That's All Folks...

So after the traditional end of the season Play Off match, the curtain finally closes on the Championship season.  Wasn't a bad one for the Addicks was it? Unfortunately we didn't manage to reach the lofty heights of the Premier League as did our neighbours, but overall I am satisfied that it was a very successful season for Charlton given the squad that we had available.

For me, the close season can be a frustrating time, in particular when it's an 'off-year' for the European Championships and the World Cup.  When there is a tournament on there is some level of distraction which makes the couple of months without football a bit more bearable.  It also stops me from trawling news sites multiple times a day looking for some scrap of Addicks news.  So far the news hasn't been exactly positive.

If early signs are anything to go by, we could be in for another tough season when the campaign kicks off again in August.  It's great news that Andy Hughes has signed a contract extension, but Cedric Evina has joined the long line of Charlton players that are heading away from The Valley.  Evina becomes the eighth person to be released by the club, though that number could actually be nine if we include Bradley Wright-Phillips, though I have no idea if he has officially been released, I've read nothing that would confirm this.

I think the trimming down of the squad was inevitable with the financial fair play rules beginning to take effect,  but we do need to add some new faces if we are to move forward.  Chris Powell did brilliantly to manage the team to a top ten finish, especially as we were on such a tight budget.  To finish above the likes of Wolves, Blackburn, Middlesbrough and Leeds is a good achievement.  These teams would definitely be looked at as the heavyweights of the division pre-season, so congratulations have to go to Powell and the squad for their hard work and commitment.

For some time our fate was hanging in the balance as the season unfolded into one of the closest league campaigns that I can remember.  I have to admit, there were times when I was getting a little uncomfortable with our league position as I was mindful of the fact that we have suffered a number of end of season slumps over the years.  With our final ten games approaching, we were languishing a little bit too close to the relegation zone for my liking and I was trying not to think of the prospect of another relegation.

But, in fact, it was the end of season run that was to cement our place in this division.  In those final ten games, we managed to pick up 6 wins, 3 draws, and spectacularly, only a single defeat.  Unfortunately that loss was to that noisy lot from SE16, but there were some great wins in there to be proud of.  The Bolton result was a memorable one after going two goals down before scoring three of our own to seal the points.  The six goal thrashing of Barnsley will long be remembered by those who made the trip, and the win over Leeds was an important one as not only did the late goals show the character in the team, it also gave us the belief that a top ten finish was entirely possible.

I've often heard it said that you cannot stand still in football, and it's the truth.  If we don't improve the team, we could face another season of uncertainty.  Powell has done everything that has been expected of him so far, and a bit more besides.  We are currently in the ascendancy as a club, and we need to keep that going.  Slater and Co. have always insisted that their goal was to get us back to the Premier League, and as hard as Powell is trying, that cannot be done without some investment.

Wright-Phillips off, Di Canio out

Bradley Wright-Phillips has moved to Brentford on loan for the rest of the season.  With the proposed move to Swindon falling through at the 11th hour, it was only a matter of time before a deal was done with somebody, and I'm not wholly surprised that Brentford are the club that will benefit.

BWP made no secret of the fact that his preferred strike partner during our promotion winning campaign, was Paul Hayes.  With Hayes also playing for Brentford, Uwe Rosler must be hoping that the two of them will link up as successfully as the pair did for us during the first part of last season.

I'm actually disappointed that the club has opted to loan Bradley out.  Although I realise he has found life in the Championship far more difficult than League One, I'm not totally convinced that he has been given enough of an opportunity.  Of late, we have been struggling to find the back of the net with any regularity, and it has to be said, we have lost games as a direct result of this.

With Wright-Phillips gone, it limits our attacking options.  Both Danny Haynes and Ricardo Fuller have had spells out with injury, and as much as we all love Yann, he is not the type of player that will be prolific enough to score us all the goals we need to ensure we consolidate in this league.

According to the stats, Bradley has made 21 appearances for the club this season (all competitions) with a return of just one goal, which I admit, doesn't make great reading.  But, he has mostly been limited to cameo appearances, only being called upon very late in the game, often when there was little time to make an impact.  I would like to have seen him get another chance to see if he can cut it in this division, but it seems we may never find out.

It's a distinct possibility that we have seen his last game in a Charlton shirt. Bradley's contract expires at the end of the season and it's likely that it will not be renewed.  It is a shame, as he was instrumental last season and provided the lions share of the goals for us and it was great to have a striker that we expected to score, rather than hoped to score.  Darren Bent was probably the last player that we had this kind of feeling with, and that seemed like an age ago.

I wish BWP all the luck in the world and I really think that his move to Brentford will not only be great for himself and for Brentford, I think that it might help bring out the best in Paul Hayes as well.

In other news, Paolo Di Canio has confirmed his resignation from Swindon Town.  Clearly Paolo was upset at the sale of Matt Richie without his consent, and although it seemed that there was agreement reached with the Club's new owners, Paolo has decided it's time to move on.

