Aug 12
For years now this team has been under-funded and therefore lacking quality in match-winning areas. Youngsters have filled holes, loan players have occasionally taken us up a level, but only temporarily.
This team, not squad, this team needs players. Possibly just 2 or 3 before the end of August, but we really can’t afford to wait one more day to get in a striker to play alongside Alfie May.
Please click for moreDefinitely plenty of work needed, as well as new players, but a welcome opening day win for the Addicks over Leyton Orient today.
There was a lot to like, but we made a little bit too much work out of it in the end, but did enough to deserve the win in front of a very decent crowd.
Please click for moreThat might just be a tad too early to celebrate promotion!
The League One fixtures were spat out today and we begin with our first league local derby for a little while when we host promoted Leyton Orient at The Valley. This is followed by a trip to Peterborough United. Two home games follow against Bristol Rovers and Port Vale.
Please click for moreThe 2nd legs of the play-off semi-final’s begin tonight and with Sunderland, Luton and Coventry being in the mix for a Premiership place, they each offer a glimmer of hope to us disconsolate Addicks.
Please click for moreFrom Accrington to Cheltenham. July to May. The rarely good, the often bad, and the pretty ugly season has come to an end much to all of our relief.
It wasn’t a bad game in all honesty, but for the umpteenth time we couldn’t finish a lesser side off, and defensive frailty made three points one. Much like Accrington last July.
please click for moreA proper end of season feel to the game, but at least we won meaning the after match walk around the pitch was a little less futile than it could have been.
Three goals from the three young forwards Tyreece Campbell, Jes Rak-Sakyi and Miles Leaburn. An average age of 19.3. It should give optimism, but that is hard to find.
Please click for moreA dreadful, pathetic performance from Charlton today in a morgue of a stadium against a team with just one away win all season. Morecambe were better and hungrier. Charlton lacked leadership and heart.
Dean Holden was honest in his assessment as always but these defeats and performances are not a good look on him. Quick and decisive changes have to be made after the end of the season if they have a hope in hell of moving some season tickets.
Please click for moreI promised myself I wouldn’t watch yesterday’s match, and therefore took up the offer of late afternoon drinks in the sun instead, which was far better for the soul.
A clean sheet was the minimum ask yesterday and we got that and a goal to take the 3 points at Stadium MK.
Please click for moreWhere do you start with that? Well, you don’t.
It was embarrassing and shameful and almost a year after losing at Portman Road 4-0 when we were dreadful, today only goes to underline how far we have now fallen behind in quality, ability and desire to get out of this division.
Please click for morePlenty of things there today to admire but stunted by some age old issues, but it’s a home win chalked up to send everyone home happy on Easter Monday.
Up to the giddy heights of 10th with the challenge of a trip to automatic promotion chasing Ipswich next.
Please click for moreAnd that is why we are where we are.
Last week inspiring and brilliant, this week prosaic and characterless. Same players, same problem.
Please click for moreA great win and attacking performance today and one to enjoy, but it only goes to make this whole season more of an annoyance. I look at the table and even Portsmouth are still in with a shout of a play-off place, as those above Pompey wobble. Yet there we are back in no man’s land season over.
Still, there wasn’t much wrong with today’s victory and at this point in time with 7 games left it’s about setting a tone for the summer and next season as well as giving us Addicks something to smile about.
Please click for moreI missed yesterday as I was otherwise engaged.
9 academy players were in the starting XI and on the bench, which breathes air into the future of the football club. Incidentally though Holden didn’t make one sub, sticking with the starting line up as they sought a winner after Wycombe equalized in the 82nd minute
Please click for moreWe played some really nice stuff in the first half. 4-4-3 again and we played with a bright confidence on the front foot collecting a lot of second balls.
Second half was a different story as Cambridge remembered they are fighting for their lives, but we held on for what I thought was an enjoyable win.
Please click for moreA win! And that one was for every Charlton fan who made it to Morecambe tonight plus Greg and Terry. Ultimate loyalty and blind faith.
We lost Lucas Ness to injury, which sounds as if we may not see him for a while, so it was a little patched up the side, but Campbell, Blackett-Taylor and Leaburn all started with Fraser and Morgan behind them. A much more welcome 4-3-3.
