< KM/RD - questioning Luzon means I automatically question the board, where the buck stops. What's the plan, guys? Why am I hearing worrying rumours like £1.5m for Sarr, or that the older fans apparently don't matter, or that KM didn't actually know what Chapple did? Why do we know nothing about the injuries - not even what they are, explicitly? The questions go on; the various other thoughts go on...
Sporting Lisbon paid £1m for him, heard we paid 2m & Sporting fans pissing themselves wondering why anyone would pay that. As I said elsewhere he looks lost, out of position, & marks no one. Still very young but so obviously nowhere near Championship standard. Don't blame him or any of the other players who are obviously not good enough, blame the idiots making the signings
Not sure why Sarr is getting all the blame. Apart from a mis-kick near the beginning he was alright. Thought McAleny looked alright when he came on. Same with Makienok.
The one moment that really wound me up was the second goal. What an awful, awful goal to conceed. Nobody even bothered to challenge for that ball.
Another point I took from the game was just how we lack physicality. Time and time again we were just pushed off the ball. THD and KAG had no hope in just holding the ball up.
I thought pre-match that we might win this one. Of course I thought we had Kashi, Watt, JBG and Mak. When we all saw that line-up, we knew what was coming.
If you have to let go your 4th manager in 19 months its time to start asking yourselves some SERIOUS questions. Maybe, just maybe it isn't the manager?
The first goal was just begging to be scored. We sit behind the goal and it was clear the wall was set up wrong, not covering the right side of the goal properly and he was stood way too far to the left. Really poor. If Pope is going to give every team a goal start we are heading straight for League One. Henderson can't get fit soon enough and Pope can't get his P45 soon enough either.
I've seen a lot of shit football at the Valley down the years, but we made Preston North End (with 8 points and no wins since August) look like Bayern Munich. I can't even be bother to be angry about it anymore
It was that bad i bored the pants of the people on the match thread. We have a league 1 owner a league one 1 manager and half the players are that standard. Thats where we heading.
I noticed how quickly the moon traverses the Jimmy Seed stand in the two hours or so it takes to hold a match. I don’t know how far it actually travels but to see its movement from a quarter of a million miles away, it must be a lot. It’s quite a humbling experience to remember that we are all on a tiny ball in space orbited by another tiny ball and that we are amongst billions of other larger objects. It’s a rather timely reminder that there are far more important things out there than football. I can’t be the only one to have noticed this either, because most of our team looked as if they had been struck by exactly the same thoughts as to the relative unimportance of football.
I noticed how mobile phones are actually becoming a part of people’s anatomy. So hooked are the human race on their palm sized gadgets, that they physically can’t put them down. I’ve actually noticed this before when seeing hoards of pedestrians or commuters all tuning into their virtual realities. Never before though have I seen a crowd of paying spectators so ready to interact with Wifi-World rather than the one they’ve paid to see.
I noticed though that at least one little girl still appreciates old fashioned entertainment. She was reading a genuine paper backed book. A book from the Horrible Histories series as it happens. Which is kind of ironic really as another chapter in a very real Horrible History was unfolding right in front of her. She didn’t stay until the end though; her parents deciding that enough was enough. Probably a wise decision, as I’m sure they wouldn’t want to be had up for child cruelty.
I noticed how irritated I became with the “We are one, we are red, we are Charlton” slogan that periodically pops up on the big screen. A meaningless call for togetherness, doubtless dreamed up by some advertising executive with the intention of earning a few Francs on the back of a false spirit of fellowship and bonhomie. Had the team performed better just occasionally over the past few months it might have worked, but now it just serves as a big-screen reminder of how wrong everything is. No we aren’t bloody ‘one’ - Please stop peddling this lie to us! “He does it his way and they need to accept that” was the message put out in January by Duchâtelet’s legal lieutenant. As unpalatable as that was, it is far nearer the truth that this ‘one Charlton’ nonsense.
I noticed that as the game went on I was rehearsing in my head a list of things that are more fun that visiting The Valley nowadays. It’s a very long list so I won’t bore you with it.
I noticed that when the team takes a drubbing, the roads are clearer and it’s a lot easier getting home. The thing is though, that if the highlight of a night out is getting home early, it’s probably a good sign that it’s not worth going out in the first place.
