The latest Four Four Two has a 'best and worst at Charlton' feature written by 'lifelong Addick Paddy Pamment'. (Who he? Ed)
He does, reasonably enough, seem to be a bit fixated on the Curbs Premier League era. Personally I would have found room for some players from the 1950s and also given Lennie Lawrence an honourable mention. But you can draw up your own lists.
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Claus Jensen will be at The Valley on Saturday and still follows the club. He has great memories of this time at Charlton where he played 126 games: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/sport/i-still-follow-the-club-ex-charlton-midfielder-claus-jensen-excited-by-valley-return-on-saturday/
He could certainly score from distance. What was your favourite Jensen goal? It may seem an odd choice, but I remember a belter at Leeds where we lost 5-2 but he momentarily silenced the home crowd.
Charlie Methven has stood down as Charlton's CEO, saying that the club is now on an upward trajectory and he can pack up his tent: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cn4yjp7v9pxo
Reports from SE7 suggest that the streets around The Valley remain calm with no sign of fans rending shirts or returning their season tickets.
Normally in such circumstances one would use the words the cinema newsreels applied to the departure of Neville Chamberlain as prime minister in 1940, 'Thanks for all you tried to do.' But I was never quite clear what Methven did, although he could talk the talk.
The club is advertising the position.
Turn the corner in the corridor leading to the sports hall at St Thomas the Apostle School and Sixth Form College (STAC) and, almost hidden away out of sight, you might miss the framed, match-worn Charlton Athletic shirt. The display also includes a photo of a young Ademola Lookman.
The reigning African footballer of the year is, without
question, the most successful player to emerge from STAC, a state-funded
all-boys Catholic school in Southwark, south-east London. Yet Lookman’s is just
one of several jerseys displayed on that wall, illustrating the sporting
achievements of so many former pupils.
He achieved excellent academic results at STAC, with
four A*s and five As in his GCSEs, before being picked up late, at 17, by
Charlton. He rose rapidly through their academy to the first team and made 49
appearances before a Premier League move to Everton at age 19. A further 48
appearances on Merseyside led to a 2019 transfer to Germany’s RB Leipzig and
subsequent Premier League loans with Fulham and Leicester City, until he
settled on a permanent deal with Atalanta in August 2022.
“Ademola was academically driven because there was not even
a thought back then about him taking up a scholarship let alone a professional
contract,” PE supremo Reynolds commented.
A recent edition of Four Four Two has a double page spread interview with Alan Curbishley.
He states: 'After that first promotion to the Premier League, we made a joint decision that of whatever money we took from that season, a third would go on the squad, a third on the stadium and a third would be back-up money if we got relegated. You see teams relegated from the Premier League having a mass exodus because they can't afford the players' contracts. That plan meant we didn't have to sell anyone. We could invest in the squad and we came back up as champions.'
'All of the players we brought to the club had a point to prove. We never bought the ready-made Premier League player until later. It ended up working to our detriment a little bit because once we got to that 40 point safety mark, we tailed off from some really good positions.'
'The closest we came to Europe was in 2003/4. I'm sure we would have finished in the top four or five if Scott Parker hadn't joined Chelsea in January. We got £12 million, but so late in the window I couldn't spend it.'
Curbs says he didn't get the interviews the other boys did for the England job in 2006, they were interviewed in a private house, he was interviewed in the FA offices because of a timing clash with a FA Cup replay.
In terms of other high profile jobs, Curbs said that he was in a position at Charlton where he was in charge of the whole football club. He didn't think he was ready for a bigger club, he needed more experience. He had one year left on his contract and has just been interviewed for the England job. He wanted his contract to run out - but we all know what happened.
Lennie Lawrence has stepped back as Hartlepool United coach and taken the No.2 role: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ce3lgy17q0ko
However, before this became known Four Four Two published a two page tribute to the Charlton legend in their March issue. The survival of the club owes much to him.
Lawrence notes that Hartepool asked him to do the job for a month, just like Charlton did 40 years ago.
The 77-year old says that 'Man management remains the most important thing and there are aspects of it that are the same as they were 30 years ago. Others are different (he cites social media)and you need to embrace that.'
Lawrence says that he was not particularly abrasive or confrontational back in the day and 'these approaches now wouldn't hold you in good stead. To use a modern buzzword, you have to show empathy towards players as well as being demanding and having standards - you've got to understand them and help them.'
'Sometimes it's not what you say but how you say it - that's the key, there has to be mutual respect. The first thing I said to the players when I took Charlton over 40 years ago was "I promise I'll be honest with you and I'll try to be fair - I can't always be fair, but I'll try to be honest -that's the starting point.'
Those with an inside track at the club insist there was nothing much more to the club's relationship with Iran than the signature of Karim Bagheri who made his sole appearance as a substitute when we were losing to Ipswich on a rainy afternoon. I was there and I can recall him making one directionless header.
One narrative is that by signing him the club was simply trying to appeal to rich Iranians living in London who might come up with some sponsorship.
But then I was given an informal briefing in Westminster around this time which suggested a more complex interpretation which involved using Charlton as an instrument of British diplomacy..
Then I noticed that records from government departments from 20 years ago were appearing in the press.
I decided to set up a meeting with 'Pete' who is an expert on the National Archives. He said that there was now a 20 year rule, but his impression was that documents were being released somewhat selectively.
We also discussed what might have been behind the briefing that I was given, but we agreed that there were a number of alternative possible interpretations.
However, a quick search of the National Archives online using 'Charlton Athletic' revealed that back in 1966 the Foreign Office was considering sending Football League clubs to Iran. This was, of course, under the Shah's regime rather than that of the Ayatollahs.
'Pete' is a regular at the National Archives and he has agreed to undertake a preliminary search to see what he can find.
It may well all turn out to be a mirage and I may have played the role of 'useful idiot', but it is at least worth further investigation.
