After putting pen to paper on a new deal that keeps him at SE7 until at least June 2021, club captain Jason Pearce sat down for an interview with www.cafc.co.uk.
On signing a new contract…
“We had a good season last year and throughout my career I’ve never, ever gone into my last year on my contract, which is quite lucky really.
“I wanted to get that stability with the club. I enjoy it here. I love the club and it’s been a good year and I feel like Charlton is on the up so I wanted to stay. Obviously, the club had a little bit of interest over the summer, but that didn’t change anything. I wanted to stay here. I’m just glad to get things done and extended.”
On being part of the Charlton family…
“I’ve been part of clubs that have been family clubs and Charlton is definitely one of them. I feel part of the club and the family has settled in, the kids are going to school now. I want to stay here for the long term. After I play I’m doing my coaching here so it something means a lot to me. I’m proud that the club has allowed me to extend my contract and hopefully I can repay that with some good performances on the pitch."
On wearing the captain’s armband…
“I’ve been captain of all the clubs I’ve played at, so it’s something I’m proud to do. I feel I’ve been something to the team in terms of the way I am and that’s off the pitch. Obviously, last year, towards the end, I had an injury and didn’t get my place back in the team, but I felt that the way I acted as a person, as the captain of the club was the right way to act and I’ve never dealt with that before.
“I feel like I’ve got respect from the management and the players and I’d always support everyone, so I’m looking forward to this season. It’s obviously going to be a big challenge for the players and the club with the current situation, but we’ll all stick together and give it our all and that’s what the fans want.”
On playing in the Championship with Charlton…
“Everything is against us, but in terms of us, Lee Bowyer and the management, we believe.
We have got a tight squad, obviously we’ve lost a few, but we’ve been told we’re going to definitely bring in quite a few more players, so hopefully they’ll improve us as a team and we definitely need that.
Once we bring them in, we can have a go with it and I think the way Lee Bowyer is with the players, no one’s position is safe, which is really important moving forward and everyone understands that, so everyone needs to be on top of their game. It bodes well, but there’s still a lot of work to do.”
