Recently sacked West Ham United manager Alan Pardew has been appointed to replace Les Reed as head coach of Charlton.

Pardew has signed a three-and-a-half year deal at the Valley and becomes the team's third manager this season.

Reed was originally drafted in to replace Iain Dowie but has failed to turn the club's fortunes around.

He managed just one win at the helm and lost to League Two side Wycombe in the Carling Cup quarter-finals.

Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough left Charlton seven points adrift of Premiership safety and in increasing danger of losing their top-flight status for the first time in seven years.

And club chairman Richard Murray explained that Pardew's availability prompted the surprise Christmas Eve swoop.

"We are very fortunate a manager of Alan Pardew's calibre is available and we have moved very, very quickly to secure his services," Murray said in a statement.

Reed was promoted from his job as assistant manager after Charlton parted company with Dowie 12 games into the Premiership season in the middle of November.

But Reed lasted just 41 days in charge - one of the shortest ever Premiership reigns - even though chief executive Peter Varneysaid his job was not under threat last week.

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2006)