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Feb 28

4 Comments

Charlton Athletic 3 Reading 4

Another dagger in the heart yesterday. To battle back from 1-3 to 3-3 and then concede in injury time would sum up our season despite the fact we have rarely been on equal, let along better terms in injury time.

Jose Riga rued injuries for our frailties, yet our defence resembles a teabag and you can’t concede 3 goals in the 1st half and have any hope of winning matches. Riga was still able to put out a first team without relying on an academy graduate and Cristian Ceballos and Naby Sarr were nowhere near the bench.

It’s funny how Chris Solly’s absence is now lamented when not long ago the owner said he wasn’t good enough. A bit like Yann Kermorgant, also not worthy of a new contract, yet Roger Johnson was lauded on his return as some sort of savour and given an 18 month deal. Yes, funny like a hole in the head.
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Feb 28

The 2015 Shower Gellies™

I always coincide my Gellies™ with the Oscars, and unless you are either a shower gel watchdog, or have been unfortunate to have found yourself on my Blog at this time of year before then you either haven’t a clue what I’m on about, or think that I am so disillusioned by everything Charlton Athletic that I have taken to writing about the pros and cons of bodily cleaning fluids.

Whilst over in Hollywood there is all kinds of razzmatazz today, here at the Chicago Addick Theatre, we keep it short and sweet. No brouhaha, no red carpet, but there will be bubbles, lots of them, but be careful not to get it in your eyes!

Since this time last year I have put my head down in 19 different hotels, and from memory I bathed in all of them. Other than the honeymooners in the next room, what is worse than stood in the shower naked and wet and reaching out to where you’d expect the shampoo and shower gel to be and finding a rough old piece of soap or some awful smelling liquid in a container as big as a pill box?

See, you’re getting me, aren’t you.
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Feb 28

9 Comments

Proper Charlton

Under a cloak of darkness 20 Charlton fans made their way to Belgium tonight and took the Anti Duchatelet to his homeland and demonstrated at the St Truiden home game against Zulte Waregem.

The 20 Addicks paid for the trip themselves and planned their journey meticulously. They met up before the game to work out how their protest could get both maximum impact, and buy-in from STVV supporters. The group also looked at various scenarios, perhaps expecting that their arrival in the small town had already peeked some unwanted interest.

The 20 Addicks handed out flyers in both English and Dutch before the game and then in the ground and after 15 minutes of the game unveiled a huge banner (photo) along one side of the ground.

Within 5 minutes stewards came down to the Charlton fans to force them to take down the banner. Stragically placed in the stand opposite were two other Addicks who took photos and at the time of the steward kerfuffle opposite starting doing a massive flyer drop to as many fans around them as possible.
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Feb 25

2 Comments

Boro bother

So I have a ‘friend’ who booked a plane ticket to come back for the crucial Middlesbrough game on the 12th March. It could end with relegation just a formality for the Addicks. That ‘friend’ has to fly back on the Sunday so they could be at work the next day. That friend’ was also taking his son and would have been joined by family and friends.

Imagine how annoyed ‘my friend’ is that the game has been switched to the Sunday at just 2 weeks notice.
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Feb 24

8 Comments

Lookman stays until 2020

Well ok, that’s a bit far fetched even in Pinocchio’s world. 

First things first though, thank you to young Ademola, who at 18 at least has a sensible head on his teenage shoulders and thanks to those around him who at least preach patience and reality. Ademola could have gone in the window cheaply and for what? To sit in an academy full of high paid, pampered, appearance-less teenagers? Ademola has come up the hard way, the Jamie Vardy way, let’s call it, so rare that young player’s break into professional football via the back door these days. He comes from a different world than a Cristian Cebellos for example.

Ademola Lookman we will at least get to enjoy for a bit longer. To 2020? Do me a favour. To the end of this season? Probably. 
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Feb 23

1 Comment

Preston North End 2 Charlton Athletic 1

Another defeat. Anyone surprised?

A very weird line up starting with 6 defenders with Chris Solly in central midfield, Morgan Fox somewhere in there too, and Roger Johnson back after bench sores. No Harriott, who gave Fulham problems on Saturday. We could have been forgiven in thinking that master tactician Karel Fraeye was back picking the team. He wasn’t but Riga is only another puppet with slightly longer strings and a better CV.
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Feb 23

3 Comments

Solution or more of the same?

