Thursday 31 May 2007
Parker to West Ham
Parker gets my vote as the best and most complete player, ever to wear a Charlton shirt.
Monday 28 May 2007
THANK GOODNESS FOR THE PLAY-OFFS
In the past, as we sold another of our best players, for an average fee apart from Parker, I used to follow the results of the team they were transferred to and always wanted them to do well, so today for that reason only, I hope West Brom win.
Please don't think I am xenophobic , but it has been refreshing to see mostly young British players giving their all in the play-offs. The Premiership has only 4o% UK players, playing regulary at the weekends and I feel that is too low. Zola, Henry, Bercamp, Ronaldo, and now Drogba have enhanced and graced the Premiership, but there are too many mercenaries who are here just for the dosh. There are plenty of good young players who are never given the chance, and have to settle playing in the lower leagues. Its highly unlikely to happen, with free trade and all that, but we should restrict each club to having four overseas players, that way, we will see the best overseas talent, which in turn will help the good, up and coming young British talent. The saying if your good enough is just not true . Bentley of Blackburn is a prime example, he is now playing some of the best football of his career , but with his talent it could have been a lot earlier, if given the chance.
Friday 25 May 2007
THE BEGINNING OF PARDEWS TEAM
Tuesday 22 May 2007
WHAT NIL READERS
Anyway at least this Blog is a sort of diary and I'm sticking with it. For a middle aged man with teenage kids I'm behaving more and more like them, and you know what, I like their music more than they do. The new ManicStreet Preachers single and album is great ,The best they have recorded for ages .
Monday 21 May 2007
NO LONGER A SELLING CLUB
Robinson -never stopped running, but also had the skill. Pardew knows exactly what he wants and I belief, he is the best manager that we could have, to get us back to the premiership.
What I mean by no longer being a selling club, is that we are in a position to keep
Darren Bent and Luke Young if they are prepared to stay, unfortunately they want to return to the premiership and I for one don't blame them, but it will be their choice.
Going back years, I can think of several good players(Alan Campbell, Len Glover, Paul Walsh , Robert Lee and many others,
leaving the club, for very average fees, with no attempt to keep them, because the Board(Michael Glikstin for one) wanted the dosh and was not prepared to put a penny into the club. Apparently when Alan Mullery was manager, he went to the board and said , "we have a reasonable squad and if the Board could fund three or four new players, we could challenge for promotion" . Glikstin, allegedly said "we don't really want to go up as it would cost too much". The next day Mullery resigned.
Murray and the Board have been fantastic for this club and will continue to be so. Next season they deserve success and I hope they/we are rewarded for their belief in Pardew, although I have my doubts that it will be plain sailing and the fans loyalty will be tested. The dreaded play-offs could be a possibility. The best matches I have seen this season, are the play-offs, Southampton v Derby, Yeovil v Forest, they put the Cup-Finalists to shame. Man Utd., got exactly what they deserved , why the hell didn't they go for it, they have by far the better team.
Teams who reach the play-offs, have far more to lose than a Cup-Final. The worst advertisement for premiership Football and it was shown live to world wide audience of 400 million.
Friday 18 May 2007
THE BOOZE RUN
Time for another cultural trip to Calais, to visit the Art Galleries and Museums, or just another stock up on Booze at 35% of the UK price . Funny, the Government are trying to stop boozing and smoking, as the nations health suffers, but the taxes they charge on alcohol and tobacco, keep the National Health going. Catch 22 (great film by the way) . Anyway, I'm not on commission, but if you want a free trip and can pre-spend £200, then go to Oddbins .
We love going to pubs, but unfortunately, the best ones are in the sticks, I cant have more than two pints of Real Ale, unless we spend a fortune on taxis. The best pub close to us is the Botley Hill Farmhouse at Warlingham Surrey and not only that, its a great music venue. We are just about to buy our tickets, to see the only tribute band to Jethro Tull , in the UK, how sad is that. When I was at school, all my mates were Reggae or Motown boys, but me no, I was Tull, The Who, Woodstock and Ten Years After. At 14 I turned up at the Valley in multi coloured flares and long hair and grey long coat, got a few looks but at that age who cares.
