Two years of 'the Welshman'

Nathan Jones has completed two years as Charlton manager and has talked to Richard Cawley.

Asked if there was one part of the job that had given him most satisfaction during his Addicks reign, he replied: “There isn’t one particular aspect. When you come in as a manager and not as a head coach, what we wanted to do was drive the club forward. Not one man can do that - maybe they needed a catalyst and maybe I was the catalyst for that.

“We’ve got a lot of good people. We’ve got owners that are sane and make sane decisions - not kneejerk and back you to a relative level that we’re all comfortable with.”

There is more on Cawley’s Substack page.   For some fans the fact that Jones is still in the job will be a matter for regret, others think it is the sensible decision in the circumstances.

What intrigues me is that Cawley always refers to Jones as ‘the Welshman’.   My nephew’s partner always refers to him as ‘the Welshman’, ‘when I met the Welshman’ etc.

Of course when Curbs was manager some fans were suspicious of the fact that he came from ‘north of the river’.  In fact when my father was born in Lord Street, North Woolwich in 1908 it was part of Kent and the borough of Woolwich.

Are Welshmen that exotic?   One of my granddaughters recently applied for a backroom job with Swansea City, having never previously experienced any interest in sport of any kind.   In fact she had discovered her inner Welsh woman and soon landed a position as financial controller with an Abertawe firm of solicitors.

This was all in spite of her not speaking a word of Cymraeg.   It is a difficult language and one you have to learn while you are young.  My soon to be three great-grand daughter is taught in Valencios (Catalan) in school; speaks passable Dutch acquired from the local expat community, but reverts to English with a Spanish sentence structure at home.

Meanwhile my granddaughter is bidding on a modernised detached double fronted cottage with garden at £170k while her cousin is faced with paying £360k for a shoebox in Oxfordshire.  Actually their Spanish-based cousin has outpaced them as she got her first mortgage in England at 19 and has bought a three bedroom apartment for 125,000 euros.

But to return to my main theme, how useful is a knowledge of Welsh?   A couple of years back I did some consultancy for a client in Swansea.  They were happy with what I did and wanted me to do more, but no money was forthcoming.   I then had the idea of getting one of my nephews whose first language is Welsh to write an email and I got paid in 24 hours.

I have been summoned to give evidence to Senedd committees on a couple of occasions and the first time there was a great deal of tut tutting when it was discovered that I didn’t speak Welsh and an urgent call was put out for a translator.   In fact on both occasions all the questions I was asked were in English, but my fellow witness, a rural solicitor, insisted on speaking Welsh.

To revert to our manager, his mercurial qualities are a marked contrast with the cooler style of Cutbs.   Some fans like the manager to be passionate; others prefer a more analytical approach. How much it has to do with nationality is a moot point.

Cawley reckons we could stay up

Gloomsters were stating last month that we were 'already relegated' which puzzled me as we were not in a relegation position and never have been.

Richard Cawley has got his calculator out and notes: 'Charlton have averaged 1.2 points per game from their last 10 matches. If they are able to maintain that for the remaining 16 fixtures this season then they will collect another 19 points.'

He notes that every season is different and this is one where financial penalties have come into play.  The average required for 21st place in the Championship over the last 15 seasons is 45 points.

If 51 points is the safety margin, that is 'eminently doable' for Charlton. 

'What offers encouragement is that Charlton are beginning to compete again. There had been a passivity in some of their losses, particularly at Millwall.   But since the squad has been strengthened at the back end of the transfer window, Harry Clarke and Luke Chambers strengthening their wing-back options, and players have returned from injury, the intensity of their play has improved.'

This will please some Charlton supporters, but annoy the more pessimistic and negative.

Addicks survive late scare to secure point

Charlton remained 17th after tonight;s 0-0 draw with Queens Park Rangers at The Valley, but edged four points above the relegation positions.

Both keepers made vital saves and 'last ditch' Dykes lived up to his name when he cleared a potential Super Hoops stoppage time winner off the line.

QPR did not manage a shot on target in the first half, but were stronger towards the end of the game.

The hosts went closest early on and Walsh did well to save Luke Chambers' free-kick at his near post before he made a fantastic point-blank stop with his trailing left leg to deny Coady on the former England man's second Addicks appearance.

