Glorious Thirteenth

Charlton [1 - 1] Scunthorpe United


New signing Svetoslav Todorov in action on Saturday

I mentioned in my last that the BBC, unlike everyone else, do not regard Charlton as a promotion contender, favouring Wolves and Sheffield United, with West Brom and Watford as possible also-rans. And for once, I can sort of see where they are coming from on this one, however much I would like the contrary to be true. All the same, there are 45 more matches to be played before the final reckoning, and that is a very long way to go. Positions can alter quite dramatically in this league in a very short space of time, and in any case little can be read into the first round of results. The BBC were perhaps right to suspect that Charlton would not have things all their own way, but then again, Sheffield United, now under the guidance of Bryan Robson, rather than Neil Warnock, fared similarly to Charlton, drawing at home to Colchester, though many commentators feel that Robson is not the man to bounce Sheffield United back, as their success owed a lot to the combative style of the dreadful Warnock, and I cannot but agree with them. And F365, to name but one, does not have a very high opinion of Bryan Robson either, and again I have to say that if he had been appointed Charlton's manager at any point during the time since Curbs left us, I should scarcely have been jumping for joy.

But it is early days. Like the Inspector (see new slightly improved links, right) I also wished I had placed a bet on a draw, as right from the day the fixtures were published I did not see this as an easy home win for Charlton. As Scunthorpe were in the third tier last season, then the whole thing was too much like all those ties against lower-league sides in cup games which Charlton basically either lost outright or struggled through after a replay or on penalties. So 1-1 seems about right, and as I say, there are still 45 games left: 135 points up for grabs. The reports I have read, plus both Wyn Grant and the Inspector, imply that Scunthorpe treated the game like an away cup tie, including rather a lot of time wasting, whereas Charlton's excuses boil down to the fact that there are a lot of new players, and Jerome Thomas is injured, thus weakening the left side. ZZ had arrived too late to be included, too. Wyn Grant thinks we still need a good striker as absolute sitters were missed. Mysterious refereeing decisions did not help, either. We seem to have fallen out of the frying pan of Mr Halsey of Bolton and the absurd Mr Poll (though hasn't he retired now?) into the fire of Mr Kettle of Milton Keynes, or wherever.

Of course referees might well be disinclined to favour outright favourites, which might account for Pards's comment: "I'm sure our season will be a winning one, though I don't think we're the promotion favourites because ours is such a new squad." If the word gets round that Charlton are not favourites at all, he might be thinking, then the incidence of strange refereeing decisions may drop.

Today is the Thirteenth, the Glorious Thirteenth, a variation on the Glorious Twelfth, when grouse shooting begins, and at one time a red-letter day (though not of course, for grouse) which actually appeared in pocket diaries and suchlike, at least if Alan Bennett is to be believed.

I have long been aware of the meaning of the Glorious Twelfth, ever since seeing it mentioned in a novel I read as I child. And it seems to me that my criticisms of the BBC website for its love of the self-evident need not be confined just to the football pages. For the UK news page was running a piece about it being the 12th of August, when the grouse moors come to life, and the article was very much the kind of thing, so frequently met with on the BBC now, which sounds like it is out of a picture book for five-year olds. It explained what a grouse is, what shooting is, where and what the moors are; and helpfully and inevitably pointed out that the League Against Cruel Sports are against the whole business, presumably to stop us assuming that they are rather keen on it. The whole thing was illustrated with a photo of a nasty-looking individual pointing a double-barrelled shotgun into the air.

It also reported the one thing I found of interest: that because this year the 12th fell on a Sunday, the shooting would not start till Monday, the 13th. Swipe me! And there was I thinking that denizens of grouse moors are all people who don't work anyway, so that Sunday would be much the same as any other day. Being on holiday at present, I know whereof I speak.

So, not Glorious Twelfth this year, but Glorious Thirteenth, and by coincidence, thirteenth is where Charlton lie in the Championship table right now. Of course if Charlton were located further to the left on the map, and were called West Charlton, then they'd be fourteenth, as calculating a league table after just one game means that alphabetical order still has a big part to play; but no, thirteenth it is. Glorious? Or unlucky? Well, as I say, early days yet.

And of course another by-product of no longer being in the Prem is that Charlton's League Cup action (who's running it this year? Not Milk again is it? Or Coca Cola? And why is it always drinks? Shall we one day see the Tea Cup?) starts no sooner than the league programme gets off the ground, and tomorrow evening Charlton travel to Swindon.

Traditionally, Charlton have a lot of difficulty beating the lower league sides in this competition. Perhaps I should have a word with the League Against Cruel Sports about it, but of course now that we are a lower league side ourselves, that might change.

New York Addick

I have added a link to this excellent Charlton blogger, and would like to say to him, should he read this, that my idea that Izale McLeod might be the new Darren Bent was conceived quite independently. Yet, as an example of great minds thinking alike, I discovered that the same thing had occurred to him when I caught up with his blog on Saturday night. Worth a look.