Finally, as I listened to The Stranglers on the way home I noticed how there’s always a song that sums things up perfectly, no matter what the situation. Sadly, today that song was No More Heroes.
What’s that? What did I notice about the football? Nothing really - this is Duchâtelet’s Charlton, we don't do football.
Surely Luzon was attempting to make a statement to the Management with that starting line-up. Alternatively he genuinely selected what he believed to be our strongest XI for the game, which would only serve to destroy his credibility as a Manager. Neither scenario is palatable, but I hope it is the former.
That was simply appalling. I've been watching Charlton regularly since 1965, and I didn't see one single redeeming feature in tonight's debacle.
Preston were on the worst run in the whole division, hadn't won in ten games. After one minute and 48 seconds their strikers were free and away; we can't defend without fouling. The free-kick from 22 yards wasn't powerfully despatched to the corner of the net; it was curved gently over the wall and crossed the line a yard and a half inside the post. Too easy.
The second goal was a result of abject defending. Pope parried from a corner, the ball dropped ten yards out - and our defenders stood like frozen men, staring at it. A Preston player sprinted to collect, and set up his mate to shoot. 2-0.
After 42 minutes, Preston hit the bar from another unchallenged cross.
Half-time; a rocket in the dressing-room; three subs as options. Yet, with a whole 45 minutes in which to throw the kitchen sink, we played even worse. Those balls from our defenders on the edge of our box, under no pressure but slammed clumsily 20 yards forward, are a sad failing we have witnessed repeatedly ever since we were promoted from League One. And when we have possession on the half-way line we attempt ten-yard triangles that are simply doomed to failure: ambushed, out-muscled, intercepted.
For three or four seasons we, the punters, have demanded tough and creative midfielders. We are still waiting.
Our forwards are hopeless: they don't have the wit to run off the ball and make space. At six-feet-seven, Makienok ended up on his arse when not laying-off balls to our opponents. Fox rushed forward and shot 12 feet over the bar: this is comical. On 62 minutes another of our defensive headers was ignored by the midfield; Preston seized possession and rifled in the third.
For those Lifers who weren't at the game and rely on reports: it took us 80 minutes to win our first corner. At home, The Valley. We managed just one shot on target in the whole 90 minutes against a team in the bottom three.
We have a wealthy owner who signs incompetent players. What an appalling waste.
We looked hopeless going forward until Makienok came on and even then watt was too deep to get near to his knockdowns. Our midfield is simply not creative so we can only play the long ball stuff which may be effective. Our midfield was made up of two left backs and two defensive midfielders. There is no cover for the wings at all, hence why Bergdich played on the right. One highlight for me was Holmes-Dennis, he couldn't have asked for a more difficult debut and was at least getting into space and positions and was probably our most creative player. The problem lies with Duchatelet, I think the first eleven isn't bad and I don't even think we need two players for every position, just 18 players or so covered by the youth team. I get not spending tons of money on shite in the hope we go up but he's not even doing that.
I don't think it was the forwards fault, I'd blame the midfield for the lack of creativity. The early goal fucked us with a rusty spoon and put the crowd in a bad mood. I don't even think that was a free kick, all irrelevant now though, football is a game of what ifs and individual errors I guess.
That was simply appalling. I've been watching Charlton regularly since 1965, and I didn't see one single redeeming feature in tonight's debacle.
Preston were on the worst run in the whole division, hadn't won in ten games. After one minute and 48 seconds their strikers were free and away; we can't defend without fouling. The free-kick from 22 yards wasn't powerfully despatched to the corner of the net; it was curved gently over the wall and crossed the line a yard and a half inside the post. Too easy.
The second goal was a result of abject defending. Pope parried from a corner, the ball dropped ten yards out - and our defenders stood like frozen men, staring at it. A Preston player sprinted to collect, and set up his mate to shoot. 2-0.
After 42 minutes, Preston hit the bar from another unchallenged cross.
Half-time; a rocket in the dressing-room; three subs as options. Yet, with a whole 45 minutes in which to throw the kitchen sink, we played even worse. Those balls from our defenders on the edge of our box, under no pressure but slammed clumsily 20 yards forward, are a sad failing we have witnessed repeatedly ever since we were promoted from League One. And when we have possession on the half-way line we attempt ten-yard triangles that are simply doomed to failure: ambushed, out-muscled, intercepted.
For three or four seasons we, the punters, have demanded tough and creative midfielders. We are still waiting.
