Mar 22
Operation Weston Homes Stadium can be consigned to Room 101 with many others over the years.
The Addicks were backed by big numbers but it was a very disappointing day as Peterborough unravelled our defensive solidity and we weren’t able to convert even one of many goalscoring opportunities.
Please click for morePeterborough today confirmed that Saturday‘s game will go ahead, and also handed over another 400 tickets to Addicks fans.
A lot of those sold today and I’d expect the rest to go before the end of the week taking the total to 2,557.
Please click for moreSounds as if we are a go for next Saturday at Peterborough after much speculation that the game would be called off as part of the international break.
Nathan Jones said yesterday that the deadline had passed for us to ask for the game to be cancelled, but Posh do have until Monday.
Please click for moreI didn’t think that winner was coming but they are starting to earn our trust and are planting the psychology of inevitability among us.
An unlikely winner, and I’ve criticized him on these pages, but I was really pleased for Macauley Gillesphey tonight.
Please click for morePeterborough United have signed Tayo Edun on a permanent deal only until the end of the season.
The defender, who joined the club from Blackburn Rovers in July 2023, made 37 appearances for the Addicks across all competitions, scoring once
Please click for moreOn Saturday evening both Michael Appleton and Darren Ferguson threw a fire blanket over the Addicks signing Jonson Clarke-Harris.
The 29-year old has plundered a career 150 goals, 111 in his last 220 games, the man knows his price and if he’s smart he’ll wait until the summer become a free agent and probably have a promotion medal in his locker as well.
Please click for moreAnother defeat, less abject than some of the others but the pattern of failure continues.
L L D D D D L L L D L
Please click for moreThe Addicks have had an offer accepted by Peterborough United for Jonson Clarke-Harris who Darragh MacAnthony describes as the L1 GOAT.
Jonson Clarke-Harris has scored 130 league goals in 382 appearances at Championship, L1 and L2 level including 26 last season and despite not featuring very often this season he’s still scored 6.
Please click for moreFor 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 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 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 moreThis week sees us wrap up a run of playing five of the top six and six of the top 9 in recent weeks.
We face the bi-polar Peterborough tomorrow in the re-arranged January game. After losing badly to Bolton and then away at Fleetwood, Posh have taken six points and scored eight goals in the last two games.
Please click for moreLike him, loathe him, respect him, the Posh chairman made a swift and decisive response to today’s very late postponement.
MacAnthony tweeted that he and his joint owner Jason Neale will personally pay for coaches to take all away fans with tickets to the re-arranged game. Those that cannot make the game will get a full refund plus a ticket to the next time the teams meet at London Road.
Please click for moreToday’s game at Peterborough has been called off just over an hour before kick-off with almost a couple of thousand Charlton fans almost certainly already in the town or close by.
Those Addicks travelled in the knowledge that the home side were positive the game would go ahead that there was no need to inspect the pitch last night or early this morning. Posh waited until the arrival of the match officials to make the first and only inspection at 1.30pm, and after a serious of conversations the decision was made to the call the game off due to a frozen pitch with the clock ticking around to 2pm.
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 moreDec 20
Where to begin….
As they say, there is a lot to unpack here.
Charlton owner Thomas Sandgaard today appointed four “experienced professionals in senior roles at the club.” (more)
Please click for moreCan we not play away every week? Another home defeat, six wins all season, and just two since before Christmas.
For all of our possession I thought it was clear where the two teams sit in the table. Hard to be too disappointed, we played alright just lacked that bit of quality and final ball in and around their box. They were happy to soak up the pressure, and our set-plays were not like they have been under Adkins. Perhaps we should have saved a goal from Tuesday!
This team feels so hard to love, or even like a little at the moment. You just cannot make mistakes like that and get away with it. They are not learning and are not good enough.
For 60 minutes if we weren’t good enough, then they were at least battling on a quagmire of a pitch, and doing enough to defend our lead given to us by a generous penalty converted by Washington.
I don’t think I was the only one saying that we dodged a bullet when our January move to Peterborough’s Marcus Maddison fell through. At the nightfall of the January window we were told that Maddison couldn’t be bothered with the London traffic and Posh owner Darragh MacAnthony covered for his counterfeit mate Southall that Maddison was a bad egg and we were both better off without him.
History now tells us to trust no one and we were all taken for a huge ride, MacAnthony as well.
We’ll push on with this even though we are two games in. For Part II we are moving south to Lincolnshire as I continue my preview of our League One competitors.
Lincoln City comfortably survived their first season in tier 3 for over 20 years and will approach this season confident of further improvement under Michael Appleton.
Last word on the transfer window.
You have to admire Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAntony who issued a video diary today of his open and honest thoughts of the transfer window. You can watch here, and it gets interesting after about 4 minutes as he discusses Marcus Maddison.
Maddison it seems had no interest at all in coming to us. London was a turn off and he initially refused even to meet Bowyer and Gallen. When he did he demanded too much money like he did to Birmingham and another unnamed Championship club.
