Nottingham Forest 0 Charlton Athletic 1
Again, I’m not too au fait with the game yesterday as I was tied to a seat in a big conference hall resorting to checking my phone. But, that was a fantastic result. A proper Curbs’ performance that one.
Posts from the ‘The Championship’ Category
Feb 12
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Stoke City 3 Charlton Athletic 1
I was on an airplane for the duration of the game. Sounds as if I was the lucky one. Sounded as if there were no marks of encouragement today. We are in a relegation scrap, no doubts at all.
Stoke have had a good home record since their managerial change and have a squad of players belying their league position but if you play crap, crap is what you get and we need to quickly file this one and move on because Tuesday will be harder still.
Charlton Athletic 2 Barnsley 1
Phew, didn’t we need that!
Addicks at The Valley:
Bow: “I’ve just said to the players there, it should have been a bit more comfortable at times and a bit more pretty.”
Elsewhere:
Photo:
Charlton Athletic 0 Fulham 0
A lot to be positive about tonight. Lee Bowyer signs a 3-year contract, a whole throng of players re-appeared on the bench and in the starting eleven. We keep a clean sheet for the first time in 17 games, we hold a promotion chasing Fulham side to a draw and we end the week another point off the bottom three.
Preston North End 2 Charlton Athletic 1
Another single goal defeat, another two goals conceded. Is it time to get worried yet?
Disappointing to see the line-up with the bench not including Josh Cullen or Jake Forster Caskey, and in fact even missing a body. No Chris Solly either.
Yet we started really well, and got a great early goal. We passed the ball around from left to right and back to the left side with Sarr releasing Doughty who burst into the box, and put a delightful cross on a plate for Green to score.
Charlton Athletic 2 West Bromwich Albion 2
What a cracking game. I’ll say it again. What a great division this is. It was fast paced with plenty of blood and thunder, and some really good football played.
WBA have some very classy players, and a deep bench but for the second league match this season we gave them a proper game. Just like at the Hawthorns we never stopped chasing, hustling, snapping at heels and running. Despite being behind twice our heads never dropped.
It was a special atmosphere and I have seen many photos on social media from Addicks who made their way back to The Valley after refusing to attend under the previous owner.
Derby County 2 Charlton Athletic 1
For all but the last five minutes that was bad. Yes injuries, yes budget, yes 12-year olds but I was worried as soon as I read Bowyer’s pre-match thoughts. It sounded so defeatist. I was much happier with his response after, and of course he is right, there is no excuse for the absence of fight and battle.
Equally we just didn’t go for it. We had a man advantage, maybe throw Sarr up front (he’s a liability at the back) with Davison and not take him off. Jesus we are about as useless against ten men as we are on the box.
Inexplicable
Inexplicably over this Christmas season we play on a Monday night in the East Midlands and then, worse on a Thursday night in South Wales. Both work days. Thank you Sky Sports 🙏.
Since that extraordinary day at Wembley we have not won on the box in six attempts after Sky suddenly came across us after our scintillating start to the season. 750 Addicks will travel to Pride Park tomorrow evening as Bowyer’s men look to build on 5 points in the last 3 games.
Half-term report
The first half of the season ticked off then, well plus one. How nice it is being back in The Championship, and when I look at the struggle to get up that Pompey and Sunderland are having this season, it makes me even more thankful for Patrick Bauer’s 94th minute goal.
Relegation favourites, our budget the lowest. We started the season on fire, unknown to everybody, scared of no one, surprising all and sundry including ourselves, and we quickly added points to the board. Then we lost a whole team to injury, naturally teams countered our style, defensive errors cost us points, and we lost some confidence, but significantly we have stayed in games, and vitally won on Boxing Day as we began the second half of the season.
Charlton Athletic 3 Bristol City 2
Who said Santa’s work was done? A much welcomed three points won at a crackling Valley with Macauley Bonne and Alfie Doughty leading the plaudits. We conceded two again, and defensively we still have many things to work on, but that fighting spirit was there in bundles to give us all a big Boxing Day grin.
Queens Park Rangers 2 Charlton Athletic 2
If a week ago a 2-2 draw felt like a loss, then yesterday’s felt like victory. It was a roller coaster game to watch for the close to 3,000 Addicks and for 20 first half minutes most of them would’ve wished they were Christmas shopping.
