It's no bloody good. I cannot yet, nor do I want to (yet), start getting 'positive' about next season. Yes, there are aspects of the premiership we will not miss (provided our parting is short), but these are outweighed by the positive, not just the obvious ones.
Many people complain about the football over recent seasons. I happen to think that in the first third of the 2005/06 season we played the best football I have ever seen from a Charlton team. Curbs stumbled on the line-up by accident (having failed to sign John Stead and after Ambrose was sent off on the first day of the season), but with two genuine wingers (Thomas and Rommadahl) given proper service by a fluent and inventive midfield trio (Murphy, Smertin and Kishishev) and with Bent as the goalscorer we were, for a short period of time, great to watch. It wasn't perfect and there was no real 'plan B' when it didn't. But at the moment I just don't know when we will see the like again.
By the time August comes around I will no doubt be up for the fight. Relegation has happened four times before in my time as a supporter and it hasn't proven terminal yet. But last season was the first real reverse that the club has suffered since the return to The Valley. Yes, I have confidence in Pardew (although his record in the transfer market is not perfect - see Konchesky and Spector); yes, the board still has our full backing; yes, I can look forward to new grounds and some fresh challenges next season. But for now I want to weep a little for a season that went badly wrong and which has resulted in my team being relegated.
The only people I have ever met who are always 'positive' and 'upbeat' are either unbearable or morons - or both (Dowie?). And in the modern world there seems to be endless middle-management training gobbledygook about always being positive. That is a blinkered approach. You can't come back stronger from reversals if you don't acknowlege them and learn from them. So just leave me to wallow for a while, at least until our first new signing.
Hi Blackheath
ReplyDeleteYes, I know what you mean, feeling depressed about our relegation to the fizzy pop. Although we will be favourites for promotion next season, it's not a foregone conclusion, that we will bounce back at the first attempt. My glass tends to be neither half full or half empty, but today I'm on the road to recovery.
Come on you Reds.