Former Charlton Athletic defender Steve Brown has urged Addicks owner Thomas Sandgaard to install Alan Curbishley in an advisory role after the club's dreadful start to the 2021/22 campaign. 

Charlton are 23rd in League One with just six points from their first 10 games and pressure is mounting on manager Nigel Adkins with some fans calling for a change to be made.

The Addicks travel to the North West to face Fleetwood Town on Saturday in what could be a make-or-break fixture for Adkins, whose side are yet to win away from home this season.

Charlton are already 11 points back from the top six and run the risk of falling even further off the pace if they don't turn things around soon.

Back in May, Sandgaard made some bold claims about securing promotion this term but that looks a tough ask at the moment.

Speaking to London News Online, Brown – who made more than 240 appearances for the south London club across a 10-year spell – has urged the Addicks owner to turn to a much-loved figure to help turn things around.

He said: "Take Charlton out of the equation and think about Alan Curbishley as a man. It is astonishing he is not in football, full stop.

“He has the connections to help bring in players – to put round pegs in round holes – along with his experience and football understanding, in terms of tactics and how a side is built.

“He can advise people through the things he has learned from in the 40-50 years he has been in it.

“Now drop in the time he has had at Charlton and the success he had here – and also where Charlton are at the moment. The owner is a fantastic, positive guy who has put his money in to make sure Charlton still function as a football club.

The one trick I think he’s missing is someone with really good experience and knowledge of football sat on the end of a phone line so he can say: ‘This just happened Alan, what do I do?"

Brown added: "I find it perplexing. It seems such a simple thing to me. He’s there, we’re using him for Charlton TV…why isn’t he the other side [in the directors’ box]?

"Why isn’t he next to Thomas and the man he can lean on for anything to do with football? He’d love to be involved. If you think the level he has managed at, that puts him in a very elite bracket. And he should be working in some capacity."

The Verdict 

Charlton do look a little lost at the moment and in that sense bringing someone with the experience of Curbishley in could make a lot of sense.

As Brown has outlined, not only does he know the club but he knows the EFL and his insight could help turn things around.

That said, there's only so much impact that an advisor can have and you wouldn't want him to interfere with Adkins' duties.

You have to wonder how much longer the 56-year-old will be at the Valley if the poor results continue but while he is there, outside interference is not going to help him out.

There doesn't seem to be an easy solution at the moment, bar bringing in a new manager.