In another of football’s regular ironies, Karl Robinson’s first game in charge of Charlton, will be against his former club, MK Dons.
Robbie Neilson is expected to be installed as new boss of the Dons before the end of the week, with interim manager, Richie Barker, likely to join Robinson at The Valley.
So depending on events, Barker could be in either dug out on Saturday, such is the crazy world of football.
Robinson is understandably looking forward to the game and had this to say on Thursday:
“I want the connection here to be what I had there (MK Dons). I did all I possibly could for them. I worked my hardest, my players did and we laughed together, cried together and achieved great things together.
“We massively over achieved over a six-year period and I hope that I can achieve it again – I’m looking forward to achieving it again.
“The respect that I have for that club – I know they had a controversial birth and there always will be – is great. I tried to give them an identity and something to hold onto.
“Hopefully I did that and it will be nice for me and my family to come up against them but this is me now.
“This is a new chapter – era – whatever you want to call it. For my age, I think I have got a lot of games under my belt. I want to achieve an awful lot more.
“I am still 36 but there are a number of things that I want to achieve. I am still young, I am still learning and I am going to have to lean on some senior players, some ex-players, the fans and so many different things.
“What I can say is that I am very proud and excited and it is all about what we do on that green stuff. I can’t wait to get started on Saturday.”
Robinson has had a week to assess his squad and it will be interesting to see if he deploys his favoured 4-2-3-1 shape straight away.
He is likely to field a strong team for a variety reasons, not least because a potential money-spinning tie against one of the giants is a possibility for the winners.
Robinson may integrate El-Hadji Ba and Jorge Teixeira into the squad if they have caught his eye in training, but initially, his starting XI may not vary too much from those utilised in recent games.
The Addicks could look something like this:
Phillips; Foley, Bauer, Pearce, Fox; Lookman, Crofts, Ulvestad, Chicksen; Magennis, Ajose.
Subs: Beeney, Konsa, Lennon, Botaka, Hanlan, Novak.
The referee will be Darren England from South Yorkshire.
Robinson will be confident of getting his tenure at The Valley off to a winning start.
