Russell Slade: Charlton lacked leaders - but now we're up for the fight

“Some people might think coming here might not be the wisest decision, but this club has got a real heartbeat. It is just that heartbeat is not loud enough at the minute. But it will be.”
Slade has been tasked with getting the Addicks promoted.
Getty Images
Giuseppe Muro3 August 2016

EXCLUSIVE

Russell Slade is two months into the job of fixing a broken club. The 55-year-old knew it would be a big challenge to rescue Charlton but it was only after he took over that he realised the size of his task.

Slade was appointed to stabilise the Addicks after they were relegated to League One following a disastrous season in the Championship.

He took over a club in a spiral of decline. Supporters have watched Charlton crumble in recent years and protests against controversial owner Roland Duchatelet has seen the atmosphere turn toxic.

Slade walked into a far tougher situation than he had envisioned. “It would be fair to say that when training finished it was a bit of a race to get showered, get out to the car park and get home,” he says.

“It is a bigger job than I thought it would be, in terms of where the club is at. You looked at Charlton from the outside and thought they should not be in the position they are in. Then when you come into the club you understand why they were relegated.

“Perhaps the protests became an easy excuse for the players. You need strong characters in difficult times and I think the club lacked a few characters and leaders. It was time for a fresh start. The owner and [chief executive] Katrien [Meire] saw that and all credit to them for that. There needed to be change.”

In his short time in charge, Slade has made improvements to the training ground in New Eltham and also drawn up a code of conduct for the players as he looks to change the culture at the club. “It is a book that has all the rules and regulations,” he says. “It includes things like a social media policy and it has my favourite poem in there: The Man In The Glass, by Peter Dale Wimbrow Sr.

“It is a start. I think lots of little things had been let go. I have tried to bring those things back, because all those little things become huge to a club. I want to give the place the right feel, the right environment for the players to enjoy and flourish.”

It remains to be seen whether the arrival of Slade, the first British manager appointed by Duchatelet since he took over in 2014, marks a line in the sand.

The Charlton hierarchy last season admitted mistakes were made and there has been a clear shift in recruitment strategy. The four new signings — strikers Nicky Ajose and Lee Novak, plus midfielders Andrew Crofts and Ricky Holmes — all have experience in the lower leagues and the core of the team this season will be British.

But a chaotic summer has left Slade with a threadbare squad just three days until the season opener at Bury.

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Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Jordan Cousins are among 15 players that have left, while the departures of Nick Pope and Stephen Henderson meant Charlton did not have a senior goalkeeper until Declan Rudd joined on loan from Norwich yesterday.

Slade expects at least four more arrivals this summer and admits additional signings are key if Charlton are to challenge for promotion. “Top-six is the minimum requirement,” he said. “Are we there yet? No. We are short on the recruitment side. In an ideal world you want players in at the start of the season, but after relegation there was always going to be a transitional period.

“Whether you like it as a fan or a manager, it is what it is. It is a period we need to get through and come out of the other side. We are up for the fight.”

Slade says he has no reservations about Duchatelet, having worked for two other foreign owners who have caused controversy — Francesco Becchetti at Leyton Orient and Vincent Tan at Cardiff.

“There was a concession that there needed to be change,” he says. “I am the first manager he has given a three-year contract to, he has gone British and the emphasis has been on addressing the balance in the club to make it as one again. That does not mean automatically everybody gets on board. It takes so much time to build up a club.

“Some people might think going to Charlton might not be the wisest decision, but this club has got a real heartbeat. It is just that heartbeat is not loud enough at the minute. But it will be.”

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