Charlton Athletic review of the week: Jones on two-year anniversary, Docherty reacts to 0-0 draw against QPR and Addicks splash out for Kenyan defender Sichenje
Anderson scores on Blackpool debut and Lookman makes instant impact at Atletico Madrid
It’s the latest review of the week.
Nathan Jones lifts the League One play-off trophy aloft/Picture: Keith Gillard
JONES: SO MUCH WORK GONE INTO MY TWO YEARS WITH CHARLTON
Nathan Jones has talked to South London Sport: Charlton Athletic about his two-year anniversary as manager.
The Welshman won promotion via the League One play-offs in his first full campaign in charge.
Plenty of recent Addicks bosses have lasted less than 12 months - Nigel Adkins, Ben Garner and Dean Holden - but Jones was rewarded after sealing promotion at the end of May with improved contractual terms.
The last manager to have been in the Valley hotseat for longer is Lee Bowyer, who missed out on three years at the helm by a matter of days when he left for Birmingham City in March 2021.
While Jones has brought stability to Charlton, the reverse also applies. Prior to that he had been sacked after only 14 matches in charge of Southampton, in the Premier League at the time.
Asked if there was one part of the job that had given him most satisfaction during his Addicks reign, he replied: “There isn’t one particular aspect. When you come in as a manager and not as a head coach, what we wanted to do was drive the club forward. Not one man can do that - maybe they needed a catalyst and maybe I was the catalyst for that.
“We’ve got a lot of good people. We’ve got owners that are sane and make sane decisions - not kneejerk and back you to a relative level that we’re all comfortable with.
“We have got people like Jim [Rodwell] in really good positions that I deal with on a daily basis. We approved staff and gave them autonomy. They all work hard. I haven’t got a massive staff here but there is the right environment. People are there at 7.30am and still there at 6.30-7pm.
“I’m really proud of the workrate and the evolution of the squad. If you look at the squad we had then to what we have now, it is another planet. You’d expect that, going up.
“Plus you walk around the place and it is a good place to be. We have visitors to our club who can see the culture.
“I’ve been part of that. It hasn’t been solely my responsibility or because I am here. But we have all bought into that - the way the club now does social media and the fan integration. I think there were 9,000 fans at my first game and now there are over 20,000, pretty much, for every single home game.
“All these things are stuff to be proud of. People have had to make sacrifices. My family has made considerable sacrifices to do this - that is what people don’t see.
“You can’t just say you are proud of something like the performance in the play-off final. That was the showcase. But the work that goes into that really is unquantifiable because it is constant.”
Collins Sichenje/Picture: Paul Edwards
ADDICKS PAY SEVEN-FIGURE SUM FOR SICHENJE
Charlton Athletic signed Collins Sichenje from Serbian side Vojvodina before last week’s transfer deadline.
A pod reviewing the window can be found here. Nathan Jones talked to this website about the arrival of the Kenyan international - click here to read it.
Sichenje was named in Charlton’s matchday squad for Friday night’s 0-0 draw against QPR but did not come on.
Vojvodina manager Miroslav Tanjga told Mozzart Sport: “We wanted him to stay until June, and we would probably have received better offers for him as well, but what can you do when a lad from Kenya gets an offer from London? For him and his family, it was a dream come true, and he made that very clear to us during our talks.
“He no longer saw himself at Vojvodina and was focused solely on that offer from England. We can’t force anyone to stay at the club, even though the bid was financially excellent for us, we didn’t want to look at the situation purely from an economic point of view.”
TANGERINE DREAM START FOR KAROY
Karoy Anderson scored on his debut for Blackpool on Saturday.
The Charlton midfielder joined the League One club on loan and headed in their second goal against Huddersfield Town in the 31st minute.
The hosts fought back to draw 2-2 at the Accu Stadium. Anderson played the full 90 minutes.
Blackpool boss Ian Evatt handed starts to all three of his deadline day additions - Anderson, Reuell Walters, and Leighton Clarkson.
“They got jaded and in return we got jaded,” said Evatt. “Those three were outstanding. They offered something in the game and gave us something different. They are going to get better and better. They’ve only had three days with us.”
Striker Daniel Kanu bagged his 16th goal of the season in Walsall’s 3-1 home loss to Barnet. The 21-year-old has made 30 appearances for the League Two club, who he joined on loan in August.
Greg Docherty challenges for the ball against QPR/Picture: Kyle Andrews
DOC FEELS HE HAS REWARDED BACKING
Greg Docherty has been happy with his displays since coming back into the Charlton Athletic side.
Prior to the 2-0 win over Leicester City at the end of last month, the Scottish midfielder had not started in the Championship since the 3-0 defeat at Stoke City.
Docherty, 29, was not in the matchday squad for the dismal derby showing against Millwall.
The Addicks skipper did post-match media duties after Friday’s stalemate against QPR.
“I’m really proud to be captain of this club,” said Docherty. “Leading the boys out is something I love doing. Hopefully I’ve put my mark on the last couple of games.
