Lloyd Jones on 'addictive' feeling of scoring in front of Covered End, we solve the mystery of car owner who sparked rumour of imminent swoop for Palace winger and Charlton want cat-1 academy status
Timothy Ouma adds to midfield options and Addicks handed allocation of nearly 6,000 for EFL Cup tie at Tottenham
It’s the latest review of the week. That includes reaction to a winning start for the Addicks in the Championship and the real story behind a car parked at The Valley which made supporters speculate a deal was close for a Premier League winger.
Lloyd Jones celebrates his equaliser against Derby County/Picture: Kyle Andrews
Jones signs new contract and heads crucial goal on opening weekend of Championship season
Stop the speculation - Lloyd Jones is going nowhere.
Charlton confirmed on Friday that their reigning Player of the Year (he has won the last two) had signed an improved two-year contract. His old terms were due to expire next summer. This website had an exclusive chat with the centre-back after he put pen to paper and it can be found here.
Jones was back in the spotlight the following day as he played a big part in their 2-1 victory over Derby County in the opening Championship match of the campaign.
He headed in Karlan Grant’s cross to equalise for the Addicks around the hour mark. Tyreece Campbell’s left-footed strike in the 81st minute made sure that Charlton banked maximum points.
“That’s my first goal in front of the Covered End,” said Jones. “The sound was unbelievable. It’s addictive.
“The most important thing was the three points. I would’ve liked a clean sheet but to come from behind, especially in the first Championship game, and get three points is a great feeling.
“The Championship may be a little bit stronger this year. We’ve got to keep building. We had our targets set last week. If we can improve our points tally, goal difference and scoring - we got two today - it will stand us in good stead.”
Plenty of pundits have tipped Charlton to struggle this season. So does he pay attention to those comments?
“No - stuff them,” said Jones. “It’s good to be underdogs sometimes, you haven’t got as much pressure going into games. It’s outside noise. We’re a confident bunch. There will be some tough times as well as good ones, it’s just how quickly we can recover from that.”
Tyreece Campbell could be set to follow Jones in committing his future to the Addicks. The academy product, who has featured 172 times for the club, has scored in both first-team fixtures this season.
Tyreece Campbell scores the winning goal against Derby/Picture: Paul Edwards
“Sometimes he gets a bit of unfair stick, if I’m being brutally honest,” said Jones. “He’s just got to add numbers to his game. Everything else, we see it in training, how good he is. If he does add those numbers then he’s going to absolutely fly.”
Don’t miss our post-match pod after Saturday’s victory.
Ouma makes loan switch to SE7
Charlton made their seventh signing of the summer transfer window after agreeing a loan move for Timothy Ouma.
The 22-year-old Kenyan has joined from Slavia Prague. Last season he was on loan at Lech Poznan as they won the Polish top flight.
The Addicks also have an option to buy Ouma, who rooms with Collins Sichenje when away on international duty. He revealed that his team-mate, now both for club and country, encouraged his switch to SE7: “He told me to come and it is a good club.
“I’m together with him and for sure it’s going to be a little bit easier to get everything done and keep everything moving, because you have someone who knows me well.
“I will bring the normal things - to give my all and help the team to achieve.”
We reveal the owner of car that led to Rak-Sakyi’s Valley rumours
It doesn’t take much for a rumour to spread like wildfire during a transfer window. And it went into overdrive on Friday when a vehicle with a personalised plate was spotted parked at The Valley.
Fans were quick to speculate that it could be Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi in talks over a second spell with the Addicks.
Now South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition has heard that the 23-year-old, who had a superb loan in the 2022-23 season, is a player that most certainly has his admirers at the SE7 club.
But it also sounds like Rak-Sakyi would need to be a permanent signing as Eagles chairman Steve Parish is not considering loans. The player’s five-year contract expires next June and this is a final opportunity to sell.
This website has heard that Burnley are another club that are interested in the attacker.
But back to the car that was clocked. Part of the licence plate had SAK in it.
That is because the vehicle belongs to former Charlton Athletic Women’s chairman Stephen King.
We asked if it was okay to mention that in the review of the week and got the green light from the man himself.
“Curious that nobody appeared to notice that before, as I have used that car to go to men’s and women’s games for circa five years,” said King. “It is an Alpine A110S Atelier Limited Edition in blood orange. Only 100 of these worldwide to that spec.
