Charlton Athletic: Charlton

Chris Powell on move

Chris Powell will jet to the Caribbean on Wednesday pressure from Charlton to reveal whether or not he will take up their offer of a 12-month contract extension.

The 33-year-old left-back, who wants a two-year deal, was told by the Addicks last month that he could stay for one more season.

Powell, who won five England caps before the last year's World Cup, officially has until Monday - 28 days after the contract was offered - to accept or decline it.

But Charlton deputy chairman Richard Murray wants to end Powell's waiting game because he fears the delay means the club will miss out on a replacement for him if he does snub the deal.

Powell, who hopes Portsmouth or West Ham offer him a contract until 2005, leaves on Wednesday for a week in the Caribbean.

Charlton manager Alan Curbishley has been left to rue his team's appalling end to the season - as he will feel it in the pocket.

Charlton were sixth in the Barclaycard Premiership in March but just four points from their final 10 games saw them slip to 12th and with each place worth �500,000 in prize money, Curbishley fears he has lost some of his transfer budget.

Had the Addicks beaten Fulham on Sunday, and subsequently finished three places higher, Curbishley might have been given an extra �1.5million.

Curbishley said: "We should have done a bit better, we have let ourselves down, we should have picked another win up and had we done so we would have been in the top 10 and I would have been absolutely delighted with that.

"That for me is like Chelsea getting in the Champions League - but it wasn't to be and we will be trying to do it again next year.

"We lost a place last year on goal difference and we have done the same again.

"I have got some money - it would have been better if we had won - and we will have to see how the next few weeks pan out.

"I would like to bring some people in, there are some leaving, some natural wastage and I would like to have some quality brought in."

I think they are really going to struggle this season and could be one of the Teams that go down as they have no real big stars in their side...

Family man Matt Holland clinched his �750,000 switch from Ipswich to Charlton and then spoke of his delight that his wife and children do not have to uproot from Essex.

The Ipswich captain, 29, moved on a four-year contract in a deal which could rise to �900,000 - as Town will get �50,000 a season for the next three years if the Addicks retain their top-flight status.

The Republic or Ireland midfielder's proposed transfer to Portsmouth broke down last week when Pompey said they could not afford his personal terms.

Charlton leapt in and agreed a deal over the weekend to make him their second recent signing from Ipswich following centre-back Hermann Hreidarsson's �900,000 move in March.

Well this surprised me.....

West Ham should have pushed and got Curbs when we sacked Harry. Really would have been the man for the job, no offense Glen!

Paul Konchesky appears to be staying at Charlton after the club confirmed they have received no bids for the player over the summer.

The 22-year-old was transfer-listed at his own request after failing to become a regular at left-back - his favoured position.

But he said: "Even though the club have accepted my transfer request, I'll just see what happens."

Charlton are taking a third look at Molde left winger Thomas Mork, who says his trial with the club is "going well".

The 25-year-old Norwegian twice trained with Charlton last season and the London club have invited him back for a third spell.

"I think things are going well here,'' said Mork, who is on a week's trial. "The first training session was football practice, the second was more running. The plan is that I am staying until Wednesday.

"I have known about Charlton's interest for about a month, but I don't know whether there will be a transfer or not,'' he told Norwegian newspaper Romsdals Budstikke.

Mork has a contract with Molde until the end of the 2004 season and the winger is in no hurry to leave his homeland.

"Of course, it will not be any kind of disappointment if I have to continue to play for Molde,'' he added.

Radostin Kishishev's future at Charlton has been secured after the Addicks paid the final �300,000 payment to his former club Liteks Lovech.

The 28-year-old Bulgarian full-back will now embark on his fourth season with the Addicks.

He joined Charlton in the summer of 2000 under a complex deal that involved annual payments at the end of each of the first three years of his contract, without which his registration would revert to the selling club.

That means that the total fee paid for Kishishev rises to �1.35m.

Matt Holland insists his arrival at Charlton does not mean Scott Parker will have to leave - insisting they can play together in the same side.

The �750,000 buy from Ipswich has been seen by many as a replacement for the 22-year-old midfielder because they are so similar in style.

Interest in Parker from Tottenham and Middlesbrough has fuelled the talk, even though Charlton claim they do not want to sell the former England Under-21 international.

But Holland sees no reason why he could not partner Parker and said: "There is no reason why we cannot both play in the same team. I am certainly not expecting to just walk into the side and know I will have to challenge for a place.

"Competition in the midfield is a good thing and I know that when manager Alan Curbishley first spoke to me about joining, he told me how he wanted to keep Parker."

Holland, who turned down a move to Portsmouth when he joined Charlton on a four-year contract, has been training with his new team-mates for the first time this week and he added in the London Evening Standard: "It's a good set-up and the lads have made me feel very welcome.

"When I was at Ipswich we got into Europe and I don't see why Charlton cannot do the same."

Charlton manager Alan Curbishley wants Crystal Palace's out-of-contract winger Julian Gray to play in another trial match before deciding whether to take his interest further.

The 23-year-old was a surprise inclusion in the Addicks' starting line-up in a friendly against Peterborough on Saturday after a proposed move to Leeds fell through because the Yorkshire club could not agree a transfer fee with Palace.

