Bent the 3am boy

Whatever else may be uncertain right now, it's good to see that "hunky Premiership star Darren Bent" is possibly the first Charlton player to be cooed over by the 3am Girls after signing a modelling deal with fashion label Projeckts NYC. Whatever happened to the good old days of Burton suits, eh?

(UPDATE: Saturday's Mirror: "Rafa Benitez will signpost his intentions by making a big-money move for Charlton striker Darren Bent immediately after this afternoon's Cup Final showdown with West Ham in Cardiff.")

Taylor-made?

Hull City's chairman says he'd be happy to allow Peter Taylor to talk to Charlton about our vacant managerial positition. No link to prove this, but I understand he told the BBC's local radio station up there the Tigers would want £100,000 compensation if he went. Here's what he told Radio Humberside (with thanks to the eagle-eyed spotter who saw this):

"He appears to be about to be approached by Charlton but we've heard nothing. Judging by the amount of attention it would surprise me if a manager from an FA background who has just won back to back promotions wasn't on the radar."

Genuine prospect or chairman simply answering a question?

But the lack of a manager isn't stopping us from nailing down players - Gonzalo Sorondo's signed a pre-contract deal with us.

£21m in the bank, ta

Charlton made £21m from TV appearances cash and Premiership prize money during the season, putting us 13th in the league's income list before gate reciepts and merchandise sales are taken into account.

We managed to earn a little more than Fulham, but otherwise our position in the table corresponds with our league position. Arsenal's marathon slog to the Champions League final saw them top this season's table with £52.7m, while Sunderland are rewarded with £16.1m for being a total waste of everybody's time.

Middlesbrough may have been totally outplayed in the Uefa Cup final, but that competition's hardly a money-spinner compared with the Champions League - they have £24.3m to show for a gruelling season.

Meanwhile, Chris Powell has laughed off suggestions he'd become a player-coach:

"Some people are saying I am going to be the new boss, but no chance.

"The boys have been calling me ‘uncle’ all year, now they are starting to call me ‘boss’.

"It is way too early for something like that." (more)

Applications for the manager's job closed today - hopefully a new man will be in sooner rather than later.

And Peacock and Day go too...

So it's farewell Keith, and goodbye Merv as Curbs' lieutenants go out the same way our manager went. Neither departure is a huge surprise, although many would have expected Keith Peacock, who made his Charlton debut in August 1962, to stuck around to provide a measure of continuity as a new regime beds in. But clearly he sees Curbs' departure as a cue for a break. Mervyn Day's departure will bring mixed emotions - the goalkeeper-turned-coach often a scapegoat, rightly or wrongly, for some of our less imaginative performances.

Of more interest is the man who's come in with the title "general manager - football". He's Andrew Mills, the ex-agent who persuaded Paul Konchesky he was too big for us in 2003, prompting him to put in a transfer request that led to nothing but a short loan spell at Spurs. Mills severed his links with his firm Premier Management some time back, but conspiracy theorists have already noted the firm includes Hull City manager Peter Taylor on its books.

If you were at Old Trafford...

... and saw anything unsavoury happen, take a look at this Netaddicks post. That's a reference to events in the stands, by the way, not Shaun Bartlett's selection in our starting XI.

(Be patient with it, Rivals.net's crappy servers are stuttering again.)

Bent priorities

Ah well, that's £20 saved on an England top. Darren Bent's omission from the England squad - and even the standby list - in favour of a 17-year-old who hasn't even played for Arsenal in the Premiership is pretty baffling. Dropped in favour of Defoe, or Shaun Wright-Phillips, I can understand, but Theo Walcott?

Still, we've a new signing to toast, US defender Cory Gibbs is heading to The Valley on a pre-contract agreement. So yes, we will have a player to watch at the World Cup after all. To celebrate, here's some video of Gibbs chopping Andy Johnson down and threatening to deck Glen Johnson.

Out with a whimper

The All Quiet (charlton.blogspot.com for those reading via a freeloading site whose owner will soon have a new arse torn for him) pint couldn't hide what was a sorry Charlton performance at Old Trafford, unworthy of Curbs' last game or the efforts of those who made it up to the north-west. It's got to be a certainty that many of those wearing a white shirt today will never put on a Charlton shirt again. Good. We end the season sixth out of six London clubs. This can't happen again.

But our cowardly capitulation at Manchester United was hidden by Arsenal's glorious farewell to Highbury - making Henry the centre of the commemorations looks an emotional masterstroke, although the final day's programme contains a reproduction of Woolwich Arsenal's first game at Highbury, celebrating leaving "that depressing place... Plumstead". Know how you feel. And who gave Spurs the squits?

But for us... it's freedom. Our season's over! The future's looking bright. Isn't it?

Facing the final curtain

If the Championship play-offs are acting as auditions for the vacancy at The Valley, then it's Adi Boothroyd who's got his nose in front, thanks to Watford's 3-0 demolition of Palarse at Sellout Park this lunchtime. Anyone who listened closely to Boothroyd's post-match interview on Sky may just have heard Iain Dowie bollocking the Beagles in the background... while Boothroyd's words show he's a man who knows how not to get carried away. A class act. Preston's Billy Davies kept his copybook clean as well, as his side drew 1-1 with Leeds at Elland Road on Friday.

