Nag nag nag

I've a lot of time for Sir Reg Varney. But I really wish he'd abandon his habit of preaching to Charlton fans - especially when many are questioning whether life as a mid-table Premiership club is all that it's cracked up to be...

Charlton chief executive Peter Varney is urging Addicks season-ticket holders to take up their places for this month's FA Cup quarter-final clash against Middlesbrough.

Club officials have thus far been disappointed by ticket sales for the Valley game on Thursday, March 23rd (8.05pm) - which could see the club reach the semi-finals of the competition for the first time since 1947. (more)

Sales have reached 20,000 (including Boro sales of 2,000) - which doesn't seem too bad in my book, with a week to go until the game. But instead, we're in for a telling off from the headmaster...

To be at this number almost a week before a match that could see the team progress to the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in more than 50 years is hugely disappointing," he said.

Well, Reg, that's the way to lift spirits, isn't it? There's even a desperate line in the story about weather conditions being expected to improve by next Thursday, although my forecast predicts rain. Whoops. Best hit that 10p-a-minute phone line quickly, eh? If you must treat fans as customers, never take them for granted.

Oh well. Speaking of Boro, congratulations to the smoggies for getting through to the Uefa Cup's quarter finals. Hopefully this will ensure they'll be suitably distracted - they'll be playing on Sundays and Thursdays for at least a couple more weeks yet. Mind you, if their fixture list is bad - West Ham suddenly have 6,000 tickets to shift for their away tie at Man City on Monday night, and they've got a league game against Portsmouth to come on Saturday too. I don't even want to think what would happen if we were in their shoes!

Smertin's farewell

Despite the angry words flying around after Alexei Smertin's departure, he seems to have warm words for us on his website, smertin.com.

"I think Charlton have every chance of beating Middlesborough and getting through to the semi-final of the FA cup. - I learnt different things from all the managers I worked with including Mourinho and Curbishley. The Charlton fans are real enthusiasts and gave me a warm welcome from the first, for which I was very grateful."

Thanks to the All Quiet reader who sent me the translation. But Richard Murray is still fuming...

"No words can adequately express how angry and disappointed we are that the player felt unable to honour his obligations to us, especially with so many important games coming up." (more)

The more pertinent question is, of course, why the hell did we sign him on loan in the first place if an early departure was going to be a possibility? It all seems a little odd to complain when we must have entered this deal with our eyes open.

Anyhow, that's all in the past. Also on his way out - reserves boss Glynn Snodin, off to resurrect South Coast jokers Southampton. With many of our younger players being shown the door this summer, I wonder if he's got his eye on taking a few down there?

Here's a thought-provoking Netaddicks thread - would it really be a tragedy if we went down? The turmoil Southampton find themselves in would suggest otherwise, but it's an interesting read nonetheless.

Stand up if you love Charlton

An appeal for help from Stand Up Sit Down, which is campaigning for standing to be reintroduced at football matches.

Stand Up Sit Down are at the stage where we need to take advantage of the momentum that has been building of late. We arranged a successful Yellow Card protest at West Ham last week, Crystal Palace, Leeds and Man Utd are talking about organising similar in the coming weeks. Furthermore, we've had our biggest expansion in membership over the past couple of weeks as we've had in a year.

What we need now is more people on board enabling us to move on and move on faster. There are currently just two of us behind SUSD (plus a website administrator), and while we wouldn’t go so far as to say "we’ve created a monster", the pair of us cannot do as much as we’d like and as we both work full time our efforts are confined to what free time we have meaning we’re not making as much progress as perhaps we could with more people active behind the scenes.

You may already be involved with your own supporter driven initiative but even if you can offer us an hour a week, your time would be invaluable. Obviously, if you can give us more time we’re not going to say no!

We need help in the following areas:

• Administering our membership
• Getting more media awareness
• Writing to various authorities using the Freedom of Information Act to see if we can unearth information we can use to our advantage
• Spreading the word on websites
• Organising protests at your club
• General raising of awareness
• Letter writing to MPs, clubs etc
• Anything else you can think of…

If you can help us, please reply letting me know your name, the club you support and what you feel you can offer. I’ll then reply to you all with details of who can do what and with a co-ordinated plan and then we can really move forward with Stand Up Sit Down.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Vive Le Revolution!


Peter Caton & Amanda Matthews
www.standupsitdown.co.uk

Charlton 2-1 Middlesbrough

What a difference a little Bent makes. Remember when we had strikers who couldn't be arsed? Darren Bent's conversion of a fabulous Chris Powell header in the 72nd minute, and his poking-in of a ball from Luke Young just before the end of today's game showed the class of our best signing in years. Seriously, what would we do without him?

