was Christmas Eve so maybe it was because I wanted to catch Santa delivering my presents) but I thought a new dawn, a new era for my beloved club has began. Oh hell! what a shame my dreams of a new Charlton have been cruelly dashed. My hunch is Obama will succeed where Pardew has failed.

I feel sorry for Pardew-But

Ok! I know he is on a fantastic salary, that we can only dream of, and he probably owns a nice big house in Surrey but his life at the moment must be one of a living nightmare. When things go wrong at work for me, I feel the pressure and might often have a sleepless night or so . Pardew must be thinking his world has turned upside down, being sacked by West Ham early in a season is a body blow, but he still managed to retain his reputation and some respect from the West Ham faithful, who I think thought it was far to early in the season for him to be sacked . Now there are 20,000, Charlton fans wanting him out. To be sacked by Charlton, a Championship club early in his second season or two and a half seasons with his reputation in taters and ninety nine percent of Charlton fans, ready to kick him out the door, must seem to him as though he has landed in the middle of Baghdad. Maybe he is arrogant and will blame the Board for the clubs demise, but surely in his heart of hearts he must know it just hasn't worked out and he is failing miserably. So if he has any sense of dignity, pride and maybe heart he should make an honorable decision to meet the Board half-way and leave by mutual consent, exactly like Aidy Boothroyd has done at Watford. Pardew is a good manager and I think his past proves that but sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit- on this one I have failed and I cannot justify my position, if he does resign, I think he has a chance of salvaging some respect by his own admittance.
By leaving now it will give a new manager a chance to salvage this season, possibly similar to what happened at Palace last season.

Gutted disallusioned Depressed and thats just the weather

Saturday

The beer at The Rose of Denmark and meeting Blackheath Addick and friends were definitely the highlight of the day(but must apologies profusely for not meeting up with one of our best post a comment contributors Pembury Addick ) although the tennis in the morning despite the rain was pretty good too. Surprisingly as the rain got heavier just before kick off , the mood was one of optimism, soon to be dispelled rather quickly , two minutes after kick-off to be precise.
Why! am I so shocked by our performance today as I have seen it many times in my Charlton supporting life and unfortunately on this consistency it has been usually in a relegation season. I was trying to write something positive last night but gave up, but fortunately my mood is a lot better this morning. We are not a team , we lack pride and passion and certainly there are too many players on the park who are not willing to give all for the shirt. The guy next to me was feeling guilty by saying in way I hope we do lose because it means Pardew will no longer be with us, although he did counteract that by saying, up until two or three weeks ago I supported Pardew.
He also made a good point, that if we do get relegated, it will be like stepping back in time to the seventies, but the cost of attending matches then was a tenth pro-rata of what it is today.

The Match

It is hard to describe this match as there really is not anything that is positive to write.
1-0, after 2 minutes 2-0 after 20 minutes, 3.-0 at half-time, shots on goal for Charlton 0 Barnsley 3
Second half felt more like damage limitation and as Barnsley shut-up shop it really was that. I have seen Charlton come back and win from 3-0 down but that is when we had a recognised goalscorer, this current team I'm afraid has none.
It is in my nature to be optimistic and positive but yesterday was so deflating although I stayed to the end and didn't boo, I just held my head my hands for most of the match. Is this entertainment watching your team that you love play so badly -well yes, because this is what supporting your local football team is all about, you have to take the rough with the smooth. At the moment it feels very rough.

Player rating
Weaver 7 Not at fault with any of the goals and looked the only player who cared although I'm sure thats not true.
Moots 7 Good game

The rest 3 sorry lads.
The crowd 7 We did get behind the team even at 3-0, the booing started when we could see the spirit was not there.

Pardew should now do the honorable thing and move on, after all even in business and certainly at my Company when managers have gone stale and cant motivate, most don't need to be pushed on to pastures new.
If only I felt like writing the post previously to this one.

Oh well! Come on Reds.