Charlton 1 Crystal Palace 2
Well, the consensus of my friends and colleagues seemed to be , Liverpool are on the up and up, and the new Spanish signings are settled in, so you couldn't have expected much of a result on Saturday. Maybe not, but at home to Crystal Palace in the League Cup, even given Charlton's dreadful record against local (and indeed non-local) opposition in cup competitions, I was certainly on the lookout for something to cheer about.
But it turned out that despite Palace effectively fielding their reserves, only one from the eleven who defeated West Brom 3-0 on Saturday, and despite a Palace player being sent off after 70 minutes, Charlton could only flap about liked the stranded whale of the previous game, and come out on the losing side again.
There has been a lot of debate on the newsgroups and websites about whether it is time to think the unthinkable and start a call to ditch the manager. I personally think it would be unwise to over-react to a run of bad form, and anyway this is not the best time to break in a completely new boss. Maybe a new face in the coaching department might provide a bit of fresh air without having to resort to the dramatic tactics much favoured by other clubs. And would any of the unemployed managerial classes be any good? Micky Adams maybe, but Megson? Houllier? Sir Bobby? I can't see it really. As someone on a newsgroup pointed out; most fans would be absolutely delighted if Alan Curbishley were appointed manager of their club, and it is from that perspective that we should grit our teeth and hope, and even trust, that this run of bad form is nearing its end.