Dec 12
I am in Bermuda this week. A catalogue of meetings interspersed by Christmas drinks, or the other way around, I’m not sure.
The Bermuda weather is about 10 degrees warmer here than it is in Sarasota, but still as humid as ever.
Please click for moreA small but what might be a significant update on the board structure by the club.
“Following a recent meeting of Charlton’s owners, Global Football Partners, Gavin Carter, has been appointed as the Non-Executive Chair of the Charlton Athletic board.”
Please click for moreA dismal game that could have been ruined by the weather, but watching Charlton it is hard to tell these days.
It was better than Tuesday, but that is a very low bar, although reverting to a back three and two wing backs meant at least we couldn’t just pump it long, and they did try to pass it.
Plese click for moreTalking Point 🗣️
I don’t want to take any heat off Nathan Jones, because he needs to own where we are after ten months of his management, yet it is important to remind ourselves how we got here.
When is the last time we heard from any of the above? I can tell you. Hardly a peep since they all got themselves snazzy new job titles in June.
Please click for moreWe really are a pitiful excuse of a football team. Devoid of any quality, creativity and ideas.
Desperately dull and ineffective long diagonal hoof ball, circa 1980, hoping, praying for a flick or a defensive mistake to ‘create’ a chance on goal. That is our sole game plan. Our philosophy, our identity. Heaven help us.
Please call for moreDion Dublin and Mark Hughes pulled some cracking ties out of the hat this evening apart from about one, our tie away at Preston.
All around us there were some great ties, but for us it’s a very un-romantic away trip to Preston, our first visit to Deepdale since our last season in The Championship.
Please click for moreTeam from higher league beats lower league opposition.
But, it wasn’t quite as simple as that going into the game. Walsall have been on a really good run of form in both the league and cup’s and started as favourites. We were ripe for a giant-killing.
Please click for moreReally sad news today that journalist Kevin Nolan has passed away.
He has for decades covered Charlton games through good times and bad in his own unique and unparalleled way.
Please click for moreIn June of this year I reached the milestone of writing this Blog for 20 Years. If I say so myself, that is quite a feat.
To commemorate this I have been selecting, in no marked order, 20 Players and 20 Places that I hold dear in my memories. My next pick for Places, no. 16, is Oman.
Please click for moreDesperate of a little Charlton excitement I mentioned earlier in the week about playing Tyreece Campbell and Kaheim Dixon. I don’t obviously watch them in training and I have never been paid to be a football manager, but I would like to see my team finish a game without me wanting to poke my eyes out with a tooth pick.
There doesn’t seem much rhyme or reason to the sides Jones puts out. Perhaps still trying to find his best team as we head into December, So for Saturday’s cup game why not try a little width. Something a little different.
Please click for moreThis wasn’t as much as a must win, it was a had to win, and win we did.
End of match report….😎
Please click for moreOur group chat normally begins early gameday with someone sending a simple two-word message: ‘must win’.
I think I’ve been going long enough to not press the panic button, but I’m sorry, tomorrow’s game really is a must win.
Please click for moreAnother defeat, that is one league win in nine. Less points than we had at this point last season which was before Appleton sent us hurtling towards a relegation battle.
Jones asked us to judge him on performances and after he had made us much stronger following the summer transfer window. As a reminder, his last three signings were A Campbell, Potts and Hylton.
Please click for moreTaking point 🗣️
Back at it tomorrow, and with two games in a space of a few days I hope we can get ourselves moving away from the melancholy position of mid-table (not downwards 😣).
Please click for moreI only just noticed that Conor Coventry was a (very) late call up to the Republic of Ireland’s squad for the game against England at Wembley yesterday. He was an unused sub.
Coventry qualifies for the Republic through his Mum and actually holds the record for their most capped player at U21 level making 28 appearances.
Please click for moreIn no order I am listing 20 Players that have left an enduring impression on me in my almost half a century of being an Addick.