“It was displayed at the British Motor Show in 2021 before I registered it.”
Case closed.
Charlton managing director Jim Rodwell/Picture: Paul Edwards
Charlton want cat-1 academy status
Jim Rodwell talked about Charlton’s move to try and obtain category 1 status for their academy during Thursday night’s online fan meeting.
But the Addicks’ managing director warned the process is a challenging one.
“It will take a year,” said Rodwell. “I think the final assessment is March next year and we find out after that. There is an awful lot we have to do, in terms of infrastructure and staffing.
“It’s a natural progression for the football club. People ask: ‘Why go cat 1 and not cat 2?’ It is about two things - the games programme, and it makes it a little bit harder for other teams to poach or take your players. It is a growing challenge at academy level, particularly with the great job our guys do.
“We have lots of players that are coveted by other clubs. It’s getting very, very hard to keep hold of our best players, which is a crying shame.
“The application form was pretty intensive, it’s quite a laborious paper, but incredibly worthwhile. It’s a natural step for a club like this with such a proud tradition in our academy.”
Spurs in the EFL Cup
Charlton have been handed an allocation of 5,744 tickets for their EFL Cup second round tie at Tottenham.
The two London clubs were the last ones left in the southern section of the draw, which took place on Sky Sports on Monday.
Jobi McAnuff picked out Spurs with Jamie Mackie completing the formalities.
Charlton took 9,000 supporters to their 2023 EFL Cup quarter-final at Manchester United.
The Addicks are set to receive 45 per cent of the gate receipts from the Tottenham tie. The hosts had a crowd of 42,473 for a 3-0 victory over Doncaster Rovers in the third round of the same competition last season. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has a capacity of 62,850.
“We said when we first came in that we wanted to bring those times back - they were regular fixtures when they (Charlton) were a Premier League side,” said boss Nathan Jones. “That is what we want to get back to.
“As we are going on our journey we take these tests. We had Chelsea last year, albeit probably at a really tricky time of the season for us. Hopefully we can give a slightly better account of ourselves this time.”
London Senior Cup draw
Charlton will face Croydon Athletic in the second round of the competition.
The Addicks received a bye in the first round. Harlow Town’s withdrawal meant Croydon also did not have to play.
Charlton were back-to-back winners of the trophy in 2023 and 2024.
Former players on the move
Harry Clarke has signed a three-year contract with Preston North End.
The 25-year-old looked set to move from Ipswich Town to Stoke City in a deal that, with all add-ons hit, could have risen to £3.5million.
Ipswich’s local media reported the deal broke down due to “an issue highlighted at the medical stage”.
Clarke played 19 matches on loan for Charlton in the second half of last season.
Ashley Maynard-Brewer has made an emergency loan move from Sheffield Wednesday to Gillingham. The Australian’s debut did not go to plan - a 3-0 home reverse to Walsall on Saturday.
Carl Jenkinson playing for Bromley in March 2025/Picture: Keith Gillard
Jenkinson has “no regrets” after announcing retirement
Carl Jenkinson has revealed he struggled with his self-belief during his playing career.
The former Charlton defender, who joined Arsenal in June 2011, won one cap for England.
“From the age of eight football has been my life, it’s given me a lot, and I have also given it a lot back,” posted Jenkinson, 34, on X. “In fact I’ve given it everything.
”It’s for that reason that I can write this looking back over my career with no regrets. Do I wish certain things went better? Without a doubt. I once scored an own goal from 30 yards out. I certainly wouldn’t mind deleting that from history. But were these bad or difficult moments ever because of a lack of effort? No. Like I said, I gave football everything. Every day.
“I suffered a lot with confidence throughout my career, which I found strange because my dad always backs himself to the hilt.
“I saw loads of people, to try and unlock something within me and find that inner belief. ‘Take the chains off,’ Arsene Wenger would say to me. ‘I’m trying boss’, I would say to myself. But I’m certain it was that same insecurity that gave me the drive I have, that would make me run harder and train harder than everyone else. Ultimately that’s what gave me a career at the top level, because physically I was a machine and I took a lot of pride in that.
“Was the way I am a blessing or a curse for me? A bit of both I think. But you can only play the cards you’re dealt and try to make the best of them.”
The Rak-Sakyi dream never seems to die does it! Is there any chance of this actually materialising Rich? By going on Gavins comments there’s still a bit of money left on the kitty for this last position.