Charltons Darkest Week

So Burnley leave the Valley with a point, capping what has to be Charltons darkest week. At 9.00 am last Saturday everything was rosy, we had just had the international break following a home victory over Ipswich. Whilst the up and coming away game to Cardiff was going to be tough, last seasons record against the Welshmen augered well, after that we had two home games so there was every chance of bounding up the table, plus the Dubai group were fairly assured of taking us over, bringing us riches and potential unheard of by an Addick.

What a difference a week makes! Of the 9 points available to us we have only pickled up 1 and we have lost the £50 million investment proposed to the dire world economy, if this is not our worst week ever then I would like to know what happened to the one that was (The answer is the days leading up to the almost winding up of the Club, but they ended happily, maybe it was leaving the valley but that was over a longer period and again ended up happily).

The reactions to the pulling out of Zabba dabba doo that I received were reflective of the generations that I know of Charlton supporters,

My Mother In Law who watched Sam Bartram said “I am not surprised” – The old head of Charlton, never expect it to turn out right on the night.

My Brother In Law, who I took to Charlton as a Kid “Oh bugger we could have done with the Arab money”

My other Brother In Law, who is a traditional Kentish supporter or rather the pessimistic breed of Addick “Looks like we’ll be playing Millwall next season”.

And my mate a Plymouth argyle supporter, who I converted to Charlton and is now a valley Gold member and buys the shirt when it comes out, unlike me, who waits till the new kit nears and buys it at cut down price, “Shit – a heavy blow”.

I was not at the Valley today, so I will not comment specifically on the game, except it sounded like there was some passion in the 2^nd half. Maybe, just maybe out of the darkness of this week there will be a new dawn and some form and a run, because despite everything that happens to Charlton, despite every knock as fans we take, we are optimists, we are hopeful and what that means is

WE ARE CHARLTON

Dubai, No Buy, Goodbye

Today Guernsey heard that their bid for the Youth Commonwealth games had failed, due to cost A disappointment for the residents of Guernsey, but their emotions cannot match those of Addicks fans around the world, from Leamington to Bermuda, Roehampton to Sydney, not to mention Dubai, from where Zabeel rode in on their white chargers tickled and teased us, stroked us and played us, but just as abruptly dropped us and left us.

If you read through the blogs the disappointment is almost overwhelming, “Addicks Championship Diary” says this could have been our last chance for top flight success, “Roehampton Addick” calls for Pardews head and there is more.

And yet for us, the guys and girls in the street what has changed since two three weeks ago. It’s the same team, the same manager and the same board, same opposition, same results, same prospects.

As a club we are adept at securing defeat from the jaws of victory and this must be the greatest example of this. Anfield has a sign above the players tunnel gloriously spat on by all the Wimbledon squad years back. Charlton should erect a similar sign at the Valley – This is Charlton – “leave your optimism at home”.

What next for Varney

And the rest of the players. For anyone that has read Gary Nelsons book you'll be aware of the paranoia that goes hand in hand with being a professional football player. Your best mate may also be your biggest competitor for your position. And the thought of new players coming in can either drive to greater performances or crush the confidence of the incumbent in that position.

The idea that Charlton will soon have access to oil funds has excited fans message boards all over cyber space. The players maybe feeling a little different, from being in their comfort zones of a smaller squad, less competition for places they now suddenly have to look at their own performances between now and 31st January.

There are areas of the team that are obviously weak links and both right and left back positions will be under scrutiny, midfield is up for debate now we have players coming back in Ambrose and ZZ, how will Holland be feeling, I suspect he will already have his agent seeking "indicative" offers for next July. I wonder if Ambrose is regretting going public over his "indicative" desire to play for Ipswich.

How are Varney, Gray, Dickson, Fleetwood and Izale feeling (Todorov is probably off at the end of this seaswon anyway), which of them will feel inspired by the need to perform and how many will be crushed by the pressure. Charltons current squad do not have a great record standing up to the pressures of day to day football, the run in last season showed that, so it could be that if they feel crushed now then by next January it will take a run of monumental proportions to get promotion.

What of the manager, I shudder at the idea of Pardew having loads of money, building a large squad and then tinkering match to match in search of a blend that can only come from consistent stable selection. That said, unless we collapse over the next couple of months, he needs to be given his chance, he is a young (ish) bright manager and if he can take us up, can create a team within a club the I for one will be happy with his stewardship.

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.