Deloitte Annual Review of Football

While Charlton fans are waiting for our new manager to be appointed, I thought it might be worthwhile pointing out that the accounting firm Deloitte have issued their Annual Review of Football Finance, a summary of which can be found here  :-

www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/sports-business-group/articles/annual-review-of-football-finance.html

I wrote about the Financial Fair Play implications for Charlton falling down to league one in this blog a short while ago and the latest Supporters Trust newsletter also has an article on the subject.  The key point is that clubs in this division are subject to a Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) player wages must be no more than 65% of turnover (there are of course plenty of exceptions for newly relegated clubs, definition of turnover etc).  See more on this topic here:-

wrongsideofthethames.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/financial-fair-play-all-change-as.html


The task of complying with those rules is shown clearly on page 26 and 27 of the Deloitte summary.  It shows total League One revenues to be less than a quarter of the Championship.  Despite the SCMP, wages in League One breached the cap but this may be down to the exceptions from larger clubs such as Wigan dropping down and does not necessary signify a breach.

The challenges for Charlton Athletic are huge and the delay in announcing a new manager cannot help the situation.

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A short analysis of Charlton Athletic's Financial Accounts

As flagged yesterday, the financial report and accounts for Charlton Athletic for the year ending June 2015 are now available at Companies House.

The group consists of three entities:-

1. Baton 2010 Limited, the holding company
2. Charlton Athletic Football Company Limited, the company that operates the football club
3. Charlton Athletic Holdings Limited which is a property holding company

I use Baton 2010 Limited to give a proper overall view of the club’s finances as it encompasses the results of all the subsidiaries and includes all of Charlton’s activities.  This was the original vehicle set up by Richard Murray to rescue the club.

General Comments

The loss for the year was £4.4m (compared to £5.9m last year) rather than the widely reported £3.78m which only accounts for the football subsidiary.

Turnover was down in all areas, despite a small increase in crowd attendance.  The outsourcing of the catering to Delaware North explains most of the drop in match day income.  The deal is similar to the Nike deal with the superstore in that the club does not take the risk of purchasing and selling foodstuffs but takes an agreed percentage of turnover.  This results in a reduction in both turnover and costs but hopefully an improved profitability.

Staff & Player Costs

The cost of player salaries remained flat at around the £10.2m mark

Noticeably the number of non-football staff fell from 60 to 45 and the temporary match day staff has fallen from 306 to 112.   The fall in the latter number is probably due to the catering being outsourced to Delaware North.  I would expect this figure to fall even further next year as the automated entry system no longer requires the gate booths to be manned.

The book value of the squad remained flat.  Bauer and Ba were acquired in June (other players were purchased after the financial year end) but their cost was offset by player amortization in the profit and loss account.

The club benefitted from player sales to the tune of £4.4m.  This was mainly from the sale of Gomez and Poyet.   As these two players came from the academy and so would have been carried the books at zero cost so the entire transfer fee would be accounted for as profit.  As expected, it looks like the club sold Morrison for a pittance but surprisingly it looks like they managed to make a little bit of money of Lepoint too.

The club continues its policy of applying add on fees for players sold (based on appearances, call ups to the England squad etc).  This contingent revenue increased by £2m over the year.  However, the club also looks like it is trying to reduce the upfront costs of players it acquires by agreeing to pay contingent fees too as these roughly rose by £1.3m.  As they are contingent we do not know if and when these might be received or paid.  Poyet’s current form would seem to rule out further payments from his sale, although I suspect we will see more money from the Gomez deal once he is fit again.

There are no directors’ fees shown in the accounts.  The only director probably taking a salary is Katrien Meire and it’s probably coming from Staprix or another part of Duchatelet’s organisation.  It is reasonable to expect her to take a salary even though we might question her experience for the role but this move takes out a level of transparency that we would expect.

Club Financing

As we all know, the club is mainly financed by its parent company Staprix NV which is Roland Duchatelet’s holding company.  However, rather than putting money in as equity it has been lent to the club at a rate of 3%. These loans increased during the year from £28.5m to £38m.  This covers the club’s losses, capital investment and repayment of some of the bank debt.