Otherwise, it was hard work which won us an even game against a side we'll come up against in the Cup next week, and whose minds were probably on another date in another cup in Rome this week. Thomas Myhre pulled off some fabulous saves, Kish worked his arse off as ever, while Curbs showed a bit of tactical nous by getting rid of Jay Bothroyd and Bryan Hughes and replacing them with a lively Jason Euell and an even livelier Jerome Thomas, whose energy probably sparked us off on our way to victory.

Mark Viduka's equaliser for Boro was a beauty, and they were as industrious as you'd expect a Boro side to be. What happens between our two teams next Thursday may well depend on what they do in Rome this Wednesday. A bloody good three points for us today - but our season - and maybe Boro's - will be judged on what happens on the 23rd.

Bear craps in the woods - EXCLUSIVE!

So Alan Curbishley has had a little chat with Brian Barwick about the England job. Big deal. The real story would have been if the Scouser with the 'tache hadn't got on the blower to Curbs, and the two hadn't met. But this is the national press on the England team, where it's simply not possible to be anal enough. It's a reminder that, especially after Sven's bedroom antics, the new England manager will be pursued by an army of snappers wherever they go, which would be enough to put most sane Englishmen off the job.

As I've said before, I doubt the next England manager will be Curbs, due to his lack of international experience and since his bad man-management lets him down. However, the FA could accomodate this in the same way Curbs allows for this at Charlton with Keith Peacock acting as the "go-between" between the players and the boss. However, that's England's problem, and we've enough of our own to be bothered with.

Alexei Smertin has finally slung his hook, with Sky claiming he criticised us for a lack of ambition. Easy to say when you've spent the past few years doing not a lot at the behest of a billionaire, and it'd be dim to read too much into something that could be just a poor translation. Any Russian Addicks are invited to look at Smertin's website for clues.

However, "lack of ambition" is going to strike a chord with many of the disaffected. Especially when you look over the water and West Ham doing so well under Alan Pardew, a man whose management style Steve Brown has called "refreshing". Whatever happens in the summer, we need to have a more positive mindset.

Positivity can go in both directions - as Kish reminds us in an interview with the South London Press.

I hear some of the Charlton fans boo me at The Valley - but I don't know why. I always try my very hardest in every game." (more)

Hopefully the boo-bores will stay at home for today's match with Middlesbrough. That said, if it's a 4th 0-0 draw in a row, I'm going to run off and join the circus.

(Is this the way to) be a laughing stock

Tony Christie? Singing (Is This The Way To) Amarillo before the Middlesbrough FA Cup game? Surely an early April Fool joke?

Charlton fans have been singing it in the Avenues And Alleyways of SE7 throughout the season, now the man that made (Is This The Way To) Amarillo? famous is coming to The Valley to join in the chorus.

Tony Christie will perform his massive hit on the pitch before the Addicks take on Middlesbrough with a place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup at stake on Thursday, March 23rd (8.05pm). (more)

Whoever thought of this idea should get out of our club now. Amarillo was funny when we drew with Palace last May, vaguely amusing during the summer, and thankfully all-but died off in the autumn. We sent them down, that's it. Get over it. It's history. It's a bit embarrassing when it's dug up now.

But no. Palace fans (a number of whom I know are now reading this thanks to this) must be pissing themselves with laughter. It'll probably spur the buggers onto promotion. Why, why, why would ANYBODY think singing a song about another club would assist us in our quest for the Cup? It's not even our song - it's Bolton's song!!

Maybe it's his easy-going cabaret stylings. But for heaven's sake, this is football, not a scampi-and-chips night. We might as well be bloody sponsored by Saga Holidays. Not content with bussing the oldies and the kids in from Kent, let's now put on some cosy old crooner to whip the crowd into a frenzy! Yeah, great idea! Take a pay rise!

NO. What direction are we heading in, for heaven's sake? At least a little bit of football is about pride. And passion. What's having a 1970s MOR singer going to do to help us? Nothing, apart from make us look like idiots. On telly. How divorced from reality are our commercial department? It's the most stupid idea we've had since the "let's go and play Franchise FC" folly. And we know what happened to that.

We cannot allow this to happen. E-mail the club. Contact Tony Christie and tell him it isn't a good idea. Apparently, he's a nice bloke, and it wouldn't be nice if he was jeered off, would it? (Or tell him you're a Palace fan and you're deeply hurt, and won't go to see his next gig at the Fairfield Halls.)

If there's a time to show we care, then this is as good a start as any.

What a waste of money?

Valley Gold members who are forking out £10 each month to help fund the club's academy must be scratching their heads and wondering where their money's really going after news of the latest bunch of academy scholars who are being released by the club.

