A fairly evenly contested first leg at The Valley this evening but Shrewsbury showed a tad more quality and deserved their one-nil lead. We aren't out of it yet by any means but the odds will have swung strongly in the Shrews favour and they will have the confidence and the momentum required to see us off on Sunday.
In many ways the game was a microcosm of our season. Largely competitive but we have been ham-strung by our failure to adequately balance our capabilities upfront at the start of the season. The decision to allow Novak to leave on deadline day and the failure to have at least a decent replacement lined-up meant we started short of striking goals and that has continued throughout the season. We have scored fewer than any side above us and our top scorer (Magennis) is only on 10. That and the subsequent mistake by not investing in a goal-scorer in January sits very squarely with Roland Duchatelet, for whom the last couple of season at least have all been about damage limitation in terms of his finances and footballing losses. The fact that we actually sold Ricky Holmes, our rival top scorer, in January without replacement in January underlines the folly.
The gate last night was also a disappointing 14,367. Yes, it was live (I was one watching) but many were saying they thought the actual attendance was much higher. This is a consequence of the ridiculously over-called and fiddled attendances under Duchatelet's regime. What we saw last night was an actual 14,000 gate when most of our season ticket holders actually bothered to come to a home match and when the club did not overstate the attendance with several thousand comps that they either didn't give out or which weren't used.
A Tweet from Rick Everitt this evening suggests the Aussies will conclude a deal tomorrow and that the takeover is very near. They were at the match this evening and were being shown around by Paul Elliott. That is the best news of today and it promises some hope in the coming weeks assuming our season ends on Sunday. If we are to miss out, I shall take some small comfort from the fact that Duchatelet's poor judgement, ultimate lack of ambition and parsimony has cost him in the long run. He won't get the price he has been holding out for and the record will show that in four years under the richest owner in our history, the club dropped a division, became a laughing stock and had real, long-term damage done to it's reputation and it's fanbase by his personal failure to engage in it's proper running or to reign Katrien Meire in when she was blatantly mis-managing the club on a disastrous scale.
I really hope I can return next season to a new ship, a new crew and some genuine hope and honest ambition. That's all I have ever asked for supporting this club - anything else would be a bonus.
In many ways the game was a microcosm of our season. Largely competitive but we have been ham-strung by our failure to adequately balance our capabilities upfront at the start of the season. The decision to allow Novak to leave on deadline day and the failure to have at least a decent replacement lined-up meant we started short of striking goals and that has continued throughout the season. We have scored fewer than any side above us and our top scorer (Magennis) is only on 10. That and the subsequent mistake by not investing in a goal-scorer in January sits very squarely with Roland Duchatelet, for whom the last couple of season at least have all been about damage limitation in terms of his finances and footballing losses. The fact that we actually sold Ricky Holmes, our rival top scorer, in January without replacement in January underlines the folly.
The gate last night was also a disappointing 14,367. Yes, it was live (I was one watching) but many were saying they thought the actual attendance was much higher. This is a consequence of the ridiculously over-called and fiddled attendances under Duchatelet's regime. What we saw last night was an actual 14,000 gate when most of our season ticket holders actually bothered to come to a home match and when the club did not overstate the attendance with several thousand comps that they either didn't give out or which weren't used.
A Tweet from Rick Everitt this evening suggests the Aussies will conclude a deal tomorrow and that the takeover is very near. They were at the match this evening and were being shown around by Paul Elliott. That is the best news of today and it promises some hope in the coming weeks assuming our season ends on Sunday. If we are to miss out, I shall take some small comfort from the fact that Duchatelet's poor judgement, ultimate lack of ambition and parsimony has cost him in the long run. He won't get the price he has been holding out for and the record will show that in four years under the richest owner in our history, the club dropped a division, became a laughing stock and had real, long-term damage done to it's reputation and it's fanbase by his personal failure to engage in it's proper running or to reign Katrien Meire in when she was blatantly mis-managing the club on a disastrous scale.
I really hope I can return next season to a new ship, a new crew and some genuine hope and honest ambition. That's all I have ever asked for supporting this club - anything else would be a bonus.
We did win 2-0 at Shrewsbury earlier so not all hope is lost. My major concern is whether the class players in the side will be around next season.
ReplyDeleteYou are a betting man so maybe you might win a bundle by betting on the on Addicks on Sunday.
Hi Dave, George and I went last night, thought Shrewsbury were definitely the better side, they didn't have much of a goal threat but they had more organisation and more of a purpose about them. Thought our attendance was also poor.
ReplyDeleteGeorge has really got the bug now, once new owners are installed then 2 season tickets will be purchased, however, and I know I've said this before, Duchatelet has robbed me of lots of football bonding time for me and George, hopefully, it's not all lost.
I think new owners would have had a glimmer of what can be galvanised at Charlton, with the right investment and dialogue with the fans.
PH
Trevor - I really hope you are right and we are capable of spoiling the party. My point in last night's post was I don't think we will because the Shrews are a better side and we are short of the striking quality needed, so I won't be wagering - I had us to draw last night!
ReplyDeletePH - Good to know there are still youngsters catching the bug. We caught it when we were dire and everything looked stacked against us, but in those days the club made the most of what it had. The tragedy with Duchatelet is that it could have been so different if he had taken a direct interest, been able to see through his rose-tinted glasses and shown a modicum of ambition.
ReplyDelete