Interest of £955,000 was charged on these loans during the year.  While the rate is a very reasonable commercial rate it misses the point in that it is paying the owner.  If this was equity then it is unlikely that a dividend would be paid out owing to the losses incurred by the club.  This makes Staprix a creditor rather than a shareholder which puts Duchatelet’s money on par with the milk bill.

The only reason I can think for this is that interest is tax deductible and the money is being recycled anyway in additional loans.  However, you can only claim the tax back if you actually pay tax in the first place and the company needs to be profitable first before it can offset this.

The Future

The focus on next year’ accounts (to June 2016) will be on player costs and turnover.  We brought in a number of players in the summer and a lot of players on short term loans and contracts in January.  This, combined with new contracts for Gudmundsson in the summer and more recently for Lookman are bound to increase the wage bill.  This will probably be partially offset by the sale of Lookman to a Premier League club.

I expect turnover to be down on the basis of falling attendances as results on the pitch failed to live up to expectations.  It will be interesting to see the impact of the Charlton Card campaign too.  The rumours are that Delaware North are not happy with how things have turned out on their contract.

#support the team not the regime



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Time to Blow Off the Cobwebs for Another Season

While my blog has certainly not been updated over the last few months, with the exception of a brief hiatus at the end  of last season, the goings on at Charlton have ensured that there has been no time for cobwebs to settle at the Valley.

Much has been said on the subject of the new owner and the changes that took place at the end of last season.  Over the summer we’ve witnessed a number of changes that have started to put the owner’s intentions for the club into force.  Many believed that Charlton might become a cut price club, lacking in investment, with a head coach forced to field players sidelined by other clubs in the network.  While some beneficial elements of using the network are there, this is looking far from the case as recent spending reveals quite a different approach. 

While a new pitch was clearly a top priority it looks like we’ve ended up with a £1m investment in a pitch of Premier League quality, with state of the art drainage and under soil heating.  This along with other ground improvements such as replacement seating and pitch side astro turf will continue to make the Valley one of the more pleasant grounds for visitors in the Championship.  While a pitch renovation was required, the rest of the spending is perhaps more cosmetic but to me shows the intentions of the club to provide a quality match day experience for the fans.  The only downside I can see came from Twitter where an apparent ban on high heels on the pitch side artificial turf has meant a wardrobe rethink for certain stylish members of staff.

I wasn't expecting much of a spending spree this summer so the signing of Ivor Vetekeleh for a fee believed to be around Eu3m was a surprise.  However, I'm not expecting much more of the same and the recent signings while exciting have shown as much.  Feedback on first impressions of Bob Peeters is that he is likeable and gets on well with the squad.  I'm pleased to see his comments on certain players in the development squad and a decent complement of younger players turning out for the Welling game.  Duchatelet has also committed the club to its youth policy with Charlton’s ambitious plans for the new training ground complex to go ahead.  Some might say this is just a good excuse to get a cheaper squad but no manager or coach will play academy players if they are simply not up to the job. 

Having said this it looks like player wages are being firmly capped.  I have no idea as to what salaries players are on but we all remember the rumour of Ricardo Fuller being on £13k a week.  With Kermorgant and Stephens who were arguably our top wager earners gone, the number of younger players coming up from the development squad and cheaper (not my words) foreign players coming in I suspect that salaries are around the £3,000 a week mark.  While this helps in terms of the bottom line it does mean the Charlton will be one of the lowest paying teams in the Championship.  Other teams have not been so quick to adapt and are likely to breach Financial Fair Play rules as a consequence but may have the talent to propel them into the Premier League.  The alternative is that we become a club in a similar vein to Peterborough where they have a great ability in finding cheap but talented lower league footballers that subsequently leave for larger clubs who can afford to pay them higher salaries.  The good news is that the transfer fees effectively pay for the upkeep of the club.

 

The recent run outs at the Philips Stayen Cup and at Welling gave the fans a first chance to witness the players live but give us just a glimmer of new coach Bob Peeters thoughts on the first team line up.  A couple of players were missing from the Welling line up though.  While I presume that Reza is still enjoying a much deserved holiday after his world cup campaign there was no sign of Piotr Parzyszek (Belgium press reports him going to Sint Truiden)  The squad is not complete and clearly need more games under their belt, but there are rumours of another striker coming in and there are a couple of other obvious holes in the squad that need filling.  However, I am sure we will see a marked improvement as the July amd August friendlies go by and Peeters finds his ideal formation.  The Welling game showed Solly and Wilson pushing forward deep in to the opposition territory if that offers any clue as to current thinking.

