Bent's sandwich mishap

DARREN BENT is set to miss the start of the new Premiership season - and England's first friendly under Steve McClaren - after slicing his hand open in a freak accident.

Charlton are worried their star striker could be out for up to six weeks after suffering the injury as he chopped onions and bread to make a sandwich at home. (more)

Hopefully it's an exaggeration - but I guess we'll be lucky to see little Bent tomorrow at the New Den. I thought things were looking too good to be true!

Blair, Young, and the feel-good factor

I actually saw it happen live, procrastinating about doing proper work and half-listening to Prime Minister's Questions when Eltham MP Clive Efford stood up and asked Tony Blair if he'd like to come along to the opening of a Charlton community project at Sparrows Lane. And the PM answered thus...

"I'm very happy to send a message of congratulations to Charlton on their wonderful new sporting facility that will do so much for young people.

"I congratulate the Football Foundation and Barclays Bank who are the other partners - and also congratulate Charlton on the very wise re-signing of Darren Bent!" (audio/video)

Blimey. No pressure there then, Dazza. Of course, Tone's commitment to football (despite that impressive keepy-uppy session with Kevin Keegan years ago) is often ridiculed for claiming his "teenage hero" was Newcastle's Jackie Milburn (Blair was four when Milburn retired). So long as he doesn't claim to have watched Sam Bartram play in 1961, it should be okay...

And then later on - Luke Young finally re-signed for us, which will be praised tomorrow by Gordon Brown as "good news for hard-working families across Britain".

Again, it'll all down to Iain Dowie...

"I can't speak highly enough of how myself and everybody else have been impressed with the first couple of weeks of training.

"It's been bright and forward-thinking and it feels as though everything is moving in the right direction." (more)

As Tony Blair would no doubt confirm, politicians and football managers depend on feel-good factors, and there's certainly one of those washing through The Valley right now. When was the last time things felt this rosy?

Not all is as happy over at West 'Am, though, where ex-Addick Shaun Newton has been banned for seven months after testing positive for cocaine use. Cue thousands of shaking heads, and a mass mutter of "he didn't look the type!".

And frankly, he didn't.

Admirably, Alan Pardew says West Ham will stand by him.

"I have seen at first hand the emotional and personal hell that Shaun Newton has been through in recent weeks, and our priority must be to help him - not abandon him. I hope his experience serves as a lesson to any sportsperson."

Isolated bit of toot or not, as a professional sportsman he shouldn't have done it and deserves his punishment fully. But Newton's still only 30, has three young children, and hopefully he'll return stronger for this.

And finally, Aston Villa look set to launch a worldwide search for Alan Curbishley after David O'Leary got the heave-ho tonight. A job alongside Deadly Doug? I'd stick with the holiday if I were him.

(Picture above taken from here, Bartram joke nicked from Netaddicks. It's too hot to think up my own gags.)

Gravesend to play Franchise FC

Gravesend & Northfleet will entertain MK Dons in a friendly at Stonebridge Road on Wednesday July 26th.

The match, with a 7.45 kick off, is the first home fixture announced by the Fleet for their pre season programme, which begins on Saturday July 15th with a trip to Folkestone Invicta. (more)

Oh dear. They don't get it, do they? Any sympathy for Gravesend & Northfleet in their battle against Gillingham planning to relocate to their area has just evaporated. Hypocrites.

Anyway, if they were desperate to play the Franchise, they could always wait until they're relegated next season.

Millwall travel woes *strike cancelled*

Coming from afar to our friendly at The New Den on Saturday? Then pay attention. There's a rail strike due for Friday afternoon and Saturday which will cause a bit of grief if you're planning to come to the game.

Yeah, they cancelled it. But why waste an opportunity to show a picture of Bob Crow in his Millwall gear?

In short, there's an extremely limited train service running, with no trains at all to South Bermondsey, New Cross Gate, New Cross, Deptford or Lewisham. On Southeastern, there's a limited service from Kent to London, while inside London, the only stopping trains will run between London Bridge and Slade Green via Greenwich and Bexleyheath.

Travelling home may well be easier, but getting there will be a slow job, by bus or car.

Here's full details if you travel by Southeastern, and further details if Southern is your company. (Nationwide details here.)

Of course, RMT boss Bob Crow, pictured on the right, may well be in the home end, should you wish to discuss the finer aspects of the dispute with him.

Benty's new deal

I made up my mind along while ago that I was staying. People were writing in the paper every other week about this club and that club but it was always my intention to stay at Charlton.

"It was nice to be offered a new deal and I've put pen to paper now so that I can just look forward to the new season." (more)

Come on, did anybody really think Darren Bent was going to start the season anywhere but Charlton? It was nice of dinosaurs like Newcastle and Spurs to try to unsettle him through the press, but really, anyone who thought Bent was going to go needs a course of Prozac.

A disturbing number of Charlton fans did, though. It could be that we're all natural-born pessimists, but a lot of it's got to be down to the way the football media works (and why I had that go at "me too" websites last month) - Club A sneakily places story in Newspaper B, which puts it on an inside column on page 77, but not on its website. Crap Website C then lifts Newspaper B's story, possibly embellishing it, it's lifted again by Crapper Website D, and before long there's a full scale rumour going on which then convinces people the worst is going to happen. It's why I hate the transfer window, and it's why I hate "me too" websites, because they actually make talking about football a pain in the arse at this time of year.

