3rd lowest budget in championship

In katrien meire’s recent interviews she made the point that charlton fans need to be realistic about their expectations because we have the 3rd lowest budget in the championship .
If this is going to be the ongoing ‘modus operandi’ it is rather depressing.

In all divisions there is plenty of evidence over the years which indicates that finishing league position is highly correlated with annual budget. There is, of course, the odd exception, like burnley where the team hugely exceeded expectations. This is however the exception not the rule. It is great that we are currently basking in the glow of a period of brilliant results and free flowing attacking play – long may it continue.

Nevertheless , if it is the Duchatelet plan to continue with the 3rd lowest budget in the championship , then the probability is high that a battle to avoid relegation becomes the norm.

Attack, attack , attack

Another thoroughly entertaining match yesterday at the home of football. Certainly the second best outcome from the Luzon era after the great results is the entertaining brand of football. I’d much rather watch us playing with 2 central attackers and 2 proper wide players. It’s just more fun to watch and it is , as they say , the best form of defence. I really hope that the style of football is going to help supporters make the decision to buy season tickets for next season.
Come on down to the valley and watch us batter the opposition. We could and should have scored 6 or 7 yesterday, given the chances we had.
Let’s all hope that our unpredictable owner adds a few more in the summer to give us a real chance of promotion next year

To renew or not , that is the question

There will be much gnashing of teeth and reading of the tea leaves in SE London and even further afield here in the leafy villages of Guildford to determine whether to renew season tickets for 15/16. Actually I’m fibbing a bit because I bought 2 twenty year season tickets back in 97/98 , so I’m stuffed even if I wanted to pack it in. I note with sadness that 2 long term bloggers , drinking during the game and the blackheath addick have both decided to call it a day. I suspect there will be a significant drop which is very bad news given the new billionaire ownership at Paralysis and the West Ham move to the Olympic stadium.

Perhaps the clubs innovative marketing department can conjure up another sex related campaign to boost renewals. Given the average age of most charlton season ticket holders a campaign based on ‘ watching charlton , it’s better than sex’ might however be preaching to the converted.

The club will need to work much harder on sensible communication with the fans to try and stop the defections. The trouble is that the owner doesn’t appear to communicate that much with the CEO and so she can’t really properly articulate a vision or indeed even a plan to supporters without any individual authority to do so.

I really don’t understand why the ownership don’t come out and say we are working and planning to be challenging for promotion next year or in 2 or 3 years time and we will put the resources in place to do so. All this we don’t want to put a timescale on it is a load of nonsense . We want ambition and we want to be told about it. Some people will say that they don’t want to be a hostage to fortune etc , but I’ve run a number of businesses bigger than Charlton and I am sure that the benefits of having clearly articulated goals and target with a vision ( even if you don’t always achieve them) significantly outweigh the downsides.
I am really hoping that the clubs owner sees the light on this point.

With regard to yesterday , I thought Blackburn were the best team I have seen at the valley this season – hard to believe they aren’t challenging for promotion.

A Happy Place

Football is really amazing in its capacity to serve up despair and delight in relatively short order.
I was at my lowest ebb in many a year before the Brentford game and now I’d quite like to sit in my seat at the Valley all week regardless of whether there is a game going on. Even time wasting is now entertaining – how great is that !
All credit to Luzon for making some changes and recovering the team confidence . Tony Watt, Watt , Watt ( so good they named him at least twice) has made an enormous difference replacing the hapless George. Sad to say that the Skipper’s injury has allowed Cousins to play brilliantly in the centre where he should have been all season. Add to that a winger who has come back from the African Nations Cup in great form and we now have a proper attack.
The defence was always pretty good anyway , particularly with the excellent Henderson back – but as they say attack is the best form of defence.

Its a real shame we didn’t strengthen earlier because without the mid season collapse we would have been a shoo in for the play offs.
I guess we have to hope and pray that Roland the unpredictable decides to keep all the best players for next season.
Meanwhile , its nice to be smiling all day.