Saturday started with good news for Addicks fans when it was announced that assistant manager and club legend, Johnnie Jackson, had penned a new deal that will keep him at the club until the summer of 2023.
Jackson, who has now been with the club for ten years, had this to say after signing his contract:
“I’ve probably said it a million times but Charlton has been a massive part of my life and I hope it continues to be that way for many years to come.
“It’s been great for me personally, I have a massive love for the club. I’ve been here 10 years now, I feel like part of the furniture and I didn’t want that to end, so to get my future for the next few years secure and signed on is great.
“Hopefully we’re going to build on what we did last year. I think we put the building blocks in place then and now we want to try and continue that on this year, obviously by staying in the division and building from there.”
Chairman, Matt Southall, added:
“We’re delighted Johnnie has signed a new contract. He’s absolutely integral to the club going forward and the work he and Lee have done together is the reason behind so much of the club’s success”
Charlton’s record in their “Football for a Fiver” initiative over the years has been poor, and Saturday’s game against Blackburn did nothing to improve that record.
First-half strikes from John Buckley and Tosin Adarabioyo were enough to give Rovers all three points.
Team wise, Lee Bowyer made one change to the side that performed so well at Forest on Tuesday, with Aiden McGeady coming in for Erhun Oztumer who dropped to the bench.
The Addicks started brightly, but failed to really work the keeper. Rovers took he lead after 29 minutes when Buckley fired home from the edge of the area. Adarabioyo doubled the visitors’ advantage eight minutes later.
Rovers were fortunate to be awarded a free-kick on the left, but Stewart Downing clipped the ball in for Adarabjoyo to poke home.
After the match Bowyer admitted that, on the day, Tony Mowbray’s side deserved to win:
“We huffed and puffed but in the end our quality today wasn’t good. We had the odd half-chance here and there but nothing major and I think Blackburn came here and did a good job on us.
“Maybe the conditions played a part and maybe they’re a bit leggy from Tuesday night.
“You sometimes have to respect who you’re playing. Tony (Mowbray) is a very good experienced manager and he’s got his players to come here and do a good job on us and they did it well. They leave here with three points and they deserve it.
“I thought we started we started well, in the first 15 minutes I thought that we were the brighter side.
“We lacked a bit of quality in the final third. Blackburn then got their goal and I thought for the last half an hour of the first half I thought they were better than us.
“They got their second goal from a set piece, which I didn’t think was a foul. So they went in 2-0 up without really doing much.
“Nothing changes for us, we know what points mark we need to get to to stay in the division. If we can do that then that would be some achievement for this season.
“I’m not looking too far ahead. We need to just get to that point mark and then we can see where we are.
“The most important things is that we pick ourselves up because we have Luton Town next week and that’s going to be a big game.”
Charlton: Phillips; Matthews, Lockyer, Pearce (Smith 46), Sarr, Doughty; Davis, McGeady (Bonne 69), Cullen; Taylor, Hemed (Green 60).
Subs (not used): Amos, Purrington, Oshilaja, Oztumer.
Blackburn Rovers: Walton; Nyame, Leninhan, Adarabioyo, Bell; Travis, Johnson, Samuel (Brereton 81), Buckley (Bennett 84), Downing; Armstrong (Chapman 72).
Subs (not used): Leutwiler, Graham, Davenport, Carter.
Goals: Buckley 29, Adarabioyo 37
Referee: Andy Davies (Tyne & Wear).
Attendance: 25,363 (2,063 Blackburn).