Charlton Athletic - A road back to the top

Charlton Athletic

'Deja Vu' I said to myself as I pulled into Sparrows lane for the first time since 1999. The last time I had been here, I had been a Charlton player; and now I return as a Charlton legend. A lot has changed since then, we are no longer a Premiership club and that is the first thing I plan on changing. After all I was the one who masterminded a Charlton promotion back in 98. It was last year when I saw Chelsea hold the champions league, when they masterminded that superb comeback that I remembered my love for the beautiful game. And now I sit here as the new boss of Charlton Athletic.
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I stepped out of the car, full of nerves yet tingling with excitement, as Michael Slater led me into his office. He gave me a quick hug as he welcomed me back to the club, however it was quickly back to business. He offered me a £5,000 deal for just 1 year, I wasn't exactly flattered by the support however I understood that I was a new manager and hoped I could soon extend this contract. Slater then went on to make it clear that the minimum expectation was to attain a mid table finish and I was given a 110k wage budget with a 150k transfer budget to achieve my goals. This put me in a better mood, as I already had a young squad with lots of potential and as I have already said; I am looking for a quick promotion back to the Premier League.
I was then led down the corridor to my new office from a rather good looking young secretary. I sat down in my chair and took a deep breath as I thought to myself 'This is going to be a long season'

Fantastic start. Looking forward to this and will be following!

Looking great so far!

Team Report

In my first match I win 5-0, I lead the club on a glorious FA Cup run in which I reach the final, and I get promoted on my first try. After this all the fans sing songs of praise as they dance around the city on our victory parade. This is what I wanted when I joined Charlton Athletic, naturally this is my dream as a manager. Unfortunately reality is nothing like this, instead my second conversation with my new Assistant Manager resulted in him dumping hundreds of folders onto my desk. I took a long yawn as I plunged into the deep file, after venturing through just 2 of the 10 folders I screamed, "NO, NO, NO". This isn't why I had joined Charlton Athletic, I had joined to manage the football not the business. I wasn't interested in paying the debts off, I was looking to build a football club and that would not be cheap. Thankfully the third folder was on the football side of things as it was titled 'Squad Report'. Suddenly I was full of energy again, this is where the football began and this was the first time I was looking forward to reading pages of writing.

Goalkeepers

I was reasonably happy after reading this part of the report, as Ben Hamer looked like a better than average keeper and I was confident I could develop him into a premiership goal stopper.

Defenders

This was certainly not a defence that was ready for a bid for promotion in the English second division. However it was not far away either. I was comfortable that Michael Morrison would be a solid center back for me this year, and Solly was already attracting attention from Premiership clubs. I was also confident that Wiggins would do the job for me at left back, and I will be searching the transfer market for a new center back to partner Morrison.

Midfielders

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH". This was not a midfield that could be mounting a promotion challenge, in fact this was a midfield that wouldn't be able to cope at the bottom of the championship. I was too disgusted with what I saw, so I didn't dwell on the moment and quickly moved on.

Attackers

Fuller had first hand experience of the premier league so his experience will certainly be of use, however his attitude irritates me and if he displays it at Charlton he will be straight out the door. Danny Haynes and Kermorgant also look good for rotation and are definitely in my plans for the future.
Now its clear what my first job will be at Charlton. IMPROVE THE MIDFIELD

Nice start there mate good luck with Charlton. My old football coach used to play for them so will follow