In Limbo

No unveiling of new owners, no photos of identifiable parties in the directors’ box to encourage fresh speculation (at least none that I’ve seen), and for the third game in a row no victory (despite going into each game with high hopes and spending most of them confident of the three points), so no play-off position (and the widespread view that we’ve tossed away seven points in these three games). We’re in limbo for sure: waiting for confirmation of a takeover, boycotting Addicks waiting for a formal deal before returning, all Addicks waiting to see if Karl Robinson and the squad have what it takes to get us promoted - clearly the answer is ‘so far no but we are handily placed and with key players coming back from injury and January loan signings bedding in there are grounds for hope.

On the takeover please don’t look here for any inside information. I don’t know which of the interested parties is supposed to be involved in the ‘done deal’ (I keep checking the Australian Football Consortium page for any change of wording), nor do I know what has yet to be tied up before everyone signs off. Like everyone else after the euphoria of ‘done deal’ was digested all we are left with is downside risk: will something crop up to scupper a deal? If so, will other interested parties step in? And if so will Duchatelet be prepared to accept the lower price they will be offering?

There are for sure conflicting issues over timing. A buyer might want to drag things out, even to the summer, to avoid having to fund monthly losses. But if a new owner’s goal is to get us promoted, he/she/they will surely be aware that the chances of this happening are increased if a deal is concluded asap, given the boost to supporters’ morale and some clarity for Robinson and the players (no, that’s not an excuse for underperforming). Presumably a deal at this stage of the season will include clauses (affecting the purchase price) to cover whether or not we are promoted this season. We want promotion, ergo a deal now please.

On the results front I can’t comment on whether we should be blaming our inability to finish off games with more goals or our inability to keep a clean sheet for the recent points dropped. Obviously the answer is both – and the statistics speak for themselves. Of the teams above us only Shrewsbury have scored about the same number of goals as us, everyone else more (even allowing for extra games played). And they have conceded 24 against our 38. So we don’t have an identifiable strength.

Without wishing to jump the gun I’ve been trying to place the current team in the context of others which have gone on to compete in the play-offs (perhaps leaving aside Lennie’s heroes). It is after all unfair to set it against Sir Chris’ League One champions; they were head and shoulders above the rest from the start of the season through to its end – although if there is a comparison to be made it’s that team’s record for the final 10 minutes of a match, which was outstanding (if I remember correctly). Phil Parkinson’s play-off side was still an unbalanced mix of Premiership/Championship players and others which ended up missing out in the play-off lottery, arguably unfortunately (we should have beaten Swindon over the two legs) but ultimately because they were not clearly better than the others in the mix. And the team under Curbs in 1995/96 really limped into the play-offs with little chance of success.

If there is a comparison to be made – and yes I realise it is an optimistic, perhaps wildly over-optimistic one – it is with the 1997/98 campaign. For the first half of the season, probably longer, we were not setting the division on fire, even though Super Clive was banging them in with abandon. If my memory serves me well, it was only around Christmas/New Year, when we beat convincingly Middlesbrough and Notts Forest (admittedly in the Cup), that we really began to believe. And it was really only in the final 10 games of the season – when we conceded three goals (none in the final seven games), won eight, drew two and lost none – that we really came good, going into the play-offs with real confidence (albeit with a very good side in the shape of Sunderland to be overcome).

It is up to the current squad and management team to produce a repeat of this performance. Yes, there’s no Kinsella or Mendonca but the opposition isn’t as tough either. It can be done – but until the team does start to show that it is improving and making the most of its assets I really don’t want to hear the sort of comments made about Doncaster by the admirable Chris Solly. Please don’t talk in terms of what we should be doing against teams like that, we haven’t earned the right. Go out on the pitch and do it, then take the (deserved) plaudits.

Still Hoping

Obviously Saturday didn’t exactly go according to the script: no late transfer window sales (and bids rejected), a couple of potentially exciting additions, plus evidence that our daft and absent owner is actually communicating with those at the club who might know something about football (obviously these have risen in percentage terms with Meire’s departure), just needed three points and a return to a play-off spot with game(s) in hand to sustain the momentum. I can’t comment on the game itself (and regrettably we are currently two bloggers down, hopefully both will soon be back and fully fit), on the impact of Robinson’s substitutions, but it sounded like although their decisive goals came late we were not exactly robbed.

