people seem to be fairly sure David Gold is. The general mood seems to be 'when can you start?'
I'm not so sure. It is not at all clear to me how much David Gold actually invested in Birmingham. But it is fairly clear that the admission prices went sky high. And that nobody talks about Birmingham as a force for good in the game in the way that they have done and still do about Charlton. Would he allow a Supporters' Trust? Would he turn up and talk at Bromley Addicks the way RM has done through the good times and the bad?
As for Karen Brady. Where is the evidence that she is a good -as opposed to a high profile - CEO.? Seems to me that she has a high profile because she is the first female CEO in senior football, has big tits, and had an affair with a City player. What else? heaven knows I am not much impressed with Steve Waggott, but in fairness, I see no evidence whatsoever that Karen Brady would be any better.
Careful what we wish for, methinks...
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In the current climate you are very lucky to get anyone interested in buying a football club, even luckier for someone to be considering buying a club that has been on a downward spiral and we are led to believe, is no longer financially viable.
In an ideal world, we would all want Richard Murray's younger, richer brother to come along and scoop us up and lead us back to the promised land - wherever that may be!. Realistically that isn't going to happen.
I base my next statement on nothing more than my own gut feeling.........I genuinely believe that we have had a number of suitors throughout the summer and that many of the these have talked the talk but have proven unable to walk the walk. Or were only prepared to walk if we took the 10 point hit and they bought us on the cheap.
If nothing else we know that David Gold does have financial clout. He does have a record of success at Birmingham. Brady seems to be well respected within football circles and I do believe that she'd do a good job for us.
On the flip side, we know that Birmingham ticket proces went up and that when push came to shove Gold & Co walked away as, I am assuming they didn't have the financial muscle to move Birmingham on to the next level.
For me, this is a no brainer. I'd rather have a businessman with some record of involvement in the English game and genuine money behind him than a Portsmouth situation where a series of Arabs appear to have bought into the club with the sole intention of doing nothing but getting their names in the papers.
Yes we know the baggage Gold has but for me, in our current situation it is baggage I'd happily lug around. I assume by talking to Peter Varney, Gold will have an angle on what Charlton are about. I don't expect him to come in and foster everything the club stands for, what I would expect him to do is not alienate an entire fanbase, by throwing away our well earned reputation as a good community club.
If he ensures our continued survival and provides us with the money to progress back up the leagues then he's alright by me.
The alternative, were we to wobble this season and not get promoted doesn't bear thinking about.
Wait until RM and PV get reincarnated but with 100x the money?
Look, we've been spoilt and who says we can't wish, but I think we need to look at the bigger picture and realise if we don't get investment in the the next 6 to 12 months we could be in really bad trouble.
Maybe Gold is not an angel but I trust RM to sell to the person he thinks is right for Charlton.
exactly. it's not like he's tried to sell it to the first person to come along.
What other options are there? Richard Murray wants out and has more or less admitted that. If we don't have Gold and Brady where does it leave us.
The Arabs?
Wise and Jimenez?
better the devil you know and all that...
Richard for some odd reason you personally never gave Steve Waggot a chance from the word go....I've 'never ever' understood why??
Evidently Richard, he's well liked and does a good job.I've met him myself a couple of times and he seems like a really decent fellow....PV was a hard act (almost impossible in fact) to follow but the guy has done a good job under trying circumstances....and I've not heard anyone at The Valley say otherwise.
He of course had the misfortune of having to give notice to a few bods at a very awkward time in the clubs history, which just maybe didn't help him in his new position....but had PV been around he would have had to do the same.
Seasons greetings by the way Richard.
The thing that i'm always curious about is the fact that he is never linked with anything singularly. It is either tied in with his brother Ralph, or with Sullivan. I don't see that as a bad thing, it shows to me he is not a 'dominating' character that has to have everything is own way, and is happy pitching in with others. But it does cloud his actual worth as most of the quoted figures are not really his but his families.
However, he must be in a hell of a comfortable position. Him and Ralph held 23% of Brum, so would have got a fair payout for that. His house in Surrey is worth over £5m, has its own private golf course in its 55-acre grounds. He has also sold off a couple of his other smaller companies in the past 3 years.
What do i like ?
I like the fact he is local. Poor East End boy done well, now lives in Surrey. Has also lived in Beckenham and Biggin Hill, and his main business is in Surrey, so there is decent logistics there. I don't care how he made his money (as long as its legal), i'm more impressed that he has been successful and is an obvious achiever.
I like the fact he is a football person. Obviously not the same as me and you, but no one pays out £420k for an old FA Cup to stop it being bought overseas without having some form of passion for the game.
I like the fact he is someone who has already been in the game and knows how it works. This isn't a wet behind the ear businessmen looking to launch their profile as his is already established.
I like the fact despite what some Brummies might say, they did a great job at Birmingham. They took them from the third div to the top league, redeveloped a delapidated St Andrews, and in turn made the club more family friendly by coming down hard on their sizeable thug element.
What don't i like ?
The slight concern we are either 2nd best to the Hammers, or being used as a pawn to negotiate elsewhere.
The potential prospect of Brady who i'm not fully convinced by, and am ill at ease at the thought of a CEO having such a large media presence. I don't think the job can be done effectively with split interested.
As you can see, without knowing any details or what any potential proposal might be, i think the plusses far outweigh the negatives. We need investment, he seeks involvement without a complete rebuilding long-term project, it seems an ideal fit. Palace are probably a better fit, particularly as they are likely to enter Admin soon, but there will be a big mess to clear up from that, they have real issues over their ground, and i think it would be too long a job to get them on the right path. Wham simply have too many debts and are in a worse mess, particularly with the prospect of dropping out the prem.
