Right, it won't have escaped your attention that this blog has not been updated for quite some time now. In fact it's been twenty six days since I wrote a preview for the Sheffield Wednesday game, on a high after our first win in what seemed like forever in the cup against Norwich. Like many Charlton fans, I was hoping the victory against the Canaries would be the inspiration we needed for a result in the steel city. Unfortunately a 4-1 defeat (including a goal from Francis f*cking Jeffers) meant things didn't go quite as I had imagined they would.
That result left me gutted to be honest and the team's failure to push on after getting the win at Carrow Road was incredibly frustrating. Continuing work commitments auf Deutschland meant I wasn't able to attend the Palace game so I didn't even get the briefest of morale boosts that most did from watching us put one over Tango man and his team. It didn't stop me jumping up and down in a German bar of course, much to the bemusement of those watching a drab 0-0 draw in the Bundesliga.
So what has happened since Sheffield? In summary:
- Our cup 'run' was quickly ended back in Sheffield courtesy of the red and white half of the city.
- We beat Palace! Great. I missed it. Not great.
- Played Burnley. Lost 2-1 having been 1-0 up.
- Played Bristol City. See above.
- Didn't play Cardiff City. It was too cold.
- In: Ward, Soares, Kandol. Out: Waghorn.
- Gray and Fortune injured for the rest of the season.
- Curbs isn't very happy that all his hard work has been undone.
So we're only three points and a couple of loan players better off than we were twenty six days ago. Losing twice when having been in a winning position typifies the shambolic season we've been having, as does the fact that we had no fit centre backs available until we got Darren Ward on loan.
Even thinking about Charlton has left me tearing my hair out in recent weeks. When I am now confronted with the question by various friends and colleagues, 'So what's gone wrong at Charlton?', I simply reply 'I could go on forever'. Of course I could go on forever about how we ended up where we are, but that's only half the truth of it. The other half is that I just don't want to talk about it. It's too frustrating, too upsetting, too painful … use whichever adjective you like, it's just not a pleasant topic of conversation right now.
Before the Cardiff game was called off, I was seriously thinking about not going even though I had no prior engagements preventing me from doing so. The simple fact of it was that watching Charlton play the way they are at the moment, accompanied by the aggro of a train ride home with a load of pissed up, pumped up Cardiff fans simply did not appeal. But then I got a text from my Charlton supporting mate: 'See you for a beer at 1 on Saturday? We've got to support them really haven't we?'. Two sentences, but it made sense.
The game against Plymouth on Saturday will be the first time I've seen Charlton since the defeat to Forest on January 10th. As sure as eggs is eggs, any kind of optimism I have at the start of the day will probably be crushed by the end of the afternoon and Phil Parkinson will still be there claiming, 'there is still time to turn this around, I just need to bring in a couple of fresh faces'. Like most fans, I think I've accepted the inevitability of relegation now, I'm just looking forward to catching up with some friends and hopefully watch Charlton turn in a half passionate and skilful performance.
So, twenty six days without a blog and come Saturday it will be thirty five days without watching Charlton play. Maybe it's done me some good, maybe it's allowed to get a bit of perspective on things, but it's time to roll the sleeves up and get stuck into things at the business end of the season. What else am I going to do … watch the rugby?
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