We might well have gone up the following year. 98 was a bonus in some ways, so yes I agree this is a bigger game in some ways. Feel like we lose less of the squad if we go up. But not giving up on CAFC if we don't, we must play the long game against this adversity.
I still think that the win in 1998 was a bonus that came out of the blue, although we did have a very good team.
I'm inclined to agree with you.
By the end of Feb 1998, we were still flirting with the playoffs but were 8th or 9th and looking like we'd probably miss out.
Soon after Sasa Ilic became keeper, we thumped West Brom 5-0 which started an unbeaten run and a succession of clean sheets. Curbs took the chance to reinforce a winning side by adding Eddie Youds and Danny Mills.
The team operated like a unit. That was the key. The momentum took us to 4th place and the play off final.
it’s league one even when we have had skint ish owners we could get out of it
getting out of the championship when we did is why we had the chance to have 25k the other night
if we had failed in 1998 the ground would still have a capacity of 20k ish .
the potential for some follow through goodwill is there with promotion but I think that will still be there if we stay down and championship or league one it will depend how well we perform on the pitch next season and that comes back to who will be managing / playing for us and the biggest determiner of that is that twat owner
so no 1998 was where our dreams came true when top flight football returned to The Valley for the first time in 40 ish years
the result Sunday is important but not as important to me as 1998 what is important is the old codger slinging his hook and who knows what is best for that with the lunatic
I think this is more important than a promotion/win on Sunday. But that conversation is for another time.
Sunday will be all about winning the game and enjoying the occasion.
98 with out doubt, loose that and Rufus, Kinsella and probably Mendonca are off. Sunderland kept their team together we wouldn't have done. It was also the last game Charlton played before we signed Chris Powell. It was a real sliding doors moment.
Win or loose on Sunday Cullen, Beilk, BFG and probably Aribo will be gone anyway. If we loose and keep Bowyer and Gallen we will go up next season. If not it depends who is getting the loans and free transfers in.
Yes we would have a smaller wage budget, than this season, but we won't be paying Ajose, Marshall at el a fortune to not play.
Every season we have been in league 1 our wage budget has got smaller but the squad has got better. I know I sound like a broken recored but not signing players is a myth, of the 18 likley to be involved Sunday Maxwell, Purrington, Cullen, Beilk, Williams, Pratley, Taylor and Parker were brought in this season. Yes they were all free or on loan but this is league 1, not the champions league, there are dozens, if not hundreds of players avaliable for the sort of wages we would pay.
Saying all that the club won't progress, beyond where we are now until we have an owner that has the ambition, vision and most importantly, is willing to spend their own fortune to achieve the first 2.
I don’t agree. As has been said, the squad will be ripped apart regardless of promotion. Aribo, Bauer, and the loanees will all be off. If Ilic hadn’t saved that pen and Sunderland had won in 98 then Clive and co would have been snapped up. That was our moment to get into the big time and it gave us a decade of success. League One is such a pony League I’d back us to get out next season even with a squad rebuild.
Not necessarily. The likes of Clive & Kinsella remained at the club after we got relegated, & got us back.
It's funny, clubs back then didn't take so many "risks" on the unproven players from outside the top flight. Look at someone like Steve Bull for example. Huge goalscoring exploits over multiple seasons, but was never snapped up. Whereas today, you look at Karlan, & the Sunderland guy who went to France. Half a season in the 3rd tier scoring regularly & they're off to dine at the top table. More money to gamble I guess.
I don’t agree. As has been said, the squad will be ripped apart regardless of promotion. Aribo, Bauer, and the loanees will all be off. If Ilic hadn’t saved that pen and Sunderland had won in 98 then Clive and co would have been snapped up. That was our moment to get into the big time and it gave us a decade of success. League One is such a pony League I’d back us to get out next season even with a squad rebuild.
Not necessarily. The likes of Clive & Kinsella remained at the club after we got relegated, & got us back.
It's funny, clubs back then didn't take so many "risks" on the unproven players from outside the top flight. Look at someone like Steve Bull for example. Huge goalscoring exploits over multiple seasons, but was never snapped up. Whereas today, you look at Karlan, & the Sunderland guy who went to France. Half a season in the 3rd tier scoring regularly & they're off to dine at the top table. More money to gamble I guess.
