Will the Addicks be a spectacular success or failure?…
Charlton Athletic
Last Season:
The Addicks flirted dangerously with relegation last season as they struggled to replace losing some of their better players such as Bradley Wright-Phillips, Dale Stephens and Yann Kermorgant. They suffered from a poor home record for the majority of the season which saw them marooned in the bottom four well into the new year. They dropped into the bottom three in February and manager Chris Powell was sacked shortly after new owner Roland Duchatelet took over the club in March. He brought in a number of players from his other club Standard Liege and appointed Jose Riga as first team manager on a short term contract. The move worked as Riga steered Charlton to safety, and with three win’s in their last four matches guided them to an 18th place finish, their highest position since September. Riga departed at the end of the season and was replaced by Bob Peeters. They’ve been busy in the transfer market too bringing in players from both at home and abroad.
The Manager
Bob Peeters was appointed manager of Charlton this summer following the departure of Jose Riga at the end of the season. Peeters has the sort of background as a coach that no doubt appealed to the new Charlton owners. A fellow Belgian, Peeters spent time in England as a player, two years at Millwall between 2003-2005. Charlton will be the fourth club that Peeters has managed having taken charge of Cercle Brugge, Gent and Waasland-Beveren all in the space of the last four years.
Transfers
In: Igor Vetokele (FC Copenhagen), Franck Moussa (Coventry City), Andre Bikey (Panetolikos), Tal Ben Haim, George Tucudean (Standard Liege), Johann Gudmundsson (AZ Alkmaar), Stephen Henderson (West Ham Utd)
Loans In: Yoni Buyens (Standard Liege)
Out: Ben Hamer (Leicester City), Danny Hollands (Portsmouth), Danny Green (MK Dons), Dorian Dervite (Bolton Wanderes), Richard Wood (Rotherham Utd), Jordan Cook (Walsall), Diego Poyet (West Ham Utd), Bradley Pritchard (Leyton Orient), Andy Hughes (Bolton Wanderes), Cedric Evina (Doncaster Rovers), Leon Cort, Mark Gower (Released)
This Season
Although Charlton look to have recruited reasonably well they have lost a number of their key players from last season. Much has changed at The Valley with the club now under new ownership and it will either be a big success or a spectacular failure. Either way things will probably not be dull at Charlton this season.