Our forwards are hopeless: they don't have the wit to run off the ball and make space. At six-feet-seven, Makienok ended up on his arse when not laying-off balls to our opponents. Fox rushed forward and shot 12 feet over the bar: this is comical. On 62 minutes another of our defensive headers was ignored by the midfield; Preston seized possession and rifled in the third.
For those Lifers who weren't at the game and rely on reports: it took us 80 minutes to win our first corner. At home, The Valley. We managed just one shot on target in the whole 90 minutes against a team in the bottom three.
We have a wealthy owner who signs incompetent players. What an appalling waste.
We need Mak to attack the offensive headers, yet he seems to somehow get underneath the long ball which negates his height advantage. It might be the least of our problems, but it's frustrating and he could be so much more effective if he used his momentum to propel himself towards the ball rather than use a standing jump.
The writing has been on the wall since the Rotherham game and it has been progressively getting worse until today's fiasco. That starting lineup was a joke if you compare it to what was on the bench and many said that on the match thread before we had even kicked off. And then to go 1 down after a minute - unbelievable incompetence from the management.
I think GL is one of those managers who feels he can influence what is happening on the field by pure emotion. Hence his gesticulating and clown antics from the sidelines which culminated in his inane celebrations against Hull. That can only work for a short period and then grows old (a bit like the impetus of a new manager syndrome). It just doesn't work like that and having some tactical and selection nous helps (duh!).
In my opinion GL is being found out and the buck stops with him. Agreed, the ultimate fault lays with RD for having appointed him in the first place but, for the immediate need, I don't think GL has the personality or the demeanour to be able to correct this. The sooner a cooler head with more experience is appointed the better. The trouble is, who will it be (if anyone) because RD is in charge. And that's the dilemma we are forced to put up with while the wheels continue to come off the bus.
We played 3 left-backs; the best bit of left-back play was by their keeper
Superb.
Here's my story. About six months hack I started seeing a woman. We can call her Carol, because that's hername. She has two young children. They are nice, as is she. This afternoon, while I was at work, she texted me, did I want to go for a Chinese meal with her and the children and a friend of hers who is over from Australia. I politely declined, citing the football. She wished me well. About 9 she sent a nice message saying the food was great and she hoped I was enjoying the football.
We played 3 left-backs; the best bit of left-back play was by their keeper
Superb.
Here's my story. About six months hack I started seeing a woman. We can call her Carol, because that's hername. She has two young children. They are nice, as is she. This afternoon, while I was at work, she texted me, did I want to go for a Chinese meal with her and the children and a friend of hers who is over from Australia. I politely declined, citing the football. She wished me well. About 9 she sent a nice message saying the food was great and she hoped I was enjoying the football.
I wasn't.
Night all.
Gave this^ a like, even though it got my biggest LOL in quite a while
We played 3 left-backs; the best bit of left-back play was by their keeper
Following your excellent lead, I shall sum things up in a limerick:
There was an old man from Antwerp Whose strategies just didn't work His squad was so thin that they just couldn't win Now please go*, you silly old twerp!
You can't help but think back to the turkeys Duchatelet sent us right from the start. The keeper who played at Wigan and couldn't catch the ball. The figures who would turn up at The Valley with a suitcase, unannounced and expecting a game. Powell told us about them, and Alex Dyer blew the gaff on the "network" scouting system: two shiny suits staring at video screens in an office on an industrial estate near the airport in Amsterdam.
Neither Cellebos nor Ba had played a first-team game in two years at Spurs and Sunderland respectively. Makienok failed in Sicily and is deemed good enough for us. What is Bergditch doing, and why can't Sarr defend a corner? Who, pray, is Holmes-Dennis?
Meanwhile, we were ripped apart by Huddersfield at The Valley a few weeks ago, a team who hadn't won all season: we were out-thought, out-muscled, out-played. I don't believe our players lack confidence or are lazy; professionals the world over do their very best.
Rotherham (we scrambled a draw), Huddersfield and now Preston: each of those clubs has a tenth of the financial resources of Duchatelet. We have a manager who is out of his depth, an academy that isn't nearly as talented as you think, and a first team that can't string three accurate passes together.
Halfway through the second half last night, at 0-2 and us retreating again, my neighbour nudged me: "They would have set light to the stand in Liege."
