Neal Collins soccer
Shaun Bartlett is a wanted man. His second-half wonder goal for Charlton Athletic on Sunday, scored after the Capetonian had made the first goal for Andy Todd in a 2-0 win over lacklustre Leicester, has got boss Alan Curbishley scrambling for his chequebook.
The 28-year-old Bafana Bafana striker, with 46 caps and 18 international goals, is currently on loan from Swiss club FC Zurich, but a long stay in London is on the cards if the persuasive Curbishley gets his way.
Bartlett, who also played for Colorado Rapids and New York/New Jersey Metrostars in the American Major League Soccer, started out with Cape Town Spurs and will probably cost Charlton about R3-million.
Curbishley said this week: “We’ve spoken to FC Zurich and we want to set something up. Shaun has fitted in, he’s hungry and he wants to do well. Those are the sort of players we need. I like to think he is one of our players.
“One concern is that South Africa’s World Cup games may force him to miss a third of our season. But once our chairman is ready to sign the cheque it will be done.”
Bartlett’s six goals in 12 games have played a major part in Charlton’s astonishing rise this season as has the earlier arrival of his South African team-mate Mark Fish from Bolton Wanderers. Once a yo-yo club happy to shuttle between the Premiership and Division One every year, they find themselves comfortably placed in the middle of the top flight for the first time in decades.
Curbishley said of Bartlett’s impeccably struck volley on Sunday: “It was one of those which either goes a mile over the bar or it goes straight in, and that was in as soon as he hit it. He scored at an important time because I felt he was drifting out of it a bit.
“We’ve been doing specialist training sessions, focusing on volleying from tight angles. It seems to have paid off.”
The news is not so good for South African captain Lucas Radebe. He damaged knee ligaments in Leeds United’s impressive 2-0 win at Sunderland and may face a prolonged period on the sidelines.