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| Sunday, 4-Dec-2005 00:00 |
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Hard questions ahead
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CAFC 2 City 5, 4th December 2005
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Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse it does just that. Charlton suffered their most crushing home defeat since the 1-6 home loss against Leeds two years ago when City went on the rampage and stuffed us 2-5. How embarrassing was that?
Cole and Vassell can't have enjoyed many games more than this one, simply dismantling the Charlton defence at will. Charlton's problems are entirely down to lack of confidence - after all, the same players won five away games on the trot earlier in the season. It's down to Curbs and his team to turn this around, and if he can't do that soon he needs to ask himself some hard questions.
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| Thursday, 1-Dec-2005 00:00 |
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Hardly surprised
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CAFC 2, Blackburn 3
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Charlton's perpetually miserable performance in cup competitions is notorious, and the club's failure to take them at all seriously has irked fans for quite a while.
Having been made aware by one of our number of the Peruvian side Deportivo Wanka quite a few of our group invested in replica shirts, for obvious reasons. Apparently, back in Peru the lady at their club shop said about 20 gringos had been in this month for stuff and she didnt know why there was this sudden interest in a crap team ;o)
Anyway, knowing that our cup runs *always* end in disappointment we decided that we'd wear our Wanka shirts in anticipation of the poor result that did in fact materialise. We once chanted at Ipswich, 'Two up and you f***** it up', and tonight the Blackburn supporters should really have been singing it back at us. What an embarrassment.
A club with 35+ players in its squad should really be able to field eleven of them who can construct and sustain a victory. Whilst a couple of them screwed up tonight we should still have been able to hold on to a 2-0 lead with 15 minutes to go.
It's hard to see where the next victory will come from, and I feel very sorry for those loyal supporters who have seen only two home victories all season, against Wigan and Hartlepool. In the past two seasons the spine and fight have gone out of the club, and one simply has to look at the management to get to the root of the malaise and sort it out. Personally, I believe that such a bloated squad is a bad idea, and that Mourinho is on to something when he says that 24 players is plenty.
Blackburn supporters turned out in surprisingly large numbers, given that it was a midweek game a very long way from home. I'll bet they'll have had a very happy journey home 
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| Saturday, 19-Nov-2005 00:00 |
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The run continues .... unfortunately
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CAFC 1 ManU 3, 19/11/05
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Geoff Dixon's friends
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Given that Charlton have never beaten ManU in the Premiership, and that the last four home games had had disappointing results, my hopes weren't high for this game. In the pre-match predictions in the pub I'd forecasted a 0-2 defeat - at least I was right about the two goal losing margin! Of the twenty or so of us who gamble a quid on the result four of us got the score correct.
Luckily, I've seen three of Charlton's away victories this season, but those who can only make it to home games must be getting despondent. Having said that, the crowd took the defeat calmly enough, but I think that there'll be criticism if we don't beat City in the next home game.
Still, the consensus was that ManU outclassed us on the day - again 
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| Saturday, 29-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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After the Lord Mayor's Show
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CAFC 0 Bolton1, 29th October
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Bolton have an extremely good record against us, so we knew in advance that this would be a tricky fixture, but it's amazing that the same squad that held Chelsea and then beat them (yes, BEAT them, Mourinho!) with such spirit on Wednesday could have been so slack and apparently weary today.
The first half was fairly even, but after the break Charlton just fell away, and a good ten minutes before the Bolton goal my neighbour said, "We're going to lose this". I really can't believe that professional sportsmen can still be exhausted three days after a match, so it must have been a sort of mental tiredness. This doesn't bode well for the end of the season.
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| Monday, 17-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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Poor old home supporters
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CAFC 1 Fulham 1, 17th October 2005
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Charlton continue to struggle at home, which must make many supporters wonder how it is that they can do so well away from home by comparison.
Fulham scored first midway through the first half, with Collins John volleying a superb strike past Andersen, who really stood no chance of stopping it, but Danny Murphy equalised shortly after half time. This was a game filled with errors but which was nevertheless exciting to watch.
In the pub beforehand we met two Danes and two Swedes who come over for Premiership games because they enjoy the atmosphere. They won't have been disappointed tonight, I suspect!
Our Members of the Opposition photo was in doubt tonight, as up until almost the last minute there were no Fulham supporters in the pub. But at the last moment a group turned up who'd been in last season's photo and were dragged straight into position. Thus was our run of MOTO photos, which started in August 2002, extended to 71 consecutive shots.
