Charlton Athletic: Nathan Jones following exciting Luton Town blueprint in more ways than one - View | OneFootball

Nathan Jones is doing a few things at Charlton this summer that he did ahead of Luton Town's 2018/19 title-winning campaign.

Highlights

It has been six years since Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones was in charge of a pre-season before a League One campaign, but he is going about things similarly this time around.

The last time that the Welshman was preparing to manage a team in League One, he had just achieved promotion from League Two with Luton Town.

As he prepares for the 2024/25 campaign with the Addicks, Jones has ensured that a few things are the same as they were ahead of the 2018/19 season with the Hatters.

Despite Jones leaving to join Stoke City midway through that season, with Luton second in the third tier, his pre-season preparations and impact during the first half of the campaign contributed to the Hatters going on to win the title.

The 51-year-old will hope that he can change Charlton's recent fortunes in his first full season, after they have failed to reach the play-offs in four attempts since suffering relegation from the Championship in 2020.

Let's take a look at a few things that Jones has implemented at Charlton, which were the same at Luton in the summer of 2018.

A pre-season training camp in Slovenia for Charlton

Jones has taken his Charlton squad to a pre-season training camp in Slovenia as they continue their preparations for the upcoming season.

He took his Luton squad to the same destination before the 2018/19 campaign, and he clearly thinks it helped his team be successful that year, as he has decided to do the same thing again six years later.

Jones discussed the training camp in an interview that was posted on Charlton's official X account, highlighting the importance of the week away in Slovenia.

He said: "I think it's one of the most important weeks of pre-season, you know, first and foremost, because we've wanted to get a lot of our business done, it gives the new players an opportunity to gel with players that we've had here.

"It gives, obviously, the other players who are together a better opportunity to reacquaint themselves and get to know each other on a different level.

"And then the most important thing is to do the work that we need to do, because we're able to do two sessions a day, we're able to work them hard in a fantastic setting, do a lot of tactical work, do a lot of the physical work especially.

"And then do certain things like goal setting, leadership groups and things like that, which will stand us in good stead for the coming season."

Jones links up with familiar Luton faces

Jones has brought in Paul Hart as his assistant manager at The Valley, who was also his right-hand man at Kenilworth Road, and he is not the only familiar face in the Charlton squad from the Luton team in 2018.

Goalkeeper Harry Isted and centre-back Lloyd Jones were on the fringes of Jones' squad during the title-winning season, so they will know what to expect during their current pre-season schedule.

Midfielder Luke Berry signed for Charlton this summer after his Luton contract came to an end, while experienced striker Danny Hylton is on trial with the Addicks at the moment. Both players featured for the Hatters under Jones as they won the league in the 2018/19 season.

Jones brought another member of that side, Kazenga LuaLua, to The Valley on a free transfer in March, but he left the club when his short-term contract expired at the end of the season.

There are definitely similarities that can be made between Charlton's pre-season so far and the Luton pre-season in 2018, and the Addicks will hope it can lead to the same outcome at the end of next season, perhaps just without Jones leaving the club midway through the campaign.