Maybe when Matt Southall and Darragh MacAnthony met in Costa last week for a latte more than coffee was on their minds. Turns out that Peterborough chairman MacAnthony has accepted a bid from Charlton for midfielder Marcus Maddison. Two other Championship clubs have put in bids but only the Addicks have permission to talk to the player.
Oh look. A new pronouncement from our leader.
The old bugger escaped from his ward again this afternoon and managed to crank open the charge nurse’s typewriter.
No…. not a well done message to Lee Bowyer for our very encouraging start, or to the noisy Addicks in the big crowd on Saturday. Or to explain how he supported the manager in the transfer window, even though it meant selling another Premier League star of the future. Not even a pat on his own back by telling the story of turning down Brentford’s seven offers for Lyle Taylor.
Nerves rattled both Portsmouth and Sunderland last night when with an eye on second place both came unstuck meaning that without kicking a ball both Luton and Barnsley were promoted.
Peterborough were two-up at Fratton Park, but then we’re hauled level. However with their own promotion push on a knife edge Posh went back in front and are now a point behind Doncaster. On Sunday Peterborough are at home to Burton and Doncaster home to Coventry.
Who one of those plays in the play-offs is all up for grabs. Even the Addicks can snatch 3rd on Sunday but Portsmouth are in pole position facing Accrington at home, although Stanley did score five last week. Sunderland have a tricky one away at Southend, who need to win.
Bow put on a brave face when talking about our promotion rivals spending in the January transfer window, but if it didn’t only highlight the budgetary disparities between us and them, it also shone a massive spotlight on differing board ambitions.
None of the clubs at the top with us are loaded with money, yet Bow’s fellow managers and Steve Gallen equivalents were all allowed to haggle and barter in the window for the betterment of their squads and Sunderland, Portsmouth, Luton and Peterborough have all come out the other end with a deeper and, on paper at least, a stronger collection of players.
Doncaster, who have one of the lowest budgets in the league, were pretty inactive in January but importantly kept John Marquis despite interest from Sunderland, and a late bid from Swansea. In demand Alfie May also signed a contract extension.
Seems as Karlan Grant wasn’t the only person on his way out at the ABAX today as Posh’s Steve Evans also got his marching orders after the game. Posh have won just 3 games since October.
On paper a draw away at fellow promotion rivals is a good point but we dominated proceedings in the 2nd half and Grant’s poor penalty ultimately cost us 3 crucial points.
The misery continued for Addicks tonight. After the Daily Mail carried a story that Roland Duchatelet is refusing to pay a 10% bonus on salaries to certain staff if specific cross-cutting targets, put in place by the Belgian, were met. Those targets driven home by latest puppet Lieven de Turck have been achieved amongst job losses and a hard restructuring of expenditures across the whole club.
These normal hard working people have worked in a rudder-less and depressing environment for a long time, but have had promises broken by a multi-millionaire pocketing any incoming cash he can and notably refusing to give academy players, lauded by him initially, bottled water and taking out paper towels from the dispensers.
Now we know what a c*** Duchatelet is, but.. Richard Murray. Hold your sorry head in shame.
The second part of my look at our League One rivals as we enter our third consecutive season under our current genius owner. I am sure he is reading this as he renews his subscription for Valley Pass.
Here was Part One of my 2018/19 League One preview, which went Accrington Stanley to Coventry City.
According to Rich Cawley. I would count Josh Magennis as gone by the middle of next week, with the only variable being that Peterborough come back with a matched or better offer. Posh are flush with cash after selling Jack Marriott to Derby. Marriott was the top scorer in League One last season with 27 goals. Magennis got 10.
Not in anybodies imagination is Magennis a goalscorer, but he has lots of attributes and brings others into the game in offensive situations, and is very useful in defence at set-pieces. At 27, you’d have thought the Northern Irish international would want to try his arm at a higher level. Bolton had £500,000 bid rejected by Charlton for Magennis in January.
I would say that is season over..
An open and even 1st half at London Road but of course we had to concede with a few minutes to go before the break. We came out 2nd half with what sounded like a sense of urgency and were awarded a penalty. Magennis unforgivably missing the target completely from the spot.
And as obvious as the sun coming up every morning, minutes later Posh win a penalty and of course score from it to make it 2-0. Fosu then missed a sitter before sub Michal Zyro headed in a fine goal. It will be criminal if the Pole did not start on Tuesday.
Jack Marriott had a different view of any Charlton comeback when he scored twice in the last 10 minutes to give the scoreline an embarrassing look as Posh benefited from new manager bounce and the Addicks’ season continued as flat as a pancake.
90+4 mins..
A storming comeback should not be sniffed at and can often be a catalyst for a good run, but it should not hide the fact that this was a poor performance from Charlton last night. Defensively it sounded as if we were all over the place, with Bauer particularly poor, and we should have already been behind before Posh scored their opener.
Part I, Lancastrians and Yorkshire folk here, Part II and the Manc’s here.
Onto Middle England then, which is a little sparse when it comes to League One clubs. Just Walsall the only proper Midlands side.