Defensively we were all over the shop. Rangers scored early after Sarr sliced a clearance directly into the path of Cameron. After that it could and should have been at least two or three more. Dillon Phillips kept us in it, and one save when Bermudian Nahki Wells was through on goal with only another QPR anywhere near him was beyond belief.
Charlton Athletic 0 Huddersfield Town 1
That was dreadful. On an dreary weather night Charlton got what they absolutely deserved. Nothing. No redeeming features, no excuses.
We can’t keep blaming injuries. Huddersfield had a load out injured as well. It was an utter rubbish performance and Bowyer needs to quickly sort it out because what can often takes years to build can be dismantled in weeks, and none of us want to see that. At all.
Middlesbrough 1 Charlton Athletic 0
That was about as far removed from a Lee Bowyer’s team performance as possible. It was awful, and my heart goes out to the brave 500 or so Addicks who wasted a day if not longer going up there to watch it. Including Matt Southall. Legends all.
Charlton Athletic 1 Sheffield Wednesday 3
Today at The Valley was about a lot more than a game of football and a result. It was a day long awaited by Addicks everywhere as the oppressive Duchatelet era appears to be close to an end. Proposed new chairman Matt Southall was in the crowd and spent time with fans before and after the game. We have seen other supposed saviours soak up applause with scarves around their necks, but Southall looked more assured and happily didn’t feel the need to wear a red and white scarf.
Luton Town 2 Charlton Athletic 1
This is a tough run, no win in six, and no clean sheets either, and our points total is stuck in the quicksand. The squad is decimated, and now Gallagher will miss Saturday after being booked. Josh Cullen will be out until after Christmas.
We have a bigger squad this season, two players for each position etc, but it is an infliction of Duchatelet’s ownership that once again too many of these players are brought in last minute, cheaply, not fit enough or have never been fit. Or all of the above.
Charlton Athletic 2 Cardiff City 2
It was a good, open game for the Sky cameras, but we can’t afford to give away two-goal leads, but in the end we have to be pleased to take a point and after their second I was happy to see us go for it and try to get the winner.
We started slowly but took the lead with our first real attack. Gallagher showing great awareness and desire to continue his run into the box and slot home after Leko missed a pass from Bonne, who deserved the assist.
We relaxed after and got the passing game going as the Covered End turned the volume up.
Bow 5th longest serving manager
One week on. Are we over it yet? Nah, me neither, even though my brain has been through an abundance of senses travelling with work in Nevada and California this past week, that final few minutes plays over and over.
The international break is an annoyance, even though I noticed that England qualified for next year’s Euro tour. Shocking to hear Joe Gomez getting booed too, some people are such idiotic lemmings.
Millwall 2 Charlton Athletic 1
Every single time. Every f-in single time. As night follows day. It’s tiring.
I had four hours sat in JFK airport after I slammed my laptop shut. I could have been depressed. I could have been angry, but I felt nothing, nothing at all. Because deep down it came as no bloody surprise whatsoever.
Charlton Athletic 0 Preston North End 1
A very uncharacteristically poor and flat performance from Charlton this morning. By far, I would think, our worst display of the season by a country mile and it was more like a vintage Addicks’ television performance than those on-screen crackers we’ve seen more recently.
Preston are hard to beat and pretty dull to watch, but they were better than us by a long way, yet nowhere near the quality of the other top sides we’ve played. In the end it was a clumsy penalty that gave them the three points, but we were not at the show at all.
West Bromwich Albion 2 Charlton Athletic 2
I love this team, they really don’t give a flying do they? They will go toe to toe with anybody.
What an immense couple of games, and it would have been mortifying to walk away again with another fully undeserved defeat.
West Brom are a very good side, and were very good going forward on the counter, yet our team of bandaged up warriors stood strong and once again made their mark on this great league. With 9 men injured and Leko unavailable, we had a subs bench with four academy players on it, yet, again Bowyer was able to put out a team and strategy onto the pitch that gave our opponents a real headache all afternoon.. a bit like our magnificent noisy fans behind the goal.
Bristol City 2 Charlton Athletic 1
Not sure what to think about that. Watching was quite intense, but looking back the game was split into intervals. One thing is for sure we did not deserve to lose.
I thought the first half hour we imposed ourselves on the game excellently with Sam Field as the midfield pivot the real catalyst for our high pressing driving game. We held the ball well and had some good forward moments in the 1st half without really threatening, but nor did they.
