Chris Powell says that making Johnnie Jackson captain was one of the best decisions he ever made as Charlton manager: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/exclusive-chris-powell-gives-his-verdict-on-charlton-athletic-caretaker-management-duo-johnnie-jackson-and-jason-euell/
Powell hopes that Jacko and Jason Euell will be able to lead the club in the medium to long term.
Chris Powell talks at length about his memories of the European Championships this summer. He found defeat in the final very difficult and did not go out for several days afterwards, to the detriment of the dog: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/i-didnt-go-out-for-days-england-coach-chris-powell-on-the-highs-and-lows-of-this-summers-european-championships/
Chris Powell recalls the 'horrible' Duchatelet era, the surprise arrival of the useless 'Polish Pete' (cost €800,000) and the departure of Yann Kermogant (supposedly overweight): https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/chris-powell-opens-up-on-horrible-chapter-in-the-history-of-charlton-discussing-polish-pete-fights-with-duchatelet-yann-kermogants-departure-and-happier-days-of-inventing-the-tunnel-jump/
Powell says that Roland was just totally the wrong ownership for the club. The arrival of goalkeeper Yoann Ulian-Thuram caused particular friction as the Belgian owner demanded the new acquisition play despite his manager feeling he simply wasn’t good enough. More generally, Powell was told who he had to play and what formations he had to adopt.
He told Duchatelet: 'What you're doing is just wrong for this club, it's just disgraceful, I'm not standing for it.'
Unconfirmed reports are stating that José Mourinho has been sacked at Tottenham Hotspur and first team coaches Chris Powell and Ryan Mason will take charge for the rest of the season.
Chris Powell is a lifelong fan of Spurs.
It's an unlikely pairing from a Charlton perspective, but Alan Pardew is coach and Chris Powell is assistant coach at ADO Den Haag, sometimes referred to as the Millwall of the Netherlands.
Alan Pardew has taken the controls at Den Haag.
The Chinese owned club has a 15,000 seater stadium. With a traditionally working class base drawn from two working class suburbs of the Dutch administrative capital and home of the royal family, the club is historically known for off the field troubles. While Pardew and Powell were being interviewed for The Times a white hatchback tore through the car park doing wheelies.
Relegation threatened ADO won their first match under the new bosses 2-0. Fans displayed a 'Ghostbusters' banner to welcome the Charlton hero and villain: Who are you going to call?
Pardew has been out of work since being sacked by West Browmich Albion in 2018. He called up Powell when he heard the job was available and they headed off through the Channel Tunnel on the 300-mile drive to The Hague in Pardew's 'bangers for cash' car. Which coach would you rather spend 300 miles in a car with?
Pardew sees the position as reviving his career: 'I've been accused in the past of certain things, but this role is a great opportunity for me to carry the flag for English coaches abroad. I'm hoping to do a good job here and then we'll see.'
Former England international Chris Powell has joined Gareth Southgate's England backroom staff as a part of a plan to boost the number of BAME coaches in the game: Elite coach placement programme
Jason Euell has also been given a role, but he will not be leaving Charlton.
In an interview in today's Football League Paper Chris Powell praises the job done by Lee Bowyer but reckons he now faces his toughest test.
The report notes that Powell knows how hard it can be to keep tensions at bay under Roland's ownership. 'His time at the club was brought to an end after disagreements with the controversial Belgian.'
Powell said, 'Lee has been brilliant. Short-term it's about dealing with the Championship and ownership and then in the medium to long-term I think it's about looking ahead and building with someone new involved. The sale to Duchatelet hasn't worked out. It was a decision that was made and teams who are exceptional at The Valley have stuck by the team but it's quite clear they don't want anything to do with the ownership.'
'They're going to find it really tough in the Championship. Their budget is nowhere near most of the clubs in the division. I'm sure the ownership issue will eventually be dealt with, it's not good for anyone involved with the club.'
Powell's managerial ambitions are by no means extinguished according to the report, but he is doing some media work for now. However, he says, 'The desire is always there to manage.'
Derby County fans are delighted to see Chris Powell back with them as assistant coach to Nigel Pearson as manager: Delighted Rams
Over at The Valley, the rumour mill suggests that Jordan Cousins is on his way with the need to get his wages off the book.
This is the title of an article in today's Times by chief football correspondent Oliver McKay, based on an interview with Chris Powell.
Chris Powell can clearly remember the moment that alarm bells started ringing for him at Charlton Athletic. He had felt vulnerable from the moment Roland Duchâtelet bought the club in early 2014, but now it was time to start planning for the following season. He had prioritised a winger, so he gave the new board a list of targets, one of them a highly rated Premier League youngster whom he was confident he could get on loan if the club moved quickly.
Powell was told not to worry; this was where he would see the beauty of the new ownership structure, which put Charlton in a “network” with Standard Liège, FC Carl Zeiss Jena, Ujpest and Alcorcón. Leave it to us, he was told. A couple of days later a Belgian youngster pitched up at the club’s training ground. Powell was informed that this would be the winger for next season. On the training pitch, he stuck out like a sore thumb. The coaching staff felt the youngster was not ready to play for Charlton’s youth team, let alone the Sky Bet Championship. He did not stick around. “I felt sorry for him,” Powell says. “He said he didn’t know why he was there.”
