Dubai buy!

I have really mixed feelings about this. Firstly, if we want to eat at the top table and be able to play a 39th Premier League abroad every season then this is inevitable. Looking at the web site of Zabeel Investments there is a positive ethos, I played there community video about special needs children. My wife suggested that is why they are interested in Charlton a special needs club- hmmm, divorce papers in the post.

So why would they be interested in little old Charlton. As a Football Club it has been a source of consternation amongst fans as to why nobody has been showing any interest in us and now they are. Its not hard to see why:-

1. Nobody is buying a heavily in debt club, its been well managed, even though a big hit has been taken since relegation and next season we lose the parachute, but compared to most clubs we have a rosy balance sheet so any investment goes into buying assets not paying off debtors.
2. Chartlon has assets, The Valley, with one end to be developed offers potential, then there is Sparrows Lane and there is potential involvement in a further development of state of the art facilities.
3. Kent housing development and the fact that Charlton if promoted would be the only Premier League club in the triangle between here Dover and Portsmouth.

Charlton is an ideal investment and from a Charlton perspective, the middle east offers investors who are relatively immune to what is happening around the financial markets and in fact with the hike of oil prices over the last couple of years they are awash with money, we could not want for as better set of new owners, if Murray and co are to hand over the reigns. So why am I uneasy?

1. I actually have got used to the Championship, its the traditional Charlton its the team and the league that I supported in the 70's and the 80's.
2. I like the idea that we have a higher percentage of English / UK players that we have now compared to our last years in the Prem.
3. I hate that the positions in the Prem. are dictated by these rich foreign investors,in two years it would not surprise me if the top of the Prem. in no particular order were Arsenal, Man City, Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool and QPR the common denominator rich investors from abroad. In fact Liverpool and Man U with their American investment are two clubs at risk of melt down.
4. I hate the mercenaries that come with premiership football
5. I hate the players that kiss their badge and then go and play for another club the next week. Robhinio miss both types of players tied into one, "I love Chelsea they are my team" "Oops, I am happy to be here at Manchester City"
6. I hate the new fans that boo at half time when we are not even losing, who don't know or care where we have come from.
7. I hate Peter Scudamore and his 39th game.
8. I love the fact that I no longer have Sky.

I think rugby league has closed relegation and promotion to and from the top flight and for us to stay at this level, not have ambitions of the top flight then this would have to happen to the Premier league. It just is not going to happen. So we have potentially investors who can give us the moeny to buy players, develop players, develop grounds and give us a team in the Prem that can reach the top half of the division.

If we have to go down this route then I would like to see that we invest in British players from youth level to senior level, we develop and nurture for the English senior team
players who have grown through the ranks like Walsh, Parker, Shelvey.We have a British manager -maybe even Pards, the players we biuy have the dna of Chris Powell or Mark Kinsella - they kiss the shirt because they love it,they adore it, its partof them and so are we.

What I want and what we get are probably going to be miles apart, the next months and years if this goes through are going to be a roller coaster positives and negatives alike, hold on tight!!

Fans Back Pards

Ok in the poll here only 26 people voted, but if it was 26,000 then it would be statistcally sound. Pitted against Billy Davies, Chris Powell, Mark Kinsella and Phil Pakinson, Pards continues to be seen as the best option for the Addicks, picking up 9 votes against Kinsellas 7. Its a results driven business and it will be interesting to return to this vote as the season develops.

Cold winter ahead for small clubs

Blimey there used to be nothing safer than a bank, but they are falling over all over the place and I suspect we will soon see a cold wind blowing in the direction of football, especially with reports of how much football clubs owe, reducing confidence in the sector.

Whilst most Premier League Clubs will have the benefit of the Sky money most of this is tied up in players wages, West Ham have the smell of doom around them with the ruling on Tevez, the demise of XL and now their Chairman's Bank investment going belly up. Curbs could be on a downer here expecting to receive compensation, he could end up with nothing.

Lower league clubs are expected to be the hardest hit as their friendly local bank closes the door pulls too the shutters and rather than extending loan facilities call in debts leaving clubs and players penniless and at the mercy of creditors.

Whilst we are not immune, it maybe the financial management and the tough decisions made over the last two close seasons may well auger well for our immediate fortunes. The desire of some fans me included at times to take a punt and speculate to accumulate could well have left us in a very vulnerable position.

Whether by hook or by crook the decisions of the board may well have prevented us from following a number of clubs who are going to have a very cold winter this year.

Tractors leave empty handed

Nicky Balily repeated his feat against Wolves and scored from distance after only a few minutes, although this time it was from a free kick. Personally I thought that the kick was a poor one, but defended even more poorly by the Ipswich wall,but hey we need some luck. My concern though with our recent record was would we be able to hold the lead against a competent ipswich side for 78 minutes. This was a fear well founded when with 12 minutes till the break Cranie was unable to avoid putting the ball into his own net.

Wyn Grant warned us about the referee in his Championship Diary Blog. Three penalty appeals turned down only one looked dodgy, the handball appeal, which could have been construed as ball to hand, but many a referee - in fact the majority - would have given it. Bouazza booked early on for a relatively innocuous tackle whilst the ref then turned a blind eye to worse offences on both sides, Ipswich scything down Bouazza when he failed to put the ball out of play for their injured player and Charlton were in the final third, and then neither Youga or the Ipswich player getting a card of anysort when there was handbags over the scything, really Youga should have got a yellow and the Ipswich player a red.

