retired_jgirl87

Christmas Day didn’t go too badly, considering what a dysfunctional family I belong to. I arrived just before lunch and had just got as far as taking off my jacket when Dad opened his mouth to say something about the Manchester United shirt that I was wearing underneath. Mum gave him a slap across the top of the arm and reminded him that Christmas was time of joy and celebration and we all needed to make compromises in our lives. Five minutes later I got a similar slap from Mum when I went to say something about Dad and Fulham. My brother arrived late as usual, but I didn’t see him getting a slap from my Mum. No, the apple of her eye could do no wrong – not even when he asked me why I was wearing a Manchester United shirt and was it because my Crystal Palace, Spurs and Bolton jerseys were all in the wash. Anyway, things settled down after we had all eaten and we even had a couple of hours of decent conversation as the afternoon wore on. I would usually have stayed at Mum and Dad’s overnight, but I left instead so that I could go home and prepare for the trip up to Manchester to watch the boys play Charlton on Boxing Day.

Sunday 26th December 2004:

Manchester United v Charlton – Old Trafford, Manchester

Just 3 minutes had gone when Ryan Giggs took an in-swinging corner from the right wing and Hreidarsson climbed all over Christopher Eagles in his attempt to reach the ball. The referee gave us a penalty and I was surprised to see Roy Keane step up to take it. There were no problems though as Keane put his spot-kick directly into the bottom corner of Kiely’s net to give us a 1-0 lead. The next time that we got a corner on the right was in the 10th minute and it was Eagles who took it. He chipped it to the near post where Kleberson flicked a header across the front of the goal and in via the far post to make it 2-0. It only took until the 17th minute for the score to move to 3-0 as Quinton Fortune advanced down the left wing and play a ball inside to Wayne Rooney. The young superstar took the ball with his back to goal, turned past Young and hit an early shot towards the far post. The shot by Rooney caught Kiely flatfooted and he could only watch as it sailed into the top corner of the net from 25 yards. The chances kept coming in the first half as Rooney headed over from Ruud van Nistelrooy’s cross in the 27th minute and then van Nistelrooy himself appeared to have his header handled on the line by Powell in the 35th minute, but another penalty wasn’t forthcoming. As half-time arrived we had a comprehensive 3-0 lead and I was confident that more goals would follow in the second 45 minutes.

Alan Smith replaced Eagles and Paul Scholes replaced Kleberson as the second half began. When I saw those two changes I thought that Sir Alex was going for Charlton’s jugular vein and I might get to witness a real goal-feast as a belated Christmas present. Instead thing just seemed to fade out for us. Ryan Giggs went quiet on the left hand side and Scholes never added anything of worth during the half. Van Nistelrooy was anonymous and only Smith looked like he was trying as he saw a lot of the ball on the right hand side. We created only two chances – a weak shot by Smith after 68 minutes and a curling free-kick that was well wide by Rooney after 84 minutes. Still the first 20 minutes were outstanding and I can only recall Charlton having one shot during the whole game and that never troubled Tim Howard.

Manchester United 3 Keane 3 (pen), Kleberson 10, Rooney 17
Charlton 0

Manchester United: Howard, Neville.P, O’Shea, Ferdinand, Fortune (Silvestre), Eagles (Smith), Keane, Kleberson (Scholes), Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Rooney.

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Fortune, Hreidarsson, Powell, Rommedahl, Murphy, Diao, Hughes (Holland), Lisbie (Euell), Johansson (Perry).

My MOM: Quinton Fortune doesn’t always get the recognition that he deserves, but today he was solid in defence, supported the attack well and was the most consistent player on the park.

Christmas cheer #1: Charlton’s generous Xmas present of three points in return for little effort. Thanks very much Curbs!!

Christmas cheer #2: Finding out that my smart-arse brother got food poisoning from dodgy piece of stale Christmas pudding. Good one Mum!!


