Pards: 'Only the strong will stay'

Wise words from Alan Pardew in a fine Independent on Sunday piece on us:

"If you look through society you could argue that in a lot of trades perhaps the world's an easier place.

"There's more money around and that hunger and desire has to come from within. I'll quickly find out with the players here whether that's in them. For example, someone like Matty Holland could inherit £40 million tomorrow but the hunger and burning desire in him to win games will never cease. It's those characters that you want in your team and the ones who are not so strong will go." (more)

Next year looks even more intriguing - whatever it'll bring.

On that note, thanks for your support of All Quiet In The East Stand during 2006 - see you on the other side, limbering up for a Tuesday date at the Holloway Goonerdrome. Happy new year!

Charlton 2-1 Aston Villa

There are howling winds outside and I got soaked returning from a post-match pint but things are looking up after a late winner from Bryan Hughes snatched all three points from Aston Villa's grasp.

The early kick-off didn't suit Charlton and referee Rob Styles acted as if he'd just got out of bed as well - Olof Mellberg smashed into Talal El Karkouri as they prepared for a Villa free-kick. Oddly, Styles decided to give both players a yellow card. We'd been here before...

But Charlton were disjointed in the first half and Villa's penalty, scored by Gareth Barry, knocked the stuffing out of us. We emerged in the second half - with Kish replaced by Hughes - looking only marginally better, but Darren Bent's header got us back in the game, and spirits rocketed. Barry was sent off for a second bookable offence (fuck knows, I was knackered and couldn't follow Styles' crap), but we found it tough to break Villa down until the final minute, when Hughes used his head to grab us a deserved win.

Several individual performances have been better since Alan Pardew took over - Darren Ambrose looks more confident, Marcus Bent is getting livelier, Dennis Rommedahl's even looking threatening, and Matt Holland is looking a bit steely. And it's good to see Darren Bent back on the scoresheet yet again, although he looked to be struggling at the end of the match.

Watford's match was rained off, and West Ham lost (ho ho ho), making our position look that bit less perilous, although like my neighbour's New Year party marquee in these winds, it's still bloody shaky. We'll still rue the lost two points from Wednesday, but we can head towards Arsenal on Tuesday with our heads held high. New year, new boss, new start, eh?

Oh, and notice how Pardew's billed at the front of the programme? "MANAGER". No more of this "head coach" nonsense. It's getting better.

Sun: 'How Dowie got us lost'

A bit more light's been shed on why Iain Dowie was sacked, thanks to this astonishing story in today's Sun. Plenty of rumours have been flying around, the strongest has been that his brother Bob was discovered in the dressing room at Craven Cottage - and that features here. Of course, Bob was still an employee of Crystal Palace at the time. And other theories have been merrily trumpeted around without much foundation, and a few weeks back the News of the World said he'd been sacked for "gross misconduct".

Obviously, there's a pinch of salt to be taken on this, but this story claims a few odd things about his training methods...

The most bizarre moment of Dowie’s reign was when Charlton’s players were in the North East for their match against Newcastle on October 28.

On the morning of the game, which was a 5.15pm kick-off, Dowie took his players out for a run.

Yet the entire squad got lost and the players — just hours before an important Premier League game — were seen running across a busy dual carriageway, dodging lorries in the process.

One Charlton star, who asked not to be named, said: “It was quite funny at the time but it was hardly good preparation. I was knackered.”

Eventually, the players discovered where they were — but they had wandered so far away from their hotel they had to contact the club kitman who hailed a fleet of taxi cabs to rescue them. (more)

Oh, and there was this:

Matters came to a head before the visit to Wigan on November 11.

The day before the game, with the team coach travelling to their Lancashire hotel, Dowie asked the coach driver to drop him off near his Bolton home — and the former Northern Ireland international striker was not seen again until three hours before kick-off the next day.

This was a surprise for the players and the club’s directors were both baffled and angry. (more)

The Sun claims Dowie's likely to sue Charlton - if that's true, get ready for even more lurid tales to emerge...

Pressley leaves the building, Zheng in

So Steven Pressley chose Celtic over Charlton - probably a rare case of a footballer choosing his heart over his wallet, and a bit of security to boot. A shame, but he (and his agent) had nice things to say about us and Pards, at least.

