As far as I understood, there was previously a division of labour where Methven was strictly commercial and “off-field growth”, Rodwell was “football operations”/training ground and Scott was recruitment and technical (players, basically).
If Dane Murphy is a credited with a lot of player deals, it will be interesting to see if they bother replacing Scott with a technical director… and what it means for Rodwell longer term. I guess Murphy will handle more of the transfer activity than Methven but less of the recruiting than Scott… basically letting Chapple and the manager focus on which players to get.
That was the public line but I’m not convinced Methven was actually doing the job or that Rodwell was fully focused on the football side. I suspect it was just a cover story to explain Methven being put in a position where he could be held to account. Mind you, they were at loggerheads, as Charlie was with Warrick, so who knows how that could ever have worked?
Do we know why they were at loggerheads?
What were the disagreements- was Rodwell arguing for greater player spend for example?
You appear to be desperate to discover that the club aren't spending enough money.
From the little I know it was that Charlie made a lot of promises about commercial income he didn't deliver on, leaked worse than a cracked sieve and run up huge bar bills after games and those are just the snippets that I heard, there is almost certainly a lot more of which I have no knowledge.
Carter came in towards the end of 2024 at the request of the main owners as they, IMHO, wanted to get a much better handle on who did what and the value for money that the owners were getting from various staff.
Directly or indirectly as a result, IMHO, we've seen Methven, Scott and Commercial Manager Barry Higson all leave.
Warrick is far more front and centre and Murphy has just come in which I think is both a major upgrade on Methven and significant financial investment as I don't think he would come cheap or be willing to give up his holding in Vitesse Arnham if he thought Charlton were trying to do things "on the cheap".
Looking at the comparison table of Championship clubs, our commercial income is embarrassingly low. By far the smallest of all clubs, even less than Oxford.
It's clear the club is being poorly managed on that side, and suggests other things could be improved. Hopefully the Reebok deal is the start of an upward direction for income generally.
Part of the problem is the outsourcing of retail, until this year, and hospitality.
But our commercial income is poor compared to other clubs who sponsor the hell out of everythingm
Charlton couldn't even sell one of three Nathan Jones shirt sponsorships. They also buggered up the player of the year dinner through incompetence.
There is a lot of scope for improvement. Appointing a commercial manager would be a start.
Presuming you mean last years POTY Dinner? There's been a clear and determined effort to produce an similar event that enables more fans to attend (hopefully coming in the summer) and one that less restrictive/out dated
I thought that it got cancelled due to the 1st Team to prepare for the end of the season, not due to that the format was wrong in some people's opinion?
Bit of both I think - certainly feels like an effort being made to bring these types of thing into the 21st century - especially as it meant that a large swathe of the Addicks Population couldn't/wouldn't attend POTY Dinners
You mean the dinners that sold out year on year when we were crap but didn't happen at all this year.
Yeah, no dinner at all is really 21st century.
Unfortunately, the dinners are often seen as old fashioned and outdated - and I’d argue very much aimed at certain fans - the price point alone does that!
Whilst they are good events, and a great opportunity to meet players etc - id imagine most fans would prefer an event that reflects a wider sections of the fanbase as well as being more accessible to general fans and local communities...
The POTY Dinner doesn't raise money for anything as far as i'm aware - if it makes any profit at all - so surely a free/low entry fee event at The Valley that enables many more fans to attend can only be a better option
As far as I understood, there was previously a division of labour where Methven was strictly commercial and “off-field growth”, Rodwell was “football operations”/training ground and Scott was recruitment and technical (players, basically).
If Dane Murphy is a credited with a lot of player deals, it will be interesting to see if they bother replacing Scott with a technical director… and what it means for Rodwell longer term. I guess Murphy will handle more of the transfer activity than Methven but less of the recruiting than Scott… basically letting Chapple and the manager focus on which players to get.
That was the public line but I’m not convinced Methven was actually doing the job or that Rodwell was fully focused on the football side. I suspect it was just a cover story to explain Methven being put in a position where he could be held to account. Mind you, they were at loggerheads, as Charlie was with Warrick, so who knows how that could ever have worked?
Do we know why they were at loggerheads?
What were the disagreements- was Rodwell arguing for greater player spend for example?
You appear to be desperate to discover that the club aren't spending enough money.
From the little I know it was that Charlie made a lot of promises about commercial income he didn't deliver on, leaked worse than a cracked sieve and run up huge bar bills after games and those are just the snippets that I heard, there is almost certainly a lot more of which I have no knowledge.
Carter came in towards the end of 2024 at the request of the main owners as they, IMHO, wanted to get a much better handle on who did what and the value for money that the owners were getting from various staff.
Directly or indirectly as a result, IMHO, we've seen Methven, Scott and Commercial Manager Barry Higson all leave.