It is pleasing to see that the club has maintained certain standards by continuing its family policy of not allowing a gambling outfit to sponsor its kit but there is clearly a harder nosed attitude to making the assets work for the club. Further sponsors on the mtach kit in addition to to the main shirt sponsor is an obvious example of new revenue generation.  It appears that a full review of contracts and services has been undertaken and changes have been made internally with director Katrien Meire taking a more hands on role. 

Recent contracts with the same outsourced caterers used by Arsenal and Wembley show the shape of things to come, but we should not read this as bad news for fans.  The partnership with IT company ITRM clearly states that is to "create better opportunities for fan engagement".  We have had a recent glimpse of the intentions of the board with the introduction of the excellent Fan Wall on the Charlton website, the introduction of free broadband at the Valley and the free youtube streaming of the recent tournament in Belgium.  I see this as a long term drive for a better game day experience that should ultimately attract and keep fans.

On the subject of fan engagement, the summer so far has been especially annoying from the mindless and crude drivel posted by those brave smartphone warriors claiming to be fans on various social media every time Charlton post an update. Calm down boys and girls, stay out of the sun and think before you tweet abuse.  How about providing some constructive criticism or at least giving the players a chance in an Addicks shirt first before you burden the rest of us with your refined and experienced three word opinions? You could do something useful like joining the supporters trust www.castrust.org.

Of course the real test is when we start to play in the league.  While there are a number of veterans in the squad, many players have not tasted Championship football and it does remain to be seen whether they can cope at this level but with the spread of youth and experience I am cautiously optimistic.  That’s not to say that I’m expecting miracles this year but it all looks like the club is starting to shape up for both the financial rigours and the pitch battles of the Championship.

Just one small selfish plea from me - please can we have proper pies back at the Valley?  I’m sure these nice people www.pieshop.co.uk would be only too happy to assist.

Harriott Pushes Charlton over the Line

First may I extend my gratitude to Charlton Live commentator Pete Finch for a quick behind the scenes tour of the press room and studio before the game.  It was good to meet Terry Smith, Paul Glover and match day host Dave Lockwood in person, having followed them for sometime on twitter.

Valley Faithful

There were fist pumps all round the room as Mr Lockwood confirmed the team news hot off the press with a 4-5-1 formation with Solly and Wilson both playing down the right hand side.  The omens were good and the game was better with three excellent goals from open play to secure our Championship position for another year.

I was really pleased for Callum Harriott.  Despite deserved criticism in recent games he stepped up when it mattered.  He knows he hasn’t had the best of games at home recently (partly as a result of being played out of position) and the two goals more than made up for it.  He does tend to blow hot and cold and I put it down in part to a lack of awareness of his surroundings leaving him struggling at times when he has the ball.  However, when he gets it right he plays some magnificent football, witness the game at Sheffield Wednesday creating Sordell’s goals with some sublime passing in difficult situations.

Troy Deeney’s goal for Watford was a corker and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is sought by a Premier League club this summer.  However, if the Hornets want any realistic chance of promotion they need to stop this cynical style of football that saw a flurry of yellow cards and a sending off.

Captain Jackson applauds the Fans

When our third goal went in my friend turned to me and said “well you’re safe now” to which I replied “No, this is where Watford score a quick goal and we have a white knuckle ride for the next 15 minutes”.  As predicted the goal did go in shortly after, but was thankfully disallowed by the assistant referee.

I bumped into the lads manning the “fan cam” after the game and was asked if staying up had changed my mind about the new owner.  My answer was that it is too early to tell and we will have to see what the summer brings.  Riga’s contract was just to the end of the season so we don’t even have a head coach after the Blackpool game as things stand.  Although I was sad to see Chris Powell go I would be happy to see Riga’s services being retained.  He seems to “get Charlton” and I do sense a positive connection between him and the players, especially the academy players coming through.  He couldn’t have made this clearer in his post match speech to the Valley faithful. 

We also have a core of key players that are out of contract including Ben Hamer, Dorian Dervite and Michael Morrison.  Poyet too has not signed a contract yet meaning we will get a paltry fee set by the Elite Player Performance Plan if he were to leave.  With seven former academy players in action it is clear that they will form the back bone of the squad in the new season but we will have to see how the rest of the team shapes up during the summer.

