Jordan Cousins believes Johnnie Jackson has the credentials to be a future Charlton manager.
Addicks captain Jackson, 35, is retiring at the end of the season, and could make his final appearance at the Valley against Blackburn on Saturday.
An achilles injury is threatening his chances of featuring, but he’ll have another opportunity to bow out in SE7 if Charlton reach the play-off semi-finals next month.
When asked whether Jackson, who is assisting caretaker boss Lee Bowyer, could be a future Charlton manager, former Addicks midfielder Cousins told News Shopper: “Yeah, I don’t see why not, he’s got the credentials.
“He’s going down that route now. He’s doing the right thing by sitting behind Lee Bowyer and learning.
“You see players that don't want to go into management and then you see players that are the right fit to do it.
“He’s one of those players that are made to go into the management side of things. I think he’s going the right way about it.”
MORE: Jordan Cousins wants Charlton return one day
Charlton academy graduate Cousins played with Jackson for four years in the first-team before moving to QPR in 2016.
In his first league appearance at the Valley, he replaced Jackson in the second-half of a 2-1 win over Leicester in August 2013.
Cousins, 24, said: “Johnnie was a great captain. Even when I wasn't in the first-team, and I was playing in the Under-21s, he was the person that you could go to and talk to about anything.
“When I was in the first-team, alongside him [in midfield], he was very helpful and complimented my game. He made me perform better as well.”
Wantaway owner Roland Duchatelet is close to selling Charlton.
And Cousins says the incoming owners should keep Jackson, who has been at the club for more than eight years, in some capacity next season.
He added: “It’s just his whole aura, his attitude, the way he speaks to people, I can’t speak highly enough about him.
“He’s been there for how many years and has done so much for the club, even when he hasn't been playing. He’s a coach as well now, he knows all the boys.
“A club like Charlton needs to keep on someone like that because he knows the club so well.
“I don't know what’s going on with the owners, but if I was the owner, I’d make sure to keep him in and around the club because he’s been there for so long.”
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