Reed in charge at the Valley

Charlton Athletic have put Les Reed in charge of the first team after Iain Dowie was sacked on Monday following just 12 Premier League games as manager.

A statement on the London club's website Murray said Reed, a former FA technical Director, had been promoted to head coach and would be assisted by former Charlton player Mark Robson.

Dowie became the first Premier League coach to lose his job this season after a terrible start which reaped only two victories and eight defeats.

"It goes without saying how hard it was after only 12 Premiership matches to reach the decision we have," Murray said.

"Over the past two weeks we have conducted a review of the structure we put in place during the summer which involved all senior football management staff.

"The results of this review have, we believe, left us with little option but to act in the manner we have.

"Crucially we had to consider whether we believed our current situation would improve and we reluctantly came to the conclusion that it would not."