May 3
So many chancers knocking around Charlton at the present time attempting to rip our famous club apart.
So, watching the Yann Kermorgant Valley Stories was a welcome reprieve and reminded us of what a wonderful player Yann was. A giant of a man on and off the pitch, genuine and honourable. Oh for a boardroom of Yann Kermorgant’s let alone team, as the old song used to go.
Good riddance to old fruit loop rubbish. 6 years to the day that Roland Duchatelet added Charlton to his football club collection, we are rid of the old scroat after the EFL finally ratified East Street Investments purchase for a sum guessed to be in the £50m range.
After the narcissist ownership of Tony Jimenez and Michael Slater backed by the secretive and shall we say complicated assets of Kevin Cash, we were very glad then to see a new owner with fresh ideas take the club on in January 2014. Especially after Cash cut Jimenez’s credit card up and for the longest time the club survived on a shoestring.
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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Another manic week at work flies by, although I was a little less distracted by Charlton news this week than I was last. I’m sure most working Addicks have not been quite as productive as they should be these last few weeks.
Jose Riga has had a full week with the squad and added to it with the signing of Jorge Teixeira. I think more than a few eyebrows were raised by him signing a 4.5-year contract. He’ll be 30 in August. How is the Naby Sarr 5-year contract working out Ms Meire? I saw Rick Everitt describe Teixeira’s contract length as bonkers. I agree but I expect him to start tomorrow.
One apparent target, Yann Kermorgant, moved to Reading for £500,000, which realized a profit on what the Cherries paid us. Another head shake moment. Charlton were trying to get Yann in on loan, but it is understood that they would not meet the price of a permanent move. I’m personally okay with not seeing Yann again in a Charlton shirt, I’d rather remember him like this.
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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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“Charlton wanted to show people they had tried to do something when in reality they had done nothing special. Even a little offer. They never came back to me or my agent even with something very very low. They could have said they would give me a little bit more – maybe I would have accepted”.
Yann Kermorgant has given a pretty damming interview to Richard Cawley from the SLP (it was only in the published edition, but the guys from Charlton Life have seen it), which further darkens the last few days of the transfer window for us Addicks.
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But little dancing in the streets around Floyd Road tonight.
Piotr Parzyszek did sign for the Addicks after passing a medical early morning and travelled to Wigan with the first team squad. Cedric Evina must have been on the bus too, as his loan move to Bradford didn’t materialise, although it might next week.
One man not on the bus was Yann Kermorgant, who did sign for Bournemouth. He left with these words: “I’m a Charlton fan as well. I had a very, very good relationship with the fans and I love them.” He will be missed.
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“Kermorgant has hardly been prolific in a career that has mostly been spent in the French Ligue 2 and his signing has left me pretty underwhelmed if I’m honest and I hope that Powell sees more in him than the record books do.”
– Chicago Addick, Sept 14th, 2011.
Yann Kermorgant did not only become a Charlton hero, but he also gave us belief.
Belief that first impressions can be misleading, belief that everything is possible, belief that when a football player pulls on the cherished red shirt, he can wear it with pride, like you and me.
There will be new heroes, and no one person is bigger than Charlton Athletic Football Club, but Yann was a bit of a one-off.
Thanks for the memories Yann.
Ok, so where do we begin?
Let’s look at those going out. Dale Stephens to Brighton is done, undisclosed of course. Good luck to him, my last personal memory of Dale was his winner at St Andrews.
Yann Kermorgant was back at Sparrows Lane today and I am trying to understand what has gone on before and what can still happen in the next 36 hours. It appears Duchâtelet has offered him a contract extension, but one that Yann wasn’t particularly happy with. He has also insisted that Powell be guaranteed his future too. I wouldn’t think for a minute that the Belgium was very happy with this and with that accepted the £500,000 on offer from Bournemouth.
This has almost certainly been Powell and Duchâtelet’s first clash. The Daily Mail reported earlier that Powell’s future was now uncertain. That is hardly news, and I really don’t think Powell is a quitter.
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It is looking increasingly like both Kermorgant and Stephens will be gone by the end of the week. According to witnesses Yann’s forlorn clapping of the travelling support last night at Doncaster told them all they needed to know.
Sky Sports are reporting that a fee has been agreed between Bournemouth and Charlton and Wyn understands it to be £500,000.
Yann is a huge loss to the side and it’s supporters. Alongside Johnnie Jackson, Yann has stood for everything that has been good about Chris Powell’s reign as manager. Google any range of Charlton highlights from the past couple of years and there he will be stood, chest puffed, steely grin, arm raised, our Breton warrior. But not for much longer it would seem.
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Anyone else think that the very first interview with Roland Duchâtelet and Katrien Meire only available on CAFC Player is a little bit out of order? It’s not very inclusive is it? I don’t know how many fans pay the annual fee of £43 a year, but surely the wider audience want to listen to Roland and Katrien’s plans. It’s quite important isn’t it?
It’s not been widely advertised either. Hopefully those that signed up today get their moneys worth, because I personally think it’s not value for money at the best of times, and I’ve been buying it for years!
Richard Murray joins Duchatelet and Meire as well on camera. Kind of funny that when Richard was the majority owner he would happily show up at fan gatherings for the price of a pint, then we had the recluse Kevin Cash and his publicity shy stooges Tony Jimenez and Michael Slater and now the new owners are charging us to listen to them.
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“I’ve got a lot of trust in them because they play for the shirt and they play for the club and they play for each other.”
That’s why you love them isn’t it? Who would have thought that result eh? Our 7th victory on the road tonight and the players showed again a real heart for the battle but this time reversed a trend and after conceding and every Addick on the planet knowing what was coming next, Powell brought on Danny Haynes and he fired a delightful goal and the players held on for a great victory.
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I can’t really understand the frustrations of some Addicks fans, but then again I have felt strangely detached this season struggling to come to terms with differing opinions and only occasionally being able to form my own as I haven’t seen as many games this season as I did last.
In the absence of transfer funds Powell has, for this division, a workmanlike squad that he has made tough to beat – only 3 times have we lost by more than a single goal and in two of those we were deservedly beaten (Wednesday and Middlesbrough).
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Bad news for Addicks today with Yann Kermorgant ruled out for 3 months with a fractured ankle, sustained in training last week. That is now Matt Taylor, Rhoys Wiggins and Kermorgant out for prolonged periods.
All three of these injuries have come since Chris Powell wrapped up his summer shopping. He does have players to fill these holes, but it weakens already a far from consequential squad. Andy Hughes and young ‘keeper Nick Pope are also in the physio’s room.
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There are games that define seasons, there are games that alter fortunes and there are those singular results and performances that give you a real sense of belief.
It is far too early to tell if yesterday’s result will define our season and the victory didn’t alter our wonderful early season march, but what it did do was send a powerful message not just to our opponents but to us. Years of decay have left confidence in tatters amongst supporters and I don’t think I was alone thinking that yesterday, in fact the whole of the past week, would tell us something about Chris Powell and his players.
Chicago Addick 