SO MANY REASONS FOR NATHAN JONES TO KEEP BUILDING AT CHARLTON ATHLETIC.
The South London Press has ceased operations, but renowned sports journalist Rich Cawley will continue to provide informed commentary to Charlton fans via the Substack platform he has established – southlondonsportcharlton. (What is a Substack? It is an internet platform that allows the publication of subscription-based content. A subscription to Rich Cawley’s Substack platform costs £50 per year, or £5 per week. Below is Rich’s first article on the possibility of Nathan Jones leaving CAFC for Cardiff City.
If you want to continue receiving Rich’s informed comments, you must subscribe to his Substack platform. CAST will publish links to his articles, but for obvious reasons, will not publish whole articles (after this one). “As the week began, it could have been quieter. I’ve been attempting to figure out how to use Substack (I’m not very technical) as well as other aspects of starting out as a freelancer. However, there was conjecture over the weekend that Nathan Jones was in the race to become Cardiff City’s next manager.
We’ve been here before, with a Charlton Athletic manager gaining promotion to the Championship at Wembley Stadium and then suddenly facing doubt over the club’s future. However, the scenario is not the same. Lee Bowyer was entering the final weeks of his contract in June 2019. The jubilant hangovers after the Addicks overcame Sunderland had scarcely passed before fears emerged that he was going to be off. It devolved into a game of bluff, and owner Roland Duchatelet stood his ground, refusing to offer Bowyer the lucrative new contract he believed his success deserved. The fact that Bowyer wanted to stay definitely helped to prevent the doomsday scenario from occurring.
The fact that Bowyer only got a 12-month contract was insulting but also reflected Duchatelet’s firm intent to sell the football club.
Jones isn’t in the same situation as the former Addicks midfielder. He still has plenty of time remaining on his contract. Charlton have a more established ownership structure; Sky Sports’ footage showed co-owner Gabriel Brener joyously hugging Jones as he went up to the Royal Box with his players to collect the League One play-off final trophy. Jones, who was born in the Rhondda Valley, has unsurprisingly piqued Cardiff’s interest.
The 52-year-old has already voiced a desire to one day manage the club he supports. As the Charlton celebrations began on the pitch at Wembley Stadium at the end of last month, Jones made his way to a lower section of the stadium, where he spotted a Welsh flag in the crowd. He motioned for it to be given to him and wrapped it around his shoulders as the party began in earnest on the lush green lawn. Jones has proven on numerous times that he can get teams promoted. Sometimes at Luton, he started the work by putting everything in place, only to be plucked by Stoke City or Southampton, leaving others to finish the job.
Jones has previously discussed learning from those experiences. It’s difficult to imagine him leaving Charlton to endure another season in League One. That’s why the news I received on Monday that there was “no chance” of him travelling made so much sense. However, Cardiff’s interest may have come at the right time, as Jones prepares to fight in England’s second division with a sufficient cash and backing. It certainly can’t harm during any talks.
Jones’ reputation at Luton was one of outperforming his budget. He’ll need to do it again at Charlton. The Addicks were a huge fish in a tiny pond of League One. Not anymore. They paid less than Birmingham City and Wrexham. The former will undoubtedly want to do more than just’make up the numbers’ at their new level. I asked one agent yesterday what positions he had heard Charlton intended to bolster in this summer window, and his response was: “Everything”.
Following the 1-0 victory over Leyton Orient, Jones stressed the importance of hard work. “Now the workload increases tenfold. We enter an unforgiving environment. We were competing with Birminghams, Wrexhams, Boltons, and Huddersfields with large budgets; suddenly we’ve arrived on a different planet and must be competitive. “We only had one window to recruit. We must be meteoric in whatever we do. We need an influx of talent, along with what we already have, and then make some difficult decisions moving ahead. “We will do that.”We’ll get a sense of the entire scope of Charlton’s issue once we see the transfers. There are undoubtedly places that require investment (which South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition will address another day). The last thing they needed was instability and change with their manager.
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