20 Players to commemorate me writing this Blog for 20 years and at no. 16 is Darren Bent.
Please click for moreI am moving slowly through my 20 Places and 20 Players to help me celebrate 20 Years of writing this Blog. No order, no rankings.
We are back to Players, and my no. 15 is Claus Jensen.
Please click for moreKai Enslin’s inclusion in tonight’s BSM game at home to Bromley meant he will be the first player on the road to The Valiant 2000.
Enslin joined the Addicks academy when he was 13 and did well I thought and played with a lot of energy on the left side of midfield, and almost scored. The 19-year old has both Japanese and English citizenship and I’m looking forward to seeing him again.
Please click for moreI have always wondered why Americans put the home team last in a fixture. I found out that it emanates from baseball where the travelling team always bat first.
Anyway, that solved one of the many questions I have always had about American sports as I travelled from Florida to Austin in Texas over the weekend to watch the Gators get smoked by the Longhorns.
Please click for moreSaturday’s game at home to Peterborough United has been called off due to our international call-ups.
Karoy Anderson and Kaheim Dixon are both part of Jamaica’s squad to take on the USA over two legs in the regions Nations League and Thierry Small got a late call up to England’s Elite squad, formally the U20’s. Congratulations to him.
Please click for moreDuring yesterday’s match I wasn’t anywhere near a screen and my phone was firmly in my pocket as I sat among 103,000 others at the Texas v Florida college game in Austin. Quite an awe-inspiring experience.
Unlike the one for Addicks at St James Park.
Please click for moreNot one to set the heart racing. Drawn out of hat fourth to play Walsall away. The game will be played over the weekend of Friday 29th November and Monday 2nd December.
Walsall are going well in League Two placed second and beat Bolton yesterday to reach the FA Cup 2nd Round.
Please click for moreI’ll try not to be too negative but that was another disappointing and alarming display.
Yet, I have spent five decades watching us find way’s to lose these games and despite the players’ best efforts, they actually won and most importantly of all are in the hat for the next round.
Please click for moreAs the club continue to negotiate a long-term contract renewal for Miles Leaburn they today triggered the extra year to take his current deal to the summer of 2026.
Please click for moreI arrived in London this morning flying overnight from Tampa. A noisy, rattly and bumpy flight meant I got little sleep but I was able to check into my hotel at 9am, which although I felt like crap, there was something to be said for lying in bed all morning with just the TV for company. I never do stuff like that.
Please click for moreI think a last kick of the game equalizer hides another below par performance, but it was still great to hear the noise when Matty Godden smacked home that penalty.
It was not in anyway memorable, and the build up to this week’s game has been a little odd, but if a few of those day trippers or lapsed fans return, then at least that’s something, as we don’t get any better at nailing these ‘big games.’
Please click for moreThat was the attendance last time we played Wrexham at The Valley. 60 away fans if I counted correctly!
February 1982, and I think it fair to say that the 2nd Division game in the middle of winter was not an attractive proposition.
Please click for moreTaking point 🗣️
Luke Berry got his 3rd and 4th goal of the season last night. There’s only been six starts, criticized in some quarters for not influencing games enough, he does have a habit of appearing from nowhere to score.
The question on everyone’s lips after Alfie May was cut loose was where will the goals come from.
Please click for morePoor once again. It was so very Charlton to throw that away, but three points would have been daylight robbery. One point was shoplifting.
Today made me think that Birmingham and Stockport were anomalies, and although the table is tightly packed together I have nightmarish visions of mid-table mediocrity once again.
Please click for moreWe should’ve won that, shouldn’t we?
We played pretty well, and upped the ante in the second half to bestow the game an exciting finish but once again we were unlikely to score more than a single goal.
Please click for moreA nice little pocket of news today with the club announcing an extended contract for defender Zach Mitchell, who has quietly behind the scenes been making great strides.