Is the manager getting the maximum out of these players , are they putting their bodies on the line for him Can a Stuart Pearce cheerleader really be a decent long term manager
We were told as SCP and part of his management left what a freak show we had running the club but the blind at the time refused to believe these bitter ex employees and we've just got to the point now where even the blind are beginning to see that this Belgian circus is a joke
Call it intuition or whatever but this whole boring Belgian ownership has never felt right to me (even when winning) and the way they have made me feel about Charlton is something I would never have believed possible . Last night was one of , if not , the first time that I deliberately made sure I had a reason not to go because of the farce our club has become Will I go Saturday , who knows and who cares .....
I do care because I've read every post put on here over the last few hours
So gutted at how this is playing out
13th-21st 50% ........ League One depression sessions 50%
I noticed how quickly the moon traverses the Jimmy Seed stand in the two hours or so it takes to hold a match. I don’t know how far it actually travels but to see its movement from a quarter of a million miles away, it must be a lot. It’s quite a humbling experience to remember that we are all on a tiny ball in space orbited by another tiny ball and that we are amongst billions of other larger objects. It’s a rather timely reminder that there are far more important things out there than football. I can’t be the only one to have noticed this either, because most of our team looked as if they had been struck by exactly the same thoughts as to the relative unimportance of football.
I noticed how mobile phones are actually becoming a part of people’s anatomy. So hooked are the human race on their palm sized gadgets, that they physically can’t put them down. I’ve actually noticed this before when seeing hoards of pedestrians or commuters all tuning into their virtual realities. Never before though have I seen a crowd of paying spectators so ready to interact with Wifi-World rather than the one they’ve paid to see.
I noticed though that at least one little girl still appreciates old fashioned entertainment. She was reading a genuine paper backed book. A book from the Horrible Histories series as it happens. Which is kind of ironic really as another chapter in a very real Horrible History was unfolding right in front of her. She didn’t stay until the end though; her parents deciding that enough was enough. Probably a wise decision, as I’m sure they wouldn’t want to be had up for child cruelty.
I noticed how irritated I became with the “We are one, we are red, we are Charlton” slogan that periodically pops up on the big screen. A meaningless call for togetherness, doubtless dreamed up by some advertising executive with the intention of earning a few Francs on the back of a false spirit of fellowship and bonhomie. Had the team performed better just occasionally over the past few months it might have worked, but now it just serves as a big-screen reminder of how wrong everything is. No we aren’t bloody ‘one’ - Please stop peddling this lie to us! “He does it his way and they need to accept that” was the message put out in January by Duchâtelet’s legal lieutenant. As unpalatable as that was, it is far nearer the truth that this ‘one Charlton’ nonsense.
I noticed that as the game went on I was rehearsing in my head a list of things that are more fun that visiting The Valley nowadays. It’s a very long list so I won’t bore you with it.
I noticed that when the team takes a drubbing, the roads are clearer and it’s a lot easier getting home. The thing is though, that if the highlight of a night out is getting home early, it’s probably a good sign that it’s not worth going out in the first place.
Finally, as I listened to The Stranglers on the way home I noticed how there’s always a song that sums things up perfectly, no matter what the situation. Sadly, today that song was No More Heroes.
What’s that? What did I notice about the football? Nothing really - this is Duchâtelet’s Charlton, we don't do football.
It was that bad i bored the pants of the people on the match thread. We have a league 1 owner a league one 1 manager and half the players are that standard. Thats where we heading.
If only we were that good. Any league one side would have taken us to the cleaners last night just like the way PNE did. A side that has not won since August remember, were made to look like a top of the table outfit. Still pissed off this morning that I had to sit and watch that turd for 90 minutes.
I'm not really one prone to getting carried away - generally I very much take a 'triumph and disaster are twin imposters' kind of outlook when it comes to the football.
Last night, however, was the worst 90 minutes I have seen in nearly 40 years of watching the club. The selection was embarrassing, I knew what we were going to watch as soon as I saw it.
Sarr is nowhere near ready for the first team and doesn't look like a player who'll ever make it in the English game, likewise Bergdich who was lucky to make it to half time in my view. Ba is a sham of a player, tries to look busy without ever positively influencing the game.