Please click for moreDean Holden celebrated his new contract with a bore draw against a team 5th from bottom. We have to hope that next the ownership situation gets sorted and Dean is allowed to rebuild because this team is derelict.
A time-honored defensive error gave Stanley a first half lead, but a worldly from Stephen Sessegnon drew us level for our first goal in almost 8 hours.
Please click for moreA most unlikely result that most of us would probably have taken before the game.
Posh score a lot of goals, but have a tendency to let a few in and we can’t keep a clean sheet. Only Peterborough’s third draw of the season, two of those against us!
Please click for moreSheffield Wednesday had the look of champions didn’t they. An experienced line up, defensively sound, dangerous on the attack, a master of the dark arts and backed by a big away support. They are a juggernaut only heading one way.
Wednesday play in the mold of Darren Moore, who has been given time and support. I wonder if Dean Holden will be offered the same.
Please click for moreThat’s twice in as many weeks where we have been well and truly outplayed by a team challenging for promotion firmly putting us in our place in this division.
It reminded me a bit of a Ben Garner performance today. We had a lot of futile possession, overplayed when a simple pass would do, had no bite in attack, and made so many unenforced errors.
Please click for moreThat was a performance to put the top sides into complete panic mode…. they will not be looking nervously over their shoulder!
Blimey, a win is always a win, and that is five from seven, but we were easily second best tonight to the division’s bottom side.
Please click for morePainful to watch that, and we even had to suffer almost 20 minutes of injury time.
No one came out of that with any credit. Despite a week’s break they all looked knackered and more than anything the decision making all over the pitch was dreadful.
Please click for moreAn excellent win today with the Addicks producing a steely performance with two clinical goals meaning all 3 points came back from Devon.
Dean Holden again had the team better organized and resilient. He has simplified our play and plays to strengths.
Please click for moreWhere we got away with it at home to Barnsley a fortnight ago, we didn’t today against another good side who showed us the quality you need for a better than average chance of getting out of this league.
It was an entertaining watch, and we showed far more competitive spirit than we did prior to the departure of Garner, but Bolton were worthy winners even though it was another defensive cock-up that gave them the three points.
Please click for moreA very enjoyable day at The Valley yesterday with my son and a handful of mates. Pre-match I had a couple of beers with Dave, and then outside the ground bumped into fellow Bermuda Addick Matt.
The watching Charlton experience has been turned on it’s head since Christmas with whatever going on off the pitch for once being over-shadowed by what’s happening on it
Please click for moreAn important win. The Portsmouth result would have meant nothing unless we followed it up today.
We deserved the win, but true to form we somehow almost blew it at the end. As the weather deteriorated so did our confidence and Lincoln came within inches of equalizing as we played an unexplainable 9 minutes of injury time.
Please click for moreWe do like a day out in Pompey don’t we..
Well, well. Happy New Year. What a pleasant surprise, and it will give us all a lift, but we have to now use this as a platform to move forward in what is a very important month.
Please click for moreWhere do you start. Or put another way, where does it end?
That was shocking. A first 45 minutes up there with the worst I have ever seen. Slightly better 2nd half, but we are so fragile, well and useless, at the back that Oxford scored from their first real attack after the break and it was another straightforward loss.
Please click for moreThe team that never draws draws against a team that does it a lot.
A very dull first half, a much better 2nd half and a draw probably a fair result. We missed a couple of gilt-edged chances but they hit the bar twice and Maynard-Brewer made a very good double save in the first half.
Please click for moreA comparatively sparkling first 35 minutes today. We got the ball forward quicker, got more crosses in, had pops at goal, and took the lead. Then came half time.
Rovers were not at the races, but they improved latterly in the half. The Charlton TV crew echoed all of our thoughts at half-time, and that was we need to keep a clean sheet.
Please click for moreHopefully Addicks’ fans didn’t make the same mistake as the players and paid to stay up in Lancashire this week as tomorrow’s game at Morecambe was postponed this afternoon due to a frozen pitch – see photo here.
Please click for moreIt gets from worse to worse still.