Warrick is far more front and centre and Murphy has just come in which I think is both a major upgrade on Methven and significant financial investment as I don't think he would come cheap or be willing to give up his holding in Vitesse Arnham if he thought Charlton were trying to do things "on the cheap".
Looking at the comparison table of Championship clubs, our commercial income is embarrassingly low. By far the smallest of all clubs, even less than Oxford.
It's clear the club is being poorly managed on that side, and suggests other things could be improved. Hopefully the Reebok deal is the start of an upward direction for income generally.
Part of the problem is the outsourcing of retail, until this year, and hospitality.
But our commercial income is poor compared to other clubs who sponsor the hell out of everythingm
Charlton couldn't even sell one of three Nathan Jones shirt sponsorships. They also buggered up the player of the year dinner through incompetence.
There is a lot of scope for improvement. Appointing a commercial manager would be a start.
Presuming you mean last years POTY Dinner? There's been a clear and determined effort to produce an similar event that enables more fans to attend (hopefully coming in the summer) and one that less restrictive/out dated
I thought that it got cancelled due to the 1st Team to prepare for the end of the season, not due to that the format was wrong in some people's opinion?
Bit of both I think - certainly feels like an effort being made to bring these types of thing into the 21st century - especially as it meant that a large swathe of the Addicks Population couldn't/wouldn't attend POTY Dinners
You mean the dinners that sold out year on year when we were crap but didn't happen at all this year.
Yeah, no dinner at all is really 21st century.
Something selling out doesn’t make it the best thing though. Surely it shows there’s extra demand that can’t be fulfilled so a different event with a higher capacity should be explored?
Yes, but it didn't expand, it just never happened because Higson and Methven had grand ideas they couldn't implement, not an untypical occurance from what I heard.
So the potential commercial income was lost and the event was lost.
As for "outdated" Higson wanted a comedian. Very cutting edge!
As for "hopefully this summer" it's June. Nothing has been announced and I very much doubt any venue has even been booked
Potential bad execution doesn’t make an idea bad. I’m not saying Higson or CM had good ideas because I don’t know what they were. I’m just saying why wouldn’t you at least look at improving something? Sure it was badly handled this year and it sounds like maybe they threw NJ under the bus a bit but maybe the 25/26 end of season event will be better than the 24/25 one, we don’t know
All for improvement but it didn't improve, it didn't take place.
Pricing was also going to increase to more than double so the making it available to more fans argument doesn't really hold water.
We can argue about cost, income, format, location away from the Valley but as a general point most clubs have dinners of various sorts and usually in May a Player of the Year event.
Methven and Higson decided they were going to take it over and change it but failed to deliver anything at all.
That was an example of how commercially the club is not performing to its maximum.
Slightly concerning that @sammy391 is talking about an event this summer. I wonder if anyone has spoken to the organisers.
As far as I understood, there was previously a division of labour where Methven was strictly commercial and “off-field growth”, Rodwell was “football operations”/training ground and Scott was recruitment and technical (players, basically).
If Dane Murphy is a credited with a lot of player deals, it will be interesting to see if they bother replacing Scott with a technical director… and what it means for Rodwell longer term. I guess Murphy will handle more of the transfer activity than Methven but less of the recruiting than Scott… basically letting Chapple and the manager focus on which players to get.
That was the public line but I’m not convinced Methven was actually doing the job or that Rodwell was fully focused on the football side. I suspect it was just a cover story to explain Methven being put in a position where he could be held to account. Mind you, they were at loggerheads, as Charlie was with Warrick, so who knows how that could ever have worked?
Do we know why they were at loggerheads?
What were the disagreements- was Rodwell arguing for greater player spend for example?
You appear to be desperate to discover that the club aren't spending enough money.
From the little I know it was that Charlie made a lot of promises about commercial income he didn't deliver on, leaked worse than a cracked sieve and run up huge bar bills after games and those are just the snippets that I heard, there is almost certainly a lot more of which I have no knowledge.
Carter came in towards the end of 2024 at the request of the main owners as they, IMHO, wanted to get a much better handle on who did what and the value for money that the owners were getting from various staff.
Directly or indirectly as a result, IMHO, we've seen Methven, Scott and Commercial Manager Barry Higson all leave.
Warrick is far more front and centre and Murphy has just come in which I think is both a major upgrade on Methven and significant financial investment as I don't think he would come cheap or be willing to give up his holding in Vitesse Arnham if he thought Charlton were trying to do things "on the cheap".
Looking at the comparison table of Championship clubs, our commercial income is embarrassingly low. By far the smallest of all clubs, even less than Oxford.
It's clear the club is being poorly managed on that side, and suggests other things could be improved. Hopefully the Reebok deal is the start of an upward direction for income generally.
