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Book review: When the robin stopped bobbing - Charlton's journey from Old Trafford to Oldham

edited January 2010 in General Charlton
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/sport/4836039.Book_review__When_the_robin_stopped_bobbing___Charlton_s_journey_from_Old_Trafford_to_Oldham/

Comments

  • Admittedly, there were certain games where Diawara appeared out of his depth and wearing gloves at Chelsea despite the temperature being over 30 degrees is one which immediately springs to mind.

    However, there were other matches where he looked outstanding under Dowie, notably the Valley games with Watford and Manchester City.

    The author also points out how solid defensively Charlton were when Diawara was back in the team under Pardew and how this quickly changed when he missed the game at Blackburn, a match the Addicks lost heavily.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Is this some sort of a wind up?
  • It most certainly is not a wind up.

    Daniel Macionis makes the point in his book that in the 12 games leading up to the 4-1 defeat at Blackburn, Diawara had been involved in all of them and Charlton had only conceded nine goals.

    Diawara doesn't make Ewood Park and Charlton let in four. Do the maths mate.
  • Hilarious.

    Charlton conceded four at Ewood Park because that dickhead Ben Thatcher got himself sent off after an hour, with Charlton 1-0 down, not because Diawara was not in the team!!! 11 vs 10 away from home, do the maths on that one "mate".

    Sure, we had had a reasonable run going into that Blackburn game but if the truth is told we rode our luck to a ridiculous extent at times and were lucky not to get beaten in many of those games, even at home to Reading, Sheffield United and Wigan.

    Look, we all see these things differently and you are entitled to your view, you may even be right, but if Diawara was an EPL standard player then why did nobody else from England come in for him when we were relegated?

    True, he went to a decent side in France who were in the CL, but the bloke was totally unsuited to the English game, he was poor in the air (Wigan away being the best example) and gave away so many free-kicks around the edge of the box that it was ridiculous.

    Having two half decent games at home against two of the weakest sides in the league (Watford & Man City) does not mean that he was EPL quality especially when you look at his kamikaze performances away from home, at Wigan, Spurs and Chesterfield.
  • I was tempted to buy this book but after reading the review I've changed my mind. Cheers for saving me some cash newshopper!

    How he can like Pardew is beyond me!
  • Was lent a copy this week.

    Haven't read it through yet but already had quite a few errors pointed out such as that it say it was Dowie that brought Reed and Robson back to the club and that Kiely and Powell were bought for "little money". £1m and £875k was a lot of money especially then.

    Keily may even have been our 2nd highest transfer fee paid after Redfern at the time. It also says that Pardew brought Opera singers to the club. Didn't we do this long before?

    Will read it all through properly but does undermine it a bit IMHO.

    Still say well done to Dan for getting it published and putting the work in.
  • [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]Was lent a copy this week.

    Haven't read it through yet but already had quite a few errors pointed out such as that it say it was Dowie that brought Reed and Robson back to the club and that Kiely and Powell were bought for "little money". £1m and £875k was a lot of money especially then.

    Keily may even have been our 2nd highest transfer fee paid after Redfern at the time. It also says that Pardew brought Opera singers to the club. Didn't we do this long before?

    Will read it all through properly but does undermine it a bit IMHO.

    Still say well done to Dan for getting it published and putting the work in.
    You're right, it wasn't Pardew who had the opera singer idea. As I understand it, it was Steve Sutherland. I used to love those pre-match's.
  • Cant excuse the lad for factual errors but i think his main objective was to give his 'opinions' on the last few years as a Charlton fan. Like the review said there shouldnt be any SPAG errors in the book but thats down to the publisher not proof reading.

    I personally wont be buying the book but as Henry said above, well done for getting it out there and good luck to him!
  • I noticed more than one spelling error, also a "There" instead of a "Their" and two "Your"s instead of "You're"s.
    Totally undermined the book for me......ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
  • [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]Keily may even have been our 2nd highest transfer fee paid after Redfern at the time. It also says that Pardew brought Opera singers to the club. Didn't we do this long before?
    Graham Stuart was £1.1m. I think Redfean and Keily were both £1m.
  • [cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite]
    Charlton conceded four at Ewood Park because that dickhead Ben Thatcher got himself sent off after an hour, with Charlton 1-0 down, not because Diawara was not in the team!!! 11 vs 10 away from home, do the maths on that one "mate".

