"Only thing that worries me" - Pundit reacts to recent Charlton Athletic, Nathan Jones exploits | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic have enjoyed a fantastic start to their 2024/25 season and will surely be eyeing up the promotion places.

The League One table is already beginning to take shape.

Many of the clubs expected to be in and around the League One promotion places have already begun to drift clear from the rest of the league, including Charlton Athletic who sit second in the league after six games played.

Last season was hugely disappointing for the Addicks, but Nathan Jones was appointed in February and he managed to steer the club well away from the dreaded drop zone and into 16th place.

It was well below expectations, but under Jones there was real hope of improvement, and we are certainly seeing that this season. Charlton have won four of their first six games, having overcome Wigan Athletic, Bolton, Leyton Orient and Shrewsbury already.

Their only league defeat so far came against Reading, which was a slight disappointment, but nevertheless, Charlton are very much expected to be battling among the best that League One has to offer, unlike last season.

Carlton Palmer has his say on Nathan Jones and Charlton

Former England international and current pundit, Carlton Palmer, spoke exclusively to Football League World this week about Charlton Athletic's potential promotion push, but also identified an area they must work on.

"Charlton Athletic, a winner again, they now sit second in League One. We all know what Nathan Jones is capable of as a manager, he has proven that before."

"It was a very good win away at Shrewsbury, 1-0. They sit level on points with Wrexham; they have played a game more. 13 points they've got on the table."

"The only thing that worries me about Charlton, I think they need to bring another striker in. If you look at their 'goals for' they are down there. If you look at Wrexham - 11 goals for, look at Huddersfield - 10 goals for, Stockport - 9, Lincoln - 10, Barnsley - 10."

"At the moment, Charlton only have six goals. Defensively, they're really, really strong and have only conceded three goals, but yes I fully expect Charlton Athletic to be in the mix come the end of the season, but it's going to be strong."

"It's going to be two of, I believe, Wrexham, Charlton, Huddersfield, Stockport, Birmingham and Barnsley. It's that strong that I'm taking Lincoln out of there, and I think Lincoln could well put up a fist fight, especially in the play-offs, so it's going to be a very, very strong league."

"Charlton have done really well, and that's what you want, you want to get out the traps early and do really well, but as it stands they have played a game more than everybody else. Birmingham sit on 10 points, and have only played four games (as of 16th Sept)."

Charlton fans have good reason to be excited

Nathan Jones is a fantastic manager at this level, and he has already proved that elsewhere. His first spell with Luton Town was a huge success, as he turned them from relegation scrappers to promotion winners within two years in League Two.

His side not only held their own in League One the following season, but went on to win the title and earn promotion to the Championship at the first time of asking. Jones was picked up by Stoke City midway through the season but he had laid the foundations for Luton's success.

This just shows that Jones has experience of transitioning struggling clubs into promotion winners, and he will absolutely be hoping to replicate that with Charlton after they suffered such a poor 2023/24 season.

As Carlton Palmer mentioned, they do need to add more goals to their game, but as soon as they do that, the sky is the limit for this Charlton team under Nathan Jones.