Dean Holden: Full-time celebration displays connection between Charlton’s squad and supporters
Charlton boss Dean Holden was pleased his side rewarded a large opening day crowd with a win over Leyton Orient.
Holden gathered his players together for an impromptu celebration in front of the Covered End at full-time – a gesture he hoped displays the bond he wants to build between the squad and their supporters.
The official attendance was announced as 18,512, with the home fans packing out The Valley and enjoying a 1-0 triumph thanks to George Dobson’s strike on the stroke of half-time.
He said: “Really important [to win], especially when you’ve got a big crowd in at The Valley for the first time in a long time. Supporters turn up with a lot of optimism so it’s important they see a team that shows what we did today.
“[The celebration was] off the cuff. We’re trying to build this connection. We’ve seen [that celebration] before at other football clubs. We’re trying to show that us as a group as players and staff are with the guys in the stands. You can’t separate us. It was a nice moment at the end.
“Bring that [expectation] on. They want to see a team that excites them. We want to be a team that represents them in the right way. A team prepared to fight and tackle and run in difficult conditions and got the job done.
“We started really well, with real intent. They want to play on their terms at times, so we needed to get on top of them and force mistakes, which we did. We’ve had the big chance with Alfie May early on and we went in deservedly in the lead.
“We had two big chances in the second half. We should have won more comfortably. We looked more solid defensively which was a bit of a concern last week against Aberdeen. We had a lot of work to do this week. Credit to the players they took that on board.
“We outran them today. We played some excellent stuff. Corey Blackett-Taylor gave them real trouble. Tyreece Campbell the same. The only negative was Scott Fraser picking up a slight niggle.”
PHOTOS: PAUL EDWARDS