The Rollercoaster is climbing again

Two years after the Zabeel deal that never was, the rumours of a takeover at Charlton Athletic continue to simmer away every now and again managing to lift the lid so we notice. The most recent rumblings came from a BBC hack tweeting away. His specifics may have been wrong but there's no smoke without fire and yesterday there were premature and unconfirmed reports linking Peter Ridsdale and Sebastian Sainsbury with the honour. 


What's clear from the hasty statement today from Richard Murray, is that talks are ongoing but that neither of the parties mentioned would appear to be serious contenders. Ridsdale is the equivalent of the Grim Reaper knocking at your door in the middle of the Black Death. I think Richard Murray would rather entertain the prospect of downsizing to a council flat in Sam Bartram House before ever tarring himself with a decision like that. I don't know much about Sebastian Sainsbury but Hedge Fund managers are instantly untrustworthy and one like him with a failed track record of talking the talk but not walking the walk when it comes to takeovers (ironically enough at Dirty Leeds). "Proof of funds" was the reason back then. What that means is that it was either an ego-trip or an attempt to get sufficient people involved who might provide the funds he didn't have or wasn't willing to risk. Either way he doesn't look like the White Knight we need so badly.


The F A Cup draw was kind to us in the sense we got a home draw but Luton Town or Corby is a another potential banana-skin. I only hope Corby win the replay because Luton's English Defence League Men-in-Gear pillocks, have been waiting several years for an opportunity like this and I suspect would cause plenty of trouble at the Valley. Still, there should be sufficiently more incentive to beat Barnet next time around than there appeared to be on Saturday. Who knows, two more cup matches and we get a shot at being the giant-killers.


Our team does battle in Southend tomorrow night in a bid to make the Southern Semi-Finals of the JPT. If we come through that, there isn't really a lot of opposition standing in our way from making a Wembley appearance. Swindon, Brentford, Plymouth, Exeter, Bristol Rovers and Wycombe Wanderers. What can possibly go wrong?