Losing first Field and then JFC, now in an even more alien position of left-back, was a killer. You could tell it shook us. The changes weren’t necessarily drastic although I don’t like Solly at left back and Pratley was clearly being saved for Saturday, but it hit our flow and I’m sure Bowyer was pleased to get them back to the changing room.
Good times
A lot of smiling Addicks getting a well earned rest during the international break. The Championship is a great league, one of Europe’s most competitive and it feels good to be back and thus far we have not looked out of place at all.
We have played 4 of the top 7 and lost just once. In only one game did we not do ourselves justice, and that was at Wigan. Yet a week later we bounced back in the best possible way, memorably beating Leeds. I’m still glowing from the Fulham game. We didn’t win, but it was a great advert for the league and we played our part and that away corner was, as someone we know would say, bouncing.
Fulham 2 Charlton Athletic 2
It’s great this division isn’t it? So proud of the boys today who fully deserved their point in front of the cameras in which Scott Minto, Lyle Taylor and Chris Powell also proudly watched on.
Fulham probably have the best roster of players in the league, and in a space of a week we have met three of the biggest promotion contenders, and we have ended it with our heads held high.
Harris leaves Millwall
Very surprising news coming from Bermondsey tonight as Neil Harris has tendered his resignation. A Millwall legend, Harris was one of the longest serving managers in the country and has delivered much success on a limited budget amongst much more affluent or at least more speculative clubs in this division.
I had their game at Luton on the box last night and they played pretty well, and were unfortunate not to take 3 points in my mind, yet I understand there were shouts of ‘Harris out’ amongst the away end.
Charlton Athletic 1 Swansea City 2
This is a tough bloody week for the Addicks, and I’ll think we’ll welcome the international break much more than we did last time when it broke our stride.
No need for silly over-reaction’s to last night’s defeat. Swansea have lost just once this season, and are unbeaten on the road and have a steely defensive with pace up front that will give them every chance of promotion come May.
Yet, we matched them in many ways yesterday, the only difference that the Swans were better in possession, neater and more protective of the ball, as we turned it over too many times. Our young, and still new team will get better at that for sure.
Charlton Athletic 1 Leeds United 0
What a great weekend to be an Addick. Leeds United, in almost everyone’s estimation, champions elect packed off back to Yorkshire by this never say die Charlton team, a team of mini-Lee Bowyer’s.
As expected we had to withstand a lot of possession based pressure from Leeds, but a lot of it was in non-threatening areas. Brentford for example carried more goal threat a few weeks back.
Wigan Athletic 2 Charlton Athletic 0
An uncharacteristic performance up at Wigan yesterday as we fell to our second consecutive defeat of the season. Not good enough according to Lee Bowyer. The almost 1,000 Addicks there would have agreed.
Two goals, one in each half, from set-pieces were more than the difference as we were comfortably beaten. We now head into back to back tough games. If we hadn’t found out how formidable this division can be, we might in the next couple of weeks.
Important one
Not a six-pointer or a crucially must-win game but an important one nonetheless as we see how Lee Bowyer’s team can bounce back from last weekend’s first defeat.
Lyle Taylor’s knee injury has been described to similar to one that Patrick Bauer suffered last season. So no surgery but rest, time in a brace and then strengthening and fitness recovery. Bauer was out for 9 weeks. Meanwhile Lyle can dedicate his time to Cancer Research awareness. It’s a great cause, one close to my heart, and the club has dedicated the Derby home game on October 19th. Sadly he won’t be playing.
Charlton Athletic 0 Birmingham City 1
An unusual feeling yesterday. We simply haven’t been used to losing, but none of us expected that feeling to last well into September. We had to get beat some time and Taylor-less we now have to show how much we belong in this division in the coming weeks.
Yesterday I thought was fraught with classic banana skins. Possibly for the first time this season we were favourites to win a league game, the biggest regular home league attendance for about four seasons, and the 100th Valley birthday with loads of pomp and VIP guests. Probably why I was anxious beforehand.
Reading 0 Charlton Athletic 2
This team just continue to shock you don’t they. Reading were on the back off three good results but the Addicks put in a dominant display to deservedly take the points.
Chris Solly returned as we went four at the back with Sam Field replacing Darren Pratley. In the first 45, although we had the first chance when Leko saw a shot saved, Reading had the better chances and we had to rely on both the woodwork and then Dillon Phillips who saved one-on-one just before the break.
