Jul 31
Wonderful scenes tonight at Wembley. Congratulations to the England team, feeling very proud.
The men could learn a lot from their female counterparts including sportsmanship for one. Loved the post match interviews, such natural connectivity and passion, and not an ego in sight.
Please click for moreFirst games are always difficult to judge, but judge them we do. There were definitely passages of play, Fraserās goal as an example, where evidence of an identity that Ben Garner is trying to instill were there to see.
There was also some initial concerns, some which had already been pinpointed when studying Swindon from last season. This team as it stands is going to concede goals, and I honestly canāt see us scoring enough to counter that each week.
Please click for moreBefore the fixtures came out my brother, son and a couple of mates vowed to all get together for the opening game of the season. Rain or shine, home or away.
Other than the coastal towns of Fleetwood and Morecambe, we couldnāt have been drawn further away, and then the bloody trains decided to go on strike.
Please click for moreSquad numbers mean less than they ever did, but they are always worth a study to see if there is a story behind the numbers.
The headline is that Joe Wollacott has taken the no. 1 shirt from Craig MacGillivray, who unlucky for him is given no. 13. No surprise that Garner is going to start with the ex-Swindon ākeeper, but a kick in the teeth for last yearās custodian.
Please click for moreIt comes to something when we are hardly mentioned in promotion talk, and most āexpertsā have us down as mid table. Nothing more, nothing less like it or not but this is where we are as we begin our fourth season in five in the 3rd Division.
Optimism is very muted among Addicks, more than I can ever remember it being so, despite the club having many tougher years and discouraging summers.
Please click for moreIām very aware that this Blog is becoming a home for some gloom-mongering grumbles, and I donāt know, but todayās player sponsorship announcement annoyed me.
Please click for moreI fly to the UK tonight deciding to go around the houses to get to Heathrow to avoid, at the time, striking BA staff and the seemingly unavoidable crazy cost of airline fares.
The cost of airline travel due to fuel rises and returning post pandemic demand is off the charts at the moment, and in Bermuda where BA monopolize the transatlantic route and we are still not back to a complete schedule, the cost of flights are rapacious.
Please click for moreWouldnāt we just love to have that echoing around The Valley. Weād all like nothing more than seeing Miles Leaburn make it big (no pun intended), but although physically he is strong, there have been too many examples over the years of young players being thrown in too early, despite what both Thomas Sandgaard and Ben Garner says.
Ben Garner will know what is needed and has inherited a physical aerial striker in Jayden Stockley, who does not suit Garnerās system, and in Garnerās words āa deconditionedā striker in Chuks Aneke, who already has injury concerns a week before the real business starts.
Please click for moreJul 22
āAs the club celebrates 30 years since the return to The Valley, the new white away shirt pays tribute to the hard-working volunteers and supporters who helped dig out the origins of the stadium in 1919.
Rising from the shell of an abandoned chalk pit in SE7, an army of volunteers helped dig out the area for the pitch, using the materials to build up makeshift stands in what was already a natural, and so The Valley was born.ā (more)
Please click for moreJosh Davison has joined Johnnie Jacksonās AFC Wimbledon on a 3-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
22-year old Davison joined in October 2019 and played 35 times, scoring 6 goals.
Please click for moreLooks as if Jack Payne will be the next Ben Garner acquisition as the new Addicksā boss raids his old club once more.
27-year old Payne can play as an 8 or a 10, and turned down a very good offer to apparently take lower wages at Charlton. Payne will have a medical today before being announced tomorrow.
Please click for moreHot on the news of the club open to selling Jake Forster Caskey, it is also appears that Josh Davison could also be gone by the time the transfer window is closed.
JFC was only offered a new contract a few months back after fighting back from another long-term injury. None of us really know if the 2020/21 POTY can rediscover that form, but central midfield is an area where the squad is more than adequate and it looks as if Ben Garner would rather move JFC on over Albie Morgan and Alex Gilbey.
Please click for moreIāll write a bit more on Barbados later as we saw more of the island in the Windward Islands this time around, although Carlisle Bay with the Kensington Oval in the distance was shrouded in darkness this morning when we left the hotel to fly back to Miami at the crack of dawn.
I said this last time we were there when my daughter was competing at CARIFTA (Caribbean Games) in April that it was exhausting and I didnāt so much as wiggle my toe in the hotel pool.
Please click for moreSlightly bemused by todayās match day price tickets announcement. Between Ā£29 to Ā£34 per home game for a seat in the majority of the stadium on the back of a horribly rising cost of living. Not to mention petrol prices and increasing interest rates. Do I need to go on. Ā£34 for League One football? Where is Thomas getting his advice from?
All this on the back of the disastrous efforts to fill the 18,000 or so empty seats last season. No bad idea filling The Valley but a) make it a worthwhile product and 2) have a knowledge based marketing strategy and 3) price it accordingly.
Please click for moreWe are on our way to Miami this morning, an almost 3-hour flight from Bermuda, and once again just like last time our daughter is on her way separately with the Bermuda swim team to Barbados.
This time it is CCCAN (Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation) Championships. The meet could realistically have been anywhere in Central America or the Caribbean, and selfishly it is a shame that we are back in Barbados again, although at least it will be familiar surroundings.
Please click for moreIt sounds as if the first loan slot will be taken by Fulhamās versatile 22-year old Steven Sessegnon. His twin brother is at Tottenham.
Steven is comfortably two-footed and can play either at left or right back, and I presume with the squad number limit an issue, his adaptability will be important.
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New York, New York
