Docherty looks to hit even greater heights after impressive Championship start, Jones backs Coventry for full Ireland honours, Powelly joins Luton and ACL blow for ex-Addicks defender
The latest review of the week - a round-up of Charlton Athletic news
It’s the latest review of the week. All the Charlton Athletic news from the past seven days.
Greg Docherty breaks away with the ball on Saturday
Picture: Kyle Andrews
DOC’S CHAMPIONSHIP DISPLAYS ARE JUST THE TONIC NEEDED
Greg Docherty is determined to build on his strong start to the Championship season and reckons that a stable environment at Charlton Athletic has allowed him to flourish.
The Scottish midfielder, 29, has started every league match this season and collected back-to-back assists against Blackburn Rovers and Derby County at the end of last month.
Docherty’s performances have gone up a level after the south London club’s promotion from League One.
He signed from Hull City on a free transfer in the summer of 2024.
Docherty said: “Last year I really enjoyed it but it got to a stage where I just wanted to get over the line and we did that. It was job done.
“I knew coming into this season I could really put my mark on it. I feel I’m playing more to where I want to be - that comes from the faith of my team-mates and backroom staff. I feel settled and comfortable.
“I love playing in front of the fans and I love playing here. I love being captain of this club and it is a big thing that I can hopefully go and express myself. I’ve had a good start. It’s been 10 games, you look at it in blocks, but I want to go and kick on again. There is lots of improvement to come.”
Docherty has been capped four times at U21 level and had three seasons contracted to Rangers before joining Hull City in 2020.
“The conversations I had with Doc, it took a long time for me to persuade him to come to the football club,” Addicks boss Nathan Jones recently told South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition.
“Not because he didn’t want to come to Charlton, but because he wanted it to be the right move for his career. He had been promoted a number of times out of League One and hadn’t quite impacted in the Championship.
“What saw someone who could play at the higher level and get us out of League One. He is proving that. We trust him. I demand from him and sometimes we have disagreements, or sometimes he feels I’m harder on him than I am with other people, but I want him to do well.
Picture: Paul Edwards
“I love him. He will go down as a fantastic captain for this football club because he has been promoted in his first season, led by example and drove the team.
“He is in better form than he was last year and it is a higher level.
“He is a really good human being. He does his job and every day he drives people and gets around it. He has got a lot on his shoulders but he has been outstanding.”
Docherty skippered Charlton in their 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. For more reaction the talking points are here as well as the post-match podcast.
Jones has only lost three of his 35 home league games since he became manager in SE7.
“It’s huge,” said Docherty, when asked about that record following the victory against the Owls. “This season it is going to be huge. You want to do well on the road but here is your bread and butter.
“I said to the lads who maybe haven’t been at this level before that every win is so tough. You have got to savour it.
“We’ve got a really tough venue to go to on Tuesday and a team (Ipswich) that had a difficult result yesterday (Friday). It’s another challenge but we’ve got a strong squad - you saw that today with Tants (Isaac Olaofe), Miles [Leaburn] and Knibbsy (Harvey Knibbs) coming on. Physically the squad is in a good place.
“It gives the manager decisions to make. We should be fresh and ready to go.
“We’ve got three games this week and we started it how we wanted to. We earmarked this game, in particular, because we wanted to bounce back after Preston. We did. The second half we dug in and showed a different side to it, it can’t always be as fluent as we want it to be.
Conor Coventry competes for the ball against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday
Picture: Kyle Andrews
JONES: CONOR COVENTRY IS AN INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALLER
Nathan Jones has talked to South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition about Conor Coventry’s wait for senior Republic of Ireland honours.
The 25-year-old midfielder was a late call-up during the last international break but did not feature in their fixture against Armenia.
Coventry has set a record for Ireland U21 caps - winning 28 of them.
The former West Ham United player has been an ever-present starter in the Addicks side this season in the Championship, only being subbed off once.
Tuesday’s trip to Ipswich Town is set to be his 80th appearance for Charlton.
“I don’t know how the Irish squad is picked, but all I can say is he has been excellent since I came into the football club,” said Jones.
“The first game, at Reading, he wasn’t at his best. Then we had a frank conversation and since then he has been outstanding. I love working with him and he wants to get better.
“He is a chameleon around the place, you don’t know who his mates are because they all are. He is on every table.
“The character and ability he has - he has found a home here. I really like being around Conor. He is a serious individual. It is only a matter of time before he plays for Ireland.
“I thought it would have been a helluva lot sooner, but I’m not the manager. All I see is the daily stuff I do. All I can say is they must have some midfield players.
“The way he plays, how he passes the ball and gets around the football pitch, his understanding of situations, he is an international footballer - not a problem.”
POWELLY ON THE MOVE
Chris Powell’s temporary spell as a first-team coach at Walsall is over - and quicker than expected.
The former Charlton Athletic manager and player was appointed as Jack Wilshire’s number two at Luton Town on Monday.
Powell joined Walsall at the end of September.
Now he will supply experience and support to Wilshere, who has stepped into his first senior managerial role after previously working in the backroom team at Norwich City.
Powell posted on his X account: “I can’t wait to hear the atmosphere at the Kenny - I’ve heard it when on the opposing side - and I look forward to us trying to make it as difficult as possible for each opponent we face.
“I would also like to send my best wishes to everyone at Walsall Football Club. My stay was only ever intended to be short, but in those couple of weeks I witnessed a club striving to reach the next level, with an excellent young manager and a very capable staff and squad of players.
“I wish them nothing but success ahead, and will follow their results with interest. As for ourselves, we know where we are, and what we have to do. Jack will drive this club forward and I am excited to play my part along the way.”
