General football | Chicago Addick

Aug 4

The Championship preview – part II

Part II of my look at our Championship rivals this coming season. Part I is here.

This time a year ago I tipped Derby County for promotion and they came very close, and the reason I picked them was Steve McLaren.

McLaren is still a very good club manager and he put together an exciting young team that scored plenty of goals utilizing a 4-2-3-1 formation. Craig Bryson and Chris Martin combined for 41 goals between them, Bryson from midfield and the Rams have done well to hold onto the Scot.

21-year old George Thorne was McLaren’s top summer transfer target and he signed in July only to suffer a cruciate knee ligament injury four days later and is expected to be out for 9 months, which is a huge blow. Leon Best was signed on a season-long loan from Blackburn and defender Cyrus Christie joined from Coventry.

Rams’ fans expectations are being held in check from what I can see but one would have to think that if they can get a good start then they will be up there challenging. Promotion 5/2, Relegation 40/1.
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Jul 30

The Championship preview – part I

A look at the other teams in our division through the lens of an opposing fan, me. Who have they signed, who have they sold or released, what’s the manager like, key players, their fan’s expectations, and what we should expect.

Alphabetical order then, starting with the first of many B’s, AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries eased themselves into The Championship last season and like the Addicks the season before, a late run of good results almost grabbed them a Play-Off place.

Their Russian owner also spent big, including a big French striker, that some of us haven’t really got over, but it came at a cost. Bournemouth posted losses of a whopping £15m, and this before the signings of players like Tokelo Rantie, Lee Camp, Adam Smith and Yann Kermorgant.
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Jul 15

1 Comment

Chicago calling

I’m on way to Chicago today, mostly for work stuff, principally a licensing exam, but I have built in some down time too. Shamefully I haven’t been to the Windy City for almost two years, and I’m looking forward to catching up with some mates and doing plenty of eating.

I am also on a mission to find out if the World Cup has had a lasting affect on Americans. Chicago is one of the more ‘soccer-centric’ cities mostly driven by a large immigrant population, but the American preoccupation with Brazil 2014 interests me, and I watched news programmes portray it with a mixture of delectation and awkwardness.
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Jun 12

1 Comment

Uma carnaval of futebol

This is it then, no more sleeps left and the carnaval of futebol will start later tonight when Brazil kick us off against gate crashers Croatia.

My hopes as they have always been is that we see plenty of exciting games and that the world’s very best players shine on the biggest stage.

To that point, it has been a great shame to see some of the qualifiers’ best players fall to injury in the past couple of weeks. The absence of Franck Ribery, Falcao, Marco Reus, Riccardo Montolivo, Christian Benteke, Kevin Strootman and Roman Shirokov are all big losses to the tournament with Ronaldo, Suarez and Neymar all in Brazil but struggling to be fit.
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May 4

3 Comments

No tears spilt for Fulham

“All aboard the CAFC party boat to Fulham” – Johnnie Jackson

My disappointment at seeing Birmingham avoid relegation soon evaporated after hearing of Fulham’s demise at Stoke City. They were truly awful yesterday and after 13 Premiership season’s they will join Cardiff in The Championship next season.

I have long had an irrational dislike of Fulham, who were transformed from a community, family club with a rich history into the egotistical face of Mohammed Al Fayed, who over time squeezed every ounce of individuality out of the club and it’s famous ground. Michael Jackson statues and neutral areas just two examples.
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May 2

2 Comments

Who’s for the drop then?

There must be 626 Donny fans sat at home tonight still shaking their heads because that was how many were sat in the Jimmy Seed Stand on the afternoon of Saturday, 24th August looking on in disbelief as their own players took to sweeping water of The Valley turf with brooms, whilst Paddy Powell leant on his fork.

With Donny leading 3-1 at half-time, a half that lasted almost an hour and twenty minutes, referee Lee Collins finally abandoned the game. Paul Dickov called the whole affair “shambolic” and he was right.

I remember a couple of mates saying that with the way the game swayed before the break, we would have come back to win. This was August remember, before most of us had come to realize how rubbish we were to become.
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Mar 24

3 Comments

New manager bounce

No, not us. Nottingham Forest have this morning sacked Billy Davies after 8 games without a win and with Forest now out of the Play-Off positions.

