Russell Slade | Chicago Addick

Oct 20

Formulae

I wrote the other day that it’s nigh on impossible to guess how we will line up in games. Bow said yesterday that it was the first time the team had played to that formation. It looked like (from watching on Valley Pass) that we were 5-4-1 with Solly and JFC advanced wing backs and a flat midfield. That put a lot of trust in Bonne, but he did not disappoint, despite the fact a year ago he was playing in a FA Cup qualifying tie at Maidstone.

Whilst Jacko and Marsh are drilling the players on set-pieces, Bowyer must spend hours in a room studying opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. Derby and Phillipe Cocu are no slouches but yesterday we picked them off at a corner and targeted the £10m Krystian Bielik. Teams appear to be obsessed in playing out from the back pedestrian like believing they are playing for Man City.

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May 6

1 Comment

Wtf {…}

Another message from Roland Duchatelet.

“I would also like to pass on my congratulations Norwich City and to Chris Wilder and Sheffield United on their respective promotions to the Premier League.”

Honestly, how does the old fart’s brain work? Not one mention of Lee Bowyer in his latest OS missive, but clearly wants to remind us that he almost nearly signed up Chris Wilder as our manager. No mention of the fact that Wilder told Duchatelet to stick it and he then went and hired Russell Slade instead.

And that worked out well.

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Mar 7

5 Comments

Baggy trousers

I didn’t really want to give this more oxygen, but the club have made it newsworthy.

Charlton have made a statement following the video The Sun released yesterday showing current and former Charlton players in various state of drunkenness and abusing Northern Irish team mates Mikhail Kennedy and Josh Magennis. If you want to, you can see the video here but be aware the language is shocking and Mother’s favourite Chris Solly you will never look at again in the same way.

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Jan 9

6 Comments

Elliot Lee rumoured

Robert Lee’s youngest son Elliot has found himself in the rumour mill and his Dad hasn’t denied it. I know the Lee family pretty well and they always had high hopes of Elliot emulating his Dad but I think he stayed too long at West Ham and was probably a bit too comfortable there, although to be fair he did suffer from various managerial changes and at the point when he should have been knocking on the first team door Big Sam shunned him, much to Rob’s disgust.

Elliot moved to Barnsley in the summer on a free after being released by the Hammers and is on a two-year deal at Oakwell but after only a few sub appearances he would like to move back south. Any move to SE7, which was supported by his Dad on social media would probably be a loan. It is thought that Colchester United, where Lee has had two previous loan spells, were in the driving seat to sign him.

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Nov 24

30 Comments

Marmite Robinson appointed

“Following a thorough appointment process.” Cut and paste and repeat.

Well welcome Karl and I sincerely hope that you don’t sell your Buckingshire home and buy that one in Greenwich that your missus has fallen in love with. Rent mate, rent.

I’ve always been a bit marmite on Karl Robinson. As a young coach he impressed at MK Dons with a limited budget and caught the eye of chairmen of bigger clubs but to his credit stayed loyal. They had a pleasing attacking style and Robinson has worked well with many young players, either homegrown or on loan. His record, although marred by nearly’s, does have a promotion on it, and despite a 20-year age gap is much better than Russell Slade’s.

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Nov 23

3 Comments

Bristol Rovers 1 Charlton Athletic 5

Kevin Nugent played a very much in the background assistant manager role under Russell Slade. I don’t think I ever saw him interviewed or step out from behind his bosses shadow. He let his influence play out on the training field. Undoubtedly he was upset and shocked, as much as you can be working for Charlton these days, when his boss was sacked last week. However he has carried out the role of caretaker manager in a distinguished and venerable way.

If Meire is true to form she will pack Nugent off this week, you know, every decision better than the last. But if he is to go he should leave with his head held high and Addicks will remember him fondly.
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Nov 20

8 Comments

Charlton Athletic 2 Port Vale 0

The 426th man to take charge of a Charlton team under Roland Duchatelet actually did better than most of the previous caretaker managers and won 3 points today beating Port Vale 2-0 at another morgue like Valley. It was very much Russell Slade’s team, and it was interesting listening to Kevin Nugent on video after. For sure Slade had a positive influence on the back room, making it even more impetuous of Duchatelet to kick him to the kerb so suddenly.
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Nov 17

2 Comments

No manager, but Roly picks his coach

“Charlton Athletic Assistant Manager Kevin Nugent will take on the role of Caretaker Manager until a permanent replacement for Russell Slade is appointed. Nugent will be supported by Simon Clark and Chris O’Loughlin, a new addition to the club’s coaching staff who, contrary to reports, will not become the club’s new Manager.” (more)

Contrary to reports….. You have to laugh. Bit like contrary to reports that Russell Slade is the way forward. I’ll tell you what, let’s wait and see shall we.
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Nov 16

2 Comments

Cracks were appearing for Slade in an earthquake behind the scenes

I was skeptical when Russell Slade was first unveiled as the club’s first manager since Chris Powell, but I warmed to him. He talked in honest terms in words we could understand and clearly was much better qualified for the English game than all of his recent predecessors. He also talked of promotion being the only goal.

