Zabeel: What the papers say

THE GUARDIAN: Charlton Athletic were last night the subject of a takeover bid by the Maktoum family in a deal that would seem to end Dubai's interest in Liverpool.

The Valley club's efforts to play down the deal last night by insisting there is "no certainty" that the "indicative" bid will become a formal offer will not restrain unbridled excitement in south-east London. The involvement of Sheikh Hamdan Al-Maktoum, son of Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, through his Zabeel Investments vehicle would make the ascendancy of a club that dropped out of the Premier League with only 34 points in 2007 almost a certainty.

Superficially there would seem to be few motives for taking over a club who lie only 14th in the Championship today. But there was an influential link with Liverpool in that Rothschilds, the investment bank, had represented the five-times European champions and also worked for Charlton.

The Valley club have been scouring the market for fresh investment in recent months but few could have considered that the Dubai ruling caste would be interested in a Championship club. One close observer of Dubai's football negotiations expressed surprise at the deal, saying: "They usually go for the front of the grid."

THE INDEPENDENT: Buying Charlton may appear a strange choice but their location in London and the fact that they own the freehold on their stadium and training ground makes them attractive. Their manager, Alan Pardew, is understood to be aware of the deal and has already been reassured by the club's board – and the prospective new owners – that his job is safe and that he will receive funds in the January transfer window.

THE TIMES: Zabeel is not interested simply in throwing money at football. It is understood to have had talks with Mike Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United, but regarded his asking price of £480 million as too steep.

Instead of bidding for an established Barclays Premier League club, it has followed the lead of Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, who took over Queens Park Rangers for an investment of £14 million and are looking to take them into the top flight — a more economical way of acquiring a Premier League club, if it comes off.

Charlton are fourteenth in the Championship after losing their Premier League status in 2007 and may not seem an obvious attraction when, for example, Portsmouth are reported to be on the market for a similar amount. However, while the South Coast club are in the Premier League, they cannot match the solid foundations of the London club, who have a modern stadium with good facilities and plans to expand.

THE SUN: After failing with attempts to buy Liverpool and Arsenal, businessman Mohammed Al Hashimi — whose company Zabeel Investments is worth more than £3billion — is poised to take control at The Valley.

Should his offer be accepted by Charlton’s shareholders — and this seems certain — Al Hashimi will also wipe out the club’s debts of £20m.

Current chairman Richard Murray, in charge at the club since 1995, will advise the new owners and remain at the club.

For the time being at least, Alan Pardew’s position as manager seems to be safe.

The Sun's headline? Next it's Valley of the Kings.

Zabeel: Inspector Sands' Facebook feed

Well, someone close to Inspector Sands, anyway...

Charlton fan A fumin, no arabs for charlton please!! fuck off with your dirty oil money! 22:49 Fri

Charlton fan B is wearing a tea towel on his head. Give us your money Dubai! 20.56 Fri

Newcastle fan A is laughing at toon, Mike Ashley has lost another Arab, this time to Charlatan hahahaha. 20:22 Fri

Charlton fan C is wondering if he should have 8 Gerrard or 9 Rooney on the back of his CAFC shirt next season... 20:08 Fri

Charlton fan D doesn't mind the global economic crash - he's just seen the football news!!! 19:46 Fri

Charlton fan E is cautious about takeovers. 19:45 Fri

Charlton fan F is very sad at the prospect of waving goodbye to a true community club. What's the price of "progress"? 19:28 Fri
- Charlton fan N at 19:33: mate its amazing news!
- Charlton fan F at 20:17: I used to criticise Fulham, Blackburn et al for buying success and was proud of what we achieved purely through good management and on the pitch.
- Charlton fan O at 20:26: exactly =( I honestly refused, and perhaps still am refusing, to believe it because I just feel like part of what charlton is will have died. It's desperately needed, no mistake. But still really sad to see what we can never be proud of again.

Charlton fan G is hoping you Palace, Millwall and West Ham fans are going to fill your cars up this weekend, cause we'll like to buy a few more players. 19:14 Fri
- Palace fan A at 21:06: I'm so glad I don't drive. you'll not get a penny off me. a PENNY!