So be it. I’m just surprised that some seem ready to write off the season. Yes, a change of ownership, hopefully this month (better still today) is the number one priority. But that’s hardly in conflict with getting promoted too. We had no realistic chance of a top-two spot before Saturday, we’ve surrendered three points, but what’s changed? Seventeen games left and we’re two points off a play-off place with two games in hand, behind a side that’s lost five in a row and just sacked their manager, not adrift of others above us, with nobody coming up fast beneath us (except perhaps Southend, under some new manager).

I wouldn’t say we deserve a play-off place, that we are playing well enough to merit one, or that we will get one, let alone that at this stage we would be confident of going up if we get one. We really shouldn’t give a monkey’s. If – and of course these are big ‘ifs’ – we can get key defenders back and if we can find a way to play to maximise the assets we have going forward (whether or not this involves the returning Ajose) there is at least the potential to go into the play-offs in a much better state of mind than at present. Momentum matters so much (so does luck) and there is a chance, no more than that, that the form team with a settled line-up in the closing stages of the season will be us. If we fall apart over the next half-dozen or so games and it all goes to pot, so be it, then we plan for the summer and our third consecutive season in this division (in my lifetime this is our fourth stint in it and so far we’ve never had to suffer more than three seasons before getting back up).

As for Robinson, any speculation over his position at this juncture seems to me to be entirely pointless. If new owners come in and want a different guy in charge, perhaps one that will also want his own support team, fair enough (and if anyone suggests that’s all that Duchatelet did we should remind them that Sir Chris was offered a new contract but refused to sign it because of the terms). In that event hopes do indeed start to be geared around next season. But if I’d just bought the club I’d be focused on the chances of promotion this season. And I fail to see how sacking Robinson at this stage of the season advances that cause, whatever his pros and cons, especially just after we’ve brought in a couple of fresh loan players whose motivation may wane if they feel they’ve landed in a club in transition rather than one going for promotion.

We know (and have known since the start) that Robinson isn’t perfect. Shooting from the hip can be applauded for what it says about openness and honesty; yet we know that actually making sense of what he says can be challenging. My particular favourite of late has been his attitude to players’ workrates. Here are a few recent quotes: “Listen (on) Marshy you don’t see wingers working that hard anywhere up and down the country (and the same with) Ricky Holmes” (before he was sold); “the way I judge players is how hard they work and what they do on the pitch”; and “Karlan has really moved mountains this season, he has worked so hard and I think fans are beginning to see that on the pitch” (before he was shipped out on loan). All well and good, you may say. But then go back to the first (staged) interview he gave on becoming Charlton manager. I wrote this at the time: ‘early in the interview Robinson talked animatedly of “hating” any description of a player's performance as 'hard-working', which he said should be taken as a given (he went on to say when asked what had gone wrong for him at MK Dons that he had 'worked as hard as he could').

We can (and should) forgive the occasional meaningless outburst. But it’s reasonable to question the sort of mindset that the above quotes suggest, whether this is a guy who can perform well under pressure. He is still only 37 years old and we are only the second club he has managed. So time on his side and scope to learn from mistakes, if he can. Either way, if we’re to go up this season we need him and those around him to be at their best as well as the players - and the new owner(s).

Time To Fill The Valley Again

Life’s full of little ironies as they say. Was it so long ago that the regime was refusing to treat The Trust as a suitable partner for ‘meaningful dialogue’ with supporters, insisting instead – for duplicitous reasons - that the worthy but compromised Fans Forum was the chosen vehicle? Meire does a runner before finding herself out of a job and suddenly first up it’s The Trust that Richard Murray turns to in order to communicate information on the takeover.

It’s taken a while for the club to shift in the direction of sanity when it comes to dealings with a major stakeholder – and always potential partner. The regime was never interested in dialogue with fans, for Roland would do it his way and we had to ‘live with it’. It’s taken the departure of Meire and the progressive distancing of Big Daddy for change to come, even if the club and its expensive PR team rather missed a trick by waiting until CARD’s threatened protest before agreeing to communicate. No matter, let’s not split hairs.

I think it’s fair to say that the meeting produced all that was realistic in terms of updates on where we stand. It’s been suggested that Murray might have been pushed more on the price that Duchatelet is asking for us. But Murray apparently told The Trust that he is “not party to negotiations at all” and surely such information would be viewed as confidential. Chances are it’s going to be some time after any sale before we have an inkling of the terms and price, if we ever do.