“People began to work out was going on with regard to team selection. Whenever I picked a team that didn’t have a player from the ‘network’, I would be asked why.
The winger has not exactly gone on to great things since and neither, sad to say, have Charlton under Duchâtelet’s ownership. Two years and five managerial changes later, their stay in the Sky Bet Championship will end this lunchtime with a home match against Burnley — two clubs going in opposite directions, Burnley promoted to the Barclays Premier League, Charlton relegated to League One. The celebrations in the away end will be in stark contrast to the toxic mood among Charlton’s fans, who are planning their fiercest protest yet against a calamitous ownership regime.
What grates most at The Valley is the frustration that their club, for so long a byword for stability and good housekeeping in the Premier League, has been severely undermined by a regime that purports to know all the answers but has made one misguided decision after another. The Championship is full of proud, historic clubs whose position in English football’s hierarchy has been damaged by mismanagement. Charlton are now dropping down to League One, with matches against Shrewsbury Town, Southend United and perhaps Accrington Stanley to look forward to next season.
Nobody, least of all the club’s supporters, could say Charlton were not warned. This has been a relegation waiting to happen. The problems pre-dated Duchâtelet’s arrival — to Powell’s frustration there were serious cutbacks in the summer of 2013, as Tony Jimenez, the previous owner, prepared for a sale — but it is not just results that have suffered since the takeover. The relationship between the club and their fanbase, which Charlton had worked so hard to revitalise and strengthen since returning to The Valley in 1992, has become terribly strained, with the protest group CARD (Coalition Against Roland Duchâtelet) warning that the regime “threatens the very existence and soul of the club”.
Charlton lost 1-3 at home to Brighton and Hove Albion, but the story was really about the protests by dissatisfied customers that halted the game and led to eight minutes being added on.
Following pre-match protests the game was halted after just 30 seconds as Charlton supporters threw balloons and beach balls onto the pitch in protest at Roland Duchatelet's ownership of the club. Similar protests occurred at the start of the second half, while the game was also halted for a short time in the 89th minute after a flare was thrown onto the field.
The Seagulls took an early lead through Sam Baldock as he tapped in a pass form Connor Goldson. Johann Berg Gudmundsson levelled for Charlton soon after the restart. However, Brighton took all three points as Jiri Skalak fired in and Tomer Hemed added a late penalty.
Good luck to Brighton in their promotion push, I hope they go up.
With Chris Powell as one of the commentators, Charlton were given extensive coverage on the Football League Show tonight with the programme closing with a montage of the protests. Katrien Meire was shown more than once wearing her 'wasp in the mouth' expression.
As usual, Chris gave an articulate expression of his sympathy, referring to the way in which the trust of supporters had been destroyed. Charlton had momentum, but in the wrong direction. It would be a long, hard road back.
15 Charlton fans have travelled to Belgium tonight to take the protests there.
Chris Powell feared a loss of Charlton's identity from the beginning of his relationship with Roland Duchatelet. In an in depth interview he contrasts Charlton's plight with the progress made by Leicester City: Powell
If Nigel Pearson takes over at Aston Villa, and he does seem to be the front runner at the moment, he would like Chris Powell to be his No.2: Villa job
Chris Powell has criticised the bizarre statement issued by Roland Duchatelet last week, contrasting the attitude of Charlton's owners with that of Leicester City: Chris Powell
Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka stormed out of the club's training ground yesterday. There have been tensions between him and players after he accused them of lack of desire following the 1-0 defeat at Rotherham: Stormy times
However, he is still expected to take charge at The Valley tomorrow. Whether he falls victim to the curse of Charlton remains to be seen.
Chris Powell will be at tomorrow's game as a Sky TV pundit: Powell
Chris Powell's interview on Talksport last night confirmed what we knew already, but it came from an impeccable source. Kyle Andrews reviews it in trenchant terms here: Chris Powell
One fan speculated that it might be the final nail in the coffin for Roland's regime, but I doubt it. He is impervious to unfavourable publicity and will go on doing things his way.
It's been a stormy night here in Yorkshire and I am looking forward to a good breakfast before I meet the Yorkshire press later. It's a vital game tomorrow, but I am not optimistic.
Charlton secured a hard fought point against Notts Forest at The valley this afternoon, but the draw was overshadowed by a very well supported fan protest, particularly after the game. It was estimated that there were four times as many people there as at earlier protests. 'You're not fit to run a club' was one of the chants.
Fans also responded during the game to chants of 'Stand up if you want them out.' There were also chants of 'We want a manager' and Karel Fraeye was booed when he left the pitch.
For much of the first half it was a case of two mediocre teams cancelling each other out. The returning Callum Harriott did put in a good shot on goal and from a corner Makienok should have scored. However, Forest started to wake up to the limitations of Charlton and began to dominate the play in the concluding ten minutes. They got their reward when Charlton failed to clear a corner and Osborn scored on 44 minutes.