Old Addicks foe Neil Warnock is set to take charge until the end of the season. Warnock, who has a powerpoint presentation to rival Ian Dowie will be in his 10th management job and his first game is tomorrow against José Riga’s Addicks. Former Notts County boss Keith Curle is expected to be Warnock’s number two.

Billy Davies, who had just been given a touchline ban only signed a 4-year contract extension at the City Ground last October.
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Feb 11

1 Comment

Steve Claridge faux pas

Does anyone listen to 5 Live’s Monday Night Club? I am a regular podcast listener and the show accompanies me to and from work in the early part of the week and it is usually a very enjoyable indepth conversation. It’s just that last night, the studio which included regular host Mark Chapman, Ian Dennis and Steve Claridge broke away from banging on about Leeds’ woes for a minute and started talking about the Addicks.

Claridge mentioned that “someone got a text from Chris Powell the other day and said that he and the people that are bringing the players in are not in complete harmony.” Claridge has a big mouth although he patently stops himself from continuing the story. Clearly CP needs to be careful who he texts, then again if he fears for his job, which he must do, what does it really matter?
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Jan 11

Bermuda’s blue eyed boy

Bermuda’s football fans were out dancing in the streets this afternoon after their most famous current sports star scored a last minute winner for Huddersfield Town on his debut. I almost joined them doing the electric slide down Middle Road.

By all accounts Ian Holloway’s team deserved a point but Nahki Wells had other ideas and finished excellently to grab all three points for the Terriers.
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Jan 10

And another added to Duchatelet’s stable

AD Alcorcón announced today in a statement that, “pending some legal formalities, the Belgian businessman Roland Duchatelet has become the largest shareholder” of the Madrid club.”.

So, I make that number 8 in the Pan European football network. Excited or nervous?
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Jan 8

Football club networks. Who’s behind them?

Roland Duchâtelet got me thinking about other serial owners of professional football clubs.

Back at the end of the 1990’s the private investment trust, the English National Investment Company (ENIC) led the way in football club ownership with large stakes in Tottenham Hotspur, Rangers, SK Slavia Prague, AEK Athens, Vicenza Calcio and FC Basel. However UEFA were never happy with this arrangement and by 2007 once Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis had bought the majority of shares in Spurs, they divested themselves from the other clubs.

Major domestic leagues adopted practices where it was impossible to own more than one club, but UEFA or FIFA has never prevented a multi-national investment approach such as Duchâtelet’s.
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Dec 31

1 Comment

Firing and firing

In America’s National Football League yesterday is known as ‘Black Monday‘ the day after the regular season ends. Six of the 24 franchises that did not make it through to the end of season play-off’s released or fired their head coach and the majority of the coaching staff on the one day. None of them were really a surprise and following the play-off’s NFL owners may still reach for the axe if coaches don’t live up to lofty expectations.

So, how is this different to English football? Well it’s not, except for one thing. Owners nearly always wait until the end of the season before making a head coach change, this despite the frying pan heat to win every week that a 16-game season brings, which for me makes the NFL season far more exciting than say a 162-game baseball regular season.
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Dec 1

3 get the tin-tack

In what must be some sort of record three Championship managers were sacked within a 24-hour period starting with David Flitcroft and ending with Owen Coyle with Dave Jones in the middle. Just for good measure Fulham also put Martin Jol out of his misery.

Welcome to the silly season as chairmen everywhere with Christmas and the window looming write to Santa asking for new managers, but sadly they themselves haven’t been good throughout the year.
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Oct 16

2 Comments

Brasil bound

Despite all of the fretting Roy Hodgson’s England made it through to the 2014 Brazil World Cup last night after beating Poland 2-0. Captain Stevie Gerrard in shades of Beckham putting a glorious end to the nail biting with a couple of minutes left.

Hodgson gets a bit of stick, but he is a media friendly steady eddie who has a fatherly relationship with players young and old and Roy did exactly what he was supposed to do and won the group, and on top of that came through 10 games undefeated.
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Oct 14

Starter for ten

Most pundits and fans alike put a lot of emphasis on how a league table is blossoming after 10 games, which is a little over a fifth of a season complete.

There are plenty of cautionary tales though, such as Iain Dowie taking Palace from a Christmas relegation battle to the Play-Off final in 2003/4 and after 10 games last season Wolves were 3rd and Hull City were 10th. The season before champions Reading were placed down in 15th at this stage of the season.

