5th January Muting the Roker Roar.

On the 5th January The Valley will be rocking, 20 years after that day between these two sides at Wembley and at a level lower they are again competing to rise on the league ladder.

But whilst the Roker Roar will be transferred from the Stadium of Light to the Valley and the Valley away end will be full and rocking, the home stands will be be relatively empty and muted due to Duchatalet.

I have a request, or a beg or a wish. 5th January could be the most important game for years .. the result can

1. Give momentum for our promotion push.
2. Give belief to the players that they can do it.
3. Tell potential bidders, whether their bid is on the table or a mere twinkle of a thought in their head , that this is a club with fans that can not only challenge bad ownership, but support and promote good management and players on the field.

So the wish to

Other bloggers whose words, coverage and influence is greater than this blogger, please blog to your audience the importance of attending this fixture.

CAST call on your members to attend, you are the supporters trust promote the team, promote Bowyer, promote Taylor, promote Promote the heart of Charlton if only for this one day.

The fans who are boycotting, I understand but for this one day see your attendance as the day we hauled back Sunderland be part of it and help get rid of Duchatalet by pushing your team into the Championship.

The Club its not too late to put on a deal to boost attendance

The Championship is within touching distance .. we have Bowyer and Jacko and we have a team worthy of our support.

Please let the mist of the Thames roll in and mute the Roker roar, lets fill the Valley and make it rock.

Merry Christmas, together we can make it a great New Year!

You know it makes sense

it would be nice to think that the reign of Duchatalet is soon to come to an end, but as most blogs are saying "We will believe it when we see it!"

The spectre of january sales hangs over the club to fund Duchatalets losses prior to any sale.  There are very few players we can afford to lose, as when Joe Dodoo came in for Robinson we need bodies in the house,  although it is hoped that the contribution from others is greater than that of the Dodoo!!  If we do have to lose anyone then Ajose would be my sacrificial lamb, although even he in his languid way is contributing when he is on the pitch.  Two fo teh goals in Taylors Mansfield hat trick were Ajose assists as was taylors goal v Wimbledon when we looked like we would be locked out.

Whilst some would say sense is not a word in Duchatalets vocabulary, it does not make sense for him to have a garage sale in January.

If he has a buyer on the doorstep, one of their motivations to buy now or soon is that we look like we could be a good bet for promotion, with very little extra investment.  As a League 1 club he knows that we are difficult to market and the prospect of operating at the Chamionship level and gateway to the Prem makes us a lot more saleable at even his inflated prices.  Selling Taylor and playing Hackett- Fairchild i not going to push us over the line, if anything we need a modern day Jim Melrose to come in and give us that final impetus to take us, if not to the promised land, at least half way through the Red Sea.

Maybe at a stretch a transfer fund of £3 million comes in all is does is offset the costs for a max of 5 months, whilst reducing the overall value of the club and extending the period without a sale well beyond the 5 months during which we have the zero income summer period.

So Roland .. you are a business man, cut your losses, keep the team together, even invest in 2-3 players and you will make your sale and Charlton, CARD, CAST et al will never again darken your doorstep, figuratively or in reality.

My Enemy's Enemy Is My Friend

It comes to something when you see Simon Jordan is at one with Charlton fans but this is another act by Duchatalet. We make strange bedfellows, but there is little we can disagree with ours and Richard Murrays arch nemesis.

"“In four years he’s turned a football club that wasn’t doing well into a club that is now going dreadfully, and everyone around it seems to be disassociated and disenfranchised"

Jordan slates Duchatalet

I'm going to have to disinfect the hands that have typed this as per Sir Thomas More!

Defence in crisis

Conceding 7 goals in 2 games is not good, but scoring 5 in two away games cannot be sniffed at.  I am not worried too much about Tuesday night, we had a rookie right back, a left side central defender playing out of position, a fourth choice center back and a right back playing left back and none of them having been prepared for that position.

Tomorrow will be a test.  I would doubt my back four will happen but I would like to go for more balance:-

                                       Solly :   Dijksteel:  Pearce:  Sarr

This puts Pearce back in his comfort zone allowing  him to lead more than when he is working out of position. Tuesday we had too many square pegs in round defensive holes, which created leaks. At least whoever Bow plays at the back, he will have had a few days to drill them into the role.

However, with this squad do not think we are anything other than a defensive mistake waiting to happen, but like the Charlton of my youth we will score more than we concede and every game will be exciting.

