Charlton Athletic have announced Ben Garner as their new manager today. 

The Addicks were looking for a new boss following their unexpected dismissal of Johnie Jackson at the end of the season and it's the Swindon Town man who has signed a three year contract at The Valley to take the team forward.

Following the announcement of his appointment, Charlton's owner Thomas Sandagaard spoke to TalkSPORT (via London News Online) about the relief of the recruitment process being over as he said: "I'm very excited to have Ben Garner on board.

"I'm excited to have the whole recruitment process now finally over so we can look forward. It's only been a few minutes, and we're already talking about how we can shape the team.

"To get us out of League One, I believe we can do that best with an attacking style of football and being consistent - just keep building."

 

 

Garner did a brilliant job with Swindon this season taking his side to the League Two play-offs and they were unlucky not to gain promotion.

However the Charlton owner was clearly impressed and when asked what made him appoint the 42-year-old, he said: "I've interviewed managers who primarily had a lot of Premier League experience - very, very seasoned.

"I have interviewed managers who are primarily from an assistant coach background - there were some really seasoned and smart people who knew football and modern football really well.

"Ben simply ticked all the boxes. He has a very calm demeanour - very confident. He is really good at man-management - it's extremely important at this level. [Also his] style of play, and his ability to develop players.

"We have had a lot of candidates that had good qualifications in one area, maybe not so much in another, but it was really the well-rounded profile that I saw in Ben that made us go for him."

The Verdict: 

Ben Garner has done a brilliant job this season and you can see why he's been rewarded with the step up to League One.

It sounds as though the recruitment process at Charlton has been a thorough one and clearly the owner believes the 42-year-old is the right man to take them forward.

However, whether they will be able to achieve promotion next season will have to be seen and could rely on the business they do over summer.

Last time Garner was in League One with Bristol Rovers, his time at the club did not go to plan with him being sacked and the team eventually being relegated.

Therefore, between the manager and the owner they will have to find a good hybrid between recruiting the right players and still maintaining Garner's style of play.