December 24 – Deck the halls with Alan Pardew

CHARLTON Athletic used to be one of the most stable and boring clubs in the world. Alan Curbishley was the manager for 437 years and for almost every single one of them the Addicks spent little, started well, and then tailed off as soon as their Premier League survival was assured.

The club was the football version of magnolia or vanilla ice cream. The fans began to yearn for some excitement or at the very least for something to change. They say be careful what you wish for and never was the phrase more apt.

When Curbs packed up and left Iain Dowie came in to replace him but after more than £10m spent and just 12 disappointing games, Dowie was shown the door by the board. It was one of the shortest ever tenures of a Premiership manager, but his successor was about to beat it.

Dowie’s assistant Leswyn Reed was given the job, much to the chagrin of the fans. He was an unknown outside coaching circles and had an even more undistinguished playing career than Steve McClaren. When it came to coaching though he literally wrote the book on it, having penned The Official FA Guide to Basic Team Coaching . He had also formerly held the job of FA Technical Director following Howard Wilkinson, and had been part of Kevin Keegan’s England set up. What could go wrong?

Well, just about everything as it turned out. Proving there are just some things you cannot get from book learning, Reed was an unmitigated disaster in the top job and the fans and the board were getting anxious.

He even conspired to mastermind a defeat in the League Cup quarter final to League Two side Wycombe Wanderers at The Valley. After a mere 41 days and just one win to his name, Reed was sacked on Christmas Eve 2006 by Charlton chairman Richard ‘Ebeneezer Scrooge’ Murray. One can only presume it was a not such a merry Christmas in the Reed household that year.

His 41-day reign was the shortest ever in Premiership history for a permanent manager and the papers were typically savage as they got into the swing of the season of goodwill to all men when they labelled him “Les Misérables” and “Santa Clueless”.

Alan Pardew, sacked by West Ham just days earlier, was what the Charlton fans found under their Christmas trees as he was chosen to try and save the Addicks from the deadly drop. “We are very fortunate a manager of Alan Pardew’s calibre is available and we have moved very, very quickly to secure his services,” Murray said in a statement.

By now it was too late and the club was relegated at the end of the season, kicking off a downward spiral that so often engulfs clubs that fall out of the Premier League. Still, at least it was a bit of excitement eh Charlton fans?

That’s all from us folks, we’re off to put out a beer and a mince pie for Santa so we’ll leave you with the best Christmas song ever made, and we hope you get what you asked for. Merry Christmas and god bless us, every one.