What You Wish For

Matt Holland, Darren Ambrose and Zheng Zhi in action on Saturday against QPR. It looks impressive but did no good.

There is an old proverb, or at least saying or belief, which runs along the lines of advising people to be careful with what they wish for, as they might end up getting it.

Obviously it is aimed at people who wish they could win untold sums of cash and leave their jobs. There are lots of true stories of people who have won the pools or whatever, left their jobs and then found they missed their routines, and their workmates, and thus came to realise that money in itself does not purchase contentment.

And now I come to think of it, I am fairly sure that as Charlton struggled away to get out of the relegation slots last season, and had even managed to do so by this time last year, I murmured to my own set of household gods that a mid-table finish would be very welcome.

And now a mid-table finish is exactly what we are getting, but of course it is one division lower down. I have still not got back into the habit of regularly blogging, but since I last put finger to key, the talk has stopped being about Charlton still possibly getting into the play-offs, something which I was never all that keen on, for after all only one side emerges from said play-offs, and the plight of Derby County this season has been quite frightening. Charlton and their loyal supporters suffered a lot last season, but it is as nothing compared to what Derby’s fans have been through this time, and while this season has, finally, turned out to be a disappointment, we can still think of the situation as one of transition. Alan Pardew did a good job at West Ham, in my opinion, and whether you agree with me on that one or no, you have to admit that he laid the foundations for Reading’s Premiership adventure. If he can do that kind of thing, then he is the man we want, and in any case do we really want to venture out on to the managerial job market once more? Who is out there who could do any better? And we also have Phil Parkinson, don’t forget.

So, transition it is, permutations have to be made, and something constructed out of what we have. People have been deriding my quondam favourite Jerome Thomas, who clearly feels he is too good for the second tier. Of course, he isn’t, but unfortunately he has convinced himself that he’d be better off on the bench at Middlesbrough or somewhere. But surely better to get Charlton back up where he thinks they all belong, and then he can carry on living in London. Of course he might be prepared to move back to West London and QPR, who seem to be on the up.

Meanwhile down at the quiz, my team have won some, and lost some, and now people are getting concerned about numbers dropping off, which they have been, a little, of late. But I am optimistic that we shall survive for some time yet. I am avoiding making wishes, though.