However, Colchester's Phil Parkinson looks like he'll have his hands full as the U's secured promotion to the Championship, alongside League One champions Southend. Incidentally, a large feature tipping Parkinson for the Charlton job in Thursday's Evening Sub-Standard was pulled in later editions - to make way for McClaren or because it was rubbish? (Plenty of tasty East Anglia derbies in that league next season - and watch out for Grays, fighting back from 3-0 down to end the first leg of their Conference play-off 3-2 down.)

After those distractions, it's the end of the road for our season tomorrow, and for Alan Curbishley's Charlton career at Old Trafford. I'd love to be there, but haven't the heart for the immense train journey required (both routes to Manc mucked up by engineering works? Clever) and both my brain and that of an accomplice exploded on Thursday while trying to work out how to do the journey without breaking the bank. (For anyone going via Sheffield, you'll need to run like hell to make 3pm!) Shame, because I'm sure old Fergie will be in good form as well and I'd imagine the United fans will give Curbs a good send-off too. And here's a great interview in The Independent.

As for the exiting supporters' director's soppy idea for everyone to hold up "THANKS CURBS" cards - did anyone realise that holding up red cards at our departing leader might have another connotation? Especially after we've had our ritual thumping on Sir Matt Busby Way?

So I'll be in the pub hiding behind a pint of Guinness, but toasting 15 amazing years from Curbs. As well as a couple of other things that have made me happy this weekend - I've got hold of a ticket for Tunisa v Ukraine in Berlin next month which means the first ever All Quiet In The East Stand World Cup Jaunt, and the relegation of Franchise FC - only the Conference and Conference South divide them and AFC Wimbledon. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Situation vacant

So the ad's out for a new manager... in the Daily Mail! Presumably the new man will be expected to take a hard line with foreigners, aslyum-seekers, spongers, Labour party sleaze, those who drop litter and the police who nick those who drop litter.

Mind you, Curbs has had a column in the Daily Express, a newspaper surely these days only bought by the certifiably loopy, so maybe it's just business as usual. Perhaps the first question at the interview will be: "So what do you think happened to Princess Diana?"

Having said that, where would you place an ad for a manager? The Mercury? South London Press?

(Thanks to Riscardo - and various Netaddicks - and apologies for nicking the pic.)

Curbs: What the papers said

"As befits the Premiership's most civilised club the decision that Curbishley should go now was reached with mutual goodwill. Stiff upper lips abounded. It was as if Noel Coward's Private Lives was being acted out in Estuary English.

Newcastle were supposed to have him lined up as their next manager although, if Curbishley wanted a break, he would be more likely to seek it at a health farm than a funny farm." - David Lacey, The Guardian

“I'd like to come back one day and watch a game,” Alan Curbishley told the fans, microphone in hand, after a lap of honour to mark his last appearance as Charlton Athletic manager at The Valley. For his sake, that game will need to be a lot more exciting than this.

“Familiarity breeds contempt somewhat,” Mark Hughes, the Blackburn Rovers manager, said. “So maybe we don’t appreciate the qualities that he’s got. That’s what happens with the England job. Maybe a foreign coach is a bit more exotic and more attractive, but we should never underestimate the job that Premiership managers do, especially jobs like Alan’s done here.” - Alyson Rudd, The Times

Charlton themselves, who believe they have fully backed Curbishley, especially this season, are in a quandary. They would like to appoint a young, up-and-coming manager and had discussed an approach to Luton Town's Mike Newell but are concerned that their supporters may demand a bigger, more established name, especially as the club have ambitious plans to expand The Valley. - Jason Burt, The Independent (see also Dean Kiely' saucer-of-milk-to-Fratton Park, please quote: "He was there for a long, long time and that was his strength but that also meant a bit of tiredness and staleness")

Phil Parkinson, who has led Colchester to within a point of automatic promotion to the Championship, has the qualities and qualifications to be Charlton manager.

Colchester won praise as they lost 3-1 to Chelsea in this season's FA Cup and Parkinson would be well received by Charlton fans. Mick McCarthy is available after leaving Sunderland, and has been mentioned, but Watford's Adrian Boothroyd, who has done such a splendid job at Vicarage Road, is a more likely candidate should they fail to win promotion to the Premiership. - Christopher Davies, Daily Telegraph

Curbishley had invested so much of himself in building Charlton, the club more than the team, that he became visibly, in a sense physically, no longer enamoured with the daily task, let alone the yearly ritual of being thought of as a part of the furniture at one club living up to its very modest means.

Fast forward to the achievement at the Valley, to producing such a player as Scott Parker, and to having his own managerial heart ripped out when Parker not only left for Chelsea, not only became part of the reserves there, but subsequently preferred to move to Newcastle United rather than contemplate any kind of homecoming to the club that had taken him to the brink of England selection. Other players were lured to Charlton by Curbishley’s integrity and by the enthusiasm that he sustained, but that has undoubtedly petered out over this long and distracting season. Rob Hughes, Sunday Times

The Alan Curbishley era is coming to an end but Charlton played as if they were trying to get their manager the sack. Telegraph match report