What Nathan Jones said after Charlton Athletic’s loss to Portsmouth has sparked online reaction | OneFootball

Nathan Jones' post match interview has divided the Addicks faithful

For a brief moment at Fratton Park, it looked as though Charlton Athletic had rescued a precious Championship point.

Harvey Knibbs’ stoppage-time header in the sixth minute of added time appeared to reward sustained late pressure and spare the Addicks another damaging defeat on the road.

Instead, football’s cruelty struck almost immediately.

From the restart, Portsmouth surged forward and substitute Yang Min-hyeok fired home a dramatic winner in the 98th minute, condemning Charlton to a 2-1 loss that left them 20th in the table, just two points above the relegation zone.

It was Charlton’s seventh defeat in nine matches, while the victory lifted Portsmouth out of the bottom three.

The manner of the defeat - late hope followed by instant despair at the hands of an out-of-form relegation rival - ensured that post-match reaction, particularly to Nathan Jones’ assessment, was always going to be intense.

Nathan Jones reacts to a “sickening” Charlton Athletic defeat after last minute Portsmouth winner

Speaking after the match to the Addicks' in-house media, Nathan Jones delivered an emotionally charged defence of his side’s performance, despite the brutal outcome.

“I get a sick feeling in my stomach because I think that it would have been a travesty to draw that - but to lose it and in the manner that we did, I feel sick to my stomach, I really do,” Jones said.

“I thought for large spells of the game we were excellent, we caused real problems, first half we caused problems. A little bit more final third quality, and we would have gone ahead.”

Jones pointed to what he felt were decisive moments rather than systemic failure.

“In the second half we’ve come out and had some wonderful opportunities. Their goalkeeper’s made some incredible saves. We conceded a very poor goal from a corner, which we never do - but we have.

“Then we push, we keep on, we see flashes, we’re pushing - then we finally get what we think is the minimum we deserve and then to switch off like we did late on is crazy.”

That sense of self-inflicted damage framed much of his frustration.

“I’m absolutely gutted because one, they should never score from there, and two, we have to defend that better, get on second balls. It’s just a sickening defeat.”

Despite the result, Jones was keen to separate performance from outcome.

“The level of performance I’m happy with, apart from two moments of a real lack of concentration, where we went to sleep on a set play and then later on, it’s so, so bad not to see out the game,” he said.

“We’ll have to make sure we don’t do those, or we’ll get punished.”

He also returned to a recurring issue this season: “The disappointment is not having the clinical edge, because if others have chances like that against us, we lose the game comfortably, because teams have that quality.

“But we’ve created enough to have won that game tonight.”

“Our fans were magnificent. They were more prominent than a very good normal Pompey crowd.

“We’re getting people back now, so we’re going to be a different animal week in, week out. But the Championship is crazy.”

Charlton Athletic fans react to Nathan Jones interview that split opinion

Jones’ insistence that Charlton were “excellent” proved divisive among supporters online, splitting opinion between patience and growing concern.

Some urged perspective, pointing to Charlton’s accelerated return to the Championship. One fan wrote: “Very disappointing but NJ has got us to the Championship ahead of schedule. We were always going to have hard days like this - long way to go yet.”

Another echoed that sentiment: “Never get too high, never get too low. In Jones we trust. Big January and rest of [the] season. Keep backing them.”

Others were far less convinced. Concerns about a lack of cutting edge surfaced repeatedly. “No point having good performances if we’re not putting chances away which has been an issue all season,” one supporter posted.

More critical voices questioned Jones’ framing entirely. “If that was us being ‘excellent’... we might be in trouble,” read one response, while another added: “If the performances carry on like that we’re finished."

Jones is not wrong to argue that performances have improved in patches, nor that injuries have disrupted continuity. The underlying numbers and chance creation suggest a side capable of competing at this level.

Yet football seasons are rarely decided by theory alone. Charlton’s inability to convert dominance into goals, combined with costly lapses in concentration, has turned encouraging spells into damaging defeats.

At this stage of the campaign, repetition of the same flaws - regardless of performance level - becomes a pattern rather than bad luck.

With leaders Coventry City visiting The Valley on New Year’s Day, Charlton face another stern test.

Jones insists his side will soon become “a different animal”. The coming weeks will determine whether that transformation is real - or whether belief continues to outrun results in a Championship that rarely waits for anyone.