Part of the problem is the outsourcing of retail, until this year, and hospitality.
But our commercial income is poor compared to other clubs who sponsor the hell out of everythingm
Charlton couldn't even sell one of three Nathan Jones shirt sponsorships. They also buggered up the player of the year dinner through incompetence.
There is a lot of scope for improvement. Appointing a commercial manager would be a start.
Presuming you mean last years POTY Dinner? There's been a clear and determined effort to produce an similar event that enables more fans to attend (hopefully coming in the summer) and one that less restrictive/out dated
I thought that it got cancelled due to the 1st Team to prepare for the end of the season, not due to that the format was wrong in some people's opinion?
Bit of both I think - certainly feels like an effort being made to bring these types of thing into the 21st century - especially as it meant that a large swathe of the Addicks Population couldn't/wouldn't attend POTY Dinners
You mean the dinners that sold out year on year when we were crap but didn't happen at all this year.
Yeah, no dinner at all is really 21st century.
Unfortunately, the dinners are often seen as old fashioned and outdated - and I’d argue very much aimed at certain fans - the price point alone does that!
Whilst they are good events, and a great opportunity to meet players etc - id imagine most fans would prefer an event that reflects a wider sections of the fanbase as well as being more accessible to general fans and local communities...
The POTY Dinner doesn't raise money for anything as far as i'm aware - if it makes any profit at all - so surely a free/low entry fee event at The Valley that enables many more fans to attend can only be a better option
As far as I understood, there was previously a division of labour where Methven was strictly commercial and “off-field growth”, Rodwell was “football operations”/training ground and Scott was recruitment and technical (players, basically).
If Dane Murphy is a credited with a lot of player deals, it will be interesting to see if they bother replacing Scott with a technical director… and what it means for Rodwell longer term. I guess Murphy will handle more of the transfer activity than Methven but less of the recruiting than Scott… basically letting Chapple and the manager focus on which players to get.
That was the public line but I’m not convinced Methven was actually doing the job or that Rodwell was fully focused on the football side. I suspect it was just a cover story to explain Methven being put in a position where he could be held to account. Mind you, they were at loggerheads, as Charlie was with Warrick, so who knows how that could ever have worked?
Do we know why they were at loggerheads?
What were the disagreements- was Rodwell arguing for greater player spend for example?
You appear to be desperate to discover that the club aren't spending enough money.
From the little I know it was that Charlie made a lot of promises about commercial income he didn't deliver on, leaked worse than a cracked sieve and run up huge bar bills after games and those are just the snippets that I heard, there is almost certainly a lot more of which I have no knowledge.
Carter came in towards the end of 2024 at the request of the main owners as they, IMHO, wanted to get a much better handle on who did what and the value for money that the owners were getting from various staff.
Directly or indirectly as a result, IMHO, we've seen Methven, Scott and Commercial Manager Barry Higson all leave.
Warrick is far more front and centre and Murphy has just come in which I think is both a major upgrade on Methven and significant financial investment as I don't think he would come cheap or be willing to give up his holding in Vitesse Arnham if he thought Charlton were trying to do things "on the cheap".
Looking at the comparison table of Championship clubs, our commercial income is embarrassingly low. By far the smallest of all clubs, even less than Oxford.
It's clear the club is being poorly managed on that side, and suggests other things could be improved. Hopefully the Reebok deal is the start of an upward direction for income generally.
Part of the problem is the outsourcing of retail, until this year, and hospitality.
But our commercial income is poor compared to other clubs who sponsor the hell out of everythingm
Charlton couldn't even sell one of three Nathan Jones shirt sponsorships. They also buggered up the player of the year dinner through incompetence.
There is a lot of scope for improvement. Appointing a commercial manager would be a start.
Presuming you mean last years POTY Dinner? There's been a clear and determined effort to produce an similar event that enables more fans to attend (hopefully coming in the summer) and one that less restrictive/out dated
I thought that it got cancelled due to the 1st Team to prepare for the end of the season, not due to that the format was wrong in some people's opinion?
Bit of both I think - certainly feels like an effort being made to bring these types of thing into the 21st century - especially as it meant that a large swathe of the Addicks Population couldn't/wouldn't attend POTY Dinners
You mean the dinners that sold out year on year when we were crap but didn't happen at all this year.
Yeah, no dinner at all is really 21st century.
Something selling out doesn’t make it the best thing though. Surely it shows there’s extra demand that can’t be fulfilled so a different event with a higher capacity should be explored?
Yes, but it didn't expand, it just never happened because Higson and Methven had grand ideas they couldn't implement, not an untypical occurance from what I heard.
So the potential commercial income was lost and the event was lost.
As for "outdated" Higson wanted a comedian. Very cutting edge!