Next up: Birmingham v Manchester United – St Andrews, Birmingham

retired_jgirl87

As the end of the year looms I have been looking back at my actions over the past five months and I must admit that they have been shameful. How I couldn’t have seen that United were obviously the best team in the Premier League, I don’t know. Our revival is gathering pace now and I can’t see Birmingham denying Manchester United another three points in our next game. Not only are we playing some great football which is pleasing to watch – we are also showing the world that the Manchester United club is still a proud and feared footballing entity and fully deserving of the praise and respect it engenders.

Tuesday 28th December 2004:

Birmingham v Manchester United – St Andrews, Birmingham

It was a very slow start by United and Birmingham took up the running as a result. It looked like Fergie was playing his 4-4-1-1 formation with Wayne Rooney in behind Ruud van Nistelrooy, but we still weren’t getting any impetus out of the midfield. Izzet had a couple of shots which Tim Howard dealt with quite easily, but in the 22nd minute we fell a goal behind. Upson took a free-kick from defence and Johnson outjumped Quinton Fortune on our left side to head the ball into the centre. Gabriel Heinze had completely lost Heskey and the big striker controlled the pass before driving a low shot past Howard from 12 yards to make it 1-0 to Birmingham. Johnson headed just over from Gronkjaer’s corner as we continued to struggle. I couldn’t see why Roy Keane was on the bench and Kleberson was playing. We needed Keano out there. Eventually we got some attacking going after half an hour and that culminated in Rio Ferdinand heading a bullet-like effort at the Birmingham goal, only to see Taylor brilliantly tip it over. From the resulting corner Cunningham headed clear and Phil Neville picked up the clearance. However before he could cross the ball back in, he was tackled and dispossessed by Upson. A quick long pass sent Heskey charging away and he rounded Howard to make it 2-0 to the Blues after 41 minutes. We’d been hit by a classic counterattack. As half-time loomed things had been decidedly poor by United and I was worried for our prospects in the second half. Well into injury-time Ryan Giggs took a corner and Ferdinand leapt high to put his header past Taylor and pull the score back to 2-1. That made me feel better.

As I had hoped for, Keane came on for Kleberson at the break. We immediately looked a better team and the chances started to flow. Rooney crossed for van Nistelrooy to connect with a diving header after 52 minutes, but Taylor pulled off another great save. Just a minute later and Ruud’s turn and pass put Cristiano Ronaldo in the clear, but with just Taylor to beat he dragged his shot wide. We were definitely the better team now, but the final ball was just letting us down. Finally Fortune sent Giggs sprinting down the left and we had four on two in the middle waiting for the cross. Giggs picked out Rooney and he volleyed sweetly from 12 yards, but Taylor refused to be beaten and dived to his right to push it away. There was a slight interruption as Forssell had the ball in our net after 71 minutes, but he was correctly ruled out for offside. The final chance for an equaliser came in the 88th minute when Ruud sent Rooney running through the middle. The youngster got past Taylor and was about to tuck the ball away when Cunningham came in with a lunging tackle to force the ball away for a corner. That was the last throw of the dice I’m afraid and Birmingham had got themselves a 2-1 victory.

I stayed on with the Birmingham faithful to celebrate our win over Manchester United. We sang and chanted with great enjoyment because it’s always one of the season’s highlights to put those glory-hunters and their team back in their box where they deserve to be. Christmas and the festive season has been tough on my wallet, so unfortunately I wasn’t able to go to the club-shop and pick up a Birmingham jersey to wear to our matches in the New Year. That isn’t too much of a problem really – the main thing for us hard-core Brummie fans is to be true to the club and follow the team with all our passion and enthusiasm. The ability to wear that blue shirt is just a bonus.

Birmingham 2 Heskey 22, 41
Manchester United 1 Ferdinand 45

Birmingham: Maik Taylor, Melchiot, Cunningham, Upson, Clapham, Johnson (Dunn), Izzet, Carter, Gronkjaer, Heskey (Till), Yorke (Forssell).