A couple of the players tried hard, and I felt particularly sorry for Holmes-Dennis who's a kid being asked to make up for senior players who have gone missing. Watt and Makienok clearly wanted to make a difference, but other than that the rest were a bloody disgrace. Not even Solly or Cousins stood up yesterday, and to me it looked like they'd all had a big row minutes before the game and were too upset to bother with the football.
Someone on Facebook said the 'sacked in the morning' chants were embarrassing, but I can only imagine they weren't there. I hate this side of our modern support, personally, but even I thought they were apposite to what we were watching. Luzon himself gave up, sat down on his bench with half hour left in the game and offered his players nothing more. Why should we expect his players to bother?
I will never understand the mentality of a manager who leaves his best players on the bench. If they're fit enough for the bench, they're fit enough to start, because they may be needed from the 1st minute. We had better see them in the first team on Saturday, because for the first time I've been supporting Charlton I'm teetering on not bothering to watch a home league game.
Last year Brentford at the Valley was the catalyst for our turnaround. I think many of us would consider Saturday to be a similar season landmark.
PS. I just watched a Sky Football Gold of our 4-4 with West Ham in the Premier League. Full stands, getting behind the team even when behind. A team full of tempo, commitment, heart, refusing to lose the game. We lost last night's before it had even begun, and the depths we have fallen since those days is shocking. Last night's game was worse than anything seen under Pardew, Parky, Powell, etc. We need to sack our laptop recruiters, and put a British manager of experience in place to run the club top to bottom.
I would just like to apologise to RedM for not thanking him for the updates last night. I'm sad to say I stopped following precedings after the third goal. SO RM, thanks....I really admire your resolve! !
I'm a bit stunned really and not sure what I want to happen, after our goodish start I certainly wasn't getting carried away but was looking forward to a "competitive " season in the championship, which I would have been quite happy with but it seems like we are in for another miserable season struggling to even stay in this league! ? I just hope something positive can happen in the next month or so. Whatever happens Charlton will still be my club I'm afraid........through thin & thin! !!!!
Comments
KM/RD - questioning Luzon means I automatically question the board, where the buck stops. What's the plan, guys? Why am I hearing worrying rumours like £1.5m for Sarr, or that the older fans apparently don't matter, or that KM didn't actually know what Chapple did? Why do we know nothing about the injuries - not even what they are, explicitly? The questions go on; the various other thoughts go on...
This is my football club. What is happening?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sporting Lisbon paid £1m for him, heard we paid 2m & Sporting fans pissing themselves wondering why anyone would pay that. As I said elsewhere he looks lost, out of position, & marks no one. Still very young but so obviously nowhere near Championship standard. Don't blame him or any of the other players who are obviously not good enough, blame the idiots making the signings
The one moment that really wound me up was the second goal. What an awful, awful goal to conceed. Nobody even bothered to challenge for that ball.
Another point I took from the game was just how we lack physicality. Time and time again we were just pushed off the ball. THD and KAG had no hope in just holding the ball up.
I thought pre-match that we might win this one. Of course I thought we had Kashi, Watt, JBG and Mak. When we all saw that line-up, we knew what was coming.
But then again what do fans know?
P.S. worst performance since Wycombe.
I noticed how quickly the moon traverses the Jimmy Seed stand in the two hours or so it takes to hold a match. I don’t know how far it actually travels but to see its movement from a quarter of a million miles away, it must be a lot. It’s quite a humbling experience to remember that we are all on a tiny ball in space orbited by another tiny ball and that we are amongst billions of other larger objects. It’s a rather timely reminder that there are far more important things out there than football. I can’t be the only one to have noticed this either, because most of our team looked as if they had been struck by exactly the same thoughts as to the relative unimportance of football.
I noticed how mobile phones are actually becoming a part of people’s anatomy. So hooked are the human race on their palm sized gadgets, that they physically can’t put them down. I’ve actually noticed this before when seeing hoards of pedestrians or commuters all tuning into their virtual realities. Never before though have I seen a crowd of paying spectators so ready to interact with Wifi-World rather than the one they’ve paid to see.
I noticed though that at least one little girl still appreciates old fashioned entertainment. She was reading a genuine paper backed book. A book from the Horrible Histories series as it happens. Which is kind of ironic really as another chapter in a very real Horrible History was unfolding right in front of her. She didn’t stay until the end though; her parents deciding that enough was enough. Probably a wise decision, as I’m sure they wouldn’t want to be had up for child cruelty.
