Charlton Athletic 1 AFC Bournemouth 0
“What gives me pleasure is that it’s happened here in our home, in The Valley.”
Bugger me, as I said after QPR, if there was ever a best way to win a game, then make it in the last minute in front of the Covered End.
It has been an emotionally charged week and if I was there tonight I’m not sure how I would have reacted to Jose Riga’s name being sung by the Covered End, yet equally I feel it is most definitely time to move on.
None of ‘this’ is Jose’s fault, and he has my total backing as I said the day he got appointed. People change, times change, but Addick blood does not fade very easily.
I have to say though that I’m truly astonished (and pleased) by how the players have reacted to the new boss, and also how Alex Dyer, Damian Matthews and Jose Riga appear to have meshed. From experience these situations are both challenging, arduous and unpleasant so I take my hat off to all three and especially Riga, who appears to have won hearts and minds.
Team selection has us all befuddled. Whether Powell was just completely untrusted by Duchâtelet or the “footballing issues” were a figment of our imagination, who knows?
Jose Riga may just see this as a wonderful opportunity to make a name for himself and be judged on results and reputation. It’s fair to say that at 56-years old this is Jose’s biggest challenge in football management, and it looks as if he wants to grab it.
I sincerely hope that Duchatelet doesn’t see him as a stop gap and someone he can dictate to and overbear. The man deserves better, as did CP.
The team sound more expansive, more patient and Riga’s easy going nature looks to have given the team more belief.
The past week had all the potential of an absolute disaster. A home game in the immediate aftermath of Powell’s loathsome departure, a trip to The Den, and then our first game in hand against a team with our top scorer and one of our most recent favourite players lining up against us.
Riga and the players have navigated this, and now they face a run of really tough games, but we should all feel good about the foundation that Riga has brought and how the players, many close to Powell, have reacted.
It is time to move on, yet this Blog will continue to investigate and attempt to make sense of Roland Duchatelet’s vision and strategy for Charlton Athletic.
I don’t buy into the feeder club inscription, and I actually think Roly’s motives are honourable and his sound-bite principles are mostly agreeable.
However, they are inadequate in detail and practicalities. He is a dreamer, an idealist, headstrong. He has seen an opportunity, heavily reliant on Financial Fair Play, but his strategy looks to a bystander to be naive and chaotic and I have been singularly unimpressed with his explanations to date, the most recent being today.
It may well be an exciting ‘project’, but I don’t want the football club I love being part of some mad scientist’s experiment. I think Standard Liege and Guy Luzon was more accident than judgement, but Standard’s season has only added to RD’s confidence that he can beat the system.
Systems, network, projects, customers. Emotionally Charlton mean more to me than that, and I think we deserve to understand the aspirations and the plan better.
But hey, tonight was a big 3 points. Onwards and upwards….. Jose Riga’s red and white army.
Addick Bloggers at The Valley:
Chicago Addick 
I also had a “bugger me” moment at 92 minutes. Charlton won and I felt like texting everyone I knew before I calmed down. I enjoyed Chris Powell as a player but had become somewhat disenchanted with recent results and despite knowing that he was a great bloke and dear to everyone’s hearts had wondered about change before being assaulted with it last week. First thoughts were, well it couldn’t be worse and being a “mad scientist” I fancied the experiment knowing that 9 out of every 10 experiments fail. Onwards and hopefully upwards you Reds.
Perfectly said CA. Charlton supporters deserve more coherent detail on the RD project (if there is a coherent plan and not just a general idea).
The addition of Obika made the difference. Lets hope a right midfield can be added as well before the window closes. The strengthening / non strengthening of the team is the most important factor. Not the change of manager. There is far too much emphasis on that. Great to see Charlton out of the bottom 3.
CPRR
I agree with the general feeling about Powell as expressed by ‘SLC’ above, as indeed do the vast majority of Charlton fans, however.
Riga’s management last evening was a joy to see. He had to make one decision early (I believe Harriot was injured) and he made it. Then later in the game instead of accepting the draw, he put three up front and went for the win.
He took time to congratulate every Charlton player at the end and the way they hugged him back suggest to me a happy relationship.
Riga so far; three games no defeats. Bring on Burnley, i can’t wait, I’ve not felt like that for a while.
I’ll tell you how I felt if you like CA – sick. I was mighty relieved about getting the 3 points but did I feel like I did for the QPR game when I thought my head would explode with joy? Absolutely not. I hope that feeling comes back soon, I really do – but as you know, it can’t be manufactured. I expect I’ll get past the fact that our new owner is a bully (constructive dismissal is always at the hands of bullies), but it will take me a bit longer than the north stand. Just a bit of imagination could have come up with Johnnie Jackson’s red and white army – or even The Man in the Grey Suit’s red and white army – but hey – its the north stand isn’t it.
Much
Much as I supported the change in management, I’d have to say I’ve seen Sir Chrissy Powell make exactly the same changes to 4-3-3 and not get a result from it, despite an improved performance during the game. I’d also say that had Sir Chrissy had Obika to turn to since the January window he might have got a couple more wins.
Mind you I could also say that had Phil Parkinson had 19 new players he could have achieved promotion in exactly the same way as CP!
As Greavsie used to say CA, its a funny old game…
Pembury Addick