Charlton North Downs

Unfortunate news

2011-05-02T18:48:00.003+01:00

Hello, I have been thinking for a while that I need to post this. My name is Sam and I'm Charlton North Downs (Paul's) Son.

Unfortunately on the 5th of February 2011 my dad passed away with a sudden heart attack. He went out to play Tennis that Morning and said he was feeling bad indigestion, so went to sit down. It was a couple of minutes later that he collapsed on the floor. Steve one of his tennis friends said he went unconscious and stopped breathing within a minute. It was very quick.

Even though i know Charlton has not been doing very well and not many comments have been made by my dad the reason being. I thought i would tell you just in case any of you had regular contact with him or wondered why he has stopped posting.

I would most appreciate it if any of you did know him well enough or whatever he ha said i would very much like to know. my email is samrobertweaver@live.co.uk

I have read through my dads blog all the way through for about the first time (skipping Charlton scores haha). Reading his blog he never seemed to tell much about what kind of person he was like. I thought i would let you know a little bit more about him.

Growing up with my dad was very good. One of the first things i remember was his enthusiasm to try and get my family fit. It would be walks every weekend. He particularity tried to get me into exercise, fishing, football and being sort of manly. However to say i think it failed, i hated those things and was more like a nerdy kid who played computer games all the time.

I cant remember an amazing amount when i was younger but he certainly cared for his family. He was never open with his emotions in particular but seemed to try and do things right with good morals. He was a good man.

As i grew older i was a typical teenager of "life is so unfair bla bla bla". I didnt treat my parents good and throughout they were very patient with my bad attitude! They both wanted the best for me and my sister Kim.

It wasnt until I became a Christian at 16 that my relationship with my dad really changed and more than once he looked at me and said "sam im so proud of you annd how much you have changed." that really meant alot.

Even though he did'nt show his love with cuddles and affection he basically did so much for our family. He certainly cared, alot.

My mum and dad always wanted what was best for us, and seemedto always try and solve the problem. He loved us very much and the same to him. I would say he was a good man, likable, and seemed to be able to get on with most people (infact i never seen him not get on with someone before). People liked him.

I am 21 now. I know he did'nt mention but i got married in July to a lovely, beautiful woman from mexico I met. The day i got married the day went so well, and it was one of the happiest days i had seen him and so ive been told aswell. It is great how my family has accepted Flor my wife as family. Also how they have supported us even though we were young.

Ofcourse my dad was not perfect, but the relationship i had was one where we both cared and loved each other a lot. In many ways i'm like him.

Our family considering the circumstances, we are doing ok i guess. We seem to be doing better than what we did at first.

The ortopsy said that his left ventricle was enlarged causeing a blockage. His mums side of the family many have died of heart attacks at an early age. However my dad though that it was due to high blood pressure and cholesterol. But we might think that it was the enlarged ventricle that might be passed on to generation. There was no symptoms with my dad and it was a thing that no one could of done anything about probably. He was 54 when he died.

If there is anything anyone would like to know or anything you would like to share please do!

Trying to be positive is the hardest thing to do

2010-08-06T14:35:00.005+01:00

Stress is a killer, I read somewhere that if a male adult had the stress level of a 2 year old they could treble their life expectancy. What a scary thought, 234 years old and probably fitter and more active than the average 18 year old today. Only one thing worth living that long for apart from seeing possibly your great, great, great, great grandchildren get married would be to see Charlton play premiership football again. The way things are panning out it may take that life-span for Charlton to play top-flight football again-hold on surely not how about 31 years 1956-1987.
The unfortunate thing about my own personal employment circumstances is that it has declined as quickly and dramatically as Charlton' s fall from the lofty heights of the Premiership. Lets hope I am wrong but we may have been part of a golden era for a small South London Club from 1987 to 2006 when we played top-flight football for 12 seasons within that period. If anyone had told me at the time of attending my first match at the Valley in March 1967, that in 20 years time Charlton will be in the First Division I would have called for the men in white coats to take them away. The golden era for small clubs are few and far between so we may have to be very patient.
Blackpool could be on the verge of a golden era and it is because of them that I will have an interest in the premiership this season. Ian Holloway brakes the mould and wears his heart and emotions on his sleeve. Hopefully the incredible group £5 million bonus promised by club chairman Karl Oyston will have been paid by the start of the new premiership season. Players like midfielder Keith Southern will receive £425,000 in bonuses as he played the majority of games last season, this represents more than twice his annual salary and apparently makes the bonuses the Inter Milan players received after winning the Champions league seem like small change.
Fair dues to the chairman but I wonder if he thought the board would ever have to pay out.
Confession time- I do have a soft spot for Tottenham mainly because I admire Harry Redknapp.
and the football they played towards the end of last season was exceptionally entertaining. Surely his management success is second to none. He will be offered the England job by popular demand despite the rumours .

The New Season
The opposite of stress is optimism even if some say its the hope that kills when supporting Charlton. A clean slate with Murray in total control, it seems as though our club is being reborn. Maybe we should rename our team Charlton 2010 Athletic. That elusive striker will be with us soon, if not maybe one of the youngsters, if given a chance will shine .
Unfortunately On Saturday I have to attend a wedding but will be anxiously listening out for the result. Its a drug supporting Charlton and I salute the dedicated amongst us who spend most of their cash and spare time following the Reds. Playing sport especially tennis will always be my priority but supporting and attending matches are a close second. The new season begins and I hope to attend as many home games as I can . Come on you Reds-Keep it going.

Charlton 2 Bournemouth 0

Hats off to New York Addick for his attempt to Run the Chicago marathon -he will succeed I'm sure as long as he gives up those pints of Guinness.

Its never to late to get fit -Just read Kings Hill latest blog -if he can do it then anyone can .

Freezing and snow possible for Saturday

2009-12-14T13:28:00.007Z

Wouldn't like to have a snow ball fight with a Millwall Fan

According to the Forecast for Saturday there will be a biting Easterly wind with temperatures below freezing all day . Snow is a great possibility so Brr!

My Road last February -snow was about a foot deep

A wins a win- Charlton 1 Southend 0

2009-12-06T17:57:00.004Z

Charlton 1 Southend 0

After a good mornings tennis and a couple of lovely pints of Rabbit Ale-3.7, so not too strong I rushed to the Valley, purchased my £17 ticket for the North Stand, sat down and waited for the entertainment to begin. Well I'm not going to be too critical because the boys looked tired and short of creative football for most of the match. Southend looked a good footballing side without the cutting edge to exploit a Charlton team content to sit back and enjoy a flimsy 1-0 lead. After 25 minutes, Lloyd Sam supplied the cross for Man of the Match Dean Burton to head home . The trouble with the view from the North Stand is you miss a lot of the goal mouth action within the six yard box in front of the Jimmy Seed stand, so it took me a couple seconds to jump out of my seat and realise we had scored. One great save from Elliott just before we scored was the only other highlight worth mentioning. Sorry this was a dour game probably because both teams seemed to cancel each other out. The positive spin is : We played badly and won. The defense looks very solid and won the game for us. Burton is a revelation who holds the ball up well and his clever link play should lead to more attacking options. Its funny how a narrow 1-0 win can still leave you on a high meaning that for most supporters winning is everything.
The middle of the defense was magnificent today , The midfield was poor and that affected the whole game. It will come together over the following weeks and I don't want to give our promotion the kiss of death -But Norwich and Leeds are due a bad patch.

Elliott 8 Great save that gave us all 3 points -still a bit of a Dracula at times.
Richardson 7 Did a job -unfortunately seems very injury prone at the moment
Sodji 8 Great enthusiasm-perfect performance
Dailly 8 What a signing -If we are promoted I hope we can get another Season out of him
Basey 6 Unless he starts to read the game like Bobby Moore his pace is going to be a real handicap
Wagstaff 5 Sorry he had a stinker
Sam 6 Can do so much more
Bailey 6 Tried to hard -Not a happy about him feigning injury
Racon 5 Poor Game
Burton 9 Harried chased and his clever hold up play goes unnoticed.
Mooney 6 Went missing and missed a sitter to boot.

Why being a Charlton Supporter can never be a hobby

It shouldn't happen but it does - If Charlton win I'm on a high if they lose, I get over it, but it does effect my mood for a couple of hours -Sad really but supporting your team is for life and if you try to rationalize and explain it I don't think you can. A hobby is something you do in your spare time, it helps you to relax. Supporting Charlton is just like being on a roller coaster that never stops.
Explain this = When I was 10 in 1967 my Dad took me and my cousin to watch Tottenham play Manchester United. Both teams had World class players - Jennings , Greaves, Mackay-Charlton, Law. Best. The score was 2-1 to Tottenham - Greaves and Gilzean for Spurs and George Best scored a cracker for United in front of 57,000. The Following week I persuaded my Dad to take me to the Valley to watch Charlton beat Preston 2-0, in front of 11,000 - Matt Tees scored both goals - That was it, a hooked fish line and sinker for life. Really I cant explain it and I don't think anyone on these forums can either.

That's Entertainment-Charlton 5 MK Dons 1

2009-11-14T19:45:00.001Z

Terrible Conditions with a swirling wind and a soggy pitch failed to dampen what turned out to be the best match of season at the Valley. All credit to MK Dons who came to play football and they certainly did which made for a very entertaining game. Charlton were definitely up for it and right from the kick-off their intent was there for all to see (well done Parkinson)-they desperately wanted to win not just for themselves but for the fans. See that is all the fans want spirit, desire and they all get right behind the team.
The wind played havoc which only made the game more entertaining with some bizarre incidents more so to the MK Dons Goal.
MK Dons opened the scoring with a brilliant shot from Wibrahan which gave the keeper no chance, but really the goal came from a breakdown of a good Charlton Attack. The goal seemed to galvanize Charlton into a another gear and 4 minutes later Mooney slid the ball under the MK Dons keeper for a well deserved equalizer. From then on Charlton dominated and deserved all the luck that went their way with the great football that they played . Bailey headed a second for Charlton to take the lead after great work from Sam. A fantastic goal line block from the impressive and the fantastically enthusiastic Sodje kept Charlton lead in tack for half-time. Bailey hit the bar from a great free kick and also a goal-line scramble should have led to Charlton's third. In the second half with a swirling wind behind them Charlton totally dominated and played the best football from any team that I have seen this season at the Valley . Further well deserved goals from Sam with a great individual effort, a great header from Sodje, then a final well taken goal from the impressive Burton. All Charlton players played very well today and I'm giving them all a nine. What a great afternoon and well worth the weather ordeal. On this display Charlton will surly win automatic promotion . One thing the fans were saying on the way out that I disagree with is that MK Dons were rubbish, definitely not so because Charlton were so good,

Come on you Reds

Give Owen a big hand

2009-11-14T09:30:00.009Z

Its Owen's proudest moment

A proud mother will be snapping away with her digital camera at Half-time today when her son Owen Seddon collects the player of the month award for the under 9's . If only he was 8 years older he could be actually playing against MK Dons. Its great that the junior academy is flourishing and who knows we could have the next Darren Bent or Andy Hunt amongst them. My work colleague keeps me informed of all their results and her son has now scored 18 goals in 8 matches . I'm quite surprised how much traveling they have to do over most of the Southern Counties.

MK Dons
Another work colleague used to have a season ticket for the old Wimbledon but alas once they moved and formed a new club in Milton Keynes he more or less gave up watching football because he was so disgusted with the whole episode. I'm wondering how many Wimbledon fans followed suite New York Addick has certainly started a mass debate on his controversial piece on MK Dons which I think it was not intended to be so, but it is nice to see that most comments are quite civilized.

Through the wind and Rain and on a quagmire of a pitch the match will be the best of the season today at the Valley and if the players are not up for it now then they never will be.

Charlton 4 MK Dons 3

Dailly , Bailey 2 , McKenzie

Come on you Reds.

TOTTENHAM 4 CHARLTON 8

2009-11-09T13:45:00.005Z

Oh yes! what a result on Saturday at Enfield -Tottenham 4 Charlton 8

Yes I'm in dream land and Owen Seddon the son a colleague at work scored five goals - Oops sorry it was the Charlton under 9's that had a glorious victory yesterday. Coyle who now has 18 goals in 8 matches looks set to make his first team debut on Saturday against MK Dons. After yesterdays humiliating defeat against Northwich Victoria of the Blue Square North (Bromley my local team play in the equivalent Blue Square South and my Bromley supporting mate cant wait to play us in the Conference proper in two seasons time)
Parkinson has decided enough is enough and our punch- less forward line needs freshening up and Coyle will be the perfect replacement for the in effective
Mcleod who should have been sent off yesterday for a vicious assault on a Northwich player and looked totally out of his depth at this level, is set to be dropped and possibly off-loaded(wishful thinking on my part ) .

Expectations from 10 to zero

When I first started supporting Charlton in February 1967 we were a Second Division club with a healthy average attendance of nearly 12700 . My expectation was not too high then but playing second tier football was expected and any standard lower was considered unacceptable. Even in the 70's and 80's when we were relegated to the old third division, we or certainly I considered it a temporary blip . Over the last few weeks I have been reading with alarm a growing acceptance from some bloggers and supporters that promotion is not a realistic goal , mid-table mediocrity is the best we can expect considering the turbulent times and financial restraints the club has endured over the last three seasons.
Well fuck that, in the seventies and eighties we had a crap ground, crap support(Great supporters but too few of them) piddly squat funds, yet we still considered ourselves a second tier team. Automatic promotion will be deemed a success this season , anything else will be an absolute disaster. The team we have now is reasonably strong defensively and with a competitive midfield there is just one magic ingredient missing and that is striker of the caliber- equal to a Derek Hales , Mike Flanagan , Arthur Horsfield or even a Martin Robinson, actually any forward that can hit the back of the net on a regular basis from 6 yards .

This was written a few weeks ago

At last we have something to thank the Premiership For

Sometimes when I am driving to work, words spoken on the radio will start me thinking (my wife might say that's a first) and the other day on Talksport the most blatantly commercial station on the airwaves, the topic was how many overseas players are currently playing in the Premiership. The percentage is estimated to be 60% from around the world play regularly amongst the twenty Premiership clubs, which is an astonishing number. This does however
explain why I am pleasantly surprised at the standard of football in the third tier, which is way above what I was expecting this season . If Premiership teams have a majority of overseas players where do all the home grown players go to -well of course they drop down a league and so on . Last season some of the teams that played at the Valley are as good as First Division teams fifteen years ago. The standard of passing has improved beyond recognition and I think Charlton are leading the way by trying to play a good passing game most of the time . Many many years ago I watched Charlton play Third Division football and the standard was nowhere as good as it now but it seemed to be so much more enjoyable , I just loved watching Hales , Bob Curtis, Jim Dunn and Keith Peacock entertain us on a Saturday afternoon .
Harping back doesn't do any good but it is difficult.

Come on you Reds

Patrick Collins is a True Addick

2009-06-22T12:06:00.005+01:00

One of the reasons -probably the only reason that I buy the The Mail On Sunday is to read their excellent sports section which includes the superb Patrick Collins Column. Over the years I can honestly say that I have agreed with 90% of Collins opinions and I so enjoy his straight to the point matter of fact writings. No punches are pulled and I often agree when reading his column almost to the point of shouting out"Thank goodness someone has so eloquently put into words exactly how strongly I feel about a particular sporting story". Of course what does help is that he is a fellow Charlton follower and if you ever get a chance to read some of his Match day reports you will feel his passion, totally unbiased of course for the club.
In this Sunday's Mail the following article appeared and confirms to me anyway that he really is a true Addick and I agree almost word for word with its content. One of the reasons that I have typed out the article is that its so bloody rare to read anything about our beloved Charlton in the daily tabloids. God how we all took it for granted.

EXETER (H) ? THAT DOESN'T EXCITE LIKE THE GUNNERS

British sport has few reasons to remember the summer of 2006. There was the World Cup in Germany, at which Englands WAGs made more impact than England,s footballers. There was a test series with Pakistan, which ended in Anarchy. There was the unwelcome return of Dwain Chambers . And that's about it. But for the followers of Charlton Athletic , there was one shining consolation . It was that moment in June when the Premier League fixtures were published -West Ham (a), followed by Manchester United at home. Then Bolton (h) and Chelsea (a). And that was August. Happy days. I remembered them last week when they brought out the fixtures for the Third Division. Its marketing title is 'The Coca Cola Football League Division One' but we all know it is DivisionThree. Anyway our August programme consists of Wycome Wanderers (h) Hartlepool (a) Leyton Orient (a) , Walsall (h) and Tranmere (a) . Be still my pounding heart. I have no wish to demean these excellent football clubs. They have earned their places in Division Three. The trouble is, so have we, And we never saw it coming. Years of solid achievement under the brilliant management of Alan Curbishley bred impertinent expectations. Why did we always finish halfway up the Premier League? Why had we never made Europe? was Curbishley the man to take us to another level? Charlton directors seemed affected by the mood. Having spent a decade or more acting the model for middle -sized football clubs, they spent the next two years behaving like all the rest. Curbishley was foolishly allowed to leave in March 06 and the rot set in. Iain Dowie was appointed and hung around for six months spending oceans of money on inept footballers. He was replaced by Les Reed, who stayed for six weeks. Enter Alan Pardew, who struck a few poses, made a few promises and produced two years of relentless mediocrity. By the time he left, Charlton were deep in Division Two and falling fast . Phil Parkinson was asked to keep the club afloat . He failed . They really had taken us to another level. Now I must apologise for this eruption of private grief, but the wounds are still raw. We, who once hovered on the fringe of Europe, are now routinely described as lowly unsung or worst of all plucky. And we hate it. And it all happened because a fine manager was carelessly undervalued and a capable board took its eye off the ball. It happened to my club , it could easily happen to yours. We do not seek miracles. We don't want a sheik or an oligarch turning up to hurl untold millions at our problems . We simply want people to run the place as it used to be run. So we contemplate the fixtures and the memories crowd in . Take September. Charlton's last match of the month is at home to Exeter. Three years ago it was the Arsenal. Funny old game.

Whether Curbishley could have been persuaded to stay if the financial backing that was given to Dowie was given to him we will never know.
The premiership is the only place to be and I struggle to get excited about third division football although I will follow the Reds for life. My fear is that In my life time I have already witnessed the greatest period in Charlton's history .

We all have to move on but at the moment I cant. Its so bloody painful viewing the fucking fixture list. Reading the football gossip column on the BBC website really brings it home because we don't get a piddly diddly squat mention. Three seasons ago, daily we would be included and I always found late June and July exciting because we would be linked with reasonably well known players priced at £3 million or more, now its more like £300 thousand and that's pushing it.