Manchester United: Howard, Neville.P (Neville.G), Ferdinand, Heinze, Fortune, Cristiano Ronaldo (Smith), Scholes, Kleberson (Keane), Giggs, van Nistelrooy, Rooney.

My MOM: Maik Taylor kept the red hordes at bay with the some breathtaking saves and won the three points for us.

Don’t you love it #1: When your victory keeps Manchester United firmly embedded in mid-table. Suffer, you has-beens!!

Don’t you love it #2: When the same victory keeps you higher on the table than Aston Villa. Suffer, you scum!!


Next up: Charlton v Birmingham – The Valley, London

retired_jgirl87

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Premier League - 31st December 2004------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Pos | Team | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |1st | Chelsea | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 43 | 11 | +32 | 50 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |2nd | Arsenal | 21 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 42 | 18 | +24 | 46 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |3rd | Liverpool | 20 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 35 | 12 | +23 | 44 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |4th | Newcastle | 21 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 16 | +11 | 40 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |5th | Southampton | 21 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 36 | 26 | +10 | 36 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |6th | Fulham | 21 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 32 | 27 | +5 | 35 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |7th | Man Utd | 21 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 37 | 27 | +10 | 32 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |8th | Bolton | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 29 | 24 | +5 | 32 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |9th | Tottenham | 21 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 32 | 25 | +7 | 31 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |10th | Birmingham | 21 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 27 | 25 | +2 | 30 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |11th | Aston Villa | 21 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 26 | +3 | 28 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |12th | Portsmouth | 21 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 38 | -10 | 23 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |13th | Charlton | 21 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 21 | 35 | -14 | 23 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |14th | Blackburn | 21 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 30 | 31 | -1 | 22 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |15th | West Brom | 21 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 15 | 25 | -10 | 22 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |16th | Norwich | 21 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 29 | -15 | 16 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |17th | Everton | 21 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 28 | 48 | -20 | 16 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |18th | Crystal Palace | 21 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 19 | 39 | -20 | 15 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |19th | Man City | 21 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 16 | 37 | -21 | 15 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |20th | Middlesbrough | 20 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 41 | -21 | 13 | |------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_bootcamp_nat

KUTGSupporting Spav

Great read mate keep it coming.

retired_embartl

come on Charlton!

retired_xs2khizar

Come on you Addicks!

retired_jgirl87

Thanks guys. Here's some good news for you Charlton supporters.

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I love the start of a new year. You can have a clean slate and wash away all those things that you cocked up the year before. And looking back over 2004 there were a lot of things that I wanted to put behind me. The failure of my relationship with Karen was one of the biggest issues that I could now consign to the past. It was a pity too, as things had been great until her inflexibleness over something as simple as which football team we supported had got in the way of our budding romance. I also remembered that I needed to make further allowances for my family. My bother was a total smart-alec, but I let him get under my skin far too easily. Dad was just Dad – he was a product of another generation and they had made their name with their stubbornness throughout World War II – and he was never going to change. Yes, that was the biggest change that I was going to make in 2005 – I wasn’t going to let people get to me as easily as they had before. They couldn’t help their faults, so why should I worry about what were basically character flaws on their behalf.

Saturday 1st January 2005:

