May 1
So here we are then. We made it, game 46. Swansea City away.
You could’ve had a baby in the time since the opening day against Watford, which is actually still quite fresh in my memory. Not having a baby, I’ve never actually had a baby, but the Watford game. What a great day that was even though I spent 14 hours of it on an airplane.
Please click for moreOn his 500th appearance Conor Coady was entrusted back into the defensive midfield role today, and I was pleased to see it.
He had a strong game, but just after the officials put up 6 minutes of added time, Conor took a shot from Tom Ince straight in the face and lay prone unconscious for 9 minutes.
Please click for moreAnother very good away performance. It’s been a nice run since the Millwall debacle.
Today we held a better structure, defended smarter, characteristically battled for everything, and wasn’t it great to see Matty Godden score.
Please click for moreWhat a way to win a season opener. So many trademarks from last season in that performance and it was great to see Nathan Jones push for the win in the last part of the game and not be content with a point
I was grateful that my Qatar Airways WiFi held out and the game was a joy to watch and a very noticeable step up in quality.
Please click for morePhew, that was a close call. My commiserations to both Crystal Palace and Millwall, but just as a reminder only one club from south east London has ever won the FA Cup.
Palace were pretty soporific against Watford, who were deserved winners. Can’t say the same about Millwall, who were deservedly two goals ahead against a pedestrian Brighton with just 2 minutes left. I’d never bet against them in the big games, yet somehow a few minutes later the south-coasters were level after ex-Addicks trialist David Martin watched a floating free-kick go over his head and into the net.
When ever-reliable Glenn Murray missed the first spot kick, we thought the worst, but Millwall missed as well and Jake Cooper skied the final kick into South Bermondsey. We’ve not had much to laugh about recently, but I made up for it.
Great tweet sent out tonight by Charlton after Bournemouth won 3-0 at home to Bolton to all but guarantee their promotion to the Premier League before they visit The Valley on Saturday.
CAFC press officer Iain Liddle leaves the club after Saturday, and he’ll be feeling pretty pleased with himself after that gem of a tweet tonight. Iain and his team, past and present, have done a terrific job, in often very trying circumstances, in building Charlton’s social media presence to the standing it has today.
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The end is looking nigh for Millwall after defeat at Blackburn last night. The deadly duo of Gestede and Rhodes banging another nail in the Lions’ coffin, only emphasizing how disappointing Rovers have been this season and I will be amazed if Gary Bowyer can keep his strike pair for another year in The Championship.
Millwall host play-off chasing Derby on Saturday and have to win. Rotherham have Norwich visiting and then their game in hand is at home to Reading next Tuesday. Next week is when the Millers should find out about their ineligible player. It is hard to see the Football League making such a crucial decision by docking Rotherham points, especially when they fined Blackpool £30,000, half of which was suspended, for a similar incident earlier this season.
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I heard a lot of good things about last night. The fan’s meeting was expertly arranged by CAST and it sounded constructive and, importantly, respectful, with the overriding agreement from those present that we need much more engagement from the owner.
My hope was that a plan of intention was scoped out by the end, but that was probably asking for too much, and I support the view that we need to be ready for the long game by being organized, smart, rational and lucid. We also need to separate results from fan actions and back Luzon and the team.
I won’t dwell on the meeting because I wasn’t there, but these people were – Dave, Kyle, Blackheath and Ted. Video’s of the opening speeches are on VOTV, including Rick Everitt’s impassioned address to the 400 or so that were at the Woolwich Grand Theatre, a very impressive number that tells it’s own story.
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Fantastic to see Joe Gomez agree to an extended contract and great credit to the club for pursuing this and getting it across the line.
Joe is an exciting talent and has stepped into the 1st team like an old hand when required this season, and committing to the club means Addicks will get to enjoy Joe for a lot longer and we won’t have the painful suffering of seeing a academy graduate leave for nothing like we did in the summer.
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Sad to see that Oscar Garcia has stepped down as Watford boss following his recent health concerns. Garcia had only been in charge for 27 days and only oversaw one game, the 0-1 defeat to The Addicks at The Valley.
Watford say that Garcia’s health “is of no further cause of concern” but he needs time to recuperate. I hope that he gets back to full fitness soon and can return to the game.
Watford have appointed Northern Ireland’s assistant manager Billy McKinlay as their new head coach, the Hornets third of the season, yet they remain in 4th place. McKinlay was on the caoching staff at Fulham up until the end of last year and joined with Garcia’s involvement last week.
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I have arrived in Miami from Kansas City this afternoon and joined by a mate we will have a night on the tiles before flying back to Bermuda Saturday evening.
That means tomorrow I will again be away from home whilst the Addicks play signifying more desperate tapping at the phone for two hours.
The International break was a bit of a nuisance and I hope it hasn’t interrupted our good start out of the blocks. Watford took the opportunity to replace their manager despite a terrific start and the Hornets will be playing under former Brighton boss Oscar Garcia for the first time.
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There’s nothing worse I have decided than supporting a team that I really have never cared for very much against a team that I loathe. My brother actually went today, wearing his Charlton shirt under his jacket, sat with some Watford friends. I couldn’t have faced that to be honest even before the game, and judging by his texts he won’t be doing it again in a hurry neither.
In my mind the power struggle in south-east London doesn’t really change much. Palace’s board will have to decide how much of their new found wealth they will gamble on a team now short of it’s only quality player, and whether they spend some money on trying to upgrade Selhurst Park during the campaign like Blackpool did, because it will easily be the worse ground to grace the Premier League since Fratton Park.
Probably for the first time in a generation Palace will pull in bigger home crowds than us, but that will be the floaters coming through the gate, not Charlton fans I’d hope, even if there are a number of lapsed season ticket holders out there. Millwall mind you could really have suffered if they’d dropped into League One.
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Sarasota, Florida