Come on you Reds.

The team is dead- Long live the team

2009-04-22T14:10:00.008+01:00

Charlton 2 Cardiff 2

Confession time : I was all set to attend the Valley last night after work, but the work carried on and in the end I couldn't be arsed. I cant remember the last time I felt like that as there are normally good reasons for me not to attend home matches . Actually if I am being honest
the reasons are becoming more varied and excuses easier to come by.
Going by the Blog reports it seems as though a familiar theme was played out again last night. 1-0 or 2-0 lead squandered because we cant do the bloody basics- Michael Caine- one of the best lines ever in the Italian Job-( Your only supposed to blow the bloody doors off) as the practice run of blowing up the banks security van goes horribly wrong -a bit like Charlton defense these days.
Next season is going to be a real test for all Charlton supporters as we will be watching, virtually a new team with what I hope for, a new manager.
Shelvey will go to Wolves or another promoted club for £6 million, so will Bailey for £2.5 million,
Zi Zi will go on a free, Hudson will demand a transfer to a Championship Club. All the lonee's will go back to their respective clubs. Out of contract players will go, so we are left with three or four players to build the team around and that is Elliott , Holland, Sam who still disappoints and Fortune who really has to prove himself again ( actually I wouldn't be surprised to see him move to Stoke).

I'm so pissed off, it might be because I have an ear infection, an eye infection and I'm on powerful antibiotics. I blame it on Charlton as my immune system must be low through depression.
One thing has cheered me up though and that is we have suddenly become hooked on two US comedies- Everybody loves Raymond and Two and a Half Men on Channel 134 Virgin -Bloody brilliant and they knock our tame comedies for six.

A work colleagues son signs for the Academy last night

Owen Seddon 9 years of age and a striker -that's a name to remember, signed on the dotted line last night at the Valley, with his proud Mum in attendance and was duly photographed with Mark Kinsella . His Mum has promised me that she will bring in the photo tomorrow.
Apparently there have been rumours abound that the Academy will close if Charlton are relegated, but this proved to all the kids that the rumours are false.
I happened to mention Shelvey came through the Academy and she immediately said "Oh Jon Jo he's so lovely and all the kids love him" which must mean he obviously gets involved with the kids training which makes him even more endearing.

Murray- I hope he and the Board are able to ride out this recession
OK we all know that Richard Murray and the Board have been magnificent in their support of the club and they are still contributing to keep the club afloat. In these dark, depressing ball busting credit crunch times no one is immune . The worst case scenario could be that Murray's own business empire comes under severe financial pressure, even to the point of creditors knocking at the door. We are and will be eternally grateful for the massive contribution he and the rest of the Board has made to the running and up until now the great success it has brought the club.
The Company that I have worked for more than 35 years was established in 1870's . It is a family run business that has a Managing Director who is a descendant of the founder. Over the last 18 months and more importantly since the new year the Company has come under severe financial pressure. This has led to many redundancies and a wage cut which could never have been envisaged five years ago when the Company was in such a strong financial position. Unfortunately a Final Salary pension scheme which was closed many years ago has compounded and worsened the current situation. With all the cuts and re:budgeting and a possible sign of improvement in the economy, hopefully we will survive. The point I'm trying to make is- however well a business has been run over many fruitful years, a severe recession can and will hit the most successful of all business's leaving no one immune.
The similarities between the current recession and the great crash of 1929 are quite uncanny-
Over inflated share prices -easy lending -consumer boom spending brutally cut short when the Worlds economy went into free fall and was found out to have no substance . Money was being lent from borrowed money

Charlton 2 Blackpool 2
A busy day on Saturday saw me dash over to the Rose of Denmark after a frantic game of early morning tennis to meet up with some great Charlton Bloggers . Actually I needn't of rushed as I was drinking on my own for at least fifteen minutes, but that was OK as I got talking to a Blackpool supporter who was propping up the bar with me . He was surprised that their were two coaches that traveled from the Golden Mile. From that statement I can only assume that their away support is a bit limited but I certainly sympathised as its a hell of a journey (Just a pint was drunk before meeting the bloggers I might add, after which I had a little accident with a couple of half pints that were left on the bar for me this resulted in the mop coming out from behind the bar. Suitably embarrassed and apologetic my after thoughts were, ( what a waste of good beer!.)
We have some great Charlton Bloggers writing passionately about our sorry beleaguered club. In my naivety for a long time I thought I was the only person who really cared, but that was until I stumbled across all the great Blogs.

How strange was this match with a subdued crowd almost like losing gladiators excepting their fate as they are about to be dispatched. No booing and so little passion from the crowd watching a team destined for the third tier. I'm feeling numb as I type this and wonder where has it all gone so dramatically wrong in such a short space of time.
It was so bleeding obvious that the majority of the team that played on Saturday will have left by the summer, so the good play that was witnessed for 70 minutes really was a bit hollow .
We played well and Burton and Shelvey deservedly gave us a two nil lead, then on cue and the norm for this season, one mistake that's all it took for us to capitulate. A poor Zi Zi pass was intercepted and a stretched defense gave away a penalty, then to add insult to injury, Hughes finished brilliantly for the Tangerines with seconds left . However much his past is distasteful, Hughes showed how a striker should finish, something that has been so sorely missed this season.

Billy Ellott and the disappointment of a 0-0 draw

2009-04-13T13:50:00.001+01:00

Charlton 0 Birmingham 0
Gutted -because of a very generous Birthday present (A Billy Elliott Super break) which meant missing this game and also a pre- pub drink with a few fellow Bloggers I did not find out the result until Sunday Morning. Our 3-2 win at Southampton last week had led me to work out some delusional permutations for Charlton avoiding relegation. Foolish I know but I think I'm a half glass full type of person most of the time, but today I'm definitely a whole glass empty.

Well the Superbreak package to London on Saturday proved to be a great success with the highlight of having great seats to see Billy Elliot on Saturday afternoon at the Victoria Palace Theatre. We were also booked into the Rubens Hotel opposite Buckingham Palace or nearly opposite the Palace for Saturday Night . We had been told not to expect Bacon and Sausage for our cooked breakfast, but of course it was a joke(apologies-apologies). Actually it was the one best breakfasts we have ever consumed on a hang-over morning. There was an unbelievable choice of every kind a breakfast food you could imagine. An hour later after consuming 1500 calories in one sitting we decided to walk a little of those delightful calories off with a walk through St James Park to watch - The Boat that Rocked in Leicester Square . Fortunately we booked great seats and thoroughly enjoyed the film, the music was just ( Fab).
At the age of ten I can remember tuning into Radio Caroline on a tiny transistor with very bad reception, but what the hell it was Pirate Radio and for that period in my life it felt a little anti- establishment. The Boat that Rocked is an OK movie, but just that. Certainly Slum Dog Millionaire is the best film I have seen this year, the only down side is that it is portrayed as a good feel movie which I feel it certainly is not.

Bang -ouch!- whats that noise- Oh! the Directors have just shot themselves in the foot.

2009-04-03T10:47:00.013+01:00

What a PR disaster (the credit crunch is probably hitting our loyal supporters harder than anyone)

My season ticket cost me £475, for a comfortable seat with a great view in the East Stand. To meet that cost our household has to earn nearly £800. Last week we booked a weeks Bed & Breakfast in Portugal in June that cost a total for both of us of £280, and that includes flights( please forgive my carbon footprint- but I need a holiday)
Possibly I could be out of a job next year if this fucking recession carries on (Bastard Banks-apologies to anyone who works for a Bank) and although my wife is mostly understanding, attending Charlton home games after playing tennis in the morning does and has caused a bit of friction in our otherwise very happy and loving partnership.
We have now reached the stage in our lives when we can and want to travel and plan to see as much of the world before we are confined to our wheel chair's.( I'll still be playing tennis though) We have trawled the web-sights and found some fantastic deals on Travel Republic and we might even push the boat out and travel to Crete in September, which could cost us a total of £350 for a 4 star hotel.
There are no guarantee's that any holiday we take will be a great success but the anticipation and the looking forward to it worth a lot to us at the moment in these very desperate credit crunch times. Unfortunately anything Charlton basically depresses me -shit what am I saying I love Charlton and I know I would be happy watching a middle of the table Championship team with mixed performances consisting of a few great average and crap performances but with at least a chance of making the play-offs. This season I have not been able to identify with the club. Loan players are a necessity but the amount we have fielded this season has been just plain ridiculous.
You cannot have a rapport with players who are there mainly to get match fit.

What I am trying to say here is that by attending matches at the Valley, there has never been a guarantee of a high entertainment game, which is logical (it what makes football such a wonderful game and so unpredictable). Ironically I think the best game I have seen and probably the best Championship game seen on Sky this season, was our fabulous 4-2 win against Reading.
What high hopes after that performance, where did it all go wrong????. sob! sob!

Why didn't the board consider giving a discount of say 25% on season ticket prices for those long suffering loyal supporters who paid for a season ticket with their hard earned cash over the last two seasons and received very little entertainment value, especially this season. Football is all about winning or being at least in contention and of course being entertained . We all like to win but games where we have at least competed and been unlucky to draw or lose have been almost non-existent this season. Surely it would be better to reduce prices substantially and maybe keep attendances including floaters up to 17,000, rather than the 10,000, that I am anticipating next season.

Come on you Reds

Back to the Future Part 1- Part 2 and now Part 3

2009-03-31T10:15:00.003+01:00

Relegation
1979/80

The last time we were relegated to the third tier was in 1979/80, with probably the poorest team ever to wear the famous red shirt until now. That season the team only amassed 22 pts from 42 matches, surely a record low for that division. P42 W6 D10 L26 F41 A78 pts 22, which was a massive 13 pts from safety . It was a dire season but with one big difference for me and that was I could identify and relate to those players and I felt that they were one of us feeling the pain. Today's team consist mainly of loan players who I have little rapport with .

1979/1980 Players of note
Nicky Johns . A great shot stopper
Lawrie Madden - Underrated and went on to have a great career with Sheffield Wednesday
Colin Powell - My Mums favourite along with Keith Peacock
Martin Robinson -Always worked his socks off
Phil Warman -Great character and surely if he was be playing today would be at least 2 stone lighter.
Derek Hales Say no more
Steve Gritt Never shy'd away from a battle but took a lot of stick from the Valley faithful
Phil Walker Always looked good on the ball, what he did with it was not always so good
Les Berry Old school and as skinny as Nicky Johns- good old Les
Peter Shaw Not the greatest but never really let Charlton down
Paul Walsh With only a handful of games towards the end of this dismal season he was the only shining light and I think we could see the potential in a great young player( he looked about twelve) who always looked so comfortable on the ball -The following season he was to become one of the most influential players along with Hales and Powell when we bounced straight back to Division Two .

1971/1972

Probably my most enjoyable and carefree time with total commitment as a Charlton supporter I can remember me and my Dad attended every home game . In 68/69 Charlton narrowly missed promotion finishing third behind Palace - Matt Tees (The skinniest football player ever) Ray Treacy along with Alan Campbell had the greatest season of their lives and the Original Mr Brick house Graham Moore controlled the midfield like a marine on an commando mission Brian Kinsey- Pictured right( -were players fit enough to do somersaults) what a full back -made it a fantastic season. The highlight for me was watching Ray Treacy score a thunderbolt against a very good Derby side then managed by the great Brian Clough . Being amongst 55, 000 at Highbury in the fourth round of the Old FA Cup (it meant something then) and even a 3-0 defeat was a memorable day out. At the time I think Arsenal were top of the First Division and Charlton were top of the Second for one week only.
The following season with higher expectations than normal we failed to live up to our potential and avoided relegation by beating Bristol City 2-1 on the last day of the season . Great celebrations amongst the 16,000 crowd and it was the first and only time I walked on the pitch . Strange but I recall many programmes and scarves being thrown in the air in sheer joy of the club avoiding relegation.

The next season was a total disaster with the club relegated by a point . Charlton last 10 matches of that season was P 10 W 0 D 3 L 7 which well and truly sealed our fate
1971/72 players of note
John Dunn Great Goalkeeper- Derek Bellotti ( He hardly ever dropped kicked the ball because he could throw it well over the half-way line and the crowd used to shout" throw it"and he would normally oblige)
Phil Warman Never gave up
Dennis Bond Mr Tubby actually not a bad footballer
Dietmar Bruck Built like a German Paratrooper
Keith Peacock What a great servant for the club
Ray Treacy One great season but still scored a lot of great goals in this disastrous season
Paul Went Another great reliable player who was at least three stone overweight
Peter Reeves Never ever stopped running
Bob Curtis The greatest full back never to have played in the top tier
D Shipperley A giant of a man and never took any prisoners
Players who you wonder how they ever made it in the professional game but they were great characters who always gave a hundred percent and we loved despite their lack of ability
Barry Endean, Cyril Davies and the great Dickie Plumb (what a name)

With an average gate of 7,200 and an opened East Terrace that in bad weather would freeze you to the bone, despite what was a cataclysmic season I still loved being there and I think that was something to do with my personal circumstances as well as the players. As free as a bird with no Mortgage, no regular girlfriend OK maybe for a short while, a job that was just a job with no particular commitment to it. Low expectations with any win met with shear joy.

My current circumstances might explain my apathy towards today's crises with our beloved club.

The great things in my life are a Wife and two -now adult children, a reasonable house and car , as the kids are older we are starting to travel and plan to catch up with Chicago Addick and surpass his travelling exploits (No chance unless we live to the ripe old age of 150)

I'm playing the best tennis of my life with three promotions this season(08/09) two with the vets to seal top tier tennis in Kent and playing for the under 45's mainly youngsters(in tennis that normally means about 30) and gaining promotion to the third tier.

Unfortunately my job is hanging by a thread as publishing is always the first a take a massive hit in any recession - fortunately its normally the first to come back. At nearly 53 I'm too young to retire but the job opportunities are almost impossible for any one over 50.

Charlton is a big part of my other life and will continue to be so but I like many other bloggers have declined writing about the club at the moment because my opinions are so negative and who the hell wants to read those sort of posts and I will only be stating the bleeding obvious anyway.

Come on you Reds - I need the good feel factor back in my other life supporting Charlton.
Next season I will buy match day tickets as I cannot justify spending over £400 in these dire financial times.

Come on You Reds
.

Feeling Glad All Over - Charlton 1 Palace 0

2009-01-28T10:50:00.005Z

Yesterday morning my wife said to me" CND why don't you go to the gym instead of the Valley as I don't think I can take any more of your sullen, grumpy, bad moods after another Charlton defeat". Going to the the gym is a necessity, not necessarily a pleasure, as to be honest its pretty boring running on a tread mill for 30 minutes. The only reason I go is to keep my Blood pressure and Cholesterol under control as unfortunately there is a history of heart decease from my Mothers side of the family. Luckily my current Blood Pressure reading is 127/77 and Cholesterol 4.8, which is pretty good for a sedentary office worker like myself who is nearly 53. Anyway after far too much information , the sport I love and could play almost every day of the week is Tennis (Shame about Murray at the Aussi Open, but sun and stifling heat is bound to affect a very white Scottish born Brit who hardly saw the sun in his youth. So I nearly went to the gym but had a last minute change of heart and I'm so pleeeeeee'sssd I did. Having left it very late to leave the office, and being caught in traffic I just about managed to grab a couple of very decent pints of IPA at the Fox Under The Hill. Approaching the ground after parking the car near Charlton Park all I could hear was Palarce supporters singing what you would expect and my heart sank even further when I saw how many empty seats there were in all parts of the ground. Just before the kick off the covered end got their act together and out sang the hoards of Palace supporters with there rendition of Valley Floyd Road.
The Match
For the first 15 minutes we played as though we were the team chasing a play-off spot and we so deserved our opening goal . A disappointing Lloyd Sam caused panic in the Palace box from a good cross which was poorly dealt with and as the ball fell to Mathew Spring who produced a great volley to give the tubby Speroni no chance from 10 yards . Of course, as we have done most of the season at the Valley, we start brightly, score a cracking goal then go into panic mode and sit back and invite the opposition to attack, which fortunately, on this occasion was very poor and Palace only produced one decent shot that Elliott did very well to save with his feet.
It was not a great match but I couldn't care a tuppence as we just needed a win. The tension at times was unbearable and I'm sure my blood pressure for most of the match was at 180/110 , which can be heart attack level. The defense was magnificent the whole ninety minutes with Hudson the pick of the back four. He hobbled most of the match but every tackle and header was timed to perfection. Matt Holland came on for the unfortunate Fortune who may well be out for the season. A special mention for such an underrated player who gives everything every game -Matt Holland, not spectacular, but a real trooper who never shy's away from any situation . What a hero in the back four he was, and it was so nice to hear most of crowd sing" There is only one Matty Holland". Dickson came on for Gray and I do wish he would start as he seems to unsettle defences with his unorthodox running and pace and he created a great chance from virtually nothing towards the end of the match. After holding out for ninety minutes, the five minutes of injury time seemed like an eternity, but the boys managed to hold out and all credit to them, the celebrations from Hudson and especially the home grown Elliott brought tears to my eyes.
This result means there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel but what sort of team can we can field at Burnley as it is very disconcerting after all the injuries to the back four.

Warnock made a valid point after the match and I quote
"Charlton players should disgusted with themselves. "
If they'd put that effort in when Alan Pardew were here they'd not be in the position they are in now"
To be honest the same thing happen last season.
Great celebrations at the end by the management but all could be worthless if we are relegated.

Elliott 8 Not a lot to do but kept his head and made a great save in the second half.
Murty 8 He still has pace for a 34 year old and I hope we can sign him permanently
Fortune 7 Good game -unfortunately injured for the season now.
Holland 9 Magnificent in the unaccustomed position in the back four
Hudson 9 Captain Fantastic
Youga 7 Did most things right
Sam 6 Looked out of sorts
Spring 7 Good buy and I have high hopes for him-looks good on the ball and of course scored the all important goal
Bailey 7 Did a job
Soares 7 A good debut in a difficult match
Gray 6 A very hard game for him
Burton 8 Best game so far and held the ball up well, he and was a nuisance through out
Dickson 7 The crowd love him and he needs to start the next match

Miracles do happen -Captain Parkinson

2009-01-16T12:52:00.009Z

NY Addict has already reported on this event but I would like to add my bit.
Brilliant, fantastic, unbelievable, is the only way to describe the New York Plane Crash which resulted, due to the heroics of Captain Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger with every passenger and crew escaping with their lives, when he made the perfect crash landing in the Hudson River. You would think that every passenger on board thought their number had been called, but miraculously there were no deaths or serious injuries.
Although Captain Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger is a hero I don't think many passengers will be keen to name any future children they may have after his name as a sign of appreciation and extreme gratitude.

