Charlton legend Alan Curbishley has urged the club’s prospective owners to get fans back on side.

Addicks supporters have been protesting against owner Roland Duchatelet for most of his four-and-a-half-year reign at the Valley.

That reign is set to come to an end when Australian businessman Andrew Muir completes his long-awaited takeover.

Curbishley, who bossed Charlton for 15 years and guided them to the Premier League in 1998, hopes the feel-good factor returns to SE7.

The 60-year-old said: “It’s been a torrid couple of years and hopefully the sale will go through and the people who come in have a feel for the club.

“The fans have drifted away and it’s been hard to play at the Valley with the atmosphere.

“So I hope if the takeover goes through the new owners engage with the fans, because they need to, and to try to get things right on the pitch.

“Everything is in place for Charlton, it’s a Premier League stadium and a Premier League training ground. It’s a case of getting things right on the pitch.”

Charlton are without a chairman, manager and chief executive.

The squad needs to be strengthened to stand any chance of winning promotion to the Championship next season.

Muir will have to make a decision over the future of Lee Bowyer, who was placed in temporary charge for the remaining two months of the 2017/18 campaign.

MORE: Charlton takeover update: Price, Valley ownership and squad plans​

The Addicks secured a League One play-off place, but fell short to Shrewsbury in the semi-finals.

Curbishley, who gave Bowyer his Charlton debut as a 17-year-old, told Football Whispers: “He was an excellent player and I knew he’d have some impact at Charlton when he took over because of the respect he gained by being a player.

“I will be interested to see what goes on. I must admit I didn’t see him as a manager. He enjoys himself off the pitch, fishing etcetera, and I never really thought he’d be someone who’d want to get into the game after retiring.

“But he had that spell as one of Karl Robinson’s coaches and it whetted his appetite.

“That’s an interesting one for the new owners [on whether to appoint him as manager] because when he took over the prospect of the play-offs was virtually nil. They were playing all the top sides but he managed to beat them and get into the play-offs.

“They didn’t have much firepower and never looked as if they were going to win the semi-finals. But he did well in the games he had.

“That’s the first decision the new owners have got to make - do they keep Lee as manager? Do they keep him around the club? It all depends what their views are on it.

“First things first the fans and everybody need the club to be sold and hopefully the new owners come in and engage with the fans and get everyone back on board.”

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