Karl Robinson wants to break the mould and bring stability back to Charlton

Karl Robinson believes he can change the club’s direction
Pete Norton/Getty Images
Giuseppe Muro29 November 2016

Karl Robinson wants to break the mould at Charlton and bring a period of stability to the troubled League One club.

Robinson is the seventh different manager at The Valley in under three years. He takes over less than a month after leaving MK Dons, where he spent six and a half years, and insists he had no reservations about taking over at a club where there has been such a rapid turnover of managers under owner Roland Duchatelet.

“I had an opportunity to manage a great football club and you do not pass these opportunities up,” says Robinson. “I have passed one or two jobs up in the past for similar reasons but I have to try new adventures.

“I think MK Dons had six managers in six years for different reasons before me. People talk about the instability of MK Dons but I broke that mould. I would love to do that here. I would love to build something here. It is a massive club. I come here 100 per cent ready to challenge myself and make people happy.

“I did not have to come back in straight away but the owner and [chief executive] Katrien Meire sold this club to me and I am so excited.”

Robinson took the Charlton job last week after meeting Duchatelet in Paris and says he was sold by his vision for the club during their three-and-a-half hour meeting. But what does he think about his managerial merry-go-round at The Valley?

“That is his (the owner’s) prerogative,” says Robinson, who had an offer to manage abroad.

“Whatever the outcome, I will give everything I can for this club while I am here. I know there are things going on but I can only control my own actions.”

Robinson was referring to the protests against Duchatelet from unhappy supporters who want the unpopular owner to sell the club.

“That is something that has happened before me,” Robinson said. “I want to make the fans happy.

“I want to meet some of the fans. If we have transparency and honesty we will find a solution. I know what some people will say is the solution! But I mean a solution that drives us forward. I need to find out more and I have a chat with them. Hopefully we achieve things together.”

Charlton are 11th in League One, just two points off the play-off places.

“The first step is getting back into the Championship,” says Robinson, who is preparing for his first game in charge against former club MK Dons in the FA Cup on Saturday.

“Then consolidation, then further improvements and investments and we go from there. It is not beyond the realms of possibility to get into the promised land.

“I can tell you now I will be putting every hour I can into this football club while I am here.”

He finishes by joking: “I will need my rest in the summer… if I am still here!”

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