Concerning Charlton Athletic trend needs to be fixed by Nathan Jones

After an excellent start to the season, it has been a disappointing few weeks for Charlton Athletic in League One.

It was a turbulent campaign for Charlton last season that saw the sackings of Dean Holden and Michael Appleton, and they looked to be in serious relegation danger at one stage, but Nathan Jones led them to a 17th-placed finish after his arrival in February.

The appointment of Jones was seen as a coup for the Addicks, and after the impact he made at The Valley last season, many believed his side would be among the promotion contenders in the third tier this time around.

Charlton made a positive start to the season as they won their first three games, but their form has declined significantly since then, and after losing 1-0 at Exeter City on Saturday, they have now won just two of their last 11 league matches.

The Addicks sat second in the table as recently as mid-September, but they are now 13th, five points from the play-off places and an alarming 11 points from the automatic promotion spots, increasing the pressure on Jones.

Nathan Jones is under scrutiny after poor Charlton Athletic run

Given his Premier League and Championship experience, many were surprised when Jones decided to drop down to League One to take charge of Charlton, and he was viewed as the man that could finally lead the club back to the second tier.

After the questionable appointments of Ben Garner, Holden and Appleton in recent years, Addicks supporters were confident that they now had the right manager in place, and the way he seamlessly guided his side to safety last season only increased the optimism around The Valley.

It was a busy summer transfer window for Charlton, and Jones’ influence on recruitment was clear to see, with four of his former Luton players arriving in Dan Potts, Luke Berry, Allan Campbell and Danny Hylton, while he also made the bold decision to allow Alfie May, who scored 27 goals last season, to join promotion rivals Birmingham City.

While the Addicks did not spend anywhere near the same kind of money as the Blues, Jones could not have asked for much more support from the board this summer, and after his side won their first three games, it looked as though the rebuild was a success.

However, much of the early season positivity has disappeared, and with the gap to the promotion spots increasing, Charlton are in danger of fading away into mid-table once again.

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In Jones’ defence, prior to the defeat at Exeter on Saturday, Charlton had been on a four-game unbeaten run, during which they inflicted Birmingham’s first league defeat of the season, and picked up draws against fellow promotion hopefuls Stockport County, Barnsley and Wrexham, so it would be unfair to say that everything has been negative in recent weeks.

Jones has also been without a host of key players due to injury, including the likes of Lloyd Jones, Kayne Ramsay, Dan Potts, Chuks Aneke, Daniel Kanu and Tyreece Campbell, which will no doubt have contributed to his side’s inconsistency.

However, with high expectations at the club, there are few excuses for Jones not to deliver success this season, and based on the evidence of some of his recent post-match interviews, it seems the Welshman is beginning to feel the heat.

After the 1-0 win over Birmingham in early October, Jones said he had been “absolutely abused by my own fans” after they questioned his team selections, and he warned that “if they [the fans] want to pick teams themselves, then come in, I’ll have my money and I’ll move somewhere else if that’s what needs to be done”.

Jones’ passion is one of his big strengths as a manager, but his emotional interviews can also become problematic for him, and similar comments contributed to the 51-year-old’s downfall at Southampton.

Addicks supporters made their frustrations clear after the full-time whistle at St James’ Park on Saturday, and while there are no calls for Jones to be sacked at this stage, it is evident that discontent is growing at The Valley.

With games against promotion rivals Huddersfield Town, Lincoln City and Mansfield Town to come before Christmas, as well as more winnable fixtures against Burton Albion, Crawley Town and Northampton Town, it looks set to be a decisive period for Jones, and he must get his side’s season back on track as quickly as possible.

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