So you get my gist, it is early to be making assumptions although Penfold look-a-like Paul Scally already has and so have the chairman at Bury, Sheffield United, Carlisle and Sunderland. In our division Derby dispensed with Nigel Clough, rather suprisingly to the neutral. Mind you I am not in the camp that Steve McClaren is a bad appointment. I think the Rams, a pre-season tip of mine, might still have their say.
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Oct 11

2 Comments

The Church of Wales

February 23rd, 2000. Wales were out in Qatar, helping trying to establish the game in this oil-rich land. Wales won the friendly game 1-0. A certain John Robinson was the scorer, his 3rd and final goal for the Welsh National Team.

Tonight over 13 years later in Cardiff the Addicks’ Simon Church scored with a sweet finish to give Wales a 1-0 win over Macadonia in their final home World Cup qualifier.
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Aug 1

A new Championship season – part III

The final grouping. Those clubs whose owners and fans are only planning a run at promotion, a bit like Wolves a year ago, but will start the season as the bookmakers favourites.

I going to throw a curved ball the begin with a start with Derby County, my tip as dark horses, although in this league everyone has a chance. Nigel Clough is the longest serving Championship manager (Powell is 3rd!) and after being allowed that much coveted ingredient – time, Clough Jnr has slowy recreated the Rams from basket case into a young dynamic outfit.
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Jul 30

A new Championship season – part II

A lot of clubs in The Championship will have ambitions of promotion, play-off’s at least, and the next grouping will each start the season believing this is their year, and sure enough as is proved every season, one or two will come out of the pack and surprise everyone.
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Jul 29

A new Championship season – part I

Being a bit of a nervous nellie I’ve spent probably all of my Charlton-supporting life looking over my shoulder, in a league table sense, so I thought it would be apt to start my review of the new season with the teams that I hope will spend most of their season’s looking at our backs.

The Championship is stuffed full of the ‘used to haves’ and ‘want to haves’ so I welcome Doncaster and Yeovil to the league, two clubs that will be considered as fighting above their weight. The Glovers and Donny’s sole ambition will be to stay in The Championship this season.
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Jun 5

Bermuda 1 England C 6

I didn’t get the chance to go along to the National Stadium last night, but fellow Addick @Bermuda_Red did and this what he had to say:

“6-1 to England. Glad I went, nice evening to sit and watch a game – good atmosphere. At the start I wasn’t sure who I wanted to win, but left at the end feeling good about an excellent performance by England C – well executed simple but fast passing game, lots of movement off the ball – more fun than watching the “A” team – that said the Bermuda team would make a lot of other teams look good. In fairness to Bermuda it wasn’t their first team either. Nahki Wells wasn’t playing and others missed out also. Jonte Smith was the standout Bermudian – he plays for Crawley Town. Maybe 2,000 attendence. Bigger than expected – which included at least 3 Charlton fans.”
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Jun 3

Gower signs

Rumoured to have been on Chris Powell’s original target list last season, CP finally got his man this morning when Mark Gower signed a 1-year deal with The Addicks.

A year older of course but Gower showed what he could do when he came in on loan at the end of last season. The ex-Southend midfielder showed all of his Swansea traits during the final game against Bristol City simply and expertly passing the ball around the park and it was his superb pass that released Pritchard who crossed for Jackson the put the icing on a cake of a great afternoon with our final goal of the campaign.
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May 31

Ceddy turns down offer

Wolves this afternoon appointed Kenny Jackett as Head Coach. It’s about the most sensible decision to come out of the Molineux boardroom for some time although I will be interested to see how Jackett works with Head of Football Development and Recruitment Kevin Thelwell and fan’s public enemy No.1 Jez Moxey.

Millwall’s search continues with St Johnstone manager Steve Lomas the bookies favourite and it must have been a bloody big ladder that Brighton walked under as their woes don’t seem to be ending any time soon.
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May 27

12 Comments

Not bitter

There’s nothing worse I have decided than supporting a team that I really have never cared for very much against a team that I loathe. My brother actually went today, wearing his Charlton shirt under his jacket, sat with some Watford friends. I couldn’t have faced that to be honest even before the game, and judging by his texts he won’t be doing it again in a hurry neither.

In my mind the power struggle in south-east London doesn’t really change much. Palace’s board will have to decide how much of their new found wealth they will gamble on a team now short of it’s only quality player, and whether they spend some money on trying to upgrade Selhurst Park during the campaign like Blackpool did, because it will easily be the worse ground to grace the Premier League since Fratton Park.