Personally, I would like to see us find an out of contract player who could fill the role and have him train with us, no fee, if we need him we give him a short term contract , if we don’t he has at least improved his fitness levels.

Lee Bowyer - Re-Invented

As we sit on an unbeaten six game run 5-1-0, it is easy to forget that his return to Charlton as coach was not universally accepted.  As a non white, Asian heritage supporter Bow came back to the club with a lot of undesirable baggage from his past.  However, Robinson brought him in and it was very much a case of like it or lump it and I had no choice but to give him a chance.

It is difficult to get an impression of a coaches personality looking from the stands.  They don’t generally do the post match interview or get involved in the media, so it was not until Bromley Addicks meeting with Robinson and Bowyer that I could form an impression of French Lake Fishing Lee Bowyer.  I was pleasantly surprised by this thoughtful, knowledgeable and sometimes humorous new Lee Bowyer.  It was this exposure to him, more than the results, that has helped me to accept him.

Whilst success as a player does not always duplicate itself on the field of management, you just have to look at the ’66 World Cup winning squad, where only Jack Charlton came anywhere near success.  Bow is our most successful manager from a playing perspective, although some will argue Powell with his England cap count (5).  He played for Leeds and Newcastle when both were top of their game and for the Leeds side that qualified for the Champions League in 1999–2000, and which reached the semi finals of the UEFA Cup in 2000 and the Champions League in 2001. He was voted the Leeds player of the year by supporters in both 1998–99 and 2000–01.

    

Bow was definitely a winner and a fighter as a player.  If he was against you, you would see a snarling, hard nasty, feral player, but if he was on your side he was a player who we all admire, one who would die for the cause.  The player I would most closely compare Bow to is Roy Keane, a player who would drive his team forward and had a nasty streak, but it appears that Bow has more empathy with other players and those now in his charge.  Many a successful player has failed because they could not understand why the players they were managing could not do the same things that they used to do.  Bow seems well tuned to what his players can achieve and if Keane as manager created a toxic fear ridden dressing room, Bow seems to have created a sanctuary of companionship, team work and camaraderie that has delivered a never die spirit.

If he is hungry enough for it, and I do think that there is a question over that, he could become a very good manager, at a higher level than he currently is.

And as for my views, well every body deserves a 2^nd chance, especially when you meet them and they are winning!

Pre match Comments

Lee Bowyer has said about the up and coming match at Luton

“They’re a good side. I’ve watched them against Bristol Rovers and Blackpool.

“They’ve spent wisely this summer. I think they’ve brought in some good players, and I was surprised how good they were really, but it’s going to be tough going there, for sure.

“They move the ball well, they compete, they press high and they get bodies in the box. They’re the team to do that, so they’re dangerous.”

I feel this is the mantra of all football managers, regardless of who we are playing and what level they are playing at.


I know it would be playing hostage to fortune but I would just once love to hear a manager say

"Yeah we will stuff them easily.  I could not believe that they bought him, he is such a donkey, should win by at least 5.  We should walk this easy"

I won't hold my breath

Karlan - An old Pro?

Its taken a long time for Karlan Ahearne Grant to come of age .. he literally passed the traditionally accepted marker of 21 years last week.  Many of us have been frustrated by him, not realising it was around 4 years ago that Bob Peters blooded him, at an age when most players are still dreaming of first team football.


Sadly it was not all good, talking to JBG, a few 1st team appearances led to an inflated ego, whilst at the same time the management suddenly dropped him from the 1st team squad with little to no man management to help him understand.  His loan spell to Cambridge was a disaster where he was sent back to us because of his attitude.

Over the years we forgot his age and just despaired at wrong decisions and failure to score.

Last season, George Lapsie made his debut and looked like a rabbit in headlights, both the club and fans this season have given him a second chance and he has rewarded us well.  George Lapslie is OLDER than Karlan Grant

Despite many of us on the terraces, the club has persevered with Karlan and his loan spell to Crawley has built his confidence so that he is looking a goal machine and an assist maker.

To add to his good year, Karlan is no longer under threat of Cypriot legal threat and it will not be long before we are wondering if someone will offer Duchatalet a few shekels and KAG is taken off to pastures green!

Today's article from the Club on Karlan https://www.cafc.co.uk/news/view/5bacb5485aba6/the-penny-has-dropped-karlan-grant-takes-his-opportunity