Dykes and Sonny Carey each also had a couple of efforts and it was all Charlton.

But Walsh frustrated them almost single-handedly and he touched over a right-foot shot from ex-Ranger Charlie Kelman before foiling another Chambers effort.

Walsh denied Dykes again after the interval, parrying his right-foot volley and Dunne knocked the loose ball behind as the striker tried to pounce on the rebound.

Rangers badly missed their injured 10-goal top scorer Rumarn Burrell but still almost nicked the three points during a rousing finale in stoppage time.

Thomas Kaminski made a fine stop to keep out a Rayan Kolli effort, while Steve Cook and Richard Kone went close with headers before Dykes hacked a Dunne header, deflected off Carey, off the line.

Narhan Jones said: "In the last eight minutes I'm happy with a point, in the previous 90 minutes I'm really disappointed we haven't won the game.

"I thought we were really good first half, just without having that cutting edge quality to have scored one or two - that can happen.    In the second half we had some really good chances, their keeper made some good saves, and then we stopped doing the things we were good at and allowed them to come into the game.

"I thought their subs had a greater effect than ours, they had a couple of chances, cleared one off the line, that would have been a travesty."

The Covered End regaled the visiting fans with a chant of 'You're just a bus stop in Fulham.'

I had thought that Lord Toby Young might use his Spectator column today to have a pop at Charlton.  After all his fellow columnist and Millwall supporter Rod Liddle drags out his tired old tropes about anoraks and train spotters from time to time.

However, Rick Everitt's adversary had other matters to comment on having been named in the Epstein files   Others must judge whether his defence was as watertight as that of his team tonight: as various sources called for him to be investigated, he claimed that the person he knew was Maxwell and she got him into Epstein's contact book.

Lord Young emphatically denies that has ever met Epstein, travelled on the so-called 'Lolita Express' aeroplane or visited what he terms 'Paedo Island.'

Lord Young's match report is here: https://tobyyoung.substack.com/p/charlton-0-0-qpr

Why we need the 12th man tonight

The initial reaction to our win at Leicester was so negative from some supporters that it confirmed my suspicion that what they really enjoy is slagging off the manager or individual players.

My concern is that tonight is that after the first mistake, or even worse a conceded goal, the crowd will start to get on the players' backs.   We need the 12th man tonight.

The importance of the crowd is brought home by this except from a recent article in The Athletic: 

'Home crowds airing their frustration is nothing new, and the tension, especially for those teams chasing the title or trying to avoid relegation, will only increase as the season races towards crunch time.

Whether it is Arsenal fans lamenting a defeat to United or Tottenham supporters calling for Frank to go, disgruntlement from the stands in your own stadium can trickle down to the players.

Dan Abrahams, a global sports psychologist who has worked with some of the biggest names in football, is all too familiar with how tension among the spectators can impact what is happening on the pitch.

Speaking generally and not specifically about one club, Abrahams tells The Athletic: “Numerous case studies demonstrate that crowd behaviour can absolutely influence the players.

“When you spend time with players and you talk to them about this, there are some who will say that they can’t hear anything (from the stands), they’re focused on the game, or they can hear it and it doesn’t impact them, or they can hear it and it does impact them.

“We are designed to pick up on cues, so we look around us, and we judge what other people think about us. In a football scenario, that could be a crowd, so tension in the crowd can absolutely impact tension on the pitch. Feelings on the pitch can distract players, and they can evoke anxiety and a stress response. They can impact technical coordination, tactical awareness, anticipation, decision making, all the aspects that are so important.”

In a dream world, Abrahams notes, fans would only be positive towards their club’s players, which, in turn, could lead to better performances and results — but that will never be the reality.

“If you can wave a magic wand and have everybody in the stadium supporting the team from the first minute to the last minute, irrespective of what goes on on the pitch, that would be your ideal scenario,” he says. “But people will say they pay their money and that the players are paid well and living out their dream. People will say they are entitled to their opinion, so that would be a fantasy world.'

Opinions, yes, but also hope and belief. 

Supremo excited about Sichenge signing

Nathan Jones seems as excited as some Kenyans about new signing Collins Sichenge who may make his debut against the Super Hoops tonight.    CAS Trust has even extended a welcome to new Kenyan members.