Charlton fan H loves the people of dubai , Joe Cole in a red shirt would be nice. 19:13 Fri

Charlton fan I can't believe that Charlton are going to be rich!! 19:12 Fri

Charlton fan J is out on the pub crawl and unsure about the arabs! 19:11 Fri

Charlton fan K is thinking... Dubai group make bid for Charlton. COME ON SON! 18:14 Fri

Charlton fan L is in shock. Dubai is coming to Charlton!!! 17:14 Fri

Charlton fan M is a tad sheikhen up by news from the Valley..... 17:07 Fri

Dubai takeover bid - first, decisive reaction

I really haven't a clue what to make of this.

But oh, my word... it could be an exciting future ahead - but a scary one too.

Anyone else think the rescue boat's pulled up, and we've no choice but to get in it - whatever the risks? Hmmm. More on this later, one I've been to the pub had a proper think...

Pards poser after Palace defeat

Well, 12 years of barely-challenged supremacy had to come to an end at some point, but tonight's limp defeat at Sellout left a nasty taste in my mouth. I think plenty of us, in all honesty, saw it coming. I think I did too - defeat's sometimes better taken on your own, and I ended up perched towards the foot of the grotty-as-ever Arthur Waite stand, and ended up walking out seven minutes before the end, taking out my frustrations on that sodding great hill that takes you up to Crystal Palace Park. At least I'm a bit fitter for the trip...

So, what have we learned? We have learned that we are bloody awful at a 4-5-1 formation. Luke Varney had no chance at the head of that. We have learned that we are bloody awful at a long ball game. Especially when you play a fairly muscular side like Palace. Okay, our weaknesses on the wings may force us into hoofing the ball, but we looked undeniably better with the ball on the ground. We have learned we still have serious problems in defence. Well, the increasingly erratic Kelly Youga, for a start. And I'm still scratching my head as to what Martin Cranie actually brings to our side - at Forest, he seemed to add a few IQ points to the back four, but they weren't in evidence tonight.

My deeper worry, though, is the team itself - it's less than the sum of its parts. For all Bailey's efforts, for all Varney's toil, it's as if our players simply don't believe they can take on the best. So we get run ragged by the likes of Victor Moses, or outclassed by Ben Watson, let our heads drop, and tamely surrender.

Which surely comes back to... the manager. Sorry, Pards, this defeat has your fingerprints all over it. There's no point saying you plan to shake the team up when you said exactly the same thing three days ago after another defeat. His implication that our tactics involved playing long balls is also worrying.

So, we've got a problem. The Evening Sub-Standard - which hates Charlton as much as it loves the current mayor - stuck its oar in with a "vote of confidence" story. Or, as Sky regurgitated it - the "dreaded vote of confidence".

The Dowie/Reed fiasco aside, we aren't one of those mug clubs who go through managers every couple of years. Instability wrecks sides. But I've a nasty feeling we're on a slippery slope. Only one man can change it. Pards - it's down to you, mate. Make us believe in you again.

On the edge of a crisis?

"Crisis" is an over-used word in football. When your badly-run bank has to be taken over by the government, that's a crisis. When your football team doesn't win a match, it's a mere misfortune. But I'm not alone in feeling something deeper is amiss at Charlton right now. But I can't put my finger on what's quite wrong.

I should have known we'd lose yesterday when that pillock of a pitch announcer drivelled on about facing Sheffield Wednesday "on the back of two clean sheets". I wasn't at the win over Doncaster Rovers, but the day out at Nottingham Forest was pleasant enough, and I still wake up in sweats over Andy Gray's shot being saved at close range.

Alan Pardew tweaked our suspect defence ahead of the Wednesday clash - with returning loanee Linvoy Primus coming in for the hapless Jonathan Fortune. But did it do any good? Er... no. Luke Varney's opener was swiftly overturned by a nightmare three minutes which saw two goals go in and left defenders and goalkeeper yelling at each other.

Much like at Forest, a frantic (and entertaining) second half saw us batter the Owls' goal - but to no avail. (Did you see how good we were for that spell with just three at the back, by the way?) And then the boos ran out yet again...

There's definitely something broken at Charlton. I've dealt with the fans often enough, but our ridiculous level of expectation just makes The Valley a welcoming place for opponents. Our team's good enough to beat any of its rivals in the Championship. Most of them are level-headed pros rather than the oafish blinged-up dimwits who spoil the Premiership. But the spirit isn't there. Is it the manager? Alan Pardew says he's now got players who can play his way, rather than having to adapt to a team created by his predecessors. But it's clearly not working. Unfortunately, I really fear that if we lose to Crystal Palace on Tuesday, it'll start a chain of events that we may live to regret.

