Louis Mendez’s assessment of Charlton Athletic’s 2022-23 season – The League One campaign, Dean Holden, player of the season and where did the season go wrong?

Charlton secured a top-10 finish in League One following a 2-2 draw at Cheltenham on Sunday.

Louis Mendez replies to the questions all Addicks fans are asking right now:

How do you assess the season?

Not good enough. The Addicks may have ended the campaign reasonably strongly, but it’s another season where they finish miles from contention for a top-six place, and this pattern should never be considered acceptable by supporters in the third tier.

There were some signs in the early stages that Ben Garner had drilled his style of play into the squad, but even the early performances were caveated by concerns that the squad’s deficiencies would surface as the campaign wore on, and that proved the case – particularly at the back where they’ve been poor.  

Dean Holden came in just after Christmas and steadied the ship – ending any faint relegation fears. And while he has enjoyed a more fruitful second half of the season – mainly with wins against bottom-half sides – he’ll be aware that there are still gaps in the squad. The 6-0 loss at Portman Road served as a reminder of how far off the top teams the Addicks are.  

That this season contains two eight-game winless streak tells you all you need to know. When they hit their stride, they’ve been good. But those days have been too few and far between.

Where did the season go wrong?

Two wins in the opening 12 games didn’t help. Followed by three in the next 11. Just one clean sheet in the opening 11 games set the tone for a defence that cost Charlton too many points.  

Charlton haven’t competed with the sides that were genuine promotion hopefuls this year. They took just 12 of a possible 42 points against the seven sides, who still had a chance of a top-six finish going into the final day.  

They struggled to grind down sides who came to sit behind the ball in SE7, particularly under Garner. Holden’s departure from that philosophy helped on that front, but it was too little, too late as far as the campaign was concerned.

How would you rate the transfer windows?

Both average. Charlton did a fair bit of business early on last summer, but there’s been too many players who haven’t worked out.

Eoghan O’Connell’s signing summed up the summer window. He was sold by the club as a ball-playing centre-half. Fans’ expectation levels were raised. But the man who had been relegated from League One twice previously was suspect defensively and not as good on the ball as the club told fans he would be. He was shipped out to Wrexham in January. There were too many who were sold to fans as fitting into the possession-heavy style of play that Thomas Sandgaard had prescribed for the club but lacked quality.

January was concerning. Macauley Bonne, Gavin Kilkenny and Matt Penney all failed to make any impact at the club.

Michael Hector has been okay, but that hit rate isn’t high enough. Perhaps a sign that the recruitment at the club will still fail to provide enough gamechangers even if the Charlie Methven consortium do wrestle control in SE7, as it was their team that led the club through the January window.

How has Dean Holden done?

He’s done well, overall. Holden has averaged just over 1.5 points over his 24 games before the season finale at Cheltenham – a total that would still leave the side short of a play-off place by about eight points if stretched over the course of a season.

And that average would be difficult to keep up. But Holden revitalised a side that were threatening to flirt with relegation.

He’s very much a personality manager – and has made engaging with fans one of his priorities. He’s looked to weed out ill-discipline and has had his hands full on that front. But like all of Charlton’s last few managers, unless he’s backed in the window properly this summer, we won’t really be able to learn if he has the ability to be a long-term success.  

Player of the season

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi. What a future this young lad has ahead of him. He hit the ground running with a goal 11 minutes into his debut against Plymouth and rarely looked back.

Bursting past League One defences almost effortlessly, Rak-Sakyi has felt like a third-tier cheat code at times. Charlton and Palace will have benefitted from this loan as he returns to Selhurst Park a more well-rounded player.

After his blistering end to the campaign that saw him hit the 15-goal mark with a game to go, it’s easy to forget the difficult period Rak-Sakyi endured around December, where he went six games without a goal or assist. But he showed maturity beyond his years to come out the other side of that.

What has to happen to hit the ground running next season?

Charlton’s takeover uncertainty has to be concluded. The club has been blighted by a lack of stability.

It’s unclear which new ownership – Marc Spiegel’s group or Charlie Methven’s consortium – will be the best one to take the Addicks forward. It is fair to say that fans will approach either with a sense of trepidation.

The support has been drifting away over the last decade and will need to see some real shoots of recovery soon before season ticket sales start to increase.

The club say that a budget has been set already for next season for the playing side. This should mean that Holden will be able to start the major overhaul his squad needs as soon as possible.

Prospect to key an eye on

Tyreece Campbell has bags of potential. The 19-year-old has enjoyed an impressive breakthrough season that has probably drifted under the radar due to Rak-Sakyi’s hogging of the limelight on the opposite flank.

After grabbing his first senior goal with a first-rate finish against Barnsley back in January, the Southwark-born youngster has really made the most of the opportunity afforded to him by Corey Blackett-Taylor’s season-ending injury over the last eight weeks or so.

He’ll still look to add more end product – although he’s hard done by to only have one assist to his name with at least two more crosses of his that have led to goals via slight touches. But I’ve seen enough to suggest he can have a real impact next season.

PHOTOS BY PAUL EDWARDS AND KEITH GILLARD