Charlton v Birmingham – The Valley, London

Several of the team were unable to back up from last Tuesday’s win over Manchester United, including our two-goal hero Emile Heskey. Jesper Gronkjaer had switched to the right wing and Stan Lazaridis took up his usual place on the left wing. Those two players gave us some good attacking moments early on, but Charlton slowly started to get on top. Thomas had already fired a shot into the side-netting after 14 minutes as the Addicks came back into the game. In the 18th minute after some concerted pressure Young released Rommedahl down their right. Although Martin Taylor got a tackle in, the ball failed to clear into touch and Rommedahl collected it again. As players lined up in the middle the Dane crossed to the far post where Thomas headed past Maik Taylor to put Charlton 1-0 up. Our response was good though and we created a couple of chances with the clearest falling to Mikael Forssell as he ran onto Darren Carter’s pass and fired in a low shot which Kiely turned away well. A slick free-kick routine undid our defence for a second time in the 30th minute when Hreidarsson playing a short ball to Johansson who laid it off for Thomas. The winger then crossed towards the near post where Lisbie nipped in front of Matthew Upson to head past Maik Taylor and make it 2-0. Worse was to shortly follow when Hreidarsson took a long throw in the 37th minute and found Lisbie well inside the penalty area. A quick turn fooled Kenny Cunningham and left Lisbie free to drive the ball across the six-yard box where Rommedahl dashed in to sidefoot it home and make the score 3-0 to Charlton. We had the last chance of the first half though when Carter bundled a loose ball goalwards following a Lazaridis corner, but Kiely managed to push it away and Fortune finished off the clearance.

Throughout the second half we just couldn’t seem to get our attacking abilities together at all. Time and again forward passes failed to reach their intended targets or crosses were thrown into the box to where Fortune and Perry had no trouble in clearing them. Only the wild shooting of Lisbie meant that we didn’t concede another goal or two. It got so bad that even Charlton substitute Bartlett was looking dangerous and only a quality save from Maik Taylor denied the South African a goal in the 79th minute. We finally got something to cheer about in the 83rd minute when Damian Johnson fired in a 20-yarder that forced Kiely into a full-length diving save. In injury-time Lisbie rocketed another shot goalwards from a Hughes corner, but Maik Taylor was equal to the task and he tipped the ball over. It was a pity that the rest of the Birmingham team weren’t following our keeper’s example though. In the end it turned out to be a comfortable 3-0 win to Charlton.

It was great fun sending those Birmingham supporters back home with their tails between their legs after our great 3-0 win. I never did like those Brummie buggers and that horrible accent of theirs. London was the real place for football, that’s for sure, and Charlton were one of the cities up-and-coming teams. It gave me real pride to think of how our boys had consolidated themselves in the Premier League over the past few years. It now looked like we were ready to take the next step up.

Charlton 3 Thomas18, Lisbie 30, Rommedahl 37
Birmingham 0

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Fortune, Perry (Bartlett), Hreidarsson, Rommedahl, Murphy, Holland, Thomas (Hughes), Lisbie, Johansson (Powell).

Birmingham: Maik Taylor, Melchiot, Cunningham, Upson, Martin Taylor (Traore), Gronkjaer (Johnson), Dunn (Izzet), Carter, Lazaridis, Forssell, Morrison.

My MOM: Kevin Lisbie was an absolute handful for the Birmingham defence all afternoon. It he was a little more accurate with his shooting, he could have had five goals.

New acquisition: I just love my new “Herman The Hero” t-shirt with the big Icelandic defender on the front. Cool!!

New year: 2005 looks like being the Addicks year judging by that great start. Keep it up Curbs and the lads!!


Next up: Chelsea v Charlton – Stamford Bridge, London

retired_goddess

good going spav. i think that maybe charlton could be a bit of a one hit wonder with stamford bridge coming up but we'll see.

retired_bootcamp_nat

Looks like you'll be staying in London at least!

retired_jgirl87

stebs & haze.13 - I think we can see the writing on the wall as far as Charlton is concerned.

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Now I’m not sure if there is such a thing as a true one-eyed supporter. Certainly unless you are a supporter of one of your league’s truly almost-invincible teams, then you must look at some matches with the possibility that you may be beaten lodged somewhere in the back of your mind. Such was my state of mind as I looked at Charlton’s next match away to Chelsea. For someone like me who truly values the merits of their team being unbeaten, to look at Chelsea so far this season was to gaze at near-perfection. The Blues had registered 21 games in a row unbeaten from the start of the season back in August 2004. However to me that also made them vulnerable. Long sequences of results and record runs are made to be broken eventually. Chelsea would lose sooner or later and there was no reason why it shouldn’t be on Monday when Charlton were the visitors. Actually the more I think about it, the more I feel convinced that we could indeed produce one of the shocks of the season at Stamford Bridge.