Probably for the first time in a generation Palace will pull in bigger home crowds than us, but that will be the floaters coming through the gate, not Charlton fans I’d hope, even if there are a number of lapsed season ticket holders out there. Millwall mind you could really have suffered if they’d dropped into League One.
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May 23

4 Comments

What would Laurie Abrahams say?

I wonder what Paul Kemsley thinks about Sheik Mansour wading into the American soccer scene waving handfuls of greenbacks? Kemsley, a business associate of Tony Jimenez, has spearheaded the romantic revival of the New York Cosmos and the formation of Mansour’s joint venture with the New York Yankees will be a real blow for the self-confessed Spurs nut and former director.

Cosmos with Pele, Carlos Alberto and Eric Cantona all on the payroll have poured a lot of money into the rebirth of the iconic 1970’s franchise including a proposal for a gleaming new stadium in Belmont Park.

Which makes New York FC’s approval as a MLS expansion team all the more stranger and hurried is they lack any plan for a stadium, something that has been compulsory for other MLS teams. In fact NY FC haven’t even announced a temporary venue, although Flushing Meadows in Queens was named in the press release, it doesn’t appear any more than a suggestion.
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May 19

2 Comments

Good on Parky

Riveting wasn’t it? The battle to finish 4th. I nearly wet myself when Newcastle got a free-kick in Arsenal’s half with a couple minutes to go….

More exciting and relevant to us Addicks was Yeovil’s first ever promotion to the 2nd tier. Gary Johnson, who was mentioned in dispatches for the Charlton job post Parky only re-joined the Glovers in January last year. He kept them up and then took them to promotion today, 10-years after he brought them into the league. Welcome to The Championship Yeovil, lets hope it doesn’t rain on our trip down there next season!
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May 14

2 Comments

Wigan run out of wiggle room

After the euphoria of Saturday when the romance came bursting back to the FA Cup tonight Wigan became the first ever team to win the FA Cup and get relegated in the same season. The Latics finally ran out of legs tonight and Arsenal cruelly rolled them over.

Wigan now face losing many of their best young players plus their talismanic manager. Next season they will have to face another 8 league games as well as however many Europa Cup games, at least 5 before December, plus cup games of course. That will be a heck of a schedule. I can’t see them featuring heavily amongst the favourites.
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May 11

3 Comments

40 years of love

My longest ever football memory was 40 years ago this weekend.

I don’t remember having any interest in football before May 1973, my Dad was a lapsed visitor to The Valley working weekends and providing for his family amidst power cuts and miner strikes, so I suspect the opportunity to sit down as a family to watch the pinnacle of the season was one that he was looking forward to.
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May 8

Sir Alex Ferguson

It was a bit of a shock to see that Sir Alex Ferguson had announced his retirement this morning but I suppose it is a bit like Prince Charles being named as king…. you don’t want to believe it, but it’s going to happen one day.

Sir Alex’s longetivity, unweiding power, undying competitiveness and legendary success is unlikely to ever be matched especially in the days of player power and egotistical club owners.
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Apr 30

16 years apart

Crystal Palace take their Class A drugs, fireworks and warm tins of McEwans to The Den tonight for what should be a firecracker of a game.

Ordinarily when these two clubs come together I favour the Bermondsey boys. I mean it’s not much of a choice is it, but if I had to say one it would be Millwall, but that was before tonight.
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Apr 28

Smiles all round as QPR get relegated

That photograph has left a little bit of a sour taste. It’s a still of Kermorgant passing the ball into Fuller for what would have been our 3rd goal but was ruled offside. A little bit sour but not as sourpuss as Tony Mowbray who was way up near the front of the ugly queue.

QPR and Reading played out a pathetic goal-less draw to join us next season. Relegation is normally met with tears and anger but all I saw today was smiles and apathy. Reading under Adkins with a lot more stability will bounce back I am sure, but QPRhahaha are back to where they belong, well almost, that might take another season.
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Apr 24

If only

Millwall’s defeat to Blackburn last night keeps them looking nervously over their shoulder. I think they will still get out of it, although their rapid disappearing support seem less concerned than most. The Lions have Forest at home, then play a crucial match against Palace next Tuesday which could either hilariously derail Palace’s play-off hopes or spin Millwall into a panic-stricken last game of the season away at Derby. They will surely miss Shittu’s influence too.