As all passengers and crew survived without serious injury may I be so flippant as to associate those happenings overseas with our plight at the home of Charlton Athletic. Miracles do happen and I now call upon Captain Parkinson and crew to achieve the same and keep our club afloat and survive the Championship. I know its a poor analogy but a good feel story and event needs to be spread.
Come on you Reds.

Charlton 0 Forest 2 (Im getting used to seeing us lose)

2009-01-11T10:57:00.007Z

Never have I felt so cold at a football match with the temperature at 2c below freezing. Actually the last time it was a freezing day was against Ipswich Town in another lifetime, when even Dien Kiely wore tracksuit bottoms and what a fantastic comeback that day, after being 2-0 after fifteen minutes eventually winning 3-2. One of the highlights was seeing the great George Costa playing as though his life depended on it and we came away with a glow on our faces and a feeling of sheer joy.
Yesterday we started brightly against an ordinary Forest team who should have been 2-0 down after five minutes. Twice the impressive Shelvey put Burton clear, who on a better day would have dispatched both efforts. Murty and Spring both looked up for the game and I was especially impressed with Murty . The bloke next to me said, after we had dominated totally for the first thirty minutes "you know whats going happen Forest will have one attack and score" Low and behold that's what happened . A tame cross was mis-headed by Hudson straight to Forests Paul Anderson who's miss hit shot deflected straight into the path of Natham Tyson , who could not miss. Ok it was bad defending, but boy we we were unlucky, because Andersons shot could have gone anywhere. A good save a minute later from Smith from a great volley by Shelvey had us jumping out of our seats but of course a harmless punt from Forest led to Holland making a terrible header back to his goalkeeper or Hudson not sure what he was trying to do but Earnshaw latched on to it and put it away nicely. Shit! the crowd went quiet and I now think we have all excepted our fate. At Half-Time I went to get a hot drink and I have never seen people so cold and all so apathetic. The second was as frigid as the weather and it was really game over. we did not deserve to lose this game but when your at the bottom every bit of luck you need seems to desert us. Listening to Steve Brown on Radio London on the way back home he said" Charlton are down and it really hurts him to have to say it. Actually I do think he put himself forward for the Managers job -I think he could do no worse than Parkinson and he is Charlton through and through.

Elliot 7 Touched the ball about 6 times
McEveley 7 Had a good game
Hudson 6 To many errors , and looks the shadow of the player he was at the beginning of the season.
Fortune 6 Average
Murty 7 I was impressed he has pace and enthusasum -Maybe injured as he took a knock late on.
Ambrose 5 What a waste of talent
Spring 6 I think he will be good for us in the 3rd Division
Holland 5 Such a costly error - looks depressed
Sam 5 Again what a waste
Shelvey 8 Only bright spot how long can we hang on to him
Burton 5 If only

We must now play the youngsters
The pain is going, it doesn't hurt as much as it did.

If I'm up for the game today- the players and management bloody well better be

2009-01-10T11:05:00.001Z

Well this is it today-win or bust. My tennis match has been cancelled , as the courts are not only frost bound, there is still snow on them from last Monday . Min temperature went down to ( -9.7c) last night, for our American bloggers 14.5f, and I am surprised the Valley pitch will be frost free and playable, as it is not expected to go much above freezing today.
Last night I watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show on DVD and I was surprised that the film was made in 1975. You have to join in with "Lets do the time warp again " and blimey we could certainly associate that song with our club and the title of the film. . Unless a miracle happens we will be playing 3rd Division Football again as we did in 1975, the only difference from then and now is that we have a super stadium, but probably our finances are in a worse state now. Oh! how we have slid down the slippery slope and I feel that 15 years of hard graft has been blown away in 24 months . Its a bit like snakes and ladders, it took us a long time to get near the top but on the last throw we hit the snake and have fallen all the way down again , so we have to start again.
Hard to reconise the team but that probably goes for the players as well.
It will be a cold afternoon, but I am predicting we will all feel a lot warmer after 5pm .

Charlton 2 Forest 0 ( Bailey, Holland.) Attn 18.561 (The start of the recovery)

We have a new manager

2008-12-31T18:45:00.000Z

A New manager
Just got back from the gym which means I will feel less guilty for the blow out I will have tonight.
Anyway hot news that probably everyone has heard -we have a new manager and guess what! his name is Phil Parkinson. Oh well lets hope he can settle things down and really put his name to the new team. This actually looks like a forced decision due to finances and probably a lack of cheap suitable candidates. Crap almighty, what a bloody mess and who could have ever anticipated such a downfall in 36 months. Forest will be my next game and I will get behind the team as usual but Christ its not something I am looking forward to . We so desperately need those three points and if ever there is a game to start a run then this is surely it.

Come on Reds. Please-

Happy New Year to one and all.

Dont panic Mr Mannering but were doomed I tell ye were doomed

2008-12-28T21:48:00.004Z

Yes we are but from the ashes we will rise again and I for one will still support our wonderful club who over many years has given me such joy, heartache and most of all something to believe in, be it good or bad. We have to look to the future and basically start again with new management and dare I say it, a new Board. All good things come to an end. Great managers are hard to come by and I would like pay tribute to two past managers, Sir Lennie Lawrence and Alan Curbishley , surely now both proven with out doubt to be the greatest managers in the history of Charlton Athletic, but I would also like to pay homage to the greatest Board the club has ever had, which is the current one. Mr Murray, you have done as much as any Chairman could do and you have ear'nt your well deserved retirement. A new era is about to be begin, so Come on you Reds and I wish everyone a Happy New Year .

Lady Luck has deserted us - Charlton 1 Coventry 2

2008-12-10T10:55:00.005Z

Arriving at the Valley last night on a cold, damp, freezing night I thought to myself, if ever there was an opportunity for us to kick-start our season and get a result, then surely Coventry City are the team we should be playing. At the moment it feels as though we are playing the roulette table and covering every number bar one and guess what that number comes up. We are hitting the wire on the dart board to miss the treble twenty- two out of three throws. We back the favourite only for the horse to fall at the last jump.
Coventry were poor, but unfortunately we were poorer. The bad luck I'm talking about occurred in the second half, when after we equalised from the penalty spot(Burton ) , which not only raised the spirit of the crowd , the players seem to have an extra spring in their step. Unfortunately a minute later, a silly foul gave Coventry a free-kick from 35 yards, which was hit well by Fox, but I thought Weaver was slow to react and of course it hit the post and flew into the other corner. I'm trying to be optimistic but in all honesty, this is the most difficult time in more than twenty years being a Charlton supporter.
In the first half an injury to McEveley after 13 minutes upset the balance of the team and his replacement Semedo who in my opinion, is far better as a holding midfield player. Coventry really had to do very little to hold a very stagnant and tepid Charlton side clearly lacking in confidence, never more evident, than by watching Nicky Bailey who is shadow of the fresh faced enthusiastic player he first was when we signed him. Weaver hardly touched the ball but unfortunately the Coventry keeper (Westwood) also had nothing to do . Of course we could see it coming, instead of taking the game to Coventry we sat back almost in a trance and the only worth while attack resulted in a goal for Coventry after 40 minutes . A great cross from Fox was put away neatly by Simpson and the home crowd went as quite as I have ever known . Not one player out of the 22 deserved any more than a four star rating. In the second half, apart from the first 5 minutes it was very much a repeat of the first.
As I left the Valley along the Woolwich Road, past the empty buses from Medway Kent I wondered how long before our new found supporters tire of the long journey to see a depressing inept performance. I didn't boo, I didn't scream and shout but I got behind the team when I saw effort and passion, unfortunately last night there was very little evidence of it.
Sad times for a club that 36 months ago was holding its own in the Premiership. We need a break and something to go our way, surely our luck will turn.

Come on you Reds.

Positive-Positive-Positive- COME ON YOU REDS

2008-12-09T13:40:00.002Z

I haven't posted for a few weeks as my thoughts and feelings about my beloved Charlton have been so negative . What is the point of posting negative posts when at this traumatic time, not only in our season but our Illustrious history the club need all the collective support it can get.
All sorts of unbelievably gross scenarios have been played out in my mind, then the positive kicks in. There are some similarities to A Christmas Carol which we watched on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

The Negative: (Ive been neglecting Charlton although work has been manic )

No. 1 Charlton finish bottom -Millwall are promoted and Palace make the Premiership via the play-offs.

No. 2 Charlton go into administration and free-fall all the way to the Conference.

No. 3 Charlton go into receivership and are wound- up as bankrupt. A new club is formed called Charlton Rovers and start a new life in Rymans Division Two.

The Positive (I'm back and I will not miss a another home game all season)

No. 1 Players suddenly hit form and go on a fantastic run that sees Charlton make the play-offs .

No. 2 Unpopular for some -Alan Curbishley takes over until the end of the season and sees us to safety, then gets his wish to manage in the Premiership again.

No. 3 We only get 34 points all season but 3 teams go into administration and are each deducted 19 points, we are saved.

Father Christmas needs to make an early visit to the Valley tonight and inspire the lads to a 2-0 win. Hopefully I can leave work early tonight and grab a couple of pints before the game, then at least I will have had some comfort from tonight's proceedings if all goes pear-shaped. It wont positive- positive- positive

Charlton 2 Coventry 0 Holland -Gray

Attn 16, 975 (Its going to be 3 degrees below freezing tonight)

What a mess but as always Come on You Reds

2008-11-24T17:10:00.001Z

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

2008-11-05T16:48:00.007Z

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

2008-11-04T13:40:00.002Z

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

2008-11-02T11:13:00.007Z

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.

A Rallying Cry -Its time to Stand-up and be counted

2008-10-24T17:30:00.001+01:00

This morning driving to work in the pouring rain after dropping my daughter off at school, although she is 17 and we deliberately moved closer to the school, half-mile to be more precise, so she and my son could walk to school, ha! what a laugh, they have probably only walked a dozen times in seven years.
Anyway, it suddenly hit me like a bolt of lightning , the moans , the threats of not going to all home games(the threat was to myself) and the malaise that I have been feeling about Charlton suddenly vanished. I'm a loyal person and to prove it- here goes

Had to put this first as you never know who might be reading this.

Been Married for 22 years through great times and some rough times but we have got through it. Its something I'm proud of -considering the pressures on today's life styles.

Worked for my Company for 33 years -Bloody hell, I started off as young accounts assistant and now I'm FD( almost man and boy). Younger people look at me in astonishment and think how could any one stay that long in one job, but by sticking with it I am better off than a lot of my old mates. So I'm proud of that.

Supported Charlton Athletic for 42 years, through great times, but on the whole very difficult and traumatic times, but my support has never wavered and Ive never ever booed and I'm very extra proud of that.

OK the club is in its worst position for 10 years, but you know every thing goes in cycles and its our turn to feel some pain. Just think how painful it must have been for Millwall and Palace to witness our success over the last 10 year period. I just have that sneaky feeling that we are about to turn the corner yet again and I'm predicting a play-off place secured by a home win against Norwich City on the last day of the season.

Its my daughters 18th birthday tomorrow and she has said she will never speak to me again if we are not away on Saturday, as she's having a party and we would only be party poopers, . so we are in Arundel for the weekend . That means I miss my first home match of the season -honest folks this was not intentional.

Come on you Reds-Charlton 3 Burnley 2

Oh well ! were on our own

2008-10-23T10:30:00.004+01:00

That's that then. We have been in worse financial situations in our illustrious history and I'm sure the club will survive . My expectations are zero now, which is good thing. If we can stay in this division I will now class that a success. Foreign money! who needs it.
I love the club and have done for more than 42 years, so my support will always be strong, but I have to question why I do go to every home game. Sad as it is I do go on my own so there is not even the comfort of any social banter before or after the game, I normally get that when I play tennis in the morning and then have a couple of pints and a ploughmans and a good chat and banter from fellow tennis players . Sometimes though I leave early to get to the Valley and I am starting to question that now.
Norwich , Southampton , Ipswich and others clubs have all been there and survived looks like we will join them.
Come on you Reds.

Charlton 0 Bristol City 7 So much for positive thinking

2008-10-22T14:45:00.003+01:00

Many moons ago I got a little bit interested in the ge-gees and dabbled a bit at the bookies, thankfully my gambling predictions were so awful, I gave it up and will be forever grateful to the man upstairs for not giving me that first big win, which has been the ruin of many a poor soul. It seems to me that my score predictions for Charlton are as bad as my Horse Racing punts. Not only did I get the score wrong but by a whacking seven goals.
Sorry I'm being a bit stupid on this one -but with Charlton playing the way they are, all my logic has gone out of the window.

Charlton 0 Bristol City 2

Great Beer -Guinness Red, its worth a try- followed by the best Cod and Chips in Bromley -East Street to be precise-(Tom Bell Fish Restaurant) cooked while you wait. Good match for 25 minutes, with Charlton playing some great football, if only we had a striker to finish all the great play off. The crowd roared the team on and surely the first goal would go to the Had'icks(sorry got fish on the brain) -then Bailey does what every schoolboy is told not to do and gets caught in possession, just outside our penalty area . Of course we are punished and an accomplished finish by Lee Trundle (if only he played for Charlton, we would have been 2-0 after fifteen minutes) makes the game effectively over and we never recovered from that set back. In the second half we started like scared rabbits caught in the headlights of a speeding car. Instead of getting hold of the ball we gave it away as though it was a slippery Eel. Dark, gloomy times at the Valley and the mood certainly amongst the East Stand crowd seemed to be one of complete acceptance of our fate, as the hangmans noose and gallows draw ever nearer. We may have the facilities and ground of a lower Premiership club, but I don't know if I can bring myself to watch Third Division football again as according to Second Division And Proud-that's the league we will be playing in, if we are relegated.

Join the revolution, which has become the signature of our very own accomplished blogger Pedro 45

Charlton Athletic 5 Bristol City 0

2008-10-21T09:47:00.012+01:00

Charlton 5 Bristol City 0

The match was played last night and we won 5-0, Varney 3 Tordorov 1, Gray1 . Oh! crap it was just a dream -but a dream that can come true -Lets be all American and pass on those good'ol' vibes.
If we all send out positive vibes it will reach the players and if you pardon the expression, Charlton have always come up trumps when their backs are against the wall.(OK, may- be they just trump) ( 5-0, 5-0, 5-0, 5-0, 5-0, 5-0. OK I have finally cracked under the pressure, it must be the credit crunch. 5-0, 5-0, 5-0, 5-0, 5-0. Actually what will also happen today is the confirmation of the takeover by our Dubai benefactors . 5- 0 5-0 5-0 5-0.
Positive thoughts- come on lets be havin ya!.

Back in time

27th September 1966
Charlton 5 Bristol City 0, Mike Kenning 2 , Alan Campbell, Lenny Glover, Ron Saunders Attn (10,182) what revenge after a 4-0 mauling at Ashton Gate 18 days earlier . Those were the days .

Local Gym

I went to the local gym last night and had a really good workout and took this picture just to show how popular our little 'o' gym is -not bad for a Monday night.
Come on -keep it going.

Come on you Reds.

Stating the bleed'in obvious we need a Frickin Boost

2008-10-20T10:50:00.002+01:00

Pembury Addick's comments on Chicago Addick's blog sum up very well how we are feeling
10.20.08 - 3:21 am |The lack of comment on blogs at the weekend was quite staggering and indicative of how feelings are running.
In part I suspect a collective holding of breath for Dubai decision.

I'm going to confess to being the least enthusiastic over my beloved Charlton Athletic Football Club for more than 11 years. Tomorrow I will travel to the Valley after a hard days work to watch the faltering Addicks take on last season's best footballing side Bristol City. The highlight for me might be a couple pints and a pre-match meal of local fish and chips-might even be a'ddick and chips!
If the Dubai deal does not go through then I fear for our long term future. If only I could sue the Sun Journalist who wrote the piece on Everton now being favourites for a buy-out from our supposed suitors. -really pissed me off big-time over the weekend.
Here's hoping that Mr Pardew can rally the troops for back to back wins at home.

Why do I do it? -these days, my predictions are never correct -Charlton 4 Bristol City 0
Varney 3 Tordorov Attn 15,543 even with the holograms of non- attending season ticket holders.

Come on you Reds.

Zi Zi could be the Key

2008-10-17T12:01:00.004+01:00

Zheng Zhi

Bad news today is the injury to Zheng Zhi and that would also confirm why he had a bit of a stinker against Ipswich. I cant quite get my head round the fact that the club has not exploited his marketing potential. According to newspaper reports Zi Zi is the David Beckham of the far East and his career is followed by millions in China alone. If I was a foreign investor especially buying a Championship club which lacks the exposure of the Premiership, I would insist that any high profile players remain with the club. Unlike NYA I think Zi Zi will still be with the club after January and could one of the clubs major assets for the new owners . Zheng Zhi skills are far more suited to a slower, more skillful premiership, than a hectic, manic Championship league.

Zheng Zhi is China's Zidane

By CHARLIE WYETT

Published: 31 Mar 2007

ZHENG ZHI lives a bizarre double life between being the most famous footballer in China ? and a virtual unknown in England.

The exception over here, of course, is whenever he decides to stroll through London’s Chinatown.

Yet the midfielder, on loan from Shandong Luneng, is proving to be a hit at struggling Charlton.

The Chinese skipper, whose fan club has over 100,000 members, can play defence and midfield and lists Zinedine Zidane as his biggest hero.

Cardiff Away
What a difficult game and the pressure will be on the team to perform and we become a lot more attractive to prospective buyers if the clubs name appears near a play-off spot in the league table.
Optimistic a s ever Cardiff 1 Charlton 3 Varney 2 Hudson

Come on you Reds.

For the times they are a changing

2008-10-13T22:30:00.005+01:00

Come gather round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you'd better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone
For the times, they are a changing.