Celebratory drinks were definitely in order and the latest edition to the pumps at Old Loyal Britons in Greenwich, Truefit Brewing’s Caldecote Amber Ale certainly fitted the bill nicely.

Here’s to another year in the Championship!

Quality but not Quantity please

The title of this blog piece is my new years resolution, let me explain.

I've had a storming 2013 in terms of the real ale experience. As well as the Great British Beer Festival I've managed to get along to a few specialist festivals in local and not so local pubs.  I've trawled the taverns of Greenwich and found an excellent new local in the form of RLAs serving cask beers only from London Breweries (see www.ewbrewery.com for more details) as well as explored a few new breweries such as Hopstuff in Woolwich and the Brixton Brewery.  I've even found time to visit specialist cask and keg bars such as the Pelt Trader near Cannon Street, Crown & Anchor in Brixton and the Old Red Cow in Smithfield, all in search of a decent pint. All this comes at a cost as my head has invariably found on a Sunday morning but we all have to suffer a little to help our struggling economy don't we?

However, in my ageing years there is only so much a man can take and I've decided that the order of the day is quality over quantity.  No more rubbish beer, no more squeezing one more in for the road and maybe the occasional half of the 7.4% porter rather than a couple of pints (oh why do you make it so easy to drink?- the guilty culprit knows who they are!).  Luckily when it comes to quality food and wine I'm afraid I am a weak willed individual so I'm not too sure how long this will last.  I'm predicting that resolution will last until around mid February at the latest!

I'm also hoping that it's going to be Chris Powell's new year's resolution too.  With the recent takeover there has been a faint whiff of resources being available to the manager and the temptation is to splash the cash.  At least he only has to keep this one until the closing of the January transfer window.  However, its all too easy for a manager to go on a spending spree, buying supposed star players that happen to be free.  We saw it with Iain Dowie who acted like the proverbial kid in a candy store buying anyone and everyone with little or no thought as to the consequences.  Charlton suffered both in footballing and financial terms as a result.

Chris seems to know his stuff, picking out a solid league one winning side when he had the cash to do so.  More importantly, this collection of individuals quickly gelled into a close knot squad, vital for any successful campaign. He has also been quite shrewd in the loan market with the likes of Cameron Stuart and before him
Danny N'Gussen, Ricardo Fuller and Danny Haynes.  It hasn't all been plain sailing though, he's had his fair share of loan players that have had few minutes on the pitch and the likes of Fuller while undoubtedly a class act have been too expensive in terms of minutes on the pitch with their potential for injuries.

It doesn't sound like the new owner is going to shower Powell with vast amounts for the transfer kitty but it looks like we'll have a small amount to spend but the priority surely is to shore up the current core of the squad whose contracts are going to run out in the summer.  Once that's done I still don't think we need to be too rash in our signings as there are a number of good players that Charlton already know very well that could be available to us.

Cameron Stewart must be close to top of that list and media reports suggest that Charlton are trying hard to keep hold of him but it will have to be an outright purchase.  This is no bad thing.  Secondly, with loanee Marvin Sordell sidelined through a hamstring injury why don't we turn to Jonathan Obika again.  He still appears to be nowhere near joining the Tottenham first team but was still banging in the goals in a friendly on Tuesday against a Charlton under 21 side.  Perhaps Tim Sherwood might have a different opinion on his squad needs to allow us to bring him in again.

Another former loan player that has sunk away from the limelight is Emmanuel Frimpong.  In fact, since returning from his loan at Fulham he has not featured in any of Arsenal's first team games except as an unused substitute in August.  I have to admit I am unsure about his qualities but I do know that many Charlton fans regard him as a talented player.

All this is before we look at the players available in M. Duchatelet's stable of clubs in Europe.

So Mr Powell, if you are listening, if you keep your resolutions then I'll keep mine (at least until the close of the January transfer window!).  Is it a deal?  I won't be at the Barnsley match on Saturday as I have commitments elsewhere which will be revealed in next weeks blog update.

Is it still "Come on You Reds" or have we changed it to "Allez les Rouges"?