Just imagine if we’d beaten Millwall 2-0 at The Valley in March instead of the other way around and think (just for a second) how the table would look now?
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Apr 23

2 Comments

More trophies for the cabinet

Charlton’s U21 Development team swept to the League 2 – South Division title yesterday after beating Millwall 3-1 at Sparrows Lane. This on the back of the U18’s winning their Development League after they thrashed Bristol City away 5-0 the day the first team put 6 past Barnsley. The future is bright, the future is red & white!
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Apr 17

1 Comment

Cougars Town

The other night I was driving home from work when a ramshackle parade of open sided trucks and vans followed by a couple of cars drove past me decked in the colours of green and yellow. It was I soon realised thanks to three shiny trophies being shook by it’s passengers Bermuda’s equivalent of an open-top parade.

The Devonshire Cougars last weekend defeated Somerset Eagles 3-0 to collect the Bermuda FA Cup, the third and final piece of silverware available to Bermuda’s football teams and now all owned by the Cougars after they completed the treble of League, Friendship Trophy and the FA Cup.
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Apr 1

Warnock out

Leeds United Chief Executive Shaun Harvey said: “We would like to thank Neil for his efforts during his time as our manager and share his disappointment that we could not achieve promotion this season.”

8 points from the play-off’s with 6 games left in this ridiculously erratic league. Old foe Neil Warnock became the 36th manager to leave a club this season and Neil Redfearn will instead make a return to The Valley as manager of Leeds next Saturday. Redfearn was caretaker manager before Warnock arrived just over a year ago.
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Mar 27

A life lesson from the old Yugoslavia

I missed the England game last night because I was busy organising my socks into pairs. I find this slightly more stimulating. Yes, if Yugoslavia still had a team they would be world beaters but then again so would the Austro-Hungarian’s!

I find all the consternating quite unbelievable. I mean the writings have been on the wall. Look at the last 8 of the Champions League, watch how Manchester United are running away with the Premier League with probably the most average and workmanlike side to ever win the title since Leeds in 1992.

The top sides pockets are full of cash and long-term debt and their academies are full of African and Latin American’s. A young English manager or coach hasn’t got a cat in hells chance of a top job and our best young players can’t get a game.
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Mar 24

14 Comments

Olympic disadvantage

There has been a lot of recent conjecture about season ticket renewals amongst Addicks. Since the return to The Valley the club has done an excellent job of marketing and pricing season tickets just right in encouraging supporters to commit up front to home games. Much of this loyalty and not insignificant financial undertaking has been due to the bond between fan and board, a bond that no longer exists. Ironically this is all against the backdrop of the best supporter bond between manager and player for many a year.

Last week a couple of news stories made me concerned about the future of our fan base. West Ham’s move to the Olympic Stadium was confirmed at significant cost to the local council and the taxpayer and not an awful lot to the club. For example I’d be surprised if the £2m a year in rent even covers the maintenance. Plus the sale of Upton Park will more than pay for the Hammers’ outlay of £15m. Gold and Sullivan are not at silly as they look.
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Mar 19

2 Comments

Headless chickens

A warning shot to those of us that are pining for strange men walking into The Valley with bags full of cash, fancy job titles and hair brained ideas of Champions League places as the Venky’s, which has become a byword for Comedy Relief, today disposed of their 3rd Blackburn manager this season.

67 days ago Michael Appleton was given a two and a half year contract after walking out on Blackpool but after he proved further that the Chicken men really should have stayed in Bollywood or at least with Steve Kean, he too was given a cheque to go away with Rovers 4 points off relegation.
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Mar 14

Gower in

Oh great. Millwall at Wembley again. Parky was there a few weeks, they’re all ruddy there. Everyone except us. Wigan. Wigan I ask you. Why do we take cups with such a pinch of salt?

Anyway let’s hope the Millwall players all got sloshed on the bus on the way back to Bermondsey and forget they have an early game to prepare for on Saturday.
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Mar 5

1 Comment

Three from four

Back in the days when I used to go to every home Charlton game and was a regular away traveller, people that would hardly go but spent the whole game moaning used to wind me up. I’ve become one of those irregulars, although I learnt a long time ago that if you pick your games you cannot expect to see a world beating performance or even the best performance of the season or even a lucky win.

As an aside, which is food for thought for the board, sadly I am seeing more and more of my mates and family picking their games and I can tell you that once you stop buying a season ticket then rarely do people go back to spending their Saturday’s at football.

