Southampton and Stoke City will have one eye on Charlton Athletic right now: View | OneFootball

Southampton and Stoke City will have one eye on Charlton Athletic right now: View | OneFootball

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·5 March 2024

Southampton and Stoke City will have one eye on Charlton Athletic right now: View

Article image:Southampton and Stoke City will have one eye on Charlton Athletic right now: View

Nathan Jones has won just one of his opening six games since taking charge of Charlton Athletic in February, but he has managed to secure four draws in that time, including against promotion-chasing Bolton Wanderers and Portsmouth.

Charlton currently sit 18th in League One, just four points above the relegation zone and Jones will be watched carefully by fans of Southampton and Stoke City in particular.


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The Welsh manager was unable to steer the Saints, then in the Premier League, clear of the relegation zone and was promptly sacked after just three months in the job.

He suffered a similar fate at Stoke, where he was sacked in 2019 with the team second-bottom of the Championship.

Jones has a task on his hands if he is to prevent Charlton from slipping into the fourth division for the first time in their history.

But there will be few fans of a Southampton or Stoke persuasion wishing him well after a torrid few years in management.

Where did it go wrong for Jones at Southampton?

Jones joined Southampton from Luton in November 2022, having guided the Hatters to the Championship play-offs the previous season and won the Championship Manager of the Year.

Southampton were a team in freefall when he took over, and Jones did little to arrest the slump, taking charge of just eight games and securing only one win.

There was a famous victory in the Carabao Cup, where he knocked out Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, denying them the chance to win the quadruple.

But quickly after Jones was relieved of his duties and he had to watch on as the Luton side he'd built won promotion to the Premier League under the guidance of Rob Edwards.

Jones unable to make use of expensively assembled Stoke side

Stoke were still reeling from relegation to the Championship when Jones took over in January 2019.

After a decade in the Premier League, Stoke had crashed out of the top-flight after a series of expensive mistakes in the transfer market set into motion a malaise from which they'd never recover.

Jones took over midway through their first season back in the Championship, but he was unable to produce any results with a squad tipped for promotion straight back to the Premier League.

Jones was sacked the next season after the worst start to the season in the club's history left them second-bottom.

Charlton looking over their shoulders heading into the last 10 games of the season

Charlton are enduring their worst season to date, and sit precariously above the League One relegation zone.

Before Jones made the move the move to South-East London, Charlton were winless in 13 games. Jones has done little to inspire that winning feeling once again, but he has at least stopped the rot with four draws from his opening six games.

Charlton are approaching a pivotal few weeks in their bid to avoid the drop as they play fellow relegation rivals Cheltenham Town,Carlisle United and Fleetwood Town one after the other.

For Jones, this could make or break his managerial career after a chastening few years in the dugout.

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