A Promising Start as History Repeats itself

The promised takeover seemed to go pretty smoothly and we are now officially in the hands of Belgium millionaire Roland Duchatelet.  However it seemed like only a day went by before certain parties were already knocking the deal, questioning which companies he had actually bought, whether the ground was included or whether other shareholders were still involved. Be under no illusions, Monsieur Duchatelet didn't get where he was without being a canny investor.  He already owns a stable of investments and we can be guaranteed that he has bought lock stock and barrel of the club, so lets put the silly rumours aside please.

 Initial signs look promising. We have a midfielder immediately on loan from Standard Liege in the form of Astrit Ajdarevic and a Premier a league quality pitch cover duly arriving which is currently pumping hot air to dry out the ground. These things don't come cheaply (one of the reasons I suspect why we haven't borrowed the "Super Soaker" from the Oval again) but was set up promptly. It's going to take more than a few days to dry out the water logged turf so the rescheduled game on Wednesday is unlikely to go ahead but whatever day it's held I will be there, if only to see our new loanee and the rest of the squad get a good run out.

I'm sure many Charlton fans will agree with me that the next step is to secure Chris Powell's tenure as manager by renewing his contract as well as that of certain key players. I'm not expecting many approaches during the current transfer window but it would be good to tie down the core of the squad before there is too much uncertainty in players' minds as the end of the season approaches.  Who knows we might even be able to hold on to Cameron Stewart which would be a bonus in my mind.

I'm also pleased that Richard Murray has retained his position on the board. A true Charlton fan and business man I know in my heart that he has the club's best interests at heart and must have had some frustrating times over the last year.  It's good to see him unshackled and willing to talk to the supporters (see the Charlton Supporters Trust website for more details) once a few hurdles have been cleared. I'm sure it will make interesting listening!  I also hope that this marks a resumption of management communication with fans and other stakeholders in the club, something that I think we can all agree was poorly handled by the previous incumbents.  Mr Jimenez has published another blog on the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/tony-jimenez/charlton-athletic-sold-tony-jimenez_b_4536064.html) explaining his reasons for selling the club but again it would have been nice and won him some plaudits if he had communicated this to fans first.  I am sure that Mr Murray will ensure that our new shareholder will take note from this.

Its starting to look like we have our Charlton back again!

In other news we are once more playing Huddersfield again in the FA Cup, provided we beat Oxford of course, both of whom we have met in this season's Capital One cup!  If you have time take a look at the exasperated but amusing tweets between the Charlton and Huddersfield official twitter feeds on the matter.  Its good to see that even official tweets can have a sense of humour and long may it continue!  I wouldn't be surprised if they don't get allocated permanent spaces in the car park, so regular are the visits these days.

COYR

Anguish for a Breton but better news about a Briton

I was pleased to see that our annual Football for a Fiver day at the valley was a virtual sellout.  I did my bit by bringing along a friend and her daughter who thoroughly enjoyed the day. They're Arsenal fans but I'm slowly winning them around to Charlton on the basis that you can actually get a ticket to watch the Addicks and for prices as low as £6 rather than with a few extra noughts on the end.

We missed the first ten minutes as all the buses in Greenwich decided that they were going to hide for 45 minutes and then turned up rammed to the hilt.  Thankful that the weather held up for an exciting although goalless match.  It was good to see Jackson and Kermorgant back on the team sheet, we sorely missed them, although it looks like our favourite Breton may be out for a little longer as his ankle injury played up again just before half time.

Revival of an Old Name

A 0-0 draw was seen by most Charlton fans as a fair result against Wigan who are no slouches and showed no signs of tiredness from their European campaign on Thursday night. We played well and dominated large portions of the game despite the inevitable last ten minute onslaught at our goal mouth (but it wouldn't be Charlton without that would it?). However, we are 12 games into the season and stuck on 11 points and really need to start turning on the goals to ensure safety, but I have faith in my team provided we can keep the injuries down as this is severely hampering our efforts.



The post match debrief was held in a new watering hole. I thought that I had found all the quality pubs in Greenwich but have to thank the excellent blog cafcandnothingelsematters.blogspot.co.uk
for pointing out a newly reopened pub in Greenwich.  Its called RLA’s at the Old Loyal Britons (the original pub on the site) and previously was the SE10 bistro (the signage hasn’t been changed yet).  It’s a couple of hundred yards down the residential side street next to Marks & Spencer, you can’t miss it.

