A chance meeting with Riga

I bumped into Jose Riga and his sidekick by chance last night whilst they were having a post Derby supper.

I'd kind of deliberated as to whether to respect his privacy or post. Baring in mind the unusual divisions that have begun to appear amongst the ranks of the Addicks I though I'd post, really because despite of what we know and what we don't know, or think we know, how we individually feel about Chris Powell (a legend in my opinion) and whatever is round the corner (food for thought, being a Charlton supporter certainly cannot be as bad as being a Cardiff, Leeds United or Portsmouth supporter at the moment) both him and his sidekick were absolute gentlemen, engaging, interested in my opinions from a playing point of view and accommodating in what came across as a very genuine manner.

A couple of decent guys, with a professional approach to a short term goal - keeping Charlton in The Championship.

Whatever anyone thinks, sumises, or feels about where we are at currently, I'm supporting the team and our current coaching team 100% in their endeavour to pick up enough points to scrape us through to at least a 4th from bottom finish.

'A Message From The Board'

Read it yet?

http://www.cafc.co.uk/news/article/20140328-message-from-the-board-1451579.aspx

No big announcement other than stating the bleeding obvious really.

The games are going to come thick and fast over the course of the run in for the season now. And rightly so - every bodies focus; owners, managers, players and supporters should be on doing their bit to keeping us up.

As things stand this type of communication means that the board are taking note and monitoring whats going on outside the walls of The Valley Boardroom, and do actually want to engage with the fan base across a broader spectrum than just The CAS Trust and Old School.

As statements go, if it's true (and lets be honest they don't actually have to consult anyone and why lie?), then I feel confident that we may just have a sensible lot in charge of us for a change.

I will keep up my end of things (season ticket renewed) and reserve judgment until close season to see what type of re-building of the squad takes place and who's in the dug out.

Keep calm and carry on...

It's amazing what a point gained away against local rivals, a spirited performance, three points and returning 'hero' can do to ones general feeling about how and where things are going with our gret club.

I'll start by admitting that my recent posts have been pretty suspicous, perhaps even negative about the new regime. But time (all of the above) and the last 48 hours in general have told me to revert to type, reel my neck in, and wait things out.

The new ownerships response to both The peoples front of Judia and The judian peoples front respective   requests for dialogue seemed to me pretty intelligent and measured.

A brief video interview with Roland explaining how the media have perhaps misrepresented to some extent what is and will go on in 'his football family', a statement from Katrien saying that the focus of the management and owners is currently to work on getting Charlton out of the relegation battle both safley and succesfully and then entering dialogue with the supporters afterwards. This and the announcment that Sparrows Lane is to be re-built to provide a state of the art training facility to hopefully gain us catergary A academy staus have begun to fill me with cautious optomism about the incoming regime against those who've just left. (Who by the way do need some thanks for managing to both employ Sir Chris and initially find the resources to overhaul the squad and get us out of the third division).

As for Rolands 'puppet' in the technical area. Early on I am begining to warm to him. When I first found out how he is infinatley more experienced when it comes to setting up your IT infrastructure than managing a football team I worried. Perhps a bit too much. On Wednesday night I saw someone who was not adverse to changing things when they were not working, and it was great to see three out and out strikers playing an attacking role with the rest of the side being urged to keep the ball down.

After we scored his insistant gesturing to the players to stay grounded and calm and see the last seconds of the game out impressed (even if his lame two thumbs up to the crowd at the end did not quite so much). We've got a fighting chance now.

I'm going to renew my season ticket and see where this journey takes us. It is far too early to be completely despondant and attach pantomime villain staus to anyone. Yes I wish Sir Chris was still in charge, but that particular chapter (as it did with Lennie and Curbs) has now passed.

I'm going to suspend any judgement and continue to help the booys and make some noise.

'The real man behind Charlton's new ownership'

 

I was going to compose a photo shopped hybrid image of Duchatelet posing as famous Bond baddie Ernst Blofeld, but following the events that have unfolded since his takeover thought better of it, don't fancy a midnight visit from Jaws or one of his other hench men.  What a horrible day. Sure Sir Chris, as he will always be known, got his tactics all wrong at the weekend. But lets be fair, for the last season and a half he has been working with his shoelaces tied together and one hand tied behind his back.

Lets face it, regardless of what Blofeld and his sidekick, the stunning Pussy Galore - Oops sorry, I think they call that a fraudulun slip or something. Regardless of What Roly and Katrien said regarding CP's contract terms being all but agreed with the exception of the footballing strategy going forward (surley thats got to be the most important thing?) I think we all know along with Sir Chris the writing was on the wall the day that Smersh brought the club.

I wish Chris good luck, and have no doubt he should and will forge a great career out as a top rate manager. Just a real shame it won't be with us.

So we have to move onto the next step in the turbulent history of Charlton Athletic. I've said it before, never a dull moment. Well that may be about to change - isn't Belguim known for it's blandness after all?

I've had varying conversations on sound bites they've heard with Millwall supporting friends, secretly luxuriating in our current calamtious predicament.

As far as I see it Roly has a plan. A pretty plain, sensible, unambitous plan at that. Buy some lessthan-mediocre football clubs throughout the European leagues. Turn them into mediocre club sides in the top flight of their respective leagues. Borrow and buy players from the Smersh Network, Oops there I go again, I mean the Duchatelet stable of clubs, maybe win the odd league cup if your lucky, and the minute any potential Scotty Parkers come through the ranks don't sell them to Chelsea, sell them to Daddy club Standard Liegge for a knock down price. Every one (at Standard Leigge )a winner.

