Collins Sichenje’s Charlton Coach Vows to Make ‘Ruthless Decisions’ After Relegation Escape

Kenyan defender Collins Sichenje and his Charlton Athletic teammates will have to improve massively if they want to play consistently for the club next season.

Charlton survived relegation from the English Championship, having finished 19th in the 24-team league, but their coach Nathan Jones does not want a season like that again.

Jones watched as his decision to move away from his pragmatic approach to a more expansive one fell flat in their final match of the season on Saturday when they lost 3-1 away to Swansea City.

Luckily for him, his team had already secured their survival but the manner in which they lost left a bitter taste in the Welsh coach’s mouth.

“I was disappointed, really. It was an end-of-season game for long periods,” Jones said on the Charlton website. “They didn’t look like scoring, neither did we, so then we tried to really go more aggressive which meant we left ourselves open and we didn’t defend certain areas well."

“Then we just made poor decisions, which we have in games, that’s the level, that’s what we’ve got to get better at," he stated.

The defeat epitomized what Charlton’s season has been like as every time they tried to be more expansive, they dropped points and had to go back to being pragmatic.

However, Jones knows that is not sustainable and has made it clear that he will be ruthless when it comes to his squad as he not only wants top quality players but also those athletic enough who can handle the expansive and aggressive style he is looking to implement next season.

“We had a wonderful start. At certain times we’ve been unfortunate with injuries but we have to get better individuals that make really good decisions over a period of time,” added Jones.

“We are behind people in terms of pure talent and pure ability because we haven’t got those resources and from where we’ve come from, people are more athletic than us as well. We have to improve on every single level.”

The tactician expects a busy summer transfer period as well as a pre-season that will shape how he wants to play as he looks to avoid another season of struggle in 2026-27.

“It’s hard work ahead of us this summer. On Monday and Tuesday, we have meetings with all the players and staff and then it all starts again and that’s the reality of it. The thing for us is that at the first game of next season myself, the club and the fans look and go, ‘wow, we have improved’,” he said.

Sichenje joined the club in the midseason transfer window from Serbian club Vojvodina and made six appearances in the second half of the just-ended campaign although injuries saw him miss eight matches.