As for "hopefully this summer" it's June. Nothing has been announced and I very much doubt any venue has even been booked
Potential bad execution doesn’t make an idea bad. I’m not saying Higson or CM had good ideas because I don’t know what they were. I’m just saying why wouldn’t you at least look at improving something? Sure it was badly handled this year and it sounds like maybe they threw NJ under the bus a bit but maybe the 25/26 end of season event will be better than the 24/25 one, we don’t know
All for improvement but it didn't improve, it didn't take place.
Pricing was also going to increase to more than double so the making it available to more fans argument doesn't really hold water.
We can argue about cost, income, format, location away from the Valley but as a general point most clubs have dinners of various sorts and usually in May a Player of the Year event.
Methven and Higson decided they were going to take it over and change it but failed to deliver anything at all.
That was an example of how commercially the club is not performing to its maximum.
Slightly concerning that @sammy391 is talking about an event this summer. I wonder if anyone has spoken to the organisers.
Again, all you’re saying is 2 people would have executed a different event badly. I agree that whatever has happened to an event this season is a mess but I’m talking more bigger picture.
Anyway, as happens all summer we’ve derailed a thread. Not sure the new CEO will be working on this stuff
Owning your stadium isn't the be all and end all of a club. It'll come, when he gets bored, we get rich enough, or he dies and his offspring don't want the hassle anymore
No it is not but how long a lease do City have on The Etihad? More than 10 years I would guess.
And are Manchester Council likely to evict them? How about Roland the Irrational?
Milan and Inter are looking at moving away from the San Siro due to issues and building stadiums they own and so can generate more income.
It's not that the club don't own the Valley, and the training ground as well BTW, but that the tenure is insecure and in the hands of a man who is still crying because Charlton fans didn't understand his brilliant ideas and so sold us for £1 to some crooks while retaining the only assets which he values at a ridiculous price £50m price.
How many times must we repeat this Henry, to supporters that don’t understand the situation. Of course some supporters are not old enough to remember the last time we had this situation.
Charlton and The Valley go hand in hand back to 1919 other than those 7years .
Murph has resigned from Vitesse as he is joining Charlton as CEO it is reported… so all good
and many great reports from Barnsley and Forest fans…
This is really good news for Charlton…
Dare I say it… ”We’ve got our Charlton back…we’ve got our Charlton back”
(oooh and it feels fine)
Sorry but we don't. Not yet. We don't own our own stadium and while we're absolutely moving in the right direction I think we need to see all these big moves and positive steps actually pay off before we say that we've actually got it back.
We're closer than we've been for a very long time yes but I wouldn't say it is done just yet.
a. promotion to the Championship in front of 45,000 Charlton fans, signing new players, hiring a CEO with a spectacular cv, tying Nathan Jones down to a long-term contract, continuing to rent The Valley, set the club on course to become profitable (eventually) thereby gathering investment and resources required to purchase The Valley
b. Buy The Valley, sign no new players for five seasons, lose Nathan Jones, sell all players with value, remain in League One, battle against relegation for several seasons, successively close stands in order to match rapidly dwindling crowds, save some rent
Which path would you prefer?
It’s highly unlikely the club will ever be profitable enough to buy The Valley, particularly at RD’s imaginary value. However, unless there is some kind of deal, the club’s future will be at risk by 2030 and force the owners to consider escape routes, either for themselves or the club.
It would seem that the consensus is that our new CEO is going to be very much focused on the playing side of things rather than day to day issues. Is that right ? If it is how does that work ? We have Nathan Jones and Phil Chapple with presumably a very knowledgeable and hands on approach to recruitment so where and what value will Dane bring to the party. Not a criticism in any way but I’m trying to get a handle on how his experience and expertise fit in with Charlton.
It would seem that the consensus is that our new CEO is going to be very much focused on the playing side of things rather than day to day issues. Is that right ?
We don't know.
I suspect over the summer he will have a big focus on transfers but that will only be part of his job.
The other stuff in his job is less urgent while equally important but not very sexy or headline grabbing.
As far as I understood, there was previously a division of labour where Methven was strictly commercial and “off-field growth”, Rodwell was “football operations”/training ground and Scott was recruitment and technical (players, basically).
If Dane Murphy is a credited with a lot of player deals, it will be interesting to see if they bother replacing Scott with a technical director… and what it means for Rodwell longer term. I guess Murphy will handle more of the transfer activity than Methven but less of the recruiting than Scott… basically letting Chapple and the manager focus on which players to get.
That was the public line but I’m not convinced Methven was actually doing the job or that Rodwell was fully focused on the football side. I suspect it was just a cover story to explain Methven being put in a position where he could be held to account. Mind you, they were at loggerheads, as Charlie was with Warrick, so who knows how that could ever have worked?
Do we know why they were at loggerheads?
