Mar 8
I love that Alan Curbishley still calls Robert Lee ‘Robert.’ Over the years I have spent a fair bit of time with Rob(ert), I am good friends with his brother and absolutely everyone calls him Rob, accept Curbs and Addicks’ fans of a certain generation.
The turnstile operator, the 17-year old on the back of the programme, the lost contact lense, that was always Robert, but not to anyone else including his Dad who was born in Woolwich.
Steve Brown said the game lacked quality. It lacked most things in all honesty – two mid-season teams playing the season out.
Nothing during that 90 minutes to scare the current top 6 incumbents, but there are still some upside down results and if Schwartz had scored we’d have been two points from the top six which is pretty nuts when you think of our form since the turn of the year.
When Chuks went down clutching his hamstring 2nd half on Tuesday we feared the worst. The man with the apparent glass muscles was playing only because he had his four-match ban overturned and now it looked as if he was going to be out injured. Charltonization at it’s finest.
But, that corner is there for the turning because today Lee Bowyer declared Chuks “fine” and fit. Good news, Aneke has been one of a few shining lights this season.
Baby steps.
If Saturday was a head on car crash then tonight was of one of parallel parking where you get the car in the space without accident even though it is not very straight!
Tonight was not about the aesthetics, it was about the win and secondly it was about the desire to get that win.
Is this the corner?
After the club appealed Chuks Aneke’s sending off against Blackpool on Saturday – it was in the 85th minute if you’d had already turned off by then. The Football Association’s independent Regulatory Commission have agreed and the red card has now been rescinded.
I’m late with this but a couple of weeks back Charlton owner Thomas Sandgaard put forward a proposal to bring together supporter groups at home and abroad.
It’s been many a year since the club had any interest in working with supporter groups. A few co-exist, some active, some not, but during the Duchatelet and ESI era’s most fan groups were only chartered and fuelled for demonstrations and to grow organized opposition to the owners. They were the polar opposite of celebratory and affiliation.
Amongst the total hopelessness today was the sound of the death knoll echoing around that famous stadium. We couldn’t hear it, but it was there loud and long.
A month or so back we stopped looking like a promotion team. Today we didn’t look like a team at all, shorn of all pride and commitment.
No one can defend that I’m afraid. It was demoralizing, despairing and repetitive.
Great start, took the lead, hit the bar a few times, goal disallowed but then the blasted rules f-d us over as they also allow the opposing the team to attack.
And sadly that was that. Their striker wanted the header more than our defence, then their bloke was allowed to walk unabated 10 yards and scored a worldly/ deflection/ lucky goal (*delete as appropriate) and we never in a million years looked like scoring again.
We started on fire today taking the lead following a lovely move and a cross by Andrew Shinnie so delicious that it was asking to be gobbled up, and it was. Jayden Stockley scoring with a diving header after 6 minutes.
And that was that, because what followed was dreadful.
The mystery to which current loan player would make his temporary move to SE7 permanent has been resolved.
I am quite a level-headed Addick. There’s thousands of posts below here ⬇️ that would suggest that. What would Curbs say? Don’t over celebrate the wins, nor over scrutinize the losses. Something like that, anyway.
Although it posted on Sunday morning, I did write my post match blog straight after the game against Gillingham. I was frustrated, disheartened and annoyed. Nothing like a good moan in the pub after a defeat with your mates, accept there was no pub, or mates to talk out the sorrow with until you realize there is always next week, and the next pint.
Another three conceded at home. Another defeat. Another miserable day.
The pitch was only passed fit less than an hour before kick-off with loud mouth Evans wanting the game off, and Charlton wanting the game played…. of course!
That’s quite a crushing defeat knocking any renewed confidence after last week and proving again that this is not a promotion winning team. There are a good 7-8 sides consistently better than us. In fact we have not dominated a team above us in any league meeting this season and the games keep getting ticked off.
Lee Bowyer touched on a topic many of us have highlighted as a problem today, and that is our miserable home form.
By my calculations under Bowyer at The Valley since he took over with fans in the ground the Addicks won 26 of their 46 league games that were played. That does not include play-off’s, or games this season with a small number of socially distanced fans allowed in.
I have long had a aberrant dislike of Tom Brady, mostly resulting from my aversion of anything New England sports related. Yet when Brady chose Tampa as his and Giselle’s retirement home last summer I was intrigued to see if he was going to Florida to just collect one final big pay day ($50m) or was he really Michael Jordan with pads.
Right. Now let’s go on a run.
A dominate performance today at Rochdale. An early goal, then another one for breathing space, their woodwork rattled three times, some good movement off the ball and a very assured defensive display.