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| Saturday, 1-Oct-2005 00:00 |
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Not one you'd want to lose
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CAFC 2 Spurs 3
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It was a bit wet in the second half
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In spite of early Spurs pressure Charlton appeared to have weathered the storm, and the much-needed second goal should have been the point at which they shut up shop. Instead, the rather fortunate goal from King was a significant turning point, and in spite of a succession of good chances for the home team Spurs went on to win 3-2.
The best thing to emerge from this disappointing result was another 'Bent Double', but the obvious shortage of striking alternatives was emphasised when Bent was injured and had to be substituted.
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| Saturday, 24-Sep-2005 00:00 |
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Back on track
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Where'd it go?
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Flying the flag
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A healthy contingent of travelling Addicks saw a real 'game of two halves' at The Hawthorns. Cool and focused in the first half Charlton dominated Albion and collected two good goals; a well-deserved penalty for a foul on Thomas, taken calmly by Danny Murphy, and a tap-in by Danny following a long-delayed, teasing cross from Rommedahl.
However, West Brom scored early in the second half and put Charlton under enormous pressure for the rest of the game. The Charlton defence, with Perry starring yet again, held the opposition at bay and held out for a fourth successive away win that left us still in second place behind Chelsea - an amazing position to be in after six games.
The lack of respect shown by the media so far for Charlton's achievements is beginning to grate quite badly. Admitted, it's early in the season and we'll probably be overtaken by several (but not all) of the 'big' clubs before it ends. However, commentators with any skill or perception would be taking far more interest in how a club like Charlton with limited resources and a relatively small stadium manages to out-perform those who simply throw money around to buy success.
In the meanwhile it's a joy to see ManU and Arsenal losing their stranglehold on the Premiership and clubs like Charlton, Bolton and even Wigan shaking things up
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| Saturday, 17-Sep-2005 00:00 |
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A temporary setback?
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CAFC 0 Chelsea 2, 17th September 2005
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A ground to be proud of
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After a first half in which Charlton matched their wealthy visitors two sharp goals by Chelsea after an hour ended the contest. Chants from the Jimmy Seed Stand of 'That's why we're the champions' understandably irritated the home supporters who were gazing upon £100m+ worth of imported talent. Still, a 0-2 loss wasn't too bad under the circumstances, and if we return to winning ways against West Brom next week this setback will soon be forgotten.
Many thanks to James Easton for the wonderful photo taken from the North Stand yesterday!
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| Saturday, 10-Sep-2005 00:00 |
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It keeps getting better!
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Pre-match optimism
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Probably the least impressive view of St Andrew's
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Four successive wins, three away from home. Heady stuff for the Addicks!
As the cliché has it, the heavy rain at St Andrew's, both before and after the game, couldn't dampen the enthusiam of over 1,000 Addicks. In the first half there was a great headed goal and and a dominant Charlton performance to keep things bubbling.
It was a bit tense in the second half, as Birmingham fought back and Charlton spent much of their time defending, but their defence, especially the magnificent Chris Perry, soaked up all the pressure. Pennant whipped in a fair number of excellent crosses, but his team mates couldn't convert any of them.
This time us singing, 'We sent the Palace down' was fun for the additional reason that our draw kept Birmingham's rivals West Brom in the Premiership 
Many thanks to Graham Speller for taking the photos!
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| Saturday, 20-Aug-2005 00:00 |
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Charlton 1 Wigan 0 - the run continues
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CAFC 1 Wigan 0
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Chris Powell's post-match celebrations return to The Valley
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For the first time in our Premiership history we've won both of our two opening games. There's a feeling that we've been fortunate to face two newly-promoted teams in those games, but in the past we haven't fully exploited these opportunities. Wigan will do better as their season progresses and Charlton will do worse when they come up against the top three - we've got Chelsea in the next game at The Valley.
The Rose of Denmark was little busier today than on a normal Saturday. In fact, I've never seen it as deserted on a matchday, even for pre-season friendlies. There was a fair contingent of Wigan supporters in the ground, but few of them seem to have found their way to the pub beforehand. Many of our own group missed this game due to holidays, and it's possible that this was typical of many regular supporters, so we'll have to wait until the Chelsea game to see the effect of the slump in season ticket sales.
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