What were the disagreements- was Rodwell arguing for greater player spend for example?
You appear to be desperate to discover that the club aren't spending enough money.
From the little I know it was that Charlie made a lot of promises about commercial income he didn't deliver on, leaked worse than a cracked sieve and run up huge bar bills after games and those are just the snippets that I heard, there is almost certainly a lot more of which I have no knowledge.
Carter came in towards the end of 2024 at the request of the main owners as they, IMHO, wanted to get a much better handle on who did what and the value for money that the owners were getting from various staff.
Directly or indirectly as a result, IMHO, we've seen Methven, Scott and Commercial Manager Barry Higson all leave.
Warrick is far more front and centre and Murphy has just come in which I think is both a major upgrade on Methven and significant financial investment as I don't think he would come cheap or be willing to give up his holding in Vitesse Arnham if he thought Charlton were trying to do things "on the cheap".
Looking at the comparison table of Championship clubs, our commercial income is embarrassingly low. By far the smallest of all clubs, even less than Oxford.
It's clear the club is being poorly managed on that side, and suggests other things could be improved. Hopefully the Reebok deal is the start of an upward direction for income generally.
Part of the problem is the outsourcing of retail, until this year, and hospitality.
But our commercial income is poor compared to other clubs who sponsor the hell out of everythingm
Charlton couldn't even sell one of three Nathan Jones shirt sponsorships. They also buggered up the player of the year dinner through incompetence.
There is a lot of scope for improvement. Appointing a commercial manager would be a start.
Presuming you mean last years POTY Dinner? There's been a clear and determined effort to produce an similar event that enables more fans to attend (hopefully coming in the summer) and one that less restrictive/out dated
I thought that it got cancelled due to the 1st Team to prepare for the end of the season, not due to that the format was wrong in some people's opinion?
Bit of both I think - certainly feels like an effort being made to bring these types of thing into the 21st century - especially as it meant that a large swathe of the Addicks Population couldn't/wouldn't attend POTY Dinners
You mean the dinners that sold out year on year when we were crap but didn't happen at all this year.
Yeah, no dinner at all is really 21st century.
Something selling out doesn’t make it the best thing though. Surely it shows there’s extra demand that can’t be fulfilled so a different event with a higher capacity should be explored?
A venue away from The Valley?
No but a different format might increase capacity at The Valley, a change from a sit down event would surely increase capacity? I’m not saying it is a necessity but it would be silly not to look to expand something popular that could bring in some more revenue
I have helped organise a format like that when we didn't have The Valley. I don't think it worked well at all. Maybe that was down to the organisation, but I think something less formal is fundamentally flawed for such an event.
I’ll be absolutely outraged if the first thing he sorts out isn’t the player of the year dinner - what on earth is the world coming to if u can’t force young players to mingle with old farts who have zero in common other than 90 minutes of football a week - most of them will have been media trained to deal with the platitudinous horror but still
A loan or two from Forest would be good. Hoping for the new Gallagher 🙏
Nathan is not a fan of loans
Gilbert was in credit when he left, the 3 assists from corners gained 3 points instead of zero at Orient and a late corner down the covered end gained 3 points instead of 1 with Macca's late header. Plus he did what he was told when leaving the free kick to Macca !
A loan or 2 will surely be needed, it's part of the game from Premier to the EFL. At least you don't get lumbered with a 4 year contract with a Charlie Kirk or a Gassan Ahadme which we had to take a financial hit with the former and may well have to do with the latter.
The 2030 break clause in the lease is only in the club’s favour. It is not an option available to RD.
One of the consistent themes from successive ownerships is overestimation of the club’s commercial potential, often from bullshitters but also from people who just do not understand the supporter base.
It would be wrong to discourage ambition, but it’s an easy way to disappoint the owners.
Charlton Athletic are delighted to announce that the club is set to appoint Dane Murphy as Chief Executive Officer.
Murphy will arrive with a proven track record of success, having played a key role in guiding Nottingham Forest to promotion to the Premier League, and previously overseeing Barnsley’s highest league finish in more than two decades.
The appointment is subject to the completion of the EFL Owners and Directors’ Test and the appropriate documentation.
Charlton Chairman Gavin Carter said: “Dane is an ambitious, dynamic, and forward-thinking leader with experience at the top level of the game. He understands what it takes to create a high-performance culture and deliver results. His work at Nottingham Forest and Barnsley demonstrated a clear ability to elevate clubs and drive them forward.
“We’re continuing to build a strong and united leadership team to match our ambitions for Charlton. With promotion to the Championship, Nathan Jones committing to a long-term future, and now Dane joining the club, we’re laying the foundations to take Charlton to the next level.”
ARE CHARLTON SHOWING THEIR AMBITION WITH THIS MOVE ?
