Looking Up...

youth against experience

 

Can't say as I've taken much notice of the league table this season, but after an encouraging and spirited performance on Saturday (against a side I fully expect to be challenging for promotion), I was a little disappointed to see us in 20th place this morning (table to right). Yes, I know the league table doesn't lie, but from what I've seen, we may well have deserved a little better return from our opening 8 games. No panic, of course, but the longer you stay close to the bottom, the harder it can be to get away from it.

 

I've always said there's a fine line between success and failure and perhaps we've not had a fair balance of luck so far. Birmingham's heartbreaking last gasp equaliser on the opening day and BWP's wrongly disallowed goal v's Palace spring to mind and could well have given us 3 more points than our current total of 9 and that would have propelled us into the top half.

 

Thankfully, it would appear this really is an open division and as Derby proved yesterday after an away win at Forest, the rewards of 3 points can make a significant difference to your standing.

 

Nothing more I can add to the quality observations of Saturday's game by my fellow bloggers Stickleback, Wyn Grant, Blackheath Addicted, Dr. Kish, Drinking During The Game, Deepest Darkest, Chicago Addick, God, Charlton & Punk Rock, And Nothing Else Matters, Charlton Casualty and At The End Of The Day other than to agree with the common consensus that we were good for the point and perhaps a tad unlucky not to get all three. The performance was especially encouraging considering the absentees. This is a Charlton side that play with a great deal of heart and I'm particularly impressed with how well they deal with blows. It may have been easy for heads to drop after conceding first to a strong Blackburn side, but Powell has instilled a fantastic mental strength to this group of players.

 

So it's on to Tuesday when we face Watford at The Valley. Watford grabbed a surprising win away at Huddersfield on Saturday, so they'll be full of confidence.

 

A win for the Addicks and then we'll view 4 points from the two home games as a decent return. Anything less than that and we'll start to worry about missed chances.