Looking back now I feel the Alan Pardew underperformance has gone a bit under the radar given time.
he failed to keep us up in the Prem, which was not fully his fault. However, he then failed to get us anywhere near play off contention the following season, and then was the architect of our relegation to L1 the following season.
Prem to L1 in just 2 years was an alarming fall for what should have been a stable club. Pardew didn’t just have to oversee a firesale that’s seen in some spiralling clubs, he was also well backed with numerous million pound + signings (Varney, McLeod, Zhi, Gray), what looks like now a very decent squad, and carte blanche to run the club how he liked, including stupid Feng Sui renovation of the training ground.
Disagree. The atmosphere was very poisonous during the end of Pardew's reign
Fair enough, but the atmosphere was very poisonous as we were doing so badly!
We were one of the teams predicted for the promotion race that season. Looking back I don’t think a squad with the likes of Weaver, Holland, Ambrose, Shelvey, Todorov, Bailey, Zhi, Hudson, Primus, Semedo, Youga, Gray, Varney etc should have been 22nd in the Championship at the end of November. Thst to me was underperforming and I think Pardew has to take a lot of responsibility for that.
Anyway, it doesn’t really matter. Just another trip down another unhappy lane!
I've always felt Pardew was possibly most damaging of all the post Curbs managers. Maybe even more so than Dowie.
I have said this to quite a few friends recently, but to be honest I’m not envious of the sides who are both newly promoted to the Prem and established teams who are punching above their weight like we once were (Fulham, Bournemouth etc).
I am 37 and I have conceded that I probably won’t see it again in my lifetime but even if it did, the game has changed dramatically.
I for one, am just delighted that my beloved team chose to excel in an era when football was exciting to watch and players that weren’t even classed as ‘world class’ players were better than most premiership footballers of today….Zola, Di Canio. And of course it goes without saying some of the teams and individuals I watched live as a young teenager who were just absolutely brilliant (Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Beckham, Scholes, Giggs, Lampard etc).
A conversation about our Orem years cannot by without a special mention to Scott Parker. Was simply outstanding!
Best player i've ever seen play for us. Amazing!
The 1-1 v. Arsenal with the Di Canio chipped pen and the Henry free kick equaliser, when we were second in the Prem and they were first, is my favourite ever match at the Valley. Parker ran the show and it took something special from Henry to prevent us getting all three points. Had he missed with that free kick the wouldn’t have been ‘the invincibles’.
So many great memories but the one that sticks is around two games. My family are mostly Arsenal for some context. I recall losing 5-3 to Arsenal at Highbury and Wenger couldn't praise us enough. My brother in law, an Arsenal season ticket holder told me how impressed he was too. Then the next season we won 4-2 at Highbury and Wenger was damning in his criticism of us. My brother in law said we were cheats after that game. Happy days. Being hated and not patronised by big teams is what it is all about.
I have said this to quite a few friends recently, but to be honest I’m not envious of the sides who are both newly promoted to the Prem and established teams who are punching above their weight like we once were (Fulham, Bournemouth etc).
I am 37 and I have conceded that I probably won’t see it again in my lifetime but even if it did, the game has changed dramatically.
I for one, am just delighted that my beloved team chose to excel in an era when football was exciting to watch and players that weren’t even classed as ‘world class’ players were better than most premiership footballers of today….Zola, Di Canio. And of course it goes without saying some of the teams and individuals I watched live as a young teenager who were just absolutely brilliant (Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Beckham, Scholes, Giggs, Lampard etc).
I have said this to quite a few friends recently, but to be honest I’m not envious of the sides who are both newly promoted to the Prem and established teams who are punching above their weight like we once were (Fulham, Bournemouth etc).
I am 37 and I have conceded that I probably won’t see it again in my lifetime but even if it did, the game has changed dramatically.
I for one, am just delighted that my beloved team chose to excel in an era when football was exciting to watch and players that weren’t even classed as ‘world class’ players were better than most premiership footballers of today….Zola, Di Canio. And of course it goes without saying some of the teams and individuals I watched live as a young teenager who were just absolutely brilliant (Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Beckham, Scholes, Giggs, Lampard etc).
You’re still very young. Don’t rule anything out.
😂
I never thought we would ever make the premiership when i first started going. You see the likes of Brentford, Bradford, Bournemouth, Luton, Hull and Fulham getting there having been in the fourth division. Stranger things have happened.
In 1940s we made 2nd in the League and won a FA Cup (making another Cup final). Everything since then we have been rubbish and everyone has not been meeting the standards of Charlton FC.
In 1940s we made 2nd in the League and won a FA Cup (making another Cup final). Everything since then we have been rubbish and everyone has not been meeting the standards of Charlton FC.
