Charlton Athletic review of the week: Collins Sichenje loves 'big f****** Kenyan' chant as he reflects on debut, women progress to FA Cup quarter-finals and Kevin Lisbie explains Cray Valley boss move
Jason Pearce's side bowed out of FA Youth Cup after 2-0 defeat at Burnley
It’s the latest review of the week. All the notable news involving Charlton Athletic from the previous seven days.
Collins Sichenje warms up on Saturday/Picture: Kyle Andrews
SICHENJE WINS PLAYER OF THE MATCH ON HIS DEBUT - DEFENDER LOVES HIS CHANT
Collins Sichenje made his debut for Charlton Athletic on Saturday in the 1-1 draw at Southampton - and the huge support he enjoys in his homeland saw him also land the Player of the Match award.
The 22-year-old Kenyan was subbed off in the 90th minute at St Mary’s Stadium after cramping up.
As you can see above from the club’s X poll, Sichenje hoovered up a huge amount of votes, no doubt many thousands of them coming from his native Kenya.
Greg Docherty and Lloyd Jones both had stronger performances, which is in no way meant to say the former Vojvodina centre-back did not perform well. It’s just that any kind of vote involving Sichenje is set to be a one-horse race.
He was an unused substitute in the first three Championship matches after arriving from Serbia but got the nod against the Saints.
“I’ve always been ready,” Sichenje told South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition. “I’ve been working hard in every training session. The chance came - the coach told me I was going to start when we were at the ground.
“After the home game against Portsmouth, I started to get my mind ready because I thought ‘if I get a chance I need to show up’. I was ready for anything.”
Charlton had lined Sichenje up as a signing this summer but brought the move forward.
Asked when he first heard of the Addicks’ interest, the player replied: “For long…..longer than six months. I’ve just been working hard and praying. It is all about dreams and this is what everyone dreams of - playing football at this good level. It is a big opportunity to keep working and to improve because I have bigger dreams than this.
“England was the league I wanted to play in. I have watched the football here all my life. I love English football. Everybody in Kenya watches it. It is more than a dream so I must give everything to achieve success.
“My dad knows everything about English football because he has been following every football game. Before I came here I told him about Charlton being interested and he said: ‘That’s a big club in London. It is a good opportunity for you’. I didn’t think twice about coming. They wanted me and I went and told my previous team: ‘I want to leave’.
“South London is nice. Everybody is welcoming and they are really helping me to adapt.
“I have massive support from Kenyan people. It is something I don’t take for granted. I want to represent them well - improve in everything I do. I need to stay humble.”
Charlton’s fans at Southampton chanted ‘we’ve got a big f*****g Kenyan’ on more than one occasion. Mention of it brought a broad smile to Sichenje’s face.
“It is a good one - I like it,” he said. “They show the love. So I must give everything to help them and keep helping the team.
“The game was good and intense. I always believe in myself and I know I can defend against anyone. I try to be aggressive.”
Karen Hill’s Charlton side have had an excellent season/Picture: Keith Gillard
CHARLTON WOMEN PROGRESS IN FA CUP - DRAW TAKES PLACE TONIGHT
WSL 2 league leaders Charlton Athletic booked their spot in the last eight of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory at Oxford United on Sunday afternoon.
The goal came in the 76th minute, Lucy Fitzgerald scored from the penalty spot after Grace Palmer handled inside the box. Palmer was dismissed.
The quarter-final draw will take place this evening at 7pm, ahead of the fifth round tie between London City Lionesses and Tottenham.
Other clubs in the hat are Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Brighton and Birmingham.
Charlton are nine points clear at the top of the league standings although they have played a fixture more than second-placed Birmingham.
The south Londoners are back in WSL 2 action on March 15, when they host Sunderland at The Valley.
FA YOUTH CUP RUN ENDED
Charlton Athletic bowed out of the FA Youth Cup at the fifth round stage after a 2-0 loss to Burnley on Friday night.
The Addicks fell behind after just four minutes at Lancashire FA County Ground through Corey King.
Shia-Lee Burnham twice went close for Charlton before the break.
But Addicks goalkeeper Finley Woodham was called into action numerous times in the second half before the home team extended their advantage through substitute James Lewis.
Kai Enslin/Picture: Kyle Andrews
ENSLIN JOINS DORKING
Kai Enslin has made a temporary move to National League South side Dorking Wanderers.
The right-sided winger, 20, has made four senior appearances for Charlton Athletic.
Addicks striker Patrick Casey is also on loan at Dorking.
Marc White, manager and chairman of the non-league club, said: “Kai is an exceptional youngster who is as close to the first-team at Charlton as he could possibly be at his age, and is one of their most talented young players. He’s an exciting winger who can play in multiple positions.
“We’re flattered that both he and Charlton feel Dorking is the right place for him to continue his development for the remainder of the season.”
Enslin was not listed in the matchday squad on Dorking’s official website for their 1-1 draw against Maidstone United on Saturday. But the club’s X account tweeted that he came on as a 66th-minute substitute.
Mandela Egbo/Picture: Keith Gillard
EGBO SIGNS FOR CHELMSFORD
Former Charlton full-back Mandela Egbo has signed for non-league Chelmsford City.
The 28-year-old claimed he rejected a new two-year contract at Colchester United when he left the League Two club last summer.
Egbo had not been attached to a club prior to making the move to Chelmsford, who play in National League South.
