Missing you already

Bank holiday Monday, the good lady wife has gone to work and I'm home alone. Normally this would scream 'non-league' at me but it's all over. It's less than forty-eight hours since I was last in a football stadium and I'm already scratching at the walls.

A week ago I watched Horley Town finish their Combined Counties League campaign with defeat to Farnham Town, this weekend it was Charlton bringing their season to a close with defeat to Bournemouth. Two sides, both pleased to end with mid table obscurity, no play-off drama or last day nerves for me but that's no bad thing.

It was clear why Bournemouth won the title from what we witnessed on Saturday. They passed the ball quickly and accurately, they were confident on the ball and happy to take players on. They always looked to play the ball forwards and every one of them knew where the goal was. If you've a Charlton checklist, how many boxes have you just ticked? If you stayed behind to watch the south coast club enjoy their moment dreaming that it may be us next season I'm afraid you're living in the land of fairy tales, teams full of network journeymen do not have either the coherence or the aspiration required to be the best. When Yoni Buyens shrugged his shoulders after gifting the Cherries their second goal he sealed his fate in my eyes. I don't want to see him stay another season, he can get on the first flight back to Belgium as far as I'm concerned, no matter how well he can take a penalty kick.

It would be easy to say that Bournemouth bought their way to the title with another wealthy Russian at the reins, but I've seen the cost of that squad and it's by no means big money. Obviously I've no idea what the wage bill looks like, but lets not forget we were played off the park by a team with three ex-addicks in it, two of them rejects. All three of those would have been in with a fair shout of scooping our player of the year award if they'd performed like that in a Charlton shirt.

Last night saw this prestigious finale of the season and it tells it's own story in so many ways. The top three were never really in doubt but for all the winner Jordan Cousins has achieved, he struggled for large parts of the campaign because he was played out of position. The runner up, Gudmundsson has looked superb from time to time but has a tendency to drift in and out of games, while Henderson in third place missed a quarter of the season through injury.

It may sound like I'm about to throw the towel in but it's far easier to vent spleen than humbly praise. For a long time I honestly thought we'd be playing League One football next season, the effort when needed was monumental and a twelfth place finish under the circumstances is a good achievement. It's probably a true reflection of where we are as a football club and where Roland is happy for us to sit. A good shop window for his multitude of troops without having to pay league winning exorbitant wages. There I go again.

Good luck to Arter, Francis and Kermorgant though, I really hope they get a chance to shine in the top flight and aren't replaced in the Summer, and good luck to Eddie Howe. The small blip at Burnley aside, he certainly knows how to get the best out of his squad of footballers. It must be nice to have 'one of your own' at the helm. Stop it.

So Saturday's now will take a dull twist as I'll no doubt be dragged around garden centres and the like while doing my very best Kevin and Perry audition. No more football pubs, no more football characters. I never did want to stay at a party I didn't belong in, instead with ten minutes to play I ventured to the first of a few Saturday evening watering holes. I ended up at a Morris Dancer convention in Charing Cross but did meet one old lad who, although loving his football, couldn't have been further detached from me in just about every other facet of life.

In his eighties, he's a Spurs fan and only goes a handful of times a season nowadays. When he does however, it's always in a box with the full hospitality package; he told me he has a real love of the occasional glass of bubbly. A self made business man, he wore a whistle made from a delightfully expensive cloth, yet while he did reek of money he was more than happy to spend four quid of it on a pint for me. As we drank he told me of his friendship with the late Danny Blanchflower and how they first met in the RAF. Great tales you only ever seem to here on a match day, it's exactly that that I'm missing already.

The King is dead. Long live the King!

José Riga's red and white army sang the Covered End as the AFC Bournemouth players stood shell-shocked in the ninety something minute of a game they were always going to take at least a point from. It was, don't forget, the first goal they had conceded in a month.

