Club is not for sale says chairman

The following report has appeared on the Daily Mail website: 'The speculation among the Football League hierarchy that Ken Bates was interested in buying Charlton has proved wide of the mark. Bates, 81, says he will be president of Leeds next season and that, although five clubs want him to get involved, Charlton is not one of them.'

'Bates did mischievously suggest that Charlton’s owners were looking for a buyer. However, Charlton chairman Michael Slater said: "We are not interested in selling and it’s nonsense to suggest otherwise."' Of course, additional investment might be a different issue and would surely be welcome.

Evina turns down one year contract

Cedric Evina has been disappointed by a one year contract offer by Charlton and has turned it down as he wants more security: Evina. It's unfortunate because he's a good player, but has an even better left back in front of him. Opportunities have also been limited by the fact that Chris Solly can play at left back.

Andy Hughes has signed a one year contract extension in a player-coach role and is delighted at the offer.

Kermorgant scores winner for Britanny

Yann Kermorgant scored a second half winner for Britanny in their 1-0 win over Mali yesterday. It was a very wet night in Carquefou. Having come on as a substitute, Kermorgant scored with a long-range effort in the 71st minute sending the crowd 'and their bagpipes' into raptures: Kermorgant

Clearly he is doing more than lounge on a beach during his holiday break.

Steve Brown tipped for Ebbsfleet

Steve Brown is being strongly tipped as the new manager of Ebbsfleet United. The former Addick quit as first team coach at Dover Athletic last week. KEH Sports Limited are reported to want him to replace Liam Daish once they have completed their takeover at Stonebridge Road.

Steve Brown made 283 appearances for Charlton between 1990 and 2002 and was much liked by the Addickted as reflected in the chant 'He'll never let you down.' He will be reunited at Ebbsfleet with former Charlton chief executive Peter Varney who told the Non League Paper 'We want to bring in our own people to move the club forward.' Incidentally, I have heard Mr Varney referred to as 'Reg' but never as 'Keith' as he is in the NLP report. Some confusion with Keith Peacock?

Acworth says Woolwich terrorist was a 'football fan'

Charlton fan Jonathan Acworth is normally busy spotting players at Park View Road whom he thinks might play at The Valley. However, he has got his minute of fame in the Daily Telegraph: 'Another neighbour, Jonathan Acworth, 42, said [of one of the terrorists]: “He wore normal clothes from what I’ve seen of him recently, blue jeans, caps, Manchester United shirts – he was a football fan. He was normal, it’s not like there were any signs.”' Some of us might argue about whether wearing a Manchester United shirt in Greenwich makes you a football fan.

Needless to say, I was appalled and shocked by what happened in the town that I grew up in. I welcome the suggestion that someone made that there should be a collection around the ground for Help for Heroes at the first game of next season.

Meanwhile The Gruaniad describes Charlton as 'defiantly unfashionable' while managing to avoid mentioning The Valley: Unfashionable

The Greek Andy Carroll?

Such descriptions of Thanasis Papazoglou need to be treated with some scepticism given that his agent is clearly trying to drum up business for the 6ft 4ins. striker who wants a bit more action than he is currently finding in Crete. We are almost in 'my name is too big for my shirt' territory. Nevertheless, more than one source has linked Charlton with the player: Papazoglou

There have been rumours of interest in Dale Stephens, the latest being Huddersfield Town which is a bit of a come down from a £2m deal at Aston Villa. The Huddersfield Examiner claims that we are willing to 'do a deal': Stephens Although he can be frustratingly inconsistent in the quality of his play, Stephens is the nearest thing we have to a creative playmaker in midfield.

Is there a 'Curbishley complex'?

The removal of Tony Pulis from Stoke City was inevitably going to lead to comparisons between his departure and that of Alan Curbishley from Charlton. Stoke winger Matthew Etherington said, 'You have to be careful what you wish for in football sometimes. You look at Charlton under Alan Curbishley and you look where they are now [hardly in the Conference South]. Hopefully it won't go that way for us.'

This article by a Charlton fan rehearses the events surrounding the departure of Curbs in some depth Curbishley Complex

A number of reports have referred to the fact that Stoke City was seen as having become 'stale' and similar comments have been made about the end of the Curbishley era, although the extent to which fans had 'turned against him' is always exaggerated. The big mistake at Charlton was in the subsequent appointments. As for Stoke, I wouldn't compare Pulis's rather rudimentary approach with that of Curbishley and it is no surprise that Stoke have decided that the time has come for a more sophisticated strategy.