Unless Jose Riga can pull a rabbit out of a hat at Preston tonight I would expect him to start to come under increased scrutiny amongst Addicks. Tonight is Jose’s 7th game in charge and I am starting to wonder if he is not the solution but part of the continuation of the problem.

Riga has been appointed and left/sacked/walked *delete as applicable four times under Duchatelet. He may claim to be his own man, but the facts betray a different image.

Riga was only accepted because he was a known quantity, a decent man, and the best of a horrible bunch of sycophantic no-marks. And frankly Nebojša Vignjević walking into The Valley would have been the end for just about everyone.
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Feb 21

4 Comments

Chris Solly

Not good enough according to that expert on picking a player, Roland Duchatelet, but he has always been good enough for me and every other Charlton fan.

Chris Solly played his 200th game for Charlton yesterday. He said this on Twitter last night: “Certainly not the performance or result we need in our position right now, but a real honour today for me personally reaching 200 games for the club, been an extremely difficult season but I love playing for this club and will continue to give 100%!”
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Feb 20

4 Comments

Fulham 3 Charlton Athletic 0

I think that is it. 7 points from safety isn’t any different from this morning, but a gutless 2nd half ending in a sixth 3-0 defeat leaves us rooted to the bottom of The Championship and there isn’t a cat in hells chance of us being able to finish above three other teams.

This relegation was totally avoidable but everything points to it being so meticulously planned by Roland Duchatelet and Katrien Meire, with Richard Murray looking on, encouraging the complete dismantling of this once proud football club. Whereas Meire can’t get out of her own way and Duchatelet, he who doesn’t do failure, happy that his experiement is working, Murray should be utterly ashamed of himself.

If Riga, who I am starting to think we gave far too much credit for in keeping Powell’s squad up last time, is banging the nails in the coffin, then it was the clown Karel Fraeye that bought them from Homebase and left them on the side with a hammer.
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Feb 19

1 Comment

Laurence Bloom next

Last man standing. Laurence Bloom will follow Ben Roberts, Damian Matthew, Nathan Jones, Alex Dyer and Phil Chapple out of The Valley in the next couple of weeks according to the SLP. Only Head Physiotherapist Erol Umut and the great Keith Peacock now remain of Chris Powell’s coaching staff that won League One with 101 points. Hell would have to freeze over before Peacock left, or maybe just the Scheldt.

Tomorrow just around 2,000 Addicks will make the journey up the river to Craven Cottage, one of my favourite away days, and probably half of the amount that would ordinarily make the short pilgrimage west. How 2,000 people feel inclined to attend is pretty striking with what fans have been through, and I know none of my mates or family are going, even though this was pencilled in as an away day early in the season. I cancelled my trip back this week for other reasons, but it is systemic of the general apathy that submerges us.
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Feb 18

6 Comments

16

My son is 16 today. It makes you sit down and attempt to remember where all that time went. I haven’t been a conventional father, possibly not a great one, but I have always tried to be there for him and to influence his personality and his decision making the best way I can.

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Feb 15

2 Comments

Yoon Suk-Young

“Charlton are delighted to confirm the signing of Yun Suk-Young on loan from Queens Park Rangers until the end of the season.” (more)

Another band aid from Roly’s first aid box. Why were we not this active in the January transfer window? Yet again we leave our mad dash for safety as late as possible. QPR’s Yun Suk-Young has had a serious injury but there is a player in there and the South Korean international plays mostly as a left back, but gets forward well.
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Feb 15

6 Comments

A different sort of customer 

Seeing Katrien Meire walk along Harvey Gardens with her headphones in, holding a Pinnochio mask, and with a CARD sticker attached to her coat was a strange sight. Then by all accounts she approached Rick Everitt selling the latest VOTV (with me in it, plug, plug) and asked him if he was afraid to talk to her! 

After seeing this play out on social media my immediate thoughts were – is this woman for real?

A qualified lawyer, even a novice one, will have adopted a very good poker face and an uber thick skin, but we have often seen her crack in front of the camera. However with Roland’s vote of confidence this week – “she is a fantastic lady,” there was a renewed skip in her step yesterday. 
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Feb 13

7 Comments

Charlton Athletic 0 Cardiff City 0

1 point from 2 home games is not good enough. The 4 goals at Rotherham seems like a long, long time ago and Jose Riga has been unable to galvanize the side since then, even with the addition of three new players. 