Wilshere succeeds Matt Bloomfield, who was sacked on October 6. The ex-Wycombe Wanderers boss only lasted nine months at Luton, who are in League One after back-to-back relegations.
Jones led the Hatters to a second place finish in League Two in 2018 and in his two spells - 303 matches - also helped set them up for subsequent promotions from League One and the Championship.
“I spoke to him (Powell) and said if he needs any information then to reach out,” Jones told the club’s in-house media on Thursday. “Chris is an excellent human being, first and foremost.
“I think it is an excellent appointment. A really logical one, both for a relatively new manager, albeit a superstar when he was a player, and for the club to have someone of his stability, know-how and calm influence.
“I did the same with Paul Hart. It is an excellent appointment.
“I’m delighted for him because Chris is a good friend of mine now. He was instrumental in me coming here at the time (to be in the U21 coaching set up). He gave me autonomy and taught me a lot. He helped me to create the atmosphere to develop players. I learned a lot from him. I trust him as a friend now, not just a colleague in football.”
There was no happy start for Powell as Luton, 14th in the table, lost 2-0 against Mansfield at Kenilworth Road.
“This is the start of a journey I am fully committed to and I feel like the players are as well,” said Wilshere. “We’ll work, we’ll get better, it may take some time but we’ll do that.”
DIXON DENIED ON INTERNATIONAL DUTY
Kaheim Dixon started for Jamaica in their 4-0 home win against Bermuda in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.
The Charlton winger, on loan at League Two side Crawley Town, was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet.
He had two efforts saved by Bermuda goalkeeper Dale Eve, the second one coming off his legs and then rebounding back off the crossbar.
Dixon has scored twice in 21 senior caps for the Reggae Boyz.
Tyreece Campbell and Karoy Anderson made substitute appearances but Amari’i Bell stayed on the bench.
Jamaica’s next World Cup qualifiers are against Trinidad & Tobago (November 14) and Curacao (November 19).
Steve McClaren’s team are top of Group B.
Sophie Whitehouse guards her post during the recent 1-1 draw against Sheffield United at The Valley
Picture: Keith Gillard
WHITEHOUSE LANDS IRELAND SELECTION
Charlton Athletic Women’s goalkeeper Sophie Whitehouse has been called up for the Republic of Ireland’s UEFA Nations League play-offs against Belgium.
The first leg takes place at the Aviva Stadium on October 24 with the second leg at the Den Dreef Stadium in Leuven on October 28.
Ireland and Belgium are competing for a place in League A, a move which would improve their seeding for the 2027 World Cup qualifiers.
The Addicks signed Whitehouse from Lewes in the summer of 2024. She signed a contract extension in March this year that keeps her with the south London club until at least July 2026.
Charlton were due to be in League Cup action yesterday but their fixture against Portsmouth was called off on Wednesday.
The South Coast club have a heavy injury list which has seen them opt not to play.
It remains to be seen if that means the Addicks are awarded the win, which seems to be the most likely outcome considering the reason behind the cancellation.
Charlton do not play again until November 2 in a WSL 2 fixture at Birmingham City.
Rarmani Edmonds-Green in action against Charlton Athletic in last season’s away fixture at Leyton Orient
Picture: Kyle Andrews
REG SUFFERS MAJOR INJURY
Rarmani Edmonds-Green looks set to miss the rest of Leyton Orient’s League One season after suffering an ACL injury to his right knee.
The former Charlton Athletic defender, 26, sustained the damage in their 4-0 win over Doncaster Rovers last weekend.
Orient head coach Richie Wellens said: “REG is a big character in our changing room and around the training ground, and we are all gutted for him. He played a hugely important role for us in the second half of last season, having joined us in January, and it is now vitally important that we all support him.
“He has met with one of sport’s leading knee surgeons and, once he has a spell of rest and his operation, we’ll give him everything he needs to come back fitter and stronger.”
Edmonds-Green made 31 appearances for the Addicks before a permanent transfer to the O’s in February 2025.
COWLEY ENJOYS PICKING MBICK
Colchester United manager Danny Cowley is not spending any time fretting about Micah Mbick being recalled by Charlton in the January transfer window.
The 18-year-old striker has impressed on loan for the League Two club.
Speaking before Saturday’s 3-1 home victory over Harrogate, Cowley told the Daily Gazette: “If you want to live your life worrying about what’s going to happen tomorrow, you can but I don’t suppose you’re going to have that enjoyable an existence, living like that.
“We’re going to live for the day and I wake up every morning with so much excitement to work not just Micah but with all of our young players.
“I think Charlton are pleased with the way that we’re looking after him and with the progress he’s making. So far, it’s been a good loan period for everyone.”
Harrogate’s boss Simon Weaver revealed that his decision to hook centre-back Anthony O’Connor at the interval was to try and combat the effectiveness of Mbick, who has scored four times in nine outings for Colchester.
Weaver told the Harrogate Advertiser: “No disrespect to Anthony, but if we were going to try to press a little bit higher, there was going to be space in behind.
“We were up against a centre-forward who was above the level today. Fair play to him, he burned us off several times in the first half, so I had to.”
KANU NETS AGAIN
Daniel Kanu claimed the fourth goal of his loan with Walsall as they lost 2-1 at home to Barrow on Saturday.
It ended a three-match spell without the 20-year-old Addicks striker being on the scoresheet.
Kanu scored from Albert Adomah’s cross to halve the deficit and was denied a second by a fine reaction save at point-blank range by Barrow goalkeeper Wyll Stanway.
Tbf the issue for Conor is that the number 6 for Ireland is currently Cullen… and he’s not at that level yet… although him not being able to get in above Smallbone is a bit mad
Good read Rich. Be interesting to hear from Lloyd Jones in the same way you have here from Doc. He has gone about his business quietly but imo has stepped up and is rarely beaten.