For me the most important point was in the first line of The Trust’s account: “He (Murray) began by emphasising that the most significant point was that Roland has made up his mind to sell the club”. Of course he could change his mind, but that's not likely. The decision not to replace Meire was surely indicative in that respect. So whether a sale happens before the transfer window closes, in February (Murray's "most likely month"), or "at the latest by this summer", it is on. There's just no reason to suspect any double-dealing. 

So what do we, the fans – especially the boycotting fans – do about it. And here comes today’s second little irony. If I were not living in France (at least until end-March) I would resume going to matches. Sure, there’s been no actual change of ownership yet, but that’s only a matter of time. I don’t think there’s anything more that boycotting can achieve in terms of encouraging Duchatelet to sell (whether or not it did anything is a moot point), so now surely it’s just down to what we want: we want new owners (almost achieved) and we want to get promoted.

We are after all in a play-off spot! What’s to be gained by waiting another month or so until an actual sale? We have the opportunity both to give potential new owners a glimpse of what The Valley can look and feel like when there’s a good crowd. And surely a fuller stadium getting even more behind the team will only help Robinson and the team. The season looked like floundering a few weeks ago but the team eeked out a couple of ugly wins and momentum can count for a lot. After all, we’re now within striking distance of fifth. I can’t comment on they way the team is performing on the pitch, but just how we’ve got to where we are is surely less important than taking advantage of it.

So I’d suggest that the time is right for The Trust, in collaboration with CARD, to issue a joint call to all Addicks who have stopped attending to come back, to help in a promotion push. This wouldn’t mean any change in attitude towards Duchatelet (or prevent a resumption of boycotts and protests if there are reasons to do so further down the line). All along protesters have been acting in what they believe to be the best interests of our club. Perhaps now the downside of giving the regime a little gate money (no, not season tickets) are outweighed by the possibility of ending the season under new owners back in The Championship. 

Meeting Means Demo Off; Roland Daft To The End

I’ll bet a pound to a penny that Roland doesn’t believe in ‘rules’ when it comes to investments. They are for ordinary people and he is a visionary, so rules don’t apply to him. Stuff and nonsense of course, so here’s a rule that was drummed into me from an early age: when considering whether or not to continue with a venture you pay no account, absolutely none, to how much you have invested in it to date. Letting emotions (whether they be down to pride, stubbornness or just arrogance) interfere with the decision is a recipe for disaster.

I’ve no idea whether Duchatelet has been trying to engineer some sort of bidding war for us by having more than one interested party, to try to get the price as close as possible to his unrealistic demands. Neither am I sure that the mooted asking price is a reflection of his desire to come out of this with a profit (or at least a washed face). But from what we’ve learnt of the guy they are not outlandish assumptions. Perhaps he still hopes that some Chinese (or Russian) group with more money than sense will come out of the woodwork and afford him a dignified (in his eyes, not ours) exit.

Personally I’m surprised that anyone would pay more than £1 to acquire us, with everything else wrapped up in ‘if and when’ clauses. We are a loss-making company in League One and as such the only way to balance those losses is through player sales, which of course works against the goal of promotion. Barring some exceptional circumstances (which do occur), whereby a team with modest resources comes together under an influential manager and outperforms to the extent of getting promoted, getting back up to the second flight requires investment. And in the Championship you can expect to run materially higher losses just to hold your own. Perhaps the best way to handle this now is the approach adopted by Bournemouth – to get promotion to the Championship and then throw money in quickly to make the promised land in one or two seasons (and to hell with FFP requirements). That contrasts with Ipswich, who have been in the Championship since 2002 – and have as a result racked up substantial losses (I did see a figure quoted recently but can’t find it now).

Roland’s dream that FFP would create a more level playing field and that this, together with a network approach to move players around and contain costs, went out of the window a long time ago. All he is left with is a third-division football club. So just why anyone would consider paying the sort of price that has been suggested is beyond me. I would want to take over a debt-free company (with the debt parked only to be repaid if we get into the Premiership) with the purchase price reflecting an estimate of how much investment would be required to get into the Championship and then to cover say a couple of seasons there.

Of course the other way to value an asset is to use as a benchmark the price for similar recent sales (while accepting that no two football clubs are the same). This isn’t helped by the fact that it seems the norm not to disclose anything these days. The price for Barnsley wasn’t disclosed (nor was that for Northampton) but the talk was of £10-20m. We may consider them to be a ‘smaller’ club than us but they are of course already in a higher division.

