I'm the World's worst predictor, which (among other reasons) is why I don't bet. However, with a quarter of the season gone and exploding with optimism, I thought I'd revisit some of the prediction threads that were around before the season started and see how I was doing. They're mostly on pages 21-23. Champions - Charlton Athletic Runners up - Sheffield United OK, not a bad start - and I still think United will finish higher than Wednesday... We will be promoted. Nicely on course there. We will score 20 more goals than last season. We will concede 20 fewer goals than last season. And this is where I thought I'd fall down. Our goal difference last season was -4 and I made this rash prediction following the rush of signings in the run-up to the start of the season. But was it so rash? Is a positive goal difference of 36 achievable? We've scored 23 goals in 11 games, that's more than a third of the goals we scored all last season (62) scored in only a quarter of the games. And we haven't really tonked anyone yet. We've only let in 9 goals in 11 games - less than a goal a game. We shipped 66 last season, that's virtually a goal and a half a game. Against the four highest scoring teams in the division, we've let in just three goals. There's a long way to go, of course but this is one hell of a start, and not just points-wise. I firmly believe this team can do whatever it sets its mind to, and get to wherever it wants to go. I'm convinced we're in for a truly remarkable season. And finally - "I will find a shirt that fits me and not wince when I fork out the forty quid." Lovely fit, my new away shirt, the first Macron garment of any description that doesn't either cut off my blood circulation or look like it was designed for Pavarotti and I didn't wince when I paid, thanks to it being a birthday present from Mum and Dad. Lucky boy. Come On You Reds!
here's how I predicted the table to look end of season 1 Charlton 2 hUddersfield ----------------------- 3 Preston 4 Scunthorpe 5 Bournemouth 6 Leyton Orient ----------------------- 7 Sheff Utd 8 Brentford 9 Colchester 10 Sheff Weds 11 MK Dons 12 Rochdale 13 Chesterfield 14 Notts County 15 Exeter 16 Carlisle 17 Bury 18 Oldham 19 Tranmere 20 Hartlepool ------------------------- 21 Walsall 22 Wycombe 23 Yeovil 24 Stevenage
Not bad Martinho - i think the top 3 will remain like that - only Pools and Stevenage really proving you wrong so far.
can also add Bournemouth and Orient under achieving but other than that the whole thing's not too far out!
On 3 August I wrote: "Sheff Wednesday and Huddersfield are the main threat to Charlton ... I think Preston could struggle at the wrong end of the table. A badly demoralised club. And I cannot see Sheff Utd or S****horpe threatening us either. " Good thing I am not a betting man. Phil Brown seems to have doe a good job with Preston.
5 point gap between us and the 3rd place team Preston If they win their game in hand the the gap between us and 3rd place will still be 5 points Very happy with that
Makes for a great read tewkes, even early on as it is. Best thread on here for weeks i say I remember you saying that, re the goal difference. Looks completely different this year, like they all care. Got my Macron away shirt in the mail a few weeks ago too, loving it ! This season for the first time in a long while, i dont have that ugly feeling about 'when' will charlton lose and will it be the start of a bad run. I reckon whe we lose our first league game it wont turn into a run of outs at all, just glitches or speed bumps on the highway to the championship. I am so happy this season that solly has been given a genuine go, we all predicted/expected that to soon fade. The difference in goals you've stated is truly fantastic reading, perspective
Very kind of you to say so, Oz - thank you. Tempting to think this, Doc but on a damp weekday night in the middle of Winter, rearranged fixture, bog of a pitch, khazi of a ground, hundreds of miles from home, a mid-table team's solid method is going to get the better of our flair. At the moment, I can't see us losing a 'headline' game, the momentum and the spirit's too great but at some point fatigue is going to set in and we're going to slip up. That result won't be important IMO, the important result will be in the next game.
one thing Curbs always used to say and this is probably one of his best quotes ever “I try not to get too high when my team wins or too low when we lose. Boring I know but it’s the only way I know to stop me going insane and grey.” a quote I think a lot of us could follow at the moment at the risk of us getting carried away.
