Aug 31
If 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 moreGood to read that Miles Leaburn is back in training. He has clearly worked hard, whilst the club under the careful watch of Will Abbott have monitored his progress back to full fitness.
Leaburn last played at the end of November 2023 when he was injured in a home match against Cheltenham. He had also missed the start of last season after getting hurt in the Welling pre-season game.
Please click for moreThe final week of the summer transfer window started well for Nathan Jones as his old compatriot Allan Campbell signed from Luton Town on loan for the season.
Campbell played 43 times in Luton’s promotion to the Premier League, which was began by Jones and finished off by Rob Edwards two season’s ago.
Please click for moreBolton have had our number for a couple of seasons now, especially at The Valley, but that number today was zero, as we kept another clean sheet and collected our third win.
Very early days, but what an uplifting beginning to the league season for Nathan Jones and his side.
Please click for moreI’ve written about Kaheim Dixon already (here and here), but today the club announced his signing subject to a few final pieces of his work permit to finalized.
Dixon has signed a 4-year contract and will wear the number 13.
Please click for moreThe next Place of 20 to extol my 20 Years of writing this Blog.
In no particular order, or ranking but each one as memorable as the other. No. 12 is Beaver Creek in Colorado.
Please click for moreSo, that is one off the wage bill, although Lucas Ness’ pay was not in the same bracket as Scott Fraser.
I am pleased Ness has got his move, and Notts County are a good club.
Please click for moreThe club and specifically it’s most important mouthpiece, Nathan Jones, have been notoriously uncommunicative about injuries since, well since Jones walked into the building.
However the font of secret information, Rich Cawley, appears to have found out that Josh Edwards’ injury will keep him “sidelined for weeks rather than months.” (more)
Please click for moreLots of conversation amongst Addicks in terms of the style of play we’ve seen thus far under Nathan Jones.
I don’t think we can mine too much into how we played last season under Jones. It was all about steadying a sinking ship and putting fingers in dykes all the while for him to study what he has inherited and what was needed on a go forward basis.
Please click for moreA few weeks back word came out that 19-year old Jamaican international Kaheim Dixon was expected to sign with the Addicks.
Since then he has been training with the team, but the club have been waiting on a work-permit, but it’s understood that has been sorted and Dixon may be announced as early as tomorrow.
Please click for moreI am trying to work out when we will wear it, but the Addicks’ third strip got dropped today.
Actually it looks as it got dropped in a bowl of gravy, with all those specks over it. Sorry, did I say gravy I meant telescopic imagery and galactical visuals inspired by Greenwich’s Royal Observatory 🛸🔭
Please click for moreBack from a little break for the season’s kick off from my 20 Players and 20 Places list celebrating 20 Years of Blogging. No order, no ranking just those Players and Places that endure.
We had reached no. 10 for Places, and at No. 11 is Paphos in Cyprus.
Please click for moreI didn’t know if that was going to come, but our superior fitness told and Luke Berry’s 92nd minute winner gave us a second league 1-0 victory.
Clean sheets were impossible to come by last season, but Nathan Jones has fabricated a base from which we can build.
Please clicm for moreSigned just over a year ago, Terry Taylor has started just two games for the Addicks and looks unlikely to add to them.
Not included in the Carabao Cup squad, Taylor has been added to the list of players that Nathan Jones is content to move on to create headroom for new signings before the month is out.
Please click for moreI gave yesterday a wide berth and just checked into the score occasionally. I thought if Charlton can’t be bothered with Cups, then why should I.
Although to be fair Jones did play quite a strong line-up with Terry Taylor being the only obvious omission. I guess that may tell its own story as the month of August continues.
Please click for moreA mate messaged our chat after 15 minutes. He couldn’t follow the game and asked how we were looking. I told him I’d report back after a further 45 and 3/4 games.
It’s impossible to judge based on one game, but still first impressions count, and it’s hard not to draw some early reflections and assumptions.
Please click for moreI heard that Charlton’s Sky Sports Plus coverage stopped just before the end of normal time on Saturday, which must have left viewers a little anxious.
I think Soccer Saturday went to our game just once, that after the goal, preferring to concentrate on Birmingham and Wrexham.
Please click for moreA 1-0 clean sheet away win, something that was improbable all of last season. It was a fine way to start the season.
Lloyd Jones’ 81st minute controlled finish the difference between the two sides with solidity, concentration and hard work overcoming Wigan’s possession based style.
Please click for moreFootball hardly went away this summer what with the Euro’s and then the Olympics. I think there’s even already been European qualifying games going on the last week or so, but here we are again on the eve of the new EFL season.
League One for the Addicks for the fifth consecutive season on the back of our worst league finish for 98 years.
Please click for moreDennis Rommedahl is the first player that crops up in my mind in a yellow Charlton shirt. Yours?
Bright yellow is the colour du jour. I like it, and means travelling Addicks have a song to sing and not ‘Come on you reds’ when we aren’t.