The need to sell our star players after relegation in 99 would have been less than the need to sell players if we'd lost to Sunderland. If I recall Danny Mills was the only decent player we lost while Curbs shrewdly assembled his title winning team of 99/2000 which was actually a better team than that of the 98/99 relegation season.
I do agree with your other point though.
For me Sunday is bigger than 98. We weren't to know the golden era that laid ahead then, but we know of the possible bleak outcome if we lose on Sunday, doesn't bear thinking about and I refuse to dwell on it or even give RD any space in my head until Sunday is over.
People go on about all the players out of contract but I would say only Aribo and Bauer are the significant players to worry about. That said Djiksteel has also really developed his game in Solly's absence.
Win on Sunday and i'm 100% sure Bowyer and JJ sign on and with that might even persuade Bauer to stay on too. We then hold the sway over all the other players out of contract because I don't think any of them apart from Aribo, Bauer and Djiksteel could command a contract from a Championship team. I include Aribo only because if a Prem team was to snap him up it would be to loan him straight out to a Championship team for the season.
I agree that the team may well be decimated and also the management which is a massive concern. It really doesn’t bear thinking about really. We may well be trying our best to avoid relegation to League 2 next year. The euphoria of 30000 fans Sunday could be down to 6000 come April 2020. Stop thinking ....!
However, Patrick has been mentioned a lot , I think that he is very good, but is he indispensable?
More concerned about Aribo, Lyle, Cullen, Jake, Igor, Sarr, Phillips, etc than Bauer going.
I still think that the win in 1998 was a bonus that came out of the blue, although we did have a very good team.
I'm inclined to agree with you.
By the end of Feb 1998, we were still flirting with the playoffs but were 8th or 9th and looking like we'd probably miss out.
Soon after Sasa Ilic became keeper, we thumped West Brom 5-0 which started an unbeaten run and a succession of clean sheets. Curbs took the chance to reinforce a winning side by adding Eddie Youds and Danny Mills.
The team operated like a unit. That was the key. The momentum took us to 4th place and the play off final.
Had we not gone up via the play offs, we would have smashed it the year after (like Sunderland did). However, I'd be shocked if the team isn't pulled apart even if we are promoted on Sunday.
IMO, win or lose, our squad will be decimated. Aribo, Bauer, Cullen, Bielik, Igor etc will be gone next year. Unless Duchatelet sells, I reckon Bowyer and his team will be gone and if he gets a half decent offer for Taylor, he'll be gone. The key to keeping our squad together is Duchatelet selling up.
Curbs was interviewed at the CACT 20 year play off dinner and it’s been recently shown on Sky with all the re runs of play off final highlights saying the team would have been dismantled in 1998 if promotion hadn’t happened and it was more important for us than Sunderland to get promotion .
The one Prem season financed us for a go at promotion the following season with only Danny Mills going from the relegated Prem squad .
Champions of the 2nd tier and then 7 years of Premiership football followed and the increase in our ground and fan base size over those seasons are historical facts ,not guessing what a mad prick owner may or may not do once this last game has finished , whatever the result .
We all knew the worth of the win in 98. The accountants could value it and we had a dedicated board prepared to work their butts off to maximise our success.
Our direction after Sunday's game is best summed up by Ayra Stark's profound comment on GOT. (I paraphrase) 'West of Westerous, that's where the map stops, no one knows what's out there, but that's where we're going',
Yet another Doom and gloom thread no doubt based upon the fact we lost in the playoffs last season, Bowyer didn’t have a permanent contract, we lost some players and we’ve ended up with a weaker squad and had a shit season this year as a result...
Soon after Sasa Ilic became keeper, we thumped West Brom 5-0
That was such a great game. That free kick where one of them (Kinsella?) peeled off the end of the wall, completely wrong footing the defence, and buried it.
My only two games in the Covered End that year were that one and the Ipswich play-off game. Picked some good ‘uns.
Comments
It is "A WANT"
It's an excellent achievement. A huge bonus. Something to really celebrate.