With all the euphoria around me from scoring a sudden death winner, and it not coming from the suspected source, new recruit Jonathan Obika, I took a second to listen to the Charlton faithful. It was an odd sound. Chris Powell's song for sure but they'd only gone and changed the words. Too soon? Weren't we still all in mourning? A little like the girl who's reputation goes before her, three points and we're obviously anybody's.

I had boycotted both Huddersfield and Millwall, yes work had got in the way of both but I didn't lose any sleep over it. It wasn't that Powell wasn't there, I just struggled with the speed of the new "yes man's" arrival, the underhand tactics and the general unpleasant feeling about and around the club. I was all for erecting a picket line and shouting scab at you as you went through the turnstiles. But, I suppose curiosity got the better of me, and this new chap does wear a suit on match day so he can't be all that bad. Plus of course there was the added bonus of Yann Kermorgant returning to London, the chance to sing 'we all dream of a team of Kermorgant's' at old Roland. Mischief won the day; I boarded the train.

As matches go, it was very ordinary for over ninety minutes. Another goalless draw looked a certainty, especially when Danny Green hit the upright for us and their best opportunity was a foot too high. The second half saw a comedy of errors in the visitors box as the ball point blank refused to enter the net. A good Jackson free kick, albeit helped by Jordan Cousins's superb falling over distraction produced a corner that led to the Covered End Choir's hasty new remix. The ball floated in, Dorian Dervite rose above good friend Kermorgant, who's feet were firmly planted on the floor, and powerfully nodded the ball home. Our first goal in eight years. Or thereabouts. Conspiracy theorists have had a field day today about the French Connection!

We never did sing for a team of French strikers (in fact at the end we had three recognized front men on the pitch in Sodall, Obika and Church), but the former favourite did get the reception he deserved. As he warmed up in the north west corner he waved and a lump came to the throats of all. But, as hoards have tweeted of late, we move on.

Another good performance from Diego Poyet must have cemented his departure from the club this summer, but does highlight the fortunes of other youngsters. Before the pin up Uruguayan broke into the first team it was Cousins who took all the plaudits. Ever since I feel his performances have slipped somewhat. If it was down to me I'd rest him for a while in the hope it would revive some of the hunger in his game. And Callum Harriott; I'd rest him even longer. Along with Danny Green, our wide men looked very League One last night, when they departed for Obika first and then Sodall, we suddenly looked like we possibly knew where the box, if not the goal, was. Yes, you read right, our (Bolton's) Marvin actually noticeably improved our attacking options, words I thought I'd never utter. Perhaps under the new regime we have turned a corner after all.

This was a game in hand, never a more important three points have we earned this season. Out of the bottom three, five points out of nine and three clean sheets for Riga, optimism has made a welcomed return. Any doubt we may have harboured that the players would feel aggrieved and pine for Chris Powell was extinguished as we saw them rejoice at the end. I watched Riga hug them like he'd been their manager for three years rather than three matches. This silver haired fellow in the whistle has I believe caught the bug. I think there may just be a little bit of Charlton in him and that'll do for me!

No Running. No Diving.

Tweet of the day was courtesy of Charlton Life, "Charlton have won the toss and will be attacking the Shallow End in the 1st half."
The twice postponed FA Cup clash against Oxford United had finally been given the go ahead, the pitch looked dreadful, the stadium was shut in many areas, and the visitors wore a purple shirt instead of a yellow one. Presumably to make them easier to spot by lifeguards should they get into difficulty and find themselves drowning.

It was Charlton however that found themselves out of their depth. New signings Astrit Ajdarević and Yohann Thuram-Ulien, a highly rated goalkeeper also signed on loan from Standard Liege, were both illegible to play as I believe the team had to be picked from those registered at the original date of the fixture. Chris Powell was nevertheless still determined to show his intentions in the competition by fielding a strong starting eleven.

The two new boys were nonetheless in attendance, part of the reported four and a half thousand cheering on the home side (870 made the trip from Oxford), but they were just getting used to their new surroundings, leaving their silicone swim hats and goggles back at their digs for another day.

