Charlton confirm sacking of manager Chris Powell

Charlton Athletic have confirmed the sacking of manager Chris Powell with immediate effect.

Belgian owner Roland Duchatelet had held talks with Powell about a new contract, but decided to end his three-year spell at the Valley as they could not agree on how to take the club forward.

Sky Sports understand that Duchatelet has lined up fellow countryman Jose Riga – who he knows from his days as manager of his other club Standard Liege – as a replacement, and the technical director of AC Milan’s academy has already arrived at the club’s training ground and is thought to have taken training on Tuesday.

“We have been working with Chris Powell and his representatives for a couple of weeks to try and agree a contract extension which would have seen us continue to work together,” said Duchatelet.

“There was good progress, but we could not reach an agreement over the club’s football strategy going forward.

“The situation put a strain on the working relationship between Chris and the board. Therefore I think it is best for all parties that we part ways at this stage.

“I would like to thank Chris for his commitment and hard work over the past three years. The club enjoyed a number of good times under his leadership.

“However, given the club’s position in the league and the number of important fixtures upcoming, I felt this difficult decision was unavoidable at this time.

“We will look to quickly appoint a replacement who we feel will give us the best chance of avoiding relegation from the Championship.

“I can assure supporters this was not an easy decision, but it has been made with the club’s future in mind. Time will tell if it is the right decision.”

The Addicks face a battle for survival in the closing weeks of the campaign and endured fresh disappointment on Sunday after League 1 Sheffield United denied them a Wembley trip with a 2-0 defeat in the FA Cup quarter-finals.