Glass Half Full

"Is the glass half full or half empty? It depends on whether you're pouring or drinking." (Bill Cosby)

Purely by coincidence my meeting schedule here in San Francisco had a gap between 12pm and 2pm, and so I was able to tune into commentary from Ninian Park.

The compliance department at BBC London forgot to press the red button marked 'pesky foreigners', so I was able to listen to commentary which was moderately biased in our favour, rather than to some Welshman extolling the virtues of Charlotte Church and Katherine Jenkins (of which there are several incidentally).

Our form in recent weeks almost defies rational explanation. Back in the 1990s when Sheffield United would embark on miraculous recoveries in the second half of the season, I recall Dave Bassett would host the players Xmas party in mid-August. In a similar comical vein, Charlton should prepare for home games in the same way they do for away games. Perhaps they could consider chartering a plane from London City Airport to circle around for an hour, before landing back in the same place.

I recall wondering whether Charlton's glass was half-full or half-empty several times last season as our form ebbed and flowed. We knew where we stood under Curbs. The tactics, substitutions, transfers and frankly even the results became so predictable, that despite his consistency, many of us had become bored stiff by the end. Now with the third post-Curbs manager in place just 18 months later, few of us know quite what to expect. Even the club website (at the time of writing) is showing tonight's win as a defeat!

Let's look at our last ten games for example:

- 4 consecutive away wins (half full)

- 4 consecutive away clean sheets (half full)

- 4 home defeats in 5 (half empty)

- 15 points from 21 (half full)

- 5 defeats in 10 (half empty)

Not exactly easy to assess are we? However I fall down very much on the 'half-full' side, as I consistently have throughout this season. The reason is quite simple.....we are lying third in the table yet still have plenty of room for improvement. And with the January transfer window approaching, improve we surely will.