The End Is Nigh!

It’s been a while since I wrote something. A combination of being busy, taking a holiday and apathy are the main reasons.

Allied to that there’s not been much to comment on certianly on the pitch. Off the pitch then okay, there has been the ongoing will they / won’t they in respect of a takeover. However, for all the speculation we’re no further forward or any clearer on what’s happening. The only things that differ are the dates and the names of the various characters involved!

We now have the ludicrous scenario of a consortium that threatened Sandgaard with legal action (though that seems to have been empty threats) now back seeking to buy!

It’s all largely immaterial of course so long as Duchatalet retains ownership of The Valley and the training ground. Until we rid ourselves of that odious character the club cannot truly move forward.

Tomorrow the curtain comes down on this most wretched of seasons. It’s a season that most of us would happily have had end months ago. For some while now there’s been nothing to play nor get excited about.

There’s no cause for optimism and the season ticket prices remain ridiculously high. The price difference in some of the stands for sitting about 8 feet apart is total nonsense. There’s no proper commercial strategy.

I won’t be buying a season ticket again. I simply refuse to pay that price nor give Sandgaard any more money. If you want to send a message to Sandgaard in the hope of getting him out then everyone should do the same.

We all support the club and not buying a season ticket isn’t being any less loyal than any other fan. I still intend to buy a ticket as and when.

I wouldn’t be fussed about retaining a particular seat. It’ll still be there and unless something amazing happens you’ll still be able to sit where you like anyway.

Peter Storrie tried to reassure us all yesterday by saying that a transfer budget has been agreed by all parties. Who are these parties? Sandgaard still owns the club so who is it that is promising this spend and how can he speak on behalf of others?

More nonsense than ever. Season by season our club falls further into decline and we appear further away than ever from a return to the Championship.

We are left praying that we retain our better players, few though they are whilst keeping hold of the promising youngsters. Steve Gallen will be expected to pull another JRS out the bag if we are to have any hope of even retaining our current status.

We have to hope that we get a new owner with suitable funds and the right intentions for our club. It’s something of a pipe dream but it’s all we have to cling on to.

Thankfully, tomorrow sees the last in a recent line of meaningless games. Once done we can have a break from the misery of supporting our club.

Call me doom and gloom and Mr Pessimistic if you like but this is the reality of where we are. I truly hope that come the beginning of August we have a half decent squad and a modicum of hope.

 Dean Holden deserves a break or two and he’s largely been the best thing to emerge in recent times. We simply must keep hold of a man who gets our club and has the desire to move it forward in the right way.

Have a good summer folks!

All We Are Saying.....

is give us a goal! 

Charlton haven’t scored since Tuesday 14^th February so a goal or two is long overdue. 

The reasons for this go beyond simply playing some of the division’s better teams in games that have proven to cruelly expose the void between us and them. 

The simple truth is that we have largely been without our best fit striker who’s still in his debut season. We’ve also lost Chuks again although since his appearances are so rare I’m not sure you can include him. Kanu has mostly been overlooked although he reappeared last Saturday. Then you have Bonne……….. 

Do I need to say anything with regard to him? Let’s leave that rhetorical question there then. 

Tomorrow sees us with a good chance of scoring at least against an Accrington team that is hovering one point above the relegation zone. Stanley haven’t scored an away goal since 7^th February so this has all the making of a cracking game! 

Accrington played on Tuesday and suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Ipswich that won’t have helped their confidence. In addition, keeper Jensen was sent off at the death and having lost their appeal Stanley will be without him tomorrow. The Reds are expected to recall Savin who’s currently on loan at Stevenage. 

Manager John Coleman also has a few injury problems so this is a good time to play them although we all know that often has little bearing on the type of performance The Addicks deliver! 

In terms of our injury problems then Fraser remains a doubt after missing out last week. Chuks is out for the season I believe and Kane (who he?!!) is also out. 

Penney was ironically (for me anyway) dropped last week and not before time since he’s added diddly squat to the team. Hopefully, he won’t feature tomorrow. 

