Mar 31
Flying kites in Bermuda is a long held tradition began apparently by a teacher who made a cross kite and set it flying from a hilltop. The teacher then cut the string and the students watched it sail upward towards the sky copying Jesus’ ascension to heaven.
Every Easter adults and kids alike make kites using sticks, coloured paper and glue. Ours however came in plastic wrapping with some simple instructions!
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The Easter that keeps on giving. Although at around twenty past twelve (3.20 at The Valley) my daughter and I had just got absolutely soaked by a downpour looking for Easter eggs on an egg hunt. After legging it to find some shelter, I checked my phone…. 0-2. At that point if I’d seen an Easter bunny I would have boiled it right there and then!
A great win today for us all but dedicated to those at The Valley who have seen some car crashes at home this season.
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We have seen those immortal words before. I think Christian Bolaños was the last player we lost due to the Home Office. In fact my own life has been very much subject to work permit these last 10 years.
Anyhow, it is a work permit that is required by Florent Rouamba if he is to remain with Charlton until the end of the season. The defensive-midfielder from Burkino Faso has a very decent pedigree with 30 caps plus an African Nations Cup Final appearance and Europa Cup experience on his CV.
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I missed the England game last night because I was busy organising my socks into pairs. I find this slightly more stimulating. Yes, if Yugoslavia still had a team they would be world beaters but then again so would the Austro-Hungarian’s!
I find all the consternating quite unbelievable. I mean the writings have been on the wall. Look at the last 8 of the Champions League, watch how Manchester United are running away with the Premier League with probably the most average and workmanlike side to ever win the title since Leeds in 1992.
The top sides pockets are full of cash and long-term debt and their academies are full of African and Latin American’s. A young English manager or coach hasn’t got a cat in hells chance of a top job and our best young players can’t get a game.
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There has been a lot of recent conjecture about season ticket renewals amongst Addicks. Since the return to The Valley the club has done an excellent job of marketing and pricing season tickets just right in encouraging supporters to commit up front to home games. Much of this loyalty and not insignificant financial undertaking has been due to the bond between fan and board, a bond that no longer exists. Ironically this is all against the backdrop of the best supporter bond between manager and player for many a year.
Last week a couple of news stories made me concerned about the future of our fan base. West Ham’s move to the Olympic Stadium was confirmed at significant cost to the local council and the taxpayer and not an awful lot to the club. For example I’d be surprised if the £2m a year in rent even covers the maintenance. Plus the sale of Upton Park will more than pay for the Hammers’ outlay of £15m. Gold and Sullivan are not at silly as they look.
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It’s been nice today not having to worry about what was going on with Charlton. My 3-year old daughter asked me earlier if I “was winning at football.” No, there’s no game I replied, why? You seem happy she said.
England even managed to wrack up an old fashioned score last night, although don’t mention this to Dave, who sounds thoroughly miserable.
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I was very sad to hear that the author James Herbert died today aged 69. Once I progressed from listless kids books I found James Herbert when I was probably as young as 11.
My Mum was so scared of mice and rats that she made me cover his first book The Rats in brown paper, thank god she never got to peer inside the pages because Herbert wrote in such a graphic and horrifying way that I couldn’t put it down. Certainly there was no point not finishing it before I went up to bed, because I’d never have slept anyway.
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A warning shot to those of us that are pining for strange men walking into The Valley with bags full of cash, fancy job titles and hair brained ideas of Champions League places as the Venky’s, which has become a byword for Comedy Relief, today disposed of their 3rd Blackburn manager this season.
67 days ago Michael Appleton was given a two and a half year contract after walking out on Blackpool but after he proved further that the Chicken men really should have stayed in Bollywood or at least with Steve Kean, he too was given a cheque to go away with Rovers 4 points off relegation.
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The omens weren’t good yesterday. What with our home form and our derby record against our neighbours, which is possibly one of the worst in English football, we had to hope for a miracle and sadly we aren’t very far up the new Pope’s list.
I spoke at length to my brother after the game, it was a depressing conversation. Like thousands of others he had to make a detour to get home and was at Falconwood Station after a pint with a mate. Between us we concurred we have seen us lose to them more times than we care to remember.
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Oh great. Millwall at Wembley again. Parky was there a few weeks, they’re all ruddy there. Everyone except us. Wigan. Wigan I ask you. Why do we take cups with such a pinch of salt?
Anyway let’s hope the Millwall players all got sloshed on the bus on the way back to Bermondsey and forget they have an early game to prepare for on Saturday.
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“Every player played their part but the centre-backs and the goalkeeper, they showed a real desire to keep the ball out of the net.”
Big, big win today, our first at Huddersfield since an equally big win in December 1999. It didn’t sound pretty on a pitch perhaps worse than ours but to hang on for a first clean sheet in 17 games was, as they say in a different part of Yorkshire, massive!
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Home with a bumpy and early landing last night as a result of very strong winds. The BA pilots are renowned here for getting their planes down whatever the conditions, whereas more often than not, the US airlines tend to shirk a tricky landing and head back from whence they came. No fun that, I can tell you.
I had a very nice trip home and was once again impressed with my son’s school Oakwood Park Grammar, so much so that I sat listening to the various presentations beginning to wish I could go to school all over again. I don’t think I have ever felt the need to re-live my school days but the enthusiam with which teachers discussed subjects like Media, Psychology, Graphics and History got me wishing it could be me. I was at his school to discuss his GSCE Options, which they are doing a year early, and I am sure my son wished it actually could be me!
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“We’re only six points clear of the relegation zone so we can’t afford to be complacent.”
A valuable point last night at London Road, although for me it only prolonged the after-taste of Saturday’s home defeat to Burnley. Nonetheless taken in isolation it was a good point and one I gladly add to our recent static total, especially in light of the other results last night.
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Back in the days when I used to go to every home Charlton game and was a regular away traveller, people that would hardly go but spent the whole game moaning used to wind me up. I’ve become one of those irregulars, although I learnt a long time ago that if you pick your games you cannot expect to see a world beating performance or even the best performance of the season or even a lucky win.
As an aside, which is food for thought for the board, sadly I am seeing more and more of my mates and family picking their games and I can tell you that once you stop buying a season ticket then rarely do people go back to spending their Saturday’s at football.
Anyway, the point of this is that I watched three games of football this weekend and each in their own way was disappointing.
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“Our supporters have been terrific and in some ways we don’t deserve it because of how bad we have been. This is a crucial week coming up for us with trips to Peterborough and Huddersfield and we need to pick up something from those games.”
I’ve tried to remain positive about our Valley form albeit from afar but, bloody hell that was poor yesterday wasn’t it?
I mean the effort was unquestionable but the quality was so lacking I hardly clapped a pass or a passage of play. I just sat with 20,064 others, the majority of whom must have spent the entire game in the toilets, which was probably the best seat in fairness, and just wished I’d stayed in the pub.
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Sarasota, Florida