Charlton Athletic 1 Brentford 0
On Wednesday night, to steal from Lee Bowyer, we battered Forest. Today the battering was on the other foot, but heroic defending, and total commitment saw us gather another 3 points to our early unforeseen total.
8 points above the relegation zone, it’s how I’m looking at it, and another wonderful Valley occasion as second best throughout we showed another side to our game. If Wednesday was about slick passing and movement, today was about blood and guts with the back three of Lockyer, Pearce and Pratley immense and Duracell bunny Lapslie and Purrington leaving no blade of glass unturned.
Charlton Athletic 1 Nottingham Forest 1
Again, if someone had told us a year ago, even in the middle of the summer, that we’d be gutted not to beat Nottingham Forest in The Championship, then we’d be left with no choice but to unravel that ‘Liar’ banner again.
A sublime first half performance that had Addicks salivating at The Valley and at home sadly couldn’t be sustained, as Forest equalized late to grab a point.
Bowyer made a number of changes as Erhun Oztumer and Sam Field made league debuts and Naby Sarr took Jason Pearce’s place as Bow again showed he is not afraid to make changes depending on the opposition. Deji Oshilaja took Solly’s place at right back and Lyle Taylor was given the armband.
Charlton Athletic 3 Stoke City 1
I love this team. Lee Bowyer’s team. Well, team’s because this is the second one he has had to build. Bowyer and his coaching team, and not forgetting miracle worker Steve Gallen, have put together a group of players of such energy and gusto. They are almost rewriting the ‘Charlton way’. Look at that picture of Conor Gallagher. He’s only been here just over a week. The personality of this team is to die for. It really is.
2019/20 The Championship Preview – Part Four
And the final part of the jigsaw to complete my look at The Championship competition for this season. Part One is here Two here and Part there.
Sheffield Wednesday’s pre-season was thrown a wobbly when Steve Bruce upped and left for Newcastle. Currently Lee Bullen is in caretaker charge for his third time.
Blackburn Rovers 1 Charlton Athletic 2
Back with a bang. Wow, I don’t think many of us were expecting that. A squad short on numbers, but never short on belief and resolve, and urged on again by a band of noisy Addicks.
The first half hour was probably as expected, Blackburn dominated possession and we looked like a team thrown a little together in the school playground. Yet there was work rate and the back five looked solid led admirably by Jason Pearce with Darren Pratley in front of him.
Ready or not
Ready or not, here we go. Back in The Championship, back after that wonderful Sunday at the end of May when we celebrated a goal like nothing before. It still gives me goosebumps.
Yes, we’ve had a another summer of player turnover, and potential ruination thanks to our short-sighted and arrogant owner. Our hero Lee Bowyer publicly rejected by him, Jacko and Marshall to follow suit. Only the calmness and loyalty of Bowyer preventing total Addick meltdown.
2019/20 The Championship Preview – Part Three
Halfway through our Championship opponents then. Part One is here and Part Two here. Part Three begins with the team geographically furthest away from SE7, Middlesbrough.
Middlesbrough’s Jonathan Woodgate is one of three new English managers in The Championship. All three, Scott Parker, Lee Bowyer and Woodgate had very good playing careers and each will hope to be able to transfer their knowledge onto their teams.
2019/20 The Championship Preview – Part Two
My next look at our new Championship opponents. Part One is here.
The long running saga of Frank Lampard leaving for Chelsea meant Derby County had to quickly re-adjust this summer. They chose Phillippe Cocu as their new manager. The Dutchman has no previous experience on British soil, but he has won the Eredivisie three times as a manager.
2019/20 The Championship Preview – Part One
After three dark seasons in League One we are back in The Championship, and although I don’t think any of us are under any illusions how hard it’s going to be, it feels good doesn’t it? We’ve spent the majority of our history in the 2nd tier, this will be our 46th season and we hope and support Lee Bowyer to continue us on this journey.
The Championship is stuffed full of clubs who ‘used to be’ with large parachute payments, and those that ‘want to be,’ clubs with lofty ambitions and budgets. Then there are also many ‘that can be.’ Sheffield United the last to prove that with a good manager, stability, a team ethos, great supporters and importantly a plan then the Premier League is not just a dream.
Over a few posts I’m going to attempt to look at our opponents in this season’s EFL Championship, and will do so in alphabetical order.
