Every day...

...in every way, I'm getting stronger and stronger...so the saying goes.

Maybe that's what my team need to use as a mantra, as long as they believed it! I think we, their careworn supporters, have been as strong as we can this season. We've looked on philosophically as the team first slid to, and then nestled comfortably at the foot of the table. We've watched as the gap between us and the team above, and also safety got wider, and less likely to be bridged. We are now in that area when we all know it's going to happen, and it's not if...but when...that's the only detail left to complete. Will it be before Easter? ...more likely than our hearts would like, but our heads know differently. How many will still go and watch the demise of a season, which started with hope, had a high of unknown riches dangled before it, and then slid into dismal nonentity.

I'm fairly sure that some players and management care, but caring isn't always enough...it has to be shown on the pitch, and too often this season that has been lacking. The fans wanted something to cheer, something to support, something to be proud of...even a fighting defeat, but they weren't given even those morsels for the majority of the past months. We watched as confusion and seeming apathy reigned, as our performances spiralled out of control. We were tormented as a few sparks fluttered, only to be stamped out by the general malaise that surrounds Charlton at present.

We have questions...like, will our manager survive? Which players will value playing for their careers in the third tier of the English game? Do we go with the youth...and would that be fair (they didn't get us where we are)? What can we afford?

I've wondered at the players who have slipped through our fingers the last few seasons...even before the advent of Dowie, Reed, Pardew and Parkinson...we have a good team playing permanently out there for others...makes you wonder, doesn't it!

Ahhh, but then, it's...."just Charlton"!