from time to time on this forum and previously on net addicks i've spouted about how we needed to increase the capacity of the ground, and when we stopped the east stand/south stand expansion because of planning permission and the cost of steel i started to realise we had peaked for the time being(or words to that extent if you're the type of saddo that will look to check)...and the reason i thought and still think we need to increase the capacity is that the sums dont add up otherwise...anyway, since then, despite the mea culpa, the blame us we made some mistakes statements i think the charlton board have sold themselves short, or they have a plan...football, as we are starting to see, is in the shiit...clubs are going to disappear...charlton might look like it could have some issues if it doesn't go up but if somebody took a cold hard look at the position of the 92 clubs i suspect cafc would come out near the top as one of the most likely to still be around in 5 years time and all credit must go to the board...whether we go up this year or not, it seems to me that we're not a 'palace', we're not a 'portsmouth', we're not a 'chester city'...there's something tangible about cafc...who knows, getting relegated (twice) and being forced to offload a high wage bill could turn out to be a major blessing in disguise...
i still think we need to expand the capacity...football is all about bums on seats...the product is a game on the pitch and a packed ground...get the second one right and the product sells itself many times over...the real money is to be made from selling the tv rights and the ancilliary stuff to the captive audience...but, considering the state we were in the last time we started out, no ground, 3k crowds, and what was achieved from that, starting out again from this point, a premiership ground, albeit more work to be done on it, a decent fan base, a belief this time around that when we get there we will belong in the premiership rather than being thought of as 'little charlton', then things are actually looking good...
so, whether they've been good, or just plain lucky, whether they have a plan or they think they're treading water until a buyer comes along, murray et al get my vote...
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breathing's for wimps...
Compared to where we were in the 80s and early 90s, we've at least got assets - including our own stadium which is now redeveloped to be capable of staging big matches to 21st century standards.
We're not facing winding up orders like we were in 1984, but the problem with our financial situation is that it's still not sustainable. Most clubs are in this same situation too and some are even further down the road to crisis, like Palace and Portsmouth who could well be on the brink.
Murray is pointing out that promotion is vital this season, in order to keep the squad together.
Otherwise moving on players to raise funds or just as a cost cutting exercise is essential - and the club then reduced to sustainable League One levels.
It's that £4 million extra TV money per club in the Championship which is key, and could enable us to carry the overhead of a club of our size.
I can see your fantasy, but i just can't see you logic. How when we are £30m in debt, with limited income which does not come close to breaking us even, do you see us as a better placed club ?
How when no one will lend us any more money would we pay for stadium expansion ?
How would you recoup that money when we have 10k empty seats we can't fill already ?
So 2 relegations is a blessing and we need to extend the ground when we haven't once got a crowd of 20k this season. You are mental.
I wonder why that sprung to my mind ?
Yes, let's expand the stadium with money that we don't have to increase the number of seats we can't sell from 10,000 to 23,000 - you know it makes sense.
Ever thought of becoming a politician ?
Wibble, wibble...
Would be nice to sail back in the top two at the first go but not going to happen... point is if / when we go back up we have the ground, catchment area, core support etc and there may well be backers out there willing to help get us into the championship playoffs. And no more Dowies/Pardews ever again demanding 2M for 1 more striker while simultaneously telling half the squad your rubbish
Most of the 30M debt is with the board so they are the ones who might have to write off 50% if they sell up...we should be close to break even in the championship ... let's hope we can get back to bringing half the team through the ranks making it solid Charlton again
Would we be any better off? Not sure, but we might still be in the top league today, I don't think the current stadium size and thereby fan base, could ever sustain the wage bills needed for longer term Premiership survival.