Buzzin Championship Football

How many times have you heard it said that a football club is bigger than any one individual?

Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have used this old saying when dealing with important players or transitional periods that occur when a player like Thierry Henry or Eric Cantona decide to tread pastures new.

In most cases football teams move on and, with great leadership find a new hero and within months fans wonder what all the fuss was about.  But the total success of a football club being completely reliant on one man is currently nowhere greater to be seen than at Charlton Athletic, as they are looking relegation to the third tier of English football square in the face.

In July 1991 Alan Curbishley replaced Lenny Lawrence as joint manager with Steve Gritt, of Charlton Athletic.  He took over the role completely four years later.

At the time of becoming manager, Charlton Athletic were a million miles away from the newly formed Premier League.  While their home ground, The Valley, lay derelict and empty, Charlton spent seven years playing ‘home’ games at Crystal Palace and West Ham United between 1985 and 1992.

Under Alan Curbishley’s management and re-structuring of the club, the south-east London team returned to the top flight of English football and surpassed its former glories by cementing its place as a Premiership football team in the late 1990’s.

Charlton Athletic continued to punch above their weight, season after season, and small or less ‘fashionable’ clubs such as Reading and Wigan referred to Charlton as a benchmark to their own plans of sustained Premier League success.

Part of Charlton’s success was due to the stability of the club.  Prior to Curbishley’s arrival Lenny Lawrence had been the Charlton Athletic manager for eleven years (November 1982 – July 1991). Alan Curbishley was the manager from July 1991 to May 2006.

But in the 2005/06 Premier League season, Curbishley gave prior warning that at the end of the season he would be leaving the club and taking a break from football altogether.  The decision was entirely down to him, and in the tradition of the club, the whole process was undertaken in a dignified and respectful manner.  At the time some fans believed Charlton had become stagnant, and it was parting company with alan Curbishley would be a good thing.

It appeared from the outside that Alan Curbishley had quite genuinely done as much as he could for Charlton Athletic and was leaving the football club in a very good position.  So, what happened next can only been described as catastrophic.

Two managers in twenty-four years was followed by three managers in one season. Within months of Curbishley’s departure, the football club had careered out of control into chaos and complete disarray.

Iain Dowie was appointed Curbishley’s successor but was sacked after just twelve league matches; and by Christmas Les Reed had been replaced by ex-West Ham manager Alan Pardew.  Charlton had gone from well-run, low profile ‘family’ club to become a laughing stock. And though Alan Pardew brought some stability back to The Valley, he couldn’t stop them from being relegated at the end of the season.

Charlton fans were hoping for a quick return to the Premier League, but in the following season they finished a disappointing 11th place.

This season Charlton have continued to be less than impressive and have been booed off the pitch on several occassions.

On 22nd November 2008 Charlton Athletic lost 5-2 to Sheffield United at home and with it their third manager in the past two seasons.  The result meant that the club had gone eight successive games without a win and for the first time this season dropped into the relegation zone.

Charlton decided to promote Phil Parkinson as their new manger instead of looking elsewhere, and in doing so appeared to be looking for a return to stabilty.  But this turbulent time at The Valley has ended yet, as they are in serious danger of dropping further down the English football’s pecking order.

Charlton are currently rooted to the bottom of the Coca-Cola Championship, ten points adrift of Southampton.

Furthermore, they are twelve points away from safety.  Things are looking very bad for a team that only a couple of seasons ago were a very safe bet for a top ten finish year after year in the Premiership; and this, rollercoaster ride is quite obviously all down to one man – Alan Curbishley.