I doubt we'll see him out of the game for too long.  Paolo did an excellent job with Swindon getting them promoted on limited resources, but the real achievement has been that they have managed to keep pace with some of the best teams in League One this season.  They are currently sitting in 6th position, though if they win their game in hand, they would be up to 2nd place.  An amazing feat for a club on such a shoestring.

It have wondered if our owners would be interested in replacing Powell with Di Canio, and even if Paolo would consider such a position.  I'm personally happy with the current setup, but the people behind our club have a certain unpredictability and nothing would surprise me.  If they are looking to get rid of Powell, it might soften the blow with the fans to have someone come in that also is held in high regard.

An Emotional Return

December 5th 1992 was a day of mixed emotions for me.  As a Charlton fan, the elation I felt making the walk along Floyd Road, was immense.  Particularly as for a good few years it was uncertain as to whether this moment would even be possible.  The day was also tinged with more than just a little bit of sadness.

I was quite a sickly child.  For the first ten years of my life I was constantly in and out of hospital with severe bouts of respiratory difficulties.  My parents were in a constant state of worry and took the decision to have me tutored at home rather than send me to school.  My father was exceptionally good friends with a former school master from East Ham who agreed to take on the role as my tutor.

Now, despite being from West Ham, Michael King, my tutor, was a huge fan of Charlton Athletic.  The first memory I have of The Valley was when we took a break from lessons and we went for a walk.  We strolled past the station and into Floyd Road and came upon this huge structure that to me, looked so out of place.  But I was awestruck.  I remember walking up to the gates and pressing my face between the bars, just trying to get a look at as much as I could.  Michael said that he would be willing to take me to a game if my parents agreed.

So Michael fulfilled his promise and he became the first person to take me to watch a football match.  I remember little of it.  As a child it was often hard to see what was going on when surrounded by hundreds of men on a football terrace.  I do remember being more interested in the atmosphere than the game itself. The singing of songs, the shouts and cheers, and having a snigger to myself when hearing the odd swear word.

My relationship with Charlton had begun, and there were many more trips to The Valley with Michael, who often brought along his own son, and occasionally would convince my father to come along with us too. As I grew older and started to understand the game more and more, I wanted to talk about football with Michael all the time.  He was very disciplined however, and would always ensure that my academic education came first, and my football education second.

My parents moved us away from Charlton in 1983.  By this time I was a regular at The Valley for the majority of home games.  Getting to Charlton from Eden Park in Beckenham was a fairly straight-forward journey yet my parents, still worrying over my health, point black refused to let me make the trip without an adult to accompany me.  Luckily Michael came to my rescue, on match days he drove from his home in East Ham, took me on the 54 bus to Charlton Village where we made the short walk down the hill to The Valley.

By the time the club had moved to Selhurst Park, I was going to a mainstream secondary school.  It seemed I had outgrown many of my childhood health issues, yet Michael was still a huge part of my life.  Despite declaring he would never visit Selhurst Park, Michael continued to escort me to matches.  Standing in the Arthur Waite was never the same.  The football on the pitch was of a higher quality than we'd seen for some time, but the surroundings were all wrong.  We watched a number of matches at Selhurst Park, attending most home games, yet we longed, as other fans did, for a return to The Valley.

Unfortunately Michael became ill in 1990 and eventually passed away after being diagnosed with cancer.  We had talked much about the return home. Roger Alwen's declaration of our return probably had most Charlton fans fired up and desperate to go home.  Eventually it became a reality, but Michael was not there to share that amazing day with me.  It's something I regret a great deal. We should have walked side by side through those gates in 1992, yet it wasn't to be.

My father offered to take me to the match on that day.  Of course I accepted, and in fact other than Michael, there isn't a single person that I would rather have been with.  The entire day was a roller-coaster of emotion.  It was amazing to see the work that had been done on the stadium.  The smell of the food vendors brought back great memories, and bumping into a few friends that I had not seen in years all helped to make a fantastic day. Colin Walsh helped cap a perfect return for Charlton and the majority of it's fans.  For me it wasn't quite perfect, but I know Michael would have approved of the homecoming had he been there to experience it with me.

I want to close by giving my thanks to everybody who worked so tirelessly to bring about our return to The Valley.  It's amazing what a group of dedicated people can do.  Not only did they give us hope during the wilderness years, they turned our dream of going home into a reality.

But most of all I'd like to say thanks to Michael King, if it wasn't for him, I would probably be another West Ham fan!

The Journey

Tuesday's match has been reported in just about every way possible, but the game was so astonishing that I had to put down a few words about it myself.

It's rare that I embark on the long trip to The Valley for a night game.  It's rarer still that I have to return home to the West Country immediately afterwards.  This was the position I found myself in on Tuesday.  The evening was organised by a fellow Addick and long time friend of mine, and originally I was meant to be commandeering his spare room for the night.  The best laid plans sometimes go awry and a local appointment that could not be re-arranged meant a three hour plus journey home after the match could not be avoided.

