Charlton Athletic Non-Executive Chair Gavin Carter is looking forward to the Addicks' return to the Sky Bet Championship and is pleased with the additions the club have been able to make to the squad this summer.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Thursday evening, Carter also praised the impact of boss Nathan Jones and talked about the buzz around the club.
He said: "We feel like we’re building something. There is a very clear vision that the Board have. Nathan fully bought into that vision. If you were to speak to Nathan, the job is not done by a long stretch.
"He brought an intensity, a belief. He’s built a culture. He’s lifted everyone around the club, not just the playing staff.
"He’s a very demanding leader, there is no doubt about that and equally deeply committed. The energy is contagious, I find it contagious and I think other fans do too. From my perspective, you can feel the standards raising across the club."
The Addicks have signed nine players this summer in Sonny Carey, Thomas Kaminski, Tanto Olaofe, Amari’i Bell, Reece Burke, Joe Rankin-Costello, Rob Apter, Charlie Kelman and Harvey Knibbs.
"We had a focused and very disciplined approach this summer," Carter explained. "We set a clear strategy to bring in quality, to bring in characters, youth that we could continue to develop, but around that we needed Championship experience and of course every player has to fit Nathan’s style. Nathan is very much at the forefront of our recruitment.
"Prior to the summer we built out our recruitment department. We brought Phil Chapple back to the club and others around that, so we were certainly prepared to go into a summer window and from my perspective we’ve backed Nathan, but within a sustainable framework. The club must live within its means. We’re different to Birmingham and Wrexham, but that doesn’t mean we’re lacking ambition.
"We believe that we’ve made strong additions, perhaps there is still more to come and there is lots of work going on behind the scenes and we’re building a squad that can compete now and grow into the future as well."
Supporters can listen to the full interview here from the one hour 34 minute mark.
Carter added: "There is a real buzz around the club there is no doubt about it. It will be our biggest [attended] home opener for 17 years. We’ve also sold more season tickets than we have for 17 years. Merchandise sales are at record highs, we’ve brought new partners to the club like Reebok. There is a momentum around the partners we’ve brought to the club. We’ve made some infrastructure improvements around the club and there are more to come.
"Being back in the Championship is where we feel is the minimum we belong, and the Championship can bring big moments and Saturday is one of them. We feel we’re ready, it's going to be a great day. I leave Colorado later on today to fly into London and I look forward to welcoming all the fans for a lunchtime kick-off against Watford.
"We feel like we’re building something, we want to make the supporters proud."
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