The Vetere and Jiminez influence?

Quite a day on the transfer front. Between walking from FAO Schwarz where I was having fun on the big piano to Grand Central Station to meet a friend for lunch Charlton had made three signings.

To be honest only Cedric Evina stirs me out of my self-induced Addick coma. Mikel Alonso (pictured) has swapped 3rd Division Spanish football for 3rd Division English football and Paul Hayes hopefully is back in a level more suited to him.

A proud defeat, but what’s next?

Tottenham Hotspur 3 Charlton Athletic 0
Well much better than we’d all dreamt of this week. My son was expecting 10, I was more like half of that. It was three in the end but it was the performance and belief with which the team played for Keith Peacock, Damian Matthew and the noisy travelling Addicks that gave us back some pride following a week when that word was very scarce indeed.

We played excellently in the first first half and came closest to scoring and it was a joy to hear Charlton songs blasting out on the radio. The BBC Radio commentary team were very complimentary. However within a  20-minute spell at the beginning of the 2nd period we were dead and buried as substitute Luka Modric turned the screws and that annoying individual Jermain Defoe scored his customary goals against us.

Admittedly Spurs took their foot of the gas but we continued to have some good possession and both Sodje and Doherty came close to beating Cudicini near the end but a late consolation wasn’t forthcoming.

It wasn’t long ago that Spurs was a regular fixture and we nearly always finished above them in the table but ignoring our troubles, under Redknapp Spurs have come on bundles since we left the Premier League and it was the expected defeat, but for anyone disappointed then let me point you to managerless Ipswich, who were hammered 7-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

A tough week over then. We all wait now to see what happens next. Keith Peacock seemed pretty convinced he wouldn’t be needed next week at Hillsborough. Now either Slater and Jimenez will surreptitiously reveal Dennis Wise to understandable indignation from Charlton fans or it will be someone else. Or potentially Wise and someone else, like Ray Wilkins or less likely Gus Poyet.

It was rumoured that Eddie Howe was at White Hart Lane today, perhaps consulting old mentor’s Kevin Bond and Harry Redknapp but by all accounts the Bournemouth manager is due at The Valley tomorrow to meet the board.

Also mentioned is Steve Clarke (very popular with the Charlton Live crew tonight) and Chris Hughton. All we can do is wait and see but the appointment will tell us a lot about our secretive new owners. In lots of ways.

Addicks at White Hart Lane: Charlton Casual; New York Addick; Drinking During the Game; Hungry Ted; Mike’s Meanderings.
CA fact: That is 9 goals for Judas Defoe scored against us in his career.

New era arrives with a bang

Quite a day. Phil Parkinson was indeed a good bloke, decent and hard working but after yesterday evening the writing was on the wall and the difference between this week and last, is that the board could afford to pay him, Breacker and Kinsella off.

Let’s deal with the backroom staff first. It is sad to see Kinsella go, but as a coach, I don’t think he has anywhere near the qualities he had as a player. Very different skills of course. As for Breacker, well he was a Parkinson appointee and as in 99% of cases a new broom sweeps every corner of the room as it probably should have done two years ago. I wonder how long Phil Chapple will last when a new managerial team come in?

As for Parky, many Addicks will point to our league position, last season’s play-off finish and a 39% win rate, but despite the club’s ongoing financial situation, he’s still had one of League One’s largest budgets and free-reign and support in the transfer market from his chairman.  

But for me and a growing band of other Addicks it was the dour style of play (and I mostly only get to listen to it on the radio), lack of ambition in games, especially at The Valley plus more and more glaringly obvious, Parky’s tactical limitations. Sadly too many times he has stood on the side lines and been out-thought by his fellow managers, some or most of whom, have a fraction of the resources that he has had.

You need four things to be a successful manager. There are probably more, but these four came to mind first: Motivational man-management skills; coaching ability; transfer acumen; and a bloody boat load of luck. Parky may have ticked one of those boxes.

Hopefully last night on the way home following his meeting with Michael Slater, Phil Parkinson fell into the same barrel of shit that his old boss fell into and come out smelling of any remaining roses that Pardew may have left behind. Unfortunately there can’t be many.

The new board may have misled us the other day about their managerial plans, but I for one am delighted that they have acted swiftly, something as Dave points out we have hardly been used to. They obviously came with a plan and remember they have been around the club for a number of weeks. Yesterday’s performance, and to some degree Saturday’s gave Slater and Jimenez the opportunity to make the change. Parky didn’t help himself and to be honest, with perhaps one or two exceptions, the players who played yesterday could do with taking a long look in the mirror.

So what is Slater and Jimenez’s plan? And is there someone else in the equation calling the shots? And how much money is there? I suppose if we appoint Keith Peacock as permanent manager, then that will tell us not a lot but there is an evolving school of thought that there is money, not silly money, but enough to change our ambitions.

Ladbrokes stopped taking bets on Dennis Wise being the next manager within 45 minutes of Parky’s dismissal. He is the obvious favourite but why not appoint him now? Are the club really going to try and pair Wise and Poyet? Jimenez lives next door to Poyet, his son plays for us and he applied for the job after Pardew was sacked. Is it that far-fetched?

And is Wise such a favourite that no one else will apply for the job? Coleman, Hughton, Southgate, Hart, Ferguson, Tilson, Strachan? And the new owners would be doing us a disservice if they did not consider approaches for people like Eddie Howe, Paul Tisdale and Sean O’Driscoll.

Quite a day indeed and lots to think about as Charlton Athletic proved unequivocally that they have well and truly moved into a new era.

Takeover completed

“As the new owners, we are both football fans and businessmen. Today’s acquisition brings much-needed financial stability to the club. Our plan for Charlton is to run the club on a sensible financial footing and develop a commercial plan to ensure we make progress on and off the pitch to meet the expectations of our fans.

What we won’t do is create unrealistic pie in the sky expectations.”

Comments from new Charlton chairman Michael Slater, who is described as co-owner alongside property developer (those two words always worry me) Tony Jimenez, once of Newcastle ‘fame’. There also appears to be an unnamed 3rd party, whom I wondering maybe the money behind the transaction because I don’t think Jimenez or Slater have the funds themselves. Slater did say that Dennis Wise is not in the new owners’ plans.

Good news is that Richard Murray remains a director and Peter Varney is appointed as executive vice chairman, with responsibilites for corporate strategy and planning. Former managing director Stephen Kavanagh becomes chief executive and will continue to be responsible for the day-to-day running of the club.

All a bit too cloak and dagger still for my liking, Slater a lawyer by trade has a lot of business interests including a couple of investment trusts. Jimenez equally has a number of fingers in pies. However I am happier that Murray, Varney and Kavanagh are staying involved with the new company but I am interested to know more about a rumoured Swiss interest. More information will hopefully unravel itself in a few days.

More: Official Site, BBC, Sky Sports, Daily Mail, Slater interview.