Charlton Athletic boss slams 'disgraceful' Storm Darragh while Birmingham City leave rivals fuming

Charlton Athletic sit firmly in mid table after a draw against Lincoln City at the weekend with 18 matches played ahead of the busy festive fixture period.

The Addicks are back in action on Tuesday night with a clash against London rivals Leyton Orient in the Football League Trophy, followed by four more league outings before the end of the month.

Charlton Athletic feature alongside Birmingham City and Barnsley in your Monday League One round-up.

Nathan Jones confronts ‘disgraceful’ Storm Darragh conditions

Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones admitted that Storm Darragh played a role in his side's 0-0 draw at Lincoln City at the weekend with the Addicks now with just one victory in their last eight League One outings.

It's been a stuttering couple of months for Charlton Athletic after a promising start to the campaign but the Welshman has remained positive and realistic about the task at hand, having taken over at The Valley in the midst of a relegation battle at the start of 2024. A goalless meeting with Lincoln City was far from inspiring, but Jones admitted that the brutal weather conditions dictated the match.

He told the South London Press: “It was disgraceful conditions. A football match out there was never going to be a spectacle. The positives that came out were that it was a clean sheet, and we limited them to very little.

“I’m proud of the performance. I don’t think anyone realised how bad the conditions were until we went into the middle of the pitch. Second-half, it was blowing a gale against us. We were brave, took the sting out of the game and had the best situations.

“The conditions were a disgrace. We tried to play, move the ball quickly. We did that really well first-half. Got into situations but didn’t hit the target, didn’t quite have the final pass. Second-half it was gale-force, blowing right down the pitch against us. We had to try to play and take the sting out of the game. We’ve kept and clean sheet and we’ve limited them to very little. It shows that one part of the game was very good today.”

Darrell Clarke slams Barnsley mentality

The Yorkshire Post claimed it was all about Storm Darrell, rather than Storm Darragh at Oakwell on Saturday as Birmingham City beat Barnsley 2-1 thanks to a Jay Stansfield winner.

The hosts turned in a strong performance against the promotion chasers for large parts but were left empty-handed in the meeting with Darrell Clarke 'blowing a gasket' as he questioned his players' mentality as his side threw away a 1-0 lead.

With the January transfer window looming large, Clarke said: "I am always judging players. I already know deep down, if I am honest with you (which players to trust going forward).

"With that comes player opportunities to change your mind. One or two players can talk the talk, but are they walking the walk? When I come to that, I am ruthless. This is not being big-headed, but I have never released or get rid of a player that has gone and bit me on the backside.

"That tells me that when I’ve made a decision after a fair assessment of four or five months with working with players that I know what is required to do what we need to do to make sure those fine lines of where we are not quite winning games is narrowed down. "It’s making sure we strengthen in those areas where we need to."