So, what to do? I haven't a clue. I fear that getting behind the team is beyond too many Charlton fans, who just use their visits to the Valley to take out their frustration. I've got a nasty feeling about Tuesday's trip to Selhurst, since we've had it our way there for what seems like an age - that can't go on forever. It was always going to be a big fixture - this could end up being our biggest for a couple of seasons. Here's hoping it's for the right reasons.

Ravaged by the Wolves

There was a different context to this weekend's match for me. As some readers may know already, I was in the Midlands last week at the funeral of a Wolves-supporting pal of mine who I was hoping to have seen at yesterday's match. Think it's desolate in Wolverhampton on a matchday? You try it on a wet Tuesday morning when you're in a black suit. But there's a certain class attached to the old gold, and I don't just mean memories of George Berry's afro.

After the service and a tipsy wake, I discovered the funeral cortege had been driven through the grounds of Molineux. The traffic was stopped so the cars could pause at the statue of Billy Wright - and the club staff stood, in their blazers, to attention. Like I said, a certain class.

Class brings expectations, but Big Mick McCarthy's showing every sign of delivering on them this season. Yes, Nicky Bailey's goal was one of the best I've ever seen at The Valley - but Wolves showed a resillience that we, at the moment, can only dream of. And how good a striker is Sylvan Ebanks-Blake?

I thought both sides looked a bit fuzzy in the first half - international break and all that. Wolves looked like they missed Big Chris Iwulemo, who's been - surprise, surprise - doing the business for them since he moved north. I expected a sharper match in the second half, but instead we just seemed to wither away. The defence gave up - Jon Fortune increasingly looking like the weakest link, while Martin Cranie didn't do much to impress on his debut. Alan Pardew is delighted we still have Zheng Zhi - and so am I after having seen our midfield implode. And despite those great runs, Luke Varney's still flattering to decieve.

There's a lots of things we can learn from Saturday's match - me, I'm lumping a fiver on Wolves to win the division; and it's just an awful shame my pal isn't around to see them top of the league.

For us, there'll be better days, and hopefully one will come at Doncaster on Tuesday.

On the wrong frequency

I spent Saturday cursing our clapped-out rail network for preventing me from making an easy journey to Preston - who else was tempted to make the trip after our defeat of Reading?

But later on, I was praising our terrible trains for saving me from seeing a match in which, by all accounts, we were very much second best. However, it wasn't as if I could hear very much of it, since BBC London decided not to cover our match.

In fact, the BBC's local station for the capital, which has exclusive commentary rights for Charlton matches, opted to broadcast West Ham v Blackburn on both its 94.9 FM and DAB services. Unfortunately, this was the same match 5 Live was covering. Not sensible.

It's not just us - I wouldn't have minded if they'd neglected us in favour of QPR's trip to Bristol City, we share a crowded patch for football clubs and to be honest, I'm happier hearing us on a London-wide station than a parochial commentary on a community station.

Ah, but what about BBC Radio Kent, you say? Well, yes, they did cover the game... but you try picking that up in Charlton. You can't.

There's a broader issue with BBC London having too many radio rights, not least because there isn't the competition - the commercial stations have given up on commentaries. LBC haven't done it for donkey's years, Capital Gold (and Xfm) gave up two or three years back, and Talksport dropped their London opt-out a few years back.

Which leaves you with just BBC London trying to serve a load of clubs - and doing it badly. Even if they're just trying to chase the audience, doing West Ham (at home!) when 5 Live are doing it as well is insane. Ad it's the kind of thing which makes people question the licence fee.

If I was them, I'd prioritise the Championship sides and cover us/Palace/QPR aways, and maybe the odd Premiership game if it isn't being covered elsewhere.

But I guess they don't want to be seen as an "inferior" station to 5 Live, fit only for second-tier commentaries.. yet by continually following what 5 Live does, that's all they are ever going to be. And it's what we're lumbered with this season.

If you feel the same way as me, you could do little worse than drop the BBC a line here.

An iffy pint at Arsenal

A public information announcement...



Following Newcastle United chairman Mike Ashley’s Ashburton Grove appearance in the Toon end with pint in hand, the Football Supporters’ Federation is looking for any fans ejected and/or prosecuted for drinking in sight of the pitch this past weekend to come forward.