However nothing ever seemed perfect, or anywhere close. There were rumblings of discontent over transfer policy and interference from Duchatelet’s network scouts. The signing of Andrew Crofts took an age, and it was clear to everybody that as the season kicked off at Bury we were very short on numbers, and this was not improved before the transfer deadline.

Nonetheless money was spent, and a lot for this level, and Russell Slade cannot complain that this was not a team that he built, albeit missing a few bricks in midfield. He bought known firepower, had a wealth of riches at centre-back, a goalie too good for League One and had the added benefit of the further emergence of Ademola Lookman and the potential of Ezri Konsa to work with. We were short on numbers and our midfield was like a 14-year old addicted to football manager had put it together…. but there was more than enough to have us knocking around the top 6, a position we made just once in the early weeks of the season.
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Nov 14

8 Comments

Slade sacked

Within the next hour Charlton will announce that they have sacked Russell Slade after just 16 league games. Slade was heralded by Katrien Meire as some sort of saviour, thinking that appointing a British manager was the answer to the destruction her and Roland Duchatelet had caused since he bought the club in January 2014.
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Nov 13

5 Comments

Swindon Town 3 Charlton Athletic 0

An enjoyble weekend at home for the football, only ruined by the football! I’m only glad that I didn’t waste time watching it on the telly. Oh….  

A 200-mile round trip across a very rainy London, the fact that it stopped raining when we reached the magic roundabout was the only highlight of another dismal day of being a Charlton fan. A couple of players out on international duty and our most creative and direct player injured showed up all of Russell Slade’s tactical weaknesses and how glaringly sparse and unbalanced our squad is, with 9 defenders in the 18 man squad!

How bad we were yesterday left me a little shell shocked to be honest. The first half was dreadful, but Swindon at least showed some splashes of intent and had a couple of players that could play the ball well on the ground. Meanwhile all we could do is move the ball sideways and backwards around the back four and eventually hoof it up front to no one in particular. Nicky Ajose attempted to make a fist of a couple of wayward high balls, but as an attacking force we showed no invention and less ambition.

In fact throughout the whole game we had just one shot on target. Novak and Ajose scored 39 goals between them last season yet Slade looks unable to get them playing together or individually to their strengths. I only found out once we got home that Slade had them set up in a diamond formation. I think those of us there were oblivious to that, although it might explain why Novak and Ajose kept being found out wide. Or then again it may not.
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Oct 19

Port Vale 1 Charlton Athletic 1

Do you ever feel like you can’t do anything right? Roland blames us, Meire and Keohane hate us and now Slade wades in having a go at a train full of Charlton fans prepared to invest time and money and travel halfway up the country to support their team on a Tuesday night.
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Oct 16

4 Comments

Charlton Athletic 3 Coventry City 0

For me trying to follow the game remotely, the game and therefore the result was a little secondary on Saturday. Greater forces of importance were at play yesterday afternoon in a wonderful coming together of two sets of supporters. Coventry fans take a bow and I really hope you rid yourselves of the imposters that have somehow got themselves to be leaders of your famous club’s future.

As for us, the result, a much needed 3 points, showed again that there is no correlation between full scale protests and the team’s performance on the pitch, in fact to the contrary if anything, it has been a spark provided by fans to give the team a platform to actually show us what they can do.

The first half, a cracker of a goal by Ricky Holmes aside, was pretty uneventful on the pitch accept for the arrival of 3,000 pink pigs thrown on by Addicks and Sky Blues’ fans just after kick off to remind our respective owners that pigs are more likely to fly than they give two snorts about the future of our historic football clubs.
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Oct 1

7 Comments

Charlton Athletic 0 Rochdale 1

“We know we made mistakes managerially. Everything is now in place with Russell to give us stability.” – Katrien Meire before the game getting her size 10 stilettos stuck in her big fat gob again.

If I remember rightly she said a similar thing about Chris Powell, Bob Peeters and Guy Luzon before she fired them.

1 point from three home games against AFC Wimbledon, Oldham and Rochdale. One point. Add that to the two points away at Fleetwood and Oxford, clubs that were in the National League just a few years ago. Now, we have no given right to beat anybody, but what we do have is a right to change. This club is rotten to the core, and if those that are intent on destroying it won’t do the honourable thing, then we need to enforce it.

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Sep 28

2 Comments

Charlton Athletic 1 Oldham Athletic 1

Well that sounded utterly painful and depressing and not forgetting, rubbish.

Again we were ahead, although unlike last week against AFC Wimbledon, this time undeserved. But we were ahead thanks to a well worked goal scored by Josh Magennis, yet leading only appears to be a signal for Russell Slade to sit deep and lock up shop.

One up front, a pedestrian midfield and Lookman on the bench. Hardly a shot at goal for 95 minutes and lucky to escape with a point against a team second from bottom and who had not scored in 6 of their previous 9 league games.

All this played out in front of thousands upon thousands of empty seats with the real crowd estimated at under 7,000.
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