The White Bear, near Biggin Hill, Kent. The surrounding countryside is superb and the food is great. The pub is about 400 years old and if you like cold winter evenings sitting round an original open log fire, then this pub has it all.
Thursday 17 May 2007
GETTING READY FOR NEXT SEASON
The rebuilding starts now and Pardew will build a strong, exciting young team.
Come on you Reds.
Sunday 13 May 2007
AND THE OSCAR WINNERS AND LOSERS ARE
The last day of this seasons premiership, provided more drama than any glitzy Hollywood Oscar ceremony.
Sitting in our dining room, on a very wet afternoon watching Sky Sports, the remote control was never out of my hand, as I switched from Sky
511 to 513 all afternoon. What drama, excitement, it had it all and it was all live, unbeatable entertainment .
The surprised winner, as the loser looks on.
Friday 11 May 2007
CHATHAM MARITIME WALK
required, before it will be a major attraction on the busy Medway.
The photo on the the right, shows Upnor Castle in the distance, which was the only defence in 1667 , when the Royal Navy suffered its biggest Navel defeat to the Dutch Fleet that sailed up the Medway after capturing Sheerness. The Dutch sank a number of ships,which resulted in declaration of peace soon after.
THE BASINS
The picture above shows one of the basins now restored, to accommodate very attractive, desirable housing. At the height of Victorian England , thousands of convicts were used to dig out St Mary's Creek and construct , in its place, basins one, two and three (The picture shows one). The spoil was used to construct the Island. Many convicts and prisoners of war died in appalling conditions on decommissioned navel vessels, whilst building the basins. Completed in 1870, the three basins were used by Chatham Dockyard and Royal Navy Warships for over a 100 years. It was closed in 1984, resulting in the loss of 7000 jobs. The Island was seriously contaminated by waste, which resulted in years of massive clean-up and soil testing, before it could be commissioned for house building .
In the mid 1990's, the government announced the regeneration of the Island and to date more than 500 million pounds has been spent on re-development and I think in 5 years time, it will be place, that we would consider retiring to,when that comes about, but I might add, that's a long way off. We
loved the place, its well worth a visit.
Wednesday 9 May 2007
BLOGGERS AND READERS UNITED
It has always been difficult for me to juggle my love of playing football and watching Charlton.
If I had one wish, it would to have excelled at one particular sport, I have always been Mr average, playing for my school team at Football, Cricket and Basketball, but excelled at none, later on, playing local amateur football and now tennis, all very average, and so is this blog.
It has amazed me how many Charlton bloggers, and readers of these blogs there are, and after Mondays jump into the precipices, reading them has made me a feel a hell of lot happier and a lot more positive. Often I get well and truly beaten playing tennis and can be down for a couple of minutes until I hit the bar afterwards, with my first pint, I'm back up again, that's how I feel about Charlton .
Many thanks you bloggers and readers.
Monday 7 May 2007
I COULD HAVE BEEN A TOTTENHAM SUPPORTER
My Dad was born in Bermondsey on July 4th 1923. His family traditionally worked in the Borough Market near London Bridge and lived in Hackney. Life became very tough, when at the age of seven, his mother died of a heart problem, that today would require a simple procedure to save her life. He lived with his father and two brothers in a two bedroom flat, which would have been cramped to say the least. My grandfather was a Tottenham man who would take the eldest son(my father) to see Tottenham on a Saturday afternoon, after working in the market in the morning. Alf Ramsey was one of their favourite players and they described him as calm and cultured on the ball and a tough tackler, characteristics that would serve him so well in 1966, when he became a national hero.
During the war, my Dad at the age of 17, was posted to the Isle of Dogs as a radar engineer, trying to pinpoint the German Bombers that flew over the Channel and caused so much death and destruction to the East End of London . We would listen to many war time stories, which were frightening, but also fascinating and exciting . One terrifying experience, told many times, one morning whilst he was having a shave in the army washroom, a Doodle Bug exploded nearby destroying the surrounding buildings, the washroom was left mostly intact and his only injury was a cut to his cheek, probably caused by the shave. After the war he was recruited by the Civil Service as an engineer in Radar, this meant after his marriage and four children later, we finally settled in Sidcup Kent as he was transferred to Woolwich Arsenal.