The 2030 break clause in the lease is only in the club’s favour. It is not an option available to RD.
One of the consistent themes from successive ownerships is overestimation of the club’s commercial potential, often from bullshitters but also from people who just do not understand the supporter base.
It would be wrong to discourage ambition, but it’s an easy way to disappoint the owners.
Don’t disagree with this based on our current ‘core’/support and division status, but if the ambition is to become an established premier league team, the commercial potential could/would be far greater. Global media coverage of the prem league combined with tactical but smart signings of overseas players with gargantuan populations who like their football appear to be a way a lot of prem teams have gone. Overseas shirt sales, pre and end of season tours etc etc. I think local commercial opportunities are far less, getting to the prem again would assure full houses without too much effort.
The 2030 break clause in the lease is only in the club’s favour. It is not an option available to RD.
One of the consistent themes from successive ownerships is overestimation of the club’s commercial potential, often from bullshitters but also from people who just do not understand the supporter base.
It would be wrong to discourage ambition, but it’s an easy way to disappoint the owners.
Apologies for seeking more clarity on the lease, but if he was minded to evict us now, what's the earliest RD could? And has he had any opportunity to evict us since he sold the club? *
* I ask that only because I'd assumed TS wouldn't have bought the Club without assurances over the lease, RD having agreed to continue it with amended terms post ESI rather than watch us go into Admin and so have to repay the directors loans.
As far as I understood, there was previously a division of labour where Methven was strictly commercial and “off-field growth”, Rodwell was “football operations”/training ground and Scott was recruitment and technical (players, basically).
If Dane Murphy is a credited with a lot of player deals, it will be interesting to see if they bother replacing Scott with a technical director… and what it means for Rodwell longer term. I guess Murphy will handle more of the transfer activity than Methven but less of the recruiting than Scott… basically letting Chapple and the manager focus on which players to get.
That was the public line but I’m not convinced Methven was actually doing the job or that Rodwell was fully focused on the football side. I suspect it was just a cover story to explain Methven being put in a position where he could be held to account. Mind you, they were at loggerheads, as Charlie was with Warrick, so who knows how that could ever have worked?
Do we know why they were at loggerheads?
What were the disagreements- was Rodwell arguing for greater player spend for example?
You appear to be desperate to discover that the club aren't spending enough money.
From the little I know it was that Charlie made a lot of promises about commercial income he didn't deliver on, leaked worse than a cracked sieve and run up huge bar bills after games and those are just the snippets that I heard, there is almost certainly a lot more of which I have no knowledge.
Carter came in towards the end of 2024 at the request of the main owners as they, IMHO, wanted to get a much better handle on who did what and the value for money that the owners were getting from various staff.
Directly or indirectly as a result, IMHO, we've seen Methven, Scott and Commercial Manager Barry Higson all leave.
Warrick is far more front and centre and Murphy has just come in which I think is both a major upgrade on Methven and significant financial investment as I don't think he would come cheap or be willing to give up his holding in Vitesse Arnham if he thought Charlton were trying to do things "on the cheap".
Looking at the comparison table of Championship clubs, our commercial income is embarrassingly low. By far the smallest of all clubs, even less than Oxford.
It's clear the club is being poorly managed on that side, and suggests other things could be improved. Hopefully the Reebok deal is the start of an upward direction for income generally.
Part of the problem is the outsourcing of retail, until this year, and hospitality.
But our commercial income is poor compared to other clubs who sponsor the hell out of everythingm
Charlton couldn't even sell one of three Nathan Jones shirt sponsorships. They also buggered up the player of the year dinner through incompetence.
There is a lot of scope for improvement. Appointing a commercial manager would be a start.
Presuming you mean last years POTY Dinner? There's been a clear and determined effort to produce an similar event that enables more fans to attend (hopefully coming in the summer) and one that less restrictive/out dated
I thought that it got cancelled due to the 1st Team to prepare for the end of the season, not due to that the format was wrong in some people's opinion?
Bit of both I think - certainly feels like an effort being made to bring these types of thing into the 21st century - especially as it meant that a large swathe of the Addicks Population couldn't/wouldn't attend POTY Dinners
You mean the dinners that sold out year on year when we were crap but didn't happen at all this year.
Yeah, no dinner at all is really 21st century.
Unfortunately, the dinners are often seen as old fashioned and outdated - and I’d argue very much aimed at certain fans - the price point alone does that!
Whilst they are good events, and a great opportunity to meet players etc - id imagine most fans would prefer an event that reflects a wider sections of the fanbase as well as being more accessible to general fans and local communities...
The POTY Dinner doesn't raise money for anything as far as i'm aware - if it makes any profit at all - so surely a free/low entry fee event at The Valley that enables many more fans to attend can only be a better option
As far as I understood, there was previously a division of labour where Methven was strictly commercial and “off-field growth”, Rodwell was “football operations”/training ground and Scott was recruitment and technical (players, basically).
