Nigel Adkins lives to fight another day after Charlton Athletic's 4-1 loss to Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday evening.

The Addicks were expected to at least compete for a place in the top six this season and instead they are 23rd in League One, with just one win in their opening ten league games and are four points from safety.

It is quite amazing that Adkins is still in a job but he was at the training ground on Wednesday watching an U23s friendly with Brentford B. It is hard to judge whether or not the former Southampton manager will be sacked soon as Thomas Sandgaard has not made a sacking at The Valley yet.

What do we know so far?

Adkins' presence at the U23 game feels like confirmation that he will be in charge when Charlton travel to face Fleetwood Town on Saturday and if recent performances are anything to go by it will be another tough afternoon.

The former Southampton boss has made his intentions clear that he wants to remain at the club and turn their form around.

The club have assembled an adequate squad in South London and the owner publicly spoken about the Addicks pushing for promotion this season. Sandgaard has also shared his thoughts on Twitter throughout the season and expressed the need for the club to turn results around.

Is a sacking likely to happen?

The timescale Adkins will be afforded to turn the tide still remains unclear but with the concerning position the club find themselves in, having never been in the fourth tier in 116 years as an established club, something has to give.

 

 

Adkins' days have to be numbered but with the small sample size of Sandgaard's decisions in charge it is hard to pinpoint when he will pull the trigger. One thing we know is that the players are not playing for him, his ideas are not getting across and that was evident in the side's capitulation to heavy defeat in midweek.

Personally, the club should have made a change after the loss to Wycombe Wanderers four games ago. It is extremely surprising that the crushing Bolton defeat did not force Sandgaard's hand.