I think as well as involvement, he is a business man and at present would probably see us as the best bet to make a return on his investment within the next 5-10 years.
thoughts ?
I have no beef with Gold or Brady and her track record would seem as good if not better than many.
But PA point about prices and interaction with fans are important. I want Charlton to be a big successful club, i dislike the little ol charlton attitude, but not at any price or in any form.
Lea
We probably only have a 9-10k hardcore set of fans and I can quite simply see people just not going if ticket prices were to rise at a silly rate - whatever league we are in.
He has a successful track record at football clubs and I would personally rather have people like him in charge than an Arab with loads of money, who is clueless and sacks the manger every few months - We've had enough of that already of the last few years and it's not done us any good has it?
I also believe Gold has stayed loyal to his mangers during his time at Birmingham, not forgetting that his board tried to sign Curbs as manager back in the 90's so it appears they have a similar opinion to Murray in regards to the type of manger needed to bring success on the pitch as well as off it. I fully expect Parkinson to be given time to get us back to the Premiership where we belong.
I just hope it all goes through before January so that we don't end up selling Bailey and/or Shelvey at midnight on January 31st, which has become tradition in recent years.
This is the issue i understand, but don't think is comparable. At Birmingham, there were huge stadium rebuild costs to recover, as well as the competition of being in a 2-horse city rivalry with a top-six club.
None of these people are silly, there aim is to maximise revenue, so they will only charge levels at which people will still buy, not price people out so that revenues actually decrease.
As an aside, i know away fans who have refused to come to Charlton this season because they see the £25 we are charging as a rip off for League One level. Would your first reaction be to blame Richard Murray for that admission price ?
This is also my main concern, a lot of clubs outside the EPL are having start charging £25+ for tickets for many reasons, such as being able to compete or simply to survive. Birmingham were not the only club to increase ticket prices. This is a result of the exclusiveness of the Premier league and the serious lack of money from TV, and commercial income passed down through the leagues. Crystal Palace were charging £35 for away tickets in the same season Manchester United were able to charge £25 for theres! Ultimately it is the FA and the Premier League who must take responsibility for this.
I don't really have a problem with Gold, yes he owns Ann Summers but does that matter? And at least we know he does back the club like Birmingham, instead of waiting for an oversea investor to come in when who really knows if they have the money or not (Portsmouth) or where the money comes from, take Zabeel no-one really knew who they were and who they were about...
I think it's inevitable we will need investment in the not so distant future otherwise we may end up struggling to pay wages ala Watford/Palace in recent weeks. If thats Gold as long as he has the best interests of Charlton and the fans and to get the club back into the Premier League. I won't complain.
If it is:
1. To acquire a club as cheaply as possible, then we are probably not the best bet at present. He will be better waiting for Palace, West Ham, Watford or whoever to go into administration and pick it up for peanuts.
2. To completely rebuild a club, like what Orient needs, again we are probably not the best bet as in terms of infrastructure, there isn't really too much extra that could be done.
3. To regain an involvement in a club, input small - medium funds in an attempt to return to the Premier League, then us along with Norwich are probably the best bets. Our location, and the potential growth of nearby areas could well be the driving factor in that respect, but i'm sure it will all boil down to how much it will cost to obtain a decent holding of the club. Why pay £20m just to take control when you can pick up something similar elsewhere for next to nowt pretty soon ?
We can try to influence any new board @or the old one ) thru the target 40k committee, the Fans Forum, thru a Supporters trust if that happens and through lobbying here and elsewhere.
We can try to set the agenda for change but we shouldn't IMHO just take whatever comes and be grateful.
I don't think we are. I doubt Wise an Jiminez would ever be accepted and the board and the majority on here seem to recognise that Gold is a good, successful businessman who knows how to run a football club and deliver success.
However, what I can see is Gold putting some money into the Club (whether as owner or part owner - he was only a part owner of Birmingham) helping us stabilise for the short to medium term, assist us in strengthening our league position over 3-5 years and then making us a preferred option should there be more wealthy backers a few years down the line; whether that be British or overseas. It's what de did successfully at Birmingham.
Someone like Zabeel doesn't go as far as they did on a whim. We were a serious player and we can be that again in the not too distant future with some funding/backing now whilst waiting for the recession to turnaround, both here and abroad.
Once the Thames Gateway project gets back on it's feet again, we are certainly in prime position for taking advantage of the wealth that it will bring in close proximity to the club - whether that is further investment or just new supporters.
Several of you ask, and its a fair question, what the alternative is. I don't have a great one, of course, but it would be something like this. RM and PV to stay in roles that maintain their influence on the club's direction. Don't forget, there are several other directors with significant stakes too. The worst possible scenario is that RM goes while Chappell and Whitehand stay. There is just a danger that RM might pick up the feeling of "you've got no more money, so off you go", and might then do so precipitously. I'd like us to be sending out the message that as fans we still see RM and PV as crucial to the club, while recognising that RM cannot be expected to shoulder the financial burden any more.
SoundAs...whisper on its way to you :-)
On a point of process, I'm not aware of anyone who blames Steve Waggott for the redundancies and in fact the the club were at pains to locate responsibility for the decision-making with a group of (other) directors so that is a complete red herring.
Why? aren't her tits 'big' anymore?
The Golds own a very high percentage of the buildings in Greenwich town centre.
I have had personal business dealings with them (Tsk, not that) and they are, as you can well imagine and expect, 'operators'.
It's a bit depressing that no-one half respectable has come forward, not that the Gold's have. . . . .
I clicked on Len's link above, and then clicked the link to Gold's blog - on the top post, there was a link to an article he had written in The Times, curiously illustrated by a picture of a young Charlton supporter in replica shirt at The Valley turnstiles.
Gold article illustrated by photo of The Valley turnstiles
Perhaps I ought to do some work .....(!)