Long-winded weekend preview.
Charlton Athletic v Hull City and some other stuff.
Sadly, tomorrow will see the 20th and last ever issue of the MOD Mag hitting the streets. It's going to be a sorely missed publication. In much the same way that Voice of the Valley has been since it disappeared in paper format back in October 2022.
Acting like the very generous kind of good egg, that I very occasionally am, I have been on that there Temu site to order a set of ten very stylish red pens bearing the lettering THE66POW 2026-27, to distribute among my nearest and dearest pals at the Valley.
Alas, when I opened the package, the writing utensils were actually blue, which I guess I can sort of live with… and they had accidentally sent me twenty, when I had only paid for ten. Result! An absolute bargain then!? Not quite, because they had embossed them with the wrong wording. But, at least when I’ve shared them out, everyone is getting two Shalom Academy pens each instead of one. I can only imagine how happy their little faces are going to be when they see what I’ve got for them.
Charlton Athletic 2025-26 - A Brief Résumé: There are those among my circle of friends who reckoned that the Addicks were going into Wednesday night’s game against Ipswich Town off the back of their worse performance of the season, at Hillsborough on Saturday.
They obviously weren’t present at the Hawthorns then, when Nathan Jones’ side ground out another excruciatingly painful 1-1 draw, after they had been stuck in traffic on the way to the ground.
But hey! Points make prizes. Or at least avoid quick returns to the third division, or League 1 as it is called these days, to make it sound less like shark infested waters than it actually is.
Being difficult to score against, is what will ultimately keep Charlton in the Championship this season…isn't it? It hasn’t been pretty to watch, most of the time, but needs must. And just because I don’t always enjoy these sort of tactics, I can completely understand why such a ‘horses for courses’ and ‘caution prevents abortion’ approach has needed to have been adhered to so regularly.
Every team needs to play to their collective strengths, but offsetting that by working to a plan that makes provision for any apparent shortcomings, disadvantages and weaknesses in your make up is equally, if not even more, important, when you’re not one of the bigger hitters in any given league.
The reality of the season is that Championship has been a humongous step up in quality from League 1, which the south east London side had clawed themselves out of, via the play-offs, at the end of last season… possibly a whole year (at least) before they were completely ready to plunge headfirst into the rigorous demands of second-tier football.
Which kind of explains the fact of why Charlton will start the home game against Hull City sat ever so slightly precariously in twenty-first place in the table and still not mathematically safe from the drop zone. However, despite a fairly indifferent season results-wise, this team of Championship newcomers has never occupied a place in the bottom three all season. What a twist in the tale that could still provide, eh!?
Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City are both already relegated, which will doubtless provide some much needed extra income at the gate for third-tier teams. Oxford United are six points adrift of the Addicks, with both teams still having two games left to play. Following the Hull City game, Nathan Jones’ side will travel to Swansea City on the final day of the season.
Oxford United have a home game against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday afternoon, before facing Millwall at the Den next weekend. A win, or even a draw for the Addicks in tomorrow’s early kick-off against the Tigers would mean they were 100% safe from relegation. Likewise, if Oxford fail to beat the Owls, then they themselves will be a League 1 team next season.
If Charlton lose against Hull and Oxford beat Wednesday, it will all go down to the two teams respective final games.
Ipswich Town left the Valley with all three points courtesy of a 1-2 win in midweek, despite Greg Docherty having scored the opening goal inside the first minute. I had to watch the game on TV. I was suited and booted and raring to go, but while I was out and about getting a few errands done, before I set off to London from East Retford upon Idle, I received a notification that the train I had intended to travel on had been cancelled.
Apparently a suicide on the track at Biggleswade was the reason for this… and the subsequent knock on effects in the aftermath would mean that later trains would also be severely disrupted too… ruling out even the slightest chance of getting anywhere near SE7 before half-time.
Problems with the erratic nature of services on the East Coast Mainline have escalated over the last couple of seasons. I’ve tried other alternatives with little or no success or satisfaction whatsoever. And I suspect that the ECML is doomed to become even more unreliable, with no light at the end of the tunnel in sight, so to speak. I'm really going to have to consider my options at the end of this season as regards exposing myself to any of this shit-show on an even semi-regular basis in future.
The novelty of being stranded, late at night, on both London Bridge and Birmingham New Street stations far too frequently, passed its sell by date long ago. There is a very narrow dividing line between being actively loyal to the cause and being completely stupid, for subjecting myself to this inevitable chaos time after time. I've christened this oft repeated activity: Grindhog day!
On that cheery note, I’ll sign off. Enjoy your football at the weekend. Good luck to Charlton Athletic v. Hull City. Good luck to the away supporters on your travels to and from the Valley (because I’ll be using the same trains as you)… and good luck to Retford United in your play-off semi-final in the United Counties League Division 1.
.webp)