Two minutes into the game I was already questioning my sanity for making the journey.  Cardiff grabbed their first goal with little resistance.  Thus ensued one of the worst 30 minutes of football that I can remember in some time.  Whilst I acknowledge the patched up nature team, the 11 men in the Charlton colours looked like virtual strangers.  No surprise then when Cardiff added their second.  At this point, the thought of the trip back down the M4 was starting to look like a grim prospect.

I am generally an optimist, so I tried to put the lonely sojourn to the back of my mind and thought that if we could snatch a goal back before half-time, we might have a small chance of getting something out of the game.  As if on cue, Johnnie Jackson, would must have been inspired by the amazing support coming from the covered end, belted home his first of the game and I exploded with a mixture of joy and relief and jumped up to celebrate the goal.  A mixture of the home support and being buoyed by their first goal saw the Addicks starting to play football, which culminated in Jackson's second on the stroke of half time.

As the teams walked into the tunnel at half-time, I looked around at fans in my vicinity and the looks of bemusement were on almost every single face, mine included.  My smile was understandably huge, but I wasn't quite sure how we managed to pull ourselves back into a game we looked completely out of. Not only did Cardiff race into a deserved 2-0 lead, but they missed enough chances to put the game out of reach.  At 2-2, I had completely forgotten about the future liaison with my car.

I was expecting an improvement in the second half, though nobody could have predicted such a superb display of attacking football that saw us net three times in 11 minutes.  I've been banging the drum about using a more attacking strategy in our home matches, and the team certainly did not disappoint.  I kept looking wide-mouthed at the scoreboard which, for 25 minutes, was showing 5-2, and was almost having to pinch myself before I could believe it.  With the Covered End urging the team on through a chorus of 'we want six', each attack we had felt like the fans might get their wish, but in the end it was not to be.

Games involving our team are rarely straight-forward, and when the fourth official held up the board and indicated six additional minutes would have to be played, I have to say, I couldn't prevent myself from taking in a big gulp of air.  A number of both sets of fans had already left the stadium when Cardiff scored their third and fourth goal, and that feeling of 'here we go again' was definitely hanging in the air.

Thankfully, we hung on and grabbed the vital three points and I was able to walk back to my car with a spring in my step.  After a quick stop for a very large latté, I made my way home on a mixture of caffeine and euphoria coursing through my body.  Even after arriving home I found it hard to sleep with the entire evenings events playing themselves out over and over as I laid my head on the pillow.  I can't help feeling that I was so close to one of the worst journeys ever, but thanks to the resolve of the players, it was actually quite a pleasure.

Can we have a re-think please?

We were taught a real lesson today.  Middlesbrough came to The Valley with an impressive record.  In fact they had won five of their last seven games.  It was easy to see why.  Mowbray's side played with a confidence and style that us Addicks could only dream of right now.  But more importantly they had an aura of positivity about them.

It's becoming clear that if we want to kick on in this league, we are going to have to seriously reconsider our approach.  Whilst I understand caution, I'm certain that our current strategy is doing us more harm than good.  I don't think damage limitation exercises are going to keep us in this division.

Looking up the table it seems obvious to me that 'having a go' at teams is where the benefits lie.  Those teams that are bold enough to take the risks are flourishing, whilst those that have a more negative approach are finding life that much more difficult.  This is especially evident when looking at our home form and results.

I think the reason our home form is so terrible is because we are not being adventurous enough.  I've always felt that a home team should have the impetus, should take advantage of the conditions and drive the game. Unfortunately we just do not do that.  Too often we are chasing the game instead of dictating it.

Away from home our form is significantly better.  This does not surprise me however.  The standard strategy for an away team is to soak  up the pressure, keep the home side out for as long as possible, and hope to nick a goal at the earliest opportunity.  The way Powell sets out his side does that very well, but it's not a tactic that I can see working well as the home side.  There has to be a more positive approach.

Currently it is only our away form keeping us out of the bottom three.  In fact, if there was a league table which was based on home form only, we would be in the bottom two, four points adrift of the safety zone.  On the flip-side, if we were to look at a table based on away form only, we would be in the top ten.  In my opinion this clearly highlights a huge issue.

We have reached a point in the season where we have to start making some bold decisions.  Would it be such a huge gamble to instruct the team to take our home games by the scruff of the neck and really go for it?  I think not.  Two points from a possible eighteen at home proves that a complete re-think is necessary.  It remains to be seen whether change is forthcoming, but what is there to lose?

Cardiff's away form isn't special, in fact they have lost three of their last four on the road.  Now is the perfect time for us to make changes.  Let the team off the leash a bit so they can show us what they've got.  Let's start laying siege to opposition's goals BEFORE we go one behind.  I want to stop saving our best performances for when we are a goal down (today was an exception to that rule obviously).

This Charlton side does have the necessary qualities to stay in the division, I just don't think they are being utilised properly right now.