Well, it's a relief to be talking about a football match again.

Looking at the league table might lead us to assume that Birmingham v Charlton this weekend is a home banker. The Blues sit in sixth position after their 5-2 away win over Fulham last time out. Charlton, despite beating Sheffield Wednesday, are in the bottom three and look to be facing a long winter's relegation scrap with four or five other clubs.  While Charlton's new head coach has yet to convince supporters of his capability at this level, Birmingham's Gary Rowett is very popular with Blues fans and is one of the most admired young managers in the country. Local reporter Richard Wilford says of Rowett:

"He understood that he needed help to re-connect the club with a supporter-base increasingly fed up with the off-field issues.  And he has turned around many individual members of the squad who had grown disillusioned and disheartened by events at the club - players such as Stephen Gleeson, Andy Shinnie and Jonathan Grounds among the beneficiaries."    Interesting...............

Rowett's first signing on arrival at Birmingham just over a year ago was our own Michael Morrison who has been a great success up there. While Charlton fans could see the sense of Morrison being loaned to Birmingham it came as a shock when he subsequently joined them permanently, particularly as the move apparently didn't involve a fee.  It seemed a bizarre decision, given that we immediately signed the underwhelming Oguchi Onyewi and ended up bringing in Roger Johnson.  Morrison was very popular at Charlton and, while that is no reason on its own to retain a player, it didn't help fans feel confident in the club's decision making when he was allowed to leave just as our bad run started.

So is there any hope for Charlton ?  Well, actually there is.

Birmingham's position in the play-off slots is largely a result of their away form. On the road they have five  wins, two draws and only one defeat (at Hull 0-2).  At home, however, they seem to be vulnerable. Three wins, two draws and three defeats (by Wolves, Rotherham and Forest).  Any team that can lose to Rotherham must be beatable on the day.

And, if Charlton can repeat their performance of a fortnight ago, they must be in with a chance. A fully fit Makienok; Diarra in front of the defence and JBG in the diamond made us look a different proposition and the win must have instilled some of the self belief that had been so lacking for the final two months of Guy Luzon's reign.

We live in hope