OK its a bit dramatic to use a Bob Dylan song in relation to Charlton and the possible buy out from our very rich and hopefully new owners. When I was a kid, professional football was a game played by the majority of players striving to make a living to support a family and pay off a 25 year Mortgage. In my youthful naivety the game was all about passion, loyalty and honesty , but was it really. The game has changed so much and players now, certainly in the Premiership and the the top half of the Championship probably pay off their mortgages in six months. Lets forget the old days and look to the future, maybe this is our last chance and for me personally it cant come quick enough. It was a comedian who supports Fulham who once said I would rather support any team in any league than too never support a team at all and who knows what lies a head for little'old'Charlton -Oblivion maybe . Adrenalin still flows for me when I do not know a Charlton result and I am just about to find out. I love the club for what it stands for but my support will wain if I have to sit through another mundane inept Championship season , for I have been to the promised land although I didn't realise I was there until after it was taken away. Murray and Co have done the business over the years, but its time to move on to the big money men. Call me cynical, mercenary and ready to sell my soul but I think big money -honest big money is the only way forward. Join the revolution and dance in the street -The King is dead- long live the King.

I love my club

2008-10-11T20:35:00.002+01:00

Sorry just a short note to say, I have given a lot to Charlton, supporting wise but in return the club has given me lot back. Tonight I think things are going to change and I think we may become a big club. Great as far as I am concerned. Alan Curbishley and Murray gave me the best 10 years of my Charlton supporting life, but possibly if all things go according to plan we may be entering a new era for Charlton Athletic Football Club, and I welcome it with open arms.

Come on you Reds.

I have a dream-and my wife thinks Im mad

2008-10-11T14:45:00.014+01:00

Watching Match of the Day in the Evening

A great throw by Buffon to Terry, who passes it to Gerrard (playing in London at last) to Walcott who races down the wing and puts in a great cross to Rooney who volleys a great shot into the corner of the Manchester United net to put Charlton Athletic 3-0 up. Surely now, Charlton are going to be crowned Premiership Champions for the first time, and in front of a capacity crowd of 55,000, at the Valley to close the 2011-12 season . Wow what a dream -it must have been those five pints of Bishop Finger . Jesus whats this hitting the headlines, Charlton to be taken over by one of Dubai's richest Companies. My wife reads it as well and says to me "Charlton wont be little old Charlton anymore" . I know I know but half the fans who attend home games at the Valley think were a big club and should be winning every game 5-0, with this investment it may well happen.

Charlton a good investment-My season ticket might be

How strange I nearly didn't buy a season ticket this year but fortunately did so at the last moment , by doing so I might have bought myself an investment. Just think as we walk away with this seasons Championship and I get a free season ticket for next season, I'm sure with capacity sell out crowds I could well put it on E bay for a couple of thousand smack-a-roons . This is how I see it, the Valley's capacity will be cut to 23,000 whilst the double tier East stand is completed. Demand for tickets will be extraordinary as many fans clamber to see the up and coming Charlton team filled with young premiership stars, who look destined to qualify for the Champions League in 4th Place.

Being a South East London Club-will seal the deal.

Your traveling from Dubai in your private jet you have an important business meeting in London's Park Lane Hotel on Friday afternoon and the next day you want to see your club, the club that you own play Arsenal . London is the place to be and if you want to throw a bit of pocket money at a Championship club who have the potential to be a big London Club then its a sensible gamble and if it comes off, could well bring substantial bonus's in prestige, exposure and maybe a great return on a small initial investment. After-all Charlton have always had a great catchment area and the Thames gateway will bring in extra supporters by the bus load.

This is the only way Forward

Sorry I have been very spoilt with our seven seasons in the Premiership and I want to see the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal play again to a capacity filled Valley. The Championship is so much second best . The only chance we have of that happening is to get foreign investment and I'm sure there are probably 90 clubs in the Football league who will be dead jealous if this deal comes off.

Just what the Doctor ordered-Charlton 2 Ipswich 1

2008-10-05T17:30:00.006+01:00

Charlton 2 Ipswich 1

After yesterday, it feels like the raging infection we have all been suffering from has just been alleviated by taking the first antibiotics which have just started to kick in. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't classic football, but the team got a job done and the little bit of luck we had, was deserved by a determined Charlton team. After playing in a tennis Vets tournament , a Ploughmans, and a couple of pints of guest ale -Shepherd Neame- Late Red I really didn't have much inclination to make the awkward journey to the Valley (Road works playing havoc) but there is one thing I have never been accused of, and that is being a fair weather supporter, how could I be, having supported Charlton for more than 40 years, in fact it is probably more likely that I have been accused of being masochistic, especially in the dark old days of third division football.

The match -I enjoyed the game, probably because there was so much at stake and I have always preferred to watch football when there is a real edginess to it . We started brightly and Bailey was getting amongst the Ipswich midfield, I really do think we have found a gem from the lower divisions and even when he has a below par game, he still gives 100% and does not shy away from the ball. Bailey fired a great free-kick after 6 minutes but unfortunately his prowess in the tackle does mean that he is likely to get injured more often than say Ambrose, and that is exactly what happened after 10 minutes . We go 1-0 up yet again, every home game has been the same, we seem to clam up and go into a shell and allow the wounded opposition to fight back , its about time we went for the jugular . Ipswich pressed after Bailey limped off and we totally lost our momentum. A missed header by Youga allowed Walters to put in a great cross, which I think if Cranie hadn't sliced into his own net, the on rushing Ipswich forward would have had an easy tap-in. So after 34 minutes the score is 1-1 and you can guess how I thought this match was going to end. We dug deep and to be honest I was pleased to hear the half-time whistle. I needed to stretch my legs so I walked around the bar area and I noticed the pessimism and lethargy amongst the supporters -Strange atmosphere indeed. In the second half Semedo replaced Craine who I feel adds nothing to the team, so I was quite happy with his replacement, in fact I thought Semedo was the best player on the park in the second half. We rode our luck and just about deserved the second and winning goal from a great Darren Ambrose cross which was turned into his own net by Voltz on 60 minutes. A nervous 30 minutes later, relieved cheers rang out from the crowd as we secured a very important win . No need to say it but I will, we need to build on this result and a mightily relieved Pardew had this to say to the press "The pressure was on and when you have been manager of West Ham for four years, you get used to the pressure, but this week has been tough. Ive not been sleeping too well , but I can sleep well tonight"

Player Ratings

Weaver -7 More passionate than I have ever seen him -good game- good game as Brucie would say
Cranie- 6. Sorry, for me he adds nothing
Primus- 7 Better game, but he is just here to get fit
Hudson 9 Captain Fantastic
Youga 6 Sloppy sometimes, but should still retain his place
Ambrose 7 One of his better games -So much skill if only he would use it more often
Bailey 7 Missed him when he had to go off-Already player of the year
Zhi 6 Look as though he will need some games before we see his best
Bousazza 7 Busy game just don't think we have seen the best of him so far
Tordorov 7 I watched his game very closely and he played some very clever through balls which Varney didn't read
Varney 7 Made him self a nuisance and on the whole had a good game

Subs

Holland 8 Bloody great game-what heart
Semedo 9 Great second half-Pardew please play him more often

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

2008-09-28T14:50:00.013+01:00

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

2008-09-18T09:53:00.010+01:00

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

2008-09-17T10:41:00.000+01:00

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

2008-09-15T13:38:00.007+01:00

The credit crunch to hit some people hard

How Murray was stitched up by a reporter

2008-09-15T12:53:00.005+01:00

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

2008-09-15T12:38:00.005+01:00

It could be a long hard winter Charlton 1 Wolves 3

2008-09-14T14:44:00.003+01:00

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

2008-09-07T23:08:00.003+01:00

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

2008-09-06T19:44:00.003+01:00

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.

2008-09-04T13:10:00.004+01:00

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.

Feeling as flat as a pancake

2008-08-31T13:21:00.003+01:00

OK I do have a life outside of watching Charlton and on a Saturday night we are normally doing something, and I try not to show how I feel when Charlton lose, but I have got to say last night it was difficult not too. I was on such a high from last weeks great win against Reading that I thought we must put in a great performance at Preston. I was feeling very disappointed until I read Ketts report on Dr Kish
and how he traveled with his mates all the way to Deepdale, which is a difficult journey, only to see Charlton put in a tepid, totally indifferent , basically crap performance. My disappointment has been put in perspective-What must they have felt like on the journey back to South East London
Ketts and friends and any supporter who made the trip - I salute you.

A missed opportunity

2008-08-29T10:40:00.000+01:00

Its looks as though Zheng Zhi will be a West Bromwich player before the transfer deadline closes on Monday. One of the first comments from Richard Murray at the Bloggers meeting about ZZ was "we all know ZZ plays too much football" his second comment was "he is desperate to play in the Premiership. We have rarely seen the best of ZZ and when he first arrived he was thrown into the lions den with a fierce and frantic relegation battle in the Premiership that tempered his natural flair and skill . In the Championship he is too easily hustled out of a game and with no protection from a hard tackling midfield player he simply fades . Typically it now looks as though Nicky Bailey is the sort of player who could protect ZZ and allow him to play the sort of game we all know he is capable of. In a good Premiership team I think that ZZ will flourish and become an exceptional player. Alas it will not be in a Charlton shirt and probably not in a West Brom shirt as they will surely struggle this season but I'm sure they will undoubtedly capitalize on ZZ marketing potential which I feel we failed to do . The Hawthorns will suddenly see a lot more Chinese supporters attending home games.
.

The feel good factor and the Yorkshire Moors

2008-08-25T09:26:00.014+01:00

The Beautiful Yorkshire Moors at Lastingham with the heather in full bloom.

A lot of my other-half relatives live in North Yorkshire, about 50 minutes from the Yorkshire Moors to be a bit more precise. Hull city is the nearest football team , and on several occasions on our latest visit the football supporting relatives really enjoyed rubbing salt into the wound as they gloated on Charlton's relegation from the Premiership and their promotion to it. It has been noticed and written about the increase in productivity in the area, when the local team is doing well and at the moment productivity has never been higher.
After Charlton's great victory on Saturday my productivity increased, as I emptied the dishwasher twice in one day.

Fantastic, Brilliant, Unbelievable- over the top no way Charlton 4 Reading 2

2008-08-23T17:16:00.003+01:00

Having just got back from my annual holidays visiting relatives in North Yorkshire, I felt a certain trepidation as I walked/ran through Charlton Park on my own. These blasted 12.45pm kick-offs really push me and my tennis into an early morning start, a quick shower and a couple of pints of Whitstable ale in the clubhouse, then a mad dash to the Valley which meant I still missed 10 minutes of the first half. Well folks, it was all worth while as this early afternoon I witnessed one of the best games I have seen at the Valley for at least 5 years. Where as we slaughtered West Ham 4-0, in this game, with the help of one of the most controversial and inept Referees I have ever seen at the Valley, kept an average Reading side in the game with some very bizarre penalty decisions. It made the game very exciting and Sky must surely be very happy indeed, but if we had not won this game it would be one of the biggest travesties witnessed at the Valley. We looked well balanced from the start and Nicky Bailey looked as though he has been playing for Charlton for many years -His home debut was actually better than Hudson's and that does take some beating. He controlled the midfield, looked strong, a great passer of the ball and looked like the player we have been missing since Kinsella and Parker left us. This was a great team performance with all the players fighting for each other, which I did not always witness last season. Pardew seems to prepare his teams very well for the big matches, but we seem to fail against so called lesser teams, this needs to be addressed. After dominating the first 25 minutes we finally broke through the Reading defense after a great move and a Varney shot which was parried by Hahnemann into the path of the ever youthful Holland, who could not miss from 3 yards. With Charlton still dominating, a rare Reading attack led to an innocuous challenge by Moutaoukil on Doyle and the Referee giving a very dubious penalty. Fortunately and deservedly so Doyle missed the penalty by hitting the bar . Great cheers around the ground as Charlton were later awarded a penalty when Varney was pushed in the box, this led to great protest from the Reading players and management but this did not hamper Gray, who tucked away a well taken penalty. Of course, as it always seems to happen, Charlton could not hold out until half-time and a comedy of errors led to Reading undeservedly so, snatch one back just before half-time. As I hadn't had time to eat, I was so hungry I reluctantly bought a Hot-Dog, which actually wasn't that bad. The crowd were in high spirits and the game must have been a Sky reporters dream as the first half was so pulsating. The second half started as the the first half left off and actually became more end to end. A deep cross led to Weaver punching the ball away, but bizarrely the Referee pointed to the spot . The crowd went crazy, the players went crazy, the manager went crazy and I just held my head in my hands as I couldn't believe the decision, but even worse was to follow as Weaver made a great save from Hunts penalty and the ground erupted in jubilation, which soon turned to despair as the referee pointed to the spot for the penalty to be retaken, Weaver was adjudged to have moved before the kick was taken. (99% of keepers move before the ball is kicked )The crowd could not believe it as Hunt neatly tucked away the retaken penalty. Injustice was all I could feel. Thankfully with Bailey running the Midfield along with Holland our heads did not drop and Varney with a great header deservedly put Charlton in front. even better was to follow when the ever improving Bouazza scored a magnificent fourth with the sort of volley which will have already won him goal of the season.
Great game and if we can continue to play like this at home and improve away, we must surely be one of the favorites to go up.

Weaver 9 Looking slimmer and sharper than I have ever seen him
Moots 8 Great faultless display
Basey 8 looked very comfortable and strong
Fortune 9 Best game for ages and even passed liked David Beckham twice
Hudson 8 Very solid
Sam 7 Played well but can give so much more.
Holland 9 Ran himself into the ground great display
Bailey 10 10 says it all player of the match
Varney 8 Ran and Ran and so deserved his goal
Gray 9 Held the ball up well and his best game so far in a Charlton shirt
Bouazza 9 Played better as the game went on fantastic goal

Referee 0.5 What a wally
Pardew 9 Got it just right

Crowd 9 Really got behind the team especially after the dodgy penalty decisions

Coming to terms with reality and the Olympics on HD-Fantastic

2008-08-16T14:30:00.006+01:00

I'm in a time warp
Its official, after seven years of punching above our weight our financial and football status is probably in the position where it should be. One big advantage of being in the premiership for all those years is, it has enabled the club to build a ground to be proud of and a fan base that is one of the strongest in the Championship. We have, or I have been living the romance and illusion that Charlton Athletic football Club is just that, a football club we passionately support on a Saturday afternoon, but in reality, it is of course a business that Directors pump money into in the hope there will be a financial return on a successful football club. The Directors, especially Richard Murray has pumped the majority of his fortune into the club and I think his heart ruled his head as we all lived the dream, but relegation and failure to regain premiership football has been incredibly traumatic and Murray has pulled away from the precipice just in time. Never again will money be pumped into the club as it has been over the last ten years-once bitten twice shy, unless the Board can find an overseas benefactor which it is actively seeking. My support for the club is stronger than ever at the moment and I feel as though I am in a time warp, a bit like that great series, Life On Mars, where the main character DCI Sam Taylor after being hit by a car gets mysteriously transported back to the seventies, 1973 to be precise.
Of course we have made great strides since those Dickensian days of the 70's where you felt that if all the 4,500 fans attending an average home game had brought a bottle of weedkiller to use on the terracing it might just have killed all the weeds growing there. The reason my support for the Reds is so strong is because I seem to have a lot more time to dedicate myself to the cause, as I did in the early 70's when I was Mortgage free, Debt free and a married life with children was a long way off. The kids are grown up and it is time for us to join the S.K.I.
club.
Come on you Reds
Watford 1 Charlton 2 (Gray, Varney)

The Olympics

What a pleasure it has been to watch the Olympics, especially on BBC High Definition.
The games have been very watchable and it nice to wake up at 7am and catch an hour or so before work. Watching in Hi Definition you experience the feeling of being there and the sound is so superior to ordinary digital TV . It wont be long before all TV is in HD.

A Good Win But Can Do Better-Charlton 2 Swansea 0

2008-08-09T21:05:00.001+01:00

Why Mark Hudson is not playing in the Premiership is a bit of a mystery to me as his performance at the heart of Charlton Defence today was near perfect. Swansea came to play football and I think they achieved that but there neat approach play was ruined by some woeful shooting.
Charlton started brightly and after only five minutes Hudson headed a great goal majestically from a good corner by 26 old Shelvey . Ok according to the Programme he was born in 1982 but on the pitch he could pass for 26. Its a match I find hard to report on , we were neither good nor bad but the one big plus is we now look solid in defence and we can now build on that. After Swansea had their Captain dismissed for a second bookable offense Charlton had a lot more space and the result was never in doubt after Gray headed a second from a great Basey free kick. All in all we cant complain and as the title suggests a good result but a lot of hard work required.

Defence 9

Midfield 6

Attack 6

Come on You Reds

2008-08-08T00:01:00.001+01:00

This is it folks

Some very good Blog articles being written at the moment by New York Addick and Drinking During the Game thus making it very difficult to add much of value to this blog entry, but as my wife often says to me, you always have something to say even if it is a load of crap.
Mixed emotions at the moment -do I become all gung-ho and declare that Charlton will walk the league because we have a smaller squad, which means the team will almost pick it self and the players will learn to play as a team, unlike most of last season.The stars of the future will flourish and everything will be hunky-dory at the Valley.
More realistically Charlton will be in the top half of the division, but not really challenge for the promotion places and have an outside chance of a play-off spot. Anyway I'm looking forward to Saturday and I hope I will be happy in my new seat-please not let me be next to a bunch of whingers .
If we fail to make it back to the Premiership this season, then I do fear we will be a middle table, typical Championship club for many seasons.

Luke Young to Villa.

Looks like Luke Young is on his way to Villa, to the dismay of the majority of Boro fans. Some have written in to 606, saying that he was their most consistent player last season. Luke Young , although not a dynamic player, was always Mr reliable and did an excellent job over his last two seasons for us. I wish him well for the new season.

Mamma Mia I liked it- God I'm getting old and soft

I have never been frightened to show the emotional and if you like the feminine side to my character, but even I had to be dragged screaming to Bluewater on Sunday evening by my wife to watch Mamma Mia . The meal before was compensation and as the titles began rolling I thought how long before I can get home and have a couple of cans. To my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed the film and allowed the Abba music, the Greek scenery and pure syrupy corn wash over me. One hour and forty minutes just relaxing and thinking about nothing Charlton-pure bliss.

This doesn't sound too good

2008-08-01T12:33:00.005+01:00

Pardew is not happy and has talked about his displeasure to BBC London 94.9 . Is this the start of a split with the Manager and Board. Is Pardew one of the highest paid at the club and far too costly . I have sympathy with both parties and the Board especially Richard Murray has supported the club financially through these incredibly difficult times. Its unusual for a manager to openly state his unease with the budget and target he has been set by the Board. We need unity more than ever and I am feeling rather apprehensive .

