Ninth Again

Middesbrough 2 Charlton 2

Tottenham, who would have been Charlton's opponents at The Valley in the Premiership match which was puzzlingly postponed two weeks ago, so that Tottenham could take part in a cup replay, beat our next opponents, Fulham, 2-0 yesterday, and that, together with this draw at the imaginatively-named Riverside Stadium, means that Charlton have slipped from 7th to 9th over the past month.

But, what wouldn't huge numbers of fans around the country give for their team to be ninth in the Premiership with a game in hand over most of the clubs just above them, especially when that game is at home to a side who are equal on points? I am happy enough; I thought the 'Boro (why not Brough, as I mentioned before?) game one Charlton could well lose, not so much because of any sense of inferiority, more because historically, Charlton have on the whole not done that well against them. So, on tuning in to find out the score on my return from my afternoon walk in the cold (it's just above freezing in Madrid, and likely to go below that tomorrow - it snowed like hell for about two hours last Tuesday, too), I was quite pleased to see the scoreline, and then slightly put out to discover that the score had been 1-2 with five minutes to go, and then even more put out to discover that Middlesbrough's first goal was more than likely from an offside position. The BBC, the only report I have seen so far, reckons that 'Brough were just worth the point, but no more. Fair enough.

I am still busy with my book cataloguing, but I am not going to let the blog slide too much on that account. Burnley FC matters are taking shape in my mind, and will get an airing during the week.

As for quiz matters, my faithful readers know that when we fail to win (we came third last week, though still without one regular), I don't have much to say, and this time is no exception. The young people (early twenties, by the look of them) are asking the questions tomorrow night, although I have been assured that there will be a minimum quality control factor. We shall see, but I don't expect my detailed knowledge of English History 1307-1901, complete with dates, to be of much use, however. I am not too optimistic, all things considered.