I noticed how irritated I became with the “We are one, we are red, we are Charlton” slogan that periodically pops up on the big screen. A meaningless call for togetherness, doubtless dreamed up by some advertising executive with the intention of earning a few Francs on the back of a false spirit of fellowship and bonhomie. Had the team performed better just occasionally over the past few months it might have worked, but now it just serves as a big-screen reminder of how wrong everything is. No we aren’t bloody ‘one’ - Please stop peddling this lie to us! “He does it his way and they need to accept that” was the message put out in January by Duchâtelet’s legal lieutenant. As unpalatable as that was, it is far nearer the truth that this ‘one Charlton’ nonsense.
I noticed that as the game went on I was rehearsing in my head a list of things that are more fun that visiting The Valley nowadays. It’s a very long list so I won’t bore you with it.
I noticed that when the team takes a drubbing, the roads are clearer and it’s a lot easier getting home. The thing is though, that if the highlight of a night out is getting home early, it’s probably a good sign that it’s not worth going out in the first place.
Finally, as I listened to The Stranglers on the way home I noticed how there’s always a song that sums things up perfectly, no matter what the situation. Sadly, today that song was No More Heroes.
What’s that? What did I notice about the football? Nothing really - this is Duchâtelet’s Charlton, we don't do football.
Neither scenario is palatable, but I hope it is the former.
Preston were on the worst run in the whole division, hadn't won in ten games. After one minute and 48 seconds their strikers were free and away; we can't defend without fouling. The free-kick from 22 yards wasn't powerfully despatched to the corner of the net; it was curved gently over the wall and crossed the line a yard and a half inside the post. Too easy.
The second goal was a result of abject defending. Pope parried from a corner, the ball dropped ten yards out - and our defenders stood like frozen men, staring at it. A Preston player sprinted to collect, and set up his mate to shoot. 2-0.
After 42 minutes, Preston hit the bar from another unchallenged cross.
Half-time; a rocket in the dressing-room; three subs as options. Yet, with a whole 45 minutes in which to throw the kitchen sink, we played even worse. Those balls from our defenders on the edge of our box, under no pressure but slammed clumsily 20 yards forward, are a sad failing we have witnessed repeatedly ever since we were promoted from League One. And when we have possession on the half-way line we attempt ten-yard triangles that are simply doomed to failure: ambushed, out-muscled, intercepted.
For three or four seasons we, the punters, have demanded tough and creative midfielders. We are still waiting.
Our forwards are hopeless: they don't have the wit to run off the ball and make space. At six-feet-seven, Makienok ended up on his arse when not laying-off balls to our opponents. Fox rushed forward and shot 12 feet over the bar: this is comical. On 62 minutes another of our defensive headers was ignored by the midfield; Preston seized possession and rifled in the third.
For those Lifers who weren't at the game and rely on reports: it took us 80 minutes to win our first corner. At home, The Valley. We managed just one shot on target in the whole 90 minutes against a team in the bottom three.
We have a wealthy owner who signs incompetent players. What an appalling waste.
The problem lies with Duchatelet, I think the first eleven isn't bad and I don't even think we need two players for every position, just 18 players or so covered by the youth team. I get not spending tons of money on shite in the hope we go up but he's not even doing that.
The early goal fucked us with a rusty spoon and put the crowd in a bad mood. I don't even think that was a free kick, all irrelevant now though, football is a game of what ifs and individual errors I guess.
We played 3 left-backs;
the best bit of left-back play
was by their keeper
I think GL is one of those managers who feels he can influence what is happening on the field by pure emotion. Hence his gesticulating and clown antics from the sidelines which culminated in his inane celebrations against Hull. That can only work for a short period and then grows old (a bit like the impetus of a new manager syndrome). It just doesn't work like that and having some tactical and selection nous helps (duh!).
In my opinion GL is being found out and the buck stops with him. Agreed, the ultimate fault lays with RD for having appointed him in the first place but, for the immediate need, I don't think GL has the personality or the demeanour to be able to correct this. The sooner a cooler head with more experience is appointed the better. The trouble is, who will it be (if anyone) because RD is in charge. And that's the dilemma we are forced to put up with while the wheels continue to come off the bus.
Bad Times at Charlton High I'm afraid.
