Charlton 0-1 Yeovil

Well, as a choice of entertainment this evening, there wasn't really much choice. There was Bonekickers on BBC1, the tale of a group of young, inexperienced group of hunters delivering bad lines and stumbling into stupid situations they should really have avoided. And at The Valley...

Yup, the booing cowards in the stands got the result they wished for as a youthful Charlton side stumbled out of the League Cup to a Yeovil side who did what their travelling band of fans asked for, and a little bit more on top. A fairly even first half was punctuated by a easy goal by the Glovers' Paul Warne, which sailed by a defence which was probably working out if they'd set their Sky boxes for Don't Blame The Builder on Channel 4.

As the second half wore on, our confidence dropped and until a frantic finale, the League One side took charge. Particularly culpable were Yassin Moutouakil, disappointing in defence, while Luke Varney was wretched up front, playing in a panic - a criticism that can also be levelled at Grant Basey. Scott Wagstaff was subsituted early after looking well out of his depth, Jerome Thomas flattered to deceive once again, and as a whole we didn't look like creating anything if the match went on all night.

There were bright spots - but from three players who won't be ever-presents this season. Matt Holland worked his arse off, Jonjo Shelvey's energy livened up the team, while at the death Rob Elliot sprang out of goal and made several runs to meet late corners... almost getting a late equaliser. He got closer than Luke Varney did all night.

Just 6,239 there tonight, of which 6,000 will have wished they weren't. Yes, the League Cup is a distraction we could arguably do without - but tonight's performance suggests that with such slim pickings in our second string, we'll have to work hard to create something to get distracted from in the first place...

Swansea, Yeovil, and being potless

Just for the benefit of those pillocks who keep moaning about us selling players, may I present Mr Richard Murray in the South London Press...

CHARLTON chairman Richard Murray has admitted that the Addicks could have gone into administration if the directors had not pumped £15million into the club.

“If the directors hadn’t put in that money, it would have been a very dire situation for us,” Murray said.

“Looking at the squad, it would have been extremely hard for us to raise £15m from player sales alone and also have a competitive team.

"There was a risk we could have gone into administration without that investment." (more)

And remember, just take a look at Watford's current issues as well. The team that went out on Saturday is likely to be the initial bedrock of the coming season.

And they'll have to learn from the mistakes they made against Swansea - who were in control for too many spells for comfort - but we didn't do badly at all against the Welsh side. Will Gray and Varney gel into a deadly duo up front? It's too early to tell, really, but they do look sharper than before. Mark Hudson's a tireless worker and I enjoyed Kelly Youga's hard graft in defence. Matt Holland's new contract will be worth his weight in gold if he can produce cameos like he did at the weekend. But Lloyd Sam seemed to have run himself into the ground a little too soon, and that defence did look a bit shaky from time to time. But it was a deserved win, and a great lift for the start of the season.

Yeovil return to the Valley tomorrow in the nobody-gives-a-toss round of the League Cup. No indications yet as to whether Pards will give the youngsters a chance to prove themselves, but Yeovil have never been fools - having given a Premiership incarnation of Charlton a fright in the FA Cup in January 2005, when they were new in the fourth division. We were crap that day, and we'll have to do better than that to overcome a side which now features one-time Brentford scoring ace Lloyd Owusu and sometime QPR stars Terrell Forbes and Marc Bircham.

Want more? Have a look at Yeovil site Ciderspace's exhaustive guide to The Valley and its environs - and watch out for cider drinkers in Greenwich tomorrow...

Once more, unto the breach

I was talking to a West Ham fan in the pub last night.

"Fing is, about Charlton, is the atmosphere down there's shit."

"I know. They get on the players' backs too early. If we don't win the first couple of matches, it'll get nasty."

"They don't get behind the team."

"I know. But most Charlton fans are a load of old...- "

"But why is that?"

"Because they're a load of old...-"

"I'd have Pardew back any day. He brought the youngsters through with us."

"Well, he's got to do it again this season, we haven't got a pot to piss in."

"And you know Curbs wants to go back to your place?"

"Oh, please, no..."

