Reed Says His Illness Was Worse Than Charlton's Woe

Les Reed would have surprised no one if he had admitted he reached an all-time low on Tuesday night. He had seen Charlton dumped out of the Carling Cup by League Two Wycombe and heard the name of a potential successor - Alan Pardew - chanted by the club's supporters, who also told his players, "You're not fit to wear the shirt." But the Charlton manager insists things have been far worse. He claimed yesterday that his recovery from a brain haemorrhage in 1997 provided ample evidence that he can turn things around.

Reed was a coach at The Valley when he collapsed after bending down to collect a football and was later diagnosed with a burst blood vessel in his brain. But he returned that season and helped Charlton to promotion the following year.

His side are currently five points adrift of safety but the 54-year-old Reed draws strength from his illness. "It allows you to put things in perspective a lot more," he said. "[The Wycombe defeat and league position] is not the worst thing that has happened to me and therefore, if I can come back from a brain haemorrhage, I'm confident I can solve this one."

Iain Dowie, in spending almost £11m on Souleymane Diawara, Amdy Faye, Djimi Traoré and Andy Reid last summer, dipped into the following season's transfer budget, which will restrict Reed's options in the January transfer window.

Charlton's chairman, Richard Murray, this week questioned whether Dowie's purchases "care much about the club" and Reed's first priority next month is to add players who can buy into the club's ethos. "Maybe in the last few years we've lost a little bit of that Charlton blood in the veins of the players," added Reed before Charlton's trip to Middlesbrough tomorrow. "In January I'm looking for players who will buy in very quickly to Charlton Athletic Football Club and become part and parcel of what the club has been, respect that tradition and become a little bit more solid as a team unit."

Middlesbrough's manager Gareth Southgate has made it clear he will keep Jonathan Woodgate, currently on loan from Real Madrid, amid rumours that the defender will return to Spain next month. "He is enjoying his football, we are delighted with what he is doing and we want to take the deal beyond this season," said Southgate.

Rangers have suspended the registration of a supporters' club after alleged sectarian singing and the throwing of a missile on to the pitch during last month's victory at Hearts. The East Kilbride supporters' club were found by Rangers' head of safety, Laurence Macintyre, to have obstructed club inquiries.

Macintyre said: "We were also made aware of sectarian singing in the same seating area and as a result of this and the missile-throwing incident the registration of the supporters' club has been suspended. This means . . . they will not be allocated tickets for any matches."