The web link is http://ewbrewery.com/beers.html


I like what they are trying to do there and can see this becoming a regular post match haunt.  The offering is strictly beers from London breweries.  With around 80 of them there is plenty to choose from, and they've made the most of it.  At the weekend they had four ales and two lagers from the likes of By the Horns, Late Knights and Windsor & Eaton Brewery, all kept in top notch condition with some very modern kit tucked away in the cellar, as well as a small but excellent range of bottled boutique beers.  I understand that they will begin brewing their own beer on site once the cellar has been modernised and will look forward to that.

Excellent choice of ales

I had to walk out of a pub over the weekend as the sound system was so pumped up I couldn't hear a word my friend was saying so it was good to hear that RLA will not have music or TVs in the building, so we can keep up the fine art of conversation over a pint.  Its also run by Charlton fans so you’re assured a warm welcome and at £3 a pint its an awful lot cheaper than the offerings from nearby places serving their own locally produced beer.

It deserves a write up on its own but I’ll wait until they are fully up and running before I do. Meanwhile, if you're in the area why not forego your usual pint of mass produced lager and pop in to try some real beer, you never know, you just might like it !

Controversy as Charlton Fan has a Moan

I’m in a foul mood but not quite for the reasons you might expect. Yes, like all Charlton fans I’m still hurting from our drubbing at the hands of Burnley yesterday and nothing but time and good results will take that away. My head is already starting to throb as I write this so I really feel for the brave souls that trekked all the way north on Saturday. However, what makes it worse is that it doesn’t end there.

In the past, if your team lost, you’d have a moan to your fellow supporters as you left the ground, then you’d sound off to your mates down the pub or go and stew at home as you listened to the results on the radio. On Sunday you’d be reminded about the appalling game in the newspapers and you’d prepare for the stick your work colleagues were going to give you on a Monday morning but that was about it, onwards and upwards to the next game.

Now with the advent of the internet I also get to endure a torrent of abuse every time I turn to my favourite social media. From mindless comments from people I don’t know on twitter to the facebook trolls you’re not helping to ease the pain of defeat for me. The dedicated Charlton bloggers on the whole are pretty rational but some of the fan forums seem to attract the worst in people that would put off any one wishing to follow us. I sometimes wonder whether they have shares in pharmaceutical companies as my use of headache pills almost always goes up following a few hours on the net after games.

However, when the club has to issue a warning on facebook about foul and abusive language you know that’s a step too far. We know it’s not just a Charlton issue, the same thing happens at clubs up and down the country. It’s unfortunately going to continue until the day when like rugby fans (and at today’s NFL game at Wembley) opposing fans can all sit together and enjoy a pint while watching the game. It’s a nice idea but I can’t see it happening and to be honest I’m not sure I want it to happen as it would lose some of the rivalry.

Of course we should be able to criticise our team, it was a poor result after all, and I would defend anyone’s right to do so but please leave out the abuse. Some people seem to think that they are immune hiding behind their electronic devices but I’m sure in most cases it’s just a case of people letting off steam and not thinking. Remember post in haste, repent at your leisure. One well known Charlton follower has a good rule of thumb for twitter (apart from not posting when drunk) which is to ask yourself whether you would say your tweet to the person it was directed at if they were standing in front of you right now. It’s a great guide to abide by and I’d encourage you to try it.

“Chris Powell out” I heard some fans cry yesterday, you’ve got to be joking. The Championship has a history of rash sackings and Nigel Clough’s departure yesterday is just the latest in a long line. The quote from the BBC yesterday was as follows:- "The decision by the club will come as a surprise to some, but supporters have become increasingly frustrated by poor performances at home - despite some encouraging displays away.” This sounds familiarly like the situation we were in last season. Imagine sacrificing that late run of form that saw us finish 9th last year? While the Derby situation is a little different what makes us think that another manager. Remember, there is no budget for a new coach to change around the squad, let alone the money to even bring in a new coaching squad. Now Powell does suffer from a bit of tactical naivety but he’s learning fast and in all fairness the spate of injuries has left him having to experiment with previously untried formations out of a limited squad. Incidentally, Clough’s sacking puts Powell up to 11th in the league of longest serving English league managers (www.leaguemanagers.com/managers/longest-current.html).