So here we go again. I shan't waste your time with another load of pre-season preview guff, except to say that this is the year Alan Pardew has to prove himself - because he'll have to mould kids like Jonjo Shelvey and Grant Basey into worldbeaters if we're to pull ourselves out of the second tier. Can this be done? I hope it'll be fun to see. We've said goodbye to Big Chris Iwelumo and Majid Bougherra, and need to prepare to say farewell to Zheng Zhi as well. Getting shot of wasters like Marcus Bent and (hopefully) Amdy Faye isn't enough. The books need balancing in a league where we lose £3m each season before we kick a ball. Fingers crossed Shelvey will fulfil his potential - but we won't need to sell him.

With Mark Hudson assuming the captain's armband, who else is coming in? If we do get anyone new in, they'll be loans, like winger Hameur Bouazza, in from Fulham this morning. Last year Pardew didn't know his best team. This year, he won't have so much choice, but the man himself admits this might be a good thing.

So, new season, new blog - the comments are back - and hopefully a new spirit down at the Valley. And since it's my birthday today, I'm determined to enjoy myself. Come on you reds!

Faye's nearly gone...

From Stoke City's official site:

Charlton Athletic star Amdy Faye has joined the Potters on trial and could feature in this evening's game against Osasuna.

Faye, 31, is a Senegalese international having represented his country on 18 occasions.

The talented midfielder [hahaha] spent part of last season on loan at Scottish giants Rangers, where he went on to make a number of appearances including one in the UEFA Champions League.

Here's hoping, eh?

Faye to finally f- off, paper claims

Please, please, let this story from the Mail be true.

Stoke are close to sealing a £1m deal for Charlton midfielder Amdy Faye.

City boss Tony Pulis is desperate to add top-flight experience to his promoted squad and Faye, 31, has played in the Premier League at Portsmouth and Newcastle as well as Charlton. The Senegalese spent last season on loan at Rangers.

That's it. Well-known hack Sportsmail Reporter wrote no more. It's two years today since Faye joined us, and at Dulwich Hamlet last week you would not have believed he was the so-called Premier League footballer still earning, by Championship terms, an obscene pay packet. He lolloped around the Champion Hill pitch like he couldn't give a toss.

Actually, he's brilliant. He's quick, smart, tough, an instinctive footballer, a great thinker and an erudite conversationalist. He's a leader amongst men. I have the day off today and can hold a map. Tony, I'm sure me and an All Quiet reader who can drive (any volunteers?) can get him to the Britannia Stadium before the day's out. Go on, son. You know you want him.

Charlton on the web, 07-08-08

A bumper crop to start what'll hopefully be a regular feature...

- Guess what - the kits are selling out! (cafc.co.uk) Yup, people moan about them, but they still buy them in their droves...

- Mark Hudson is our new captain (cafc.co.uk) Guess what! I've just seen a bear leaving the woods wiping his bum!

- Pards - lessons have been learned (cafc.co.uk) They'd better have been. See also the South London Press.

- Addicks chief monitors Sodje (News Shopper) Is Sam on his way back?

- Blues turn down Bailey bid (Southend United OS) - The Shrimpers midfielder is after a move, and we want him.

- Richard Murray: This is a huge year (South London Press) The big man speaks. "As this is the last year we’ll have the Premier League parachute payments, on top of the problems caused by the credit crunch, we have had to raise about £5million this summer.

- Telegraph London Championship preview (Telegraph.co.uk) Their man reckons we'll be sixth. "Midfield is a worry. The redoubtable Matt Holland was a super box-to-box midfielder but he is 34 now and needs somebody dynamic alongside him. Pardew has silenced his critics before - and I'm backing him to do it again."

- Scotland ready to play some part at Charlton (Wales Online) Swansea are coming - and striker Jason Scotland's getting over injury.

- Villa in talks with Luke Young (BBC Sport) Good to see him set for a decent club. Did we get a sell-on clause?

New season, new look, same attitude

It's been a while, hasn't it? Welcome back to All Quiet In The East Stand after a fitful summer of sporadic updates. Frankly, there hasn't really been much to say, has there? To be honest, it was touch and go whether or not I'd carry on with the site or not, but one thing I had decided was that if I did carry on, I'd tart it up a bit.

So yeah, isn't the banner above classy? One hitch at the moment is that the comments thingy is broken, for which I apologise - hopefully it'll get fixed soon. It's still a work in progress, so I'll be fixing and tweaking things as we go on. Any thoughts, please drop me a line at inspectorsands (at) hotmail .co. uk - damn, means I'll have to start reading my inbox for once.