I guess the bottom line is that so far at least none of our potential purchasers has budged sufficiently from realism into Duchatelet-pricing for a deal to be struck. That suggests that either he does materially lower his asking price – or we are stuck with him for a while longer, until he finally lowers his asking price.

All this is of course supposition and we now have a planned meeting of Richard Murray and the Trust before Saturday’s game, news of which has quite rightly prompted CARD to call off the planned protest outside the West Stand. I think it’s appreciated that there are issues of confidentiality involved and we are not going to get chapter and verse on who are the interested parties, what prices have been offered etc. But we will I hope get an insight into whether Duchatelet is really now just casting around for the highest price he can get and will indeed sell in the near future, how advanced are the negotiations, with some hint at least of the likely purchaser and their ambitions.

Because even to the last Duchatelet’s actions make no sense. Before we ground out a couple of 1-0 victories against poor sides our season looked like it was slipping away, especially with the transfer window expected to see the sale of another youngster. Now, with Holmes having departed (and I was sad to see some criticism of his actions, you can hardly blame the guy) but us clawing our way back into a play-off spot, I’d be looking to sell the club on the basis of promotion being a real prospect rather than trying to squeeze the last pips. Turning off the taps right now is obviously counter-productive for our promotion chances and this has to feed through to a sale price, as does any player sales. But we gave up on Roland acting rationally a long time ago.

For the love of an apple terrine

A new reason for missing a football match has been added to the list: 

a desire not to ruin an apple terrine. Doesn’t sound compelling, does it ? 

But give me a bit of leeway here. Having landed in Lyon late on New 

Year’s Day for a minimum three-months stay my partner Suzanne and I 

are in the early phases of establishing a pattern of living together (this 

process so far seems to comprise her telling me that some habits which 

have gone unremarked for almost 20 years are apparently not 

acceptable for outright cohabitation and me apparently going out of my 

way to difficult, something I normally manage with ease). So when 

Suzanne informed me about an hour before the 8pm kick-off that her 

lovingly-crafted first attempt at an apple terrine could be endangered by 

us going to the game discretion became the better part of valour. 

If truth be told I was less than totally committed to the game – and a little 

more conviction on my part and Suzanne would have risked an 

extended break between the part where the ever-compressing apple and 

caramel/calvados concoction goes from being stuck in a sort of bain 

marie to being put in the oven. I was feeling lazy (a natural state but 

encouraged by still getting over one of those bloody annoying colds that 

won’t disappear), there was a good Crozes-Hermitage ready and waiting, 

while going to the game would have meant bolting down a very nice 

poultry dish (I still don’t know exactly what it was as Suzanne could only 

describe it as ‘the wife of the duck’) rather than treating it with the respect 

it deserved.  

So we passed on Duchere’s potentially important home game against the 

splendidly named Red Star (France’s second-oldest football club, 

founded by Jules Rimet). Potentially important because going into the 

match La Duch sat in eighth place in France’s National (third division), 

really in need of a win against a better placed rival to get involved in the 

promotion race. It’s been a decent start to the season for a side still 

adjusting to life in a national league and in terms of support base 

punching well above its weight (Saturday’s attractive fixture was played 

out in front of 377 spectators). But unlike last season the division is quite 

stretched out, with what look like some strong sides at the top (including 

Red Star, relegated last season from the second tier). For their part Red 

Star were looking for a win to enhance their promotion prospects, no 

doubt keen to get back up at the first attempt. 

From the highlights of the game it would appear the first half was a very 

dull affair (one shot each deemed worthy of showing, both tame efforts). 

But it perked up in the second, with Duchere seemingly having the best 

of it based on chances. This seemed the case right to the end, when in 

stoppage time Red Star had a player sent off (seems he was given a 

yellow for holding onto the ball to delay a restart then must have called 

the ref a Trump/Duchatelet as another followed), Duchere went up the 

other end and a shot just past the post proved the final kick. 

A 0-0 draw sees Duchere either stay eighth or edge up to seventh, 

depending on which site you look at. Basically with 21 points from 16 

games (and a record of won five, drawn six, lost five) they are joint sixth 

with Pau and Dunkerque. But the top three (there are two automatic 

promotion spots and a play-off for the team ending third) are looking 

solid : Rodez on 31 points (despite having lost their last game, at home 

to Marseilles Consolat), Red Star and Grenoble both on 28 points. This 

division does seem to ebb and flow, but it’s going to take a storming 

second half of the season and a sustained run of good results for 

Duchere to launch a real promotion bid and get into the top three. A 

late winner on Friday could have made all the difference, but wasn’t to be. 