Looking back now I feel the Alan Pardew underperformance has gone a bit under the radar given time.
he failed to keep us up in the Prem, which was not fully his fault. However, he then failed to get us anywhere near play off contention the following season, and then was the architect of our relegation to L1 the following season.
Prem to L1 in just 2 years was an alarming fall for what should have been a stable club. Pardew didn’t just have to oversee a firesale that’s seen in some spiralling clubs, he was also well backed with numerous million pound + signings (Varney, McLeod, Zhi, Gray), what looks like now a very decent squad, and carte blanche to run the club how he liked, including stupid Feng Sui renovation of the training ground.
Wait... is that the Chinese term "Feng Shui"? Wow... I know footballers and managers can be superstitious but adopting a foreign magic/witchcraft mindset takes it to a whole new level😳
We should have let him see out his contract, which in my honest opinion could have given us an opportunity to have a better transition. And we probably would never have appointed Dowie as the successor, which started the downward spiral.
Looking back now I feel the Alan Pardew underperformance has gone a bit under the radar given time.
he failed to keep us up in the Prem, which was not fully his fault. However, he then failed to get us anywhere near play off contention the following season, and then was the architect of our relegation to L1 the following season.
Prem to L1 in just 2 years was an alarming fall for what should have been a stable club. Pardew didn’t just have to oversee a firesale that’s seen in some spiralling clubs, he was also well backed with numerous million pound + signings (Varney, McLeod, Zhi, Gray), what looks like now a very decent squad, and carte blanche to run the club how he liked, including stupid Feng Sui renovation of the training ground.
Wait... is that the Chinese term "Feng Shui"? Wow... I know footballers and managers can be superstitious but adopting a foreign magic/witchcraft mindset takes it to a whole new level😳
The term “Feng Shui” has been adopted and is actually a lot more common than you might expect in Western culture now, although it’s probably been bastardised from its original meaning if I had to guess.
The pinnacle of this era without doubt - pre match coverage talking about going to 4 and Champions League football. And then the performance and result.
Looking back now I feel the Alan Pardew underperformance has gone a bit under the radar given time.
he failed to keep us up in the Prem, which was not fully his fault. However, he then failed to get us anywhere near play off contention the following season, and then was the architect of our relegation to L1 the following season.
Prem to L1 in just 2 years was an alarming fall for what should have been a stable club. Pardew didn’t just have to oversee a firesale that’s seen in some spiralling clubs, he was also well backed with numerous million pound + signings (Varney, McLeod, Zhi, Gray), what looks like now a very decent squad, and carte blanche to run the club how he liked, including stupid Feng Sui renovation of the training ground.
Wait... is that the Chinese term "Feng Shui"? Wow... I know footballers and managers can be superstitious but adopting a foreign magic/witchcraft mindset takes it to a whole new level😳
The term “Feng Shui” has been adopted and is actually a lot more common than you might expect in Western culture now, although it’s probably been bastardised from its original meaning if I had to guess.
I must admit I'm surprised. I really had no idea. It's the first time ever that I've seen this term brought up by Western people. Guess I just don't communicate with Westerners or read about Western culture enough😂
Looking back now I feel the Alan Pardew underperformance has gone a bit under the radar given time.
he failed to keep us up in the Prem, which was not fully his fault. However, he then failed to get us anywhere near play off contention the following season, and then was the architect of our relegation to L1 the following season.
Prem to L1 in just 2 years was an alarming fall for what should have been a stable club. Pardew didn’t just have to oversee a firesale that’s seen in some spiralling clubs, he was also well backed with numerous million pound + signings (Varney, McLeod, Zhi, Gray), what looks like now a very decent squad, and carte blanche to run the club how he liked, including stupid Feng Sui renovation of the training ground.
Wait... is that the Chinese term "Feng Shui"? Wow... I know footballers and managers can be superstitious but adopting a foreign magic/witchcraft mindset takes it to a whole new level😳
I work for an international IB school..... They just spent over 100k moving a wall about 20 feet for bloody Feng Shui.
It’s unreal how pathetic we are now, chasing Orient in the third tier of dogshit and getting a hard on if we improve and finish in tenth and wondering why fans are a bit down with it all shithouse times
Looking back now I feel the Alan Pardew underperformance has gone a bit under the radar given time.
he failed to keep us up in the Prem, which was not fully his fault. However, he then failed to get us anywhere near play off contention the following season, and then was the architect of our relegation to L1 the following season.
Prem to L1 in just 2 years was an alarming fall for what should have been a stable club. Pardew didn’t just have to oversee a firesale that’s seen in some spiralling clubs, he was also well backed with numerous million pound + signings (Varney, McLeod, Zhi, Gray), what looks like now a very decent squad, and carte blanche to run the club how he liked, including stupid Feng Sui renovation of the training ground.
