Dec 24
The transfer window opens in 8 days time, and typically Charlton rumours are thin on the ground.
Nathan Jones has talked openly about adding Championship quality to his squad. That could be a striker, midfielder and most definitely a left-sided wing back.
Please click for moreI dipped in and out of feed of the U21 action today against Leeds United in the Premier League Cup.
Miles Leaburn started his first match since the end of November last year.
Please click for moreIt’s hard to write this. Hard to take, and even harder to look into our future now.
Of course we shouldn’t have been here. Having to go to the league’s best team needing to win. We’d already blown it. When Birmingham’s scored last week I knew that. Congratulations to Luton and Barnsley. They properly stepped up when they had too, and commiserations to Wigan and their supporters. How about that bottom three f*ucked over by shysters eh?
EFL, you must be proud, and I hope Lyle Taylor and Chris Solly sleep well tonight.
Although it’s not is it, although whether it’s the start or the middle, no one knows.
It would have been the final game of the season today. Elland Road hosting noisy and anxious hopes, dreams and tears. The final of nine games now suspended.
The FA today handed down their decision on the racial abuse charge by Leeds’ Spanish goalkeeper Kiko Casilla on Jonathan Leko when we played then at The Valley in September
The independent three-person FA regulatory panel based its decision on the balance of probability, which is the civil standard but despite Casilla’s claim that it was “not a true reflection” of the incident, cameras and lip reading experts tell a different story of what happened between the two men following a corner and witnessed by Macauley Bonne. Leko was visibly upset afterwards.
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.
Unfortunately it appears that the memories of Saturday’s famous win will hang over for a bit longer and not in a favourable way. There were rumblings of discourse after the game when Macauley Bonne made a comment about an unsavoury incident during the game, and closer scrutiny at a corner in the 2nd half Jonathan Leko and Leeds’ keeper Kiko Casilla clearly swapped words, which we were now were racist in nature on behalf of Casilla.
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.
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.
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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The 2% will gather again behind the West Stand tomorrow at 2.30 to continue to show their displeasure at how the club is being run by Roland Duchatelet and effectively led by Katrien Meire. My opinion is that fans should continue to express their unhappiness until a more formalized strategy evolves. Nothing obnoxious that Meire can pick holes in but plenty of “We want our Charlton back.” Then onto the game to back the team 100%.
Duchatelet was in SE7 this week, but won’t be staying for tomorrow’s game, either because he is scared, has his socks to put into pairs or maybe he too is boycotting matches like many thousands of others, which is their prerogative but to me says more about our current plight than anything else. Leeds, who are the poster child for football ownership mismanagement will undoubtedly have 3,000 noisy supporters backing them. It could be a tough afternoon.
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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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A great edge of the seat performance tonight. Not from Charlton but by Peter Finch and Terry Smith on CAFC Player, who delivered another wonderfully biased and passionate commentary.
It was a very good point in the circumstances, and I do wonder if we’d have continued with 11 players after JBG’s penalty, if we might have gone onto win it. Certainly Elland Road was in meltdown and Bob appeared to want to go for it.
As it was we finished with Wilson at left back, Cousins at right back, Gudmundsson right side midfield, Igor left side, Jackson and Coquelin in the middle and with debutant and not match fit Oguchi Onyewu up front on his own.
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I think Roland Duchatelet’s takeover came a little too late to prevent Chris Powell changing Cameron Stewart’s mind.
Leeds were in for him in while back and today he finally signed for them on loan until the end of the season, with the lure of a 3-year contract at the end of it when his Hull contract expires. A promotion battle over a relegation one and the security of a three and a half deal I am sure swung it for the Manchester born winger.
I liked Stewart, he was direct, could take a player on and scored a couple of great goals. It does give Harriott a chance to re-establish himself, but I think that leaves quite a big hole in our already thin squad.
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Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