Curbishley reported Gray was "really breathing heavily towards the end" of the 2-1 victory at London Road after playing in a practice match for Leeds on Friday and then travelling down to play for Charlton.

"To meet us at 12 o'clock and then play for us isn't that easy and obviously to play two games in 24 hours is very tough, especially at this stage of the season," said Curbishley.

"He's got certain aspects to his game that we are looking for - he's a natural left-footer, he plays higher up the pitch and he's young and I think he showed touches of his ability."

Charlton boss Alan Curbishley has strengthened his squad by signing former Portugal Under-21 goalkeeper Sergio Leite and ex-Arsenal midfielder Stephen Hughes on short-term contracts.

Hughes, a former England Under-21 player, struggled to hold down a first-team place after a promising start to life at Highbury and moved to Everton in March 2002 for �3million.

The 26-year-old had an unproductive spell with the Toffees before linking up with Watford and then Charlton, turning out for the Addicks' reserves last season.

Leite will already be known to Valley stars Luke Young and Paul Konchesky after playing against them in the 2002 Under-21 European Championships.

Also they have signed Paulo Dicanio who i think will do a great job at Charlton..!

Alan Curbishley claims that recruiting Paolo di Canio, the Italian striker who has forged a wild-man reputation, does not faze him.

Charlton manager Curbishley instead believes it will bring out the best in him as a leader at The valley.

The controversial striker has sealed a one-year deal with the Addicks in the twilight of a colourful career which has included being banned for 11 matches after pushing over a referee while playing for Sheffield Wednesday.

Di Canio also had a number of run-ins with manager Glenn Roeder at West Ham, the relegated club who declined to renew his contract at the end of last season.

The former Wednesday, Celtic, AC Milan, Lazio, Napoli and Juventus star has been accused of unsettling dressing rooms and badly influencing team-mates wherever he has played.

But Curbishley who, with 10 years of Charlton service, is the longest-running manager with a single club in the Barclaycard Premiership except Sir Alex Ferguson, said: "I want Paolo's professionalism to rub off on other players here.

Charlton have signed Chelsea striker Carlton Cole on loan for the rest of the season.

The 19-year-old, who could make his debut for the Addicks at Wolves on Saturday, has fallen down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge following the summer arrival of new club owner Roman Abramovich.

Cole will link up with Charlton's last signing, Paolo di Canio, in Alan Curbishley's frontline at The Valley.

This has got to be the best Charlton have been playing in a long time as Graham Stuart returned to haunt Everton as Charlton continued to make a mockery of the theory that they can not reach the Champions League with a 1-0 win at Goodison Park.Things are certainly looking rosy for them at the moment and they got a good win yesterday and Scott Parker didn't even play!

They seem to have lost there way lately,they got beat again by Spurs the other day 4-2.

Maybe the scott parker has unsettled them a bit but i can't see them finishing in the top 7 at the end of the season.

Yeah Parker is a big loss to Charlton and it looks like there is going to be a bigger one as Charlton manager Alan Curbishley believes he has probably signed his final contract at The Valley.Curbishley, 46, last week agreed to extend his stay at the south-east London club to the summer of 2007.The new offer was put in front of the Premiership's second-longest serving boss in recognition of hauling Charlton into the top six of the top flight and amid increased speculation he will move on to manage one of England's big clubs.

Paolo di Canio will have to wait until the summer to find out if he has earned a new contract at Charlton.
The club have offered one-year extensions to Shaun Bartlett, Chris Powell and Graham Stuart but not the 36-year-old Italian.

"We've not even discussed a new contract yet," said Addicks boss Alan Curbishley.

He added: "Paolo understands the situation and hasn't put any pressure on me about it."


Bartlett has already signed his deal while Powell and Stuart are also expected to commit to the club.

Di Canio asked for a new contract two months ago but has not heard back on the matter, although Curbishley has praised his contribution since arriving last summer.

Charlton beat Southampton 2-1 at The Valley.

Jason Euell netted nine minutes before the interval and Carlton Cole (53) doubled the lead before David Prutton (64) scored what turned out to be a consolation for Saints.

If Alan Curbishly makes the right signings from the money they've earned through transfers this season, then they have the potential to be fighting for a European place again.

If they don't fill those boots though, they could find themselves at the wrong end of the table. Would that open the door for Alan to take the England job?

I don't think he would take the England job. I don't even think he is good enough. I would like to see him manage a bigger side first before he tried England. The 10 million + he will get will certainly help Charlton and keep them in the top half of the table again as long as some good signings are made.

England...You heard it hear first the future England manager will be Ian Dowie this comes from a big name in footy and by what they say he has been helped all along the way and is being groomed for the job.

Well i knew about Dowie as we got it from the same person eh? TRD lol!

As for Charlton i think you are wrong. Curbs has done a fantastic job with them and has stayed loyal to them all the way through. He doesn't really make bad buy's and he should do some good with the money he gets to spend and keep Charlton in the top half of the table for a few more years yet. England manager yea why not i think he has the right credentials.

[Edited on 01/24/2004 by Sir]