“I was true to my word. I said to Alan I would call him and give my decision, which I did.

“He’s a very persuasive man and a man of great charisma, I thoroughly enjoyed my meeting with him.

“Charlton are a very good family club and very well-operated so it was a difficult decision but my heart said come to Celtic and I certainly followed that.” (more)

Hey-ho. But, as widely thought, we did announce the signing of Chinese captain Zheng Zyi, who arrives in England at the weekend. He'll be the first of a few, I reckon, in what could be an interesting few weeks.

Aston Villa at TOO BLOODY EARLY tomorrow, they've not won in a while, so they'll be up to break their duck. It'll be a tough one, and victory will be a massive boost. I hope The Valley roars.

Les says... Pards is the man

Les Reed has given a statement to the Daily Mail defending his appointment as head coach - but without a word of rancour or bitterness about his sacking on Christmas Eve, and urging fans to get behind Alan Pardew.

"It became clear that the continuous speculation surrounding my position was counter productive to our plans and Charlton’s future. We agreed mutually that it was in the best interests of the club for me stand down and this I have done in order that this great club can move on.

"My position had become untenable in circumstances not of my making and beyond my control. I have not run away from this challenge I have done what is right for Charlton.

"I have left the club amicably and remain a big fan. I have an excellent relationship with Richard Murray, the Board and Peter Varney, who have all acted properly and decently, and this relationship will continue. I sincerely hope that everybody will get behind Alan Pardew and pull together to ensure he has the best chance to pull it off. You can be sure I will." (more)

It's the mark of a decent man. Hope we see him at The Valley soon - he deserves to be shown that he's still held in high regard.

Charlton 2-2 Fulham

Proper reports: cafc.co.uk, BBC Sport, Sky Sports, Sporting Life, The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, Daily Telegraph.

I don't want to dwell on Graham Poll's awful fuck-up at the end of the game, it'll all have been said already and it's futile going on about it here. Except to say Poll was erratic all night, seemed petrified of pulling out any cards, and the assistant referee in front of the East Stand, Steve Artis (only recently promoted to Premier League duties), was equally awful. And....

1) If tonight means that egotistical prick gets the shove from Premiership refereeing, then at least that's something good.

2) If he was on fire, I'd only piss on him after drinking petrol.

But if it comes down to two points in May, none of this will be any good.

Anyway, there were plenty of positives tonight, not least the news that Steven Pressley's due to sign for us in the transfer window, pending a medical - giving us a much-needed dose of leadership.

On the field, even Dennis "man of war" Rommedahl looked like he was on a mission. Big Bent bucked his ideas up while Little Bent's face when he scored that goal would melt any festive Scrooge's bad mood - good to see him break his duck. We seemed to be playing football again, with dynamo Kish working overtime. Sure, a lot of it was fitful and our defence is still pretty bad. But until arsehole Poll screwed it up, we were getting what we deserved against a niggly Fulham side who irritated more than impressed.

Ho-hum. Hopefully Pardew can lift the spirits for Villa on Saturday. He's been careful to dampen expectations for far, but the Liverpool, Wycombe and Boro fiascos already feel a long way away. Despite Graham Poll's dreadful work.

A Christmas thought for Les

Picture this: In a few years' time, you'll be stuck at a train station, killing time in WH Smith. You glance at the magazines - swiftly avoiding an increasingly-haggard Rebecca Loos on the front of Loaded ("that bastard Beckham still won't reply to my texts, nine years on") and Simon Jordan on the front of TV Times, plugging the new series of Stars In Their Eyes. It seemed a long time ago that Michael Grade decided to make him the face of ITV1, but since Grade put his ITV bonuses into Charlton, nobody seemed to mind. Especially after Crystal Palace's catastrophic relegation to League One.

Instead, a familiar name crops up. "How I nearly relegated the club I love," reads a headline reads in FourFourTwo magazine. Inside, a relaxed-looking Les Reed talks about his days in charge of Charlton. His tenure remains the shortest "in Premiership history" - the phrase still jars.