Here's my story. About six months hack I started seeing a woman. We can call her Carol, because that's hername. She has two young children. They are nice, as is she. This afternoon, while I was at work, she texted me, did I want to go for a Chinese meal with her and the children and a friend of hers who is over from Australia. I politely declined, citing the football. She wished me well. About 9 she sent a nice message saying the food was great and she hoped I was enjoying the football.
I wasn't.
Night all.
There was an old man from Antwerp
Whose strategies just didn't work
His squad was so thin
that they just couldn't win
Now please go*, you silly old twerp!
*or words to that effect.
Might end up getting something out the game that way.
Neither Cellebos nor Ba had played a first-team game in two years at Spurs and Sunderland respectively. Makienok failed in Sicily and is deemed good enough for us. What is Bergditch doing, and why can't Sarr defend a corner? Who, pray, is Holmes-Dennis?
Meanwhile, we were ripped apart by Huddersfield at The Valley a few weeks ago, a team who hadn't won all season: we were out-thought, out-muscled, out-played. I don't believe our players lack confidence or are lazy; professionals the world over do their very best.
Rotherham (we scrambled a draw), Huddersfield and now Preston: each of those clubs has a tenth of the financial resources of Duchatelet. We have a manager who is out of his depth, an academy that isn't nearly as talented as you think, and a first team that can't string three accurate passes together.
Halfway through the second half last night, at 0-2 and us retreating again, my neighbour nudged me: "They would have set light to the stand in Liege."
Can a Stuart Pearce cheerleader really be a decent long term manager
We were told as SCP and part of his management left what a freak show we had running the club but the blind at the time refused to believe these bitter ex employees and we've just got to the point now where even the blind are beginning to see that this Belgian circus is a joke
Call it intuition or whatever but this whole boring Belgian ownership has never felt right to me (even when winning) and the way they have made me feel about Charlton is something I would never have believed possible . Last night was one of , if not , the first time that I deliberately made sure I had a reason not to go because of the farce our club has become
Will I go Saturday , who knows and who cares .....
I do care because I've read every post put on here over the last few hours
So gutted at how this is playing out
13th-21st 50% ........ League One depression sessions 50%
Last night, however, was the worst 90 minutes I have seen in nearly 40 years of watching the club. The selection was embarrassing, I knew what we were going to watch as soon as I saw it.
Sarr is nowhere near ready for the first team and doesn't look like a player who'll ever make it in the English game, likewise Bergdich who was lucky to make it to half time in my view. Ba is a sham of a player, tries to look busy without ever positively influencing the game.
A couple of the players tried hard, and I felt particularly sorry for Holmes-Dennis who's a kid being asked to make up for senior players who have gone missing. Watt and Makienok clearly wanted to make a difference, but other than that the rest were a bloody disgrace. Not even Solly or Cousins stood up yesterday, and to me it looked like they'd all had a big row minutes before the game and were too upset to bother with the football.
Someone on Facebook said the 'sacked in the morning' chants were embarrassing, but I can only imagine they weren't there. I hate this side of our modern support, personally, but even I thought they were apposite to what we were watching. Luzon himself gave up, sat down on his bench with half hour left in the game and offered his players nothing more. Why should we expect his players to bother?
I will never understand the mentality of a manager who leaves his best players on the bench. If they're fit enough for the bench, they're fit enough to start, because they may be needed from the 1st minute. We had better see them in the first team on Saturday, because for the first time I've been supporting Charlton I'm teetering on not bothering to watch a home league game.
Last year Brentford at the Valley was the catalyst for our turnaround. I think many of us would consider Saturday to be a similar season landmark.
PS. I just watched a Sky Football Gold of our 4-4 with West Ham in the Premier League. Full stands, getting behind the team even when behind. A team full of tempo, commitment, heart, refusing to lose the game. We lost last night's before it had even begun, and the depths we have fallen since those days is shocking. Last night's game was worse than anything seen under Pardew, Parky, Powell, etc. We need to sack our laptop recruiters, and put a British manager of experience in place to run the club top to bottom.
SO RM, thanks....I really admire your resolve! !
I'm a bit stunned really and not sure what I want to happen, after our goodish start I certainly wasn't getting carried away but was looking forward to a "competitive " season in the championship, which I would have been quite happy with but it seems like we are in for another miserable season struggling to even stay in this league! ?
I just hope something positive can happen in the next month or so.
Whatever happens Charlton will still be my club I'm afraid........through thin & thin! !!!!
COYR