Friendly mess

It was disappointing to find that our attractive friendly fixture with Celtic was not only to be played in Wales but also behind closed doors. Reading away was also designated a 'no fans game' and I gave them a little credit given we didn't know the likely Covid impacts when these were announced.

Since then, however, it has become clear that crowds are now back on the agenda and the planned unlocking on 19th July will remove all restrictions. With the Palace friendly slated for 27th July, it was fair to assume we would be able to see our new shape team ahead of the opening fixture. It's not as if small friendly gates would have been a social distancing challenge anyway.

This morning we find that Palace have decided to make our game home fans only because "safety of supporters is our number one priority." This is an insult to Charlton fans who would have wanted to go and it looks very much like Palace have decided this arbitrarily. If that's the case, our club should tell them it's off. If we have agreed to this, someone needs a better explanation than the one being offered on the club website. In what sounds like an excuse made-up by an embarrassed committee, we are being told "with both clubs having liaised with the relevant authorities, and recognising the time available to arrange seating arrangements under any new protocols, it has been agreed that only Crystal Palace supporters will be permitted to attend the match."

If the match is too risky for fans, either don't play it or play it behind closed doors but don't penalise one set of supporters. Blaming timescales is majorly weak - the fixture was announced a couple of weeks ago and there are still three weeks to go. I fully expect Charlton to pull the plug on this - they are going to suffer a lot of supporter discontment if it goes ahead.

As for the pre-season schedule, it's a complete mess now as far as Charlton fans are concerned. Dartford away is the only fixture we can attend and tickets will be limited. Why no home fixture? Cost was an issue under Duchatelet because they lose money but I wouldn't have thought that would be a major concern under Sandgaard?

Given our under-whelming recruitment progress so far in filling the holes in the squad, let alone significantly improving the overall quality available, not being able to attend pre-season friendlies might not be such a disappointment as things stand but whoever is making these decisions doesn't appear to get it or is simply happy living pissing off their own fans. I certainly won't be buying Charlton TV to watch games I might ordinarily expected to have gone to.