Leaburn ought to start tomorrow maybe even with Kanu alongside him. Of late, we’ve carried such little attacking threat or intent as we’ve seemed preoccupied with the opposition and how to deal with them. 

The switch to 3 at the back hasn’t helped us either and has only served to add more confusion to our defence. 

Despite all the issues on and off the pitch we really should secure a win tomorrow although I suspect Accrington will be a tough nut to crack. Coleman will probably look to hit on the counter as and when they can. In their position and with their injury and suspension woes it’s unlikely that they’ll be adopting a gung-ho approach. 

I hope that Stanley stay up. They’re a decent club that has made fantastic progress in recent years and their owner, Andy Holt, is a top geezer as we know. 

The rumours that Holden might be going to Oxford have abated (Grant McCann is now heavily linked with that) and indeed the SLP are reporting that Holden has signed a contract extension. If so, that’s good news. 

I appreciate that Holden doesn’t get everything right but then who does? One has to acknowledge the positive impact he’s had and also consider the conditions he finds himself in. 

He is surrounded by uncertainty and working with a squad not of his own creation. As such, he is allowed a large amount of latitude. In fact, I think any manager is until the club gets decent backing and is properly run. 

We need to win tomorrow as the last four results have given cause for concern in respect of potential relegation and we really don’t need to add that to our list of woes! 

Let’s hope the overnight frost goes quickly and that the pitch is playable. It really would be no surprise for the game to be off and we face them later in the season when they’re at full strength and we’re in desperate need of the points! 

Come On You Reds!

Fleetwood At Home

It’s back to The Valley tomorrow as The Addicks face a Fleetwood side buoyed by the acquisition of a couple of new players most notably Jayden Stockley, formerly of this parish.

Fortunes took a dive for Jayden this season with the ever changing manager and perhaps more relevant, his role in the team doing little to help him.

A shame really as he was a committed player and one who is more than capable at this level. I expect him to do well for The Fishermen and his goal on debut will have done his confidence the world of good.

I’m sure most of us have a bet that has him to score at some stage tomorrow!

Adding to the firepower is Jack Marriott who also arrived in the January transfer window. The experienced striker was bought from Peterborough. However, he facing strong competition for a starting place from Omochere who has scored twice in the last two games.

          

Town lost a close game to Burton last weekend but got a good result in midweek as they overcame Wednesday in the cup. They now face a fifth round tie away to Burnley.

Hopefully, that will have taken something out of them and they will have half a mind on that but it’s unlikely.

As for the Addicks, I think that Leaburn needs to be recalled to the starting eleven. Bonne hasn’t looked great for the last two games and Miles makes things happen. We seem to carry a greater threat with him on the pitch.

I’d like to see Campbell start too. Whilst CBT scored a good goal on Saturday he isn’t consistent enough and far too often makes the wrong decision and fails to get his crosses in early.

Our on loan left back has yet to impress to date but Penney, for his faults, faces little competition and will probably hold on to his plaice. ( 2 for the price of 1 there!)

One assumes that Kilkenny will start after his fine debut last week. He is a better bet then Morgan if we’re honest.

The departures of O’Connell and Lavelle means that Inniss is likely to keep his place. He is always a worry as there’s always an error or bad tackle in there somewhere and he plays his games on a knife edge.

Thankfully, Holden has a pragmatic approach in respect of our defenders who are clearly told not to mess about at the back and simply get rid. At times it looks horrible but is way better than the alternative of conceding another soft and embarrassing goal!

Holden has been superb in all aspects of his management. We have a diamond in him. Sadly, whether he goes to Town (quite literally) or not, unless we sort a decent contract for him backed up by sensible plans he’ll not be with us for long!

The silence from Sandgaard and anyone remotely connected with the club’s ownership only prolongs the agony that us fans have suffered for far too long.

If Sandgaard had any real feeling for our club then everything else aside he would have sought out decent owners and made a sensible and decent proposal. Clearly, he hasn’t and worst of all seems desperate to retain some involvement in the club as he attempts, like Liz Truss, to have some relevance…..oh dear!