Others were calling for Jimenez to leave too. Well go figure that one out Charlton fans. With many clubs struggling we were lucky to have them in the first place. While I have to acknowledge that we don’t make comfortable bed fellows with the current owners or their front men we are stuck with each other and the fact is that Charlton would have long gone to the wall without them. Yes, we’d all like a sugar daddy, including the board, the only difference is that we didn’t stump up the cash in the first place so they have a right set the asking price even if according to some the bar is currently been set too high. We as fans need to ensure that we do our bit by joining the Supporters Trust and getting behind the petition to turn the Valley into an Asset of Community Value so that we at least have some say in the future of the club. If you don’t do this one small thing then we all lose out and the ability to have our voice heard will be severely blunted.

In my last blog I said we had a tough ten days ahead with Burnley, Forest and Blackpool in quick succession and our 3-0 drubbing yesterday proved at least part of it right. Buckle up Charlton fans because it’s not going to get any easier from here on in. If you’re one of those fair weather glory hunting fans I would have pointed you to join a Manchester team or maybe even Chelsea….oh hang on they didn’t have a great weekend either did they? It looks like the Premier League is catching a dose of Championship fever which is great news for us neutrals but not so good for the betting slips of a few Charlton fans judging by some comments on twitter yesterday!

There was a glimmer of hope for us in yesterday’s game, where we seemed to have the upper hand for the majority of the first half. Possession and shots on goal were pretty even with Burnley and I think Chris Powell has now worked out his midfield, even with injuries. We still have a game in hand too if that is any consolation. I don’t expect a great crowd on Tuesday nights visit by Forest but am expecting a larger crowd for the Blackpool game as the club appear to have been handing out free tickets to Greenwich University students so let’s make sure we as fans at least, introduce them to the loud passionate Charlton family we want them to see.

Anyway, that’s my little rant over. Its one way of allowing me to work the stress of losing out of my system with out resorting to alcohol or therapy, it’s a lot cheaper too, you should try it some time.

Still hurting...

I've left writing my thoughts on the Millwall derby for a few days to have a chance to calm down and write an objective piece.  I was fortunate enough, in some respects, to have a lot of work to keep my mind occupied over the weekend rather than stewing away in a pub all afternoon on an abject performance.  I know many people were obviously upset at was undoubtedly a poor performance by any standard but I have never left the ground to find a red faced fan opening shouting and cussing the state of our team like I did on Saturday afternoon.

Loss shown live on Sky television adds to embarrassment

The game was not a sell out in either end.  Millwall were some 200 short but a crowd of less than 16,000 was also extremely disappointing.  A combination of tickets not being released on general sale, the game being on Sky, fan apathy over our recent performance or just not wanting the potential aggravation could all be contributing factors.




I had a chat with a few Millwall fans in an East End local on Sunday evening while watching the Manchester derby.  They all concurred that it was a dire game with not a lot to cheer about.  I was even told by one fan that we were unlucky but that is little consolation.  Despite 60% possession, Charlton conjured up only two shots out of six on target.  Millwall fared little better with only three out of twelve shots on target.  Their main talking point was the vast number of police that had turned out on patrol as they left the stadium.

New flag in the West Stand

The bright spot in the Millwall team was Nicky Bailey who effectively controlled the midfield.  I'm always nervous about the threat of old players returning to the Valley.  His story is very similar to that of our own Yann Kermorgant leaving Leicester with a missed penalty in a play off and so it seemed inevitable that he was going to score against us (if anyone is interested, there was a recent article in the Economist that explored the very topic of the performance of former players visiting their old team).  Thankfully it was not to be, but that was small comfort for the home supporters as a McDonald deflected shot wrong footed Ben Hamer and found the back of the net.

Millwall Crowd

I had credited the Millwall fans with a sense of humour when I saw all the inflatable fish in the crowd, thinking it was a reference to our flooded out game against Doncaster, but no,  it was just a good excuse to hurl abuse at Marvin Sordell for the incident against Bolton last season when he complained about being abused by one of their ball boys.  Some habits never tire.







 Our derby day contrasted markedly with the Manchester derby when City played with pace, appearing to have a head start against their red counterparts on every ball.  However, despite all the plaudits no-one questioned why they could not find this turn of pace and agility in their lacklustre performances in their draw against Stoke and loss to Cardiff City.