Prior to this enter new Head Coach (horrible term), Jose Rega. And you guessed it, he's from Belgium. (everyone keeping up, or have you all gone to sleep at the idea of mayonaise on chips. mmm spicey)

Or Jaws as i think i'll refer to him.

Now I know what some of you are thinking, i'm coming across as a bit negative. Sorry!

Football aint about anthropology, or great experiments. At the cost of ripping the heart, soul, history out of clubs and turning them into a sterile shadow of their former selves. Stating the bleak reality "Charlton will never be a top four premiership club Mr Bond, Never!" It's dreaming that one day, just one day (even knowing deep down this isn't the case) that keeps us sending off our season ticket renewel forms, and some even more dedicated supporters to far flung corners (like Yeovil) of our great Kingdom.

I'll take a look at his track record in a later post. For know I'm off to look at a book, watch the tele. As long as it's not football related i'll be happy.

A couple of foot notes. The CAS Trust have said they would be releasing a staement. I hope it's proactive in it's intent. I'm not sure i'll be going tomorrow night. I may just decide an initial boycott prior to the Millwall game on Saturday.

I will just whisper this at this point 'come on you addicks, lets get these jokers out of our club!'

Time to say goodbye?

Without wanting to court controversy I feel I may with this post. Or perhaps just say what some through loyalty have failed to say.

Today was supposed to be a welcome distraction to the relegation battle we are now well and truly ensconced in. The reality was we turned up with the ridiculous game plan of grinding out a draw and bringing United back to 'fortress' (?) Valley. The same United that had won their last 8 games and only conceded one goal in the process. This was not a league game where a point gained could be the difference between staying up and Scunthorpe away, it was an FA Cup quarter final and the best chance in the last 67 years of getting beyond this point of the cup.

I am bewildered by the negative tactic that we approached this game with. And would go as far to say that the players can take less blame than the manager on this occasion, however much it pains me to say (and it really does). Our attacking impetuous was none excistent, we defended so deeply and showed no creative nouse at all. I'll be interested to see what Sir Chris has to say - the usual 'dust ourselves down/it wasn't our day' simply won't cut it this time.

An apology to those intrepid Addicks who made it upto the Steel City would be a start. Where from here, I simply don't know. Sure, we were never going to win the Cup, but it would have been nice to see us try.

RD Press conference part one...

I've just watched the opening gambit/statement from RD and team on 'Charlton Wall', basically nothing surprising, but none the less despite being well rehearsed everything makes sense hence.

Basically RD is a firm believer in the new fair play rules (as am I), and if his belief that it will over time make for a more level playing field we really could see mid to long term some exciting times ahead for our sensibly run club. We may experience some pain and minor hiccups in the interim but on the whole this opening statement fills me with quiet confidence that after these wilderness years we have an intelligent and sensible owner with the best interests of the club, fans, and needless to say their own investment at heart.

His comments on moving players around his stable of clubs does make sense (although we'll all agree that the squad does need a fresh injection of some more quality and depth if the immediate collective goal of Championship survival is to be obtained) and his firm belief in a quality youth development program is another factor that bodes well for the long term future of our club.

I'll post later on once I've watched the press conference in full, paying particular attention to the actual press questions and how they are answered. (This will be the really telling part of what we are to expect over the coming years, although what I have heard so far does leave me quietly confident of better times ahead).

Say hello...wave goodbye

Well that was a busy old couple of days, with one or two surprises.

I'm perhaps going to go against general consensus amongst us Addicks and reserve judgment as to whether the comings and goings of the last two days are good or bad. As disappointing as it is to see Yan the Man make his way down the A303 to the Jurassic Coast I can understand why he might have gone, bare in mind his age and the fact he does have a family to provide for beyond his football career.

Stephens and Alnwick i'm not so sure about. Stephens wants bigger and better things than he feels Charlton can offer him, and despite being one of the very few shining stars this season, i'd previously not rated him to highly. Alnwick, despite his recent good performances we shipped goals and do now have a bit of a plethora of Goalies. I wish him luck at the O's.

As for those incoming from a variety of Rolands clubs we will just have to wait and see what they bring. I think something that we all seem to forget is that at this point of the season there's nothing unlucky about being in the bottom three, we are there based on results and the fact that our thin squad of players collectively have not been quite good enough.

The signing that is most intriguing is the one true new signing - from a none Roland affiliate - whose name I have absolutely no idea how to pronounce. He's only 20 and by all accounts a bit of a goal poacher, so hopefully he'll come straight into the side and make an impact. Lets be fair, however honest and hard working he is, Church really don't cut it as a striker in this division. And Sordell? I don't even think I need to go there.

Finally there's the question of outstanding contract renewals, of both the management and some playing staff. I think it's great that Wiggins has signed a long contract - 4 and half years seems to be the going rate that Roland likes to dish out. But be under no illusion that this does not mean he'll be here for that term. It simply means for him to leave in the summer someones going to have to part with some proper dollars.

I think we all know what will happen to Sir Chris if we don't hear of him signing a new contract in the next few weeks. My guess is, if no new contract is the case, we'll see him make an emotional farewell at the end of the season. And if indeed this eventuality does happen and we see some no mark or oddly named foreign manager coming in Roland can take my season ticket re-newel form and stick it where the sun don't shine.(Maybe)

If you look back at the history of our great club, it's been when 'Charlton' people have managed the club that we've experienced the good times.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things pan out after this afternoons tough game up in Wigan and reevaluate what we think then.