Of course, next summer's a different matter - but for now, let's enjoy what we've got and hope Darren doesn't get Second Season Syndrome. And we got a nice press do in the sunshine, with Benty, Dowie and Richard Murray beaming for the cameras. Result.

Oh, and Darren's words about our new boss?

Training has been hard but good. The gaffer's come in and brought some new ideas and it's really exciting. I've loved every minute of it.

"All the lads are buzzing even though training has been really hard. It is as if everyone has had a massive weight lifted off their shoulders because we've got a new manager and everyone is starting out afresh.

"I spoke to Andy Johnson and he told me that Iain Dowie was a really good manager. He has come to The Valley and he's been brilliant. I've loved every day working with him."

Awwww. He's such a nice lad, isn't he?

Got World Cup withdrawal symptoms?

Here's possibly the ultimate Zidane head-butt video.

It's not big and clever, of course.

Bent's new deal and other Sunday stories

DARREN BENT will sign an extension to his Charlton contract this week, snubbing a host of offers to leave The Valley, as Sunday Mirror Sport exclusively revealed six weeks ago.

Clubs including Liverpool, Tottenham, Ever-ton and Newcastle have tried and failed to convince Charlton to sell this summer.

But Bent, who joined Charlton from Ipswich for £3.5million only last summer, is expected to extend his current contract by a further 12 months with a considerable pay hike taking him to the summer of 2010 on wages approaching £30,000 a week. (Sunday Mirror)

The News of the World says we're after ex-Southampton midfielder Matt Oakley and Australian defender Scott Chipperfield. And as far as those who have departed us are concerned...

Much midnight oil is being burned at the Stadium of Light where Sunderland are currently managerless. Unfortunately, Alan Curbishley, on a "world tour" sabbatical since leaving Charlton in May, has caught the travel bug so badly that he is now understood to be unavailable until 2007. (Sunday Telegraph)

Dowie v Jordan - a preview

Last night's Evening Sub-Standard had details of what it said was Iain Dowie's evidence against Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan. You'll find more details here, although here's some highlights from the paper's back-page splash:

Dowie's defence claims Jordan:
- told him Palace's last season was "a complete f**king failure" after
play-off semi-final defeat by Watford
- argued that he had spent the campaign "watching a team that are f**king
sh*t, they haven't any bo***cks"
- insisted up to GBP12m had to be raised from player sales but there would
only be "about GBP3m" for new signings
- demanded the budget for running the team and youth academy was slashed
- wanted to become "more involved" in the day-to-day running of the team and
club
- questioned the manager's commitment and repeatedly suggested he may want
to consider his position.

Well, there's no arguing with the second point, at least. (See also The Sun.) The challenge now is to make sure this saga doesn't overshadow our season, particularly - as Richard Murray acknowledges - there's so much riding on this one.

"What we want is a little bit more entertaining football. Over the last couple of years it has not been that much fun watching our football down here for all sorts of reasons.

"Iain is aware of that and is going to try to get us playing good, entertaining football and still getting the results.

"I just would not promise top six.

"It is great for the glory, but financially you make nothing from the UEFA Cup - it probably costs you more because of the bonuses you play your players."

In other news, as expected, Dowie's taken Palace's Aussie rugby hardnut John Harpin to be a new performance manager, while Mike Kelly also moves from Sellout to work alongside Harpin.

And Paolo Di Canio, formerly of this parish, has signed for Cisco Roma, of Italy's fourth division.

Raiding the Palace?

Today's Mirror:

CHARLTON boss Iain Dowie has agreed a £1.5million deal with his old club Crystal Palace for right-back Emerson Boyce.

Dowie put in a new offer and persuaded successor Peter Taylor to give him permission to speak to the highly-fancied 26-year-old about a move to the Premiership. (more)

Boyce was Palace's player of the year last year. Meanwhile, the club says Iain Dowie has put together a detailed defence of the allegations made about him by Tango-toned Beagles chairman Simon Jordan.

Meanwhile, tonight's Mastermind on BBC2 has Charlton fan Derek Woolley answering questions about... Charlton, funnily enough.

By Jimmy!

"It's going to be a big challenge but I think it was the right move for me. Charlton is a club that is moving in the right direction, upwards, and that wants to achieve things. I'm just delighted that I got the opportunity to be part of it.

"I definitely have the hunger and I definitely think I have two more years in me. At the moment I feel like a little boy getting a bit of candy and I'm very happy and just ready to go.” (more)

Blimey. So Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink joins Charlton, with Richard Murray cheerfully quipping that he had been trying to sign the former Leeds, Chelsea and Middlesbrough striker for 10 years, but only now could we afford him.

I've got to admit, in the past I'd always seen Hasselbaink as a bit of an overpaid mercenary - remember his tumble in the box against us at the Bridge in February 2004? Actually, maybe it was just that I held against him... but he looks keen, and everything looked good at the press conference. And maybe we could do with a bit of that cynicism. Things are looking up.

Incidentally, there was one thing Dowie mentioned which I couldn't help noticing - and it wasn't Richard Murray emphasising that Darren Bent's going nowhere. Twice during the press conference, Iain Dowie namechecked Kevin Lisbie. Yup, it looks like Super Kev's going to survive under the new regime. So maybe it wasn't just Curbs that was a fan. Lisbie and Hasselbaink up front? Now there's one to ponder.