All the time you hear on the radio that certain clubs (most recently Stoke) are getting ideas above their station. They are then warned (by many pundits) not to 'do what Charlton did' by sacking the manager who brought them success, and paying the price for it like we apparently did. It annoys me, so I want to establish once and for all if we did indeed hound Alan Curbishley out or not. I did not go to many Charlton games during his tenure, nor was I active at all on forums, so my own recollections are not very reliable. I do not, however, remember any appreciable desire to get rid of him amongst the fans, something which would surely have been highlighted much more by the media at the time. What I do recall is the guard of honour he was given against Blackburn in his final home match, and the 'Stand up for the Curbishley' chant towards the end of a match we were losing 2-0. I also remember the 'Thanks Curbs' banners held up by all the fans who travelled to Old Trafford for the final game of the season. I do not think those are the actions of a set of fans who wanted him gone. This, of course, was before we endured the disastrous next few seasons, so this idea that we did not appreciate the good thing we had until it was gone is, IMO, complete rubbish. Apparently, in his last couple of years at The Valley, there were a number of Charlton fans who called 606 to complain about him, and this may well be true (I don't remember). But it's worth remembering that the callers selected to go on air are always those with the strongest/most radical opinions, so I highly doubt those callers were representative of the vast majority of Charlton fans. I can, to an extent, understand why this myth has taken hold. For one thing, managerial departures on good terms are relatively rare in modern football, as most are unceremoniously sacked. Curbs, on the other hand, was applauded out the front door, and he left with the eternal gratitude and good wishes of every single right-thinking Charlton fan. For another, this myth enable us to fit the 'fans who got too big for their boots' narrative so often spouted by media commentators. In his book, Curbs makes no mention of feeling that the fans wanted him gone. He chose to leave because he wanted a break and felt he had taken the club as far as he could. I know his heart lies with West Ham, but I believe he has a genuine affection for Charlton as a result of his time here. Surely, if we did force him out, he would have said so? Sorry this is such a long and unprovoked piece, I just wanted to vent my annoyance at media misconceptions about my beloved club. Do you guys agree? Or am I madder than Mad Jack McMad, winner of last year's Mr Madman competition?
It's a grey area for me. At the time I do remember a lot(!) of people mumbling that he has taken us too far, not getting the best out of his players etc. But when I look back you realise the VERY large majority of fans backed him. People who call in to shows like talksport and 606 only do so to moan, so it doesn't give a balanced view of the masses. Another point was that booing at half time and full time was becoming more prominent. We hadn't had any of that at The Valley in years, but a lot of the new fans (and some old) did really voice displeasure at some inept displays. Things like that were picked up upon by the media, and if the right fan was on hand to give a negative soundbite, then I can see why a lot of outsiders do think we wanted Curbs out. I hate the term 'real' fans, so I'll be diplomatic and say I know of no realistic fans that wanted him gone.
That's basically my point - there is no way we forced him out, as the majority supported him. Yet, as you say, the moaners are often the loudest voices, the ones the media choose to hear. Saying that he wasn't getting the best out of the players is not the same as wanting him out, either.
Completely agree with this, occasionally you hear people like Lawro referring to this as though it were fact. The only way you could say that he was forced out was that Richard Murray would not let him work the final year of his contract unless he signed a new one, but since Murray wanted him to sign the new one he was hardly forced out. I do remember those noisy fans complaining that he had "taken the club as far as he could", and they also used to write to the "Your Views" section of the OS to say this, but they were a tiny minority, just very vocal. The problem was that Curbs made the job appear easier than it actually was. Many of us were fooled, including Richard Murray, into thinking that finding a successor would not be a problem.
I think he just ran out of steam. Notice how soon even the most successful Continental managers move on, and they don't have half the things to deal with that English managers do. Some of the football we played in his last season was horrible, and the team had run out of ideas. I think the departures of Parker, Smertin, and Murphy broke his spirit. Very hard to climb Everest again with a minimal budget. Interesting that he has never come back into football as a manager. I wonder if he expected that to happen? I think he has missed the boat now for the England job or a Premiership job. Maybe he no longer cares. He is a decent and honorable man and football is a rotten business these days.
