Time To Get Real

If the wallowing was allowed until our first signings guess it's time to stop. But recent news has prompted a strange reaction. There was a time when securing two new strikers would have set the pulses racing. This time, however, through no fault of their own, the news that we have secured Luke Varney and Chris Iwelumo has been greeted with near silence, or at best muted acknowlegement.

In part this I'm sure is because it only serves to effectively confirm what we already knew: that Darren Bent is on his way. A bit of recent speculation that we could juggle the numbers and keep him for another season is now redundant. The signings also suggest that thoughts of keeping Carson are similarly just wishful thinking.

However, there may be a deeper reason. A new forward pairing for a combined £2m seems almost too cheap. And we are now signing players we have no real idea about whereas in recent years talk would be about which international might be coming, whether we can lure a player wanted by Spurs etc. I used to take the mickey out of a friend who is a Man City supporter by saying that, especially under Keegan, they had to persuade the club they were buying a player from to double the price otherwise their supporters would think he was crap (realisation that he was would set in later).

Maybe we have become a little like that - and it's time for a reality check. Next season is going to be a scrap from start to finish, with Pardew having to recreate a team while as he says trying to retain an element of quality to give us an edge. The news that Wolves will have a great deal more money than us to spend (with speculation that Southampton will be next) only underlines the point.

There was a good deal of upbeat talk towards the end of the season of us 'getting our Charlton back' (I don't know if this was from the same people that regularly called for Curbs or someone else to take us to that 'next level'). I want the Charlton of a few years ago back (if I can't have Charlton in Europe playing wonderful football), but I don't want back the Charlton that drifted aimlessly outside the top flight for most of my life. This means as supporters giving it our all next season and starting by giving Varney and Iwelumo the best welcome possible when they step out on the pitch. Neither may prove to be Darren Bent, but they're not going to be JFH either.