Saturday 21 March 2015

Battle Royal

Reading come to the Valley this afternoon for a league match which looks decidedly end-of-season. Both sides realistically safe from relegation although Reading would like another six points to match where we stand today. 

The Royals arrive in the Royal Borough of Greenwich today after having dumped League Two Giant-Killers Bradford out of the F A Cup to secure a semi-final fixture against Arsenal. Charlton fans will be hoping it's a case of after-the-Lord's-Mayor-Show. 

Guy Luzon will have a bit of head-scratching to do this morning after losing Tony Watt to injury in the mid-week match at Blackpool and with Igor Vetokele still carrying an Achilles niggle, we are likely to start with two reserves upfront. That could be Church and Lepoint or Church and Ahearne-Grant. If that's the case, then I will pray Chuchy's goal at Blackpool wasn't his last in a red shirt as I suggested. 


Looking forward, I was pleased to see we are putting on a beam back of the Millwall match having sold our 2000 allocation and been denied any more. It's a bit worrying when the Police tell us it's for safety reasons. Presumably they are expecting some tense final matches and short tempers in the coming weeks as the final nails go into Millwall's coffin. With Berylson looking to sell (hand the debt on) and League One looming, now is not a great time to be a Lions fans and Stig of the Dump is likely to lose control at some point. Personally, I will walk around the corner for the Beamback but wasn't fussed about risking another intensely frustrating trip to Millwall. I will be able to walk out and forget it if we look like losing there once again. 

I noticed a large billboard on the Lower Road (by the Pickwick) advertising season tickets with that naff strapline "building a better tomorrow together." The headline pricing is certainly attractive but that's limited and I suspect the £175 'freedom passes' will soon sellout. My guess is we will lose between one and two thousand season ticket holders given what's gone on this year. 

Hopefully, most will go match-to-match and not be lost long-term. We could do with the recent recovery in form and more attacking football continuing for another month. The rest, then, will be up to Roland Duchatelet.

Finally, a 'well done my son' to Charlton Life's Admin "AFKA." He put the call out yesterday morning to see if 'Lifers' could help boost the Upbeats Charity collection by £1000 on  the day. Lifers responded to the call and several thousand have been added since and the total standards at over £7000 against the £10,000 target. 

3 comments:

  1. Forgot to say, what a day of 6 Nations rugby too. I will watch the first and last matches and hope Scotland can salvage something from this campaign and play their part in directing the title.

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  2. Did I say that Lifers had helped move the totaliser for the Upbeats to over £7000? That was a couple of hours ago and thanks to the continuing generosity of Lifers, big and small, the target of £10,000 has been exceeded well before lunch. With 500 charity walkers making their way to the Valley today, there will be more money to come. A fantastic achievement and what a fillip for the Upbeats on their special day.

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  3. Tuesday morning update - I see the total raised for the Upbeats is now over £12,500. Inspirational stuff...

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