Incident at South Ruislip

I set out for The Valley last night uncertain what I would find. In what may be an omen for the future, I didn't get there. The usually reliable Deutsche Bahn (Chiltern Railways) let me down following an 'incident' at South Ruislip (which recalls John Betjeman's famous poem about Ruislip Gardens, 'gaily tripped Elaine'). By the time we limped into Marylebone, it was too late to get to The Valley and all I could do was turn round and join the homebound commuters. As a season ticket holder, I would have got counted in the attendance figure, but even so it was the lowest for a home game at Charlton this season (12,794). I got home in time to hear the last twenty minutes of the commentary.

A 0-0 draw leaves Charlton rooted to the bottom of the table, making Saturday's away game at Millwall even more crucial. According to the commentators, the performance was better than against Sheffield United, but that serves as a pretty low benchmark. Possession was 50-50. We had four shots on target to five for Huddersfield, in terms of corners we had twelve to six, but we never make much of them.

Astrit Ajdarevic saw an early effort pushed wide by Huddersfield goalkeeper Alex Smithies. After the break, Sordell also wasted two good opportunities, scuffing wide after being played through on goal. Dorian Dervite headed off the line from Nahki Wells. As the Addicks made a solid start, on-loan Standard Liege midfielder Ajdarevic was denied from distance by Smithies and Reza Ghoochannejhad turned wide from Rhoys Wiggins's cross. Michael Morrison and Ghoochannejhad both missed from Johnnie Jackson corners before Sordell wasted two good opportunities after the break.

Once again the limitations of the squad were apparent and in particular our inability to score goals, even though Sordell apparently put in a shift. But when you end up playing Cousins on the left and Bradley Pritchard, you can see what the problems are. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

Charlton fans paid tribute to Chris Powell in the third minute of the game, reflecting the shirt he wore for Charlton and England. New coach Jose Riga (who apparently wears a very nice suit) said after the game, "That's the story of football, it's nothing new [on succeeding Chris Powell as manager]. I have so much respect for the ex-manager but it's football. The reaction from the crowd for my players was the most important thing. I am not here for me, I am here for Charlton. Often when something is new, people suspect it, but I will just focus on my qualities." Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

I was able to pick up a copy of the Evening Standard on my homeward journey which contained this article on Charlton: Lost identity?. It is clear that Charlton fans do think that their club has a very distinctive identity and I shall write something about this when time allows.

At least the more extreme conspiracy theories in terms of Roland's influence on the team were disproved when Hamer was rightly the choice as keeper. However, it does not seem unreasonable to me that someone who has paid a lot of money for a business should have some say in how it is run.

In the meantime it seems to me that the way forward is for a representative group of fans to seek constructive engagement with Roland and Katrien and to bring home to them the particular concerns of Charlton fans so as to try and avoid too great an erosion of the support base.

The report on the game from the Evening Standard, including comments from Alex Dyer on his 'surreal' situation can be found here: Surreal. I thought that Dyer would be out of the Sparrows Lane gate as well, and I am still not sure his position is secure. But then José does not have a contract.

You can learn more about José's 'Cogitraining' technique here: CogiTraining

Official statement from the club

Charlton Athletic have released the following statement: 'Chris Powell has been relieved of his position as First-Team Manager at Charlton Athletic with immediate effect, the club announced on Tuesday morning Following a disappointing FA Cup exit at the hands of Sheffield United on Sunday, Charlton are currently bottom of the Championship having taken 27 points from 30 games so far this season. Owner Roland Duchâtelet said: “We have been working with Chris Powell and his representatives for a couple ofweeks to try and agree a contract extension which would have seen us continue to work together.

“There was good progress, but we could not reach an agreement over the club’s football strategy going forward. The situation put a strain on the working relationship between Chris and the board. Therefore I think it is best for all parties that we part ways at this stage. I would like to thank Chris for his commitment and hard work over the past three years. The club enjoyed a number of good times under his leadership. However, given the club’s position in the league and the number of important fixtures upcoming, I felt this difficult decision was unavoidable at this time.

“We will look to quickly appoint a replacement who we feel will give us the best chance of avoiding relegation from the Championship. I can assure supporters this was not an easy decision, but it has been made with the club’s future in mind. Time will tell if it is the right decision.”