I wondered too if the problems in midfield got the better of him. Parker Smertin and Murphy all left with a bad taste. You mention a minimal budget, yet Dowie and pardew were given more money to spend than Curbs ever got, and look where it got them(and us). One thing which used to make my blood boil was the criticism of Kishishev by "experts" who didn't recognise his contribution. Curbs did, that's why he kept picking him.
My recall is very vivid about the last season Curbs had with us. In fact the dye was cast a few seasons earlier when the club introduced the valley express and fished for fans in Gillingham and the other southern counties.(which was dispacable) They did it with the banner "come watch us at the valley" it had pictures of giggs, Ronaldo and Henry. We filled up the empty 1500 seats with Motd wannabes and Manu sycophants. Suddenly the fine, solid, 'proper' support was diluted by these transients who within a few months suddenly become vocal and more noticeable (I saw kids with arsenal tops on) every week. These lot began thinking they were spurs fans and started having mad dillusions of grandeur and demanded cup runs and top 6 finishes. They took two seasons to become disenchanted and they regular began to boo and phone up 606 complaining of the next level being beyond curbs ambitions. They were about 10% of the valley support. Like all minorities they get preferential treatment and they were fast tracked on radio shows and they were quoted by arsewipe newspapers like the sun and the express. Three months before curbs left. Bill curbishley the former manager of the who and promoter went on the radio and did a chat show and hinted that Alan was really concerned and upset by the level of abuse he gets from certain fans and the attitude of players (Parker you rancid little turd) and that he (bill) would not put up with it. The club was always going to lose curbs and the dick that thought it was a great idea to pollute the valley with the complete slack jawed buffoons that were only interested in moaning and watching Man U contributed to his departure. I used to have 5 mates that went during the prem years and we all said the the same 'too many plastics at this club now you can't tell the seats from the arseholes any more"
About 2 years ago, mate of mine did an internship at a sports media company which Curbs has done a lot of work for. He's a womble, but one of his colleagues a West Ham fan who introduced himself as such. This was not long after their relegation. Curbs apparently gave him a pretty curt reply, asking him whether he still wanted boring mid table football. He may well have been successful at West Ham, but i'm not sure whether he looks back on the spell too fondly.
I went to quite a few games back then been a season ticket holder since north stand was done up, not sure but I remember a few grumblings about how we've been mid table all the time and should push for Europe, the closest we got was the season we finished like 7th and that. I think it's true we should and probably could have pushed for Europe, but then again i was like 14 when Curbs left so I doubt I was one of those who forced him out (if there were any at all). And FHB I thought Kish was crap but tried hard and that's what I like in a player. I don't think Pritchard has technical abilty past league 1 (even last season i didn't rate him), but he works hard and thats what I want from players, hard workers will get you further than an 11 of Berbatovs, class player but very lazy. That's what I liked so much about this season, apart from Solly, Morrison, Hamer, Kermit and Fuller we have a league 1 side and we are pushing well above our weight in my opinion. This is exactly what Curbs did. He got the best out of some average players, Steve Brown is an icon in my opinion but was never the most gifted player, I believe Curbs rubbed off on Powell a lot. And we didn't force Curbs out, the majority of us wanted him to stay and I think when he left many of us thought he had the England job (think he would have done a cracking job).
Looks like a similar thing happening at Stoke with Pulis leaving. They are a good team, would be a shame for them to go down next season!
A bit different- Pulis actually was forced out, whereas Curbs was offered a new contract by Richard Murray.
This myth was repeated in a couple of posts on the BBC Website when the news about Pulis was announced. One half-wit said something like 'Charlton fans got bored with mid-table mediocrity and wanted Curbishley out - look where it got them...' Coming back to Pulis, I don't know what the general opinion is on here, but I think they've made a serious and possibly fatal error.
