Charlton 1 Barnsley 1
I remember Jimmy Adamson, some time after Burnley had won the League Championship in 1960, when he was club captain, and before, rather disastrously, in my view, taking over as the manager, saying that leagues can easily be won if you win your home games and draw your away games.
Of course he was talking a a time when you got but two points for a win, and maybe the Adamson formula for promotion would not work any longer in these days of three for a win, but people still feel quite pleased if when playing away, a draw is a result. But not of course when playing at home.
The young and highly successful Barnsley manager, Simon Davey, was reported as saying that before the match, he'd take the point, meaning that were his rising Barnsley side to manage a draw in SE7, then he'd feel the job had been well done.
The game, according to the other commentators, produced some of Charlton's finest football this season so far, and people felt that ZZ's goal (above) when it came late on, in the 82nd minute in fact, was going to give Charlton the points and be a true reflection of play. But as so often lately, Charlton conceded a last-minute goal and Simon Davey got his wish.
* * *
Things go in threes, I reflected gloomily this morning as I remembered Alan Coren, whose appearances on The News Quiz, and many humorous writings, I had always so much enjoyed, only a couple of weeks after the demise of Ned Sherrin, another lifelong hero of mine. Who next, I wonder?
But the three theme has its lighter side, and this afternoon brings Charlton's third trip to the Midlands, out of a total this season, of five such visits, which will, strangely, have all (the remaining two are to West Brom and Leicester) been completed before the end of 2007. I mention this because one of the gloomier themes of my writings about the fortunes of Charlton in recent seasons has been the fact that when travelling to my native North West, the team has invariably come unstuck, often quite spectacularly. I am hoping to detect a happier theme for visits to the Midlands. Though thus far two outings there have brought defeat (the only one this season) at Stoke, and the draw at Coventry. Today it is Wolves, where if I recall aright, Charlton's last visit, in the Premiership very near the beginning of the 2003-2004 season, brought us a splendid 4-0 win. I remember hearing this announced in Spanish on the telly down at the pub (and believe me, until you've heard a Spanish announcer trying to say 'Wolverhampton Wanderers', you haven't lived) and assuming they'd made a mistake.
So, if things go in threes, then after a defeat and a draw, a win looks like a good bet, and the resonance of that 4-0 win ought to help, oughtn't it?