By Neil Meaton, Charlton fan, 18th August 2003
Di Canio To Star For The Addicks? - Have your say in the footieNews chat room

Football is back, and so is Di Canio, as Curbs pulls off what should prove to be a great signing. Those who have described the fiery Italian as unreliable, a Prima Donna and past it seem to be forgetting that this is half of what makes the man what he is.

I doubt Paolo himself knows what he is going to do next half the time. The other half is his undoubted natural ability and, a year after Manchester United wanted to sign him, we have Di Canio for free, and on less than half the wages West Ham were paying him. Bargain.

Our other summer signings also look top notch. Matt Holland is a proven international, and, due to Ipswich's money troubles we've got him for £750,000 rather than the £4m Villa were prepared to pay a year ago. Hreidersson arrives cheap from Ipswich too, a £4.5m signing for them costing us £600,000. Both look classy, and I suspect will make the starting XI.

Another bit of business was the welcome return to Simon Royce, who played well until an injury to him perhaps cost us relegation in 1999, and we signed Deano, who made the number 1 spot his own. Simon went in search of first team football, but it seems as if he'll now compete will Paul Rachubka for a spot on the bench - apart from the first game of the season, when Deano is suspended.

Hopefully, we may also sign Julian Gray, if we can knock the price down to about half a million, and Steven Hughes, as both have impressed pre-season, as has youth product Jamal Campbell-Ryce, who looks quick and skilful. The need for wingers may have been answered in Gray and JCR, which, along with Holland and Di Canio's passing ability, could mean a good season for Bartlett, whose aerial threat we've never really exploited.

I predict this new found strength in depth will lead to a good season, with us challenging for Europe but missing out, and finishing in the top half.

Cheers

Neil Meaton

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By Neil Meaton, Charlton fan, 8th March 2002
Is Costa worth signing? - Have your say in the footieNews chat room

Close your eyes and imagine. You are a football reporter for a large national newspaper, and have been sent to cover the Charlton v Chelsea game. Charlton outplay Chelsea in every inch of the pitch, and why? Of course, it must be that Chelsea were poor! Yes, again every paper in the land attributed our win at Chelsea not down to our great performance, but our opposition’s poor performance. Stop it, please! We were outstanding. And Euell’s goals were of the highest quality, especially the last-minute lob. As I was certain he had taken too long, until…2-1, three points.

I also feel that Kiely was again not given the credit by the press and, more surprisingly, the fans, as numerous 'one shot to save and he couldn’t even do that’ comments were heard. Did no one notice his superb foil of a Hasselbank 1 on 1 early in the second half? How many Premiership keepers can claim that this season? And he was genius in stopping the referee giving them a penalty. Stop moaning Chelsea fans, you know that we should have had one too. Need some glasses, Mr Poll? And did no one in the media notice Melchiot’s stamp? Seemed pretty obvious to 26,000 at the valley.

Finally, it seems as if we will sign Jorge Costa, the Portuguese millwall-hater, permanently at the end of the season. The man is quality, although his nickname, ‘the tank’ could be a reference to his turning ability. More likely its cos he's huge. We’re sneaking up the league again, though I continue my prediction that we will finish 9th.

Cheers

Neil Meaton

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By Neil Meaton, Charlton fan, 5th February 2002
Charlton to finish 10th in the Premiership this season? - Have your say in the footieNews chat room

How are we eighth when we all know that we are having such a poor season? We had a terrible beginning to the season owing to our extensive injury list (amazingly it was larger than Spurs' - which really is saying something), and in the past three weeks we have been terrible.

However, four points from the last two games is a good return. Before that, we got exactly what our performances deserved against Blackburn, Villa and Walsall. It is frustrating when we know we are capable of playing better. Plus, wins at Villa and Boro, and the extra 5 points they would have meant, would now mean that we would be on 38 points. This would have left us in 7th, just 4 behind ‘title challengers’ Leeds, with the relative safety cushion of 4 points above Villa in 8th.

This would have also silenced the ludicrous ‘Charlton for relegation’ people who I have heard on 606. I know we have a hard run coming up – Man U, Leeds and Chelsea, as well as Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle before the end of the season – but with games against Leicester, West Ham, Bolton and Sunderland do they really think we will not get the 8 points realistically needed for survival? And we all know that we seem to save our best performances for the big clubs. So, with games against all of the top 6, surely that’s 18 points towards our UEFA challenge? Or not. It is set to be a difficult period, but I predict a very safe 10th place finish.

Back to our poor recent performances. I feel this is due to a number of factors. For a start, JJ has been terrible - Curbs needs to sort the Finn out. His work rate is awful, and his tackling back contribution is best demonstrated by the ironic cheers all around The Valley when he rarely does. OK, the man is a good finisher when presented with a chance, but he isn’t carving out the chances himself, or getting into the positions for others to set him up. When decent crosses are put in, he is nowhere to be seen, whereas players such as Svensson and Bartlett are likely to put them in. Bartlett must be returned to the team when he returns in time for Sunday. I can see a combination of Bartlett’s superb aerial prowess and Euell’s skill, speed and work-rate causing Blanc and the Nevilles all sorts of trouble.

