Was there any animosity towards him h or have folks mellowed I know I hated the fella when he left but water under bridge now could care two shuts for him now tbh
DP gave his own version of his leaving Charlton. according to him he was given an 48 written ultimatum to sign a new contract or go on the transfer list. He replied within 24 hours saying he wasn't happy with the terms but had already been put on the transfer list regardless.
had four clubs interested but his then wife didn't want to move up north (Blackburn was one) so it was Palace.
Said he hated Palace, the manager (Alan Smith) and feels much more affection for Charlton. He was clearly bitter about getting injured and walked away completely from football. It took many years for him to respond to Bernard Wickham's invitation to former player events. Reading between the lines it seems he had a hard time coping with leaving the game so early and it contributed to his marriage break-up.
Re-writing of history for a Charlton audience? Perhaps. Covered End was less than impressed so he can give his view.
Bolder was Bolder. Full of stories and jokes which went on for ages. Could have just given him the mic and walked away but he was very good value.
DP and BB shared a lot of stories about their playing days, Curbs, Pards, Dyer (great guy)
DP said when asked that the 80s/90s side would beat the current side as they were better players and better kickers.
BB said that Powell is doing a good job, just a shame that "the rug was pulled from under him" in the summer when he had 5 or 6 players lined up and then was told he couldn't sign them. (that's what he said, don't shoot the messenger)
DP sees a bit of Curbs as both live out in Essex. Said he does want another job but feels the next one will be the job which will make or break his reputation as a manager so it has to be the right one. Not necessarily Prem but not the likes of Ipswich who might not give him the resources and support.
There was a lot more but Covered End, WWtone, No.1, etc can fill in the gaps.
Bob Bolder was excellent, could do a good job as a stand up comedian.
Darren Pitcher came across as a very bitter, sad & twisted man. Pretty much whatever he was asked, he started with how he left the club & he had been misrepresented to the fans. DP is not the most intelligent either.
I have to say if his personality was no better back then, I'd have got rid of him like a shot. However, he may have given a false impression of himself, so I may be doing him an injustice.
He failed in my eyes, to change my opinion of him. In fact he was worse than I thought he'd be.
NB Although he painstakingly claimed that he didn't want to go to Palace, he did add that his wages increased 3.5 times & also got an equivalent signing on fee.
Dp also pointed out that CAFC got a large fee plus Morts and David Whyte so the Club may have been happy to push the deal through. We did sell a lot of players around that time as we needed the cash.
I can see where CE is coming from and DP did come over as bitter as I said. I think he feels that the perception of him from most Charlton fans is unfair.
I'm not taking sides or disagreeing with CE. I wasn't sure how much of DPs story was his spin on it either but putting it out there regardless.
Would be interesting to hear from others as I know some people chatted to him afterwards.
"Yes the guy behind the bar certainly got the hump
He described Darren as a Shit Player who played for a shit club (The barman is a Palace fan and got the hump when Darren kept saying it was a shit-hole!!
I thought it was great last night and both players were talking without holding anything back
Darren particularly seemed happy to be back with Charlton people bearing in mind how he believes supporters see him."
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Gotta say that I thought it was one of the best nights we have had.
Bob could have talked for England and had some really interesting stories especially his Liverpool days.
Darren came across as a real Charlton man and from what he said at the meeting and afterwards to me and No.1 in South london he remains genuinely upset the way fans perceive his departure.
He said and I totally believe him that he did not want to go but that the chairman (and we all know who that is) wanted him out to get some money in plus we got Morts and Whyte.
It has affected his whole life. He says he was never happy at Palace and didn’t even want to go there but his ex wife would not move up north.
The fact that he has never been back to Palace once since he left says it all.
I've no time for Pitcher (football / non-football), so didn't want to attend last night. Shame as would loved to have listened to Bolder, he's one of the best personalities we've ever had come through the club imo
If I remember rightly Garry Nelson in Left Foot Forward says Eric Hall was pulling Pitcher's strings so perhaps he was just a young lad who was manipulated.
I never particularly liked him though I have to say.
Enjoyed last night had a chat with a fellow lifer would like to see a Jeremy Kyle style meeting though Then after Dp spoke someone at the club at the time could appear from another room and confirm what DP said
Bob Bolder said we had a great bunch of players now, unlike some at the end of The Prem years. All players are happy to meet supporters, unlike the likes of Danny Murphy.
Those of you who did not come along missed a very good evening.
I agree with all the comments about Bob, a born raconteur if ever I met one.
Darren has spent too long away from the Charlton family (his family his says) which he joined aged 13 I think it was he said. I listened to him and spoke with him afterwards and I genuinely think he was hard done by and he was forced out, although you can’t blame the club at the time for getting good money for him plus Morts and Whyte and you can’t blame him for ending up playing for someone who wanted him and were prepared to pay him more money.
We have all moved jobs for more money haven’t we?
20 years is a long time for people to hold grudges and think it is time to move on.
My take on last night. Nothing needs to be added about Bob, absolute entertainment from start to finish. Pitcher may not be the sharpest tool in the box and he certainly came across as being somone who listened more to the people who massaged his ego than the general concensus and someone who based his own opinions and judgements on the opinions of said others. He really believed that there were none better than he as a ball winning midfielder and (reading between the lines) held out for the contract that he wanted. Minty either knew Palace were lurking and engineered a great deal for CAFC or Pitcher's agent was living in cloud cuckoo land and pushing for far too much, based on what else he knew was out there. It was probably both and Pitcher believed that the chairman would blink first and he would be able to stay at the club where he was happy. I thought he was consistent with his version and didn't avoid any questions that were fired at him, so I have no reason to disbelieve him. Add to that RM would never turn down such a decent bit of business, plus Curbs encouraging Pitcher to move on and I draw the conclusion that the deal was good all around financially. The only loser was Pitcher as he probably wanted the best of both worlds, but ended up only getting the financial rewards plus a sentance at Selhurst where he never settled. His bitterness I felt was more with the cruel world of early retirement and he ended up rejecting football completely as a consequence. He gave me the impression that time has made him realise what was really important to him and that he would bite our fans hands off if he could be offered an olive branch. He was quite open with his personal stuff with me at the end and I think part of the healing would be to come back in some capacity (even just to see games of football again at the valley) to the one place where he was genuinely happy. That much we have in common and if only for that reason I would like to think he would be welcomed back. Thanks Bob and Darren for what was a very entertaining and rewarding evening that cost me about the same as a bit of compassion.