Ben Garner said that we are progressing. This is not progression, this is regression – our results, our football, our position, our attendances, our pride.
Please click for moreThat was pitiful.
Hands up, and with apologies to those that had to grin and bear it, notably those who were in Staffordshire, I didn’t watch the game. I was watching my daughter at the national schools debate tournament. No passing along the back line, no lack of effort, no defensive cock up’s, no lack of creativity just courageous and passionate kids expressing themselves.
Please click for moreAnother crazy upside down game which unfortunately glaringly exposed our deficiencies again.
Another draw, we’ve drawn half our games and despite the euphoria of Ipswich and three cup wins in a week, that was another poor display against a team we should be beating.
Please click for moreWe have had some great games with the Tractor Boys over the years, but that was just mad.
It was a game in which at times we were outplayed, and for periods on top. Defensively it was pretty shambolic, from both sides, but what great character to come back from 2-4 after 95 minutes.
Please click for moreCharlton Athletic lowering expectations since 1905.
Classic Charlton that. Bottom of the table team show up at The Valley, hadn’t won for an age against an in-form Charlton and we fluff our lines.
Please click for moreAn excellent win that, backed up by a solid defensive display with the two centre-backs dominant.
After two home wins we needed to go to Shrewsbury, which still brings back bad memories of the play-off defeat, and grind out a result against what is always a physical side. And so we did.
Please click for moreA lot of good things to enjoy tonight. No less than watching the game with a few fellow Addicks in the pub in Bermuda.
As a comprehensive a win as you could get. Some great individual performances, but pleasingly a team effort to really buy into.
Please click for moreA happy Valley last night, sadly with swathes of empty seats in it, but smiles all around after a much needed win. Can we play a team from Devon every Tuesday night please?
I missed the game due to work stuff, so had to grab sneaky looks at my phone and how nice it was to see the GOAL GIF flash up not once but four times, the last two at very good times in the match.
Please click for moreAnother draw, and a clean sheet. That was the only positive to take from a dreadful game.
Sat watching emotionless, I realized that this is what we are. Bottom half of the 3rd Division playing our part in desperately boring games. Stinking refereeing, stinking football. One shot on goal each. Boom 💥
Please click for moreAt least this week we didn’t have how great they’ve looked in training, but instead the players visited the club’s museum and embraced the history and traditions, and “understand that we’re now writing the next chapter.” 🤣🤣
The next page being that 1st half then, probably the worst in the last decade, in front of possibly the lowest amount of Addicks for a Saturday league match perhaps since we returned. Understanding that the train strike did not help.
Please click for moreI like Ben Garner, he talks thoughtfully and honestly, but he came across uneasily post match tonight.
10 league games, 2 wins and 1 clean sheet, yet an average of around 60% of possession and a total of 4,000 passes. It’s not working Ben.
Please click for moreA frustration of Swindon fans last season was that they had too many draws, when they should have won. Yesterday’s draw on the Lancashire coast was the Addicks’ 5th of the season. Our 4th 1-1 in five league outings.
The first half we were terrible. No better than Nigel Adkins’ period last season. The 2nd half we were better and may have even won it at the end.
Please click for moreThat was miserable.
For the fifth game in a row we took the lead, yet in each of the last four we have failed to win. It is disturbing to see how much we have fallen off since that Plymouth win a month ago. The way we played that night has proven a blip and not a trend.
Please click for moreThat was the end of a depressing few days as an Addick. In fact the players played with their chins on the floor too.
It was as Ben Garner suggested, a reality check. At least for those that needed one.
Please click for moreA lively first hour petered out in the warmth today in Buckinghamshire, but it was a useful point.
There are statistics, statistics and damn lies, but that was another game with 60% possession but just two shots on target. I was going to say that this squad needs a striker, but I won’t.
Please click for moreA frustrating watch, but a fair result yesterday.
Lots of possession, but little to show for it, and we just weren’t able to overload attacking areas like we did at will on Tuesday.
Please click for moreWell, no complaints about that. A very enjoyable watch.
The team slightly tweaked from Saturday and including Jesurun Rak-Sakyi burst with energy and creativity and it was a great bounce back from the Wednesday defeat when attacking moments just didn’t quite click.