Jones says he is athletic and has good technical ability.    He has settled in well with the other players.  Getting a centre bank with Championship experience could cost 35 to 40 million pounds.   The club had hoped to sign the Kenyan last May.

Jones said that Sichenge was hungry for success, but all his all round game needed polishing.

Charlton have a good record at home against QPR so at least a draw should be possible tonight.   We have lost just one of our last ten home league games against the Super Hoops and have won the last three without conceding.  Away from home QPR have won four, drawn five and lost six.

Leicester have been complaining that their six point deduction was disproportionate but many pundits were forecasting nine points,

CAS Trust point out that QPR are an incredibly attacking side, but also solid at the back: https://www.castrust.org/2026/02/every-minute-matters-on-friday-night/

Transfer window went better than hoped for

For me, Collins Sichenge is one of the most interesting signings Charlton have made so far.  For once they have looked outside the box and signed someone from Europe who hails from Africa.

Richard Cawley has commented: 'Sichenje had been the subject of interest from Luton Town and MLS side Colorado Rapids.   One experienced recruitment source told us that the player is “one of the most athletic centre-backs in Europe” but added he could be “very erratic”. It is a case of backing the judgement of Jones and head of recruitment Phil Chapple.'

And, of course, many fans are reluctant to give any credit to Jones or 'Chapple of Rest'.

I think signing Conor Coady was a smart move.  He brings commitment, steel and energy to a faltering defence.  He may have slowed down a bit, but he has a football brain.  He is prepared to tell other players what to do.

I have not heard of any reports of supporters in despair at the departure of Karoy Anderson on loan.

The move of Ademola Lookman to Atlético should give us some money, although I have no idea how much.

The January transfer window is a tricky one to operate in and this is one of Charlton's better performances in my opinion, but no doubt many will disagree.

With the third smallest budget in a very competitive division, anything better than relegation is a considerable achievement.

Crossbar challenge or fans squaring up on the pitch?

Should the crossbar challenge be suspended for Friday’s game against QPR so that Hoops top fan Lord Toby Young of Acton and VOTV fanzine editor Rick Everitt can square up on the pitch?   Young challenged Everitt to a confrontation on Margate beach earlier in the season.

Toby Young is a genuine QPR fan.  He lives in West London and goes to away matches in places like Hull accompanied by his 17-year old son who has to write up their adventures in a blog.   The travails of QPR are a regular theme of his column in the Spectator.   If the Super Hoops do win, the noble lord opens a £80 bottle of wine: no cheap plonk for him.  Fortunately for his budget, they don’t win too often.

To give some context, those of you have been watching the banking bonkathon Industry will recall that a recent episode involved a team of financial services predators heading off from Canary Wharf to persuade an Austrian aristo to surrender control of his private bank.  He lived in a weird castle with paintings by A Hitler on the walls.

The verdict was that if some of his neo Nazi views could be given a platform in Britain he might look more favourably on the takeover.   Someone mentioned the Spectator, but the quick response was that a magazine that carried articles on ‘Why I love the Wehrmacht’ would not fit the bill.  (Eventually, he got published in a Daily Mail/Telegraph type newspaper).

The Speccie certainly has some eccentric writers, particularly favouring Catholic reactionaries who want to question whether the Pope is a Catholic.  No articles have yet appeared on the toilet habits of bears who live in the woods.

Young is the head of the Free Speech Union which many believe exists primarily to give him a platform.   (His father, Lord Young of Dartington, was a really smart guy).

Anyway, Young decided to attack Everitt in his column as a ‘town hall tyrant’.   I’m not sure that being leader of a district council gives you that much power and while even some Addicks dislike the Rickster, he is hardly a threat to western civilisation as we know it.

Young challenged Everitt to meet him on Margate beach at 10.30 on a Tuesday morning.   The idea of two men in their early 60s having handbags at six paces on a windswept beach seems a little ludicrous to me.   Everitt sensibly refused to have anything to do with this bizarre publicity stunt and Young returned to London fulminating about a wasted day.

The really odd thing about all this is that I don’t think Young has realised that his adversary is an Addick.   Friday would give him a chance to put that right.   The winner could receive a bottle of Chateau Charlton Athletic.