Charlton were sinking without a trace on the field, a battling Oxford side taking a two goal advantage into the break, the team desperately trying to prove there's ridicule to be had from more than just our pitch alone. Chris Powell could do nothing about the playing surface, the performance however was another matter. He admitted the first half showing was the worst he'd witnessed in his three year tenure going on to say how he let the side know in no uncertain terms that he wasn't happy.

It did the trick, a much harder work rate coupled with a superb substitute performance from Danny Green saw the Addicks claw the two goals back and set up a third meeting of the season between the sides, probably next Tuesday, at the Kassam stadium. Another exhilarating cup trip to Huddersfield is still a possibility then.

AFC Bournemouth won their own third round replay last night against Burton Albion meaning that whatever the outcome of our own replay, the home fixture against the Cherries scheduled for January 25th has now been postponed.

As a footnote, it would appear that another new signing, Ms Katrien Meire, was in attendance last night. Recently appointed director at Charlton, I have it on good authority from a couple of friends that she is rather pleasing on the eye, well much more so than the first half performance at any rate!

And so we venture to Middlesbrough Saturday after a lengthy absence from league action and there's every possibility we could see a couple of new faces take the field. It's just typical that for the first time during this campaign Boro have found a bit of form...

Cherries and peaches.

Charlton Athletic today started their 'Sky Bet' (oh dear) Championship campaign on the south coast at newly promoted Bournemouth. Resplendent in their new white away shirts the home supporters may have been forgiven for thinking the mighty Real Madrid had returned for a rematch. Those supporters that had seen another pay day and could afford to attend another football match that is.

Of course this was a far more even affair than the high profile friendly The Cherries played last month, and a good indicator for both sides on how the summer and the new season preparation had gone.

With the arrival of two new strikers on Thursday of last week, Chris Powell finally had a realistic claim to play something other than a 4-5-1 formation, opting to give Marvin Sordell a debut alongside Yann Kermorgant up front. The big team news however was Johnnie Jackson missing out with a calf niggle, Morrison was named skipper in his absence. Dervite partnered Morrison with Solly and former Bournemouth full back Rhoys Wiggins completed Ben Hamer's defence.

New signing Mark Gower started alongside another veteran, Andy Hughes, in the middle of the park with Pritchard and Harriott running wide.

Charlton started steadily enough but the home side soon began to mount some continuous pressure, culminating in the opening goal. A defensive lack of concentration saw Lewis Grabban nod home from former Charlton youngster Harry Arter's cross. Very highly rated on the coast, a Bournemouth supporting friend jested with me last season on how we let this lad through the net. It always comes back to haunt us doesn't it.

Bournemouth came close again only two minutes later and in many ways Charlton could think themselves lucky to go into the break still very much in the game. Bournemouth had certainly played the first forty five minutes in the same manner as they finished the previous campaign and with the enthusiasm and gall of a newly promoted side.

If they were now accustomed to seeing world class opposition at Dean Court, Yann Kermorgant's equalizer four minutes into the second period will have come as no surprise to them. Anything Ronaldo and company can do.....

A lovely scissor style volley of pure power (do we still use the term 'peach' or is that old hat?) from the Frenchman livened a consistently audible away following to new levels, these new kids on the block needed taking down a peg or two from experienced Championship hands. If only. That lesson may have to wait a week or two and be dealt by another club.

Grabben grabbed his second (bugger, I promised myself I wouldn't sink that low) with another 'peach' of a strike from the edge of the area. There was no way back. Bradley Pritchard came closest but his effort was cleared off the Bournemouth goal line while Dervite also had a header go close.

Pritchard didn't last much longer after his attempt to score. A straight red after a late lunge on Ryan Fraser saw the midfielder walking only five minutes after Charlton had used their final substitutes. Simon Church made his debut replacing Sordell not long after the hour mark,  while Green and Stephens then came on for a double substitution replacing the aging and tiring old boys in the middle. With a combined age of 69 in the heart of our midfield it was no surprise they didn't see out the full ninety minutes!

