Charlton Athletic fail with surprise move to appoint 38-year-old manager
Charlton Athletic fail with surprise move to appoint 38-year-old manager
Charlton Athletic had been interested in appointing Des Buckingham as their new head coach.
Charlton Athletic have been denied permission to speak to Mumbai City boss Des Buckingham as they search for Dean Holden’s successor. (124 characters)
Buckingham is a relatively unknown coach who has spent most of his career abroad, including coaching in India. (109 characters)
City Football Group, the owners of Man City and Mumbai, are determined to keep Buckingham, forcing Charlton to consider other options. (138 characters)
Charlton Athletic have been denied permission to speak to Mumbai City boss Des Buckingham as they continue their search for Dean Holden’s successor.
Who is Des Buckingham?
The 38-year-old is a name that many fans won’t recognise, as he has spent most of his coaching career abroad, which includes currently working in India.
After starting out at Oxford, Buckingham landed his first senior role with Wellington Phoenix, and he has gone on to be head coach of the New Zealand youth sides before landing the Mumbai role, who finished top of the league in the 22/23 season.
Buckingham’s talent as a coach was recognised by City Football Group, the owners of Man City and Mumbai among others, and they appointed him as assistant at Melbourne City before he landed the current job.
Charlton make move to appoint Des Buckingham
The Addicks are on the lookout for a new boss after the surprising decision to part company with Holden so early into the campaign, and several candidates have been linked with the vacancy since.
And, it appears that Buckingham had emerged as a top target for Charlton, with journalist Dan Marsh revealing that the Londoners were ready to pay the compensation to bring the coach back to the UK, but the move won’t be happening.
“Understand Charlton have been denied permission to speak with Mumbai City head coach Des Buckingham. City Football Group don’t want to lose Buckingham and blocked Charlton’s approach even though Charlton agreed to meet the relevant compensation demands.”
Will Charlton be forced to look elsewhere?
Clearly, City Football Group are determined to keep hold of Buckingham, so if he is happy where he is, then it seems inevitable that he will stay, meaning Charlton will be forced to look elsewhere.
Of course, there are a lot of clubs under their umbrella, so they may have a pathway in mind for the coach, which could appeal to him in the years to come.
So, for Charlton to make this happen, you would think they would need Buckingham to push to leave. Therefore, it can’t be ruled out, but it’s obviously not going to be straightforward.
Would this have been a good appointment for Charlton?
Firstly, it would certainly be a risk, as Buckingham doesn’t have high-profile experience, but he is clearly a very well regarded coach.
He has a clear philosophy in mind, and that style of play would be the sort of football that Charlton want to see from their team.
It seems a matter of time before Buckingham is given an opportunity in a bigger league, and it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.
What next for Charlton?
The win over Fleetwood was big for the Addicks last time out, and the international break has now come at the perfect time, as the board have time to get the new boss in.
Obviously, the sooner the better, but they need to make the right appointment, as it’s been a miserable period for the club, and the fans will rightly be demanding improvements.
Charlton are back in action against Stevenage on September 16.
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