Among them, strikers Onome Sodje, who's been turning heads at Ebbsfleet Gravesend & Northfleet and Welling, and James Walker, who has been on loan at Hartlepool. Both have shown promise, although they may not be up to Premiership standard, they've been players we can be proud of. They'll surely go on to careers elsewhere in the league.

But what are we doing funding the development of players for Football League clubs? It's bad enough us paying Franny Jeffers' wages each week, why should we be coughing up so some League One club can get a decent player who'll no doubt knock us out of a cup?

The fate of the youngsters who have come through the system is instructive. Osei Sankofa? Lloyd Sam? They've hit a ceiling in getting through to the first team, with Curbs unwilling to take a gamble on unproven youth when the stakes are so high in the Premiership. All understandable, but what would have happened to Micah Richards if he'd been stuck in the Charlton academy? If the players aren't coming through, then what is Valley Gold for?

If it's a guilt trip to fund the development of players for the lower leagues, then let's be honest about it and get it funded by Premiership lucre. Or is it just a charity, to use our expertise to help promising footballers from our patch? Or is it a serious attempt to develop new talent for our club?

Valley Gold members, and all other fans, deserve a proper explanation.

Seeya Smerts

Remember the summer of 2005? Seems a long way away now...

Alexei Smertin believes he is on the brink of wrapping up a move back to Russia with Dinamo Moscow.

The 30-year-old midfielder, currently on loan at Charlton from Chelsea, claims there is a provisional agreement between all parties. (more)

Just think back. As summer turned to autumn, Charlton fans could face the dark evenings safe in the knowledge that their new midfield duo of Murphy and Smertin were kicking the arse of all comers. It would surely be a bright future. It was even safe for kids to play out in the street then, you know.

Now as winter fires off its last icy blasts, Danny Murphy is now desperately clinging onto a bit-part role in The Great Spurs Revival, while his mate Smerts decides he wants to go gome now his pal's crossed the Thames. Farewell, fair weather friends.

To be fair on Mr Smertin, though, he's in an odd position. Bought by Chelsea to prove that Roman Abramovich is interested in other things in his homeland than its oil revenues, he's sat on the bench, gone to Portsmouth, sat on the bench some more, and landed up with us. We're hardly going to match the filthy money they're paying him, so he might as well sod off while the time's right. He's not played well for us since Cry-baby went - indeed, he's not really done that well for us since our great slump.

So Smertin goes off to Moscow, and we're left with those stellar box-office draws, Matt Holland and Bryan Hughes, to thrill us in midfield. Thank God we've still got a Cup run to enthuse us (and them, because they'd better have something to play for).

Staying out of the Myhre

Not even frequent sightings of the All Quiet pint glass could furnish me with the illusion that our 0-0 draw with Liverpool was in any way exciting. Not quite prime-time viewing, nor the game to send you out on Saturday night with a lift.

But four points from the European champions ain't to be sniffed at. And when you've got to dig in, you've got to dig in. Even if Liverpool's strike force are as unimpressive as they were at The Valley - what did Cisse do other than just complain all the time? Thomas Myhre was more than a match for him. Where was Crouch? And it was good to see Robbie Fowler's arse send one shot wide.

Marcus Bent's injury's a bit of a worry for us, mind, while Bryan Hughes really could have done better than that puny pass he attempted for Darren Bent in the 75th minute. While Kish worked himself into the ground again, Jason Euell's introduction for us was a breath of fresh air in a game which desperately needed something new.

But we held on for a point, thanks to Luke Young, Jonathon Spector, Chris Perry and Hermann Hreidarsson all putting in solid performances in defence, and Thomas Myrhe being peerless in goal. Nothing was too tough for Tommy. Poor old Deano (lost 1-0 to Villa) might have seen it and wept.

Could we have gone for a win? It's a moot point. But frankly, we didn't really look capable of another Liverpool double. Instead, we frustrated the European champions. It wasn't pretty, but it's one of the most well-deserved points we'll get all season.

Bent into shape?

Not even the bottom of the All Quiet pint glass could really determine for me how Darren Bent did for England against Uruguay at Anfield. I don't wake up in sweats worrying about England, so it's hard for me to judge the way they play, but he did look a little isolated, a little out of things in the first half, and barely getting any service from the rest of the team while Rooney charged back into midfield. Failing that, could he have been any more adventurous or incisive? Possibly, but his style of play for England didn't differ too much from how he plays for us, although he did seem to cling to Uruguay's defenders a little too much. He livened up in the second half, but that seemed to be a different matter for England as a whole, mind.

On balance, a respectable debut, but did he do enough to get to the World Cup? You could always vote here, but you could always leave a comment below too.