Marcus Maddison signs
I don’t think I was the only one saying that we dodged a bullet when our January move to Peterborough’s Marcus Maddison fell through. At the nightfall of the January window we were told that Maddison couldn’t be bothered with the London traffic and Posh owner Darragh MacAnthony covered for his counterfeit mate Southall that Maddison was a bad egg and we were both better off without him.
History now tells us to trust no one and we were all taken for a huge ride, MacAnthony as well.
Maddison is another rough diamond signed from non-league by MacAnthony but his time there ended sourly. He was sent to Hull on loan where he played consistently until lockdown, but he hasn’t kicked a ball in anger since the end of February.
Bowyer and Gallen have had Maddison on their radar for ages, ever since they went on that infamous night time drive to his house in January under the impression of course that we actually had a pot to piss in, and it wasn’t all one big fraud.
They’ve finally got their man and Maddison has terrific form at this level. Possibly his attitude is questionable but Gallen would have done his homework, and Bowyer will do his work with him on the training ground. Jacko as well.
Maddison will give us something we haven’t had since Ricky Holmes or Joe Aribo and for that short mouthwatering time Conor Gallagher. Pace and trickery and a powerful force driving into the box. I’m looking forward to seeing him in a red shirt, tattoo’s and all.
Chicago Addick 
I do worry about clubhouse harmony with this guy coming in. I imagine the Charlton area tattoo parlours are thrilled, although it is more than likely he no longer has any unadorned skin left! It would be like the last person trying to add their name and a message to a retirement gift card at the office! If he ever sustains a cut on the pitch, he will bleed purple! Hopefully he is all about football and blends with this mates.
The publicity surrounding Maddison in January was not complimentary to say the least, I think his attitude towards Peterborough at the time was similar to that we later encountered with the scumbag Taylor. I have always thought that Maddison is a good player and hope that he proves a good recruit but I have my reservations.
I listened to the commentary on Wednesday and it appeared that both Vennings and Mingi created favourable impressions, did you watch the game and what are your thoughts?
The U18s have now played 3 won 3 but the club continues to give very patchy information about the games, I was hoping that as supporters cannot attend games because of COVID that the club would up their game with communication. Under the previous regime it was understandable but I hope the new owner will improve the situation. Improved higher quality highlight pictures would also be appreciated as the present pictures are very poor for both U18s and U23s. HD quality cameras are required
I too was relieved in January when Maddison signed on loan for Hull. The story put out about the player not wanting to even hold talks with Charlton smacked of arrogance and l also felt the club had dodged a bullet. However, reading LB’s comments this morning and Lee drawing parallels with Taylor, l hope MM gets his head down and takes on board the advice and, more importantly, acts on it to help restore his reputation as a classy player capable of playing at a higher level than L1. I feel LB can improve Maddison’s fortunes to the benefit of the player and the Club. If successful, then Johnny Williams should be looking over his shoulder. At last, we are beginning to focus on football again!
When I first heard the rumours I wondered whether it was a hopeful agent stiring to get another club to make their minds up about signing him. Regarding January’s transfer saga, perhaps he knew a bit more about what was going on than we did – Lyle Taylor fell out with Southall around that time when a derogatory contract offer was made and then withdrawn. I wonder if Southall also tried to get Maddison cheaply and that lead to him refusing to talk to Bow and Gallen?
Whatever the truth, he is a proven performer at this level and I’m more than a bit surprised that he remained on the shelf for so long. Perhaps he gambled on one or two clubs coming in for him only to lose out for some reason? He should give us a bit more in the final third and he’s the sort of player who’s not afraid to take a poke at goal – which reminds me of Lee Bowyer when he came through.
Still the matches v Posh should be interesting.