Last season was a whole lot of disappointment for Walsall’s supporters after the incredible campaign the year previous when they finished 3rd, but ultimately missed out on promotion in the play-offs. The man credited with that inspirational season was Jon Whitney, but last season he and his players were a million miles away from a repeat in what was a turgid if not relegation threatened season.
For those of us thinking that getting relegated again was impossible even by the standards Duchatelet and Meire have set, I now find myself frantically refreshing Shrewsbury Town’s score and checking on the run-in’s of the teams below us. Tuesday for all the emotion that the memorial to PC Palmer will bring is now an absolute must-win game. Port Vale and Shrewsbury also play the same night.
Port Vale and Shrewbury. Yes, if you have been living under a rock for 3 years, then please meet Kat and Roly and you did hear that correctly.
Kat and Roly burdening us with more debt in our history and improving our ranking every time.
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Bit of a shocker today by all accounts as we were comfortably beaten by Peterborough at The Valley in front of more sparse stands. Robinson pretty much involved everyone available to him, and despite losing Lee Novak who has joined the injured ranks, he played a very attacking formation with Lookman, Botaka, Magennis and Ajose all starting.
This all seemed to leave an already pedestrian midfield even more isolated and I feel for Morgan Fox, who obviously is not playing well but I don’t agree with booing your own players.
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Rivals, non rivals, I guess it depends where you live, but Gillingham under the growing reputation of manager Justin Edinburgh were one of the surprise packages last season, only a poor slide at the end seeing them miss out on a play-off place. Edinburgh will be looking to improve on a 9th placed finish and he has added well to his squad, although Lee Martin will miss the start of the season due to a bad injury picked up in a friendly.
Scott Wagstaff also joined from Bristol City and Paul Konchesky from Leicester, but who played 36 games on loan at QPR last season. Ex-Addick Josh Wright the captain at Priestfield. Has there ever been a time when the Gills has had no ex-Charlton players? They did lose centre-back Joe Egan to Brentford but importantly have kept the sought after Bradley Dack, at least until now.
Keeping Dack will be essential and Edinburgh may need to add to his squad before the deadline, but I expect Gills to be challenging for the play-offs again. Promotion 10/1. Relegation 7/1.
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Charlton Athletic 3 Peterborough United 2
Does it really matter if we only play for 45 minutes? Chris Powell’s 4th win following a stunning 2nd half performance, that followed a dismal first 45.
I’ll try not to dwell on the first half for too long but we sounded second all over the pitch and constantly compounded our problems by keep giving the ball away. Doherty and particularly Dailly sounded every day their combined age of 68 as Mackail Smith and Tomlin gave them a torrid time and we were lucky to be just one down at the break which was met with frustration from the stands and some boos.
The biggest cheer of the first half came when the referee went over like he’d been shot by a sniper from the East Stand, and then followed by the loudest applause when he left the field on a stretcher. The club should consider producing an end of season referreeing highlights DVD such are the kerfuffles we have had down at The Valley this season.
Next Saturday I will get to see for myself Chris Powell’s new look team, but in the mean time I’m left to listen to the radio and witnesses and observe the results.
So, forgetting the minor thing of results, what else has changed? Powell has signed BWP of course and added left back Bessone (have we ever had an Argentinian play a first team game before?). Fry’s loan has been extended until the middle of March and Akpo Sodje was moved onto Hibs.
Also significantly Alan McCormack has been preferred to Racon, although the Frenchmen impressed when he came on for him at Yeovil. It’ll be interesting to see if the boss reverts back to McCormack tomorrow. Powell has clearly tightened up a previously porous defence (12 goals conceded in 4 games) and by all accounts got our full-backs working higher up the pitch. Francis in particular has come in for some praise. Chris also appears to have gained favour with referees and linesmen, as for the first time in an age we have been on the receiving end of some very good officialdom fortune.
But, and Powell has been honest on this, we haven’t been playing anywhere near an expansive game and our performances are patchy, especially in the first half. The reason then for all of this? The same players mostly, but a different motivator and definitely a more patient crowd.
Peterborough United 1 Charlton Athletic 5
Yesterday I spent the duration of the game sat poolside in the autumn sun sipping on a rum swizzle catching up with an old friend from Chicago. Across the glistening and heated pool was Castle Harbour and lush rolling hills and palm trees.
It’s easy to take Bermuda’s beauty for granted, and I often do, and it’s not very often that I wish I was in Peterborough instead but believe me I would have given anything yesterday to swap my lazy afternoon for standing behind the goal at London Road to witness with my own eyes what 1,358 other Addicks did, everyone of whom will justifiably be talking about this day for a long, long time.
It was quite apt that on the day we remembered fallen heroes Charlton Athletic’s Official site ceased to be independent and moved over to the cookie-cutter FLi stable.
I had been wondering when the switch over was going to happen as the move was announced in the summer. Like many others I was bitterly disappointed at losing our identity but accepted that it was financially the right decision and more importantly it meant that two excellent club employees were retained.
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