Anyway, the point of this is that I watched three games of football this weekend and each in their own way was disappointing.
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Feb 27

2 Comments

The turnstile operator’s son

I fly back to the UK tomorrow night and will take my place at The Valley on Saturday in the vain hope of having something to cheer about. Hopefully the bit between 3pm and 5 will be as much fun as the before and after.

Before that however I will be at Upton Park on Friday evening with my mates including an ex-turnstile operator that you may have heard off. The reason we’ll be there is to watch Robert Lee’s (he will always be Robert) youngest son Elliot play for the Hammers’ U21 Development team against Manchester United.
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Feb 20

1 Comment

Local hero

Next Sunday’s Capital One Cup Final doesn’t only have fans from Bradford and Swansea excited, but around these parts Bermudians are eagerly anticipating the game too.

The reason for that? 22-year old Bermudian born striker Nahki Wells, who left the island in 2010 in attempt to make it as a professional footballer in England. Wells paid for himself to attend the then brand new Richmond International Academic and Soccer Academy in Headingley, near Leeds where ex-pros Mark Ellis and John Hendrie are heavily involved.

Whilst there he had a season with the Academies affiliated non-league team Eccleshill United in the Northern Counties East League (6 levels lower than Bradford City in the pyramid) and after a couple of trials he ended up at the unlikely outpost of Carlisle United. I have spent time in both Carlisle and Bermuda and they’re unlikely to ever be twinned.
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Feb 15

School day memories

Back from a great but knackering week in Florida with work. I spent the last night of the trip with a client that owns the imposing Westin Diplomat in Hollywood north of Miami. They were very accomodating and it was a restful way to end the trip, which started in similar fashion last Sunday with a few beers with New York Addick on Ocean Drive in South Beach.

A weekend of not doing an awful lot is on the radar, although the weather here doesn’t appear to encourage doing much outside. Hopefully I can catch some of the FA Cup games on the telly, although the one I’d like to see doesn’t appear to be on.
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Feb 8

Blue noses

I’ve just about got over last Saturday and a Palace mate described the game as I heard and read many Charlton fans. Holloway tactically out-did Powell but only late in the game after he got everything right in the 1st half but stood and watched like everyone else us miss chance after chance that eventually cost us.

Birmingham come to The Valley tomorrow and it is hard to remember that they finished 9th in the Premier League as recent as 2010 but they are now one of many clubs in the Championship struggling to comes to terms with harsh financial realities despite another parachute cheque recently being cashed.

Birmingham’s story of ownership and long-overdue accounts like the Portsmouth takeover is a consistent news item on the sports pages and they sold future England ‘keeper Jack Butland to Stoke on transfer deadline day for £4m but he was immediately loaned back. The Blues turned down £6m from Southampton in the summer but the club were desparate for the money and it was all paid up front.
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Feb 4

1 Comment

Eclipse

On my return to work this morning I passed a monstrosity of a yacht moored in Hamilton Harbour. It was flagged as Bermudian, with ‘Hamilton’ written in neat letters on it’s stern.

The yacht is called ‘Eclipse’ which rang a bell with me and after a Google, I remembered that the 533 ft, $1 billion super yacht belongs to a certain Roman Abramovich.

‘Eclipse’ is one of the Russian gazillionaire’s five boats but the one sat in Hamilton just outside of my office window is the world’s largest private yacht, 1 ft 8 in longer than the ‘Dubai,’ which belongs to Sheikh Mohammed. It is ladies all about the length.
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Jan 31

Jim White…. take a breath

Another January transfer day full of hot air.

Aston Villa did buy a couple of teenagers and Sunderland splashed out on a Newcastle fan but other than ‘Arry increasing QPRha’s debt burden, Arsenal were the days surprise big spenders. Goalkeeping prospect Jack Butland moved to Stoke but the headlines were once again grabbed by David Beckham, who signed for PSG until the end of the season and will donate his salary, believed to be worth a total of around £3 million, to children’s charities.
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Jan 24

2 Comments

The tale of two managers

I wanted to take to these pages and congratulate Phil Parkinson and his Bradford City team. If anyone deserves to be a focal point for a fairy story then it is the Yorkshiremen.