Mitchell, aged 19, who has been at Charlton since he was 7 has put pen-to-paper on a deal until 2027, with a club option of an extra year.
Please click for moreThe draw for the 1st Round proper of the FA Cup was held at Bradford tonight and the Addicks were drawn away to Southend United.
It’s a good draw for fans, and as the balls left began to get fewer and fewer we could have been paired with Birmingham, Wrexham, Peterborough, Blackpool or Gillingham.
Please click for moreTalking Point 🗣️
It seems like a lifetime ago that we played Birmingham, but still the afterglow remains. Now the trick is to take that forward.
We saw a very different style of play from Nathan Jones, possibly forced by the absence of Ahadme, but clearly architected by him as well to press City into submission and completely throw them out of their patterns.
Please click for moreWe had already heard from a neighbour before we set off for the drive home yesterday that the house “looked okay” but the 5+ hour drive was still full of apprehension.
By the time we pulled up outside of the house it was dusk, but there it was standing in front us looking a little shellshocked. All around were fallen trees, large branches and debris.
Please click for moreWe will drive back to Sarasota today, and are expecting a long journey across Alligator Alley, the main road that runs east to west in the southern part of the state.
Information on the condition of our house is patchy as most neighbours evacuated and it sounds as if access to where we live is difficult. We do know we have no power or mobile phone service.
Please click for moreBack to this to take my mind away from the waiting. This past June I celebrated 20 years writing my Blog and therefore decided to pick 20 Players and 20 Places that have left an enduring impression on me.
We are at number 14 on the catalogue of Players, which are in no particular order, and taking that spot is Johnnie Jackson.
Please click for moreI’m looking forward to seeing the new Back to The Valley memorial next time I’m at the ground.
CAST should take credit again for another enterprising idea which they took from blueprint to fruition.
Please click for moreThat’s more like it. A Charlton performance you can get behind. More of that please.
Credit to Nathan Jones on the formation switch and game plan. The turnaround in some of those player performances was nothing short of insane, and it does make you wonder what happened in those last three games.
Please click for moreI have to say I’ve been pretty impressed with Birmingham City’s start to the season.
The Premier League can be bought, The Championship can be bought thanks to parachute payments, and a bit of investment can go a long way in League Two but buying success in the third tier has long been fraught with impediments.
Please click for moreIt’s been a tough week for Addicks, again.
Lots of soul searching and negativity because let’s be honest it has been our de facto position for so many years now.
Please click for moreI blindly thought we’d see a reaction tonight, how wrong was I? How wrong was Nathan Jones?
The difference being Jones had his fingers all over that performance, and I just live in a world of false optimism.
Please click for moreThe away game at Burton Albion on Saturday week has been postponed due to the hosts having four players called up for internationals. They include New Zealand ‘keeper Max Crocombe, who is keeping ex-Addick Harry Isted on the bench.
Please click for moreTalking Point 🗣️
It does amaze me that Charlton fans continue to sell out away ends and take large numbers away. Somehow despite the desperate last few seasons we seem to have found a new generation of ‘yoof’ who are prepared to invest time and money following the club.
Please click for moreThat was awful. More awful actually watching them in the flesh than on CATV, at least then I can do something else more interesting like sort my socks into pairs.
It’s not so much losing, but it was the feeling of nothing. Nothing to cheer, nothing to get excited about, nothing to get you off your feet.
Please click for moreIt must be about 20 years since I was last in Zürich, and I only know that because I had never done a Travelogue previously. Before then when I worked in London I was a frequent visitor.
I had forgotten how beautiful this city is, sat on two rivers and a lake with the Alps looming large in the background.
Read moreMy trip is on its 10th day and the weather has been spectacular thus far, although drizzle is expected today down here near Eastbourne where I currently am.
The weather was spectacular last week in London and similarly in Zurich and Munich. However, back home in Florida a booming large hurricane is sailing up the coast.
