Charlton Athletic’s owners have stated their determination to support Nathan Jones during the summer transfer window as the Welshman seeks to construct a promotion-challenging side.
The Addicks finish their League One campaign against Wycombe Wanderers tomorrow, hoping to extend their unbeaten streak to 15 games.
While Jones, who was appointed manager at the beginning of February, has overseen the League One club’s greatest unbeaten streak in 24 years, Charlton are also certain to end in their lowest league position in 98 years.
Jones and Global Football Partners, who bought the club from Thomas Sandgaard in July, have refrained from making bold expressions of intent, both when they originally arrived and during the 2024-25 season.
Jones stated following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Shrewsbury that the next transfer window will likely be “one of our biggest summers” in terms of activity.
American backers Joshua Friedman and Gabriel Brener have both gone to The Valley since the summer takeover.
And the decision to give Jones a four-and-a-half-year deal and move his title from head coach to manager demonstrated their desire to fully empower the former Luton Town, Southampton, and Stoke manager.
On Tuesday, Charlton released a 28-minute film with Charlie Methven, not only the GFP’s spokesman but also a part-owner of the club, in which he reflected on their first season in charge and looked ahead.
“Our aspirations as an ownership group are to see the squad improve on a constant basis – whether that be through recruitment, coaching or improved fitness levels,” Methven said in a statement.
“The technical department and manager have approached us as an ownership group, informing us what they believe needs to be done to the team during the summer in order to achieve what we all desire next season, which is a significant promotion drive.
“We had very productive meetings on that last week with the ownership group, who were very, very clear that they want to back the manager in his aspirations.”
Jones had made it to the final two on Millwall’s shortlist until Gary Rowett decided to step down in October.
The Lions chose Joe Edwards, who served for just more than three months.
Jones has not experienced defeat at Charlton since a 2-0 loss to Reading just days after taking over.
He was nominated for League One Manager of the Month in March.
“Leadership is important, it’s a fact,” Methven stated. “One cannot dismiss Nathan Jones’ degree of leadership since joining the team.
“He was clearly the technical team’s first pick to become manager in January. Many people are unaware that he was the technical team’s initial option to become manager in December.
“One of the reasons that approach was made was the perception that Charlton was a club that needed leadership – not just very much in the manager’s office, but also in the entire organisation.
“It needs personality and it needs leadership – that’s certainly something the manager has brought to the club.”
Methven is confident that some of the background appointments will bear fruit. Charlton were forced to wait for Will Abbott to work his notice at Brighton before he became director of performance services at the start of the year.
“It’s the unglamourous stuff that goes on behind the scenes to ensure the footballers that the club have are both available to play as often as possible but also, when they do play, are fit and able to out-run the opposition,” said Methven.
“The analysis that our technical guys did was that really over the previous few years – and maybe even going back quite a long way – showed Charlton’s injury record wasn’t as it ideally would be. And even when the players were fit to play, they weren’t always as fit as they might be to finish games.
“That often happens when you go through a period of turbulence off the pitch – you see some of these support departments get a bit denuded, because the pressure is always on to sign more players. Sometimes people slightly take their eyes off what is required to support that whole structure.”
Methven described there being “honest analysis” of where the football club was by their technical department which led to a request in December for unbudgeted funding – needed to take “a forceful step” forward to set up for next season.
Jones has indicated he ideally wants to avoid loan additions and did not name a single one of the five temporarily on their books in his matchday squad last time around.
Charlton did complete permanent transfers in January for Conor Coventry, Macaulay Gillesphey, Kayne Ramsay, Rarmani Edmonds-Green and Thierry Small.
However, club captain George Dobson is set to join Hungarian team Fehervar, while Michael Hector and Terell Thomas have fewer than six weeks left on their contracts.
The South London Press was informed earlier this week that no conversations had begun with Thomas, who has also been linked to Fehervar.
“The permanent signings are starting to look like they were really good additions which will strengthen the squad for the future,” Methven went on to say.
“The benefit of having them here in February, March, and April is that when they return in pre-season, no one is guessing what type of player they are.
“They have started to be drilled in how the manager wants to play.”
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