Nathan Jones spoke to CharltonTV following an action-packed 4-3 win against Southend United in the Emirates FA Cup first round.
Miles Leaburn, Zach Mitchell and Matty Godden were all on the scoresheet for the Addicks in the initial 90 minutes before substitute Gassan Ahadme bagged the match-winning goal with a penalty shootout looming.
“Sometimes in life you wonder why you go into management,” said Jones. “This is one of those moments, I have to be honest. It doesn’t matter what you do or how you train, it's unfathomable how we have got to 4-3, winning in injury time. It should have been out of sight - 3-0 at half-time, the game should have been dead.
“We haven’t done the basics again today. We said to not give them anything, don’t give free-kicks away and defend properly, we don’t do the basics right.
“You can train movements, patterns, work and diet - every single thing - but if you don’t do the basics right you won’t be the side you want to be and at the moment we are not.”
The Addicks had the opportunity to go three goals to the good ahead of the hosts’ first goal as Godden struck the bar with a venomous strike.
“If you go into the break 3-0 up, the game is dead," added the gaffer. "They come out having to gamble and if you do things right you should win the game. They didn’t have to work hard for the penalty and that's when the complexion changes.”
The Addicks will find out their second round opponents on Sunday night, with the draw taking place from 7.45pm GMT.
“I will be watching the draw - it's a wonderful competition," Jones explained. "There is romance in this cup, and it showed today. I’ll go to bed and have a glass of wine and I’ll be content that we are in the next round. I’d rather that then we played brilliantly and lost.
“There are certain things we need to do better if we want to be the side we want to be.”