Nice write up No.1. I wasn't a great admirer after he left us for them, but we rarely get to hea what goes on behind the scenes & it sounds like there's a genuine sadness there for Darren. Perhaps, if it were possible, Bob could get him along & work with him, getting him used to being back at The Valley in the lounges. Happy for us all to forgive & forget.
Stop Shouting did you have an incidenet with DP (that stands for something else in the movies i used to watch) in Ancona at a jewellers in the afternoon before the game ??
Nice write up No.1. I wasn't a great admirer after he left us for them, but we rarely get to hea what goes on behind the scenes & it sounds like there's a genuine sadness there for Darren. Perhaps, if it were possible, Bob could get him along & work with him, getting him used to being back at The Valley in the lounges. Happy for us all to forgive & forget.
No chance with people like the covered end about! Christ that man takes no prisoners ...
Comments
Bolder is a great story teller and could have gone on all night.
Interesting to hear Pitcher's take on his exit and his subsequent career.
had four clubs interested but his then wife didn't want to move up north (Blackburn was one) so it was Palace.
Said he hated Palace, the manager (Alan Smith) and feels much more affection for Charlton. He was clearly bitter about getting injured and walked away completely from football. It took many years for him to respond to Bernard Wickham's invitation to former player events. Reading between the lines it seems he had a hard time coping with leaving the game so early and it contributed to his marriage break-up.
Re-writing of history for a Charlton audience? Perhaps. Covered End was less than impressed so he can give his view.
Bolder was Bolder. Full of stories and jokes which went on for ages. Could have just given him the mic and walked away but he was very good value.
DP and BB shared a lot of stories about their playing days, Curbs, Pards, Dyer (great guy)
DP said when asked that the 80s/90s side would beat the current side as they were better players and better kickers.
BB said that Powell is doing a good job, just a shame that "the rug was pulled from under him" in the summer when he had 5 or 6 players lined up and then was told he couldn't sign them. (that's what he said, don't shoot the messenger)
DP sees a bit of Curbs as both live out in Essex. Said he does want another job but feels the next one will be the job which will make or break his reputation as a manager so it has to be the right one. Not necessarily Prem but not the likes of Ipswich who might not give him the resources and support.
There was a lot more but Covered End, WWtone, No.1, etc can fill in the gaps.
Darren Pitcher came across as a very bitter, sad & twisted man. Pretty much whatever he was asked, he started with how he left the club & he had been misrepresented to the fans. DP is not the most intelligent either.
I have to say if his personality was no better back then, I'd have got rid of him like a shot. However, he may have given a false impression of himself, so I may be doing him an injustice.
He failed in my eyes, to change my opinion of him. In fact he was worse than I thought he'd be.
NB Although he painstakingly claimed that he didn't want to go to Palace, he did add that his wages increased 3.5 times & also got an equivalent signing on fee.
He really didn't want to leave though :-)
I can see where CE is coming from and DP did come over as bitter as I said. I think he feels that the perception of him from most Charlton fans is unfair.
I'm not taking sides or disagreeing with CE. I wasn't sure how much of DPs story was his spin on it either but putting it out there regardless.
Would be interesting to hear from others as I know some people chatted to him afterwards.
From some others who were there
"Yes the guy behind the bar certainly got the hump
He described Darren as a Shit Player who played for a shit club (The barman is a Palace fan and got the hump when Darren kept saying it was a shit-hole!!
I thought it was great last night and both players were talking without holding anything back
Darren particularly seemed happy to be back with Charlton people bearing in mind how he believes supporters see him."
------------------------
Gotta say that I thought it was one of the best nights we have had.
Bob could have talked for England and had some really interesting stories especially his Liverpool days.
Darren came across as a real Charlton man and from what he said at the meeting and afterwards to me and No.1 in South london he remains genuinely upset the way fans perceive his departure.
He said and I totally believe him that he did not want to go but that the chairman (and we all know who that is) wanted him out to get some money in plus we got Morts and Whyte.
It has affected his whole life. He says he was never happy at Palace and didn’t even want to go there but his ex wife would not move up north.
The fact that he has never been back to Palace once since he left says it all.
Can also lay claim to being the only person to leave @MCS speachless. He was like a kid again when Bolder came over to us.
I never particularly liked him though I have to say.
would like to see a Jeremy Kyle style meeting though
Then after Dp spoke someone at the club at the time could appear from another room and confirm what DP said
All players are happy to meet supporters, unlike the likes of Danny Murphy.
I agree with all the comments about Bob, a born raconteur if ever I met one.
Darren has spent too long away from the Charlton family (his family his says) which he joined aged 13 I think it was he said. I listened to him and spoke with him afterwards and I genuinely think he was hard done by and he was forced out, although you can’t blame the club at the time for getting good money for him plus Morts and Whyte and you can’t blame him for ending up playing for someone who wanted him and were prepared to pay him more money.
We have all moved jobs for more money haven’t we?
20 years is a long time for people to hold grudges and think it is time to move on.