Charlton Athletics’ four-year stay in the Championship is officially over after Jose Riga’s side failed to beat already relegated side Bolton at the Marcon Stadium.
With the South East London side only winning eight games out of a possible 43 so far, the question is, where and how did it all go so wrong?
August: P5: W2: D2: L1
The Addicks started off the season in great form by being unbeaten in their first four league games, however the run came to an abrupt end in late August after a 2-1 loss away from home against Wolves.
September: P4: W0: D1: L3
Following the loss against Wolves, Charlton went through the whole of September picking up only one point. During this month, the club played five games and loss four of them.
October: P5: W0: D1: L4
October was somehow even worse than September for the Addicks as they once again lost four of the five games they played and due to their continued poor form on the 24th of October, Guy Luzon was fired.
Luzon’s dismissal meant that Charlton where looking for their fifth manager in less than 20 months.
The club hired Karel Fraeye as the interim coach. Fraeye was no stranger to the club as he helped the club stay in the Championship towards the end of the 2013-14 season when he worked under José Riga.
November: P4: W2: D0: L2
In November, the club won their first game in 13 attempts as they beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at home. This moral boost continued into the next fixture where Charlton beat Birmingham 1-0 away from home.
This was the first time the club managed back to back wins since late August.
December: P6: W0: D3: L3
December was another winless month for the South East London side as they drew three and lost three of their six fixtures.
January: P5: W1: D2: L2
Heading into 2016, Charlton started off the year as they finished the previous, playing five games and losing two of them.
After a 5-0 loss to Huddersfield on January 12th, enough was enough for owner Roland Duchatelet as he fired Karel Fraeye and Jose Riga was hired for his second spell at the club.
Roland Duchâtelet, told the club website: “José did an excellent job in his short period with Charlton two seasons ago.”
“He was very popular with supporters and I believe that he will get us back on track.”
Three days later, Jose Riga lost his first game 6-0 to Hull city.
As it was January, it meant that the transfer window was open, this was a busy period for the club as they brought in five players whilst also seeing four go out on loan. The signings they brought in included, Arsenal misfit Yaya Sanogo, West Ham’s Diego Poyet and Standard Liege defender Jorge Teixeira.
February: P5: W0: D1: L4
As the club headed into February, it seemed as if the new signings didn’t help the club as for the fifth time Charlton had another winless month, losing four out there five fixtures.
The only highlight that Charlton fans would remember from this month was the hat trick scored by debutant Yaya Sanogo. This provided the Addicks faithful with some hope that the tides might be changing and they could still still up
March: P4: W2: D1: L1
Finally a good month saw Charlton win two and draw one of their four fixtures, but these good results may have came too late as they were rock bottom of the table with only eight games remaining.
April: P6: W1: D2: L3
The Addicks played six games in April with the club winning just one, drawing two and losing three.
Jose Riga’s men opened up April with a 2-1, 90th minute winner against Birmingham to keep their survival hopes alive, but after this win they drew against Ipswich 0-0 and went on to lose back to back games against QPR and Derby.
After the Addicks League One fate was sealed, Charlton Chief Executive, Katrien Meire issued a statement on the club’s website:
“This is not the time for excuses. We all acknowledge that this is a difficult time for the club, but I and the club’s Senior Management Team will start the rebuilding work immediately”
“Our sole aim is to be fighting for promotion next season and our top priority is to put together a squad that can help Charlton Athletic get back into the Championship.”
The South East London side only have two more games to play until this their nightmare season is over.
