Charlton Athletic fan pundit makes play-off claim after Michael Appleton appointment | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Charlton Athletic haven't been the most straight-forward club in recent years, with many ownership changes and manager alterations, and they decided to go earlier than anyone in the 2023-24 season with a new head coach.

Dean Holden only lasted five league matches in charge and he was replaced at The Valley by ex-Blackpool and Lincoln City boss Michael Appleton, who takes charge for the first time against Stevenage on Saturday afternoon.

Why did Charlton sack Dean Holden and replace him with Michael Appleton?

Having won their opening match of the 2023-24 season against Leyton Orient, Charlton went on a run of four consecutive losses in August, with the final one coming against Oxford United.

That was enough for the Addicks' new owners to axe Holden, despite the fact it was Charlie Methven who recommended the 44-year-old to Sandgaard back in December when he was lining up a takeover.

And in Appleton, SE7 Partners have brought in a head coach who is experienced at League One level and who they believe can get them promoted due to his track record.

Would Charlton not making the League One play-offs be a failure for Michael Appleton?

FLW's Addicks fan pundit Ben Fleming believes that ultimately the club's new head coach should not be judged too heavily on this season's results because he has not put the squad together - although should Charlton find themselves in an unexpected relegation battle then this may of course change.

"It's a tricky one because obviously it's been a slow start to the season, the board and the ownership group have acted so quickly that there's so much of the season ahead," Ben said when speaking to Football League World.

"So, I think they will have said to him when they hired him that they are still looking at the play-offs and clearly were, so we're very early in the season that if you put a good run together you can get up and around those, so I still think that will be the aim that the board hired him under.

"I don't think you'd have hired a manager at this stage of the season, given our pre-season ambitions, and said 'don't worry if we miss out on the play-offs', so I'd imagine our expectations are still the same.

"Whether or not it's a failure if he doesn't get there it's difficult to say at this stage. I think it probably will depend on the style of play and how the team comes across.

"But ultimately I think that if this team is as good as what some fans and some people who look at the league say it was at the start of the season, and that is a team who should be getting in and around the play-offs, then I don't see despite this slow start why we can't get up and around there. "I don't think it would be a failure of a season, purely because this isn't a squad that he built in pre-season but it's very much a squad he's inherited.

"I think Appleton, the squad and the owners will still be targeting the top six, and we'll see how much progress we can make towards that by the end of the season."