    Sure, we had had a reasonable run going into that Blackburn game but if the truth is told we rode our luck to a ridiculous extent at times and were lucky not to get beaten in many of those games, even at home to Reading, Sheffield United and Wigan.

    Scott Carson had an absolute shocker that day. Pretty much his only poor game for us.
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  • [cite]Posted By: floydandharvey[/cite]To the writer of the review & ValleyGary: I don't know why people are criticising the publisher, the book is self-published. Author House the so-called publisher is a vanity operation - basically authors pay them to put out their books, and no editing, proof-reading or spell-checking is involved on the publisher's side as the author has "full editorial control". So if you want to blame someone for the spelling and grammar, blame the author (who should have hired a proof-reader themselves if they felt it was necessary) not the poor publisher who just printed what they was sent.

    He should have used Puffin instead then!

    Seriously tho im not a publishing expert, but if you say that’s whats happened then fair enough, i stand corrected. The News Shopper man has no excuse ;-)
  • [cite]Posted By: floydandharvey[/cite]To the writer of the review & ValleyGary: I don't know why people are criticising the publisher, the book is self-published. Author House the so-called publisher is a vanity operation - basically authors pay them to put out their books, and no editing, proof-reading or spell-checking is involved on the publisher's side as the author has "full editorial control". So if you want to blame someone for the spelling and grammar, blame the author (who should have hired a proof-reader themselves if they felt it was necessary) not the poor publisher who just printed what they was sent.

    Not that bothered about the spelling and grammar errors but the factual errors just take away from it.

    From what I've speed read it's his own take on the last few seasons so some will agree and others wont with his views but that doesn't make it a bad book.
  • And please can we not get too critical or derogatory. I just read an article from another author who wont read his own book reviews. so just bear in mind please.
  • [quote][cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite]Hilarious.

    Charlton conceded four at Ewood Park because that dickhead Ben Thatcher got himself sent off after an hour, with Charlton 1-0 down, not because Diawara was not in the team!!! 11 vs 10 away from home, do the maths on that one "mate".

    Sure, we had had a reasonable run going into that Blackburn game but if the truth is told we rode our luck to a ridiculous extent at times and were lucky not to get beaten in many of those games, even at home to Reading, Sheffield United and Wigan.

    Look, we all see these things differently and you are entitled to your view, you may even be right, but if Diawara was an EPL standard player then why did nobody else from England come in for him when we were relegated?

    True, he went to a decent side in France who were in the CL, but the bloke was totally unsuited to the English game, he was poor in the air (Wigan away being the best example) and gave away so many free-kicks around the edge of the box that it was ridiculous.

    Having two half decent games at home against two of the weakest sides in the league (Watford & Man City) does not mean that he was EPL quality especially when you look at his kamikaze performances away from home, at Wigan, Spurs and Chesterfield.[/quote]

    Wigan and Spurs away I will give you (and Chelsea for that matter), although he wasn't the only one by any means to have a nightmare at White Hart Lane.

    As for the sending off of Thatcher, I don't buy it. The nine goals conceded in the 12 previous games with Diawara in the team as opposed to him not being in it is a hell of a lot more convincing.

    I agree with you to a certain extent he may not have initially been suited to the English game and that is a problem with a lot of foreign players when they first arrive. They get better as time goes on and Diawara certainly did in my eyes. All about opinions though .......
  • i saw the author at stockport away so respect to him for that .................
  • I wasn't criticising the author or publisher. I haven't even read it. I was criticising people who criticize. Criticize, nit-pick, split hairs etc etc....
    " How ridiculous! I've just read Charlton book that says that Tommy "Steamboat" Williams from the relegated side of 1910/11 always wore a red garter on his left stocking! It was his RIGHT stocking. Any real CAFC fan would know that!"
    Maybe I am just too subtle for this site these days.
  • Yeah leave Dan alone. It is a good effort and he is only 20.
  • SiSi
    edited January 2010
    It's not really nit-picking. If you're paying cash to read someone's opinion, you want to be sure it's a well informed one. Factual errors (which could have been essily avoided) could cast a doubt on this for some people.

    But I've not read it, and still want to. It shows remarkable commitment to get a book out there at 20. Front cover looks great, and that presumably was self-designed. I'm sure it reads well too, which is the main thing.

    Nes Shopper, not sure that was actually a review I just read, was it? But a commentary on his opinions?
  • [quote][cite]Posted By: News Shopper[/cite][quote][cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite]Hilarious.

