Dean Holden says the love for his time in management at Bristol City was the main reason for wanting to continue his career in the dugout.
The 43-year-old was confirmed as Charlton's new head coach on Tuesday, his first permanent job back in management since leaving the Robins in February 2021.
Holden would then become Michael O'Neill's assistant manager at Stoke City from April 2021 until the latter's sacking in August. He would take charge of the Potters on an interim basis for one game, which they won, before leaving his post when Alex Neil came in.
Holden spent four years with City under Lee Johnson and earned promotion to his No2. When Johnson was sacked in July 2020, he took the position initially on a temporary basis and immediately turned around their form by ending a nine-game run without a victory and lost just once in their final five matches of the season.
Holden was then offered the role on a 12-month rolling contract where they started the following campaign on fire, winning their opening four consecutive matches. His managerial span in BS3 lasted 41 games in total before a sixth consecutive loss in all competitions encouraged the City owners to make the decision and look elsewhere.
He left the club with a respectable win percentage of 43.9, with 18 victories during his tenure. Holden has spoken of the challenges and obstacles that he faced during his time at the time including how Covid prevented him from implementing his coaching strategies and the impact of continuous injuries.
Now he has the opportunity to start afresh with the League One club who sit 18th as he looks to make up for lost time. Speaking on his appointment, he told the Charlton website: "Because I loved it so much last time when I was at Bristol City.
"I'd been a first-team coach and reserve manager and assistant manager with Lee at Bristol City and got the chance to become head coach.
"I'd really enjoyed setting the environment on a daily basis for the players and staff to come into a thriving environment where they look at each other and they know they everyone has each other's back.
"There's a real trust in there, a togetherness and I love building that type of environment and that's one thing we are in control of and that's getting the culture right around the training ground.
"I want to see us play with attacking intent, get the ball forward into attacking areas, play with real purpose. It's not having all the possession around our half and the halfway line, it's about getting the attacking players on the ball in the right parts of the pitch.
"Making chances, putting the opposition under pressure, getting runners in behind. If and when we lose it in those areas I want to see an immediate transition to try and regain the ball."
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