Tuesday 19 January 2010

Next... Hartlepool at home

Tonight we face a mid table side that took a hammering at home on Saturday. I'm fully expecting that we will come out of the traps on fire and the game will be as good as over after half an hour.

To be fair I tend to say that every week and I'm not sure we've actually done that more than once or at best twice this season, but tonight I'm sure we will.

Normally you don't want to face a team when they have just been hammered at home, but with six defeats in their last nine games this should be a shoe in for three points tonight.

Of more note is the club's recent offer to freeze prices of season tickets if you renew by 31st March, and to buy a five year ticket at this season's prices too. Both Dave and Blackheath Addick have written about this, and I don't disagree with them, but I also have a different angle to discuss.

Imagine, if you will, those scenes at Turf Moor on Sky Sports last summer with queues of fans waiting to hand over their money to secure a seat for their Premier League campaign. Sure, they wanted to see Man Utd and Arsenal. Sure they wanted to see Blackburn, their derby rivals, but they were in anticipation of the new season because they'd seen so much success. From the end of February (including the playoffs) Burnley won ten, drew three and lost just one game. It's no wonder they were queueing down the road to commit for a whole year.

Compare that to us. Despite losing only one in our last eight games, our run from the end of February was two wins, six draws and four defeats. What is even worse is that was about our best run of the season. It's no wonder that we had a struggle to sell season tickets last summer. We look good at the moment, and I am still confident that we will be in with a real chance of winning promotion this season, but let's face it we would need to win the league or a playoff final for the fans to feel much more enthusiastic about Charlton than they do right now.

Thus the plan to 'cash in' on our current wave of enthusiasm is great business. Sure it will raise much needed income now, and the five year tickets will be a real shot in the arm for the cash flow, but the real benefit, as I see it, is that it will not in any way, shape or form, reduce the total number of season tickets we ultimately sell. I happen to think it will mean many more sales, personally. Last summer I was tempted to have a year off from watching Charlton. Right now I am happy to commit to next season irrespective of which division we are going to be in.

So again, I have reason to praise the club and I feel more confident that things will be alright, and I have a feeling that we are going to record a big win tonight - although I'm sure I've heard that before.

Up the Addicks!

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