All we can do is keep supporting the team but only upto a point. When it comes to next season, if things haven’t improved then fans will need to vote with their feet and not buy season tickets as Dave from Drinking During The Game ( https://drinkingduringthegame.blogspot.com ) advises in the latest of his excellent posts.

I didn’t renew this year after nearly 25 years of season tickets. This was as a result of Sandgaard’s ownership, lack of investment and also the ludicrously high price of the ticket itself.

Anyway, in the meantime, I’m looking forward to another good game tomorrow where I expect Stockley to score but us to win!

Come On You Reds!

Breaking The Club To Break Even

No real surprises in the latest lacklustre transfer window. As far as CAFC is concerned there’s no point in being any more specific in stating January as the summer one is always just as bad.

Even to most cynical amongst us could not have anticipated the extent to which players were to be sold or loaned out.

Several players have been shipped out and two moved on permanently. I suppose one should be pleased that Leaburn, Ness or similar have been retained.

Stockley’s departure was no surprise as opposed to O’Connell’s. Jayden wasn’t really getting a look in and was out of form and no where near the player he was last season.

He really wasn’t helped by the changing managers and subsequently formations. He and will no doubt score against us for a now strengthened Fleetwood side who did some good business.

O’Connell’s move is a real shock as he’s been playing well and is certainly better than Inniss and Lavelle although he too moved on.

Those players we did recruit are all only here until the end of May so there’s nothing to get excited about.

Blatantly there has been no attempt to disguise that fact that this was all about cost cutting. No one is stupid enough to believe there is any plan to build for the future.  

The silence from Sandgaard, the recruitment team or even the tea lady tells you all you need to know. I guess Holden will be required to sugar coat things later today.

We are considerably weaker now than we were in December. The season might as well end now. Hopefully we won’t go down although injuries to our remaining centre halves could cause problems.

Comment from Banjo Man about transfers aside we’ve not heard anything more regarding the potential takeover whether it be 80 or 100%. It really is a farce and unbelievably he seems to be doing more damage than Duchatelet.

As we now know Sandgaard isn’t one to admit his mistakes so we can’t expect him to acknowledge his failings and just go quiet in that good night to paraphrase a more astute Thomas by the name of Dylan.

All the euphoria that surrounded the cup game at Old Trafford has long since evaporated. All the good will that could have engendered gone in a flash!

At season’s end we’ll be left with a collection of players out of contract and/or favour with little to no motivation nor reason to stay in S.E.7.   

Potentially we’ll start the 23/24 season with the club in the state it’s perhaps ever been in. We’ll probably be odds on to go down. That is unless Sandgaard does a U-turn and decides to invest both time and money in the club or we get someone with both money and business sense who is keen to do things properly.

At present both those options seem a million miles away. What can we do about it? The ironic answer is sweet FA!

Protesting seems a pointless exercise. Thomas doesn’t bother to come over anymore and does nothing but pay lip-service when he does and his son is equally uncaring despite being employed by the club.

All in all it’s a very depressing scenario but that’s been the case for years now and we should be used to it. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt of course as clearly is does to anyone who cares about our great club.

All we can do is to cling on in the hope that sunnier days lie ahead however long we have to wait for them!

                                                 

Charlton 1 Bolton 2

No real shame in defeat on Saturday to a decent Bolton side. However, we seemed a bit below par when compared to recent displays. There didn’t seem the same intensity we had against Barnsley for example.

Bolton are a well drilled and physical side who press well and forced several errors from our players.

The Trotters could easily have been 3 or 4 nil up at half time. Luck and excellent last ditch defending prevented it from being no more than 1-0.

Shoretire was a constant menace with bags of skills. The United loanee was a real handful.

Bolton ought to finish in at least third place. Their only Achilles heel appears to be their keeper. Trafford appears to make some dodgy decisions and his distribution looks a bit suspect.

