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| Monday, 7-May-2007 12:00 |
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The waiting is over
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CAFC 0 Spurs 2, 7th May 2007
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27th August 2002,
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Ah well. After seven consecutive seasons in the Premiership we slipped gently through the trapdoor to the Championship.
There was something in the air that made the result and the consequences far easier to deal with. I thought the crowd was magnificent, giving full support throughout and even stepping things up when the second goal went in. The only critical reaction came when al Karkouri kept passing back to Carson, and that was tolerable because it was so desperately important to see the ball in play at the other end.
Sadly, I think that all the players were playing to the best of their ability tonight, but at least the crowd saw that and rewarded them for it with generous applause. I'm not sad at our plight, as we're now out of our misery. We've seen it coming for ages and known for the last month that it was almost inevitable. We now have to hope that the club can stabilise quickly and bounce back. With Pardew in charge I'm fairly optimistic even now.
As for tonight's visitors, I recognised one of the Spurs fans from way back in August 2002 when we first started to take our Members of the Opposition photos. He was in only our 2nd ever photo, taken on 27th August - also an evening game. Having taken 95 of these photos we now have to consider whether to carry on with them in the Championship - personally, I think we should. If any of our readers have any views on this I'd be interested.
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| Sunday, 22-Apr-2007 00:18 |
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CAFC 1 Sheffield Utd 1, 21/04/2007
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It was when we couldn't get past Reading at the last home game that my hopes for our Premiership survival took a real bashing. In fact, we were lucky to get away with a point that day, I thought. Sheffield Utd. were beatable, but again we dropped two vital points at home.
We're now in the position that none of us wanted to be in, i.e. having to do something dramatic at Anfield on the last day of the season, which of course asumes that we've gained points against Blackburn away and Spurs at home that keep us afloat until then.
Apologies for the poor picture quality - I forgot my camera and had to use my mobile. But Matt also took a couple of photos with his shiny new Nokia, so when he gets them to me I'll replace this one
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| Wednesday, 11-Apr-2007 07:28 |
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CAFC 0 Reading 0, 9th April 2007
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CAFC 0 Reading 0, 9th April 2007
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Reading were a real handful, and I for one was pleased that we came away with a point and a continuation of our unbeaten run.
Two forced substitutions due to injuries (Hreidarsson and Marcus Bent) in the first half disrupted Charlton somewhat, even though these gave us the line-up that we favoured before the game. But we never really got going, even though lately the team has been fired up, and you have to say that this was because Reading made life hard for us. Still, one point is miles better than none.
A couple of our group at the Rose of Denmark travel to the Valley via Paddington from Reading and beyond, which meant that they had Reading supporters for company on the way home. Unfortunately, a large number of these did their club no favours at all with their raucous and arrogant abuse of the Charlton supporters amongst them.
Due to our history of the last 25 years we know what it's like to see our club on the brink of obliteration and to truly appreciate the good days that we've had since we were rescued. As a result we're a cheerful, good-natured bunch who can take defeat philosophically. But what we find unacceptable is the hubris of clubs and their supporters who are no better than us.
Clearly, Reading have had an excellent season and have a superb manager to thank for that, but the next time their supporters come to the Rose of Denmark they might find us less welcoming than we are for those of other clubs who don't depend on personal abuse for their entertainment.
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| Saturday, 31-Mar-2007 21:36 |
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A narrow squeak
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CAFC 1 Wigan 0, 31st March 2007
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Two evenly-matched and, doubtless, slightly nervous sides served up an edgy match that, frankly, Wigan seemed more likely to snatch as the second half faded.
In the event, we won when Darren Bent converted a late penalty, but Wigan had chance after chance. This victory was absolutely vital, given the other results at the foot of the table. West Ham won and so did Man City, but Sheffield United lost, which left them only one point ahead of us. Given that they still have to visit The Valley, and that our results at home under Pardew have been so good, we seem to have gained some degree of control over our fate.
A couple of us had a good pre-match chat with visiting Wigan supporters in the Rose of Denmark. As usual, this confirmed that there's far more that unites genuine fans than divides them.
