What Charlton Can Learn From Palace’s Promotion

It’s not a great day to be a Charlton fan. The stripey Nigels with that annoying song and those pre-historic seats have won at Wembley to get to the Premier League. For years that position was ours; for seven years we guffawed down at them as we played with the stars. It just doesn’t feel right seeing them above us, I don’t think it ever will.

The natural response is to curse and shout, and Charlton Twitter erupted into the volcano of expected bitterness and despair this afternoon. I’m part of the younger generation of Charlton fans who grew up more used to swatting away Palace than Millwall, so from a personal perspective, this is the worst possible scenario.

Yet despite the fact that every Charlton nerve in my body screamed at me to resist, I couldn’t help but admire Palace’s side this year. So instead of sitting in a darkened room grinding my teeth staring at Twitter, I decided to take a more positive, pro-active approach to this travesty. What can Charlton learn from a side that achieved promotion after years of languishing at the wrong end of the table and on a relatively small budget? How can we, as another club with limited resources, learn from their success? So, with a deep breath and the number to Witness Protection typed into my phone, here it goes.

1) Faith in youth.

Although the pedigree of the Palace Academy’s achievements is often overstated by the media (someone needs to tell them that Ben Watson and Sean Scannell aren’t really much to brag about) it’s fair to say that homegrown players have always held an important place in the first team, even if they haven’t gone on to win multiple ballon d’Ors.

Two of their key players  this season have been homegrown talents Wilfried Zaha and Jonathan Williams – both starters at Wembley. Perhaps more pertinently for Charlton fans, however, are the examples of Victor Moses, Nathaniel Clyne, Sean Scannell and John Bostock – youngsters who were fielded in the first XI when Palace were more concerned with their natural habits of battling relegation and avoiding financial oblivion. Clubs in such precarious scenarios are usually loathe to put faith in youngsters prone to mistakes, yet to their credit Palace bucked the trend and they are now reaping the rewards.

This is not to say that Charlton have not also been adept at nurturing youngsters in the first XI in recent years (Scott Wagstaff, Chris Solly, Callum Harriott, Jonjo Shelvey) yet with our academy sides blowing all their competition out the water, and our piggy-bank getting lighter by the day, it may be worth trusting in our young talents to help us further consolidate in the Championship.

2) Attack.

Just like Holloway’s Blackpool, Palace achieved promotion because they believed in their ability to always score more than the opposition, no matter how many they conceded. The Nigels actually conceded three more goals than Charlton yet they scored eight more. It was those goals scored that were the difference between 5th and 9th, between promotion and mid-table.

By building their side around fast skillful wingers, an advanced playmaker and a clinical finisher, Palace set up to win every game and always had players on the pitch capable of turning a game in an instant. Two seasons ago, Palace were one of the lowest scorers in the division with a pathetic tally of 44. They looked for a goal-scorer, found Murray banging them in for Brighton and, after a debut season of scraps, built a midfield to feed him chances. It worked a treat. Just ask Ben Hamer.

I love Yann Kermorgant. If I had my way there would be a mammoth flag paraded in his on honour at every game. He’s a magician and a warrior, but he’s not a goalscorer. This summer our number one priority should be to find a goal-snaffling poacher to complement Yann’s Gallic grace.

3) Stay classy.

This final point is about learning from Palace’s mistakes as opposed to their flaws. While the Croydoner’s football has been largely something to admire this season, certain other aspects of the club have been a constant source of humour and derision for everyone else.

I’m unsure as to whether it’s to entice new casual fans to their games or to create a more valuable “matchday experience” but what I am certain of is that both goal music and cheerleaders have no place at any serious football club. Not only are they both incredibly embarrassing for anyone who has to witness them (you can throw “Glad All Over” into that too), but they make an absolute mockery of the Holmesdale Fantatics’ “Against Modern Football” banners hanging nearby.

At Charlton, let’s continue to remember what makes us who we are, and let’s keep faith in our unparalleled fans to create that special atmosphere.

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To tell you the truth, I expected to find more lessons, yet in many respects, Charlton are already well on their way. We have a manager who is a club legend, who loves the club as much as the fans adore him. He has proved himself to be wily in the transfer market and motivational in the dressing room. And, as mentioned earlier, we have a fantastically promising youth set-up. So let’s not fret too much about Palace’s promotion in the present. Let’s look towards Charlton’s bright future and remind ourselves of our brilliant past: