Gloomsters out in force
The recent run of bad results by the Addicks, creating their third end-of-season slump in succession, has brought all the many gloomsters out at The Valley. One has forecast that Charlton will not win another point this season. Having a season ticket, and having bought my tickets for Villa and Norwich (but not for Chelsea's celebrations) I think that if I really thought this was the case I would be really demoralised. Seeing your team lose week after week isn't fun. I might as well watch Leamington who have only lost two matches and drawn three all season and should clinch the Midland Combination Premiership title on Saturday.
Negativity is a feature of English football, and indeed the English character. Every club has its moaners who compensate for the frustrations of their own lives by slagging off their own team. However, Sporting Life did suggest some time ago that Charlton has more than its fair share.
I was at a conference last week where I was socialising with many football fans who were amazed that there was any criticism of Curbs at The Valley and would love to have him as their own manager. From an outside perspective, a club the size of Charlton is doing very well to be a mid-table Premiership side. For example, one person I was talking to was a lifelong fan of Brentford who would be delighted to be where we are.
Of course, there are grounds for disappointment. A couple of our signings this season, perhaps even three, do not seem to have worked out. It is frustrating when a club reaches a plateau and there is nothing more to aspire for. I also think that the club's communication with the fans is less good than it used to be, self-congratulatory messages in the programme notwithstanding. As The Times
pointed out yesterday, there is a danger of Charlton getting into a comfort zone which could be dangerous. Complacency can creep up on an organisation without people being aware of it.
The Times pointed out that you can't motivate a team on the basis of a vague idea that it would be nice to win a Uefa cup place. I remain doubtful whether the club is quite ready for Europe. Either we would be knocked out in the first round by Total Network Solutions or we would beat them and struggle past KR Reykjavik (Olafur Johansson's team) and Hearts, before being knocked out by an obscure team from Moldova. Meanwhile our Premiership campaign would have nosedived.
What particularly worries me is the risk of the end-of-season slump becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy with defeatism in the crowd transmitting itself to the team. The fact that we lost against West Brom and Portsmouth does not necessarily mean we will lose to Bolton. Charlton tend to rise to the occasion against better teams, a phenomenon I have also observed with Leamington in the lower reaches of the non-league.
I'm old enough to remember when the legendary Jimmy Seed was replaced by Trotter who took us nowhere (the word round the ground at the time was they couldn't stand each other). Fortunately, Richard Murray wouldn't make the same mistake.
Negativity is a feature of English football, and indeed the English character. Every club has its moaners who compensate for the frustrations of their own lives by slagging off their own team. However, Sporting Life did suggest some time ago that Charlton has more than its fair share.
I was at a conference last week where I was socialising with many football fans who were amazed that there was any criticism of Curbs at The Valley and would love to have him as their own manager. From an outside perspective, a club the size of Charlton is doing very well to be a mid-table Premiership side. For example, one person I was talking to was a lifelong fan of Brentford who would be delighted to be where we are.
Of course, there are grounds for disappointment. A couple of our signings this season, perhaps even three, do not seem to have worked out. It is frustrating when a club reaches a plateau and there is nothing more to aspire for. I also think that the club's communication with the fans is less good than it used to be, self-congratulatory messages in the programme notwithstanding. As The Times
pointed out yesterday, there is a danger of Charlton getting into a comfort zone which could be dangerous. Complacency can creep up on an organisation without people being aware of it.
The Times pointed out that you can't motivate a team on the basis of a vague idea that it would be nice to win a Uefa cup place. I remain doubtful whether the club is quite ready for Europe. Either we would be knocked out in the first round by Total Network Solutions or we would beat them and struggle past KR Reykjavik (Olafur Johansson's team) and Hearts, before being knocked out by an obscure team from Moldova. Meanwhile our Premiership campaign would have nosedived.
What particularly worries me is the risk of the end-of-season slump becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy with defeatism in the crowd transmitting itself to the team. The fact that we lost against West Brom and Portsmouth does not necessarily mean we will lose to Bolton. Charlton tend to rise to the occasion against better teams, a phenomenon I have also observed with Leamington in the lower reaches of the non-league.
I'm old enough to remember when the legendary Jimmy Seed was replaced by Trotter who took us nowhere (the word round the ground at the time was they couldn't stand each other). Fortunately, Richard Murray wouldn't make the same mistake.
posted by Wyn Grant at 8:40 AM
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