The timing is unfortunate in the sense that it would have been better to do it earlier or in the summer. However, the literature on changing football managers shows that the long-term effects are generally limited, but there is often a short-term boost as players seek to impress the new manager. However, this may be undermined by a negative reaction from the crowd.

I am assuming that Chris Powell's 'mate' Alex Dyer will go, as well as Jason Euell, but I have no news on their fate. However, Dyer and Matthew took training today, watched by Riga.

My correspondent at the training ground reports, 'First team squad wandered over to watch the U-21s match after training - all seemed in good spirit. Also saw the first appearance of 'Polish Pete' in a red shirt, playing alongside Anil Koc. Good to report that Leon Cort back to fitness and showing well. Sky camera crew at the gate, presumably waiting for 'a few words' with Sr. Riga. [Possibly a 'wind down the window' moment?]

I support the club rather than a particular owner or manager. Otherwise, I would have given up when the Glikstens replaced Jimmy Seed with Trotter. The reaction of fans has been polarised between those who think that Powell was overdue and those who see him as a Charlton legend. Unfortunately, this status and his personal charisma gets in the way of any balanced evaluation of his success as a manager. He is passionate about the club, but I would place success on the pitch before passion.

He deserves our thanks for getting us out of League 1 and achieving a 9th place finish in the Championship last season. Unfortunately, sufficient funds were not available to strengthen the squad last summer, although not all of his hires have been successful (Mark Gower comes to mind). There wasn't a lot of evidence of progression in his skills as a coach and people who know more about football than me and work in the game at a higher level had expressed their concerns to me, given their goodwill towards Charlton.

I am sad to see him go in this way and I wish him well. However, I am pleased that Charlton looks likely to get a foreign manager. Perhaps we will see a more sophisticated style of play with less long ball and more emphasis on passing and keeping possession.

Saints alive!

Three things irritate me about football (well, not just three, but it's a start). Number one is the excessive focus on the manager. Of course, the manager is very important: he selects the team, oversees training, chooses the formation, decides when to make substitutes etc.

But it is the team that are on the pitch. And the fact of the matter is that, taken as a whole, the current Charlton team is not simply good enough. It's not a lack of commitment or effort. It's a lack of skill. And that lack of skill is compounded when a bad run drains the team's confidence.

The second irritant is short-termism. A comment on another blog said, 'Powell out? Obviously.' Leaving aside the fact that we are becoming a bit of a laughing stock with the frequency of our managerial changes, any manager needs 18 months to be judged fairly. As Alex Dyer pointed out in his interesting interview the other week, the pre-season is crucial. Hopefully Chris Powell will be giving the opportunity and the funds to reconstruct the squad. Unfortunately, some of the more hopeless members are on contracts until 2012.

Much is being made in some quarters of Powell's inexperience. But there are plenty of experienced managers who fail. And Powell has Keith Peacock to advise him. One thing I am sure of: if Chris thinks he really can't hack it, he will honourably walk away.

The third irritant is the excessive pessmism of Charlton fans. Already the gloom merchants are forecasting relegation. As has been pointed out elsewhere, all we really need to stay up is a win and a draw.

The draw could well come tonight against an admittedly rampant Southampton. I am going for 1-1. However, I would drop Worner and bring in the Millwall stopper.

Alex Dyer interview

An interview with Alex Dyer in which he talks about why he came to Charlton and his memories of playing for the club: Dyer

One point he makes that the real foundations for a season are laid in pre-season and that coming on mid-season is very difficult. I don't think any judgement can be made on the new team until they have had the opportunity to reconstruct the squad.

Dyer in as No.2

A number of different sources are reporting that Alex Dyer has been appointed as assistant to Chris Powell. One of them is here: Dyer

It is still possible that Dean Kiely will be brought in to strengthen the backroom staff.

Dyer played for Charlton on loan in 1990 and was then signed for £100,000 by Sir Lennie Lawrence, a bargain price considering he cost Palace £250,000 only two years later.

Dyer has proved a popular coach at the Hampsters where he has been in charge of the reserve team.