Powell can bring the good times back to Charlton
Published:A three-year exile from the Championship has now ended for Charlton Athletic, and the Addicks are now 12/1 to be promoted to the Premier League, and appear in the top tier for the first time since 2007 next year.
Chris Powell has performed an admirable task in clinching promotion with three games remaining, during his first full season as a professional manager, and his youthful ideas will stand him in good stead for Championship management.
His initial focus will be securing the League One title, for which he will realistically need his side to collect three more points from their last three games to do, which looks an easily attainable task.
Powell will then look ahead to next season, and take heart from the fact that last season’s League One champions Brighton remain in with a chance of the Championship playoffs with only three games remaining.
Meanwhile, Southampton, who also gained promotion with the Seagulls, are bidding for title glory and maintain very realistic ambitions of consecutive promotions, as they are currently perched in second place.
The young Addicks chief will also be encouraged by the story of 2010 League One victors Norwich, who sit comfortably in Premier League mid-table, after a second-place Championship finish followed their success in England’s third tier.
The youthful nature of several recently-promoted managers will also be a point of encouragement for Powell, with the likes of Brendan Rodgers, Paul Lambert and Nigel Adkins all in their 40s, and achieving tremendous feats with their respective clubs.
Charlton can be backed at 33/1 to win the 2012/2013 Championship, but punters may take caution when approaching this, bearing in mind that those elusive back-to-back titles have yet to be achieved in these leagues in their current format.
A superb fan base and base of very capable squad members would seem to give The Valley outfit a chance however, and the 12/1 odds for Charlton to be promoted by any means next season deserves some attention.