“I’m pleased with my performances. I thank my team-mates because they have been so positive with me. Football has so many ups and downs - you’ve got to be ready. You have to keep on driving forward, being professional.
“I was called upon last week and we got the win. Tonight I felt I justified my position in the team.
“We’d have taken four points after that [Millwall] game. With two more home games we have got the chance to keep our foot on the gas - and we will do.”
The post-match pod after the QPR game is here while a piece looking at what points might be needed for Championship safety is here.
The WSL 2 standings/Source: BBC Sport website
ADDICKS WOMEN POWER ON
Charlton Athletic Women are undefeated in 25 WSL 2 matches after recording a 2-0 victory at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
The Addicks are five points clear at the summit and have conceded just seven goals in 14 matches.
Karen Hills’ side host Durham on Sunday at The Valley with the match kicking off at midday.
Lucy Fitzgerald scored both goals in the win at the City Ground. The first was a lovely strike from the edge of the box into the top-right corner of the net.
Fitzgerald headed in Jodie Hutton’s corner to double the visitors’ lead in the 23rd minute.
Picture: Keith Gillard
KIELY TAKES NEW COACHING ROLE
Former Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Dean Kiely is the new goalkeeping coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv.
The 55-year-old had been out of work since leaving Crystal Palace at the end of last season.
Maccabi, nicknamed the Yellows, are third in the Israeli Premier League.
LOOKMAN MAKES ATLETICO SWITCH
Charlton. Everton. RB Leipzig. Fulham. Leicester. Atalanta. Atletico Madrid.
It’s been some journey for Ademola Lookman, plucked out of Sunday league football by the Addicks in 2015.
Charlton are set to get some money heading their way after the Wandsworth-born attacker joined Atletico on transfer deadline day, although this website has been told it is only going to be a relatively small sum.
Lookman, 28, has been handed squad number 22 by the La Liga giants and has signed a deal until 2030.
He scored and assisted on his debut as Atletico smashed Real Betis 5-0 on Thursday to seal their place in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
Diego Simeone, Lookman’s new boss, said: “He came to help us, and we hope to help him too, so he can continue to grow.
“He has different qualities than the players we have, and he will make us better.”
OTHER FORMER ADDICKS ON THE MOVE
Joe Aribo has signed on loan for Leicester City until the end of the season.
The 29-year-old only made seven appearances for Southampton in the first half of the campaign.
Aribo, who came through Charlton’s academy, is out of contract at the end of May.
Aribo said: “It has been a difficult season with not much playing time. Of course I am excited just to have the chance to be back out there, flowing and firing again.
“I want to prove a point and be my best self every day.”
Former Charlton loan winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi was also a deadline day mover as he snubbed Millwall and instead made a temporary switch to Stoke City from Crystal Palace.
Wrexham’s Elliot Lee, 31, signed on loan for Doncaster Rovers.
Tom McIntyre was released by Portsmouth.
FA YOUTH CUP DATE
Jason Pearce’s young Addicks will head to Burnley on February 20 (7pm) to play their FA Youth Cup fifth round tie.
Picture: Paul Edwards
KNIBBS HAS RETURN DATE PLAN
Harvey Knibbs is aiming to be back from his ankle ligament damage before the end of the season.
The Charlton Athletic midfielder was stretchered off in the 1-0 victory over Sheffield United last month.
The Blades ended the match down to nine men after two red cards. El Hadji Djibril Soumare was dismissed for his late challenge on Knibbs that caused his injury.
Knibbs spoke to Charlton TV last week and the full interview is here.
“Everyone saw how bad the tackle was, I was rushed to do an X-ray to rule out any breaks,” he said. “Thankfully there were no fractures.
“We know it will be an injury that is more months than weeks. I’ve got a return date in mind and it’s about attacking the rehab.”
Knibbs signed for the Addicks in the summer for an undisclosed fee from Reading.
He revealed that Nathan Jones made contact with his agent in January.
“Charlton wouldn’t even have been near the play-offs at the time,” said Knibbs. “He rang my agent and said: ‘I’m going to go up and I’m going to take Harvey with me’. He was already speaking about it then.
“When Nathan came calling it was a bit of a no-brainer.”
Picture: Kyle Andrews
DIXON RECALLED
Will Kaheim Dixon be heading with Jamaica to the World Cup in the summer?
If so it will mean the winger has been selected - and they still have a play-off to contest to reach the tournament - without playing regularly at first-team level.
Charlton recalled Dixon from his loan at Crawley Town last week. The 21-year-old made 16 appearances for the League Two strugglers but had featured for just 10 minutes in 2026.
Dixon had not made Town’s squad for their last five league fixtures.
“Kaheim will go with the U21 group and get game time,” said Charlton boss Nathan Jones. “Crawley is a good club and they have good people there, but we felt his game time had been curtailed.
“We wanted to give him the game time. It is important to keep him moving forwards, especially with what he wants to do at the end of the season with the World Cup.”