Monday 10 October 2011

Tranmere bring a reality check to The Valley

Last March I posted regarding our one all home draw against Tranmere, referring to it as a victory. At the time after the initial euphoric start made in charge by Sir Chris followed by four back to back defeats I felt it might have been the turning point.  Little did I know this was just a punctuation of the woeful run of only two wins out of 19 matches in the long drawn out and horrid finale to last season.

This time round it certainly felt like a defeat at first.  However when you put things into perspective, still unbeaten and still top by points it's not as bad as it first seemed.  I think the important thing is how the players are coached physiologically to bounce back from the set back of the home defeat by Brentford and the draw against the well drilled time wasters of Tranmere. (To be honest if the boot was on the other foot we'd have all been congratulating Hamer for helping run the clock down).

I think we are entering a pivotal stage of the season, with Stevenage away and Carlisle at home both being games in which the players should be disappointed if they cannot come away from having gained at least four points. Followed by Wycombe and Hartlepool away, which will be no walkovers I'm sure.

Come November, and the Preston home match we'll have a very real feel for which way the mop is going to flop over the remainder of the season. (Hopefully the right way and head up!)

2 comments:

  1. Exactly - 8 wins and four draws is hardly a bad start to the season, but a home draw and fans see doom when there really isn't much!

    Pedro45

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  2. Thanks for the comment. I think the problem (and it's not a problem per say, as none of us supporters of real football teams, choose when we become one of the afflicted) is that the lion share of the loyal Charlton supporters were lucky enough to find the club at around the time it all clicked into place for Curbs. And we had those fantastic seasons in the top flight. What we all need to keep sight of is that last season WE WERE a third division team. Playing up and under third division football, with third division players. A lot of whom because they were on Charlton's books seemed to have delusions of grandure. It's not just the great start that has been a quantum leap for the club, but the way in which we have played and tried to play so far. We are bound to have some bad days at the office. What will be interesting will be how Sir Chris rallies the players after the last two results. If he gets things back on track, and I honestly think there's a very good chance he will, we'll begin to see that we have one of footballs potentially future management stars.

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