"Twenty-five minutes remained on the watch when Jose Riga called in Johnnie Jackson and the head of Charlton’s captain dropped. He knows this race was over long ago but Tuesday night confirmed their fears. The countdown clock has struck zero on Charlton’s time in the Championship. This hurt for Jackson, a man who has spent six years at The Valley and one who does not deserve the fraught nature of Roland Duchatelet’s confused ownership. The soul of this football club has been ripped from in front of his eyes.
Jackson shook Riga’s hand, took to the bench and watched as Charlton barely mustered a chance to take their meek survival bid to the weekend, albeit merely mathematically. Fans have been lost, protests taking greater precedence than results as Duchatelet’s reign lurches from one PR disaster to another. That Jackson was made to sit at a fans’ forum and stick up for the regime before Christmas was bad enough. It’s got worse since. Everything but their award-winning community scheme is an embarrassment. That not every single one of Riga’s squad went over to the hardy group of 200 behind one goal at the Macron Stadium is nothing short of a scandal. A club divided. More baffling public relations came in the days preceding this definite relegation, the beleaguered chief executive Katrien Meire further enraged supporters by taking a 10-day holiday in Dubai. The woman who finds the depth of feeling by supporters ‘weird’.
Maybe she does not understand that hers is not a normal job and taking leave with the club at a low point would go unnoticed. Maybe she did not care. There was no chance of them staying up after only drawing at Ipswich on April 6 anyway. In truth Riga had no chance of keeping Charlton up when he took over in January and watched on glumly as his team and Bolton served up a night nowhere near deserving of its second-tier status. They were both as uninspiring as each other, waiting for the end of May. Bolton defender David Wheater made the best fist of breaking the deadlock - amazing given these two had conceded 151 goals between them already - when his bullet header was tipped over the bar by Nick Pope. Wheater saw a shot deflected wide from the resulting corner. That was that. Bolton are still on course of collecting the dubious honour of statistically ending this campaign as the worst Wanderers side of all time. Charlton need restructuring top to bottom.
Riga’s situation requires clarification and the noises coming from the camp is that he is unlikely to remain in charge should the owner not offer transfer assurances. Serious questions will continue to be asked by their loyal fanbase; many may stop turning up to games but will always fight for the cause. That is removing Duchatelet. He is despised but, for the moment at least, is going nowhere, setting ex-player Paul Elliott and his consortium an eye-watering asking price of £38million for a club he bought for just £17m two years ago. The figures do not stand up and neither has their team. They have gone down with a whimper."
Athletic relegated after four seasons in the Championship, the English second division. The Addicks, winning the club owner Roland Duchâtelet and coach José Riga, had on Tuesday the 43rd matchday to keep their chances intact to preserve, but could not. The red lantern Bolton field remained Charlton - including Igor Vetokele and Jorge Teixeira between the lines - stabbing a goalless draw, which next season will play in League One.
Because of the draw Charlton 23 continues and last in the state, with 37 points from 43 matches. With three rounds to go, the now eleven points less than Bristol City, which stands on a provisional 21 to the first safe place. The demotion is a new setback for the club, which will experience several months of turmoil.
They dragged all a coffin to the stadium, called for a boycott of club goods, threw hundreds of beach balls on the field and last Saturday hung a banner with a picture of the Belgian CEO Katrien Meire. Underneath was the word "missing". That Meire in the relegation battle took a few days vacation, shot at the Charlton fans the wrong way. Actually shoot anything Meire or owner Roland Duchâtelet does in the wrong way. As a hard-core months of campaigning under the name "Roland out" or CARD (Coalition Against Roland Duchâtelet).
#rolandout was also a topic accession after relegation ...
Good but basic article. Simple breakdown of Reasons for disatisfaction to the Belgium media would be helpful such as number of players / head coaches and the disfunctional strategy.