If Dane Murphy is a credited with a lot of player deals, it will be interesting to see if they bother replacing Scott with a technical director… and what it means for Rodwell longer term. I guess Murphy will handle more of the transfer activity than Methven but less of the recruiting than Scott… basically letting Chapple and the manager focus on which players to get.
That was the public line but I’m not convinced Methven was actually doing the job or that Rodwell was fully focused on the football side. I suspect it was just a cover story to explain Methven being put in a position where he could be held to account. Mind you, they were at loggerheads, as Charlie was with Warrick, so who knows how that could ever have worked?
Do we know why they were at loggerheads?
What were the disagreements- was Rodwell arguing for greater player spend for example?
You appear to be desperate to discover that the club aren't spending enough money.
From the little I know it was that Charlie made a lot of promises about commercial income he didn't deliver on, leaked worse than a cracked sieve and run up huge bar bills after games and those are just the snippets that I heard, there is almost certainly a lot more of which I have no knowledge.
Carter came in towards the end of 2024 at the request of the main owners as they, IMHO, wanted to get a much better handle on who did what and the value for money that the owners were getting from various staff.
Directly or indirectly as a result, IMHO, we've seen Methven, Scott and Commercial Manager Barry Higson all leave.
Warrick is far more front and centre and Murphy has just come in which I think is both a major upgrade on Methven and significant financial investment as I don't think he would come cheap or be willing to give up his holding in Vitesse Arnham if he thought Charlton were trying to do things "on the cheap".
Looking at the comparison table of Championship clubs, our commercial income is embarrassingly low. By far the smallest of all clubs, even less than Oxford.
It's clear the club is being poorly managed on that side, and suggests other things could be improved. Hopefully the Reebok deal is the start of an upward direction for income generally.
Part of the problem is the outsourcing of retail, until this year, and hospitality.
But our commercial income is poor compared to other clubs who sponsor the hell out of everythingm
Charlton couldn't even sell one of three Nathan Jones shirt sponsorships. They also buggered up the player of the year dinner through incompetence.
There is a lot of scope for improvement. Appointing a commercial manager would be a start.
Presuming you mean last years POTY Dinner? There's been a clear and determined effort to produce an similar event that enables more fans to attend (hopefully coming in the summer) and one that less restrictive/out dated
I thought that it got cancelled due to the 1st Team to prepare for the end of the season, not due to that the format was wrong in some people's opinion?
Bit of both I think - certainly feels like an effort being made to bring these types of thing into the 21st century - especially as it meant that a large swathe of the Addicks Population couldn't/wouldn't attend POTY Dinners
You mean the dinners that sold out year on year when we were crap but didn't happen at all this year.
Yeah, no dinner at all is really 21st century.
Unfortunately, the dinners are often seen as old fashioned and outdated - and I’d argue very much aimed at certain fans - the price point alone does that!
Whilst they are good events, and a great opportunity to meet players etc - id imagine most fans would prefer an event that reflects a wider sections of the fanbase as well as being more accessible to general fans and local communities...
The POTY Dinner doesn't raise money for anything as far as i'm aware - if it makes any profit at all - so surely a free/low entry fee event at The Valley that enables many more fans to attend can only be a better option
Exactly that, but obviously not purely aimed at kids & families - certainly don’t think the covered end masses will be keen for a go on the bouncy castle!
‘Fans festivals’ and events like that are the best option imho
Are CAST and the club planning a player of the year event for this summer?
I am, yes.
are CAST planning anything for summer: No are the club planning something for summer: to be confirmed via Advisory Board and the specific ’task & complete’ group - of which there were unfortunately limited applications for
The 2030 break clause in the lease is only in the club’s favour. It is not an option available to RD.
One of the consistent themes from successive ownerships is overestimation of the club’s commercial potential, often from bullshitters but also from people who just do not understand the supporter base.
It would be wrong to discourage ambition, but it’s an easy way to disappoint the owners.
Apologies for seeking more clarity on the lease, but if he was minded to evict us now, what's the earliest RD could? And has he had any opportunity to evict us since he sold the club? *
* I ask that only because I'd assumed TS wouldn't have bought the Club without assurances over the lease, RD having agreed to continue it with amended terms post ESI rather than watch us go into Admin and so have to repay the directors loans.
TS renegotiated the lease. It’s between CAFC Ltd and Baton, which is still owned by Staprix, IIRC. The interesting question is who the current guarantor is, but is suspect it is still Sandgaard with a side note from GFP that indemnifies him. Otherwise GFP or SE7 would have needed to renegotiate the lease with RD, which they clearly didn’t as any change would hsve been lodged with the land registry.
