Northampton interim boss Ian Sampson believes there will be some “clarity” over the manager’s position by the end of next week after Saturday’s thumping 5-0 defeat against Charlton.
The Cobblers have been without a permanent manager since Jon Brady resigned two weeks ago.
Sampson said: “We talked about clarity in the dressing room afterwards and we all want it and I think there will be some certainty by the end of next week.
“It filters into the performances. That first game against Peterborough was great but you slip back to the ways that we were previously. Fans, players and staff all want certainty and hopefully by the end of next week there will be some certainty.”
On the game itself, Sampson added: “I think the defending from the whole team was the catalyst for the performance and how the game went. It all starts from there and it was basic, poor defending.
“Some of it was stuff that I’ve not seen for a long time in terms of dealing with balls into the box properly and clearances and headers and tracking runners. It looked like they could score every time they attacked.
“It was a disappointing start and it just continued throughout the first half. We thought we would be more solid because if you look at it on paper, that was probably the most experienced team I could put out there with what we have available.
“I was relying on their experience to see the game through but unfortunately they didn’t meet the standards they set themselves.”
Greg Docherty and Tyreece Campbell both scored inside 13 minutes at Sixfields before Miles Leaburn made it 3-0 with nine minutes of the first half still remaining.
Docherty lashed in his second after the break and then Danny Hylton ended his 45-game goal drought by scoring against his former club in stoppage time.
“I’m delighted,” said Charlton boss Nathan Jones. “I’m very proud of the performance from start to finish.
“We always have that backbone and platform at the back but the difference today compared to other games was that we took our chances.
“We were clinical and there were some massive, massive performances.
“It’s sometimes difficult to play for Charlton in League One because there’s an expectation and there’s a weight on the club and it takes big players and big characters.
“We haven’t been at the levels I expect and the levels we should be but today are the levels we expect and we have to build on that.
“We’ve had to build a foundation but what we have to do now is back it up and we can’t allow Boxing Day to be a damp squib.”
