What do the statistics tell us about Karl Robinson's reign as Charlton manager?
He managed the club for 63 league games of which he won 22, drew 19 and lost 22. He accumulated 85 points which gives him a points per game average of 1.35
On that basis he is the club's sixth most successful manager since the war behind Bailey, Powell, Seed, Parkinson and Curbishley. It also places him as the most successful manager under Roland Duchatelet (discounting Kevin Nugent ) - ahead of Riga, Luzon and Slade (1.25), Peeters (1.18), Fraeye (0.66) and Powell (0.50) although to be fair to Powell he did achieve the equivalent of 2 points per game in his five FA Cup games under Duchatelet.
Against that it can be argued that Robinson (1) only managed the club at third tier level (2) that he was the only Duchatelet manager who was allowed a decent run at the job in terms of time and (3) he was able to recruit his own players last summer and to have a proper preparation for this season.
Given that, and the expectations of success that Karl encouraged, the club's current position is very disappointing. Five points off the play offs with ten games to play is not a hopeless position but recent (and not so recent) performances provide little cause for optimism. The defeats to Southend and Gillingham can't be blamed on not being able to strengthen the squad in the January window. The dire spectacle the team served up against Blackpool and Fleetwood and the comprehensive defeat handed them by well-drilled Shrewsbury last month seemed to provide damning enough evidence of a manager without sufficient tactical shrewdness or flexibility. He has had poor luck with injuries and he was managing the club in uncertain and unstable times, but Chris Wilder managed to win League 2 with Northampton during a protracted take-over saga a couple of years ago.
Robinson's enthusiasm and his exuberant and emotional style was engaging and entertaining but it could only take him so far. His ambition and affection for his players seemed entirely genuine. He loved to talk them up, but the motivational effect appeared temporary. The players needed something more substantial and, like Kevin Keegan as England manager, Robinson didn't seem to have the resources to supply it.
We wish Lee Bowyer and Johnnie Jackson the best of luck in their new caretaker roles and we hope they will be able to provide the spark to reignite the season. Nevertheless, we are clear that what the club urgently needs is the stability, ambition and investment which only a change of ownership can bring.