I did'nt want Curbs out although I was beginning to think he may have been getting stale. My feeling was he'd given it everything to get a small club with a limited Budget up amongst the big boys, and just when the tide was going his way, Parker Smertin and Murphy all buggered off and he was faced with starting again. Plus there were a limited section of the crowd who seemed to think we'd got a divine right to go into europe and could'nt understand how Curbs was'nt getting us there, which is odd as no other Charlton manager has managed it either (I reckon it was all those medway morons and plastic wannabes!) Whatever, if Curbs did'nt want to sign a new contract, he obviously thought the end was nigh, regardless of the fans. At this point, I'm happy to state I never wanted Dowie, could'nt see why we needed to poach a manager from the neighbours, or understand what exactly Dowie had done to make poaching him seem logical. He was as bad as I'd feared. and that with a bigger Budget than Curbs was offered. Whatever, this for me has no bearing on Stoke as they're a different club with a different set of circumstances, though if it does go pear shaped, all the wise after the event boys will be able to say 'told you so'. For that alone, I hope Stoke get a decent manager and stuff it to 'em, especially Lawro (whoever he is!)
There's a glass ceiling in the Premier league, has been ever since the European Cup became the so-called "Champion's League". The Champion's League clubs are in a league of their own, not just in this country either. You hear "experts" like Robbie Savage telling us that Gareth Bale has to leave Spurs to go to a "Champion's League Club". Clubs with more limited resources will get fed up with "mid-table mediocrity" eventually. Swansea are on the crest of a wave now but wait a few years, they won't keep getting bargains like Michu, and finishing 12th won't seem su attractive. Thrashing Chelsea live on telly was IMO the beginning of the end for us, they took our best player in revenge and that was the end of our dream of "moving up to the next level"
I see Mark Hughes is on the Stoke agenda. Days after Reading how the man squandered money to build a terrible QPR side which eventually went down, and Stoke see him as an alternative to Pulis. As with the Charlton / Dowie thing, can somebody explain the criteria behind a managers achievements and how quickly he gets picked up by a new club. I'm trying to imagine job hunting with a CV which included bringing my previous employers to their knees by mismanagement. By the by, while thinking of our ex's, how I enjoyed watching Pardew's Newcastle season go down the pan. What goes around...
How much has Pulis spent while in the Premier League? I think I remember reading something about Stoke being the fourth or fifth biggest spenders for a few years. Not that Hughes' record is better...
One thing that still irks Curbishley is the suggestion he left because fans had grown restless that Charlton could not kick on and clinch a European place – their highest finish was seventh in 2004. Scott Parker, a driving force in midfield, was sold to Chelsea for £10m in late January. The false version of events was even trotted out by Roy Hodgson in February as he told Palace fans to be “careful” what they wished for, adding that Charlton “kicked downwards” afterwards. “It was nothing to do with the fans,” said Curbishley. “It was to do with the situation that myself and the chairman found ourselves in. “I had one year left on my contract and the chairman wanted me to extend it to three years.” “What I wanted to do was see out my contract, get to the end of the season and then see the lay of the land – what Charlton wanted to do and where they wanted to go. I was then in a position if I said: ‘Look, it’s been 17-18 years, let’s sign a new contract or let’s not’. The thought of me prolonging the contract, I didn’t feel it was right. “I was prepared to do the year. I always liked to try and do a bit of business as the season ended, in terms of bringing a player in. “I tried to do it on quite a few occasions. I knew people might have been after the player. A bit like Benty [Darren Bent] – as soon as Ipswich got knocked out of the play-offs we went and got him. “The chairman said if the player or agent turned around and said: ‘You want us to sign for three or four years, but you’ll only be here one year – and we’re coming to the club because you want us – where does that leave us at the end of the season?’ “I understood the argument. And that’s why me and Richard decided it was the best way forward, we all moved on. “It was better for the club at that time – because whoever came in would have had the whole summer to prepare for the new season, instead of coming in midway through. “As I found out at West Ham, it’s very difficult going into a club during the season and learning about your players while you are playing proper games.”
