Charlton have long been regarded as the squad to follow if your club is to be promoted to the Premiership and then prosper without spending huge sums of money.
Over the last 5 years I have heard players, chairmen and managers from clubs such as West Ham, Wigan, Sheffield United, Reading and others describe Charlton as the old masters of punching above their weight. One man can now take all the credit.
Alan Curbishley’s reputation grows with every Charlton defeat. It now seems clear that it was he who was the catalyst for Addicks’ comfortable life in the Premiership. Since his departure after 15 seasons this summer, Charlton has appointed and fired Iain Dowie and has somehow seen fit to replace him with a man who has no managerial experience whatsoever.
They sit one place above Watford but are a long way from safety. In the last three games Charlton has been humiliated. They were first beaten at Tottenham 5-1, which could perhaps be excused given Spurs’ excellent recent form.
However, they followed up this heavy defeat with an abject performance at home to Liverpool, described by Alan Hansen as one of the worst he has seen in Premiership history. Liverpool were sloppy in front of goal and will be disappointed to have scored only three against an absolutely lackluster performance from Charlton riddled with mistakes galore and an obvious lack of aggressiveness and fighting.
So putting two big losses behind him? A League Cup quarter-final match at home to Wycombe was an opportunity to build some confidence ahead of relegation battles against Middlesbrough and Fulham. How they messed it up, losing 1-0 at home to the League 2 side thanks to a goal from prolific striker Jermaine Easter.
Incidentally, Wycombe had lost his previous two away games at Stockport County and MK Dons, so he traveled to the Valley feeling he had little hope of reaching the semi-finals.
What happens now with Charlton? The club announced before last night’s defeat that Les Reed had the job until at least the end of the season. They will surely regret this statement now.
Charlton’s prospects of surviving this season appear hopeless. Although they contain far superior players to Watford, I expect Watford to finish above Charlton as they fight for every second ball and never give up. Charlton apparently have no desires and this attitude could leave them the scapegoats for this season’s Premiership. .
Les Reed’s managerial experience began when he took charge of Charlton, and supplementing a man who has never managed at any level is ridiculous when your team is struggling near the bottom of the league. It’s usually time to call in an experienced man at short notice, like Terry Venables at Middlesbrough a few seasons ago.
If Charlton relegates he will lose all his playing assets – he goes by Darren Bent – and could start to slide into Football League obscurity. The club needs to act now and replace Reed with a manager. Reed is undoubtedly a good coach, but he seems to lack the motivational skills that are paramount for a coach leading struggling teams.