Please click for morePlenty of positives to take from today’s game, although the negatives are hardly unknown.
The game ended in a 1-0 defeat, but for 70 minutes we were as likely to win as Wednesday were, and we totally dominated the first half where we moved the ball around very well. The possession and shot stats were all heavily in our favour but as has been pointed out many times we look short on firepower and an ability to see teams off.
Please click for moreTalk about a game of two halves.
We should have been dead and buried at the break, at least 0-3 down with O’Connell the pinnacle of a dreadful bunch and only Joe Wollacott showing any signs of life with a terrific performance that kept us in the game.
Please click for moreFirst games are always difficult to judge, but judge them we do. There were definitely passages of play, Fraser’s 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 can’t see us scoring enough to counter that each week.
Please click for moreIt comes to something when we are hardly mentioned in promotion talk, and most ‘experts’ 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 moreThe Addicks’ first game of the season will be away at Accrington Stanley. The 5,450 capacity Wham Stadium will welcome Ben Garner’s new look team on Saturday 30th July.
Next up is Derby County at The Valley, possibly a good time to play them with or without Wayne Rooney. Sheffield Wednesday follows and August looks tough, but we have to play everyone twice whatever.
Please click for moreVery pleased for Sunderland yesterday. Jealous they have made their way finally out of this graveyard of a division, but in Alex Neil they finally found the right man after a merry-go-round of duds. I hope they are able to stay up and progress back to where they belong and that their new owners can rid the club of the last lot.
An historic club with proper fans, both humble and knowledgeable. Congratulations to the Black Cats.
Please click for moreIt seems strange that L1 finished their season before everyone else, not that I’m complaining, but it is odd that every other league including the National are still playing.
Wycombe got a huge 2nd goal late into the game at home to MK Dons tonight to give them every advantage of making the Wembley final, which is not until the 21st.
Please click for moreA dreadful performance to close a dreadful season. It was a fitting end.
Only an injury time Cheltenham goal meant we finished in 13th, the same as Chris Powell’s 2010/11 season ironically with the same points.
Please click for moreI guess we had this pencilled in as a potential promotion deciding fixture. As it is Portman Road becomes the finish line in a turgid season that has only been illuminated once or twice and has frankly dragged on since about February.
Yet, close to 2,000 Addicks will make the journey to Suffolk, a tremendous effort to see out the season. A crowd of almost 24,000 is expected only underlying the two club’s size and abject failure.
Please click for moreThe final Valley game of the season and a victory in front of a crowd of 11,207. I wonder how many of those will buy a season ticket for next season?
It was typical of an end of season game, the first half was pretty turgid but the second was better and after Craig MacGillivray made a double save just after the start we were the dominant side with the Shrews rarely gambling men forward into dangerous offensive areas.
Please click for moreIt didn’t mean a lot, and I paid the game cursory attention from Barbados where I was watching my daughter at a swim meet, which had far more importance to me, but you never sniff at a win and a win it was.
Please click for moreThis game followed the same dismal path of many others this season. We started on the front foot, didn’t score, the other team did, and we weren’t able to react.
Please click for moreAhhhh. Enjoy that one Addicks. Out of the blue came a very well deserved win on the road against a very good side.
A solid defensive display with another dominating performance from MacGillivray with Pearce once again relishing and coming out on top of a stiff battle against a team that pep your box with a range of balls.
Please click for moreNext season’s new kit should have a big D on it. If Martin Sandgaard’s black box of analytic data doesn’t include brain cells then it should.
Ryan Inniss made Alex Gilbey look like Mastermind tonight. I don’t think I have ever seen a Charlton player make such a bad tackle. Inniss had six and a bit games to make a claim for a new contract, and now he is suspended for three. I don’t expect we will see him again.
Please click for moreAs crap as this season has been, today’s performance wasn’t one of the crappier days. We could have won, but didn’t really deserve to.
We lost to a couple of good finishes, but both eminently preventable. There was plenty of good service into the box led by the lively but not utilized enough CBT yet both Stockley and Washington had days to forget.
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Lest we forget.
Sarasota, Florida
