Charlton Athletic will begin life in League One under new management, following the appointment of Russell Slade at the Valley.
Slade takes over the Addicks after recently leaving Cardiff City, where the 55-year-old stepped down from his head of football role (he was manager from October 2014 until May 2016 prior to this).Slade will bring a wealth of experience to his new team, having been in charge of clubs such as Yeovil Town, Brighton & Hove Albion, as well as an impressive stint with Leyton Orient, ahead of taking the job at the Cardiff City Stadium.
The new boss will inherit a side which finished just one place away from safety in the Championship last season (albeit nine points adrift of 21st-placed Rotherham United) and he’ll be hoping to repeat the feat of Chris Powell, who guided Charlton to the title, the last time they were in the third tier of the English game - not to mention the 101 points which they amassed in the process.
Slade has already spoken about the need to hang on to the talent which exists in the squad, whilst admitting it may be difficult to retain the services of talent such as Ademola Lookman, Jordan Cousins and Johann Berg Gudmundsson. The latter was the Addicks’ top goalscorer in the last campaign, and has subsequently been included in the Iceland squad for the European Championships in France.
In terms of incomings, Slade has already added three new faces to his squad, with the arrivals of Birmingham forward Lee Novak, Northampton midfielder Ricky Holmes and Swindon striker Nicky Ajose.
It’s certainly the start of a new era at the Valley, and Slade says he hopes to build the bridges with supporters, who have been somewhat disenchanted in recent times.
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