It's early days and as Hungry Ted quite rightly pointed out on twitter, no side has been relegated on the opening day of the season. Let's put this down to experience, allow the new boys a happy start to life at this level and just enjoy the fact that football is back. We've plenty of time to start the moaning properly, perhaps even on Tuesday night after Oxford United have visited us in the League Cup.

Rhyme or Reason

It is of course the great Jimmy Greaves who says that football is a funny old game. Never has anyone been so on the ball about something.

Look at Arsenal in their Champions League tie against AC Milan. The first leg in Italy was, for Arsenal, truly awful. Even to say it was a capitulation would be kind, but then this week in the return leg they came so close to squaring things up. So much so that most Englishmen, other than of course Tottenham fans, felt both proud and sorry for them after laughing the week before.
I very much doubt even Arsene Wenger would have predicted last nights events.

Charlton's last two outings have been equally bizarre. Snatching a win from a poor performance on Saturday, then losing after dominating last night. How can anyone make sense of such logic defying circumstances? It could only be football. As Addicks, we sometimes feel that it could only be Charlton!

The trip to Bournemouth was supposed to be an early idea of what the promotion party is going to be like. A warm weekend on the coast, many Charlton fans making a long break of it, yes, this had all the makings of a festival representing everything that is great about being Charlton.
And although three more points were added to our already impressive sum, it wasn't quite the footballing extravaganza many had hoped for.

The milder temperatures we had witnessed in the week prior to the game disappeared by the Friday resulting in a much colder, and at times wetter, weekend. On the pitch Charlton never really got going and Bournemouth were for large periods the brighter of the two sides.
If anyone deserved all the points you could be forgiven for saying it was probably the hosts but in fairness a nil nil draw was very much on the cards.
Teams that win championships though have, not only a never say die attitude, but also more than their fair slice of luck. Combined, these two elements sent nearly two thousand travelling Londoners home happy as Yann Kermorgant headed home in the last minute of stoppage time.
It was a close call and the ball did cross the line, but on another day we've seen the exact same thing not given.

If we can pull something like that out the hat away from home on an off day, just imagine what damage we can inflict on some poor unsuspecting also ran when we're firing on all cylinders in our own back yard!
Colchester came to The Valley Tuesday evening attempting to become the first side to win a league fixture there all season.

They got off to the greatest of starts with a wonderful strike from Anthony Wordsworth after only five minutes. It was the kind of goal that would beat the best of keepers and meant Charlton had to chase the game from the off. Chase they did though and most of the play was in and around the Colchester half of the pitch.
Chances came and went without the home side making them count until with a quarter of an hour to go a mistake from keeper Ben Hamer gifted Colchester their second goal and effectively put the game to bed. For the record it really must be said that Charlton continued to look for that elusive goal right through to the final whistle, all alas to no avail.
Looking at the stats, it's only the third defeat of the season, and the first at home for almost eleven months.

Fortune does however favour the brave and closet rivals Sheffield United also stuttered going down at Walsall, a second defeat on the spin. This all means of course that we are still thirteen points clear of second and fourteen clear of third. The big red panic button doesn't yet need hitting, although this was a gentle reminder that the trophy isn't yet in our cupboard and a few more results still need to be ground out. I'm no manager but perhaps one or two changes could be called for, just to shake everybody up a little.

Notts County visit SE7 on Saturday and from what I've been reading Chris Powell's team are down in the dumps and ready to put affairs back in order for this one. It really could be a case of back with a vengeance and a possible hammering. I'm not even going to tempt fate and mention any other possible scenarios, suffice to say your guess is as good as mine as to what will happen on the day.
I say this because as we all know, football really is a funny old game.

Come on you reds!

