Saturday Morning, 11 a.m.

Les Reed (left) and Peter Varney

Quite a shock, the news of the departure of Monica, as Frankie (see helpful new direct reference links, right) had christened Iain Dowie. And before the usual fatuous media speculation (I saw one reference to the "race" to become Charlton manager) about Glenn Hoddle, Alan Pardew (currently in charge at West Ham, anyway); Billy Davies (doing perfectly well at Derby); and even the return of the sainted Alan Curbishley, could get off the ground, the club firmly announced that they had made one minor adjustment to the coaching and management structure, and that the Dowie affair had been building up for some time.

Mihir Bose, once of the Burnley Express, now of the Daily Telegraph, has the story.

The Charlton directors Peter Varney and Richard Murray have spent a lot of time and invested a lot of money in this venture, and although Curbs is credited with the invention of the new Charlton of the late 20th / early 21st century, they have been keen to point out the importance of their role at the helm. And they, aware that things were not well within the club, and not just in the league table, carried out a complete consultation of all staff, in confidence, and the upshot was that Mr. Dowie had to depart. The Kent Messenger also has a good, brief, readable account, here. (And as you can see, it's where I got, and mostly get, my pictures from).

The general feeling is that Les Reed, dubbed 'Lou', by Frankie, in a startlingly original move, will be the right man. The media don't see it this way, for, as well as feeling peeved about being deprived of days of pointless speculation, they regard Hoddle as a sad loser, and would love to see him and Charlton, whom they also see in the same role, make their way right down to the Conference together. The media have also complained that Les Reed is not a proper manager, although a man who has the breadth of experience, and qualifications, that he has, and is also 50-odd, and has been in the game for years at the highest levels, is more of a proper manager in my books than all these unproven ex-internationals like Gareth Southgate, or Roy Keane, whose appointment at Sunderland the press were very thrilled about. They find him fascinating, as witness this priceless snippet from the BBC page this morning:

Roy Keane will be reunited with a key figure next week when his dog Triggs moves up to the Sunderland area with the rest of the family.

I am posting this prior to departure for two or three of the many fine supermarkets in Madrid's 28015 and 28010 districts, to do the weekend shopping. I do not know what this afternoon's visit to Reading will bring, though obviously I am hoping that Les Reed gets a fine start to his new position, but as Wyn Grant (see right, again), points out, not everything is going to rest on this one first game.

PS: I think there was a Miss Triggs at my primary school, who left a year or two before I went there. Can Keane possibly....? No, of course not, and now I'm getting interested, too. Not.

PPS: Mainly for John, if he reads this, I know that putting morning and AM in the same phrase is a tautology, but it is a slight reworking of the title of a Simon & Garfunkel album.