Gudmundsson was brought on after half time for the hapless Ba and Charlton stared to look more energised, although there were some dangerous moments at the start of the half. Good work by Harriott, who in my view was man of the match, set up Makienok to score the equaliser.
However, as anticipated, referee Trevor Kettle made his mark on the game by giving a harsh second yellow to Holmes-Dennis, who had come on as a substitute, and sending him off. Loan player Rhys Williams was brought on in place of Vaz Te to shore up the defence and Charlton fought hard for a point. Indeed, they had chances in the closing minutes to go ahead.
Leaving the ground, I heard one fan say 'A glimmer of hope?' and another 'We're going to be relegated, it's inevitable.' The Addicks are one point off safety, so all is not lost.
By the time I got to Coventry I just missed a Charlton caller who had been on 606.
There was a long interview with Chris Powell on the Football League Show. The Charlton legend expressed sympathy with the supporters and said that he could not understand where the club was heading or what the owner's intentions were. There had been four managers since he left, there was no director of football or chief scout. Good people left, including, he implied, on the non-playing side. The clip can be seen here: Chris Powell
He was shown footage of protesting supporters chanting his name outside the West Stand and was asked if he would go back if he was asked. He replied, 'Possibly,' but made it clear that everything would have to be right.
There was also a good discussion on Sky's Sunday Supplement. They described us as the poster boy of how a club should be run but now the poster boy of how a club shouldn't be run. They criticised how fans were called customers.
There is a good round up of audio interviews from yesterday's protests here: Audio interviews
Player ratings
Henderson could not have saved the goal. Otherwise, he looked confident. Sarr was woeful, unfortunately Bauer is out for six weeks. Lennon put in a decent shift. Solly showed some real skill, I wish other players would pass to him more when he is unmarked and in a good position. Fox always makes me nervous and often with good reason, although he did get forward well at times.
It was good to see Cousins back and in form again, probably affected before by illness. Ba was useless. Jackson made a limited contribution and was eventually substituted. Harriott was a revelation. Clearly his loan spell has done him good, particularly in terms of attitude. His problem in the past has not been a lack of talent, but inconsistency. Before we get too excited, we should remember that he is in the shop window.
Vaz Te didn't really impose himself. Makienok was described as having a 'torrid time' by the Football League Paper. With his top knot gone, he did manage to head the ball a few times. He had three chances to score, and made use of one of them, although he was denied for one by a good save. However, Steve from Petts Wood said 'I still don't like him' after he scored.
Gudmundsson made a real difference and came close to scoring shortly after coming on. Holmes-Dennis should have been more cautious on one yellow with Kettle steaming away and getting closer to his target of ten red cards this season. The signing of Williams has been greeted with a chorus of derision by many supporters, but he looked quite useful to me. He is a big lad.
Charlton are tracking Wrexham ace Dominic Vose, but the goal scoring winger is attracting interest from a number of other Championship clubs including Birmingham City and Wolves: Dominic Vose
However, the Lambeth-born player may be willing to hand in his Welsh phrase book and return to South London.
Elsewhere, it looks as if Brighton might land Dagenham & Redbridge winger Jodi Jones, once the subject of interest from Charlton.
Bromley 16 goals in 22 striker Moses Emmanuel is also 'attracting interest' from Charlton, along with Brentford and Leeds United. I presume this means that we are scouting him. There are only so many young non-league hopefuls we can take on board. Championship defences are more sophisticated than those in the National League.
Chris Powell has been interviewed for the managerial vacancy at QPR, but Super Hoop insiders are thought to favour Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Chris Powell has been sacked as Huddersfield manager after 14 months in charge. Huddersfield have won just three games in the last fifteen. However, the decision was not just about results. There have also been disagreements with the board about transfer policy: Chris Powell
Powell is unlikely to return to The Valley after the way he was treated by the current regime, nor would they want him. I'm not sure that he would be the answer, although clearly he would be a great improvement on Karel Fraeye, but then a lot of people would.
Huddersfield Town are looking to celebrate Chris Powell's return to The Valley with three points: Huddersfield
The Yorkshire Post are more guarded in their comments: 'Just over one year on from Chris Powell’s appointment, it’s a case of plus ca change for Huddersfield Town, who find themselves in a decidedly sticky situation at the bottom end of the table. The fixture list has been far from kind for Town this week, with Powell’s side following up a long trip to Cardiff with another epic midweek journey to face his former club Charlton.'
'Town are without a win in seven games this season and have scored just three goals in the league and all told, you have to go back 11 matches for their last competitive victory, a 1-0 win at the City Ground on April 11. The developments are all of the deeply worrying variety for Town and Powell, who has presided over just two wins in his last twenty matches in charge of the club. A victory at his former club this evening would be as big as any he has achieved in his Town tenure thus night. A truly big night for Huddersfield and Powell.'
Speaking after Saturday's defeat at Cardiff, Powell said: 'It's not the start to the season that we wanted but, to be fair, we've had to deal with a lot of players coming and going and we're trying to gel the team as quickly as possible.'
Huddersfield are currently second from bottom in both the league table and the form table.