Drinking alcohol is sight of the playing area at professional football matches has been banned by law since 1985. The same activity is perfectly lawful at all other sporting events. If you’re a fan of rugby league or rugby union – no problem. Likewise cricket, American Football, speedway, horse racing. Even tiddlywinks as far as we know. Breweries and distilleries are a major sponsor of football.

We know of many supporters who’ve been banned from attending matches for three years for the “crime” of having a tipple whilst watching the game. Why? There are plenty of laws that the police can use to prosecute people who become abusive or violent though alcohol consumption. Being drunk in a public place is a criminal offence.

Why should the law abiding majority of football fans be singled out? If you’ve been ejected, banned or prosecuted for drinking in sight of the pitch, particularly this past weekend, get in touch with the FSF NOW at: info @ fsf.org.uk or on 08702 777777 (Mon-Fri office hours).

Births, death and a midfield marriage

A fledgling Charlton side came out on top in a highly entertaining early kick off at the Valley. But is this the birth of a good side? Just what did we learn from playing what was a largely intact Premiership side in Reading FC?

The Inspector was at the game in body but not in spirit, having heard of the untimely death of a friend, so my observations will have to do.

Charlton seemed to get at Reading throughout, much as veteran Championship teams did to us last season, which is encouraging for the campaign.

Defensive weaknesses remain, particularly in gifting a goal on the stroke of half time. And the lunacy of singing 'easy, easy' so early was rightly punished. Didn't seem to teach the crowd, who sang it again at 4-2 just before two near misses from Reading in the closing stages.

Speaking of the crowd, unlike the majority I didn't actually think the referee gave too much against us, and the penalty in the first half looked a good decision.

Nick Bailey (who is the spit of Graham Stuart from the stands) looked a decent player and his midfield partnership with Matt Holland offers real promise.

Both strikers looked handy in their own way. Andy Gray looked particularly strong and up for it against pretty decent Reading centre-halves. Bouazza's shot was an early contender for goal of the season too.

Not one single boo throughout, long may it continue.

Stephen Hunt looks like he's wandered off the set of Life on Mars. Decent player though.

So a great result to kick off the bank holiday weekend. Please spare a thought for the Inspector's departed friend, and enjoy your DIY.

Watford 1-0 Charlton

Proper reports: cafc.co.uk, BBC Sport

Hmmmmmmm. Going down to a soft goal (Jonathan Fortune, what were you doing?) I can kind of, sort of take. Because these things happen. And you can fight back from those. But having the match totally skewed by a bad ref, a linesman who didn't want to correct him, and the tedious, time-wasting antics of Aidy Boothroyd's golden shower is a tought one to swallow.

The sending-off you probably know about already. Kelly Youga - who wasn't having a good game - crashed into the Hornets' Tamas Priskin as they entered the penalty area. Priskin obligingly fell like a sack of spuds into the penalty area, and man-in-black Iain Williamson whipped out his red card.

Meanwhile, the linesman in front of the empty East Stand stayed still. He had a better view of the incident than the ref, but didn't flag for an offence. Nor did he advise the referee as to what he saw. The away fans went ballastic. Substitute Chris Dickson, running up and down the touchline, pointed at him and laughed, Nelson Muntz-style, and made spectacle gastures behind his back. He wasn't much cop, this fella.

Indeed, not was Williamson, who set his stamp on the game early by booking Watford's John Eustace after three minutes but later took a more lenient view of the home team than the three yellow cards he gave them would suggest.

As for us, it wasn't a great first half but our 10 men came at Watford strongly in the second half, to the extent that I'm sure Boothroyd was running scared with the tactics he employed against us - we had a frantic spell late in the game and surely deserved better. The goal aside, our defence seems better, and our midfield ticked over nicely with newcomer Nicky Bailey slotting in well with Therry Racon.

Unfortunately, that's now tempered with news that Racon may have fractured his metetarsal after going off injured.

Our other big problem, though, is up front. No matter how much Alan Pardew might want it to work, the Andy Gray/ Luke Varney partnership just isn't doing the business. Chris Dickson looked lively when he came on, but is he experienced enough to start? Or are we waiting on Todorov to return from injury? That - as well as Racon's injury - may be the biggest puzzle at the start of the season.