Getting out of League One (via promotion) for a club of our size is "A NEED"
So, yes.
The game on Sunday is a lot bigger and a lot more important.
If we lost in 98.
Things would have taken a different turning and direction, but it was not as critical as this one.
But the thought of losing and Roland's subsequent next move is a very scary thought.
By the end of Feb 1998, we were still flirting with the playoffs but were 8th or 9th and looking like we'd probably miss out.
Soon after Sasa Ilic became keeper, we thumped West Brom 5-0 which started an unbeaten run and a succession of clean sheets. Curbs took the chance to reinforce a winning side by adding Eddie Youds and Danny Mills.
The team operated like a unit. That was the key. The momentum took us to 4th place and the play off final.
Credit to Curbs and Keith Peacock.
Sunday will be all about winning the game and enjoying the occasion.
Win or loose on Sunday Cullen, Beilk, BFG and probably Aribo will be gone anyway. If we loose and keep Bowyer and Gallen we will go up next season. If not it depends who is getting the loans and free transfers in.
Yes we would have a smaller wage budget, than this season, but we won't be paying Ajose, Marshall at el a fortune to not play.
Every season we have been in league 1 our wage budget has got smaller but the squad has got better. I know I sound like a broken recored but not signing players is a myth, of the 18 likley to be involved Sunday Maxwell, Purrington, Cullen, Beilk, Williams, Pratley, Taylor and Parker were brought in this season. Yes they were all free or on loan but this is league 1, not the champions league, there are dozens, if not hundreds of players avaliable for the sort of wages we would pay.
Saying all that the club won't progress, beyond where we are now until we have an owner that has the ambition, vision and most importantly, is willing to spend their own fortune to achieve the first 2.
Losing would probably see 6-7 debutants the opening day of the season.
I pay if we loose Sunday, RD owns us on the 1st of September, and we finish in the bottom half of league 1 next season.
You pay if we loose Sunday, RD owns us on the 1st of September, and we finish in the top half of league 1 next season.
Fair?
It's funny, clubs back then didn't take so many "risks" on the unproven players from outside the top flight. Look at someone like Steve Bull for example. Huge goalscoring exploits over multiple seasons, but was never snapped up. Whereas today, you look at Karlan, & the Sunderland guy who went to France. Half a season in the 3rd tier scoring regularly & they're off to dine at the top table.
More money to gamble I guess.
I do agree with your other point though.
For me Sunday is bigger than 98. We weren't to know the golden era that laid ahead then, but we know of the possible bleak outcome if we lose on Sunday, doesn't bear thinking about and I refuse to dwell on it or even give RD any space in my head until Sunday is over.
People go on about all the players out of contract but I would say only Aribo and Bauer are the significant players to worry about. That said Djiksteel has also really developed his game in Solly's absence.
Win on Sunday and i'm 100% sure Bowyer and JJ sign on and with that might even persuade Bauer to stay on too. We then hold the sway over all the other players out of contract because I don't think any of them apart from Aribo, Bauer and Djiksteel could command a contract from a Championship team. I include Aribo only because if a Prem team was to snap him up it would be to loan him straight out to a Championship team for the season.
However, Patrick has been mentioned a lot , I think that he is very good, but is he indispensable?
More concerned about Aribo, Lyle, Cullen, Jake, Igor, Sarr, Phillips, etc than Bauer going.
And Les Reed, massive, massive part of it.
However, I'd be shocked if the team isn't pulled apart even if we are promoted on Sunday.
The one Prem season financed us for a go at promotion the following season with only Danny Mills going from the relegated Prem squad .
Champions of the 2nd tier and then 7 years of Premiership football followed and the increase in our ground and fan base size over those seasons are historical facts ,not guessing what a mad prick owner may or may not do once this last game has finished , whatever the result .
Our direction after Sunday's game is best summed up by Ayra Stark's profound comment on GOT. (I paraphrase)
'West of Westerous, that's where the map stops, no one knows what's out there, but that's where we're going',
oh, hang on...
My only two games in the Covered End that year were that one and the Ipswich play-off game. Picked some good ‘uns.