As for Parky, he is as hard working as a manager as he was as a player. In fact his image of a limited but courageous and loyal midfielder has followed him into management and the plaudits for what his team have achieved are fully deserved.
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Jan 11

1 Comment

Chicken pot pie

The Championship managerial merry-go-round continues in earnest. After 2 wins at Blackpool Michael Appleton was headhunted by the Venky’s at Blackburn and signed up as quick as you could say chicken kiev.

Appleton’s managerial record is a little worse than mine on FIFA 13 (semi-pro setting) but he exclaimed that “I am delighted to be joining such an historic club. This is a fantastic opportunity for me and I am excited about the challenge we have ahead of us,” which I believe he also said when he joined Blackpool.
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Jan 7

1 Comment

Cup half empty

Whilst Powelly this morning probably told the players not to worry themselves over the abysmal performance on Saturday and concentrate on the league, many of the supporters, and not surprisingly those that paid good money to sit through it, can’t seem to shake it from their memories.

Dave took to his loft to find out exactly how rubbish our Cup form was and he did. He wrote that in 66 seasons, we have failed to win an FA Cup match in 34 of them! In fact by my own calculations we won a quarter of as many FA Cup matches in two seasons – 1945/46 and 1946/47 than we did in the next 66.

As Dave points out, since we lifted the famous Cup in 1947 Charlton have had only four Cup runs, namely in 1981 (lost to then old Div 1 leaders Ipswich), 1994 (went out to then Premier League leader Manchester United), in 2000 (lost to Bolton Wanderers) and in 2006 (went out Middlesborough). Truly shocking.
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Jan 4

1 Comment

2012 Top 5 Sporting Moments

Putting the mighty Addicks to one side for the moment, other than the League One title winners, 2012 was a sensational year for sport. There were many screaming at the telly, jumping up and down moments but here were my Top 5 Favourite Sporting Moments of 2012:
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Dec 20

Brentford ‘Pay What You Can’ offer

Brentford are asking supporters to pay whatever they want to watch them play Stevenage on Saturday. There is a minimum entry fee of £1 for all ages in any seat in the home areas.

The Bees under Uwe Rosler have been on a sparkling run of form that has seen them move into a League One automatic promotion place after beating Sheffield United, Swindon, MK Dons and Notts County in recent weeks and now in these tough financial times at a very expensive time of year, the West Londoners should be congratulated on proposing this clever marketing idea.
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Nov 1

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Will Alan Curbishey ever work again?

After Mick McCarthy was unveiled as the new Ipswich manager this morning, it got me wondering if Curbs will ever manage a football club again. Curbs is linked to almost every job going and must hold some sort of record. It is said that he has some very narrow parameters for jobs that he would take, selfishly perhaps, but he doesn’t need the money nor obviously the challenge.

Without even working his stock must have reduced since he left West Ham in 2008, although his record stands up against most and certainly McCarthy’s. Ipswich would have been a perfect job for Curbs. Good infrastructure and history with supportive and hands off owners plus just a drive up the A12 in his Merc.
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Oct 9

Bermudian football

I thought it was time I gave you some insight to football played in Bermuda. Bermudians are football crazy although most keep their passions for Saturday morning’s in Docksiders, or my preference the Robin Hood to watch live games on the television. You can’t move in there for Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool shirts and like every overseas outpost, one can find every weekend Premier League game on show somewhere.

However around the island 3 leagues of amateur football is played during what on the island is laughably called winter! Bermuda Hogges are the island’s semi-pro team that play in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Pyramid. Kyle Lightbourne, ex of Stoke and Walsall amongst others is the manager and the PDL is played out in the summer but the Hogges, established to help develop young players, has sadly failed to catch the imagination here.

The Bermudian Football Association (BFA) oversee the Premier League and 1st Division which has automatic promotion and relegation, whilst the independent Corona Extra Football League, came out of a restructuring by the BFA 3 years ago.
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Oct 8

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Jonjo picked for England squad

Great to see Jonjo Shelvey selected in the the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland, they may almost now be worth watching.

Jonjo has played under four different managers at Anfield including Roy Hodgson who inherited him from Rafa Benitez. Liverpool paid an initial fee of £1.7m but since then a number of £250,000 increments have been received by the club. From memory I also think there was another add-on for an England cap.
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Sep 23

Sammy Clingan

Sky are reporting that we are close to signing free agent Sammy Clingan. The 28-year old captained Coventry last season but refused to sign a new contract. Clingan is a current Northern Ireland international and could be the experienced sitting defensive midfielder we have been missing.
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Aug 6

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Man U chases Chevy’s dollars

US auto maker Chevrolet blew away all the competition, which I understand was pretty significant, to offer Manchester United a 7-year shirt sponsorship deal including signing up fees and inflation worth around £50m a year. My company Aon currently pays £20m, and I understand were more than willing to negotiate a higher rate, but along with other interested parties were massively outbid by Chevy owner General Motors.