Road trip
Those fixtures look a hell of a lot better than the last few seasons, don’t they? More familiar foes from our long history with no disrespect to the sides in League One.
So we start on the road at Blackburn, a team we have played in the league 35 times. A big away end, and hopefully loads of noise coming out of it. Our first home game is Stoke City, one of many occasions I guess when the Jimmy Seed will be full. We haven’t played Stoke since 2008.
We then go to fellow promoted Barnsley, and then are at home midweek against Nottingham Forest and then Brentford on the Saturday.
Has it been a week?
So what were you doing this time last week?
Tremendous wasn’t it. My screen time has been off the charts this week. I have watched every video, zoomed in on every photo and read every article. As the song goes…. I just can’t get enough.
Charlton Athletic 1 Gillingham 2
New low..
it’s relegation form. 3 points from 24. 8 games without a win and dumped out of the FA Cup. Today and the next three games were a brilliant opportunity to thrust us back into promotion picture. Yet, now we sit 4 points off the play-off’s, 17 from automatic and 19 points adrift of the top. We have the worst goal difference in the top half of the table, but a game in hand. Against second placed unshakable Shrewsbury.
If the first half at Southend was atrocious, no words exist for today’s first 45. Only Robinson knows why he left Aribo and KAG on the bench. How rubbish is Reeves? No leaders on the pitch. A hapless back four, and when will we learn to not bring back players not fully fit. JFC and Best injured today. Reeves pointless and Magennis lost.
Charlton Athletic 0 Burnley 3
A 3-0 defeat. Probably could have got evens on that before the game. Congratulations to the Clarets on their title.
Anyway enough about the game. What an awesome day for Charlton fans as chaos reigned at The Valley. Despite sniffer dogs, over zealous searches, 100’s of additional security, aggressive stewarding, a net behind the length of the Covered End and more police, with some bazaar crowd control tactics, than SE7 has seen for many a long year, it was a landmark day for Addicks as we thrust our plight into the forefront of the national media and the conscious of fellow football fans everywhere.
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Good riddance
The last miserly game of a torrid and destructive football season. Not one Addick will shed a tear when the curtain falls tomorrow afternoon. Burnley fans will be in celebratory mood whilst Charlton fans mischievous and angry.
CARD have been a little bit low key this week allowing the buzz around what may happen on Saturday fill the space and pose questions. I know however there is a lot planned for the watching Sky TV cameras making life once again uncomfortable for Ms Meire, the self-titled Senior Management Team (sic) and that oaf of an owner Roland Duchatelet, up a little bit earlier than normal from his coffin to get his weekly football fix via a dodgy internet feed.
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One last stand
Congratulations to Burnley. Proper little club (pop: 87,000), owned by local businessmen with a grounded but forward thinking vision. A club that didn’t flaunt FFP to win promotion last time, and did not risk it all once in the big time, but made friends by playing the right way. Very much like us after relegation in 1999, they held onto players, added astutely and boldly in the case of Andre Gray, but most importantly the owners backed their very bright and visionary young manager.
Part of me was hoping that Burnley would still need to win at The Valley on Saturday. I love the drama. But I’m glad we can park that side story and the Clarets will deservedly be promoted whatever happens. In fact as in now tradition they will wipe the floor with us and win the title.
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Leeds United 1 Charlton Athletic 2
So low had any confidence in a Charlton result got that when the commentator on BBC Radio 5 read out the latest score from Elland Road as 1-0 to Leeds after they scored, I actually stopped and thought that we are so bad that we must have somehow contrived to have two goals taken away from us!
In all honesty I felt so removed, so empty during the game that it was hard to care when JBG and then Lookman scored, mind you we should never scoff at beating Leeds even though they are a fully signed up member of the looney tune foreign owner club. Blackpool continued their protests today against the Oyston family with 3,000 marching on Bloomfield Road before the game, which included I noticed a Charlton flag. The Tangerines lost 4-0 to promoted Wigan, which pretty much condemns them to another relegation. Let us just close our eyes and think about for a second.
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Charlton Athletic 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 3
Football took second place today at an anarchic Valley as Addicks upped the protests against Pinnochio, Judas and Roland Rat. 5,500 Charlton and Brighton fans marched on The Valley before the game in a fantastic show of fans being united against a noxious owner. The game was less than 30 seconds old when it was stopped for 7 minutes after hundreds of black & white beach balls were thrown onto the pitch as thousands of balloons of the same colour floated around the stadium.