He tells how he remains sure he could have kept Charlton up in 2007, but holds no bitterness over what happened. Instead, after a while out of the game, and a spell working with Curbs at West Ham, he's back in the game. In fact, he's about to take Dartford up into the Conference for the first time. He is content. And the Dartford fans love him.

And this is how we remembered Les - a good man in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was dubbed "Santa Clueless" by the tabloids when he was sacked, but really he'll be remembered for his dignity and determination to do a good job. It didn't work, but hey - if we hadn't been beaten by Wycombe that night, it could have all ended in tears later on. That Christmas was a crucial moment in the history of Charlton Athletic - but eventually, the right call was made.

But this is all in the past now. Somebody shoves a free newspaper, the Evening Standard, into your hand. The back page is all about tomorrow - another FA Cup Final appearance for Charlton. Against West Ham. 2006 really was a turning point, wasn't it?

(Returning to Boxing Day, today's Independent has the measure of events over the past week or so. And with the person who entered "how not to be alone at christmas in dulwich" into a search engine and got this site in mind, I'm off to Fisher v Welling...)

Reed out, Pards in!

Richard Murray - you sly old dog.

Les Reed has left his position as Charlton's head coach by mutual consent, the club announced on Sunday evening.

Alan Pardew will take charge of the Addicks, and has signed a three-and-a-half year contract.

The club is making no further comment at this time, but will be holding a press conference at its Sparrows Lane training ground at 1.30pm on Boxing Day. (more)

The Christmas present we all wanted. Merry Christmas, everybody.

(And Les - unlucky, old son. Have better times in the future.)

The nightmare before Christmas

Despite Les Reed's fine words, it was the same old shit at Middlesborough as Charlton treated the tiny band of fans who made it up to the Riverside on the last Saturday before Christmas with a feeble surrender.

So this is Christmas, a succession of games where we get our arses kicked because we've players who don't try, players whose performances show contempt for those who travel across the country to see their team. But they're also players who are given no reason to try because all we seem to be hanging on for is this bundle of bright new players who'll somehow erase the Dowie era from the history books.

This bundle of bright new players who'll probably take until March to click, by which time we'll be down. Charlton left another junk message on my answerphone yesterday, but this was their real Christmas greeting - merry Christmas, suckers, get ready for the Championship.

After the game, poor old Les really sounded in another world. If only he'd swallow his pride and admit he's not up to the job. If only Richard Murray would swallow his and appoint us a proper manager. And if only we had players who cared, and were given reason to care.

And we have managed to go through 2006 without winning a league match away from home. Thank you, Messrs Curbishley, Dowie, and Reed.

On that note, I hope you find reason to forget about football for a while and enjoy yourself over the next couple of days. Merry Christmas.

Please, prove me wrong, Les

Another week's over at Crisis Club Charlton - Richard Murray's frank chat to journalists plus Peter Varney's comments make clear they blame Iain Dowie's signings for our poor start to the season.

Souleymane Diawara was singled out after a string of lousy performances - wasn't he alright under Dowie? - and he approaches his 28th birthday on Christmas Eve slated by his chairman after less than half a season. He's defended himself, telling a French paper he still has to get used to the Premiership style of play.

And Les Reed emerged from the shadows to find himself on the back of today's Mirror:

The under-fire Valley boss spoke publicly for the first time about his terrifying ordeal in 1997 when he collapsed with a brain haemorrhage as he bent down to pick up a ball in training.

Reed maintains the experience has helped him remain calm despite Charlton being rooted to the bottom of the table, dumped out of the Carling Cup by League Two Wycombe and fans calling for his head. (more)

All that said, bookie William Hill is offering odds of 7/4 that he'll last the season.

On the pitch, we've lost Luke Young through injury - what's the odds we'll never see him again? - and it's rumoured we're loaning promising Icelandic talent Rurik Gislason to Valencia. Now that's odd.

So we're turning into Christmas in a right bloody mess. Middlesborough in the fog's an unlikely place for a renaissance, and a tiny number of fans are due to make the trip. But Boro are in a state too, and perhaps old hand Les can show young pup Gareth Southgate a thing or two.

Whatever's been said this week, we still need to go into Christmas backing our head coach - the next four games are too important to do anything different. Les, I really hope you have me eating my words as well as the mince pies on Christmas Day. Good luck, mate.