Nathan Jones unimpressed by Charlton’s performance at Reading

Posted Sunday, September 01, 2024 by PA

Charlton manager Nathan Jones blasted his players as they meekly surrendered their 100 per cent League One record with a 2-0 defeat at Reading.

Charlie Savage broke the deadlock in the 66th minute, with the first league goal that the Addicks had conceded this season, and Sam Smith struck 10 minutes later to effectively seal victory for the impressive hosts.

“I’m really disappointed. We lacked energy and were really poor in the first half,” Jones said. “We couldn’t step on to Reading, we couldn’t affect the game.

“We were much better in the second half but then it’s taken a goal from 30 odd yards [Savage], which I felt that we could have done better at.

“And then, for me, the second goal is a disgrace in terms of our defending.

“We weren’t at it today, we just weren’t at it.

“There’s a lot of reasons for that. I know [why] but I’m not going to say. I’ll deal with that moving forward.

“Again, with their second goal, it was a disgrace. With our body language and what we did, we just switched off. Reading switched on, we didn’t.

“Again, I’ll deal with that side of it, but there’s lots leading into it that I’m really disappointed at. It was horrific defending.

“When we are what we are, we’re a good side. But it took us 45 minutes to be what we are. By that time, we didn’t get any grip of the game.”

Reading deserved to clinch their second successive home league win of the campaign and manager Ruben Selles was happy with their application.

Selles said: “We started the game very fast and were very focused on what we needed to do.

“We dominated almost the entire first period and kept Charlton in their half.

“We started a bit slower in the second half and Charlton got a bit of momentum.

“But sometimes we talk about managing the key moments of the game. And in those moments, we managed to stay strong, defend well and not concede.

“We then scored the first goal and were ready to score a second and then close out the game.

“I’m very proud of the work and the effort that the players are putting in every time that they are playing or training.

“With that sort of a performance, we can be in a good place every weekend.

“Charlie [Savage] went through a difficult period at the end of last season but, at the start of this season, we changed his position. He’s playing more as a number eight.

“He’s starting to understand that position really well. He is more mature now and he needs to continue like that.

“His game is getting better and better.”