Please click for moreTalking Point 🗣️
I would take anyway to get out of this league, even aimless hoofs upfield, if that somehow resulted in goals.
No Charlton fan should have been under any illusion of what Nathan Jones brought. His personality and style of play has had plenty of airtime.
Please click for moreToday’s game was on in the background to other stuff I had going on so I wasn’t paying it full attention, and I am glad I had better things to do.
The 1st half was as bad as any time last season particularly defensively. 2nd half became a masterclass in time-wasting and shithousery from the visitors.
Please click for moreI am flying to London tonight for an extended work trip that also takes in Zurich and Munich.
It’s my first time home since Christmas, so I am long overdue, and will spend the rest of the week in the City. No time for a soirée up to Cambridge unfortunately.
Please click for moreBack onto my series of naming 20 Players. Picked in no order, but are all people that I hold in high esteem to help salute me writing this Blog for 20 Years.
We are on lucky number 13, and my pick is Steve Brown, who never let us down.
Please click for moreWho knew. You can actually score from a corner!!
Even though we failed to inspire any away win is a good win and supported by another clean sheet the Addicks move up to 2nd in the table.
Please click for moreI dipped in and out of feed of the U21 action today against Leeds United in the Premier League Cup.
Miles Leaburn started his first match since the end of November last year.
Please click for moreThis day was always going to come. I think Steve is 69 years old, and today the club announced his ‘semi-retirement’ from his job as Academy Manager of the football club. A decision it seems was made by Steve and his family in the summer.
Steve is a true legend who has developed and introduced some outstandingly talented players into the first team, and there are tens and tens of professional footballers playing around the country at all levels that have Steve to thank for their careers. Many others before them as well of course.
Please click for moreThat was a pretty ugly watch with a share of the spoils a fair outcome.
One cannot deny the team’s hard graft, and just to be clear I am not knocking the playing style as I remember Ben Garner. However, without sparks of creativity or balls pinging into the opposing box fashioning chances then games can be a real grind.
Please click for moreSorry, it’s been a long week.
A no brainer this one and long in the pipeline, Dan Potts(y) signed a short term contract today until January. The 30-year old is a left sided centre-half.
Please click for moreSaturday’s game at home to Rotherham is on, the club deciding to play it without the services of Daniel Kanu, Karoy Anderson and new signing Kaheim Dixon.
I don’t believe Rotherham have any international call-ups.
Please click for moreAt Saturday’s final whistle I think most Addicks were disappointed but probably none “raging off their nut” like the team manager.
Nathan Jones’ interview with Terry Smith post game was very much the talking point amongst my mates last night as his anger seemed a little misplaced.
Please click for moreWe just weren’t at it today. I thought we poor with the ball and once again lacked decisiveness and bravery when in possession.
Our first league defeat and goals conceded, sadly in front of a large travelling support.
Please click for moreIf you did a heat map of my Blog then the name of Scott Fraser would be in a bright red bubble during these last few months, yet the last time he started a game for Charlton was that dreadful performance at Leyton Orient on Boxing Day.
As expected it was announced early this morning that the 29-year old Scot has left the club by mutual consent.
Please click for moreI don’t know if there has ever been a transfer deadline day where we haven’t seen one player leave or join.
I’m not knocking it as it was such a pleasant change to do our business early, seven of the nine new signings joining the pre-season tour that began on July 7th.
Please click for moreA few of those eagle-eyed had noticed Paul Hart’s absence from the dugout thus far this season, and yesterday the club announced that he has left the club.
We know the demands of working for Nathan Jones, Paul Hart knows that better than anyone so good luck to the 71-year old in I presume retirement or at least being home much more with the family.
Please click for moreWhat are we going to see today?
Will it be a “super duper phone” day punctuated by loads of fattening snacks? I’m not sure Will Abbott would approve of that. Or will the day pass without any deadline Charlton moves?
Please click for more
City of London
