A simplistic version of RD's strategy

Covered End

I'm spending £12M on the Academy. So in order to pay for this investment I will need to put as many Academy players into the first team that I can, in order to sell them & recover my outlay.

Any experienced manager/coach will not go along with this. So I need to appoint any "coach" that has recent experience with coaching youth teams and will play them, regardless of results, as winning first team matches is secondary.

This will be supplemented by cheap foreign imports and loanees to make up the numbers.

It really is far more simplistic than we've been thinking and scratching our heads at.

It's the same as when the Academy play and we quite rightly say, the results are secondary at that age, to the development of the players.

Basically, he wants to play the Academy in the first team, but on a similar basis, without caring about the results of the games.

He cannot/will not change his strategy, because this is the only reason he bought Charlton.

Tutt-Tutt

That about sums it up and all you lovely people out there will pay for the privilege of watching this scheme as part of your unique match day experience or you can contribute to the overall plan with your Valley Gold money.

By the way, enjoy your football day out in Scunthorpe watching Roly's Babes getting mullered by a bunch of hard-nosed northern professionals. Remember results don't matter in Roly's world.

MountsfieldPark

You might add that the same applies to the commercial management of the club. CAFC is being used as a training ground for KM. Therefore, whenever he decides to move her on (sack or promote), we can expect more of the same.

Brendan_O_Connell

Incredibly accurate @Covered End

Covered End

It's like wanting to go to the West End theatre to see a top show like "Les Mis" and the producers putting on a show by the West Wickham Womens Guild. We want the real thing you cretins.

It doesn't make us happy because you have renewed some of the theatre seats, improved the bar facilities and renewed the stage floor, whilst developing a new theatre for trainee actors, 5 miles away.

MountsfieldPark

Ah, but success is defined by being able to sell one of the girls to Broadway, not by putting on a good show.

Dippenhall

@Covered End perfect summary. We've been assuming there's a genius formula so smart we couldn't work it out.
It's really just ignorant crass stupidity.

CharltonByBlood

Not backing him up here, but if results don't matter in Roland's world, why have we sacked 4 managers for poor results?

Hovi's Biscuit

CharltonByBlood said:

Not backing him up here, but if results don't matter in Roland's world, why have we sacked 4 managers for poor results?

Managers are interchangeable - I doubt any of them have any meaningful input beyond running training

McBobbin

This is it even simpler

Valley11

The strategy is to make us the new leyton orient with a good academy.

lancashire lad

bit like Crewe really

Mackle

My reading of the strategy was that it was to make the club financially independent of owners and directors, by minimising outlay to agents, avoiding wherever possible buying players from divisional rivals ("Why financially strengthen your opponents?" is a Roland quote from a while back), using a network of clubs to give first team experience to academy players, and eventually selling them on.

I'm sure that's just what football fans have been crying out for, the excitement of seeing the club break even...

[Deleted User]

Given that we can't train, drill and keep fit a first team, who does this unique "no football people in a football club" model work in developing youth then?

No surprise that the yuuff are a shadow this season of last season throughout the academy.

Top bosses get a club playing in the style of the first team from u9s upwards.

For obvious reasons, I don't see how we can compete at youth level with the Staprix model, no matter the wedge they through at it.

Covered End

Mackle said:

My reading of the strategy was that it was to make the club financially independent of owners and directors, by minimising outlay to agents, avoiding wherever possible buying players from divisional rivals ("Why financially strengthen your opponents?" is a Roland quote from a while back), using a network of clubs to give first team experience to academy players, and eventually selling them on.

I'm sure that's just what football fans have been crying out for, the excitement of seeing the club break even...

Quite right. This is how he supplements the Academy players.

Covered End

CharltonByBlood said:

Not backing him up here, but if results don't matter in Roland's world, why have we sacked 4 managers for poor results?

Roland has said, I have heard him say it, that winning games isn't that important to him.

This does not means he wants to lose. It just means what he says, that winning isn't that important.

The main importance is putting academy players and others players that he thinks he can make a profit on, in the shop window.

He can't really put them in the shop window in the U21's, unless like Gomez they don't even need to be displayed in the shop window.

A classic example of RD's plan is Lookman.

If we had a decent squad Lookman would probably not have played for the first team.

Because we do not have a decent squad, Lookman has played and has a decent price tag on him.

In RD's world, his plan is working, up to a point.

kentred2

Mackle said:

My reading of the strategy was that it was to make the club financially independent of owners and directors, by minimising outlay to agents, avoiding wherever possible buying players from divisional rivals ("Why financially strengthen your opponents?" is a Roland quote from a while back), using a network of clubs to give first team experience to academy players, and eventually selling them on.

I'm sure that's just what football fans have been crying out for, the excitement of seeing the club break even...

We are in the black
Say we are in the black

We've got more money than you
We've got more money than you

What's it like to have a loss
What's it like to have a loss

MountsfieldPark

He won't tolerate any coach who puts the objective of getting results above the plan to chuck as many kids as possible into the deep end. That's exactly what he told the SLP a few days ago. He does not want a normal head coach or manager, who assumes his job is to pick a strong team and thus to bring success on the pitch. Therefore, he will knowingly recruit mediocrity.

It's crazy. I just can't believe it, but it's the real Charlton Athletic, today. Mind-boggling.