The first half sounded miserable and the crowd only being able to cheer anything late in the game as the Addicks finally threw themselves at the Welshmen following the introduction of Poyet and Sanogo. Before then Cardiff should have pocketed the 3 points, but the point takes us off the bottom, although with our dreadful goal difference we are now 7 points from safety. One plus was that it was our first clean sheet in over 2 months.
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Feb 12

2 Comments

Roly delivers a loan player

“If you introduce a player it can take him a number of weeks – depending on the character, type, position and relationship with the coaches – to adapt and integrate. It’s not such a good idea to do too many loans”

And what do we get as a parting gift from Roly? A loan player. A right back who has not played since last May. No doubting Marco Motta’s resume but he has always struggled for game time especially at Juventus where he rarely played in 5 years.  Watford came to his rescue, probably due to a Udinese connection, and Motta played 9 games during the whole of Watford’s promotion season with them using him more on the right side of midfield.
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Feb 12

3 Comments

Nicest club in country

Roland Duchatelet took time out from his busy schedule to visit one of his children this week. He praised his CEO Katrien Meire. “She is a fantastic lady and she has a huge heart for Charlton. Charlton is something she lives for and it hurts her tremendously to be attacked that way by some fans.” and the “very influential” Richard Murray. “Richard is, in my view, the ultimate fan.”

The owner did agree that there maybe more than 2% of the customers not happy. “I think most of the fans are extremely unhappy now, at least a big part of them.”

But fans “don’t understand everything” and have to rely on Roly and his team even though he is “away, far away,” a million miles away the other side of the Channel, and he has “so many other things to do.” Warren Buffet would know what he meant.
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Feb 9

13 Comments

Meire ridiculed again

The club might not win naff all in the forthcoming future but they are way ahead in the league table of ridicule with ace striker Katrien Meire the leading scorer.

An eagle eyed supporter on Charlton Life found some public documents from Companies House that show that Meire had recently resigned as a director of Charlton Athletic Holdings. Cue classic Charlton conspiracy theories alongside glee at the thought that Meire was packing her bags.

What then followed was hilarious as Addicks wondered to next steps whilst amateur graphologists analysed Meire’s signature to make sure it wasn’t a fake. Turns out it was, as Addicks’ protest against the regime and in particular our incompetent CEO took a different turn.
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Feb 6

2 Comments

Charlton Athletic 0 Bristol City 1

Well that was a kick in the balls. In a complete contrast to last week, today’s performance lacked just about everything and leaves us bottom of the table, and leaves us to think the worst.

The January transfer window was so important to our chances of survival yet once again the owner has failed to address so many of the squad’s weaknesses. If I include Vaz Te, only one player from the seven signed in the transfer window started today. Vaz Te and Williams have been packed off, Johnson and Poyet not good enough to start and Sanogo and Fanni not even fit enough be on the bench. With Igor injured again it is hard to understand why Sanogo didn’t at least warrant a subs spot.
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Feb 5

9 Comments

Charlton in failed bid shocker

Smiling is back at Sparrows Lane. After Karel Fraeye failed to crack a smile on anyone’s face Jose Riga has brought it back to SE7, and we hope that continues tomorrow in another 6-pointer at home to Bristol City.

The Addicks were busy before the transfer deadline making two loan signings, two players very different, both French and apparently the head coaches choice. Both Yaya Sanogo and Rod Fanni (photo) are not expected to feature tomorrow with Riga insisting that both newbies get up to speed. Sanogo hasn’t played 90 first team minutes this season and Fanni’s last played for Gianfranco Zola’s Al-Arabi in October.
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Feb 1

2 Comments

In Riga we trust

Well what choice do we have? But in a pack full of liars, sycophants and total incompetence Jose maybe the only chance we have and we need him on our side, like he needs us on his.
We are in the last chance saloon and we find the 58-year old in there with us. Siege mentality is what is needed, and trust. 

Riga earned our respect first time around. I thought he deserved to continue his work, but he was denied, possibly because he asked for too much self governing, possibly because Roland Duchatelet thought he knew better. I know who I trust. 
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