What do we reckon?
Sky, as you would expect when they've got hours of airtime to fill, sent a camera down to The Valley to interview any old Tavern, Dick or Rothko who happened to be passing for a soundbite.
It got a brief mention on BBC local news, where Mark Bright did a little bit on it.
The Times had the best part of a page on it today, but the Mirror had about a square inch - five pages in from the back!
Football Focus today didn't even mention it today, despite doing a fairly lengthy piece on foreign ownership of English - or should that be Premiership" - clubs.
Overall it all seems to be a bit of a low key reaction to me, particularly when you look at the fuss made concerning the takeover(s) at Masseve Citeh and all the hoo hah at the Toon. OK, bigger clubs, but what about all of the column inches and fuss devoted to the QPR takeover?
It could just be because there is nothing much for them to report on just now - not that that normally stops them! - but there's seems to be a distinct flavour of "Who? Why? Oh! (shrug)" about it all.
Still, when did we ever get in-depth or positive coverage from the national media!!!
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he will say it i would put my house on it
Here you go then lads:
It's potentially exciting news, But to quote Winston Wolf, "Let's not start sucking each others d*cks just yet".
- "Off_it", CharltonLife.com
PRINT THAT!
Charlton Athletic were last night the subject of a takeover bid by the Maktoum family in a deal that would seem to end Dubai's interest in Liverpool.
The Valley club's efforts to play down the deal last night by insisting there is "no certainty" that the "indicative" bid will become a formal offer will not restrain unbridled excitement in south-east London. The involvement of Sheikh Hamdan Al-Maktoum, son of Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed, through his Zabeel Investments vehicle would make the ascendancy of a club that dropped out of the Premier League with only 34 points in 2007 almost a certainty.
The Maktoum family had been involved in fruitless negotiations with the Anfield club's owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, and also turned down the opportunity to purchase Newcastle United. Hicks recently travelled to Dubai with a view to offloading his 50% stake in the club but the talks were inconclusive. Then Mike Ashley and Dennis Wise also paid a visit in an attempt to generate interest in Newcastle but according to sources familiar with the discussions the sums the pair demanded were considered unrealistic.
Their attention then turned to Charlton. Superficially there would seem to be few motives for taking over a club who lie only 14th in the Championship today. But there was an influential link with Liverpool in that Rothschilds, the investment bank, had represented the five-times European champions and also worked for Charlton.
The Valley club have been scouring the market for fresh investment in recent months but few could have considered that the Dubai ruling caste would be interested in a Championship club. One close observer of Dubai's football negotiations expressed surprise at the deal, saying: "They usually go for the front of the grid."
However another explained that as Gulf potentates go, Dubai is the junior partner to Abu Dhabi and the investment by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Manchester City has shifted Premier League politics. The Charlton purchase may have been motivated by a desire not to be seen to "outdo" Abu Dhabi United Group by taking over England's most decorated club.
Any notion that Liverpool might still fall into Dubai's hands appears misguided since there would also be the further complication of Premier League and Football Association ownership rules. A single owner may not purchase two clubs in the same competition and the prospect of promotion as well as the chance of them being drawn against each other in a cup competition has complicated the issue. "Everything in Dubai goes back to the royal family," as one insider with knowledge of the deal stated.
A statement from Charlton's board said: "In spite of being approached by various English football clubs as well as a number of well-known clubs in Europe and South America, Zabeel Investments believes Charlton is the right club for them."
Amid a fire-sale of Premier League clubs Charlton have undoubtedly benefited from the effects of their good husbandry in recent years. With their Premier League parachute payments expiring at the end of last season, the board kept a tight rein on spending.
The directors even loaned the club almost £4m in interim funding in an effort to stabilise its finances in straitened times. In contrast to the £100m-plus borrowings of many top-flight clubs, Charlton's debts are believed to have been restricted to seven figures with the sales of players such as the £16m striker, Darren Bent, to Tottenham.
"We feel now is the right time to make a strategic, long-term investment in Charlton and get CAFC back to the English Premier League where they belong," said Zabeel Investments' executive chairman Mohammed Al-Hashimi.
"The passion of the fans at Charlton, the heritage of the club and the unique status it enjoys in the community make it an exciting proposition for us."
Anyone fancy slagging our board off now??? Go on, try.
Sometimes I think that as a collective we don't really deserve what we've had, all this moaning shit. Then I think of my old man, and his old man before him, and know that we do.