>Gary Rowett Talks About Pre-Season And His Small Prediction For
Charlton For The Forthcoming Season:

"I'm down in Devon at the moment on a week-long pre-season tour,
which so far, if I'm being completely honest, has turned out to be a
bit boring! The matches are obviously great to play in but in between
games we've got very little to keep us occupied, so we are getting a
bit frustrated.
I've been at Charlton for nearly a month now and as you might expect,
I'm really starting to feel at home. My early impressions of the club
are all positive and I've been nothing but impressed at the way I've
been treated so far. I knew joining Charlton was a good idea and I
haven't been left disappointed one bit.
The lads are not only extremely talented but they also possess a
great deal of dedication and an excellent work ethic. We don't have
any superstars here and it shows, because we all seem to be pulling
together in the right direction.
I have to say that I've been very impressed by the standard of
players here at The Valley. We have at least 24 players capable of
performing well in the Premiership and that is going to be vital the
longer the season goes on.
I also think that there is also a good blend of experience and youth
in the squad. The Under-21 players here have impressed me the most –
I don't want to pick out individuals, but I will say that if they can
reproduce their training ground form on the Premiership stage, then
Charlton have a bright future.
If I was to compare this Charlton squad to the team I was involved
with at Leicester last year, I have to admit that the standard here
at The Valley is miles higher. The quality of the players is far
superior and the lads also work much harder in training. There is a
great deal more sharpness among the players at Charlton too, and I
just hope that we can take that into our opening Premiership games in
August and September.
To be honest, I shouldn't really compare Charlton with last year's
Leicester side because we were a bit of a shambles from August right
through until May, especially when you look back and think that
everyone believed Leicester could sneak into Europe this time last
year! My only saving grace was that I was injured for the vast
majority of the campaign.
I don't like to predict too much but I'm confident that we won't
struggle like Leicester did. You can never say anything for certain
but I'd like to think that our hard work and quality will be enough
to keep Charlton up. In recent years the club has enjoyed a period of
stability and I don't see any reason why we cannot build on that
success this season."

[Gary Rowett]
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