A former well established premiership club, and now a league 1 team fighting to restore the glory days at The Valley. Indeed, the past few years have been nothing short of a nightmare for Charlton fans as they watched their favourite team fall to the club's lowest point for almost 20 years. Much debate has risen as to what is the main cause for the Addicks downfall and even the legendary Alan Curbishley has been the subject of much criticism after leaving the club at a pivotal time. "Curbs" left the club as a hero in 2006 after placing Charlton in an era of ecstasy where they competed for European football. Since his departure, no manager has been able to restore the passion in the Charlton shirt and reignite a plagued club. This left much anger within the Charlton faithful as some argued that Curbishley left the club in an unstable situation and should have left once they were secured for the years ahead.
The tenure of Ian Dowie is the subject of which fans try to forget as money was wasted and the club was placed on a downwards spiral which would continue right to the present day. Alan Pardew can not be forgetten, his wreckless use of money has to be scrutinised thoroughly and especially when you evaluate the 2.5 million signing of Luke Varney. Many Charlton fans would agree Varney was a decent signing, however, for such a heavy price tag many would have expected a much better record than what he produced. Millions more were thrown on failures such as Chris Iwelumo and Andy Gray, a strike partnership that was inevitably never going to set the footballing world on fire. This wreckless spending seems to be a formality for Pardew as he evidently has proven at his new club Southampton. Despite arguably doing an excellent job for the Saints, he has spent over 5 million in his first year at the club, and for a league 1 club this is extremely excessive. I recognise that their new owners aren't exactly lacking cash, however, this spending spree for Pardew could destroy many other clubs who haven't got such secure finances as he proved in his prolonged stay at SE7.
Speaking from an unbiased point of view, i do also recognise that the blame must equally be passed right to the top at the hands of the board. Its all very well condemning Pardew for his excessive spending, but the root of this money comes from the likes of Richard Murray who could have easily had said 'no'. Perhaps the real blame is that of the Chairman, perhaps not but one thing is for sure, something has to give at Charlton Athletic soon to kick start and revitalise a club that is punching way below its weight. 
In 1984 Charlton Athletic went into administration, and i feel i speak for many Addicks as i say that de ja vu isnt out of the question as fans are constantly kept in the dark over financial affairs. Phil Parkinson, despite his critics, does appear to have restored some pride in the red Charlton shirt and has attracted many supporters back to the Valley which became an intimidating journey for league 1 clubs this year. Despite losing in a fiercely contested play off semi-final against Danny Wilson's Swindon, the passion and effort the players showed on that nerve jangling night reassured many supporters that good times may lie ahead. Credit has to be given to Parkinson, he has walked into a club that many managers would have opted to have steered well clear of. With extremely high expectations, Parkinson fully well knew the demands expected as many want a fast track back to the Premier League. And he didn't shy away and take a easy road out of SE7, he stuck around and has begun to form a team capable of great things. Indeed, he has his critics and has on several occasions not showed the tactical expertise expected from a manager, but he has a lot to learn and with the guidance from fan favourite Mark Kinsella fans will hope they can form a winning formula for Charlton Athletic and start a revival that will see the red robins bob bob bobbing along back to the Premier league.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, i would appreciate it if you could leave your views below in the comments section.
Article kept me reading to the end. So much more to the story than what was written, but you are to be commended for a very good effort overall.
ReplyDeleteIf being super critical, there are some typo's, but having someone proof read before submitting going forward should eradicate that.
Well done mate and I wish you all the very best of luck in your chosen career path.
A decent article, and far less biased than I was expecting, so thanks for that. A few things:
ReplyDeleteCurbs gets nowhere near the level of criticism that Dowie and Pardew get, and in between their tenures was Les Reed's short time as manager, which was inexpensive in terms of transfer fees, but really set the rot in place for that season's relegation.
I'm nearly 100% on this even though it's before my time: Charlton Athletic has never entered administration. There were massive financial troubles in 1984 that forced the club to move from the Valley, but the club itself never actually entered administration. I see that Wikipedia claims that it did, but its 'source' doesn't say anything of the sort. The club's history: http://www.cafc.co.uk/history.ink
While there are financial troubles at the club now, the likelihood of administration is low, since the vast majority of the club's debts are owed to the board members. Parkinson does have a big job ahead of him, even bigger than it was last season, and it's very likely he'll see out his contract and nothing more.
The comment above me wishes you best in your career path, so I'll assume you're aiming to be a sports journalist. Best of luck!