Selling the Crown Jewels-Well almost

2008-08-01T10:15:00.006+01:00

Are we going backwards rather than forwards

Why oh! why do I feel we are going backwards rather than forwards-oh sorry we have plenty of forwards and not much backwards. If there is anything positive about our current predicament its the expectation factor, its now down to a realistic level, actually it could be on the verge of being pessimistic, probably a good thing, maybe! - certainly if it takes the pressure off the players, especially at home, where I thought you could cut the tension with knife at the majority of home games.
Pardew needs to hold out his cap to some of the top Premiership clubs and look to bring in young players with truly great potential who just need to get experience and games . There must be several players at Arsenal and Chelsea who fit the bill. Yes I do think that Championship clubs now act as feeder clubs for the elite premiership and what could be better than having your reserves play in the 4th strongest division in the world, or is it the best supported, going on last season I think its the latter.

All but three of the Crown Jewels left from 2006/07

OK we never saw the best of Bougherra but potentially he could have been not only a great centre-half but one of the most dominate players in the Championship-oh well we will never know, but I think he will do very well in Scotland as SPL plays to the same standard as the Championship.

Players gone of worth since the dreaded relegation

Hermann Hreidarsson -Had a great season with Pompey
Chris Perry -Player I really admire and had another season left in him
Darent Bent -Best purchase Curbishley ever made as Charlton Manager
Luke Young -Underrated by the Charlton faithful
Andy Reid- I was wrong, we did miss him after he left
Magic Bougherra - How good, we will never know

Players left of any worth -I'm going to get shot down here

Zi Zheng - Again we have not seen the best of a player far more suited to the Premiership
Value £4 Mill
Jerome Thomas -We all know what he can do but he is now at the last chance saloon Value £2 mill
Darren Ambrose Ditto

So nine players mentioned, lets hope the top six names can be replaced this season by new up and coming stars worth just as much.

15,001 it could have been 15,002 but unlike Frankie I failed

2008-07-29T09:55:00.017+01:00

I think I'm 15,001, but my son has changed his mind at the last moment .

There you have it, I renewed my season ticket late Friday afternoon and as I am a late subscriber I will be sitting in a new seat, but at least I still managed to grab an aisle seat which will enable my long lanky legs to stretch out on moments of boredom.
Last season, on occasions my son nagged me to take him to the Valley, so to keep him happy this season I suggested a Charlton under21 season ticket . Oh! how things change, my son now has a girlfriend who understandably comes first in almost everything he wants to do, so after having suggested that I would subsidize the purchase of a season ticket he boldly asked me " thanks Dad for the season ticket offer but my girlfriend would really like me to learn to drive so instead of the season ticket, could you pay for some driving lessons . OK I thought good idea as I'm going to save some ££££ and the sooner he learns to drive the better for us because it can be a right royal pain in the bum, when he asks for a lift at 1 am .
So yesterday I passed the BSM shop in Bromley and read the big sign saying book ten lessons before August 10th and get 10% off- or something like that, so yep I went in and enquired . Not only was I persuaded to book 10 lessons but also 6 lessons on a simulator which when explained would really save you loads of dosh as your son will be ready to drive straight away on his first lesson. Total cost for that lot was £325.00, shoot there goes any chance of saving money.

Bougherra to go Zi Zi next

Pardew seems a little pissed off and who can blame him . At the bloggers get together Mr Murray said that ZiZi is desperate to play in the premiership and I am surprised that there has not been a descent offer from a top six premiership club. ZiZi has massive marketing potential and possibly the biggest in the world, he is a national hero in China and if he was to play for one of the top six premiership clubs they could double their support overnight and television rights could bring in millions.
Why do I fear that we will become a Norwich or Ipswich - well supported but unable to build a squad good enough due to financial restrictions .

Mexicans love the Premiership

The other Sunday we met some people from Mexico and of course the conversation got around to football . Apparently the English Premiership is watched by millions of Mexicans on Sky TV and the top four have massive following. My question was if that is the case why are there not more Mexicans players in the premiership and to my surprise the reply was- Mexican players are the highest paid players outside of Europe .

Come on you Reds

We need that midfield player-Lisbie signs for Ipswich

2008-07-19T12:00:00.004+01:00

Lisbie signs for Ipswich

Hot news -Kevin Lisbie has signed for Ipswich Town-so be prepared for Ipswich to score at least once against us home and away.

Where is that allusive dynamic midfield player

Ok we look as though we are getting rid of the dead wood although I think Chris Iwelumo had a great start to last season when the team was playing well, but faded as most players did towards the end of the season. Personally I think we should have kept him as he always gives 100% and is an alternative when things are not going according to plan. At the moment the negative side of me is rearing its ugly head with the season nearly upon us the squad does not fill me with confidence.

Plenty of Mussels in Brussels

Just arrived back from Brussels after a very enjoyable short break and I really must recommend traveling by Leisure Direct Eurostar . In two hours from St Pancras you are in the centre of Brussels and with a nice meal and wine included, great seats, the journey makes you wish that all travel could always be so effortless and painless. A day in Brussels and a day in picturesque Bruges makes for the perfect short break.
Trouble is I hate mussels and every open air restaurant was serving their National dish.

Bromley are on the up/ Danson Park Outdoor Pool

2008-07-08T14:10:00.014+01:00

Bromley are on the up

According to my tennis friend who is a season ticket holder at Bromley, the club is being financed by a so called benefactor which has enabled the club to buy several professional players of a high caliber at Conference level and keep them on a professional contract.
Definitely high hopes for next season and promotion is a must rather than a possibility so Conference South proper it will be. If Goldberg had not mysteriously resigned after about 10 games of last season the club may well already be there as they were going great guns at the time. Goldberg is back and expectations are high.
Bromley really is my local team as I pass the ground everyday returning home from work and I have actually played there four times in cup-finals. My mate who I played tennis with on Saturday is expecting a Charlton reserve side out tonight but after seeing the squad I think he may well be pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately/fortunately I am involved in a home tennis match tonight but if the wind is blowing in the right direction I may well hear the crowd.

Uxbridge Lido saved -Danson Park Open Air Pool -Dead and Buried

I was born in Hayes, Middlesex, being a suburb of North West London, which is next to Hillingdon and Uxbridge. One of my very first memories as a four year old is being taken to Uxbridge open Air Lido and having the time of my life splashing in the kiddies pool. After that I was a frequent visitor and as I got older my dad in the summer school holidays would drop me off first thing in the morning with my older sister for the day and he would pick us up on the way home from work. Oh what bliss! come rain or shine, with not a care in world we would spend almost the whole of the summer at the lido. My mum would prepare a packed lunch of sandwiches and squash and a daily allowance of 3d to buy a Wagonwheel at the Lido shop. By the end of the summer we were as brown as berries and quite proud of it as skin cancer hadn't even been thought of and sun cream was totally unnecessary (how misguided we were)

Uxbridge Lido

This Grade II listed lido was built in 1935. This is the only remaining example of a 12-sided 'star' swimming pool in the country and, at 220 feet, is the second longest open air swimming pool remaining in London. It has now been saved and over £50 millions pound is being spent on total refurbishment with an additional leisure centre and Olympic pool.

My dad who was a Civil Servant had the opportunity of a promotional transfer to Woolwich Arsenal, so the whole family including a very upset ten year old had to up sticks and
not only leave some great friends behind but was never to visit Uxbridge Lido again. Sidcup, Kent was to be where our new life began and to my surprise I settled pretty quickly, greatly helped by discovering Danson Park and its fabulous outdoor pool and great fishing lake and of course my beloved Charlton Athletic. The summers again were spent blissfully larking around sunbathing and meeting friends and having cheap fun at Danson open air pool . Memories come flooding back of a freezing cold pool which always made us look for the chalk board on entry which gave that days water temperature, if it was over 70f, we cheered and thought that was blissfully warm, in fact the water was always bloody freezing and I have since found out that the pool, which was built in the 1936, was originally heated, but the boiler broke down in 1956 and was never fixed . On particularly hot days, if you did not arrive early enough you could be turned away which sometimes caused a bit of aggro with irate parents who may have queued for hours in the hot sun with their children. The diving board was fantastic because the pool was built on the highest point of Danson Park, this meant the view from the top of the board was breathtaking, your breath was certainly taken away when you plucked up enough courage to jump into the pool . The one thing that really sticks in my mind is the Danson pool had a mangle, which, as kids we thought was great fun putting our trunks through several times after getting changed. Sadly the pool closed in 1979, demolished and landscaped over.
Those were the days we walked, ran, swam, played football and ate what we liked and never put on an ounce because we burnt it all off-fantastic.

Real Tennis is back

2008-07-07T10:00:00.004+01:00

When I was a young man Wimbledon was something to look forward even though we struggled to get any English players past round one. Borg , Gerulailtis , Nastase. Conner's and McEnroe made tennis very watchable, exciting and Gladiatorial. After the mid-eighties tennis went through the doldrums with hardly any tennis played as the big serve ruled . Today my faith has been restored, surly the greatest men's final took place last night even surpassing the classic five setter with Borg and McEnroe . Even if your not a tennis fan watching Nadal and Federer battle it out for nearly 5 hours on a windy blustery day playing unbelievable tennis would surely of grabbed your attention.
Fantastic match with never a dull moment. The right person won and it was just great to see a very sporting Federer hug Nadal at the end. No wonder Wimbledon is still the best tournament in the World.

Murray suffers from the three O's

2008-07-03T08:59:00.005+01:00

Murray

Ah! Murray- what a shame, last night he played a bit like our National Football team did against Croatia at Wembley , clearly he was suffering from the very painful condition the three O's.

Outplayed, outclassed and overawed.

Nadal

If Nadal does not win Wimbledon this year then he must be considered one of the biggest underachievers in the game. He played with a ruthlessness last night that I have not seen before. He must be riding high from the his countries greatest football triumph winning Euro 2008.

Freak of nature-Federer

He is the greatest tennis player of all time and where does he come from, Switzerland the hot-bed of world tennis, its got to be a freak of nature.

Safin to cause a major shock

Hes beaten Federer in the US Open final and I predict he will beat him again on Friday to set up a Nadal -Safin Final

When your number is up (Murray what a winner)

2008-07-01T11:15:00.004+01:00

Spain 1 Germany 0
Funny how you find some matches disappointing when the analysis's point to the final being a good one. . The Germans flattered to deceive and really for most of the match outplayed, oh well the best footballing team won and my pre-tournament prediction was correct, although other predictions throughout the tournament were dire. Spain has gone football celebration crazy, just imagine what would happen here.

When your number is up

Listening to the radio yesterday there was a report about two air ambulances crashing in mid-air on their way to hospital killing 6 people on board both helicopters . Very sad but air ambulance crashes are not rare and on further investigation last year in the USA 84 people were killed involving air ambulances. Your number is up when you are saved from a potentially fatal crash only to end being killed on the way to an emergency hospital.

Murray what a winner

OK he is not every ones cup of tea but last night his match against the Frenchman Gasquet was the best I have seen for many years and for high drama its equals any football match over the last ten years. Unlike Henman, Murray does not come from a privileged background money wise and in fact his is rather tragic as luckily he missed being killed in the Dunblane massacre by being in another classroom which surely must have left some trauma . Murray attended one of Hamilton's scout camps before Hamilton
murdered 17 children a few months later.
Nadel is next and Murrays controversial drop shot might actually work against Nadel who plays mostly from the baseline.

Beauty and the Beast

2008-06-26T11:07:00.005+01:00

Germany 3 Turkey 2

Beauty-Football itself -what drama -passion -unpredictability

The Beast- Germany -they did not deserve to win but they have brute strength and mental attitude that gets results. Gawd don't you just hate them and admire them at the same time.

What a match and full credit has to go to Turkey who with virtually their second team, produced the sought of performance that against any other side than Germany would have meant a comfortable win. A quality show with skill pace and attacking play from the off- Oh how I wish the Turks had won.

Tonight Spain play Russia and as my predictions have been as disastrous as Charlton's home form last season Im keeping my prediction of a 2-0 Russian win to myself.

Its all about performing on the night

2008-06-21T23:29:00.011+01:00

Russia 3 Holland 1

Thank goodness justice was done with Russia finally winning 3-1 against an outplayed Dutch team.
It would be easy to say that Holland were flat and played very poorly but I would rather say the Russians, who should have won the game in normal time at least 3-0, played the sought of football that will leave every purist puring with delight. In my opinion, the Russians played the best football I have seen in the tournament, they played with flair, style and as a team which the Dutch failed to do. Here's hoping they go on to win the tournament.

Turkey 1 Croatia 1 Turkey win on pens

Although Croatia played the better football on the night they never really reached the heady heights of their previous performances. The match it self was very cagey and I think
some people might of found this game a turn off, I actually still found it fascinating and watchable just to see how a team of no hoper's can fight for the lives and in the end win through. Great equaliser from Turkey who really are the team that will never give up. Croatia needed to do more to warrant a mis -justice quote.
The underdog I wonder why I will always support them .

Romantic Sleighride

2008-06-18T09:10:00.002+01:00

Love thy Neighbour

2008-06-17T18:35:00.006+01:00

France v Italy

I'm so looking forward to this game and I'm predicting it will be the match of the tournament even surpassing the wonderful game the other night when Turkey scored three goals in fifteen minutes to overturn a 2-0 deficit against the Czech Republic.
I predict
France 3 Italy 2 , but Romania will spoil the day for France by beating a weakened Dutch team 2-0

What team does your husband support-Charlton! Oh well that's not so bad

My wife finally managed to meet our new neighbours opposite our house, actually not so new as they moved in over 4 months ago. The modern era eh! , the fact is my wife and I both work long hours and at weekends we seem to be busy doing the housework ( yes I do know how to switch the washing machine on and I do cook a mean Sunday lunch, ) playing and watching sport -that's me and shopping that's my wife, me patronising never, anyway she introduced herself to the husband who was gardening and a general conversation started (I'm shocked it has taken her 4 months) . All I know about them is that he and his son are fanatical Arsenal fans, they must be as the house has been named Gooners Lodge and there are a couple pennants on the windows, what is funny, a couple days after our new neighbours declared their allegiance, their attached neighbour filled their windows with Tottenham memorabilia. I'm just waiting for the punch up in the garden its bound to happen one day. Anyway back to our new found friends, after a few niceties my wife was asked tentatively what team does your husband support, probably praying that I wont be a Spurs fan. My wife replied, my husbands a mad fanatical Charlton fan who has a season ticket and goes to every home game and occasionally away, there was a big sigh of relief and the following comment - Charlton, oh well! that's not so bad. It transpires that he watches Arsenal home and away and often stays overnight in hotels with his son on long away trips -cant knock his dedication . So, I'm surrounded by Arsenal and Tottenham fans, what ever became of supporting your local team which for the area is Charlton and unfortunately the Palarse. Seriously folks he seems a nice enough chap and I'm sure we will get on like a house on fire when he comes over with his wife to our invite for drinks. I'm just wondering what reply he will give when asked the controversial question don't you think there should be some English players in the Arsenal team and if there are, wouldn't it make supporting them easier

I'm Loving my Tennis at the moment

Last night our 1st team vets went top of the table by beating Catford 4-0, and I don't mind admitting , that on grass it was one of my best performances. We now need to win our last two remaining matches to gain promotion to the top division- a division which is not unlike our football premiership . The top four clubs in Kent all attract membership of well over 700 players each, but my little humble club has a membership of 50, the great thing is on our day we can compete against them.
Sounds like Charlton a couple of seasons ago.

How could I get it so wrong-Euro 2008 fantastico

2008-06-14T15:41:00.006+01:00

Of course I was never going to be able to miss the Euros even if England failed miserably to qualify and I having declared my disinterest.-stupid boy-how wrong can one person be. So far this has been one of most entertaining and open Euro tournaments for years and long may it continue. Watching highlights in the evening and the odd live match has captured my enthusiasm again for the beautiful game. What I have or did not realise is that I have been suffering one almighty hangover from Charlton's dismal finish to the season. Well folks I'm back and I cant wait for the new season and I cant wait for the next Euro match . Surely the France v Italy game is going to be one almighty showdown with both having to win and even that might not be enough.
Holland , Spain, Portugal and Croatia have played the sort of football I love to watch and England now look like a million miles behind those teams in technique , vision and team spirit.
Bring it on -the next Euro match that is.

A great evening with Mr Murray

2008-06-13T13:40:00.002+01:00

An invitation for Bloggers to meet Richard Murray

Well folks I have to admit I was a little nervous on my journey from work to the Valley last night to attend a bloggers get together in the Charlton Boardroom and meet Richard Murray and Ben Hayes . Ridiculously strange visions of the Apprentice came to mind whereby Richard Murray would look me in the eye and say CND your fired, leave the room, or I would ask a really stupid question that would be met with mirth's of laughter and my face would be redder than it normally is after a bevy too many . Of course the evening was as far from those visions as you could get and we had a very enjoyable and informative couple of hours in the Charlton Boardroom with Richard Murray, Ben Hayes, Dave Roberts and a selection of fellow Blogger's . It was a privilege to be invited and it was great to meet up with fellow Bloggers Blackheath Addick again and finally meet Wyn Grant , other Bloggers included Kings Hill Addick, Drinking During the Game and All Quite in the East Stand. Several of us finished up in the Royal Oak to continue our discussions on the rights and wrongs of our beloved Charlton Athletic.

Richard Murray

Richard Murray has always come across as Charlton through and through, with the club and its supporters very close to his heart. Well folks I would like to reassure you that Richard Murray is one of most sincere, pleasant and committed people I have met and he is definitely the right man to take us back to the promised land, even if that promised land is not so attractive as it was with its top four domination and the rest having to settle as also- rans.

He spoke quite openly about many subjects -here are a few that are hopefully OK to share

Charlton Athletic PLC

Charlton Athletic Public Limited Company which I'm sure we are aware of is a business and has to be run on a tight financial budget which has become a hundred times harder after the dreaded relegation from the Premiership. My understanding is that the following financial year could see the club break even which will be a great achievement knowing how difficult football finances are.

Darren Bent

Although a large fee was received for Darren, after paying Ipswich Town its contracted sell on clause the money left although still very large is being paid at standard practice terms .

