Sunday 26 October 2014

'Brutal lessons of three chaotic years at Charlton'

Chris Powell talks about the 'brutal lessons of three chaotic years at Charlton' in a double page big interview feature in the Football League Paper this morning.

Powell recalled, 'I had a group of [players] who were working hard and trying to stave off relegation. But then came the takeover and all of a sudden I had players arriving from Standard Liege I didn't know. The message from upstairs was that they had to play. I have always taught my players that you had to earn the right to play. So when you get people coming in who expect to play, it destroys that ethos.'

'To be fair, the lads could see what was going on. They could see I had no control over the players that were arriving. And I think that we could all see that the writing was on the wall in terms of my future.'

'Obviously Jose Riga came in and they stayed up which I always knew they would. But what's funny is that he barely played these Liege players and none of them are there now. So in that sense, I think I was proved right.'

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Ridiculous sorry mr powell legend of a player but as a manager not convinced.Ok you are doing very well at Huddersfield but you brought in Fuller and Hulse one game earning 10k between them one game cant rem which one they had 0 shots on goal?Explain this?

It was negative football under your control playing with no wide men or strikers and that's why we were in the bottom half of the table during your leadership.Last season come the millwall debarcle most fans I think wanted a change in direction to be honest he should have got the sack straight after that defeat at home to millwall.Look what has happened to the valley and the team since you left where are we in the table? 7th playing with confidence and using wingers and strikers the owner ok owns liege but he brought the club from the horrible owners before and im all for the change.He rd I think needs help financially perhaps a big key player like josh harris coming in which I hope rd and the club are trying to bring into the boardroom but im pleased powell and dyer are no longer in charge at se7 great players in their time with us but not management material look how far we have progressed since they left.Mr Powell time to move on I think

Brian G said...

A few inaccuracies there, I think. We are, in fact, 9th and we were totally devoid of confidence for the whole game at B'mouth and most of the 1st half at Fulham, JA. I think CP did remarkably well overall in his 3 years but our sterile performance at Sheff Utd showed that what was happening off the pitch was affecting his ability to make the right decisions, and in an owner v. manager battle there can only be one winner. Bringing in Grant Holt on loan was an inspired move at Huddersfield, where he is, indeed, doing very well. However, it is time surely for all of us to move on and give 100% support to the club that we all love, even if some supporters still can't forgive RD.

Unknown said...

JA's comments, once I was able to comprehend his diatribe, is clearly rubbish - a man focussed on venting his poisonous spleen only. Fuller and Hulse were pretty good in my view when they played. I also believe that Danny Green and Callum Harriott are technically wingers? Kermorgant was a striker too, I think he scored a few times.

When posting try using punctuation, it's really helpful and stops you from appearing to be an inarticulate moron.

Brian G is much more balanced but I would not agree that we have been devoid of confidence - we were merely overun by teams in form. If we had no confidence then we would not have had 70% possession in the second half.

innerspaced said...

its not just the takeover that put the writing on the wall for chris powell.it was the past regimes inability to push on from year before,they didnt want to spend some money on squad and ground and bought in sub standard loans and played on the worst pitch i have seen since orients great leveller.all of this plus poor results and awful style of football devoid of fire and passsion . lets not forget we were bottom of league. im not suggesting you lost the dressing room but you lost the crowd and the patience of new regime.
i am in no doubt that if you WERE backed financially in tranfer market and improvements to pitch, that you would still be charltons manager.
good luck chrissy

Unknown said...

INNERSPACE SAID THE FOL) u lost patients with the crowd this was 100% correct when we couldn't win love or money at home the fans I rem got very restless with how were where performing and playing to deep ,he refused to sack Dyer when most of the fans on public forums where asking him to do so.It was also his body language that also lost most of the fans flat cap hands in pockets what message does that send to the players on the pitch?Look at the difference under peeters waving instructions out from the touchline pacing up and down and also team work.Ok we had a blip at Fulham who are playing very well under symonds but our home form has improved with this new management team come in .I respect chris as a person and as a footballer but sorry not as a manager he was way out of his depth in the championship.This is just a honeymoon period for Huddersfield once results go pete tong u watch them turn very quickly.

Terry Morecambe Addick said...

Did Jonathan Acworth not pay attention in his English lessons at school? Did no one teach him about punctuation? I suggest he either joins a creative writing class or buys himself a copy of the excellent "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss.
You see Mr Acworth, punctuation is used to mimic the way we speak, with pauses, and without it, a piece of writing merely
becomes an illegible rant.
You should proof read your emails out loud before posting.
Morecambe Addick

Anonymous said...

Johnathan Acworth may be passionate about CAFC but he's no football historian or linguist. Fantasy football is what he's good at. His analysis of CP is like saying John Barnes was a crap at footballer because he was no good at Charlton. Small part of his career.
It's only really fair to judge Powell on what he achieved when the club was really backing him. At the beginning when they gave him a little money and that in my opinion didn't last too long.

Anonymous said...