The 2030 break clause in the lease is only in the club’s favour. It is not an option available to RD.
One of the consistent themes from successive ownerships is overestimation of the club’s commercial potential, often from bullshitters but also from people who just do not understand the supporter base.
It would be wrong to discourage ambition, but it’s an easy way to disappoint the owners.
Don’t disagree with this based on our current ‘core’/support and division status, but if the ambition is to become an established premier league team, the commercial potential could/would be far greater. Global media coverage of the prem league combined with tactical but smart signings of overseas players with gargantuan populations who like their football appear to be a way a lot of prem teams have gone. Overseas shirt sales, pre and end of season tours etc etc. I think local commercial opportunities are far less, getting to the prem again would assure full houses without too much effort.
I agree the PL is a different proposition from the EFL and also different from where it was when we were there. I also think there has been or is some scope to generate more in the EFL. The problem is that people coming in always overestimate this.
Are CAST and the club planning a player of the year event for this summer?
I am, yes.
are CAST planning anything for summer: No are the club planning something for summer: to be confirmed via Advisory Board and the specific ’task & complete’ group - of which there were unfortunately limited applications for
It reads as if the existing competent organisers have been sidelined in favour of an inadequate "task & complete" group, thus explaining why no player of the year/season event took place and the inference is it is doubtful due to lack of numbers, experience etc.
It reads like letting Curbs go and replacing him with Iain Dowie.
It is odd that a family open day is seen as alternative to the POTY dinner.
Why are the two being connected?
Both took place last year without any conflict.
I haven't attended a POTY dinner for years, not my thing, but many fans enjoy it. I was at the fun day with the museum and it was a good event. I hope it is repeated although the costs v Income are unknown to me. But I expect such events are seen as lost leaders.
@sammy391 has suggested that somehow a dinner is not inclusive to all fans and the community and so not appropriate for the 21st century.
Is that CAST's view? The Club's view?
And has this task group spoken to the POTY organisors?
Comments
The POTY Dinner doesn't raise money for anything as far as i'm aware - if it makes any profit at all - so surely a free/low entry fee event at The Valley that enables many more fans to attend can only be a better option
Pricing was also going to increase to more than double so the making it available to more fans argument doesn't really hold water.
We can argue about cost, income, format, location away from the Valley but as a general point most clubs have dinners of various sorts and usually in May a Player of the Year event.
Methven and Higson decided they were going to take it over and change it but failed to deliver anything at all.
That was an example of how commercially the club is not performing to its maximum.
Slightly concerning that @sammy391 is talking about an event this summer. I wonder if anyone has spoken to the organisers.
https://www.charltonafc.com/news/join-us-free-family-fun-day-july
Anyway, as happens all summer we’ve derailed a thread. Not sure the new CEO will be working on this stuff
Charlton and The Valley go hand in hand back to 1919 other than those 7years .
Do you want to live those days again,I don’t.
Are CAST and the club planning a player of the year event for this summer?
I suspect over the summer he will have a big focus on transfers but that will only be part of his job.
The other stuff in his job is less urgent while equally important but not very sexy or headline grabbing.
Maybe that was down to the organisation, but I think something less formal is fundamentally flawed for such an event.
Gilbert was in credit when he left, the 3 assists from corners gained 3 points instead of zero at Orient and a late corner down the covered end gained 3 points instead of 1 with Macca's late header. Plus he did what he was told when leaving the free kick to Macca !
A loan or 2 will surely be needed, it's part of the game from Premier to the EFL. At least you don't get lumbered with a 4 year contract with a Charlie Kirk or a Gassan Ahadme which we had to take a financial hit with the former and may well have to do with the latter.
Who are Charlton's Pitbull or dare I say it, poodle !
Josh Edwards who is a fans favourite reminded me of a howling wolf when attempting too sing.
One of the consistent themes from successive ownerships is overestimation of the club’s commercial potential, often from bullshitters but also from people who just do not understand the supporter base.
* I ask that only because I'd assumed TS wouldn't have bought the Club without assurances over the lease, RD having agreed to continue it with amended terms post ESI rather than watch us go into Admin and so have to repay the directors loans.
are CAST planning anything for summer: No
are the club planning something for summer: to be confirmed via Advisory Board and the specific ’task & complete’ group - of which there were unfortunately limited applications for
Why are the two being connected?
Both took place last year without any conflict.
I haven't attended a POTY dinner for years, not my thing, but many fans enjoy it. I was at the fun day with the museum and it was a good event. I hope it is repeated although the costs v Income are unknown to me. But I expect such events are seen as lost leaders.
@sammy391 has suggested that somehow a dinner is not inclusive to all fans and the community and so not appropriate for the 21st century.
Is that CAST's view? The Club's view?
And has this task group spoken to the POTY organisors?