Alan Pardew

Alan Pardew found last seasons Championship surprisingly different and difficult from the last time he managed a club in that division and the mistakes he admitted making to the press and supporters will not be repeated next season. The failure of the club not to achieve promotion and criticism that followed really hurt him but I think he is definitely the right man for the job and I predict promotion next season.- Come on you Reds.

Andy Reid

Andy Reid loved playing for Charlton and liked living in London but Sunderland wanted their man and as Marlon Brando said in the Godfather" Were going to make him an offer he cant refuse."

The Future

The club are exploring ways to extend their already extensive overseas youth projects in countries with little resource. This a worthy project which I fully endorse.

The Team

There could be hope of Bougherra staying put, as his name was mentioned in a team line-up. It
might be that he is here for the time being.

Whats going on at the Valley

2008-06-12T15:59:00.004+01:00

Well I'm probably as surprised as anyone on the news that Paddy McCarthy has be transferred to the Palace . Hopefully I could find out more tonight and if I do I will report back tomorrow. McCarthy and Bougherra forged a good partnership and it was unfortunate that Bougherra received along term injury, ironically against the Palace. McCarthy never looked so assured after that although he was worth his place in the side and I was looking forward to the partnership of Hudson and McCarthy. Bougherra looks certain to leave having left Wednesday to play for us in the Premiership and I can understand the premiership is where he wants to be and who can blame him.
It could be a number of things, which may be explained later but I would not be happy if Fortune is to be his replacement.

Theory No 1 Hudsons arrival has upset MCarthy for some reason
No 2 Bougherra has decided to stay -unlikely
No 3 Halford is a about to sign and McCarthy does not get on with him
No 4 A fallout with the manager
No 5 Sodje is about to sign.
No 6 McCarthy has always wanted to play for Warnock who admitted that he has admired the player for over 5 years

Oh well its probably none of those, we may find out soon.

The Crying Game

2008-06-09T12:15:00.008+01:00

Euro 2008

It is still hard believe that England or any country from the British Isles will not be represented at Euro 2008. My interest in the tournament is equivalent to watching Match of the Day last season. Without Charlton being involved( even if the coverage on average was less than 60 seconds) makes Match of the Day watchable, only if there is nothing better to do. Hopefully as the tournament progresses a team classed as no Hope's similar to the likes of Greece and Denmark will emerge to defy all odds. Denmark were just magnificent winning in 1992, and they only made the tournament with a week to spare as replacements for war torn Yugoslavia. The final against Germany was one of the best I have watched and of course anyone beating the arrogant Germans in such style made it a double whammy. Greece were just the surprise package in 2004, probably even more so as there European pedigree was zero. They played to there strengths and deserved their success.
Greece may yet surprise in 2008 again, but Romania who apparently have a great team spirit get my vote as an outside bet. If my head rules my heart then I have to agree with Chicago - Spain with all its talent has to come good and win its first major tournament for more than 40 years.

Bougherra and Zi Zi

I'm afraid folks these two players will be on their way before the summer is out. Bougherra who was starting to show his true class in February, unfortunately during his magnificent performance against the Palace sustained a long term injury that possibly ruined our chances of automatic promotion. After Bougherra injury the defense became a liability again.
Zi Zi has a lot of skill and vision which I think is far better suited to the Premiership where players of skill are given more time on the ball, unlike the hustle and bustle of the Championship. We should receive a minimum of 3 million for Bougherra and over 4 million for Zi Zi with his marketing potential .

The Crying Game
Watched this film again the other night really is well worth hiring the DVD , with great acting from Forrest Whittaker and Direction from Neil Jordan -

The future is paperless

2008-06-04T10:15:00.008+01:00

Going Digital

Its happening now, there seems no way to stop it and I think I'm going to like it. (sounds like the beginning of a song) The world is going paperless which according to predictions made over ten years ago was always going to happen .
I'm a Director of a small independent publishing company, which incidentally has resisted several takeover bids from the big players in the Industry, is just about to launch a Digital version of its Jewel in the Crown Magazine (That's not the name of the magazine by the way). Presently the cost of getting our magazines overseas is extortionately high at £1.30 per magazine and really there is no margin for profit . We will be able to send as many issues as we like digitally via a PDF attachment to registered readers who have supplied their email addresses at a fraction of the cost and our magazines will reach every corner of the planet in an instant.
The savings are immense - printing, paper and postage costs will save our Company 50% of its overheads . This all sounds too good to be true and it probably is at the moment. There is a resistance from a large contingent who until recently I was one of them that think the only way to read most literature is on paper .

Carbon Footprint

Imagine how our carbon footprint would virtually disappear with no transport required, so no fuel used , no need to cut down forests even if the paper does come from a sustainable source which ours does , wouldn't be nice if the forests were allowed to return to their natural state rather than those ugly conifer forests and no need for recycling which is a costly business .

E Books
Anyway you maybe thinking what the hell has this got to do with me so here it is I purchased the Len Glover Autobiography by E: Book online (honest folks I'm not on commission that' s not the nature or purpose of this blog) which I wasn't even sure what that meant . After paying my £5.20 a link was sent which enabled me to download 380 pages of the book including many pictures in about 30seconds and with a bit of scepticism I started to read several of the pages . To my surprise it became easier as I went along and I'm am currently about a third of the way through the book if you can call it a book.
Reading the first few chapters in my opinion L Glover Auto is one of the most honest, interesting and controversial autobiographies I have read and I will write a full review once finished.

There we have it I'm converted a middle aged man who in the past would never consider reading a book from a computer is now doing that very thing, oh! how my son laughed at the fuss I originally made and he wont stop calling me a grey haired middle aged Luddite -what insults especially the grey haired one.

Could Mr Murray be interested

Digital football programmes - would it appeal -On match days our overseas contingent could download the programme via their laptops or E-Pads picture opposite at cost price or less . The club could save enough to be able to broadcast live radio again, which would really make all overseas supporters very happy , the Board must consider that one day a lot of ex-pats will come home and the club need their support.

Its much much harder for Pardew

2008-06-03T11:15:00.013+01:00

Football
Well the summer season is well and truly upon us and to compound things even more England are not in the Euros, so my enthusiasm for all things football is at an all time low.

Season Tickets
Do I renew my season ticket, or consider paying for match tickets which last season proved to be better financially . Friday is deadline day and as I have a hunch that next season will not only be very exciting and successful leading to promotion -there the optimism in me has started already, renewal it has to be.

Pardew -tough job

Looking back on previous promotion campaigns the managers of their day- Sir Lennie and Curbs had a number of big factors in their favour

1 The players they accumulated in their squads were a right motley crew of hungry, do or die young and old players, journeymen striving to better themselves -on salaries which would be considered a joke today .

Lennie had players like

Hard man Aizlewood , A hard man who could play football -we could do with him now
Honest George Shipley-Never stopped running Mr 100%
Mr perfect- John Humphrey one of the best full backs to wear a red shirt-did he ever put a foot wrong
Baby face- John Pearson He was very brave and great in the air
Ice Man- Mark Reid Mr Cool never looked flustered under pressure
Gunner Steve Thompson In a battle I would want to be on his side.

The Board -Survival in 85/86 was all it was concerned with -The supporters were just grateful to still be in existence

The team of Gypsies played with such determination they all seem to give an extra 10%

Carlisle United 2 Charlton Athletic 3 -Where were you
It is not always easy to remember where you were when great events happen in your life be they sad or joyful- The first man on the moon -Kennedy's assignation, England winning the World cup, The state funeral of Churchill -which incidentally really upset me, not because of the occasion for which my dad hugged me and said never mind he had a good innings, but someone decided Saturday Morning pictures should be cancelled as a mark of respect. Saturday morning pictures was very popular in the early sixties- no 24 hour telly in those days, for 3d old money, it was the highlight of the week. You wore your ABC cinema membership badge with great pride and if by any chance your birthday fell on a Saturday you would receive a certificate on stage and a free Jamboree bag full of sweets. We never knew of anyone getting on stage when it wasn't their birthday but I suppose it must have happened. Our parents dropped us off at 8am to watch Flash Gordon, Laural and Hardy, The Brash Street Kids and loads of cartoons in a packed Cinema. My Dad would collect us six and seven year olds outside the Cinema five hours later, sometimes he would arrive 30 minutes late, happy as Larry and smelling of cigarettes and beer. Everyone seemed to smoke in those days and secondary smoking had not been discovered and another thing, you could park your car anywhere in the high street without a getting a ticket . Those were the days.
Anyway back to Carlisle and I certainly remember where I was then. Unfortunately on the big day and because of my illustrious playing career on the local playing fields of South East London my club was involved in a cup semi final which eventually had to be cancelled because the referee failed to turn up- things like that happened all the time.
My girlfriend at the time had just arrived to watch me play when the cancellation was announced, so she quickly suggested we go to Selhurst park to watch her beloved Palarse. You may well ask how could you go out with a Palace supporter but my excuse was she was bloody good looking and also worked for the FA which enabled me to watch my only ever cup-final Liverpool 3 Everton 1 in the FA box directly below the Presentation area. My memory of that game was watching a young Lineker tear Liverpool apart for the first 20 minutes and score (for a big man he was quick) . Liverpool went on to achieve a deserved double.
At Selhurst the tension was unbearable- for me only that is, the match we were watching was a so meaningless the biggest cheer of the day was the tannoy announcement that Charlton were 2-0 down which was quickly corrected to 2-1 . The second half is a great entry in the Chronicles of Charlton history and because I was in the midst of Palarse supporters my celebrations were muted to say the least , but I certainly made up for them later in the evening. One last thing, how many Charlton fans in our moment of glory, the biggest match for 11 years, had to endure a match at Selhurst watching Palace.
Looking back I should have been at Brunton Park but I loved playing football so much and women can make you do some strange things.

Curbs
So much has been written about the side that made the play-offs but there were so many players with something to prove like

Hit Man Mendonca -So clinical
Home grown Rufus One of the best from the academy
Gentleman Jones Keith Jones so underrated
Ruthless Kinsella No prisoners taken always will be in my first eleven of all time greats.
Johnny Rotten Robinson Always played with an edge and a strop but so effective

For the Board and supporters all their dreams came true

Pardew

Expectations are so high now, we have been to the promised land and we want and expect to get back there next season -Pardews last stand.
Come on you Reds.

Its been painful but I'm looking forward to next season

2008-05-08T10:15:00.005+01:00

Well the agony is over and summer is upon us. My garden is looking splendid and my tennis is up and down a bit like Charlton's season.
As I have watched the majority of home games this season I thought I would put in order of merit the teams we have played at the Valley.
On my previous post re : Len Glover I received an e:mail some time a go from Steve Glover who had read on one or two of my previous posts how I admired Len Glover as a player and he told me about his autobiography. I volunteered to put a link on my Blog which he appreciated

Group one
Teams that came to play football and succeeded

No 1 Bristol City 1-1 -Played some great football in the second half and really should have won
No 2 Sheffield United 0-3 Tactically they did a job on us and as a lot of the press were saying at the time they should be a lot higher in the league. After sacking Robson they finished on a high.
No 3 West Brom 1-1 The only consistent team in the league and deserved Champions
No 4 Plymouth 1-2 Played very well at the Valley
No 5 Ipswich Town 3-1 Great match and if we had not had a magic spell of 20 minutes where I feel we played our best football of the season at home Ipswich could well have snatched a point.
No 6 Burnley 1-3 Played some very good football

Group two
Teams that were above average and tried to play some decent football

No 7 Wolves 2-3 They played some good football to start with but faded and Charlton should have at least got a point
No 8 Blackpool 4-1 Great game which could have been the reverse of the disastrous game at Bloomfield Road
No 9 Stoke 1-0 Played better than I thought they would but we played one of our best games
No 10 QPR 0-1 Typically they were just starting to come good
No 11 Scunthorpe 1-1 We could have won but they fought well for their point
No 12 Barnsley 1-1 Worked very hard
No 13 Preston 0-2 They were not great but solid we played absolute crap
No 14 Cardiff 3-0 For once we took all our chances-Cardiff at times played well
No 15 Sheff Wed 3- 2 Great match and Wednesday played their part

Group three

Simply teams that were not very good

No17 Colchester 1-2 They didn't have to play that well to win
No 16 Southampton 1-1 Dreadful Match
No 17 Watford 2-2 We should have won
No 18 Norwich 2-0 Easy win
No 19 Palace 2-0 How they have made the playoffs is a mystery
No 20 Leicester 2-0 Terrible performance from Leicester
No 21 Hull City 1-1 One of the most boring teams I have seen
No 22 Coventry 4-1 Missed the match but reports were not favourable

Lenny Glover-Autobiography

2008-05-05T18:15:00.005+01:00

Len Glover what a great favourite player of mine in my early days of supporting Charlton and I remember the great outcry of disapproval including my own when he was transferred to Leicester. Just ordered mine via this link ebook@lennyglover.co.uk

If Lenny had been playing today he would be gracing the big stage as one of the top Premiership players.

Who's laughing now-Certainly not me

2008-04-25T10:23:00.000+01:00

Incredibly busy at work trying to deal with my Company's year-end, the AGM and suffering some kind of depression on the outcome of this very disappointing season, has meant there has not been much time or incentive to write anything, but hey-ho life goes on- worse things happen at sea. Unfortunately there is one thing that is really getting my goat and that is the way we played the Palarce. The Chairman, the manager and the players approached both games as though it was a cup-final and their lives depended on the results -don't they know you need to play 46 cup-finals to get out of this poxy division. We played them the way Scotland play England- win at all costs and the Scots would rather beat England in a friendly than win the World Cup. If we had lost both matches 6-0 to the Palace, but still reached the play-offs it would have been fine by me. God how the Orange one must be laughing all the way to his private room at the Savoy .
There is nothing in this current team that suggests any sought of promotion push next season. We need to look in the lower leagues for up and coming players with something to prove, not Premiership has-beens. Curbishley brought some great lower league players into the club and a few went on to be legends.
Unfortunately I have to agree with Confidential the glory years may well be over, but
I'm in for the long haul so -Come on you Reds

Having just watched Dave Roberts of Charlton Forever (who does a fantastic job on the blogs-many thanks) on video, curiosity has got the better of me and I have been trawling the West ham blogs trying too find out more about Pardew and his so called misdemeanors which led to his sacking. Please e:mail me with any information. I'm a bit of a sad git really.

As the Hope Dies -What next ?????

2008-04-17T17:00:00.005+01:00

At least we managed to get to the last four games with something to play for and now the season is over I hope Pardew is making plans already for next season. If anyone has enjoyed this season, well good on ya as I'm as sure bloody well haven't. Our home form has been crap and only three games spring to mind whereby we have dominated almost the whole 90 minutes -Blackpool , Stoke, Palarce-the other games we have always looked vulnerable and got away with a win or a draw through the oppositions bad finishing.
Last Saturday morning after finishing a tennis match in the bar I got talking to the opponents captain who confessed to being an Ipswich fan and also just happened to be at the Valley when we defeated Ipswich 3-1. His opinion of Charlton and the fans- I just had to agree with. Firstly he thought the atmosphere was muted considering Charlton were 3-0 ahead, secondly he agreed we were brilliant for 30 minutes but after that Ipswich could and should have got something out of the game after hitting the post, bar and missing a penalty.
It is difficult for me to remember any other season where we have been so inconsistent at home, even in the dark old days the Valley was a bit of a fortress -Glover Peacock Hales Powell and many others always gave us hope and excitement , this season its been mostly as dull as ditch water. That has to change next season if we are to challenge for promotion.
Saturdays game was again a tale of two halves -first half crap after Randolph's slip up that basically stalled the bright start we made-the second half a lot better but still not as convincing as it should have been for a home team. A great turnout with the ground almost full and the home fans getting behind the team until everyone was stunned by the Southampton goal. For me goalkeepers should have a presence and command the six yard box or even further, be at least 6ft 1ins tall . James , Seamen , Banks and Jennings all have or had command of the box which gives the back four confidence , Randolph looks slight and under 5ft 10ins and under pressure looked vulnerable all afternoon. I'm sure he is a good shot stopper but so is Weaver who again is a goalkeeper who is a bit of a Dracula . This in my opinion, is the type of team we need for next season.

Goalkeeper -Weaver average season -You need a goalkeeper to be good to exceptional for promotion

Defense- We have the makings of a good solid defense with Moutakil, Bougharra, McCarthy
and Youga.

Midfield Keep Holland for experience -We must buy a ball winning young dynamic midfielder
and and stating the obvious a player with skill .

Forwards A Bloody Goalscorer.

The Trouble with Season Tickets and a bit of Friendly Banter

2008-04-11T10:05:00.008+01:00

Season Tickets

The trouble with season tickets is if you want to go with someone who can only go four or five times a season it will prove impossible to sit together. My son and a couple of mates from my tennis club have asked several times this season if its possible to come along to a match but with me having a designated seat it is not much fun sitting on your own - I may well enquire at the club if there are flexible seats for season ticket holders- mind you if we fail to gain promotion this season it may well not be a problem anymore . It could be like a half full cinema -Yes Sir sit anywhere you like.

Banter

The good thing about people who are supporters of the great game, it can be an easy way to start a good working relationship. I'm the buyer of paper for three or four magazines my Company publish and a couple of years ago I changed supplier . When we were negotiating a deal I happened to notice the supplier had a QPR key ring and it was a bit like you show me yours and I'll show you mine as we both held up our club key rings. Ever since then its been friendly banter either by phone or e:mail.
Here are a few recent examples .

Hi Paul

Here are your latest and very late reports! I will update these before
our visit on 22/04. It is close to the big game would you like me to
check the availability of tickets to make the much talked about visit to
Mecca?

Thanks & Regards

Ken

Hi Ken
Thanks for the reports-I'm up for a visit to
Lofty Road as long as we are not in the home end because its going to
be
very difficult for me not to jump out of my seat after every Charlton
goal.

Regards Paul

Hi Paul,

I will check out availability and see if we can get some nice seats next
to Jack the Knife, Phil The Gun and Stu the Sword, but trust me I won't
mention your allegiance...

I will let you know as soon as possible.

Thanks
Ken

Not the funniest of exchanges but it makes for an easy working relationship. Actually I think if we beat Southampton there is going to be a full house at Rangers.

Our Managing Director of our South Coast Office is a Southampton supporter and was hoping to come a long with me on Saturday but alas the season ticket gets in the way. I'm in a dilemma- do I renew or buy match day tickets on a regular basis for next season ???????????????

