The early speculation about Phil Parkinson’s successor was flawed in many respects, Dennis Wise had previously stated he was not interested in a managerial position, Gary Johnson’s career appeared to be in decline and Darren Ferguson always seemed likely to return to his old job at Peterborough, following Johnson’s departure.

The second batch of names had a fair bit in common in as much as, league wise, most would have been ‘second jobbers’. Andy Scott had enjoyed relative success at Brentford, Paul Tisdale left Team Bath for Exeter when the Grecians were still in the Blue Square Premier. Tisdale led them back to the League and then promotion to League One, where they are now enjoying their third season.

Top of the list though was Eddie Howe who had achieved wonders at Bournemouth. Howe was interviewed at The Valley on the Sunday evening after the Spurs cup tie at White Hart Lane. Charlton thought they had their man but he left The Valley that evening without signing a contract. He opted to stay put at Dean Court, signed a new contract with the Cherries only to leave for Burnley a few days later.

The Addicks invited club legend, Chris Powell, for an interview and the rest is history but why the change of heart to appoint a novice?

The new owners made no secret of their desire to gain rapid promotion to the Championship. After a bright start, winning their first four games, Powell’s team went 11 games without a win and ended the season with a disappointing record of just 2 wins in their final 19 games of the season. There is little doubt that if the manager had a name other than ‘Chris Powell’ his job would have been at risk.

A huge turnover of players in the summer saw Powell start this season with a fresh canvas. Again, despite a bright start, there were questions about the manager’s inexperience in some quarters. Late and ineffective substitutions, dubious decision making at times, culminating in that defeat at Stevenage when Chris Solly was dropped and Michael Morrison was deployed at right-back.

Since that defeat, the Addicks have gone into overdrive, Powell has scarcely put a foot wrong and his team are a 5/4 chance to win the title and 1/3 to win promotion.

11 months after his appointment, Powell has made massive strides up the managerial ladder and whilst still learning his trade, most of the usual mistakes made by rookie managers have been eliminated.

Powell, particularly if he leads his team to automatic promotion, will be the type of ‘second jobber’ the Charlton board coveted in January. They took a chance, groomed their man, let him make his mistakes and if all goes to plan, he will end his apprenticeship with a promotion on his CV.

The first season back in the Championship will be under the stewardship of a bright young manager who has shed his ‘L’ plates. Clever eh?