Knots Landing

This has without doubt been a week in history we won't forget in a hurry. And not for the reason of Jason Euell re-signing for the club on a one year contract, becoming the club's sixteenth signing of the summer.
Neither will it be remembered for the Carling cup second round draw taking place. A draw that was seeded no less, defying all rhyme and reason so completely taking any romance out of an already stale tournament. Going into the hat with our name on the same ball as Reading meant we were a 'seeded' side and hence unable to be paired with any kind of glamour tie and a potential bumper pay day.
A few years back this would have worked to our possible advantage, making the prize of a Wembley day out slightly more obtainable.
Now we have the possible visit of Preston to get excited about. I've thought about trying to dress that up as best i can, but have ultimately given up through a real lack of ideas.


So whilst the Premier league gets under way today, we have our first away trip. Norwich City (remember them) are at Wigan, we are at Notts County. OK, Wigan isn't all that glamorous as top flight games go, but the debacle of 'that' Colchester match must be a very foggy memory. Oh how we all laughed and gloated.........

Last season we visited Meadow Lane in February and had the pleasure of playing in good old fashioned mud. Bradley Wright-Phillips missed a penalty and the chance to rescue a point after Neal Bishop had scored for the home side with his backside.
He is in the minority today of playing in that game, lining up now in our new look team. Chris Powell started with the same eleven as last Saturday against Bournemouth, sticking with Wagstaff over the eligible again Danny Green.
Green joined Jason Euell on the bench at the expense of Paul Benson and Bradley Pritchard.

The 800 travelling Addicks were in good voice and didn't have long to wait, Charlton started much the brighter of the two teams. In fact, Charlton looked far the better side for the whole first half playing good passing football. This culminated with two goals in the last ten minutes of the first period,
young Scott Wagstaff came up trumps first. After great work from Danny Hollands, Waggy took the ball around the keeper and netted from a very tight angle. Two in two from the homegrown talent reassured us all that there is no way he's giving his place up for anyone!
Then just before the break Chris Solly found Wright-Phillips with a delightful pass. The striker would have been forgiven for taking it on himself, but chose instead to play it to across the goal for Paul Hayes to get on the end of, notching his first goal for the Addicks.
By half time it really was just like watching Brazil, just as the south Londoners were singing.

In the second half we were 'treated' to the arrival of Lee Hughes for the home side. Again we started brightly and the skipper, Johnnie Jackson, nearly put us three up with his head, only for it to be cleared before crossing the line.
Notts County to their credit never really laid down and got back into the match on the hour mark. County substitute Montano got on the end of a corner and the ball snuck past the far post. After this the Magpies seemed very capable of snatching back a point, but our new Charlton are a lot more resilient. If anything, this was a good test for our midfield and defense. Last season we would have crumbled in a similar situation but this time around that nervousness has all but gone and a new found professionalism has come to the fore.

The Doc came on again to steady things up at the back for the final few minutes, whilst debuts came for Andy Hughes and Jason Euell. Euell of course to a rapturous ovation.
Danny Hollands and Paul Hayes both stood out as having very solid games although once again all eleven put a shift in and gave a good team performance.
This is Charlton's first win on the road in a very long time and for the second week running we can say we are top of the league. It sounds good.
One flash point happened after the final whistle. Hollands and Bishop were both booked after a bust up in front of the travelling support. It had been a good tempered match on the whole and this did seem to put a slight dampener on an otherwise great day. I'm sure in time we'll find out exactly the nature of these fisticuffs.

Norwich by the way got their first point on the board with a 1-1 draw at Wigan. A much better start to their life mixing it with the big boys than poor Queens Park Rangers........

Love and Pride

Football returned to SE7 today with a bang! For the first time in what seems like forever, Charlton played great football, dominated and then killed the match off with great professionalism.
That's what my heart yearns for now, love and pride.
After the problems of last nights awful dramas on the M25, the AFC Bournemouth side plus 1200 supporters made it to south east London. Only to wish they probably hadn't.

