Mixed Blessings

So there I am in the stands at Aldershot , watching them grind out a 2-2 draw with Halifax , not really caring whether my local team win or lose ( sorry Shots !) , trying not to keep looking at my phone every 5 seconds for the live CAFC updates .

It was bloody freezing and then all of a sudden a cyclone hit the pitch , the advertising hoardings started flying across the pitch the tarpaulin advertising Bert the Aldershot builder came loose from its moorings.

Anyway, no matter , I left with 5 minutes to go , hoping against hope that we would maintain our lead at Hudders . Sensing an upset , I had  (somewhat brilliantly I might add) risked £25 on CAFC to deliver a win at 3-1 .

So there I am , money in pocket , grin on face at 5pm when the mobile rings , no doubt the wife phoning to share in my glee.

‘I think you’d better get home quick’ – it didn’t sound like a fun invitation .

Well there you have it , I’m seventy five sovs up from my clever bet and minus n thousand from my demolished by a cyclone Victorian shed .

To cap it all , I tuned in tonight and as we watched the 5th round draw , I said to the wife before they started , the worst draw  we could get is Sheff Weds away , please god that doesn’t happen …………………………….funny old life isn’t it

Is there any point in being a Charlton supporter any more ?

OK, Calm down – I’m trying to stimulate discussion . Ive been going week in week out for 46 years so I’m not likely to stop so suddenly .
However , if the extent of our ambition in Roland 6clubs empire is to become a dumping /proving ground for Standard Liege reserves so that we can share wages , bring on some of their younger players and in reality we are the ‘feeder’ club or junior partner , then frankly we might as well all pack it in.
If he isn’t prepared to spend any money and the limit of our ambition is to survive in the Championship or League 1 and at the same time help out Standard Liege, then there really isn’t much point in it any more is there ?
To give a point to our support ,there has to be hope that we could get back to the premiership in the next couple of years and to do that we need to have an owner that is , at least, going to compete with the lower level clubs in the Championship like Huddersfield ( Nakhi Wells £1.3m) and Bournemouth ( 4 year contract for Lewis Grabban) , let alone the Leicester’s, Forest , QPR and Leeds of the Division.

So far , we have no new contract for SCP , no new contracts for the senior pros , no new signings , no decent loan signings.
I’ve moved from underwhelmed 2 weeks ago to worried ( and a bit depressed !) – maybe its just because its a Monday !!!

Underwhelmed

I know I should be patient and I know its early days and I know Mr Duchatelet needs to work out whats going on first.
I know he has to work out exactly how much money we lose every month , I imagine that Mr Slater was a bit obtuse on that one.
Everyone is telling us that he is definitely not Roland’ Splashthecash’ , which is fair enough.

However , its been a week now – no statements to the press or fans- no press release – no press conference – I think even the last lot did that , even if they didn’t ever have another one.
SCP towed the party line with his interview on CAFC Player , although he was a bit sketchy on detail wasn’t he ?
So far , weve got a left sided midfielder , Standard Liege reserve , who has played twice in the last 12 months and whose sum total of English league appearances is 6 including 1 whilst on loan at Hereford – lets be honest , he’s not going to be of any help is he ?
But don’t worry because hot on his heels is another Standard Liege reserve , a Goalkeeper to add to the 3 ( all quite good) keepers we already have. Why on earth do we need another goalkeeper ??

Its puzzling isn’t it – lets hope there is a plan of some sort to get in some decent players, otherwise it seems that there will be more questions than answers for Roland ‘isthereanycash’

Letter to Mr Duchatelet

Open letter to Mr Duchatelet.

1) Please do not sack SCP . We love him , he is a thoroughly decent man and he is the heart and soul of our club , when he celebrates , we celebrate , when he laughs, we laugh , when he cries , we cry. On top of that , he’s an excellent manager.
2) Please do not run the club for 18 months and then run out of money/patience . Your due diligence will have told you that it costs c £5m a year to run the club- please don’t be surprised
3) Have a plan to get us to the Premiership fairly quickly, the Championship is nowhere and will drain your money quicker than you can say Hercule Poirot
4) Talk to the supporters and maintain a dialogue with them . The previous owners thought they were running the Stasi not a football club
5) Keep Richard Murray and take advice from him – ignore the others , particularly that Mr Slater , who is less than straightforward
6) Take a big interest in the community side of our club , the most expansive and well run in the UK.
7) Replace our football pitch with one that’s made of grass.

and Mr Duchatelet , Bloody good luck !!!!!

Happy New Year

It took me 9 games and almost 5 months to see a win which eventually arrived ,appropriately enough,on Boxing Day, bearing in mind that punch drunk is how I had started to feel watching our home games.  – but hey that’s all I needed to reaffirm the faith in 2014 !

Happy New year to everyone who reads my blog , friends , family , Charlton fans around the world and my fellow  ( mostly more industrious ) bloggers , notably Chicago Addick, Wyn Grant, God , Charlton & Punk Rock, Blackheath Addick, Charlton Casual, Drinking during the game , Hungry Ted and any others I may have forgotten.

Lets hope that 2014 is good for all of us and our passions – especially our football team .

Huge congratulations to Jason Morgan on his MBE , thoroughly deserved . If our on the field performances had matched that of our community projects off the field , we would have remained in the top 4 of the premiership , as we were 10 years ago today

Lets hope that 10 years from now we are back there , under new progressive owners