Of course in true Charlton style, Brighton then scored in the 8th minute, which was really the first!
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Bolton Wanderers 0 Charlton Athletic 0
Not the way you want to spend your dying days. I admire and pity those fans of Bolton and the 253 Addicks who were in attendance yesterday. It must have been truly wretched to watch as both clubs only underlined how rubbish they both are.
Two shots on goal and a disorganized and dreadful performance is what those 253 Addicks got to see and they witnessed the majority of the playing and coaching staff slink away down the tunnel at the final whistle. You can probably guess who walked over to applaud those hardy Addicks. As for the others, you only proved how little heart you had for a battle. We are even less interested in you, than you are in us. Believe me.
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Charlton Athletic 0 Derby County 1
The life support machine will finally be switched off in Bolton on Tuesday night unless we win and other results go our way.
Our 22nd defeat of the season and Derby’s goal coming from a corner (what else?) just after we had a goal disallowed, which was dubious.
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Queens Park Rangers 2 Charlton Athletic 1
A last minute winner for QPR is almost the final nail in the coffin as we face the distress of relegation in mid-April as soon as next Saturday. We have been relying on other teams slipping up for a long while now but it is simply not happening and the odd win was never going to cut it. We needed 7 points from the last week, but instead got 4 and the gap is now 11 points with our awful goal difference. The Championship relegation places will embarrassingly be resolved quickly without any fuss or contention.
The emptiness of relegation has been felt for a long, long while. The bitterness, the ugliness, the anger of how completely unnecessary it all was. Meire told us in the summer that we are to accept how her and Duchatelet run the club and to judge them over this season. Well, thanks for nothing.
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Ipswich Town 0 Charlton Athletic 0
In isolation a decent result, and performance. Tactically we were accomplished, not outplayed in any part of the pitch and we controlled large facets of the game. There were some good performances and we gave it a good go. Yet last night was the game that probably sent us down. Other results went against us and this is all too little too late.
We weren’t relegated last night we were relegated during that 14-game spell under the interim reign of Karel Fraeye. Interim. 3 months. Fraeye, handpicked by Roland Duchatelet. Every decision better than the last and let us not forget Guy Luzon. His bloody hands are all over this disgraceful relegation of our great club.
Charlton Athletic 2 Birmingham City 1
I blame the fans. {…}
Some of you (and you know who you are) did not go to The Valley this afternoon to the support the team. Oh no. You went to create disorder on the pitch and cheer, sorry, interfere with the players. How bloody dare you {…}
A great result, deserved. Probably too late and it will only mean anything if we take it onto Tuesday but a last minute winner never gets old. Nor does beating Birmingham. The game finished way after every other, mind you it always does, but this time it was due to a 5 minute delay just after the start of the game when the players were each offered stress balls. Little black & white ones.
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Sheffield Wednesday 3 Charlton Athletic 0
Oh how 0-3’s we have missed you. Our 7th of the season.
My apologies to Roly {…}. I take full responsibility for today’s result. It can be no one’s fault but the fans. In fact I wish old nut job would quickly issue a statement as I am waiting to go out. I would be interested to see if he has updated his maths from earlier in the week when we needed just 6 points more than our competitors. It’s so easy, no wonder you haven’t prepared for relegation.
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Charlton Athletic 2 Middlesbrough 0
Of course you haven’t come here for a match report (when do you ever). I was sat on a British Airways flight the whole game yesterday, although encouraged by Hungry Ted, I did whistle loudly on occasion, blew up an empty packet of crisps and drifted it over my neighbours seat and walked, if not out of the plane, but around it on 74 minutes.
It was a great result and we took full advantage of a dazed and confused Middlesbrough, but I have one question.
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Charlton Athletic 0 Milton Keynes 0
A pathetic and pitiful performance lacking in anything that we have held dear from Charlton sides over the years. There was no passion, desire, urgency or organisation in what was a must win game. We had one shot on goal whilst around us clubs and their British managers show fight and determination, we occupy a world of apathy after having any hope and emotion sucked out of us by an owner and his puppets.
Jose Riga’s team selection and substitutions were baffling edging on the bazaar. I have come to the conclusion that he is just another Roland Duchatelet fraud. Apparently he said that Yaya Sanogo cannot play two games a week. Does our wonderful scouting network have a database of footballers that are only half fit? Anyway problem solved as Sanoga can now put his feet up for 3 games after his idiotic attack on Kay.