Tomorrows game

Charlton 4 Southampton 1 Lita 2 Iwelumo 2 attd. 25,621

Come on you Reds

Crazy Uk weather Just like Charlton

2008-04-06T11:48:00.004+01:00

On Thursday I was sitting in the garden with a coffee and it was 18c this morning its -1c and we have about 5ins of snow now.

Bloody Hell Plymouth 1 Charlton 2

2008-04-05T17:06:00.003+01:00

What are they trying to do to us- down to 10 men after 3 minutes -Weaver sent off -rookie goalkeeper- go 1-0 down after 60 mins then Lita scores two to win the match . We will all be saying its the hope that's gets you- well its all back on again. What a magnificent win and of course the dream is still alive -bloody hell. CND is stunned and if only if only- head in hands.
I have now had a beer and calmed down and my hands are not in my head. Could a miracle occur as I had already written this season off - everything has to go our way and you never know it could go down to goal difference .
Come on you Reds

Pardew Reads our Blogs

2008-04-01T08:40:00.013+01:00

What a surprise this morning when I opened my CND E:mail box, out of two thousand one really caught my eye. It was a long e:mail from our now suffering manager Alan Pardew. Apparently he came across my Blog by accident after volunteering to help a family member, who is studying a Degree course on the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament . He is helping he/she research on the Web and after typing CND on Google , my Blog came up. With all the Links on my page he has been reading quite a few of my favourite Blogs for sometime and is amazed how informative unbiased and well written they are. He is however very much aware of how things have not gone according to plan this season, but has assured me that he is here for the long haul . He is wondering however- how does he get rid of his horrible new nickname The Tinkerman .
He actually had a little joke with me about how NYA is being investigated for hacking and thought Chicago Addick ran a travel agency, as his traveling exploits are so well written and informative he is already planning to spend his summer/ sorry late spring holidays in the Windy City . He was very saddened to read of the demise of the Frankie Valley Blog until I advised him that Frankie had taken his Doctorate in Psychiatry and is now known as Doctor Kish. After that news , under anonymous he will be seeking therapy. He also thinks that Wyn Grant should become the official world ambassador for CAOD -Charlton Athletic Overseas Development because WG has surely visited every Country in World. He thinks all the blogs are great but did have one little criticism about mine which was to make sure to use spell check more often ! and maybe check up on that grammar.
Thanks very much Alan.

The agony and the ecstasy Charlton 2 Wolves 3

2008-03-30T15:42:00.002+01:00

Although it wasn't on the agenda but due to a late cancellation from a couple of good friends for a restaurant dinner date (maybe they read my Blog) I somehow ended up watching this match at the Valley. My wife said" you might as well go now as you've paid for your season ticket" Ha! Ha! This match had the whole season rolled into one. We played crap, we played with passion, the defence gave away goals, although Christmas was three months ago, we played fantastically well , scored two good goals and missed good chances . The crowd booed , the crowd cheered. There you have it, the whole bloody season in one inconsistent mess. The beauty of Football-no rehearsal, most of it spontaneous and a match like this explains why Football is the Worlds number one game.

The first half, we did not play well and visions or nightmares of the Preston game flashed before my eyes. The crowd booed as we struggled to put two passes together but at least we scored a very good goal from Halford after a great Thomas cross. Unfortunately we had already conceded a very well taken goal from Ebanks-Blake who looked menacing all match, although difficult to blame McCarthy but his major weakness was exposed, that being pace. In the last minute of the first half Wolves hit a post and the follow up was somehow put wide. What an escape and when I went to get a half-time drink the fans mood was filled with frustration . The second half began without Ambrose who is surly a luxury we cannot afford, being replaced by Zhi . Suddenly everything seemed to click and if Lita was match sharp he would have tucked away two one on ones with the keeper. Weaver was redundant and we at least enjoyed the second half as it was such a vast improvement and we were playing to something reaching the Palace pinnacle. Unfortunately there was a player, the sort of player who we have been crying out for and that is E Banks Blake . He somehow beat McCarthy at the byline and smashed a great shot from an acute angle into the top of the net giving Weaver no chance. All around me, the fans looked gutted and with 5 minutes to go the fans almost ran to the exit. Four minutes of added time stopped the exodus and a magnificent header from Lita who ran half way round the pitch without his shirt and skidded ten yards to end up in front of Pardew after scoring. More emotion than witnessed at The Royal Albert Hall on an Opera performance. Why oh why do we suddenly think we can go on to win this. Weaver got the ball the crowd shouted kick it and of course Wolves gain possession and from a deep cross score a winner in the last minute. Mick McCarthy and his motley crew understandably went Bananas.
The fans coming out of the ground shook their heads in disbelief and that's that I'm afraid. A very weak Championship and we fail to even make the Play-offs.
Roll on next season- I think.

Hands up all those who hate 5.20pm K-offs

2008-03-28T10:20:00.004Z

Another reason to get out of the Championship are these late Saturday afternoon televised games, which means I will have to miss tomorrows match against Wolves because of a pre-arranged dinner with some friends. Usually with a 3pm KO I can get back home by 6pm, which leaves plenty of time to go out for the evening.
Tomorrows game is an obvious must win one and I think we need to win a further three games and draw two to reach 71 pts, which should be enough to secure sixth place. The first season Curbishley was totally in charge was 1995/96 and we scraped into the play-offs in sixth place with 71 pts. A lot of frustrating home and away draws, twenty in fact meant we lost out on automatic promotion. For the record P46 W17 D20 L9 F57 -A 45 Pts 71
Players of note Bowyer, Rufus, Robinson , Newton, Balmer, and Leaburn who was top scorer with 9 goals.
Unfortunately we were knocked out by Palace(In the first half at home we should have been 3-0 up) who then went onto lose in the final to Leicester-I was so sad about that.
The team today has some similarities to the 95/96 team but there is one major difference being the midfield of Bowyer, Robinson, Newton and Robson/Nelson and the first three players having an exceptional season -Oh! for a midfield like that tomorrow.
If we fail to make the play-offs, which now seems likely I think we will all have to be patient because it took Curbishley three seasons to get it right and two inspired signings of Kinsella and Mendonca certainly helped.
Charlton 2 Wolves 1 Iwelumo , Varney
attendance 20,121, minus one disgruntled season ticket holder.

This has to be the most frustrating season ever

2008-03-25T11:01:00.004Z

The league nobody wants to win and the top teams losing to the bottom teams on a regular basis has made this seasons Championship either the most competitive in its history or the poorest and I'm going for the latter. West Brom and Bristol City are the best footballing sides I have seen at the Valley this season but I don't think any team in this division could live with the Charlton team who won the play-offs and the team that won the Championship -both of those statements pretty obvious I suppose. What is missing from the Charlton team has been written many a time on a Charlton Blog so one more time wont hurt- Ouch! it does bloody well hurt when you witness it on a cold Friday afternoon. Kinsella, Hunt, Mendonca and Robinson where are those type of players when we desperately need them. Pardew is the right man for the job but I think there has been far too much pressure on him, which has caused him to tinker with the team too often . Even after victories he has changed the team to counter the big physical teams which has never worked. The best performances I have seen this season was against Blackpool, Palarce and especially Stoke, who are proving to be a very difficult team to beat. I'm a great believer in keeping faith with a small squad of players maybe 16 or 17 barring a horrendous injury list so they can bond. Here is my team to start every match if possible

Weaver-- Not a fantastic season but certainly good enough to hold on to the GK jersey
Moutoukil-- Young and enthusiastic
Bougharra-- Injured Unfortunately but has started to show what he is capable of doing
McCarthy-- Could be player of the year
Youga-- Young and enthusiastic -bound to make mistakes
Holland-- Really shines in this Division
Zhi-- Great player but needs protection
Semondo-- Given a chance he could be a good player who could protect Zhi
Thomas-- The most gifted player we have if only he had the heart
Varney --Pace and needs time
Iwelumo-- We don't have any real strikers but I feel if we play Varney and Thomas wide and not pump the ball up to Iwelumo he could score more goals from crosses and he always gives 100%.

Who would be a manager eh! - I would with a Salary of more than a million.

Come on you Reds

You are my Charlton my only Charlton(Ipswich 2 Charlton 0)

2008-03-16T14:45:00.012Z

Its 2.45am and I'm waiting up for my son to come home from a night out because I know he's forgotten his keys and the thud on the down stairs window does'n'half make you jump when your in a deep sleep. My wife is away in Yorkshire seeing her Mum for a few days as its her Mums birthday and I actually volunteered to drive her to Kings Cross (they really are making a fine job of rejuvenating the old station and the marvelous St Pancras ) on a Saturday afternoon, that's how desperate I am to avoid traveling to Yorkshire, although to be honest my mother-in-law ain't that bad. Driving back through the City listening to Radio London, the live match was West Ham v Blackburn and as Blackburn took an early lead the commentator who just happened to be Bradley Allen -remember him, said we now have to go to Portman Road for an update and my heart sank as the first name mentioned was unfortunately an Ipswich player, after that I probably could have been arrested for road rage as the afternoon went from bad to worse . I'm not the sort of person to reminisce but just lately I'm finding it difficult not too. There are probably a few Bloggers and readers out there who have supported Charlton longer than I have but 42 years is along time by any stretch of the imagination and the strange thing is I can split those years in two. The first 21 years were without doubt for me, the most fun and carefree, probably because I could commit my self whole heartily to the cause and my expectations were so low as Second or Third division football was all I knew and crowds over 10,000, were an exception rather than the norm, the thought of anything higher was an unfulfilled dream . Then ironically without a ground , a meager budget and under the great leadership of Sir Lennie we made it to the promised land . After four seasons with Houdini escapes for three of those, we succumbed to relegation and a few years in the doldrums spent rebuilding, at least we had regained the Valley . (I so hated going to Selhurst but First Division football softened the blow. Then magically we somehow gained promotion via the play-offs and again the promised land beckoned - In our first season I thought we had a good team and lost several matches 1-0 and were unfortunate to be relegated . The next season in the First Division Sir Alan bought some great players and took a massive gamble on Dean Kiely paying just over a £ 1 million for his services . A great team went up as champions and this led us to the glory years with a further six seasons in the Premiership. So there we have it a tale of two-halves and now I look back to those early days and realise how far we really have come and although its hard not to have high expectations because of the latter years I must and will understand how hard it is to play and stay in the top flight and little old Charlton have been in the top flight for 11 years out of the last 21 . Looking back to the Championship winning team it is quite obvious several players hit their peak unlike this season unfortunately. Kiely , Powell, Brown, Rufus , Kinsella , Robinson , Newton and Hunt all had a marvelous season and most of those players, played over 40 matches. Hunt scored 24 goals with the other players all scoring over 6 goals each . Mendonca scored 9 in 19 matches until his unfortunate injury. What is galling this season is, if we had gained only 80% of the Champion winning teams points we would be top of the league, as after 38 matches we had amassed an amazing 88 points from 38 games -80% =70 points . This season there are only two players who come out with any credit and they are, McCarthy and Holland, the rest are having a very ordinary season. This league was definitely there for the taking, oh well-hey ho, worst things happen at sea and life goes on. There is always next season and I will definitely be renewing my season ticket, mad sad git that I am but what else would I be doing on a Saturday afternoon.-possibly shopping -now how quickly can I renew. Come on you Reds.
The Valley 1970

Gutted three times in one day (Charlton 1 Preston 2)

2008-03-09T09:01:00.006Z

Firstly my tennis match was cancelled, then due to circumstances beyond my control I left it too late to meet some overseas Bloggers and a few of the UK contingent at The Rose of Denmark and lastly the most god damn awful match I have seen at the Valley for yonks.
The Match
After a minute I could sense things were not right and it was going to be one of those days , Preston started brightly and after 30 minutes should have been 3-0 up instead of just 1-0. The first half was summed up very aptly when the tannoy announced there was to be 3 added minutes and a bloke behind me shouted "that's far too long". The second half was not an improvement and a great crowd of over 25,000 was stunned in to disbelieve at what was happening on the pitch . A lucky equaliser by McCarthy gave us some hope, but deservedly Preston got their second with the sort of goal that would grace any ground in the World.
Player Rating
Weaver 5
McCarthy 6
Holland 7
The rest 1
The Crowd 9 Just for turning up

A Bridge too Far- Charlton 1 Bristol City 1

2008-03-05T11:02:00.004Z

There are certain comments made by pundits and Managers of which there is one that I totally disagree with " we scored too early" meaning what exactly! take it back we don't want it. Last night for the first eight minutes we played some great football which resulted in a well taken goal by Ambrose . The faces on the Bristol players looked visibly shocked and if only we had kept the momentum going, who knows we could have gone in at half-time 3-0 up , unfortunately instead of going for the jugular we sat back and let Bristol back into the game and its a game they could and should have won. Certainly in the first half Charlton deserved to be in front as Weaver was a virtual spectator and if Thomas who had a great first half had not wasted a glorious chance on 45 minutes who knows how Bristol would have reacted in the second half. After the break and based on last nights performance City deserve their lofty position, with the sort of crisp short passing that is a pleasure to watch, although at times it was painful for Charlton fans . City pressed and troubled McCarthy and Sodji and an equaliser seemed inevitable and deservedly came after sustained pressure and from a great corner McCombe headed the ball into the net on 62 minutes. After the goal there was only one team who looked like winning the game unfortunately it wasn't Charlton. An enjoyable game which kept the fans on the edge of their seats .
We have to be realistic now and make sure we make the play-offs. Unless -Unless we can create a run similar to the last promotion crusade when we won 12 games on the trot

Come on you Reds.

Player ratings

Weaver 7 Safe and no chance with the goal
Halford 6 Funny game really didn't get going
McCarthy 8 Good game
Sodji 6 Struggled in the air
Youga 6 Below his high standard
Zhi 6 Anonymous
Holland 8 Best player for Charlton again
Ambrose 7 Reasonable game
Thomas 7.5 Great first half-Marked out of the game second half
Varney 6 Ran everywhere but didn't produce
Iwelumo 7 Lot of fans don't like him but he gives 100%
Gray 5 Really struggling but hopefully he will come good
Cook/Sinclair5 Do we need these type of players especially for the Play-Offs

Pardew Earns his Spurs.

2008-03-03T12:21:00.007Z

In my humble opinion, Sheffield United so far this season are the best team to visit the Valley after beating us with a superb tactical display 3-0 and there seemed only one direction for them to take and that was a challenging position for automatic promotion . My punditry is now in tatters and I'm keeping well away from any form of gambling establishments and predicting results as this seasons Championship is a punters worst nightmare , literally anyone can beat anyone and if there is any consolation, it has to be good for Football and the fans, although very painful at times if on paper your team looks a sure bet. (now there's a contradiction in terms) This years Championship is going to go to the wire and if any of the top eight clubs put some sort of consistent run together the coveted automatic promotion spot will be theirs.
Full marks to Pardew, he really earn' t his Bucks on Saturday because after the Blackpool result our season could easily have gone pear shaped -still can of course, but as all good managers do he rallied the team and the players he criticised so strongly like Halford responded magnificently. A nervous but optimistic CND is very much looking forward to attending the must win game against Bristol City who at one time spent a few seasons in the late seventies as a First Division club, so it will not be so strange for me, if they become a Premiership club.
Come on you Reds
My Prediction for tomorrow 1-0, 2-1, 1-1, 0-1, 0-2, 4-1, 3-2, 0-0, 1-3

Wells-Next-the-Sea Norfolk was a delightful place to spend a long weekend with some friends and a couple of mad Black Retrievers . A splendid converted Farm house was the setting for a great couple of days walking on deserted beaches -see photos below, and of course Saturday after an eight mile walk, it was heaven to be able to sit in front of a roaring log fire with beer in hand watching Charlton's great away win unfold on BBC Television.

Not many people on the local nudist beach

The trouble with the Championship and the rallying cry

2008-02-25T14:30:00.002Z

It has been said before, this years Championship is the most open for years and there is not one outstanding team in a very mediocre division. I get really pissed off when we lose, even more so when we are totally outplayed as on Saturday against Blackpool , I feel we should beat every team in the league and I expect us to do so. Totally unrealistic I know .
The Premiership is a different story as there are at least 12 games a season, an honourable defeat is acceptable. It really is galling when the rallying cry comes from the club and manager only for the players to let the fans down so badly, it seems to have occurred on every occasion.(the fans who travelled to Bloomfield Road have my utmost respect and the journey home must have been very painful.
I'm convinced the players try there hardest, maybe too hard, as there are added pressures from the expectant large away following. Please no more rallying cries, it doesn't work.
Bristol City , Stoke and Watford have peaked too early and we will streak through over the winning line with ten wins out of twelve.

Come on you Reds

Blackpool by the Sea

2008-02-22T16:45:00.007Z

Blackpool by the Sea - Once known as Landlady City in the 1950's, where holiday makers were ousted out of their Bed & Breakfast accommodation at 8am and told not to return until tea-time and if you were an unmarried couple you were separated to single rooms . Famous players- Stanley Mathews and Stan Mortensen remembered for the famous Mathews final when in 1953 Blackpool defeated Bolton 4-3, after being 3-1 down with 20 minutes to go, Mortensen scored a hat-trick. My favourite musician, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull started his musical career in the late sixties in Blackpool and obviously went on to greater things. My first match watching Blackpool at the Valley was in Nov 1967 when they defeated us home and away 2-0 and unfortunately for them lost out on promotion on goal difference finishing 3rd.(no play-offs then) My only memory of that game is Jimmy Armfield playing at right back and that was because he was in the World Cup winning Squad. Blackpool today is probably on par with a lot of coastal towns suffering from lack of development and does seem to be stuck in a time warp.
Tomorrow's game is make or break and I'm going for 2-0 win for the Addicks with Varney scoring twice.

Come on you Reds.

9 wins 3 draws 1 lose and we will be Champions

2008-02-18T12:14:00.004Z

Due to very late family commitments I was unable to attend the Watford game, which was very frustrating, but after reading the other bloggers match reports it seems as though the home fans were just as frustrated as I was . 2 points from a possible 6 has left us needing the best run so far this season from the remaining 13 games . 52 points at the moment if we win 9 draw 3 lose 1 our points total will 82 points which will surely guarantee automatic promotion.
There are no favourites in the play-offs and how many times have we seen a team finish third only to lose in the semi-final -cruel you bet. We must push on and believe that we will finish as Champions

Come on you Reds.