Secondly, and it may seem a small gripe, but please vary the corners, Jensen or (the awful) Chris Bart-Williams. Front post, attempted knock-ons may cause a little trouble the first time, or even the second, but the tenth or eleventh, exactly the same? Paul Konchesky, playing brilliantly recently, varies his corners from the left, and we look much more likely to stick them in. Curbs must also sort the tactics out. Go for it more. Don’t sit back from the start and let teams attack – they will score. If you are losing, go for broke, points are more likely to separate teams at the end of the season than goal difference, so surely its worth the risk. Even against Walsall, in the nothing-to-lose last 10 minutes of an FA Cup game, we did not go for broke. Why not?

Lastly, and I think this is already happening, let Jason Euell take the penalties. It’s a few games too late, but Stuart has been very poor all round recently, and his penalties against Villa and Walsall were awful.

Unfortunately, Jensen will miss the visit of the champions, which means we’ll have to play Chrissy Bart and Stuart – unless we stick Konchesky in there, or Kishishev on the right and Robinson in the middle – two better options. If we are stuck with the former two, I think we will lose, as they cannot compete with Beckham, Giggs, Keane and Scholes etc.

Cheers

Neil Meaton

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By Neil Meaton, Charlton fan, 17th January 2002
Charlton to win their next 3 home games in 8 days? - Have your say in the footieNews chat room

Yeah, so we lost 4-1. Damn. The thing that worries me most about the game though, is the fact that Scott Parker will now be suspended. Although we started slowly, we were threatening for an equaliser when Scott was sent-off. The fact that we then threw ourselves forward with only ten men to try to save the game meant that the score was given an unrealistic look to it, so I’m really not that worried about our biggest loss for some time, and of this season.

That fact itself shows the progress that we have made. And we always seem to bounce back from bad results nowadays. But back to Parker’s sending-off. Curbs thought that he got the ball, and I didn’t think that the Blackburn bloke had a clear goal-scoring opportunity, but never mind, the referee sent him off and we lost.

Next, we have three home games in 8 days, and three wins would be lovely. I would hope, nay, expect us to get at least four points – beat the doomed Derby and draw with Villa? – and beat Walsall.

Walsall are a very good footballing side, and refuse to conform to many nationwide side’s long-ball tactics. This could make it an interesting and tough game. However, I expect us to progress, and a cup run would be nice.

My only transfer gossip this week is that Liverpool have been scouting, and tracking the progress of, Paul Konchesky, who has been very consistent this season. Paul has finally settled in the first team this season, mainly at left-wing, and his versatility is a great asset. But big deal, Liverpool won’t do anything about it. Paul is here to stay for many years yet.

Finally, good luck to Shaun Bartlett in the African Nation’s Cup. I’m sure he will do well.

Cheers

Neil Meaton

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By Neil Meaton, Charlton fan, 4th January 2002
Can Charlton grab a UEFA Cup spot this season? - Have your say in the footieNews chat room

Charlton come out of the festive period in 8th, and, except for a slip-up against Blackburn, we have looked good. The season now looks far brighter than it did around September or October. Indeed (say it quietly), some, mentioning no names Mr Robinson, are beginning to believe that we can ‘do an Ipswich’ and get a UEFA Cup spot at the end of the season.

Many of my regular readers may know that I am a turnstile operator at Charlton, as well as a season ticket holder in the Covered End. Therefore, I miss the 1st 10 minutes of each game, and I missed the Ipswich goals. However, I saw the rest – Fish and Parker superb, and also the fantastic slick passing from the Addicks - such as that which led to the winner. Even Mr Rennie could not spoil our comeback, despite a massive effort, and we survived Ipswich’s bad-referee-inspired surge at the death. I believe that if Kiely remains fit, there is no reason why we cannot go from strength to strength, and who knows what may happen.

The only other news around the Valley is that of Shaun Bartlett and the African Nation’s Cup. Shaun must make up his mind whether he cannot afford to miss six Charlton games, or whether he cannot afford to miss this important competition. I feel, as South African captain, that he will go, but I hope that he doesn’t. I am a keen admirer of Shaun, and I think we do not exploit his brilliant aerial dominance well enough. Despite a quite poor games to goals ratio during the time he started matches at the beginning of the season, Shaun set up many an attack, and without his height we seem to lose out to every high ball. I feel Shaun should be starting games alongside Euell. This is the man who, last season, scored a brace on his full debut against Man U, and also rightly won goal of the season. Curbs, guarantee him a starting place and you may not lose him for two months.

Talking of Goal of the Season, it is now inevitable that Claus will miss out after Trev Sinclair’s wonder goal. Although Claus’s was clearly more skilful and judged, whereas Sinclair had the luck of catching it right, Trev’s looked better, and will surely win. Or will it? We never expected the pundits to choose Bartlett’s goal over Henry’s, but Des and the boys at ‘The Premiership’ are even more biased towards the ‘big clubs’.

Now to Blackpool, and we are on a hiding to nothing – expected to win, but with the memories of Bournemouth, Stoke and, especially, Dagenham, fresh in our minds. However, I see no real threat and with the lads on a high, we should be safe. I predict 3-1, with Jensen, Lisbie and Konchesky scoring(if they play). Overall, more of the same please lads.

Cheers

Neil Meaton

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