We now have an extremely tough run of three games in a row against top sides and Charlton fans need to prepare for a rough ride in the next fortnight as we visit Burnley, while Forest and Blackpool stop off at the Valley.  It appears that Cort and Solley will still be out for the Burnley game and Yann is touch and go.

Stadium not full for Derby Clash

On formation tactics, without Yann we are in a pickle.  I would like to see a 4-5-1 to bring in more midfield players and allowing Cameron Stewart into the starting line up for the first time.  His pace and agility very much reminded me of Danny Haynes and I'd like to see him on the pitch for a full ninety minutes along with Harriott on the other wing.  My only concern is that this formation demands a strong striker who can take down the ball and without Yann we just don't have anyone else capable of the role.

We will encounter the same problem with a 4-4-2 formation.  While Joe Pigott was valiant in his efforts on Saturday, his inexperience and lack of build showed.  I have no doubt this will improve over time and have no regrets that he was given the opportunity.  With Church a certain starter that only leaves Sordell, but for me he has to show a pick up in both form and pace to justify his place in the starting line up if Yann is not included. Whichever line up is chosen I am not looking forward to the next couple of weeks but as we saw with Millwall it only takes a game to suddenly turn things around.  I'm waiting for our "game" to turn up.

Yann puts the smile back on Charlton Fans' Faces

The bright sunny afternoon was in sharp contrast to last week’s washout against Doncaster and it was good to see a full ninety minutes of football.

The day started with tracking down Joe Hall who was responsible for putting together the Valley Talk fanzine to get my copy. I put together a short piece on football club finances and I hope you enjoyed it. As you can tell from my amateurish efforts, I blog for my own amusement and its good practice at putting together short pieces in a quick time frame, Joe on the other hand is a professional and there are also some excellent pieces from a number of bloggers and writers that you might recognise. I particularly enjoyed his interview with Shaun Bartlett and the Chris Powell quote on the back cover, which sums us up perfectly. I hope you managed to grab a copy but if you didn’t then you can pick up a copy from valleytalk.bigcartel.com

Before the game I commented on twitter at the positive vibes and messages of support coming from Charlton fans to get behind the squad, not to boo the board and above all be patient. So it was timely and appropriate that Daniel Webster (@ramblingaddick) had a good piece on the subject in Valley Talk

With the exception of the 3-5-2 formation it was a typical Charlton game with the boy’s taking the lead through a scrappy build up to Morrison’s headed goal (they all count!) to take the lead, Yann’s usual goal against his old team, then holding on for dear life to cling on to the three points despite the Foxes being down to ten men. Even Christ Powell was cringing at times with his hands against his face. I was surprised to see that we had 58% of the possession as Leicester seemed to keep the ball for long periods in midfield without making any impact.

Wiggins and Morrison both had much better games which will be good confidence boosters for them. Personally, I think that Evina is the better player in this formation but Wiggins was looking much more comfortable in this role during the second half as he created a number of opportunistic crosses for the team. It goes without saying that Kermorgant needed no motivation for the game and made the most of it. He’s a real bogey man for the Leicester crowd and as Chris Powell said he’s going to tell Yann that there are 23 other teams called Leicester!

Again, Church worked hard and deserves his place, although he was getting frustrated towards the end but continued to track back when necessary. Stephens has skill but still seems to be a little nonchalant and spatially unaware as the ball comes to him for the first touch. Pigott and Cousins took their chances when they came on, settling down quickly unfazed by the crowds and certainly making an impact during their short stint as substitutes.

While the second yellow for Leicester number 8, James’ inappropriate protests was a stupid one to concede, I feel a little sorry for Leicester as the officials made a number of errors in the second half including a clear goal kick when Church headed off the post. I have a feeling that the assistant on the East stand touchline was struggling with the sunlight and this will only get worse as the sun sinks lower coming into autumn. This can easily be rectified if the assistants swap sides but I am sure that there is a rule that prevents this common sense solution.

Overall, three points thoroughly deserved and having chased down the Foxes all afternoon it only seemed appropriate to finish of the day with a small bottle of Tally-ho from Adnams. I’d not seen it before and thought it was a stout but at 7.2% it’s more akin to a barley wine. One was enough to help savour the much needed victory.