Chris Powell started with, on the whole, the eleven we expected. With Hamer injured, Elliot kept his place behind the sticks. In front of him were ex cherry Wiggins, Taylor, Morrison and Rigsby (Chris Solly). I did wonder if there may have been a little surprise of Simon Francis after his good pre season form. Fortunately the gaffer didn't do this to us.
Another former Bournemouth favourite, Danny Hollands, lined up in the middle alongside Dale Stephens. Captain Johnnie Jackson and Scott Wagstaff completed the midfield. Waggy starting as Danny Green was of course suspended, as was Powell who had to watch his team for the stands.
Paul Hayes and Wright-Phillips completed the side.
New boys Sullivan, Pritchard and Hughes were all on the bench alongside Paul Benson and the Doc.

Bournemouth fielded Danny Ings after the weeks rumours on twitter of the striker being another Valley bound cherry. Also in the starting line up was former Addick Harry Arter. After an hour Mark Moleley made an appearance for the opposition. L'Oreal models don't appear to work Saturday's then. Needless to say, Robbie Savage references were aplenty!

We've been used to the covered end booing and getting on the backs of the individuals of late. I'm pleased to announce that we appear to have turned a corner. I didn't hear one comment of abuse today. That has to be a first. Poor old Rhoys Wiggins however faced a constant stream of heckling with every touch from the visiting supporters, and i can confirm it was still going on all the way to London Bridge. We too were in good voice, song of the day had to be the covered end singing 'Charlton's feeder club' mockingly at the Jimmy Seed. Quality.

As for the game, well every single Addick put in a performance to be fair. It's lovely to see all eleven men put in a shift together whilst all being on the same wavelength.
Dale Stephens who had a fantastic full debut opened proceedings after some fine work by Solly. This was closely followed by a superb effort from Wiggins which was goal bound until it was turned around the post by their keeper. How he must have wished that had gone in, the best way to shut them up would have been a screamer like that.

The second half got off to an amazing start. The skippers corner was cleared into the path of Stephens who appeared to be in the middle of everything. The midfielder layed it off to Wagstaff who may well have already scored the goal of the season. Twenty yards out and he volleyed it into the top corner. We went wild.

Bradley Wright-Phillips was fouled in the box with a quarter of an hour to go and the ref pointed to the spot. Never in a month of Sunday's could you claim it was anything other than a clear cut penalty. Johnnie Jackson dispatched it in the manner we are accustomed to, putting the Addicks out of reach.
You could see clearly in his face what today meant to our captain as he celebrated in front of the north stand. This result was important for us faithful fans. It was a whole lot more to those footballers that had not been having the happiest of times recently at their place of work.

Benno got a run out when he came on for Hayes. Pritchard made his debut replacing Waggy a little later and got to experience playing in front of more than 300 people in a competitive match. Even the ginger Pele made a cameo coming on for BWP as we switched to 5-4-1 for stoppage time.

Dale Stephens stood out as a real quality signing, he looks assured alongside Hollands. As my good mate Dean said, Jackson doesn't look so special playing alongside these two which is without doubt a good thing!
Morrison looked a good prospect at the back. I'm not getting carried away as there is obviously a long way to go for him, but i do see signs of the Eddie Youds about him. And it's not just his haircut! He's a big lad who's not afraid to go in with all guns blazing. Yes, he'll get it wrong at times, but we need a hard man at the back. Michael could well fit the bill.

Solly did well both defensively and going forwards, whilst Wiggins did better than i expected, all things considered. This was a great team performance, something we didn't see at all last season. The opposition will improve and little cracks will appear, but for the moment let's enjoy a Saturday night like we haven't done for so long. I may even watch the football league show.....

Finally a quick note to say what a pleasure it was to meet Chicago Addick in the Rose of Denmark before the match. As the author of one of the best Charlton blogs, it was a real pleasure to put a face to the name.

So on then to cup success Tuesday. It's a grand old team to play for, it's a grand old team to see..............