Charlton Athletic Season Could Be ‘Incredible’ Predicts Ex-Hitman
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Former Championship hitman Sam Parkin is backing Charlton Athletic to have an ‘incredible’ season after praising their manager Nathan Jones for proving himself again to show that he was not a flash in the pan at Luton Town.
Charlton consigned promotion favourites Ipswich Town to their first home defeat for the season earlier this week and did so in style by running out 3-0 winners, with Miles Leaburn scoring his first Championship goal.
The result leaves the Addicks fifth in the Championship standings after only achieving promotion from League One via the playoffs last season.
Parkin praised the club for their recruitment and predicted Charlton will be a difficult side to overcome at the Valley.
Jones was not a ‘flash in the pan’ at Luton, Parkin insists, feeling that he has now proven that, given time, he can build a special side.
Parkin said on the Championship Score Predictions show (1:00): “They’re having a brilliant start to the season, just gathering further momentum as the weeks go on.
“Obviously, the form at the Valley is going to be, I would imagine, very, very consistent.
“They’re going to be hard to play against there, but I wouldn’t envisage them doing this too often to a so-called top team.
“So, yes, a little bit of a curveball [the win over Ipswich], but not to take anything away from Nathan Jones, the way they’ve recruited to put that team together.
“There’s a bit of that momentum and surprise factor probably at play here as well, but unbelievable start to the season and just shows you Nathan Jones was not a flash in the pan at Luton.
“You give him time, and you give him a stable environment, he will build something pretty unique and pretty special.”
Parkin prophesied a memorable season for Addicks’ fans, with Charlton heading for the playoffs if they are able to maintain their current form.
“We could be talking about an incredible Charlton season here.”
Jones, in his first spell at Luton, took over a side sitting 18th in League Two, stabilised them, achieved promotion, and left them second in League One to take over Stoke City, having achieved the best points per game ratio of any Hatters boss in history with his 1.82 per game from 139 matches bettering Allan Brown’s 1.73 from 95 games.
His win ratio of 51.1 per cent in EFL matches was also the best in the club’s history.
In his second spell, replacing Graeme Jones, he guided Luton to Championship safety after taking over, before reaching the playoffs in his second full season, which would serve as a base for their eventual promotion to the Premier League.
Parkin has previously talked up Charlton’s strike force, predicting that at least two of Tyreece Campbell, Leaburn, Tanto Olaofe and Charlie Kelman will go on to play in the Premier League.
He has also praised their transfer strategy of ‘cherry-picking’ the best players from League One to strengthen their squad.
The Addicks travel to Hull City, with whom they are level on points, as they seek to make it three wins in three on Saturday.
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