It's the silly season!

That's the verdict of journo Richard Cawley.   He has been obliged to deny rumours that Lloyd Jones is leaving the club.

AI is making things worse: 'As of late January 2026, Kenyan defender Collins Sichenje is set to join English Championship side Charlton Athletic from Serbian club FK Vojvodina for approximately €1.9 million (approx. Sh291-293 million). The 22-year-old Harambee Stars centre-back, known for his physicality and versatility, is expected to become the first Kenyan player at the London club.'

Good clickbait, but there's nothing in it. 

Changing managers in the Championship has mixed results

The New York Times has run a feature on managerial turnover in the Championship.   Charlton are too unimportant a club for them to mention, but the ‘Jones out’ crowd will be heartened by their view that more changes are on the way.  However, the evidence of a new managerial bounce seems to be mixed to say the least.

'Of the 24 managers to start the season in charge of a Championship club, only 15 remain.

The relentless and ruthless nature of England’s second tier suggests there will probably be further casualties before the end of the season, too. Over a third of the total sackings (25) across the four divisions in England have been in the Championship, with Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion, Oxford United, Southampton, Swansea City, Norwich City, Watford, and Sheffield United all pulling the plug after experiencing struggles.

Of the eight clubs to move a manager on, seven make up the bottom 11 positions in the Championship, with Watford, who have a managerial recruitment policy as unpredictable as the league itself, the only exception.

So were the clubs who sacked managers right to make a change? Or has it backfired? The revolving door is once again swinging rapidly with as many manager exits in the Championship as both League One and League Two combined. The New York Times assesses what’s happened so far in another chaotic season.

The outcome of changing managers during the season varies across the league. There are a couple of clubs who have benefited from the change, others who remain largely the same, and in West Bromwich Albion’s case (although it’s very early days), the situation has deteriorated further, which goes against any theory of a new-manager ‘bounce’.'

Signings and departures don't go well

The latest signings and departures have not got down well with Charlton fans.  Apter's signing seems to have been a costly mistake.  Fans say he should have played more, but we don't see how players perform in training. 

Among incoming players, let's just consider the merits of Jayden Fevrier.   Richard Cawley has asked a local journo from 'oop north to give his views.  You can get the full sp on his Substack page, but here is an excerpt: '

'He is an athlete. When he is on it then he can be very impactful and explosive.

He is a bit chaotic - wildcard is a great description. I’ve seen him leave full-backs on their backside on the turf and then he’s stuck the ball in the net or crossed it for a goal. We have seen it happen. It just hasn’t happened enough.

But if he can go somewhere else, for a fresh start, and get a run of games - even if it is a consistent run of coming off the bench for 25-30 minutes - then I don’t doubt there is something there.

If someone can unlock it on a more regular basis then he can be such an exciting player. In the home game against Lincoln just before the end of the season he scored and got two assists as Stockport came back from 2-0 to win 3-2 and he also looked really good against Leyton Orient in the play-offs.'

The signing of Conor Coady has been confirmed by the club.  Critics think he is too slow.

The latest complaint from fans is that the owners 'lack ambition'.   It always amuses me when fans make this allegation.  I am not prepared to spend any money on transfers or the wages of new players and I think that goes for most fans.   So why should owners be expected to throw good money after bad?

The owners have tried to attract additional investment, but the prospect of hyper critical fans hardly helps.

Just think back on the owners we have had:

• A group who planned to sell The Valley and build a soulless stadium near North Greenwich tube.
• The barmy Belgian, still a weight round our neck.
• Opportunists whose conduct fell below the highest standards of probity.
• An American narcissist who has now been arrested on allegations of fraud and detained as a flight risk.   (Unfortunately not Trump).

'Journeyman' Garry did us proud

Richard Cawley has a great interview on his Substack page with Garry Nelson.  He says that he loved his five years at Charlton - and I think most of the fans loved him.   And to think we signed him for £50,000.

Nelson was thoroughly professional and always tried his hardest.   His book Left Foot Forward, albeit he now admits that it was ghost written, is one of my favourite football books.   The sequel on being player-manager at Torquay United is also worth reading.   I expect you can get copies on AbeBooks cheaply.

More innocent and more enjoyable times.

Has Jones lost the dressing room?

A resurgent Norwich have sent Charlton down to 19th.  Gloom and doom merchants are claiming that Jones has lost the dressing room.   What does this contemporary football cliché actually mean?

I doubt that those who make this claim have actually spoken to any players, but I suppose their point is that the performance on the pitch says it all.   Yet these players are paid good money to do something they presumably enjoy.  It seems a bit childish to go into a collective sulk.

It also reflects the modern obsession with the manager, although in fact his scope has been reduced in modern times, particularly in bigger clubs.   The fashion for sacking managers has become so widespread that the Financial Times had to write its lead editorial about it: https://footballeconomyv2.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-football-manager-as-human-sacrifice.html

BTW. the Pink Un's coverage of football is quite sparse (generally one story per issue) but is among the best there is,.

I think that the arrival of electronic football management games led many fans to think that the manager actually controls the players on the pitch.

Charlton's greatest successes have come when we have had managers in place for the long term: Seed;  Lawrence; Curbishley.  (I would add Chris Powell, but he was undermined by the barmy Belgian).

Even Curbs was not perfect: he tended to make substitutions too late in the game and didn't take competitions like the league cup, where we could have progressed, seriously enough.

The owners are not so daft that they are going to pay Jones a big compensation payment.  If we do get relegated, I think he may well then leave by mutual consent.

Jones make mistakes: all managers do.   Personally I prefer the cooler style of a Curbishley.   But it is very difficult for a League One+ outfit to survive in the Championship.

BTW, the New York Times has just listed what it regards as the three longest suffering fan bases in English football: Preston North End (or Preston Never Ever); Bristol Rovers; and Darlington.

Scottish club to sign keeper

It looks as if third choice Charlton keeper Ashley Maynard-Brewe is about to sign for Dundee United  A decent keeper, but lost his confidence after being kicked in the head.

Fans are more concerned about rumours that Rob Aoter may return on loan to Blackpool.  Unconfirmed reports suggest that Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic may be interested.   He may be happier back in the north-west.

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Leicester act to avoid curse of Charlton

Leicester City have taken preemptive action to sack their manager and avoid the curse of Charlton before Saturday's clash at the King Power.  Of course, many vociferous Charlton fans would like to see a double sacking.

Leicester City are in the hunt for another new manager after sacking Martí Cifuentes on Sunday. Cifuentes was barracked by supporters at the King Power Stadium as his club’s season plunged to a new low on Saturday. A limp and error-strewn 2-1 defeat by relegation-threatened Oxford left Leicester 14th in the Championship before Sunday’s results — almost as close to the drop zone as the promotion play-off spots.

The club’s hierarchy, led by owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha — known as “Top” — appreciate the challenges faced by Cifuentes since taking over in the summer after relegation from the Premier League

However, with a return to the top flight remaining a faint ambition this season, their feeling is that a squad still packed with international players, and those with Premier League experience, should be performing significantly better.

Fan sentiment was not lost on the hierarchy either. During the Oxford defeat, supporters chanted at their beleaguered manager, “Sacked in the morning” and “We want Martí out”.

He is their sixth manager in three years which hardly suggests that frequent changes of manager are a recipe for success.