Deano recalls his amazing time at Charlton

Richard Cawley has a long and very interesting interview with Dean Kiely on his Substack platform.  Here a few extracts.

"Charlton gave me the opportunity to get into the Premier League."

“I didn’t just stand and watch a team rip apart or blow away sides every single week. I had stuff to do, I was flying around and making a contribution, but I was really mindful this team at Championship level was a very, very good team."

“The sweet spot was that it was my best form and my best time individually, but it coincided with Charlton’s best time as a club in recent times. People talk so fondly about it. I remember beating Arsenal at home. Beating Chelsea, Tottenham and Kevin Lisbie’s hat-trick when we defeated Liverpool. All those things, in the moment, are great achievements."

“My mantra was consistent, reliable and dependable. People might say: ‘That isn’t take your breath away match-winning saves or penalty saves’. But by being consistent, reliable and dependable that gave you the level to make you do that."

"I fitted in at Charlton. It fit me and I fitted the club. My family felt connected. Everything was good. It was an amazing time."

Deano's dad lived down the road from me and I ran into Deano a couple of times at Leamington matches, he was always very friendly.

Kiely ranks alongside Bartram

After last week's article on Sam Bartram, I look at Charlton goalkeepers after Sam Bartram, starting with Eddie Marsh and selecting Dean Kiely as the one I rank alongside Bartram: https://retrocharlton.blogspot.com/2021/06/they-also-kept-goal.html

Former keeper becomes international coach

Former Charlton keeper Dean Kiely is to be the goalkeeping coach for Ireland's international squad: https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/dean-kiely-appointed-to-ireland-goalkeeper-coach-role 

Apart from Sam Bartram, Deano is my favourite all time Charlton keeper.   His parents lived half a mile down the road from me and we had a good chat once at Leamington where his son was keeper for a while.

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.

Deano gets coaching role

Dean Kiley has been given the job of goalkeeping coach at the Baggies: Deano

Deano says that he gets positive vibes from the atmosphere at the Baggies in the way that he did at Charlton.

Another Charlton veteran, 40-year old Chris Powell is hanging up his boots at the end of the season. Many hope that one day he might have a coaching or management role at Charlton.

Kiely gets scapegoat player status

For some moaners at Harbury Lane (a minority I have to emphasise) Deano's son Chris Kiely has become the scapegoat player after Leamington conceded four goals on Saturday. 'Get rid of him,' the Bloke Beside Me shouted, waving his walking stick.

The main problem in my view was not Kiely but the fact that the team lost its shape for parts of the match (partly because they were stretched by the Bluebirds) with the midfield going awol at times and failing to cover the defence. In fact, very reminiscent of Charlton last season.

Kiely is a good shot stopper but he is relatively short and he finds dealing with crosses more difficult. This is not helped by the lack of tall defenders in front of hin. Centre back Dan Pirvu who played for a top Romanian side and then went on to play in Austria is a quality player and another real find for the Brakes, but he is not very tall.

One difference between Kiely and his dad is that he kicks the ball out accurately and not out of play which Deano was inclined to do from time to time.

This afternoon Brakes face a needle away derby at Rugby Town.

Expect more defeats warns supremo

Fans have been warned to expected more defeats this season than last. Fortunately, it's not Charlton we're talking about but Leamington where something like five losses a season have been the norm.

But now the Brakes have been promoted to the Zamaretto Premier League and their first match is away to Farnborough who are tipped for automatic promotion. Brakes supremo Jason Cadden has warned that it may take three seasons to get promotion to the Conference North or South - and in any case the New Windmill Ground is not up to the required standard.

Cadden was featured in 'Star Corner' in last weekend's Non-League Paper and stressed the importance of the signing of Deano's son, Chris Kiely, as keeper. But Cadden has admitted that Leamington players are often targetted by bigger clubs and keeping the squad together is a challenge.

In an interview with a local paper Cadden said that the FA Cup run that had ended in defeat at the hands of Colchester United has probably cost Leamington promotion that year. However, this year they may focus a little more on the cups as the pressure of expectation is off.

An idea for Sparrows Lane?

Colo Colo from Santiago is arguably one of Chile's biggest clubs, but they haven't been doing too well this season. Fans are allowed to attend training sessions in a stand and they started barracking the coach. He walked over to them and gave as good as he got.

A guy in a shop in Santiago Airport asked me which team I supported. When I replied Charlton and said it was in London, he replied, 'You mean Chelsea?'

Elsewhere, keeper Richard Morris has walked out on Leamington and joined Brackley Town after nine seasons with the Brakes. The club had announced their attention to sign Dean Kiely's son Chris on a permanent basis when his contract with Gillingham expires. Kiely came in on loan when Morris was injured last season and looked like a chip off the old block.

Deano at Brakes, Chris for Charlton?

Dean Kiely is to be the guest of honour and will present the awards at Leamington's annual presentation evening on May 8th.

One rumour I heard yesterday at The Valley - and it is no more than that - is Chris Kiely may be drafted in as a back up keeper at Charlton when his loan spell at the Brakes ends, rather than returning to the Gills. It is a pretty unlikely story as:

1. His dad may not want him to go to Charlton given that he left feeling frozen out.
2. We have a well thought of No.2 in Randolph (although there have been questions raised about his attitude and he may want to go somewhere he can be No.1).
3. Callum Christie has already played in the reserves, although since then he has had a niggling injury.

What I did hear from a reliable source is the substantial size of Andy Gray's salary. Anyone who read the Greenwich Mercury this week will feel sympathetic about Andy's family health problems (personally I think it would have been better to put this out in the public domain before now, but one has to respect the player's wishes). This must have been a burden on Andy and since then he has picked up a footballing injury.

It's another example of our bad luck as I think that he does have real quality. However, if he doesn't leave in the summer, we are probably going to have to loan him out as he is contracted to us until 2011 (see Deepest Darkest who has done an in depth study of when contracts expire).