Please click for moreHardly surprising that a player that has played 250 Premier League games and more recently sat on the bench for expensively compiled squads earns a lot more than the rest of the Charlton payroll.
The only surprise is how long it took to get to that summation, but the Asmir Begovic to Charlton deal is off.
Please click for moreIt’s a shame that Portsmouth got promoted, we are going to miss those six points this season.
It sounded like a far more promising exhibition today at The Valley, leaving Addicks in a far happier state of mind. Friendlies can bring a lot of misleading expectations, good and bad, but the final one has a lot more forward-looking importance attached to it.
Please click for moreSky Sports committed to publishing their live match selections for the first half of the season before it began, and today they announced the long list of games they will show until the FA Cup 3rd Round weekend.
The games mostly mean a change of time, and Addicks already knew that the Wigan game was pushed to 5.30pm like every opening L1 game, and then our first home league fixture against Leyton Orient is at 12.30pm, but that was it until the end of September.
Please click for moreI am picking 20 Places and 20 Players from the ‘Valiant 988’ ranks to commemorate me writing this Blog for 20 years.
No ranking, no order and we are on Players currently, and next up at number 12 is Bob Bolder.
Please click for moreIt really is what happens on the pitch that matters, and that has been garbage for many seasons now for which many are culpable.
Charlie Methven should be given some credit for regularly opening up with the ongoing progress of the football club. He talks a good game.
Please click for moreAs socialized yesterday, after passing a medical Harry Isted has moved to Burton Albion for an undisclosed fee.
Isted played 23 games for the Addicks after joining from Luton last summer, although more recognizable for his loan spell at Barnsley.
Please click for morePossibly.
It seems at least that Harry Isted is leaving for Burton Albion on a permanent transfer.
Please click for moreThere’s a nice article here on AFC Wimbledon’s website in preparation for tomorrow’s pre-season friendly between us. Kick off is 3pm with tickets still available.
Carl Leaburn was at Charlton for eleven years and at Wimbledon for three. He did a season at QPR and finished off at Grays Athletic playing until he was 36.
Please click for moreIt’s been very quiet on the transfer front, not even a sniff of a rumour. That was until today.
19-year old Jamaican international Kaheim Dixon is expected to sign with the Addicks. The lightning fast right winger made his Jamaica debut in a Nations League match against the USA in March and has been a regular since playing through their World Cup qualifying and in the recent COPA America finals.
Please click for moreIt’s been a bit of a struggle the almost two-week hole in my life between the final of the Euro’s and tomorrow’s Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. I’d rather poke my eyes out than watch a pre-season friendly, I’m not ready for the new football season yet, so I am all geared up for the greatest show on Earth, the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad.
Please click for moreContinuing on with my selection of 20 Players that hold such great memories to me. All this to celebrate my 20th Blogging anniversary.
Next on my register a man who I think would appear on any Charlton fan from the 1970’s and 80’s list. No. 11 is Addicks’ legend Derek Hales.
Please click for moreBy this time in 2011 Chris Powell had signed 12 new players. As a reminder they were John Sullivan, Bradley Pritchard, Cedric Evina, Paul Hayes, Dale Stephens, Danny Green, Nick Pope, Ruben Bover Izquierdo, Rhoys Wiggins, Danny Hollands, Michael Morrison and Matt Taylor.
There were 19 in total by the time Powell signed free agent Yann Kemorgant in September after the window shut. The rest as they say is history
Please click for moreI am halfway along my journey to list 20 Players and 20 Places to celebrate me writing this Blog for 20 years.
Next up on my list of 20 Places that are cemented in my psyche is where it all began. Catford.
Please click for more“I’m not a believer in fairy tales but I’m a believer in dreams.”
So nearly. Thanks for everything Gareth, and time to take a rest, and wait until Erik ten Hag gets the sack.
Please click for more20 Players and 20 Places to celebrate my 20 years of writing this Blog. No order, no ranking, just those that left everlasting memories.
Next up on my 20 Places was one for the bucket list. No. 9 is Rio.
Please click for moreIn no particular order I am listing 20 Players that left an enduring impression on me in my almost half a century of following the Addicks.
20 Players to commemorate me writing this Blog for 20 years, and we are at the halfway point. No. 10 is Colin Walsh.
Please click for moreSouthgate you’re the one. He wasn’t anybodies last week. How things change, and you know what? I am pleased as punch for him.
He isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and he does have connections with that lot from Croydon, but too often we put down achievers in our country, so my smile was particularly wide when he celebrated in front of the English masses last night in Dortmund.
Please click for moreThe first of the obvious surplus to requirements loan out yesterday.
Aaron Henry has secured a season-long loan at National League side Rochdale. There is a January break clause.
Please click for moreIn no order or rank I am selecting 20 Players who I remember the most fondly in my almost 50 years as a Charlton fan.
I’m doing this to commemorate writing this Blog for 20 years. I’m picking Places too, but this is my Player No.9 – John Humphrey.
Please click for moreLooks nice does Slovenia. I need to add that to my list. A blend of the Alpine mountains and the Med.