Progress will nevertheless be monitored - and reported on. Next up on 

Friday they travel to Pau, which might be stretching it as far as being 

there is concerned. A week later and it should be at home to relegation-

threatened Les Herbiers. Not quite the glamour of a match against Red 

Star (the town is apparently twinned with Newtown in Wales and it’s 

claim to fame is hosting an annual bicycle time trial), but I’ve pencilled 

that one in. 

In the interim, having seen the back of Pinocchio we wait impatiently 

for concrete takeover news. The signs are encouraging : Meire not 

being replaced, Duchatelet seemingly so self-deluded that he was 

reportedly ‘stunned’ by her jumping ship, plus his evident focus away 

from January window signings, and if the reports are to be believed 

Robinson calling Duchatelet what we have known him to be for some 

time now – and not being shown the door. All of this smacks of a man 

ready to walk away, presumably if his inflated pride can be sufficiently 

assuaged by the price. That what he does is not driven by the best 

interests of the club, something now apparent to Robinson, will be his 

legacy, right to the end. That only underlines how inadequate a 

custodian of our club he has shown himself to be, whether or not he 

sells up in the near future. 

Puppet Departs, What Of The Puppet-Master?

Right to the bitter end she couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth. “I believe I need a new challenge”. We believe you Katrien, nothing to do with the prospective sale. The news that Ms Meire “has decided to stand down” and will leave our club at the end of the month is of course going to be welcomed by the vast majority of Addicks. Indeed, assuming that the end of the month means 23.59 on Sunday, the entire country will join us in counting down her final moments of involvement with Charlton, Big Ben may chime, followed by howls of joy and fireworks to mark the moment of her formal departure. Quite a send off.

It is perhaps a pity that her departure is not to be put back by a day, to give a Valley crowd the opportunity to say goodbye, even a formal presentation. I thought that the burnt embers of a sofa would have been appropriate. No matter. No doubt there will be some sentiments expressed in any event, maybe even the opportunity for some tribute photos in the programme to mark her time with us, involving some people wearing masks and a certain bedsheet being moved along the West Stand into position. And perhaps it is better to wait for the real celebration, when there is confirmation that we have new owners, when the puppet-master departs rather than just the puppet.

Let’s get one thing straight though. There is absolutely nothing personal in any of this. I’ve never met her, she may be absolutely charming, kind, considerate etc. She is clearly intelligent and, as long as she cuts the apron strings, will presumably go on to have a rewarding career. It is that she had no experience or understanding of what it would take to succeed as a CEO of a football club (and made no attempt to learn), and that her incompetence would have resulted in any sensible owner replacing her before long such that her stubborn retention only served to strengthen the view that the best interests of our club were not what motivated Duchatelet. A trustworthy sycophant was the requirement of the job and she made that bargain. And any periodic sympathy for her plight went out of the window as she either oversaw another gaffe or insulted fans with her statements.

Meire’s departure is good in itself for the club but obviously the fact she is not being replaced can I think be seen as a fair indication of how advanced the takeover talks have become. If the stumbling block is as indicated elsewhere the asking price, I just hope that for once business sense will win out. The fact that Duchatelet paid well over the odds for us when he did is no-one’s fault but his own. If he is trying to secure a price that enables him to claim he has not lost out, why bother? We will never know the full terms of any deal. Claim you made a small fortune, just please don’t let it get in the way of a sale. Meire’s time is up – and should have been a long time ago. Same applies to you.

For me personally the window of opportunity, to be able to return to The Valley 

in the near future at least, has closed. For reasons that have nothing to do with 

football, on Monday I have a train to Lyon and no return ticket. The plan is for 

three months but what happens after that is unclear: return to London, stay in 

Lyon, or try to split the time. We shall see. So my intention was in any event to 

mark the end of the year with a hearty Bonne Année to all Addicks 

everywhere. That stands. And who knows? Perhaps I won’t be the only one 

claiming a love of Charlton taking the Brussels Eurostar on Monday. Now that 

would be funny. 

Celebrations Still On Ice

Into December and no confirmation of a sale. I suspect I’m not the only Addick who was hoping that a deal would be struck, at least in principle (and announced), before the Back to The Valley anniversary. That would have enabled all of us to celebrate a wonderful day in the history of our club (and enable many of us to drone on endlessly about what a day it was) and to look ahead to a bright future under new owners (of course there are one or two assumptions here, given that we can be sure that Duchatelet is not going to be bothered who he sells to if the price is right for him). That is not to be. No matter, it is only a question of time.