Charlton held strong in this game for the first and last third of the game, the loss of Bailey after about 12 minutes allowed Ipswich to get into the game and Campo leading up to half time was given the freedom of the Valley and Ipswich hit the bar twice. Inexplicably Magilton took Campo off midway throught he 2nd half and really Ipswich became the epitome of impotence.

Pards had made three changes Ambrose, ZZ and Todorov came in for Holland, Sam and Gray, each of whom took their place on the bench. Holland of course was soon in action. The inclusion of these three players bodes well for the future as they added composure and skill to the team, although I felt that neither Todorov or ZZ had the required match sharpness. Ambrose, of whom I am a fan was good today, his cross for the 2nd goal was something we have been missing and his return is welcome.

Our central defensive partnership looks strong, but the flanks gives cause for concern, Kelly just seems to have regressed over the ten months since he came back from Scunnny. His over elobaration puts us at risk every time he gets the ball and his positional sense or lack of it is terrible for a professional player. Today he made three critical mistakes the third resulting in the Cranie old goal. There is not a lot Cranie could do, but overall and now we have seen him in a few games we have to ask, what does pards see in cranie that is better than what we have. Semedo came on 2nd half and looked strong going forward and solid defensively, i am hoping that he is given a chance against cardiff.

The loss of Bailey meant we did not have a midfield tackler and both Holland and ZZ were muscled off the ball frequently.


For me Ambrose shone out, he seems to have added a little pace, ZZ was a bit off the pace and I don't remember him being muscled off the ball so often in a single game last season. But overall after losing to Sheffiled and Wolves in consecutive home games plus the defeat against Palace, it was nice to see the scorboard showing a victory to the Addicks at the end, despite the best efforts of the referee.

Love 'em or hate 'em

Nothing about Charlton it just tickled my fancy!!

Crisis, what crisis

I am sure that Pardew would respond to the accusation that Charlton are in crisis with the the above comment. Will he be able to say the same if we drop another 3 points on Saturday. To put the situation in context we are only a couple of wins away from the play off zone,but conversely we are only a few points off the relegation zone.

What is clear though is that we have, across the two seasons, only picked up 19 points out of the last 60 and this has to be seen as relegation form. Our recent results do not add much sunshine to our outlook, since Reading we have played 6 matches, won 1, drawn 1 and lost 4, scored 4 and conceded 8.

Ipswich is a crucial game and the pressure on the players will be enormous an early goal will be crucial but not a guarantee of victory as Preston, Wolves and Sheffield Wednesday has proved.

If the pressure on the players has grown then following the loss to palace, the first in 12 years, the pressure on Pardew is enormous. The pro Pardew fans cite the boards ruthless budgetary constraints, his detractors point to a team that still contains former premier league talent as well as strong and experienced Championship players i.e. Hudson, Fortune (Stoke) Gray (Voted 2nd best Championship player.

Ipswich offer flair and creativity,Lisbie will be back, the player who left us to score 3 goals against us last season and celebrated with aplomb. The saving grace is that they are equally inconsistent and this weekend they will hopefully will show their negative side.

Personally I think we are only one win away from a good side, but equally with confidence visibly draining we are not far from a bad side. We have to turn things round. Momentum is everything in football, maybe in life. As the fans begin to mumble amongst themselves a momentum builds. At the moment Pardew probably can reverse the direction of feelings amongst supporters, but it won't last and without results the fans will turn and once that happens there will be no turning back. Saturday can do a lot of good or it can become the crisis we all so fear.

Charlton Wednesday

I have always had a problem with this fixture, especially now that I do not follow fixture lists that closely. My conversations are a bit like a Marx brothers sketch,

"You going Charlton Wednesday"
"No and its Tuesday at Palace"
"No I mean Wednesday"
"Oh are the reserves playing Wednesday?"
"No they are playing Reading" bomm boom!

Talking of Reading lets get back to that style of play tomorrow. Wednesday are unlikely to be as open as Reading or Wolves, but then they are less likely to have the potency of either of those clubs. I am sure we'll hear from Pards how clubs like Wednesday coming to the Valley are always hard to beat.

Tomorrows referee is D Whitestone. Quoting from QPR's Vital site I am less than inspired by this appointment again

"Despite his refereeing career commencing in non-league in 2003, Mr. Whitestone does lack some of the experience of the higher echelons of the football league. His superiors seem not to deem him worthy of many Championship fixtures, and when you read some of the criticism levelled at the official it is an understandable decision.

With the majority of his games being played out at non-league level, the official refereed the Conference play-off final in 2006 - a match played out between Halifax and Hereford, with the latter edging the game 3-2.

Mr. Whitestone was granted five Championship fixture in 2006/07 but some criticism was levelled at the official for losing control of the game and the players, and this has become a re-occurring theme upon criticising the referee."

In 9 games he has presented 26 yellows and 2 reds, and once again like last week he is officiating at his first Cahmpionship game of the season.

The respest campaign has taken a bit of a battering this week.

I am well in favour of the campaign, I think televised attitudes of players towards authority permeate through soiciety especially influencing kids. That said there is give and take on both sides and the FA's campaign seems to be one way, you respect us whatever and we'll continue to treat you like a bunch of wasters. I wouild have liked the young referee at Watford to have apologised publicly to the team and the fans. mistakes happen even inexplicable ones, he is going to spend the rest of his career with players suggesting to him that the ball never went near the goal when he gives a goal. The FA should have waived the rules and accepted that there was a catastrophic mistake and apologised on behalf of the officials and thanked Coppell for moffering the replay but turning it down. Instead it has all been heavy handed. Maybe when Boothroyd is exiled to the stands for his behaviour they can at least lay on a hot cup of Bovril for him!!