I might not be here when we get to the top flight... I know how it works BIG ASK
He spent lockdown delivering motivational social media posts and has lifted the mood at Charlton after Lee Bowyer’s sudden departure. Ahead of today’s crunch game with Ipswich, the new Addicks manager tells TONY BANKS why he returned to the hot-seat
Q AAFTER LEAVING HULL, YOU HAD ALMOST 21 MONTHS OUT OF THE GAME – HOW DID CHARLTON TEMPT YOU BACK?
I got a call totally out of the blue – would I mind speaking to the owner, Thomas Sandgaard? He set out a vision for the club, where he wants to get to. He wants to get to the Premier League. There is no time frame on that but that’s where he wants to go – and that’s where I want to be. I had opportunities to go to other clubs but speaking to Thomas, the enthusiasm and the vision he set out, I thought, ‘Yeah, come on, let’s do it’. I am very excited – and just to be here in the infancy of Thomas’s reign, with the opportunity to help build the club, was too good to pass up. I might not be here when we get to the Premier League – I know what football is like – but putting the building blocks in place YOU ARE UNBEATEN IN EIGHT is really exciting. MATCHES AND THREE POINTS OFF
Q
WHY DID YOU LEAVE HULL IN JUNE THE PLAY-OFFS WITH SEVEN GAMES TO 2019? PLAY – CAN IT BE DONE?
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I wanted to stay at Hull – I could We are in the race. We have good have stayed. They offered a contract momentum. This is a big week but I made the decision very late on for us – Ipswich today, then Plymouth that I was not going to continue. It’s in midweek and Peterborough next great to see them doing well now. Had it not been for Covid, I might have taken up another opportunity earlier but I’m privileged to be offered this situation.
Qweekend. Ipswich are going to be very fired up. They are close to us in the table, pushing for the play-offs. We have got to keep driving on. Q ARE YOU NOW ALMOST AS WELL KNOWN FOR YOUR MOTIVATIONAL MORNING VIDEO TWEETS … YOUR WALKS, YOUR ‘BREAKFASTS WITH NIGE’?
A
Covid presented us with a situation. So, every morning I was doing ‘Breakfast with Nige’, through Christmas I did ‘Coffee with Nige’, like an advent calendar every day – and obviously we have done the walking. It is the engagement. The amount of people who, because of Covid, were isolated, it was just helping people get through and it grew and grew. The amount of people who say, ‘Your morning video keeps us going, we look forward to it, thanks a lot’, is great. I know it has helped a lot of people so I have carried on. If you can help one person, it’s worth doing. It brings a smile to people’s faces. I have got to get the balance right now because obviously I have a full-on job here.
Q
HAVE YOU LEARNT A LOT FROM THE FOUR PROMOTIONS YOU HAVE ACHIEVED – AND THE DISAPPOINTMENTS AT READING AND SHEFFIELD UNITED?
A
I have been course and distance. Twice promoted from this league with Scunthorpe, once with Southampton – and we then bounced up into the Premier League. I have over 550 games as a manager. I have got a lot of experience to draw on, a lot of successful experience. I have also had things that have gone wrong. But you learn by failure – you learn by doing things.