Marked for Benjamin Robinson
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 May 2029
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hakim El Mokeddem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Charlton Athletic the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 May 2029
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kian Harratt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout7 May 2029
The manager makes an example of Rob Apter
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market7 May 2029
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Squad7 May 2029
Benjamin Robinson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 May 2029
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market7 May 2029
Ged Garner told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Ged Garner has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Charlton Athletic.
The dugout7 May 2029
Rio Shipston knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rio Shipston trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
The dugout16 Apr 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Charlton Athletic may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market16 Apr 2029
Only the photograph left for Sam Waller
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sam Waller will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Charlton Athletic the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The terraces16 Apr 2029
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Eric da Silva Moreira has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match14 Apr 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Charlie Kelman. 2‑0 against Barrow AFC, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad16 Apr 2029
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Ninety minutes of Harvey Knibbs at his very best
Marked 8.13. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Charlton Athletic.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Charlie Kelman was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad16 Apr 2029
A muscle injury sidelines Stephen McMullan for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Charlton Athletic will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.82, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market19 Mar 2029
Only the photograph left for Sam Waller
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sam Waller will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Charlton Athletic the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Match17 Mar 2029
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Match17 Mar 2029
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Charlie Kelman. 2‑0 against Chesterfield, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Benjamin Robinson and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Steven Phillips on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad19 Mar 2029
Words at Charlton Athletic training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brad Potts is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 13. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout19 Mar 2029
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Nov 2028
The knee: Sam Waller out for 69 days
69 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Charlton Athletic lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market20 Nov 2028
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Charlton Athletic can pretend not to have heard.
Market20 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Charlton Athletic is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market20 Nov 2028
Kayden Jackson is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Charlton Athletic has been clear about where Kayden Jackson stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Kayden Jackson
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brad Potts was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Benjamin Robinson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Looking ahead20 Nov 2028
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Chesterfield.
The dugout20 Nov 2028
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Cristhian Medina is on it.