The new-look All Quiet started to take shape in a bar in Barcelona a couple of months back. Blowing the froth off a cold one, waiting to go to a gig, I realised there was something not quite right about Charlton stuff on the web. I used to love reading the Charlton Life forum, and I hold the people behind it in the highest regard, but it'd become unreadable. It'd been taken over by miseries. The same old miseries that made last season so crap for me.

Yup, it'd become the mailing list. And it was the drivel posted there that spurred me into starting All Quiet back in 2004. My Charlton support had come full circle. But I couldn't let the old whiners win.

Because believe it or not, football's not the be all and end-all of life. There was a time I was more interested in women and music. I probably am again now, actually. Football's just a small part of a rich and varied life. And that's the way it should be.

Let's face it, if you're middle-aged-man (or one stuck in a young man's body), stuck in a dull suburb with a woman who doesn't fancy you any more, unable to get it up as often as you'd like, pissed off you can't get away with casual racism any more, that the cost of petrol for your trips to soulless retail parks are too much, grumbling about "do-gooders" and agreeing with Jon Gaunt and Richard Littlejohn, then you're the reason why I'm getting back behind this blog again. Because you don't go to football for fun any more. You just go to moan. If your life's crap, do something about it. Don't inflict your backward worldview onto the rest of us.

And Charlton isn't your club. It's my club too, and I'm nowhere near as small-minded, petty, and boring as you. And I want my fun Saturday afternoons back. Get behind the team, have fun, and forget your problems. Or sod off and leave the rest of us alone.

Nobody ever said this season was going to be easy. But bugger it, I'm going to enjoy myself. Shouldn't you be doing that as well?

Thankfully the Charlton blogosphere (hate that word) has always been a bit more positive and level-headed than message-board and Bores-Behind-Me idiots. So I'm looking forward to diving back into the fray again.

The other new addition this season is that my co-conspirator Stuart will be taking a bigger role in writing the blog, because even I get bored with hearing myself all the time.

So, welcome back - whatever happens this season, stay proud to be an Addick.

Addicks react to Marcus Bent transfer

"At the time I spoke to Cardiff and the manager there, the club seemed very excited about signing me. They're striving to get into the Premiership by building the new stadium and such like. But for me personally when Birmingham came in it was lot more appealing because I think it's more likely that Birmingham are going to get back into the Premiership." - Marcus Bent, 16/7/08

Team Bath? Early bath, more like

Friendly: Bromley 1-0 Charlton - cafc.co.uk report
Charlton started their 2008/09 preparations with a whimper as we went down 1-0 to Bromley at Hayes Lane. Not the most engrossing of matches, a small-ish crowd, but a decent evening to lollop around and wonder just who the blimmin' heck it is wearing that number 4 shirt. And, in my case, to miraculously manage to throw the ball back to Bromley's keeper while still keeping hold of an ice cream. They don't teach kids that kind of skill these days, you know.

But on a night when the veteran Hayes Lane announcer was the highlight, by ending every announcement with "got it?", there were a few bright spots. Well, one big bright spot - Stuart Fleetwood made his debut in an Addicks shirt as a sub, and looked far and away the best player on the pitch, looking both lively and intelligent. Chris Dickson made his comeback up front, but made a lacklustre pairing with Team Bath forward Sean Canham, on trial but not looking up to the job. Three players from non-league football - it probably inspired the Bromley lads a bit.

This was, essentially, a reserves night - Mark Kinsella taking charge in the dugout, a suited, booted and tanned Pards across the pitch in the stand. What will he have learned tonight? Not a lot. Still, hopefully it'll get better from here. Got it?

Here we go again, then...

Euro 2008 is just a memory now, and Wimbledon's just over, so naturally, our thoughts turn to... the start of the pre-season. Yup, it all starts again at Hayes Lane, Bromley, at 7.45pm on Tuesday.

Now, the traditional curtain-raiser is at Welling - as it is on Wednesday. But I can't make that, so I'm kicking off 2008/09 by heading south to Hayes Lane. In theory, it's a reserve friendly, but hopefully there'll be a few first-teamers coming down for the game, which also kicks off the Conference South side's preparations for the new season. Hopefully I'll get around to putting a few words up on Tuesday night - I need to warm my blogging skills up once again as well...