Ive Been Basking All Weekend.(Breaking news Dowie Sacked)

2008-02-11T10:45:00.000Z

After Friday night's wonderful result, I have the real feel good factor which is also being helped by the fantastic weather we are having. Saturday started with a good tennis match in temperatures that you would be happy with in early May, then some lunch in the club which was even more enjoyable than usual because there were several Palace supporters in the Bar . They were very honest, as they all admitted Palace were totally outclassed on the night and even went on to say Charlton must be favourites for promotion -kiss of death.
Saturday afternoon the nerves were jangling as I took my daughter for her first driving lesson, although she has had several with a qualified instructor . Did I say lesson, well it was more like an instruction to avoid cars, slow down and both of ending up more stressed out than when we first started. It is hard to believe how quickly time has flown and it seems just only yesterday she was starting infants school.
Sunday- still feeling great about our fabulous victory, a lovely walk in Tonbridge along the river in brilliant sunshine and a Chinese Buffet as a reward made for a great weekend.
As a weather anorak, this winter will go down as one of the mildest of the last hundred years narrowly beaten by last year. Spring has sprung at least six weeks early and blossom is already on the trees. We seem to have only three seasons now, Spring, Autumn and Summer -Winter no longer exists, but try telling that to Chicago who will have experienced temps. of -20c. New York is having a very mild winter similar to ours although naturally colder.
Back to Football or Tennis if you like , you break a service game at 3-3, unless you hold your own serve the previous game means nothing and this applies to Tuesday's match at Sheffield Wednesday, beating Palace great but lose on Tuesday and its the Play-Off's for us. Now where is that dye for white hair.
Breaking news Ian Dowie is relieved of his duties at Coventry. Got to feel a little sorry for the guy, as his street-cred is now zero.
Come on you Reds
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Charlton 2 (Gray, Holland)

Charlton 2 Palace 0-What a result

2008-02-09T00:36:00.000Z

What a fantastic result tonight and a well deserved victory, It would be easy for me to say that Palace are probably the worst team to visit the Valley this season, but that would be a great injustice to a great all round Charlton performance. We simply did not let Palace play and the possession stats surely will read at least 70% to 30% in Charlton's favour. This is the third home game now that Charlton have simply overwhelmed the opposition and Weaver has hardly had a save to make. I'm not going to harp on about the Scunthorpe result but how the hell did we lose to them. Trouble is I am going to be so disappointed if we dont achieve automatic promotion now . We have the squad, we certainly have youth and skill and hindsight is a wonderful gift but losing Reid however much a great player could be a blessing in disguise because Holland has suddenly become Captain Fantastic and is a revelation since his return from injury. There are simply not a enough superlatives to describe McCarthy's contribution tonight, let me just say his performance was magnificent.
Charlton should have been at least 2 goals to the good at half-time but the great thing is we were so much in control that my confidence of the final score grew and grew, so that any thing but a comprehensive victory would have been a travesty. We hit the post and at one time I thought we would never score but Varney sealed a great victory with two well taken goals. Come on you Reds

Weaver 8 Little to do but always looked comfortable
Youga 9 Great game and unfortunately with the consistent performances I fear a Premiership club may well come a knocking
McCarthy 9.5 Almost a perfect performance with distribution at top notch
Bougherra 9 Is this the same nervous player we saw at the beginning of the season
Halford 9 One of the best debuts I have witnessed at the Valley
Zhi 9 Simply awesome
Holland 9.75 What a game and led the team superbly
Lloyd Sam 8.5 Best game for ages
Ambrose 7.5 Lost position a couple times in dangerous postions but he will come good Im convinced
Gray 8 Still finding his feet but as a holding player its starting to pay dividends
Varney 9.5 Brilliant run for the second after a great Holland free-kick -run himself ragged

Pardew 9.9 What more is there to say -Got it right

The Crowd 8 Call me old fashioned but bating the Palarce just doesn't appeal to me but we got behind the team

Referee 8 Did well considering the cauldron of fire.
Footnote If we dont get promotion now- next season is going to be unbearable.

Come on you Reds-Bloody nervous or what!

2008-02-08T12:10:00.000Z

To be totally honest this is one game I wish I was elsewhere , maybe abroad in the Bahamas sitting by the pool with not a care in the world . In my dreams- this is one match we cannot lose and we can only hope that Pardew motivates the players as he did against Stoke definitely not Scunthorpe. Articles I have read about players before a big game its all about feeling right when you walk into the dressing room and every player has to be totally focused. Maybe a extra pint before the game will settle the nerves
Charlton 3 Palarce 1

Charlton are the most consistent team in the Championship

2008-02-08T09:55:00.000Z

Well its official Charlton are the most consistent team in the Championship unfortunately its for being the most inconsistent. Win one lose one its just goes on and the Scunny game really peed me off, which lasted a lot longer than usual after a Charlton defeat, it could be because the expectations were so high after the Stoke game . The way I see it we have made very little progress since the good start to the season. I have a very illogical way of measuring the requirements for an automatic promotion spot and its basicily how many more wins than losses and my calculations a minimum of 13 is required this season, meaning we would have to win 10 draw 5 lose 1 and with our consistency no chance .

A great professional performance Charlton 1 Stoke 0

2008-01-30T11:11:00.000Z

If only- If only we had played like this at the beginning of the season we would be 10 points clear by now. A great all round team performance and patience is definitely a virtue as the players and the fans needed an abundance of it last night. Great support all night and Pardew acknowledged it several times in this pulsating game. All the players deserve at least a 7 out of 10 rating and many deserve more. The statistics will surely show 70% to 30% possession rating in Charlton's favour as they dominated without punishing Stoke at the final hurdle, but thank goodness justice was done in the end. Don't get me wrong Stoke are a good physical Championship team but lack class which showed on the pitch and on another night they may well of snatched a point which they clearly came for with their early match time wasting. This Charlton team are the youngest I can ever remember and great team spirit is very evident . This match was massive for us and the after the final whistle blew Pardew jumped in the air and the players ran to Weaver to congratulate him, as a few minutes earlier he had made a fantastic instinctive save from Fuller at point blank range. A big credit due to the goalkeeper and the back four who stood defiant against a very physical Stoke team. If there is any criticism, we tried to walk the ball into the net with very clever play instead of having a shot when in good positions.

Weaver 8 For long periods of the game was idle but when called upon made two great saves in the second half.
Youga 8 What a player very confident a real find
Bougherra 8 Great game and rose to the challenge
Moutaoakill 8 Another great young player with bags of potential
McCarthy 9 Really settling down now and he could prove to be Pardews best buy
Sam 8 Tricky Dicky with the ball and gave the Stoke defenders a hard time
Holland 9 Along with McCarthy my man of the match -ran his socks off and his distribution was spot on.
Zhi 7 Good game but not at his best-Unlucky when his shot hit the post in the first half
Ambrose 7 Again a steady performance and looks more up for the challenge
Gray 7 Will take time to settle but will fill the Tordorov role very well. Missed a couple of good chances
Iwelumo 7 Tries and tries and won quite a few balls in the air
Subs
Varney 8 His pace made all the difference
Thomas 8 Held the ball up well when needed -He has so much class but does not always use his head.
Semondo 7 Must be hard for him as he is out of favour

The big game is nearly here

2008-01-25T12:53:00.000Z

First things first, Frankie' s gone and a great big void has been left . The obituaries for Frankie have been muted to say the least, as though he is just on holiday and will start posting again any moment . We still have the overseas contingent, but Frankie was the Number one Uk representative. Oh well he retired whilst still at the top .
Looking forward to Tuesday's game against Stoke and in my last Tennis match against Canterbury, whilst discussing football over lunch in the bar, one of their players confessed to being a life long Stoke supporter and as a kid watched Stanley Mathews . Bet there are not many of those about in the South East!
The big game for me is on Friday the 8th against the resurgent Palace and I'm hoping we will give them a right royal bashing -on the field that is, not on the terracing. Where I live and play tennis there are number of Palace fans and they have been giving it large, so please Charlton, do to Palace what we did to West Ham last season.
Free weekend and its a pity we are not playing Peterborough, but promotion is our main priority.
The sun will be shining on Saturday and an early morning game of tennis will set the day off nicely.
Fantastic results in the Australian Open over the last couple of days and the women's final looks very interesting with the best looking girls on the circuit playing each other. Lobs will be at a premium when you consider Sharapova is 6ft 2ins tall and Jankovic is over 6ft 1ins.
Finally Federer has been beaten on a hard court by Djokivic the no 3 seed who will now meet the unseeded Mohammed Ali look alike Tsonga

Come on You Reds

Faith restored -bloody brilliant Charlton 4 Blackpool 1

2008-01-13T02:59:00.000Z

Great afternoon and what entertainment and that's why I pay my hard earned pounds to watch a great game of football . A big thank you to Blackpool and its supporters, who came to play open football and also supported the one minute clapping for the Charlton faithful who died last year. It was brought home to me at half time when I heard someone in the queue for a drink say to her friend " I started to cry because a work colleague's name came up on the list but laughed when someone next to me said thank goodness my names not on the list".
The match, the best I have seen this season and the most enjoyable. Pardew what a great bloke, after Charlton went 2-0 up he waved to the North Stand to acknowledge the drummer who had been beating it from the off. If we can build on this then the future is bright .
The team today looked young fast and enjoyed their football, the spirit looked the best all season. Charlton's play was fast and furious and they created several chances before Bougherra's majestic header from an Ambrose corner. The second was a great finish from Varney who ghosted into the box. Burgess scored a magnificent goal for Blackpool from a 20 yard volley to make the home fans nervous before Zi who had a fantastic game scored a third from a scramble in the box. 3-1 at half-time a fourth was needed to make us all relax and Zi dully obliged after a |Bougheera header came back off the post. After a few scares in the Charlton box we strolled it and should have scored at least another two goals . Blackpool never stopped attacking which made for a great open game of football, which could have easily ended up 7 -4 .
Footnote: It was great to see the team play so well without the influential Reid.
Optimistic for the final push- you bet I am.
Come on you Reds.

Weaver - 7 No chance with the goal and overall had a good game
Youga - 9 The crowd love him and Im not surprised what a confident and stylish performance
Bougherra 8 A good game and looked dangerous at free kicks and corners.
McCarthy 8 I like him and hopefully he can cement his place in the team.
Moutaouakil 8 Fast and great on the ball
Holland 8 Did not put a foot wrong
Zi 9 My man of the match -was everywhere and scored two good goals
Ambrose 7 This guy has class but does not use it enough
Sam 6 A bit disappointing
Varney 8 The best game for Charlton so far
Mcleod 6 Tried and tried but lack finesse on the ball
Subs all 6 Thomas Dickson(who has great pace) Iwelumo
The Ref 9 Let the game flow
The crowd 8 Responded well to Pardews supposed dig.
Come on you Reds.

New Year Blues and the FA Cup

2008-01-06T12:05:00.000Z

New Year has left me feeling a bit flat, which could mean a number of things, No 1- Charlton struggling No 2- Heavy work load producing year-end management accounts, which can be good or bad, 50-50 at the moment . No 3- more likely
its the weather, as I selfishly love cold frosty weather with a bit of snow thrown in, but alas our weather now is mild, damp and dark, unlike these pictures taken 21 years ago in the depths of Kent. Two and half feet of snow with 20 foot drifts fell on the North Downs and many villages were cut off for a week, even Central London reported a minimum of -9c . Hey ho, those were the days when men were men and winters were real -Blast Global warming. Chicago- as reported by Chicago Addick has just received record snow falls for December and the large city does not seem to come to a stand still, unlike London when it receives 2" of the white stuff.
Charlton 1 West Brom 1 FA Cup third round.
My excuse for not going yesterday was to to play in a Kent Vets tennis match and enjoy sitting in the bar afterwards listening to all the FA Cup news as it unfolded. When Charlton were in the premiership I really got excited about the cup and dreamt of great Cup runs as it was the only competition we had a small chance of winning, alas it never really materialised even when playing lower league clubs. Anyway the only interest I have now is Charlton getting back to the premiership. By all accounts it was not a bad game yesterday and Keily kept his ex-colleagues at bay most of the match. (why do ex addicks want to prove a point so much, did we treat them that badly!) Dickson could have become an instant hero but missed a sitter. The result nobody wanted and West Brom are favourites now to progress.
Real football starts next Saturday and a home win against Blackpool is an absolute must.
Come on you Reds.

A short personal end of year review

2007-12-29T11:29:00.000Z

Well I was going to write an extensive personal end of year review but really didn't have enough to write about apart from
1 Being in the Championship is bloody painful
2 TV and press coverage is crap
3 The team is not good enough by a country mile
4 The standard of the Championship has actually surprised me
5 There are far too many matches
6 Its nice trying to play pretty football but for gods sake we need to get out of this division
7 The jury's out on Pardews purchases
8 22 matches left and for automatic promotion we need to win at least 15 of those
9 The Premiership is the only place to play
10 I must keep remembering where we came from- constantly.

The first part of the season has been a roller coaster and the big plus for me has been reading all the Charlton Blogs regularly and meeting some of them at Legends and realising how great the majority of Charlton supporters are.
Have a fantastic New Year
Todays result Leicester 0 Charlton 2 Varney Dickson

Charlton Rugby league1 Hull Kingston Rovers 1

2007-12-23T00:29:00.000Z

Well , after a great Bloggers lunch, the best so far and to discover Sam Lloyd really is a girl who knows how to throw a G string around, the supposed highlight, the match, turned out to be the party pooper of all time and disappoint everyone.
What a damp squib the match was . Charlton never looked like winning, the only crumb of comfort I can find, McCarthy is a player that will fill a defensive gap and provide some sought of reassurance for the future. A sad indictment is the best player on the park is a first half substitute.
The fans tried to motivate and a good attendance of over 22.000 deserved better.
Head football with more drop kicks that the average rugby league match is the best way to describe today's proceedings .
Hull looked more like the home team and their keeper did not have to make a save all match, so a draw was all we deserved. The plonker of all time has to be Mills who looked as though he was looking for an early Christmas holiday from the start, as he never stopped verballing the referee . Here are my marks out of ten not five.
Weaver 5 Some good saves but really does fail to inspire when dealing with crosses a bit like Dracula. (bet you've never heard that one before)
Powell 5 As professional as ever and was furious with Mills but as ever the nicest bloke in football gave him a hug as he trooped off.
Sodgi 5 Injured very early and on his way back to Reading via the dressing room. Certainly gave a 100% in his time at Charlton.
McCarthy 8 Played well
Mills -1 Such a stupid iriot and spoiled a good relationship with the fans who booed him as he waved goodbye.
Bouugherra 6 Did Ok and scored the equiliser
Holland 5 Tried his best but hes not the answer
Ambrose 2 Was he actually playing today, he might as well not have been, so frustrating.
Zhi 4 A Match to forget
Thomas 4 Ditto
Sam 4 ditto
Iwelumo 4 ditto
Semedo 6 Tried
Mcleod 5 Tried

Fans rating Let me out of here I need a holiday.

Bah' Humbug-The Season of goodwill-lets hope Charlton think otherwise

2007-12-22T10:20:00.000Z

Well I have just about recovered from the pre-excess of Christmas, with working all the hours I can and two or three Christmas parties.
The defeat to West Brom I found very painful and unfortunately the scoreline flattered us, but hey its another week and I am looking forward to the Bloggers Christmas lunch which will be a very grand affair, organised by the one and only Frankie Valley.
Today's opponents Hull City, bring back fond memories of my early years of supporting Charlton.
This was before work, a mortgage, girlfriends , marriage and children diluted my fanaticism for my support of Charlton Athletic .
1968 Charlton 1 Hull City 1 Match of the Day
In those early days, Match of the Day was a bit like Morcombe and Wise at Christmas, you just didn't miss it . Football coverage was so sparse in 1968 that Motd was the Holy Grail .
My dad and I arrived early for once and to our surprise there was a wooden platform right in the middle of the East Terrace and we thought bloody hell, it cant be, surly not, BBC cameras at a Second division match being televised , unthinkable. The match it self was a dire affair, Ken Wagstaff scored for Hull and an own goal equaliser was confirmed later, which disappointed me as I thought Matt tees was the scorer. That Saturday night listening to the one and only Kenneth Wolstenholme actually mentioning Charlton on TV, was the highlight of the year.
39 year on and things have changed so much and I must say for the better.
Todays result Charlton 4 Hull 1 Come on you Reds Iwelumo 3 Varney 1 attendance 20,445

Merry Christmas to One and All

Never a dull moment at the Valley Charlton 3 Ipswich 1

2007-12-08T18:41:00.000Z

A great game which had everything from a penalty save, posts and bar being hit and a sending off after the final whistle, what more do we want. The match really was a game of two halves with Charlton playing wonderful football in the first half making Ipswich look like the poorest side to visit the Valley this season , but I will say that it was down to Charlton playing so well. Ambrose had his best game of the season along with Holland who was my man of the match , Weaver for so long with nothing to do had a great second half.
Charlton started the match in total control with Ipswich not troubling Weaver the whole of the first half. The first goal came from a great move and with an excellent cross from Holland , Ambrose had a simple task of heading the ball into an empty net . The second after great pressure was a mistake by the goalkeeper who missed a Reid corner for Iwelumo to head in. The third was a break away and after Reid's brilliant lay off to Ambrose who's great shot gave the Ipswich keeper no chance.
Second half Weaver stole the show as his penalty save really won us the match. Ipswich with nothing to lose threw everything at us which gave the home crowd the jitters.
One thing thing to say about the Championship there are no boring matches.
Great win -Come on you Reds.

Weaver 8 The crowd singing his name at the end sums it up
Powell 7 At 38 still so professional
Mills 8 Sign him please in January just because hes so enthusiastic and would frighten Hannibal Lecter to death if he was playing.
Sodji 7 has he got a metal head as he loves heading the ball so much -ouch
Fortune 7 Good game but I will call him Cool Hand Luke from now on as the way he decked the Ipswich Forward for something possibly said, meant all the other Ipswich players backed off . No way am I advocating his actions
Holland 9 Has suddenly added something to the midfield and what a great cross for the first
Zi 7 Has great skill and has more to give
Reid 8 Good game but a bit moody -needs to play his guitar a bit more to lighten up
Sam 7 Ok game
Ambrose 8.5 Great game two good goals
Iwelumo 7 Difficult game

the crowd 8 What the heck every game is a drama unfolding before our eyes

The referee 7 Ok
ball boys 9 Kept throwing the ball back in the mud to the Ipswich players-mean
Pardew 9 his hair is grayer than mine but that is not surprising managing Charlton
Weather 4 Crap
Overall day 9 I have the feel good factor so the cat has escaped tonight