Within hours of the deal becoming public the man that negotiated the deal at Chevrolet, Joel Ewanick was fired.
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Jul 2

The Spanish Armada

The Invincible Fleet overwhelmed Italy last night with an awe-inspiring display leaving no doubt in any football fan’s mind that these distinguished galleons are not only the best in the world, but possibly the best in history.

It is nigh on impossible of course to compare era’s and I have to rely on old footage to watch the Brazil 1970 vintage. My fond memories of the Dutch side as a young whipper-snapper in ’74 and ’78 mean that I more often than not list them as my all-time favourite national team, yet they didn’t win a bean.

The West Germans post England 1966 were pretty indomitable but one of my favourites were Brazil in 1982. The likes of Zico, Sócrates and Falcao played with such panache, but memories play tricks and they didn’t even make the semi’s in World Cup ’82.
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Jun 30

Final thoughts

I have hung my tipping boots up. “The Germans meanwhile look head and shoulders above the competition” I said on the eve of their semi-final. The same quality precognition I had when I bet on Russia and Holland making the final four.

Once again the Germans came up short despite almost everyone enthusing over them. It is now 16 years since Die Mannschaft last won a major tournament. Failure is a not a word Germans like to hear and Joachim Löw’s golden generation, who I think are mostly products of an extensive and systematic youth programme which began after Germany flopped at Euro 2000, now have to go in search of gold in Brazil in 2014. No European nation has ever won a World Cup in the Americas.
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Jun 28

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Ronaldo falls over

I got out to watch the Iberian derby yesterday and what a pile of poo it was. After 27 games without the slightest chance of a goal-less draw, we get two in two games.

All that nandy-pandy passing around and not a shot on goal. I was particularly disappointed in Portugal, as was the packed bar I was in, who I thought had the beating of a tired looking Spanish team. Conversely in extra time I just felt if Spain wanted to up the pace a little they would have won conventionally instead of going to the penalty shoot-out.
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Jun 26

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Is Peter Varney leaving a surprise?

The biggest news of this pre-season is the impending departure of Peter Varney. He left once before and what followed wasn’t pretty. Peter’s place in Charlton’s history is already secured but I had wondered for a while how much of a function he played within the club nowadays, and knowing him a little bit I would have thought he would have been bored. In many ways his job was done smoothing the transition of the new owners. Frankly, I think Richard Murray may be next.

What has worried a lot of Addicks, and I will save my concerns until Richard Murray moves on, is that Varney is someone we know and trust and although Slater, Jimenez and whoever else is involved behind the scenes have been exemplary in their running of club so far, mostly we are a mistrustful lot, with good reason let me add, particularly if you look at some other clubs out there.
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Jun 25

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England pay the penalty…. again

And I quote: “Now for the winner takes all stage, although in the past we have seen countries play for penalties. I just don’t see that this time.” I wrote that the other day and then England came along last night.

For the whole of extra time we played to protect our goal and take the game to the lottery of a penalty shoot-out. Yet, what we didn’t account for is our record in penalty shoot-outs!
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Jun 21

Anyone for Port?

Football’s back on later after a day’s rest. Portugal take on the Czech Republic and I fancy the Portuguese to outclass the suprise Group A winners.

Tell me, is it just 90 minutes, extra time and penalties now? Or have UEFA dreamed up some mathmatical genius to decide winners. Teams with players with the most consonants or something. Czech Republic will walk it.
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Jun 19

England top group

A solid performance from the 3 Lions tonight in what was in reality a very tricky away game in Ukraine’s back (coal) yard. Hopefully the hardy 4,000 Englishmen will be safe tonight in Donetsk.

Wayne Rooney got the all important winner, but otherwise looked very match rusty. Gerrard was immense and Parker as expected blocked and harried everyone and everything. The back four impressed, particulary Terry and Lescott, although once again the evidence was there for millions to see that even having a human-being five yards from the goal-line will never be as accurate as technology. Oleg Blokhin looked like he was going to blow a gasket. Oh well, swings and roundabouts as far as England are concerned I guess.
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