Reed Reign Finished by Easter?
By Steven Gore

Charlton have long been considered as the template that needs to be followed should your club wish to be promoted to the Premiership and then thrive without spending huge sums of money.

In the past 5 years or so I have heard players, chairmen and managers alike 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 each Charlton defeat. It now seems clear that it was he who was the catalyst for the Addicks comfortable Premiership life. Since his departure after 15 seasons this summer, Charlton have appointed and sacked Iain Dowie and somehow saw fit to replace him with a man that has no managerial experience whatsoever.

They sit a place above Watford but are a long way from safety. In the last three games Charlton have been humiliated. First they were thumped at Tottenham 5-1, which could perhaps be excused given Spurs recent excellent form.

However, they followed this heavy defeat with an abject performance at home to Liverpool, described by Alan Hansen as one of the worst he has seen in the history of the Premiership. Liverpool were sloppy infront of goal and will be disappointed to have only scored three against an absolutely lacklustre performance by Charlton riddled with mistakes aplenty and an obvious lack of aggression and fight.

So, put two defeats against the big boys behind them? A League Cup Quarter final at home to Wycombe was a chance to build a little confidence before crunch relegation batles against Middlesbrough and Fulham. How they fluffed it, losing 1-0 at home to the League 2 side thanks to a strike from prolific striker Jermaine Easter.

Incidentally, Wycombe had lost their previous two away games at Stockport County and MK Dons, so travelled to the Valley feeling they had little hope of making the semi-finals.

What now for Charlton? The club announced before last night’s defeat that Les Reed had the job until the end of the season at least. They will surely regret this statement now.

Charlton’s prospects of surviving this season look to be hopeless. Although they contain much superior players than the likes of Watford, I would expect Watford to finish above Charlton as they fight for every second ball and will never give up - Charlton seemingly have no desire and this attitude could leave them as this season’s Premiership whipping boys.

Les Reed’s managerial experience began when he took charge of Charlton, and to appoint a man who has never managed at any level is ridiculous when your side are struggling near the bottom of the league. Usually it is time to call up an experienced man on a short term basis - such as Terry Venables at Middlesbrough a few seasons ago.

If Charlton are relegated they will lose all of their playing assets - he goes by the name of Darren Bent - and it could start a slide back into Football League obscurity. The club need 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 to manager’s at the helm of struggling sides.

Steven Gore is the editor of SoccerManager.com, the free online soccer game

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