He nearly messed up when Bonne went for the ball and ultimately got booked I felt it was a bit harsh as clumsy as the tackle was. Trafford invited that and it could have been costly.

We did well to score so soon after the break to get back into the game and one wonders how it might have been had JRS taken that near post chance that followed soon after.

Having worked so hard to stay in the game the Bolton second and ultimately the winner was a really poor goal to concede. It was error strewn and a total lack of communication cost us dear.

Holden has had an excellent start as manager and got most things right. I felt that Campbell and Leaburn were unlucky to be dropped. CBT and Bonne did little to justify their starting berths.

Dean really ought to have made changes before he did too. At least a couple of players didn’t merit staying on at half time.

CBT had a poor game where heavy touches, poor decision making and a failure to cross early enough wasted many attacks. He lacked any cutting edge on Saturday.

Penney had a poor debut and I’ll stop short using the old term used to describe a cheap comic but it did cross my mind when he opted to shoot from 40 yards late on!

I think he can be cut a bit of slack given his late arrival. He’ll have to do a lot better to convince me that he should start over a fully fit Sessingnon.

Morgan took his chance well but still fails to convince overall. In addition, I don’t get why he get to take free kicks especially when Fraser is on the pitch. We all want him to do well but the lack of consistency lets him down.

We’re into the final 2 days January and like most days concerning our club, they will be interesting.

We may see something happen with the ownership but that’s anyone’s guess. We’ve seen more nonsense trotted out in the last 48 hours.

It would seem that whatever happens in respect of those linked to date we’re in a lose-lose situation.

Sandgaard is a busted flush and the rumoured takeover mob don’t seem any better.

In respect of transfers I’m not convinced anyone will come in. If they do it’ll be a loanee or short term contract.

Kirk maybe on the way out along with Stockley. One has to feel for Kirk as things really have conspired against him. Perhaps a move would be best for him in the long run.

The same could now be said of Stockley. He has really gone down hill this season. He should never have been made captain. No striker should in my opinion but I saw little in terms of leadership from Jayden.

I think we would do well to move DJ on. I can’t recall him ever having a good game and despite all the hype around his transfer he really hasn’t cut the mustard.

Lots of water to pass under the bridge before we kick off again next Saturday. As always, we are mere bystanders and watch matters unfold from a afar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back To The Nitty Gritty

Back to earth with a bump on Saturday as we go from the glamour of Old Trafford to Barnsley at home.

Like ourselves, Barnsley once graced the Premier League albeit that they only lasted one season. Very much in similar vein though they went down with Neil “relegation” Redfern in their ranks.

One of our most expensive signings, Redfern was about as effective as Jimmy Floyd H. The less said about the pair of them the better.

This is very much a bread and butter game. The Tykes occupy a play off spot and this would have been a tough game at any time. Having just gone toe to toe with United in midweek makes it a whole lot tougher as it must have taken something out of them. Hopefully they’ve recovered well.

Never mind, seeing the lads and the great support at Old Trafford was worth it. It really served to highlight the great potential of our club. My God we’ve over achieved in the last few years when you consider the mess the club is off the pitch.

The damage done by so many useless and odious owners is incalculable. What we could have accomplished with decent investment and proper organisation we can only dream about.

Tuesday was a real shot in the arm and throw back to the glory days of the Prem or even before when gave United a bit of a scare for a while in the FA Cup.

The lads were fantastic and it was a shame we didn’t score. I’d have loved Miles to have followed in his dad’s footsteps and bagged a goal. However, one feels that it won’t be long before he does score there even thought it may not be for the Addicks!

I had to watch from afar with Stewart “research” Robson telling us that Curbs was sacked and then replaced by Pardew! Arghh!!

The more I see and hear from Holden the more impressed I am. We’ve found our selves a goodun. I think we could do really well with him but as ever he needs proper funding and support. As always you suspect that he won’t get it. We’ll see although yesterday’s signings are a small step up from the previous January windows and the last summer one where we failed to recruit a striker.