There's always a first for everything and today for the first time I like something published in the Daily Mail
There was also their campaigning over Stephen Lawrence and that case of a group of black kids getting beaten up by a van load of the filfth. Still, three good pieces of journalism in how many years doesn't count for that much when put against all the vileness they spout.
Comments
He knows this race was over long ago but Tuesday night confirmed their fears. The countdown clock has struck zero on Charlton’s time in the Championship.
This hurt for Jackson, a man who has spent six years at The Valley and one who does not deserve the fraught nature of Roland Duchatelet’s confused ownership. The soul of this football club has been ripped from in front of his eyes.
Jackson shook Riga’s hand, took to the bench and watched as Charlton barely mustered a chance to take their meek survival bid to the weekend, albeit merely mathematically.
Fans have been lost, protests taking greater precedence than results as Duchatelet’s reign lurches from one PR disaster to another. That Jackson was made to sit at a fans’ forum and stick up for the regime before Christmas was bad enough. It’s got worse since. Everything but their award-winning community scheme is an embarrassment.
That not every single one of Riga’s squad went over to the hardy group of 200 behind one goal at the Macron Stadium is nothing short of a scandal. A club divided.
More baffling public relations came in the days preceding this definite relegation, the beleaguered chief executive Katrien Meire further enraged supporters by taking a 10-day holiday in Dubai. The woman who finds the depth of feeling by supporters ‘weird’.
Maybe she does not understand that hers is not a normal job and taking leave with the club at a low point would go unnoticed. Maybe she did not care. There was no chance of them staying up after only drawing at Ipswich on April 6 anyway.
In truth Riga had no chance of keeping Charlton up when he took over in January and watched on glumly as his team and Bolton served up a night nowhere near deserving of its second-tier status. They were both as uninspiring as each other, waiting for the end of May.
Bolton defender David Wheater made the best fist of breaking the deadlock - amazing given these two had conceded 151 goals between them already - when his bullet header was tipped over the bar by Nick Pope. Wheater saw a shot deflected wide from the resulting corner.
That was that. Bolton are still on course of collecting the dubious honour of statistically ending this campaign as the worst Wanderers side of all time. Charlton need restructuring top to bottom.
Riga’s situation requires clarification and the noises coming from the camp is that he is unlikely to remain in charge should the owner not offer transfer assurances.
Serious questions will continue to be asked by their loyal fanbase; many may stop turning up to games but will always fight for the cause.
That is removing Duchatelet. He is despised but, for the moment at least, is going nowhere, setting ex-player Paul Elliott and his consortium an eye-watering asking price of £38million for a club he bought for just £17m two years ago.
The figures do not stand up and neither has their team. They have gone down with a whimper."
The Belgian's have also picked up our relegation, and (rather interestingly) are embedding the #rolandout twitter feed in to an article..
http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20160419_02247182?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+nieuws/snelnieuws+(Nieuwsblad.be:+Snelnieuws)
Roland Duchatelet = FAILURE.
Because of the draw Charlton 23 continues and last in the state, with 37 points from 43 matches. With three rounds to go, the now eleven points less than Bristol City, which stands on a provisional 21 to the first safe place. The demotion is a new setback for the club, which will experience several months of turmoil.
They dragged all a coffin to the stadium, called for a boycott of club goods, threw hundreds of beach balls on the field and last Saturday hung a banner with a picture of the Belgian CEO Katrien Meire. Underneath was the word "missing". That Meire in the relegation battle took a few days vacation, shot at the Charlton fans the wrong way. Actually shoot anything Meire or owner Roland Duchâtelet does in the wrong way. As a hard-core months of campaigning under the name "Roland out" or CARD (Coalition Against Roland Duchâtelet).
#rolandout was also a topic accession after relegation ...
Good but basic article. Simple breakdown of Reasons for disatisfaction to the Belgium media would be helpful such as number of players / head coaches and the disfunctional strategy.
Has anybody noticed this journo before in connection with us?.