Open Letter To Alan C

Dear Mr Curbishley,

This season has been one largely of disappointment and dull, boring football. Admittedly, we have retained our Premier League status but in so doing have failed to provide much entertainment. Our traditional end-of-season slump has further disillusioned fans to the extent that we can’t really wait for the season to end. Although most of us would have accepted a top-ten finish at the start of the season, once we reached 40-odd points with twelve games to go I don’t believe it was asking too much to expect an exciting end to the season and perhaps European qualification. It could be argued that by reaching seventh with a dozen games to go we had in fact been punching above our weight, but once in that position we should have taken advantage of it. You would have thought that having reached ‘safety’ the pressure would have been off and we could have gone for it. Apparently not. At present the team seem to be lacking desire, pride, spirit and, above all, motivation. With games against Manchester Utd and champions Chelsea to come, the best we can hope for is a top twelve finish. It remains to be seen to what extent the squad will be able to be strengthened during the Summer as with each passing week we are throwing away another £500,000 due to our plummet down the table, which will also have a negative affect on season ticket renewals.

However, all is not yet lost. Both yourself and YOUR players still have a big opportunity to redeem this season for the fans. Crystal Palace, our arch enemy, visit The Valley on Sunday, May 15th. They are likely to need at least a point, if not all three, to escape relegation. They must not be allowed to leave The Valley with anything. Only a Charlton Athletic win will do. They must be relegated. Both the players and yourself will never be forgiven if at The Valley, OUR HOME, they get the result needed to keep them in the Premier League. If they get a result that allows them to stay up then there will be no need for our traditional lap of honour. There will be no-one there to see it.

Please Alan make your players aware of exactly how important this game is for Charlton Athletic fans, and why, and ensure that this season ends on a relative high. It will be a long, long summer if our lasting memory of this season is capitulation against Palace and their retention of a Premier League place.