Like the potential new owners, time will tell as to whether Bonne will prove to be a good signing. At least he has a point to prove and needs to work hard to win over a number of sceptical fans.

Todd Kane was also recruited yesterday and it will be interesting to see if either or both start tomorrow. Unless there’s a need to rest any player following Tuesday or anyone due to injury it seems a bit harsh to leave anyone out.

This will be a tough game but given our recent form and newly found impetus and improved organisation under Holden I expect us to get something from the game.

For the first time in a while I’m really looking forward to a home league game.

Come On You Reds!

Happy new Year?

Happy New Year!

January is a time for fresh starts and resolutions etc. I never bother with resolutions for many reasons not least because I rarely stick to them and why wait until January to start them?

If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing immediately eh! In addition, unless you are fully committed to them then you’re wasting your time.

If only our esteemed owner, Deluded Thomas as the bible would surely dub him, had the same thoughts. Vacuous promises repeatedly made during his tenure come and go without fulfilment day after day, month after month and year after year.

I think if we gave Sandgaard another 100 years he’d not get us to the Championship let alone the Prem!

It seems incredible that over the space of some 2 years he has managed to make Roland appear not all that bad! Say what you like about Roly but even he isn’t as stupid as the banjo man! He knew he was messing with our club and made no bones about it.

Some were quicker than others to identify the flaws in our attention seeking, narcissistic owner.

As we enter this new year he is desperately trying to organise a take over and one that seemingly sees him retain 20% of the club. God help us! 0% is too much!

The not so daft Duchatalet holds all the cards in reality and is still holding out for an inflated price for the freehold of the club.

In the meantime, Sandgaard seeks investment from anyone who has a few thousands dollars and fancies a punt on a League One club that is a shadow of its former self.

As ever, us fans just have to sit back and watch events unfold and hope that one day we may get the owner or owners we deserve.

On the pitch a fine performance against Pompey saw secure our usual Fratton Park victory.

One can’t deny that Pompey weren’t very good and it proved the final straw for their owner who sacked the Cowleys yesterday. I wonder just how many managers have lost their jobs following defeat to Charlton!

However, we played well enough and more than deserved the win.

I caught some of the Radio Solent commentary at the point where Guy Whittingham announced that “ Charlton were there for the taking! “. A couple of minutes later and we took the lead.

I can’t see Guy getting any punditry work outside of Portsmouth with observations like that! Up to that point Pompey had shown nothing at all and conversely were just waiting to be picked off!

I like what I’ve seen and heard from Holden so far. He could do well but as ever any success he achieves can only be done by proper backing. Whether he gets that of course, is anyone’s guess!

Sadly, Chuks sustained another injury and this latest set back occurred during the warm up that is supposed to assist against it.

We didn’t need the benefit of hindsight to know how silly that 3 and a half deal we gave was. You have to feel for him. When fit and on his day Chuk is a quality player and one easily capable of playing well in the Championship at least.

This feels like last chance saloon for him and something needs to be done to get to the root of his problems. If not. Then he may have to call time on his career and that would be a real shame.

You may recall that Sadngaard made noises about sorting all our injury problems via the one thing he allegedly knows about. Like everything that arises form his “Midas touch” it’s turned to s**t!

Our injuries have got worse if anything with our keeper sustaining a broken finger and even that isn’t healing properly!

The ongoing uncertainty over the ownership couldn’t be happening at a worse time and Gods only knows if we’ll get any decent business done in the transfer window.

It’s hard to look past some of our better players going out the door. With each passing game Miles Leaburn will become a target for many clubs. He looks a far better bet than Mason Burstow who went for £2 million last season. A club out there will no doubt be thinking about making a move for him.

No doubt Mr Breakeven already has desires to sell!

All we have is hope and that’s all we can do as we watch whatever unfolds over the next few weeks and months. The main thing to hope for is that we at least manage to stay in League One. Relegation might well see us finished, it’s as bad as that.

I wish anyone reading this a successful New Year and let’s hope that this time next year I can be writing something more positive about our wonderful club!