Plain facts, Chris Powell was originally great for the club and an overall legend as a player, but as a manager he had one very big problem , he never had a plan B or C when things weren't going well! It worked okay in Div 1 but the Championship is totally different, you can't get away with playing the same way, week in week out you easily get found out. Chris was playing mostly the long punt up field from Morrison & co to the forwards, plus he continued to play certain players totally out of position, which didn't help.
I'm sorry but if Chris had stayed we would have been relegated. Riga came in, who I had never heard of and was originally very sceptical of, and changed things totally around by playing a passing game from the back, something Chris had never ever done! He totally transformed the way the team played and installed much needed confidence, also by backing and playing a certian Diego Poyet as his mainstay at the back!
I sincerely hope Chris Powell does well at Huddersfield, as he is a very genuine and extremely nice person, by learning from some of his errors as a manager at Charlton, as Huddersfield supporters won't be so forgiving if things start to go wrong!

Unknown said...

no plan d either

Anonymous said...

CP's 2nd season in charge proved he and the team he built weren't rubbish at Championship level. After that the wheels came off and he lost his way, having to recruit from the loan mkt etc Like Powell, Curbs, had his faults too. We should be thankful for what they did accomplish because we've had plenty of managers who've achieved nothing. If CAFC don't receive RD's further financial backing we could see history repeating itself. Good luck CP and BP.
Brian G is right, time to move on and back what we've got.

Anonymous said...

JA = COCK

Anonymous said...

I quite like JA comments and he has stirred some emotions .RD bought a club bottom of the league playing "Oh so " boring football and probably wanted to sack CP from day one but decided to give him a chance because us fans loved him so much . The debacle at Sheffield Utd was the last straw and we have slowly improved from there on.
Problem with managers very few of them are consistently good throughout their managerial careers, they have purple patches and win things ,they have dodgy patches and get the sack !

Unknown said...

Thanks above its probably from the cardigan brigade lol

Rich said...

To suggest the fans turned against CP is just ludicrous - the same fans who clapped him for the whole of the 3rd minute the game after he was sacked, and chanted his name throughout?

Revisionist nonsense.

All that Powell has done here is put his previously unheard angle on events, and shown to be correct those who said it all along. The writing was on the wall for him as soon as the new owners came in, but he's right about the players used by Riga and he's right about the unsettling effect on the squad of knowing their manager had been undermined.

Powell's a decent manager. Whether he'd be as successful as Peeters has been so far with the same backing we'll never know, but he's achieving what a succession of managers at Huddersfield have struggled to achieve. I think we lost a decent manager, no point looking back, but he's entitled to his say having kept such a respectful silence for so long.

Unknown said...

I was given kindly directors tickets for the sheff united game and free coach travel to the tie but something was planned earlier that day and couldnt make the game,but i would have loved to have gone to it.I think powell did lose the dressing room time he was ousted by Rd we also played negative football like a previous emailer said when we were behind had no plan b to come back.I love powell as a player and as a person but even the die hard fan time was right for a change its a healthy debate to have.The team needed a fresh inpact coaching wise and fresh ideas I think the Murray interview with powell when he looked glum in between murray and rd said it all u just knew something was afoot behind the scenes.So lets give peeters and the new players a chance i think we will be up around the play off spot come end of the season if we dont go up this year will be next year at best.

Anonymous said...

I was never calling for Chris Powell to be sacked JA. He had his short comings but which manager doesn't - even Fergie had to start out learning his trade. Chris had years of experience as a player and PFA chairman and knew the English game and the players, whereas now we are stuck with an owner & manager who can't see beyond belgium - not exactly the best or most exciting footballing league.

I'm not sure Peeters has a plan B either judging by the rubbish served up at Bournemouth, Fulham and a few games at home. Also his reluctance to bring an experienced loan forward in on loan could harm our chances of remaining in the top half of table. Preferring to play a 17 year old kid and a lump of a centre half up front is not the answer.

Good luck at Huddersfield Chris, our loss is another club's gain.

Brian G said...

Given the news in the last few days, let's be grateful that we don't support Leeds, Birmingham or Blackpool. How did Jose last so long?

Chris said...

Disappointing from Powell and not very dignified. Roland Duchatelet's statement, post Powell's departure, was balanced and generous. He complemented Powell as a Manager, thanked him and explained that they were unable to agree on certain football matters.

We now know that Duchatelet had a plan which is now being implemented by the excellent Bob Peeters. It's clear that Powell could not buy into Duchatelet's strategy. Indeed, Katrien Meire has stated that when she arrived at the Club she was surprised at the all powerful role of the English Manager and we can infer that Powell wanted much more control than Duchatelet was prepared to give him. That's fair enough, from the perspectives of both Duchatelet and Powell.

"I respect Roland Duchatelet's vision, but it wasn't for me" would be a more appropriate narrative.

Duchatelet has never said that Charlton would have been relegated had he not sacked Powell and appointed Riga, but it's probably true. For Powell to say "they stayed up, as I knew they would" is simply churlish and implies a denial of any responsibility for the position the Club was in. It was all down to Tony Jimenez and then when he departed Duchatelet was at fault.

There is no denying Powell's contribution to the Club as a player or his achievement in winning promotion to the Championship and then retaining the Club's status the following season, but his post departure rhetoric is neither impressive nor mature. It's disappointing, at least as far as I'm concerned.