At the age of nine, my Dad started taking me to Borough Market to see his brothers and my cousin. To me the market was very exciting, with all the hustle and bustle and smells that go with a thriving market. Unfortunately I had started to support Manchester United(I was saved later) much to the annoyance of my Dad who was hoping I would support Tottenham. After many times asking my Dad to take me to a match, he suddenly announced that we were going to see Tottenham play Manchester United, which was like music to my ears. We went with my uncle and cousin and watched Charlton, Law, Best, Greaves, Jennings and Gilzean strut their stuff in front of a capacity crowd of 57,000. Tottenham won 2-1, with Best scoring United's goal, but there was something missing. The next couple of weeks, a friend at school kept on talking
to me about Charlton, our local club and I gradually got enthralled by it and asked my Dad to take me. My first game at the Valley was Charlton v Preston North End. We arrived about 2.50pm and as we walked up the grassy slope and viewed this vast stadium, (then, it really was like looking down into the Grand Canyon) the players looked like ants as they warmed up. The Valley at that time was the largest stadium in England with a capacity of 76,000, and the East terrace was as large as Wembley's. The 11,000 crowd, seemed to make more noise than the 57,000 attendance at the Tottenham match I had seen, and as Matt Tees, surely the skinniest football ever to play professional football, scored his second goal in a 2-0 win and Charlie Wright made some great saves, we could not explain it, but we were both hooked and only missed two games at the Valley over the next eight seasons . Four seasons ago, one of my proudest moments, was taking my son and dad to the Valley, to watch us lose 1-0 against Fulham (Euell missed a penalty ). My Dad had moved away when he retired and found the travelling too much to get to Valley very often, so this was his first visit to the New Valley. When we sat him down to watch the match, his face was a picture of delight and my son who is not a football fan, said to me recently " I'd never seen him so excited as he talked all day about matches we had seen at the Valley". He died six months later, but its a good memory of three generations having a great time .
If Charlton do lose tonight, which I expect , it will not be the end of the world and we will bounce back, as we have in the past.
Come on you Reds
Saturday 5 May 2007
THE DAY WE WERE BIGGER THAN TOTTENHAM
so the switchboard would be jammed, it worked a treat. There was not one Charlton caller ,I think we all sat back laughing as we know our place, and if you go back as a supporter beyond 86/87, then you realise the fantastic progress the club has made is unprecedented, and expectations are a lot lower than newer supporters, who have only known us as a premiership club.
Well as we view the signing today, with Murphy admitting that he made a mistake(git), I'm glad that we are not bigger than Tottenham, because the expectation of their fans is so high, and how would they cope with relegation staring them in the face, there would be riots on the streets.
At the moment I think Tottenham have potentially one of the best sides in the country outside of the top four and I hold out little hope for Monday night. Charlton have been struggling for the last two seasons to play good football and this season, that lack of quality has been exposed.
If we are relegated I think Pardew is the best man for the job and will rebuild the side to play exciting attacking football . Its what the fans want.
Friday 4 May 2007
LETTER FROM AMERICA OR SHOULD I SAY LETTERS
Alistair Cooke , a person I could listen to and read his Letter From America all day. A great loss and sadly missed, but he had a very good innings, living to the grand old age of 95. When I first started listening to him on the radio, I thought like many, he was an American, with that New England tone, but he was born in Salford Manchester and won a scholarship to Cambridge, he became an American citizen in 1941, and lived the rest of his life in Manhattan New York . Well worth clicking on the link and sitting back listening to his dulcet tones one evening.
Anyway, hope this doesn't go to their heads, its been said before New York Addick and Chicago Addick certainly write very well, although not in the same league as the great man himself, their latest blog entries are excellent. Just don't know how they find the time and energy to write so well, but keep them coming because they are a very good read and certainly unexpected from a football blog.
Come on you reds.
Thursday 3 May 2007
THE WARMEST 12 MONTHS
The average temperature from May 2006-April 2007 is 11.6c beating the previous record of 11.1c 12 month period ending October 1995. The effects of temperature rise are being experienced on a global scale. Here in the Uk and especially in the South East we have just had the mildest and wettest winter for over a hundred years and now at the moment we are suffering a major drought, as there has be no appreciable rain for 9 weeks.
Wednesday 2 May 2007
BROMLEY FC IN THE FINAL
Video