Egbo swells the number of ex-Addicks at the Essex outfit. Ricky Holmes is a first-team coach with striker Lyle Taylor also on their payroll.
Egbo came on as a second-half substitute in Chelmsford’s 2-2 draw against Salisbury. Taylor scored both goals in the match.
How Cray Valley announced the appointment of Kevin Lisbie on X
LISBIE WAITING FOR FIRST WIN
Kevin Lisbie was recently appointed as Cray Valley Paper Mills’ manager - handed the task of pulling them out of Isthmian League Premier Division drop danger.
The Millers are in the final relegation spot and lost 2-1 at home to Dulwich Hamlet on Saturday.
Lisbie’s first game at the helm was a 2-2 draw at Canvey Island.
The former striker scored 19 goals in 176 league and cup appearances for the Addicks between 1996 and 2007.
Lisbie also had a playing spell with Cray Valley towards the end of his career.
“This is my club - this is my home,” said the 47-year-old, when asked why he opted to succeed Steve McKimm. “I’ve got boys that play football and I’ve been following them around England for the last four or five years. They are pros now and established - they don’t need their old man sat in the stands to watch them.
“When I got the call, I felt it was the right time. It is a club that is close to my heart. I scored a lot of goals for this club, I got promoted with this club and went to Wembley with this club. If I was ever going to be a manager, it was going to be this club.
“I want to bring stability and get the group together. Steve was a good manager here for a long time. He did some good things for the club but maybe it was time for a change.
“I’d like to say I am considerate and a patient person who maybe allows the boys to express themselves a little bit more on the pitch. I’ve not had those years of frustration behind me, so I can come in with a clean pair of eyes.”
ROWETT TAKES FOXES ROLE ON SHORT-TERM BASIS
Former Charlton Athletic defender Gary Rowett was appointed as Leicester City’s manager on February 18.
The Foxes have appealed their six-point deduction for breaching financial spending rules.
Rowett, 51, has agreed a deal until the end of the Championship season.
“It’s about looking up, not looking behind you and thinking about what teams around you are doing,” said Rowett. “My remit is very clear – can we go and change our fortunes? That’s my focus.”
Picture: Keith Gillard
CAST: PROTECT THE VALLEY
Charlton Athletic Supporters’ Trust has issued a statement raising their “strong concerns” over the Royal Borough of Greenwich Local Plan.
Every local authority has to draw up the plan, a statutory document required by national planning law that sets out how an area will grow and change over the next 15 to 20 years.
RBG use that local plan to help decide where new homes, jobs, shops, schools, community facilities and infrastructure should go.
CAST say they have “expressed strong concerns that the first iteration of the new RBG Local Plan does not give sufficient recognition to or protection for The Valley, taking into account the considerable community, social, recreational and economic benefits of having a professional football club in this location”.
Their statement continued: “CAST responded formally to the council’s initial consultation on the draft plan via a detailed eight-page letter prepared on our behalf by Mark Batchelor, a former CAST board member, who leads planning consultancy 4TY. The club reviewed the letter before submission and fully supports it.
“The council re-awarded Asset of Community Value status for The Valley to CAST, most recently in 2024. In the letter we pointed out that this protection will soon be strengthened. Under the provisions of schedule 27 of the English Devolution & Community Empowerment Bill (currently progressing through Parliament) The Valley will be re-designated as a ‘sporting asset of community value’, and subject to the strengthened provisions therein. The most significant of these converts the existing ‘right to bid to buy’ the asset into a ‘right to buy’. This option is subject to a process set out in the schedule and gives community groups the opportunity to register a willingness to buy the asset at a fair market price, as well as time to demonstrate that they are a credible bidder. We feel certain that Charlton fans would want to explore the options created by the SACV designation if the need arises, and that the council should be aware of this.
Picture: Keith Gillard
“We reminded the council that the stadium is not in the club’s ownership, but rather is owned by a third party, based internationally and who now has no link to the club. Whilst the club has some security of tenure insofar as it has a tenancy agreement which runs until 2040, supporters are concerned in relation to the owner’s intentions and the associated threat to the club’s future.
“CAST highlighted that the Football Governance Act means that clubs that own their stadiums cannot move or sell their stadium without referring to the independent regulator of football. As Charlton Athletic Football Club does not own its stadium, there is no such need for referral meaning there is less protection for the club. In these unique circumstances, we feel it is vital that through the new local plan, the council adopts strong protection for The Valley as a community football stadium.
“There cannot be a situation where the people of Greenwich (and further afield) forego a recreational and community facility of national importance because an owner or developer cites that the plan allows the land to be available for alternative use.
“In the light of the significant benefits associated with the club operating from The Valley and the concerns surrounding the ownership of the stadium, CAST stressed that it is essential that the new local plan provides both sufficient policy controls and safeguards while providing unequivocal support for the football club, eventual ambitions to purchase the stadium and associated improvements which it may wish to make.
“The draft plan sets out the council’s vision for the Charlton area and uses The Valley as a background image for the specific chapter (and therefore implies its importance to the area). However, there is no specific reference to The Valley or the club in the council’s vision for the area and CAST finds this a glaring omission.
“If the policy is able to set out safeguards for industrial land then logically it should also set out safeguards for The Valley.”
The full statement by CAST can be found here.
Very minor point but Enslin came off the bench for Dorking.
https://x.com/DorkingWDRS/status/2025246008951656764