Chris Powell sacked as manager of Charlton

After they lost five league games of six, being dead at the bottom of the division and out of the FA Cup, Charlton Athletic fired Chris Powell. The firing of their manager was question of time since club's new Belgian owner Roland Duchatelet brought the south Londoners. Powell has been sacked despite leading the club into the Championship and a ninth-place finish last season. Powell's sacking leaves just eight managers of the 92 League clubs with more than three seasons in charge of the same club under their belt. There has been too much disagreements between him and Duchatelet over the control of player recruitment and the strategy to improve the club. There are rumors that Powell’s sacking has a lot to do with the fact he doesn’t lined into his starting XI the players Duchatelet brought in January. In fact, Duchatelet owns a network of football club and it influenced Charlton’s transfer strategy as five of team's six signings in the January window came from other clubs in the owner's pocket and were not suggested by the manager. The club’s owner immediately confirmed the appointment of his compatriot José Riga as Powell's replacement. Riga, a former assistant manager at Standard Liege and currently on the staff at Milan, will be assisted by another Karel Fraeye, head coach of the Belgian club Eendracht Zele. Riga, the new manager, had a gig as scout and analyst for the Belgium national team and also spent week at Real Madrid in November 2011 invited by José Mourinho to study the first-team’s training methods. Riga has also studied the training methods of Gerard Houllier, Eric Gerets and Trond Sollied. He holds a UEFA Pro Licence and teaches coaching courses for the Belgian FA. Whether that will work in the way to avoid a relegation remains to be seen. Riga will have few days to learn about a division he has no previous knowledge. The task to retain Charlton at Championship level will be tough but he probably fit well owner's long-term strategy of the club so this is the main reason about why Riga has taken over at Charlton.