Wait... is that the Chinese term "Feng Shui"? Wow... I know footballers and managers can be superstitious but adopting a foreign magic/witchcraft mindset takes it to a whole new level😳
I work for an international IB school..... They just spent over 100k moving a wall about 20 feet for bloody Feng Shui.
Curbs was always going to leave and he was always going to want to try his chances at a bigger club, which if we are being honest West Ham was, as well as being special to him. That is no criticism of him.
People can unpick what happened next as much as they like and with justification but the “Curbs forever” option never existed and this was a mutual decision which suited both parties at the time, including the substantial pay-off for the last year of his contract which he received and deserved.
I was quite close to parties in the room and on the board at the time and no way was it unilateral.
I have said this to quite a few friends recently, but to be honest I’m not envious of the sides who are both newly promoted to the Prem and established teams who are punching above their weight like we once were (Fulham, Bournemouth etc).
I am 37 and I have conceded that I probably won’t see it again in my lifetime but even if it did, the game has changed dramatically.
I for one, am just delighted that my beloved team chose to excel in an era when football was exciting to watch and players that weren’t even classed as ‘world class’ players were better than most premiership footballers of today….Zola, Di Canio. And of course it goes without saying some of the teams and individuals I watched live as a young teenager who were just absolutely brilliant (Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Beckham, Scholes, Giggs, Lampard etc).
Why? This is interesting. I tend to feel the same but is it really the case? Is it just nostalgia? Perhaps there’s an argument that the advancements in body science, diet etc for football have stopped and we are no longer guaranteed that the new generation is better than the last. Were Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Beckham, Scholes, Giggs, Lampard better than Sala, Palmer, Haaland, de Bruyne, Saka, Foden, Rodri, Rice?
"Their roles in our downfall" part of the discussion is interesting. Though i think y'all missed the big one
It's a good call about Pardew, but it's also true that he didn't do badly at first. 4-0 against Curbs' West Ham, things looked positive.
Richard Murray. I still haven't recovered from the shock of realising he didn't have a file in his drawer marked "when Curbs leaves"
But neither come close to Roman Abramovic. That **** should never have been allowed into the UK let alone buy a football club and pour millions of ill-gotten roubles into it. If he'd have been stopped, I'm convinced we'd never have fallen so far, so fast, because:
- No one else would have succeeded in prising Parker away that window. He'd have stayed until at least the summer and we may well have qualified for Europe.
- Before he bought Chelsea there were signs of the club owners coming to their senses, looking at ways to agree on curbing expenditure. Charlton's prudent approach would have flourished. We'd have expanded the Valley, and probably been on equal financial footing to Chelsea.
I remember those Premier days. Spanish tv started to relay since late nineties. What a matches! Frenetic rythm! It was a better Premier than this in my opinion. Great Charlton performances in those years too on early 2000’s.
Comments
I never thought we would ever make the premiership when i first started going. You see the likes of Brentford, Bradford, Bournemouth, Luton, Hull and Fulham getting there having been in the fourth division. Stranger things have happened.
Booooooooo!
2nd in the league was the 1936-37 season
shithouse times
Curbs was always going to leave and he was always going to want to try his chances at a bigger club, which if we are being honest West Ham was, as well as being special to him. That is no criticism of him.
People can unpick what happened next as much as they like and with justification but the “Curbs forever” option never existed and this was a mutual decision which suited both parties at the time, including the substantial pay-off for the last year of his contract which he received and deserved.
I was quite close to parties in the room and on the board at the time and no way was it unilateral.
This is interesting. I tend to feel the same but is it really the case? Is it just nostalgia? Perhaps there’s an argument that the advancements in body science, diet etc for football have stopped and we are no longer guaranteed that the new generation is better than the last.
Were Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira, Beckham, Scholes, Giggs, Lampard better than Sala, Palmer, Haaland, de Bruyne, Saka, Foden, Rodri, Rice?
It's a good call about Pardew, but it's also true that he didn't do badly at first. 4-0 against Curbs' West Ham, things looked positive.
Richard Murray. I still haven't recovered from the shock of realising he didn't have a file in his drawer marked "when Curbs leaves"
But neither come close to Roman Abramovic. That **** should never have been allowed into the UK let alone buy a football club and pour millions of ill-gotten roubles into it. If he'd have been stopped, I'm convinced we'd never have fallen so far, so fast, because:
- No one else would have succeeded in prising Parker away that window. He'd have stayed until at least the summer and we may well have qualified for Europe.
- Before he bought Chelsea there were signs of the club owners coming to their senses, looking at ways to agree on curbing expenditure. Charlton's prudent approach would have flourished. We'd have expanded the Valley, and probably been on equal financial footing to Chelsea.