Nathan Jones has been taking his teams to Slovenia since 2017 and the squad are staying at a training camp in Kranjska Gora, which Jones is very familiar with.
Please click for moreSo at least that saga is over.
Today George Dobson signed on a free for Wrexham on a two-year contract and he will join them on their Hollywood spin around the U.S.A on their pre-season tour in a couple of weeks.
Please click for moreOut of the blue this one. 27-year old Greg Docherty signs from Hull City on a three-year contract with a club option of a further 12 months (more).
Another Scotsman to join the ranks, Docherty played 90 games in the Championship in Hull’s last three seasons and before that was a key figure in Hull’s title winning promotion from League One in the ‘Covid season.’
Please click for moreNice new kit. Simple and uncomplicated, and importantly it looks the right shade of red, which hasn’t been the case in the last couple of season’s.
Castore’s last, but best shirt I would say.
Please click for moreWe ain’t spending a £1 million on anyone. You pay for potential, you pay for value, you pay for possibilities.
The whole cost of transfer of football players is so flawed these days and fees are made up of a myriad of things, but we ain’t paying a £1 million.
Please click for moreWord reaches us from Székesfehérvár that George Dobson and his family won’t be leaving their Chigwell home and moving to the historical central Hungarian region after all.
It was strange that Fehérvár hadn’t announced Dobson’s signing once his Charlton one expired, especially as they had made quite a big deal out of it in January, but it turns out the ‘binding pre-contract’ has been annulled.
Please click for moreI’m sure we will rue comparing Matt Godden with Alfie May, so I will try not too.
33 years old in a few weeks, Coventry striker Matt Godden has signed a two-year contract with a club option of a further year. He passed a medical today and is expected to be unveiled tomorrow.
Please click for moreThe video was unexpected. Alfie does appear genuinely upset. Fair play for the message, but at least we can now move on. The whole affair had taken over the pre-season, and I think in the majority of most fan’s minds set a negative mindset.
May joins Birmingham City for what is said to be £775,000 plus add-ons, and supposedly according the Nathan Jones, the fee will be reinvested in this window, although Cheltenham will get a cut.
Please click for moreChris Solly is returning to the Addicks as an academy coach working with Jason Pearce.
Up until recently Solly was at Ebbsfleet but retired at the end of April. He was coaching there and doing his badges. Solly played 313 games for Charlton.
Please click for more20 Years of Blogging and almost 50 years of watching Charlton Athletic, so I am putting together 20 Players who will forever mean the most to me.
Very few lists of Addicks’ memories and moments would exclude my next pick. No.8 is Clive Mendonca.
Please click for moreI think the writing is on the wall with regard to Alfie. There’s rarely any smoke without fire and between Huddersfield having money to spend and Nathan Jones’ word gymnastics I am pretty convinced last season’s L1 top scorer has played his last game in a Charlton shirt.
Please click for moreThe club today made some changes to the board for the upcoming season.
Both Charlie Methven and Gavin Carter become board members, joining Jim Rodwell, who continues to be chair and former player Paul Elliott, who takes the role of Vice Chairman as well as CFO Ed Warrick.
Please click for moreYes, I know we play everyone twice, home and away and it all works out in the end.
Nonetheless I always believe that a good season is 99% of time spawned by a good start and looking at those early fixtures they will be a test for Nathan Jones’ new look side.
Please click for moreIt’s incredible to think that Scotland have never made it out of the group stages at a major tournament. I mean if teams that included Souness, Hansen, McGrain, Dalglish, Archibald, Strachan, Gemmill, McCoist, Jordan, Wark and Law couldn’t do it, then what actual chance do those that include Che Adams?
It was heartbreaking for the Scots on Sunday night, and I did spare a thought for my old mate Dave Thomson, who would’ve had his head in his hands up there in heaven’s top tier.
Please click for moreThis deal was done last week, but got delayed due to the tragic sudden passing of Millwall ‘keeper Matija Sarkic.
Alex Mitchell has signed a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, with the Lions adding a large sell on as part of the deal.
Please click for moreNext in my series of naming 20 Players that I hold in high esteem to salute me writing this Blog for 20 Years.
That player is ex-turnstile operator Robert Lee.
Please click for moreAnother Place on my list to extol my 20 Years of writing this Blog.
In no particular order, but each one memorable. No. 6 is Napa Valley in California.
Please click for moreA little known fact is that Dunfermline is twinned with Sarasota. That is my only insight on Josh, who today signed a 4-year contract with Charlton reported to be for a five-figure sum.
The 24-year old has 220 games under his belt and was in the Scottish L1 team two seasons ago, the year Dunfermline won promotion, and again in the Scottish Championship team of the year for this past season.
Please click for moreIn no order I am listing 20 Players that left a 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. 6 is Yann Kermorgant.
Please click for moreThe continuation of my 20 Players to salute my 20 Years of Blogging.
No order, no preference, just 20 Charlton Players that I will remember with a smile on my face, and a knowing nod. No. 5 is Peter Shirtliff.
Please click for more
New York, New York