I’m not condoning it but if Simon Makienok showed an ounce of Sanogo’s fight then our judgment of him wouldn’t be anywhere near as harsh. The tallest footballer ever to wear the club’s shirt, who cannot win a header. Someone, somewhere in Belgium is laughing at us.
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Brentford 1 Charlton Athletic 2
A win. We actually scored more goals than the other team. Callum Harriott has often saved his best work away from home for Jose Riga and he was a 2-goal hero, the first after just 19 seconds.
Makienok also hit the bar late on and we have suddenly found where the goal is, although yet another goal was conceded from a corner despite Riga putting his defensive line up in another Karel Fraeye’s automatic team selector. Henderson missing out according to Riga due to a dead leg.
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Charlton Athletic 3 Reading 4
Another dagger in the heart yesterday. To battle back from 1-3 to 3-3 and then concede in injury time would sum up our season despite the fact we have rarely been on equal, let along better terms in injury time.
Jose Riga rued injuries for our frailties, yet our defence resembles a teabag and you can’t concede 3 goals in the 1st half and have any hope of winning matches. Riga was still able to put out a first team without relying on an academy graduate and Cristian Ceballos and Naby Sarr were nowhere near the bench.
It’s funny how Chris Solly’s absence is now lamented when not long ago the owner said he wasn’t good enough. A bit like Yann Kermorgant, also not worthy of a new contract, yet Roger Johnson was lauded on his return as some sort of savour and given an 18 month deal. Yes, funny like a hole in the head.
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Preston North End 2 Charlton Athletic 1
Another defeat. Anyone surprised?
A very weird line up starting with 6 defenders with Chris Solly in central midfield, Morgan Fox somewhere in there too, and Roger Johnson back after bench sores. No Harriott, who gave Fulham problems on Saturday. We could have been forgiven in thinking that master tactician Karel Fraeye was back picking the team. He wasn’t but Riga is only another puppet with slightly longer strings and a better CV.
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Fulham 3 Charlton Athletic 0
I think that is it. 7 points from safety isn’t any different from this morning, but a gutless 2nd half ending in a sixth 3-0 defeat leaves us rooted to the bottom of The Championship and there isn’t a cat in hells chance of us being able to finish above three other teams.
This relegation was totally avoidable but everything points to it being so meticulously planned by Roland Duchatelet and Katrien Meire, with Richard Murray looking on, encouraging the complete dismantling of this once proud football club. Whereas Meire can’t get out of her own way and Duchatelet, he who doesn’t do failure, happy that his experiement is working, Murray should be utterly ashamed of himself.
If Riga, who I am starting to think we gave far too much credit for in keeping Powell’s squad up last time, is banging the nails in the coffin, then it was the clown Karel Fraeye that bought them from Homebase and left them on the side with a hammer.
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Laurence Bloom next
Last man standing. Laurence Bloom will follow Ben Roberts, Damian Matthew, Nathan Jones, Alex Dyer and Phil Chapple out of The Valley in the next couple of weeks according to the SLP. Only Head Physiotherapist Erol Umut and the great Keith Peacock now remain of Chris Powell’s coaching staff that won League One with 101 points. Hell would have to freeze over before Peacock left, or maybe just the Scheldt.
Tomorrow just around 2,000 Addicks will make the journey up the river to Craven Cottage, one of my favourite away days, and probably half of the amount that would ordinarily make the short pilgrimage west. How 2,000 people feel inclined to attend is pretty striking with what fans have been through, and I know none of my mates or family are going, even though this was pencilled in as an away day early in the season. I cancelled my trip back this week for other reasons, but it is systemic of the general apathy that submerges us.
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Charlton Athletic 0 Cardiff City 0
1 point from 2 home games is not good enough. The 4 goals at Rotherham seems like a long, long time ago and Jose Riga has been unable to galvanize the side since then, even with the addition of three new players.
The first half sounded miserable and the crowd only being able to cheer anything late in the game as the Addicks finally threw themselves at the Welshmen following the introduction of Poyet and Sanogo. Before then Cardiff should have pocketed the 3 points, but the point takes us off the bottom, although with our dreadful goal difference we are now 7 points from safety. One plus was that it was our first clean sheet in over 2 months.
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