The 'Charlton Live' Internet radio broadcast returns this weekend, and Wigan supporters will be very welcome indeed if they'd like to join in. The show can be picked up on-line at http://www.addickted.net/radio/ Make your views known through phone calls and/or e-mails!
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| Sunday, 18-Mar-2007 23:00 |
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CAFC 2 Newcastle 0, 18/03/2007
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The fightback under Pardew continues, thank heavens.
The first half was a fairly even affair and wasn't dull even though, judging from the selected highlights, the Match of the Day editors showed very little of it. The second half started well for Charlton, with Zheng Zhi doing well to direct a weak header into the net following in on Darren Bent's free kick that hit the bar. After that Charltom gradually strengthened their grip on the game and, following a foul on Zheng by Solano, a late Thomas penalty sealed the win.
It was one of those odd games where both sets of supporters seemed to expect a home win, which is surprising given Charlton's meagre points total and Newcastle's recent run in Europe.
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| Sunday, 25-Feb-2007 12:00 |
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The turn of the tide?
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CAFC 4 West Ham 0, 24/02/2007
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It really does make you wonder where things went wrong for West Ham.
As last season came to an end they were buoyant in the Premiership and put in a sparkling performance in the best Cup Final for a very long time. Maybe they were derailed at the start of this season by the extremely questionable Tevez/Mascherano deal, but in Alan Pardew they had one of the best young managers around, who deserved support from the club's owners, old and new.
His dismissal struck many people, West Ham's supporters included, as incredibly premature and unreasonable, and his replacement by dear old Curbs seemed not to represent any sort of step forward. The bonus for Charlton was that we could now dive in and sign Pardew who, for years was seen by the board as the idea successor to Curbs.
Most supporters of both clubs seem to think that Charlton have had by far the best of this exchange, and Saturday's 4-0 home win at The Valley will have backed this up.
From Charlton's perspective things still look a bit grim, with relegation still a very real threat. But, as so many of us seem to have felt, it's vital that if we ARE relegated we should go down with guns blazing, and this is what happened on Saturday.
We now need to accumulate around 60% of the points available in the remaining ten games. If we do that we'll stay up, reardless of what the clubs around us do. But it does look very bleak for West Ham.
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| Saturday, 3-Feb-2007 22:40 |
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Better than expected but ...
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CAFC 0 Chelsea 1, 3/1/2007
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Well, Pardew had made it clear that any points from this game or next week's away fixture at ManU would be a very welcome bonus, so a home defeat wasn't exactly a disaster. One bit of good news from the day was that only Wigan of the other bottom clubs managed to win.
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| Sunday, 14-Jan-2007 13:03 |
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Resignation
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CAFC 1 Boro 3, 13th January 2007
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Oh well, that's it then. We're headed for the waterfall of relegation, and to at least avoid going over the edge in a couple of months we needed to hold position yesterday with some vigorous paddling against the current. We did it for a while and then just gave up,
Charlton fell apart having taken the lead for a change, and by the end of the game there were swathes of empty seats around The Valley. The sad thing is that Boro weren't really that good, and if we can't get past clubs like them then we really are doomed to relegation.
Hasselbaink, who I think must be one of the worst players we've ever signed, did at least score, which is something to be grateful for, and there were excellent performances from a couple of players. Andy Reid really is the pick of the post-Curbs arrivals, and even Diawara is starting to show some promise, even though you have to hold your breath as he struggles to position himself below high balls. El Karkouri had quite a good game, going forwards excitingly a couple of times.
But dear old Hermann Hreidarsson is starting to show his age really very alarmingly. I've always been a huge fan of his and will consequently make loads of allowances for him, but he seems not to be good enough for the Prem any more. I'd hold on to him, though, as he'll be invaluable in the Championship.
These are grim and saddening days, and I don't even blame the players that much, Hasselbaink excepted. The squad has been deteriorating from the moment that Parker left, followed shortly afterwards by Jensen and di Canio. Curbs and Murray had loads of time (two full seasons) to re-build, and between them they fell short.