That does leave the question of whether to mark the anniversary by attending the Portsmouth game; indeed, whether there is a sufficient case for shelving non-attendance. I did note a recent piece on Doctor Kish attributed to The Godalming Gourmet. I kept a part of it: “Why wouldn’t true, but presently absent, Charlton supporters, want to be part of all that when it could lead to us playing at a higher level next season? Forget for the time being any existing animosity one might have to our owner – he’s still bankrolling the club and does not ... appear to be interfering in Robinson’s plans, more encouraging them I would say. Come back and see and feel again, the atmosphere of a packed Saturday afternoon at The Valley, or a Tuesday night under the floodlights. These are exciting times at Charlton – be part of it!”

I don’t know the source but it’s a reasoned appeal and one that deserves consideration by all of us who are staying away, one that should not be influenced in any way by a subsequent dip in results/performances. Personally I did give it a lot of thought. No question we all want to see us promoted, little doubt the chances of that are improved if The Valley is regularly packed and behind the team. And it would be churlish to suggest that nothing has changed vis-a-vis the regime. Meire is keeping her mouth shut and we have a manager who at least for now seems able to maintain good relations with the regime while keeping it at arm’s length as far as matters on the pitch are concerned. I suspect there are a number of reasons for that, including the line that Duchatelet has sold himself: that he is far too busy to devote the time to making a success of us, time to leave it to others. It’s nonsense of course, self-delusion, but if that means he is prepared to leave things to people who have some idea of what needs doing (a group which does not include Meire), so much the better.

To the mix has to be added the credible rumours of a sale, encouraged by the most recent garbled comments from our owner. There’s no point in repeating them here, but the tone of the remarks can I think be taken as confirmation that the club is up for sale. In my experience once you start to consider seriously a sale you have already crossed the Rubicon and it’s down to the details. I’ve no idea whether anything will be confirmed shortly (and as ever have no inside information), or whether the current interested parties will walk away over price or terms. But I’d be surprised if Duchatelet was still our owner at the end of the season and before year-end – to allow new owners the January window – would be a deadline of a sort. Duchatelet bought us in early January 2014 and three/four years seems to be his maximum tenure when it comes to football, the sort of timespan for him to try his brilliant ideas, see them fail, for animosity towards him to have the draining effect, and for him to come up with a silly line of argument which he can use to justify to himself a sale.

That in turn leads back to: if we’re confident that Duchatelet is about to exit left why not end boycotts now, in light of the above (ie the promotion imperative)? I have to admit the argument is not, for me, that far short of sufficient – and I have no truck with anyone who finds it compelling (or indeed with others who have already returned). After all, stubbornness is not a good reason to continue if the campaign has already been won (and if Duchatelet sells nobody can realistically say that CARD was not instrumental and successful).

Nevertheless, for me it’s still a ‘no’. Some time back (I think at the start of last season) among others I outlined what would persuade me to return: the departure of Meire (basically nobody who has the best interests of our club at heart could retain her) and an apology to the fans for the series of unacceptable and unwarranted insults (never mind the damage to our club’s standing under his tenure), at a time when daddy was unhappy at the naughty behaviour of one of his children. Alternatively, a clear declaration of an intent to sell the club. Arguably we’re close to the latter but there’s no sign of the former.

So I’ll be foregoing the coming anniversary celebrations, or rather keeping them on ice. It might sound a bit French Revolution, but one way for me to square the circle is to consider that the Charlton calendar stopped when Duchatelet bought the club, it is frozen at 3/1/14. When he sells the clock starts ticking again, which means that a little less than four years after that day we can properly celebrate our return to The Valley.

I shall nevertheless raise a glass tomorrow in memory of the day and hopefully on Saturday meet up with other Addicks before the game to talk about that great day. In fact one of them over the weekend circulated a video of us on the march from Woolwich, arriving at the ground, having a glass before the game etc. I was struck by how little I’d changed in the intervening years (although this does not seem to be the consensus view) and kept wondering why I was doing some sort of Harpo Marx impression: I kept appearing but saying and doing nothing (in contrast to my compatriots). I think I spent the entire day – aside from howling inside the ground – in a kind of blissful fug with a daft grin on my face. What a day indeed.