During the peak of Covid, there was a Twitter account dedicated to impassively tweeting the daily infection rates and deaths. Every day, the figure would come out, and every day there would be a massive over-reaction.

There was a point that people were so polarised; any increase in numbers would ‘prove’ that a lockdown was necessary, a drop would ‘prove’ the pandemic was over. Weekends, numbers tended to drop (covid = over), on Mondays, processing the weekend backlog meant the number was high (lockdown = now). Neither viewpoint could be conclusively proven because, as they say in data circles, the trend is your friend.

The last two games have served up a polarised reaction; for some, the result and performance against Ipswich was the final straw. The response to the win over Charlton was one of comforting satisfaction. I doubt anyone thinks all our problems are solved from a single a win, a lot of people are going to need way more talking down from an entrenched Robinson-out position than a win over a lower mid-table side. None-the-less, a win over Exeter on New Year’s Day and a Christmas which includes two wins and a draw from four games will be a satisfactory return.

But as no doubt Karl Robinson will be at pains to state; we’ve now lost just one in eleven. He’s right, the trend shows we’re difficult to beat and while we all hope for a glorious ride to promotion like the one in 2015/16, it seems that if we’re going to make an impression on this season, it’ll be with a much more characteristic late run.

Being hard to beat is a good starting point, it indicates the nucleus of a good squad. As impatient as everyone is for success, I wouldn’t want us jumping into the January transfer windows to add a couple of risky signings (think: Baldock and Murphy) in the hope it might propel us into the play-offs. Football is too frequently a short-term business. 

I definitely want more entertainment from the second half of the season; but with my most rational hat on, I’d rather it be used as preparation for next year more than to create an outside chance of a play-off place which we probably wouldn’t navigate successfully anyway.

That said, the longer Karl Robinson is at Oxford the less fans will look at the long-term trend, because of the long tail of performances that are behind him that have got us to this point. We are much improved since Pep Clotet, we are no better than flatlining since last year.

So while the club needs to be more strategic in its development of the squad, in the way it is with the stadium, Robinson needs more immediate results. The owners have a healthy detachment and their long term commitment is welcome, but one of Robinson’s strengths is how embedded in the culture of the club he is. Short term versus long term – reconciling the two trends will be difficult.