Monday 3rd January 2005:

Chelsea v Charlton – Stamford Bridge, London

There was a swagger to the way that Chelsea started and it had me worried. When Terry headed away Chris Perry’s long pass in the 7th minute, it was Luque who picked up the ball and he simply sprinted past Luke Young. A one-two with Robben saw Luque advance further still and a low cross to the edge of the box found Cole unmarked. With time to pick his spot Cole took a steadying touch before hammering a low shot past Kiely for a 1-0 lead. Chelsea’s left side was slaughtering us and Bridge and Luque combined in the 13th minute to free the Spaniard who crossed to the near post where Ballack stole in to head home the Blues second goal. In the 17th minute another Luque cross flashed into the box, but this time Ballack headed inches over the cross bar. We had a few feeble attempts to start some attacks, but Chelsea’s defence shut us down each time. When the 22nd minute arrived, the Luque/Robben partnership split us open again and Luque’s cross to the far post was headed home by the rampaging Ballack to make it 3-0. A thumping shot by Tiago went safely into the midriff of Kiely after 28 minutes and Robben hit a shot into the side-netting after 34 minutes as Chelsea maintained their grip on the match. When half-time thankfully arrived we were still 3-0 down and hadn’t managed a single shot for the entire first period.

As the second half progressed it seemed that defensively we were getting a little bit better. Young was containing Luque on their left wing and Ballack didn’t seem to be getting forward quite as much. We still weren’t making any headway in attack though. Chelsea seemed to have lost their way a bit, so Mourinho bought on Duff for Luque and that sparked them up again. Duff crossed for Ballack to head inches wide as he searched for his hat-trick. As we headed into the final five minutes I reflected that things could have been a lot worse based on what had occurred in the first half hour. 87 minutes had passed when Chelsea’s left wing play broke through again. Bridge and Duff did the lead-up work and substitute Kezman found his fellow replacement Drogba with a far post cross which the big striker powerfully headed home for 4-0. Shortly afterwards the fourth official indicated that we had three minutes of injury-time to endure. Ballack was still looking for his hat-trick and he worked his way to the edge of the box before letting fly with a low shot that Kiely did well to push around the post. Duff took the resulting corner and curled it firmly towards the near post where Gallas leapt high to send a bullet-like header flashing past Kiely to make the final score 5-0 to Chelsea.

I had been annoyed that I’d had to take a ticket in with the Charlton supporters for this match, but that’s how difficult it is for a Chelsea fan to get tickets to see their team now that we are so popular. It hadn’t been too hard to stomach my surroundings anyway – we were on top all of the day and the Charlton fans had little to sing or cheer about. By midway through the second half they were making their way out of the stadium anyway as they’d seen enough. By the time Gallas was heading in the fifth, the section that I was in was almost half-empty. After that I was able to sit back and calmly bask in the glory of our 5-0 demolition of the Addicks. Premier League title – here we come.

Chelsea 5 Cole 7, Ballack 13, 22, Drogba 87, Gallas 90
Charlton 0

Chelsea: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Gallas, Terry, Bridge, Ballack, Tiago, Cole (Drogba), Robben, Luque (Duff), Gudjohnsen (Kezman).

Charlton: Kiely, Young, Perry, Hreidarsson, Powell, Rommedahl, Murphy, Holland, Thomas (Hughes), Lisbie (Diao), Johansson (Bartlett).

My MOM: Michael Ballack was a titan in the centre of midfield today and he is the only man who can be compared to the brilliant Frank Lampard.

Unbeatable fact #1: That’s 22 games unbeaten from the start of the season. Arsenal’s record will soon be ours!!

Unbeatable fact #2: You can’t beat Stamford Bridge for watching quality English football with a 'continental' flavour. Class!!


Next up: Birmingham v Chelsea – St Andrews, Birmingham