Mar 1
Morning Addicks. That was a restless night’s sleep wasn’t it?
A bad, bad week up in Yorkshire for Charlton ended in capitulation and the season’s worst defeat yesterday as Karlan Grant helped himself to a couple of goals and raised anxiety levels to bursting amongst Addicks’ fans.
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.
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.
According to the South London Press. Karlan Grant will sign for Huddersfield this week. Selling your top scorer just before the transfer window with the club in it’s best promotion position since we were relegated. What a surprise!
Grant played today, which on the basis of he not training yesterday, was a surprise. And of course he signs off by missing a penalty at Peterborough and prevented us picking up 3 massive points.
This is not like watching a slow death, it is like witnessing a murder.
This madness has to stop. Now.
And as for the gutless coward Fraeye, who refused to speak to press and ran onto the team bus leaving Stephen Henderson to apologise to fans. What sort of person does that? Fraeye, Meire, Duchatelet all refusing to talk to us. It is some kind of sick joke.
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Huddersfield became the 5th Championship club this season to rid themselves of their manager this morning when they showed Chris Powell and Alex Dyer the door, this after a respectful 2-2 draw away at Reading last night.
Powell was appointed last September and I think has done well to operate within very tight budgetary restraints. He had, unlike us, used the loan market well and Town currently have 5 more points than Charlton with little investment and the Terriers best players sold from underneath him. Sounds familiar.
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Tonight’s result and performance makes last season’s 3-0 win all the more remarkable.
The worrying thing about tonight is that, Diarra rested aside, it was probably our best team with the players available, alongside a very impressive bench. Cousins however, should never play left side of midfield again. Never.
The question, and I am sounding like a broken record, but the question is how does Luzon change it? Who does he have, where are the options?
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The final part of my look at our Championship rivals. Part I is here and Part II is here.
In this section I will look at the teams the bookies have bundled together in the middle of the table, and those who the bookies have flagged as likely relegation fodder.
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There are certain people that will forever be associated with Charlton Athletic – Jimmy Seed, Sam Bartram, Keith Peacock, Derek Hales, Alan Curbishley for example. Chris Powell can be added to that list, whatever and wherever his career now takes him.
Chris played for the club on three separate occasions, wore the colours of England whilst a Charlton player, and then managed the club, dragging it out of a seemingly endless downward spiral and being one of only four men in 110 years of history to win a league title. Above all of that Chris Powell is a genuine, warm and upstanding individual.
I have mentioned this before, but with no apologies will mention it again. 14 years ago my ex, my son and I spent a 2-week holiday in Italy in the company of Chris and his wife and oldest daughter. I bumped into him literally on the 2nd night at the hotel buffet, and we got talking, the wives got on and we then spent pretty much the rest of our holidays together. He had not long made his England debut and the experience was both surreal and very, very enjoyable and I won’t ever forget it.
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Huddersfield Town appear a good fit for Chris Powell and I warmly wish him every success. He is a good man, a football man and I personally think he will continue to be around the game for a long time and will add to the managerial successes he had at The Valley.
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An injury time equaliser from Igor! Igor! Igor! kept the Addicks’ unbeaten run going this afternoon up at Huddersfield.
After the euphoria of being at The Valley on Tuesday I was left to follow the game on Twitter at Miami Airport where we were waiting for our connecting flight to Mexico City and I had all but accepted defeat until a very late and very welcome GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLL tweet came through from the OS.
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No time to waste in Huddersfield.
“Following yesterday’s first day defeat, Mark met with the board of directors. At the conclusion of the meeting, Mark and the directors all agreed it would be in the interests of all parties to part company.”
After a first game shellacking by Bournemouth Mark Robins has been unceremoniously dumped by chairman Dean Hoyle. One would have to think that this has simmered through the summer because it is hard to believe that an owner would be so neurotic to a club’s survival after just 90 minutes.
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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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Have to say I am very surprised by the news that Huddersfield have sacked Lee Clarke this morning after their defeat to Sheffield United last night. Just goes to prove what an unforgiving business managing a football club is.
Huddersfield have been beaten just 3 times in 55 games and Clarke was said to have a good relationship with the club’s owner. I suppose Neil Warnock and Simon Grayson are available but it still seems an odd decision with Town 4 points from 2nd place.
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Charlton Athletic 0 Huddersfield Town 1
It sounds at least that those present this afternoon may have at least seen a performance, they were owed one. It worries me that Chris Powell said after the game that he doesn’t want the season to drift, well Chris me old mate I hate to break it to you but we have been drifting like ghosts amongst the trees in Greenwich Park for a couple of months.
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Chicago Addick 