I can't blame them too much, as it's an enormous job to keep a small club like Charlton in the Premiership, but I'd prefer some statements of regret from them for their shortcomings. After all, they've been fairly lauded for their excellence in the past, and this is when they'll have to suffer the opposite.
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| Monday, 1-Jan-2007 12:09 |
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A New Year's thought
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Remember the days when matches kicked off at 3pm on a Saturday, and the players you watched were entirely British and played as if they really cared about the community they represented? People of my age do, but I fear that few under 30s could even imagine it. And who do we blame for this? Murdoch, naturellement.
Of course, the argument in favour of Sky is that it has poured vast sums of money into British football, without whch the game couldn't continue as at present. This is rather my argument - I'd far rather than Sky went away, taking its money with it and wrecked some other sport.
What 'benefits' do Sky's monies bring?
- ludicrous wages for idiot players whose motivation clearly declines as the heaps of riches mount.
- parasitic hangers-on who insert themselves into every deal and extract wealth that they clearly don't deserve
- potential financial disaster for those clubs who drop out of the Premiership
- the attraction to the sport of rich 'benefactors' who unbalance the competition so that only four clubs have a chance of winning the title
- match scheduling that means its ridiculously difficult to travel to away games played at 'non-standard' times
- far too little money trickling down to lower divisions. In the past smaller clubs beneftted from transferring players to the bigger ones. Now the money goes clean out of the game and primarily benefits luxury car manufacturers.
And, of course, England's already-slim chances if winning any trophies have been wrecked by super-rich, under-intelligent, slack-moralled, unmotivatable players who really don't care as much as the rest of us about achieving success.
For these and many other benefits, Thank You, Sky. No really, you're FAR too good to us.
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| Saturday, 30-Dec-2006 20:16 |
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Glimmers of hope
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CAFC 2 Villa 1, 30th December 2006
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Wow! What a transformation in such a short time. If only Pardew had been in charge for the Wycombe game.
I've always thought that, overall, the Charlton crowd is more forgiving than most. Less reasonable supporters would have given Curbs a far harder time in the past two years as his tactics became more and more conservative and, frankly, boring. However, there's always been a huge fund of goodwill for him as the man who got us into the Premiership and kept us there.
But we could all tell that there'd been a sudden hardening of supporters' attitudes to the club at the Wycombe game when what seemed like the entire crowd started to bellow, 'You're not ft to wear the shirt'. The board must have got the jitters at that point, and when the North Stand started to chant, 'Super Alan Pardew' something seems to have snapped. And thank heavens it did!
Today we heard the result of the pent-up emotion of the past couple of seasons as the crowd raucously supported their team. You sensed that players were playing for their reputations as they surfed the waves of noise cascading from the home supporters. Good to see.
Before the game the Villa supporters were telling us how well Gareth Barry had been playing, and the chants of 'Barry for England' backed this up. Personally, I think that being selected to play amongst the likes of Cole, Lampard and the others is no honour at all, but that's another point.
Barry calmly converted his penalty but shortly afterwards lost his head as he pursued Rommedahl towards the area, fouled him and was sent off. In the second half, Darren Bent, who seems to have been reinvigorated by two things - the captaincy and Pardew's arrival - scored with a header from a superb long pass from El Karkhouri. And as the clock ran down, and we were getting twitchy about Villa scoring late in the game just as Fulham had done, a goalmouth scramble ended with Bryan Huhes scoring. Talk about relief!
Villa could feel as aggrieved at losing late in the game as we did on Wednesday at dropping two points. Our two teams seemed quite evenly matched on the day.
At the last few games we've met up each time with visiting supporters who've been in our Members of the Opposition in previous seasons, and we've been saying that there probably won't be the opportunity to do this again next year. They've always been decent enough to say that they hope that we're wrong, but after today's performance and result we're starting to feel that maybe we can claw back from the pit we've been sliding into.
If we can sneak a point from the away match at Arsenal (who lost today to lowly Sheffield Utd. - damn!) I'll know that we can survive for another season.
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