    Charlton conceded four at Ewood Park because that dickhead Ben Thatcher got himself sent off after an hour, with Charlton 1-0 down, not because Diawara was not in the team!!! 11 vs 10 away from home, do the maths on that one "mate".

    Sure, we had had a reasonable run going into that Blackburn game but if the truth is told we rode our luck to a ridiculous extent at times and were lucky not to get beaten in many of those games, even at home to Reading, Sheffield United and Wigan.

    Look, we all see these things differently and you are entitled to your view, you may even be right, but if Diawara was an EPL standard player then why did nobody else from England come in for him when we were relegated?

    True, he went to a decent side in France who were in the CL, but the bloke was totally unsuited to the English game, he was poor in the air (Wigan away being the best example) and gave away so many free-kicks around the edge of the box that it was ridiculous.

    Having two half decent games at home against two of the weakest sides in the league (Watford & Man City) does not mean that he was EPL quality especially when you look at his kamikaze performances away from home, at Wigan, Spurs and Chesterfield.[/quote]

    Wigan and Spurs away I will give you (and Chelsea for that matter), although he wasn't the only one by any means to have a nightmare at White Hart Lane.

    As for the sending off of Thatcher, I don't buy it. The nine goals conceded in the 12 previous games with Diawara in the team as opposed to him not being in it is a hell of a lot more convincing.

    I agree with you to a certain extent he may not have initially been suited to the English game and that is a problem with a lot of foreign players when they first arrive. They get better as time goes on and Diawara certainly did in my eyes. All about opinions though .......[/quote]

    You may well have a point, maybe he was better than I gave him credit for, but sometimes when a player makes a bad first impression (gloves at Chelsea, the Wigan nightmare) then you can struggle to give them any credit whatsoever even if their performances improve.

    Dabos is right about Carson though, he was awful against Rovers that day, probably cost us two of the four goals.
  • [quote][cite]

    Nes Shopper, not sure that was actually a review I just read, was it? But a commentary on his opinions?[/quote]

    Bit of both.
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  • http://www.charltonlife.com/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=31553&page=1#Item_1
  • [cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite].......maybe he was better than I gave him credit for, but sometimes when a player makes a bad first impression.......... then you can struggle to give them any credit whatsoever even if their performances improve.


    As we see constantly on the Player Ratings thread.

    ;o)
  • [cite]Posted By: Si[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]Was lent a copy this week.

    Haven't read it through yet but already had quite a few errors pointed out such as that it say it was Dowie that brought Reed and Robson back to the club and that Kiely and Powell were bought for "little money". £1m and £875k was a lot of money especially then.

    Keily may even have been our 2nd highest transfer fee paid after Redfern at the time. It also says that Pardew brought Opera singers to the club. Didn't we do this long before?

    Will read it all through properly but does undermine it a bit IMHO.

    Still say well done to Dan for getting it published and putting the work in.
    You're right, it wasn't Pardew who had the opera singer idea. As I understand it, it was Steve Sutherland. I used to love those pre-match's.

    Varney, I suggest. Suthers will claim it, though!
  • [cite]Posted By: Airman Brown[/cite]

    Varney, I suggest. Suthers will claim it, though!

    I thought Suthers was too busy organising Valley Express but I will check with him and Peter. I need an update on the t***o*** anyway : - )
  • Paul:

    Appreciate you taking the time to do the review and that you gave Dan's book objective and extensive treatment -- increased my interest in purchasing the book.
  • Fair play to Dan for writing the book and to News Shopper for giving it a comprehensive review.

    Might pick up a copy next home game to see how his analysis of our fall compares with mine.

    P.s Thought Dan may have been Ooh Ahh till I read he only started supporting us in 1998.....
  • Finished reading the book over the weekend and enjoyed it despite the gruesome subject matter.

    Didn't agree with all of Dan's views on players or decisions made but it's his personal take on things so to be expected. There were a lot of things I did agree on as well.

    I can now see what Newshopper was saying about Soccer Saturday. It really dominates the book to the extent that some its pundits' bizarre language ("worldy" anyone?) creeps in.

    As Dan himself has said he's been badly let down by his proof reading. I'd be asking for the money back ASAP if I were you.

    Still, it's a welcome addition to my collection of Charlton books and I hope a few other Lifers give it a go.
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