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NEW ARTICLE: Completely disillusioned

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    The massive u-turn was only necessary because Slater didn't keep quiet on the subject of Parky before the Swindon game - he coulda, shoulda been more elusive, perhaps he didnt want to undermine the confidence of the squad prior to his big Monday night appointment with the live TV cameras.

    I suspect the possibility of sacking Parky was always on his agenda, and such was the ineptitude & live TV embarrassment of Monday's capitulation to a side that had only previously won away at Wallsall, that the anger/rage or whatever prompted the decision got the better of him.

    Slater looked furious at times, as someone mentioned one shot of him had him looking painfully towards the rapidly emptying Covered End - if you are going to showcase your new club to your business mates on live TV & then you are served up that utter tonking as way of introduction - well things must have been pretty sour afterwards.
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    edited January 2011
    [cite]Posted By: aliwibble[/cite]IA, Chappell's "Parky will be judged on results" was an off the cuff remark at a private fan meeting, so shouldn't be judged under the same scrutiny as a public statement to the media. Varney's public support for Les was unfortunate, although if I recall Airman's comments correctly, internally he was always considered a caretaker, so the situation was a bit different. But the point is, that's two instances in the many many public comments in 15 year's tenure - hardly a bad track record, and certainly not comparable with such a massive u-turn in less than a week.

    But it's not about a couple of instances in 15 years, is it? It's specifically about the last three managerial dismissals/appointments. And three times out of three, the same accusation can be levelled at three different club officials , Varney , Chappell and Slater - namely that they all said one thing and then did the opposite.

    So yes, I'd argue that the circumstances are comparable and over the last 3/4 seasons it is not a ''good'' track record, if you want to express it like that. Although personally, I don't have a problem with the Reed or Parkinson dismissals, or the way they came about. What was Varney supposed to say - ''Les has got two weeks to sort it out and we've alreaady got Pardew lined up if he fails'' ? Equally, what was Slater supposed to say - ''Parkinson is on trial for his job and he has to get four points from our first two games in charge ''?

    Chappell also said the right thing. The problem was he then went and did the wrong thing!
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    [cite]Posted By: incorruptible addick[/cite]But it's not about a couple of instances in 15 years, is it?
    You're missing the point. It's about the communication of the owners of the club to us the fans, and whether we can trust what they say. In 15 years, the previous owners got it wrong far far less often than they got it right. If in 15 years time, we are successful, and the sacking of Parkinson is the only time Slater has screwed up his communication with the fans over something important, then he'll have done well. At the moment he doesn't have that track-record to back him up, so If he does it again in the next few weeks, particularly if it's going back on something else he said he wasn't going to do as soon as he took over, then your trust in him is not really justified.
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    But has Slater screwed it up to a lot of us he got it spot on



    Most have no issue with what he said and done
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    i understand where the concern is coming from. supporting Charlton is not about expectations of winning streaks and titles. it's about supporting OUR club with the utmost respect, through whatever we experience as a group. most of us have witnessed the very dark times as well as the joy during this passion fueled relationship. Charlton aren't a management team, football team or wealthy owner! Charlton are us, the fans. it is us and our fathers and grandfathers for some that are Charlton. i dont believe it's a choice that any of us here can make, people are either Charlton or they are not. i believe everyone here is Charlton and always will be!
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    I seem to be thinking rather differently from most. The Club is in the hands of new owners, and in my opinion not TJ and MS but in the Middle East. The old Charlton was heading into administration, the new Charlton seems ambitious, has money, and if they are decisive, determined and ruthless, welcome to the real world of today's football. I'm 73 but I want to look forward, I want my Grandsons to watch Premiership football instead of the crap we saw in recent games. Those who insist upon living in the past need to find another hobby because if you can't see that changes are inevitable you will only be frustrated. I have just posted that Dennis Wise and Ray Wilkins are to be the new management team, which although not confirmed I believe to be correct. Now along with many others I made it clear that I did not want Wise, but if it's a done deal then I will get behind him and the team as always. If some want to whinge on then I will ignore those threads, to me it looks like ' onwards and upwards ' and I'm ready to rumble.
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    I can just about understand the Parkinson sacking for two reasons:

    1.) Fnas were divided
    2.) Performances have been dire recently

    What I wont understand, and will be extremely annoyed about if it does happen is if Wise is involved - he got asked a straight questions and denied it. I don't care about the language being used or what he actually said he gave the impression to thousands of people that Dennis Wise was not on the agenda.

    I understand Chizz's post as this is definitely not the Charlton I started supporting and am a little nervous about where the club is going but will give everyone (apart from Wise) the benefit of the doubt for now.
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    Chizz you should have lived through young Mr Gliksten's rule then you might then you would know what being disillusioned really is.
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    [cite]Posted By: aliwibble[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: incorruptible addick[/cite]But it's not about a couple of instances in 15 years, is it?
    You're missing the point. It's about the communication of the owners of the club to us the fans, and whether we can trust what they say. In 15 years, the previous owners got it wrong far far less often than they got it right. If in 15 years time, we are successful, and the sacking of Parkinson is the only time Slater has screwed up his communication with the fans over something important, then he'll have done well. At the moment he doesn't have that track-record to back him up, so If he does it again in the next few weeks, particularly if it's going back on something else he said he wasn't going to do as soon as he took over, then your trust in him is not really justified.

    An extremely pertinent and well judged point.
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    Cant believe the amount of stick Chizz has got on this thread.

    Im fairly old school, watch us through thin and thinner, season ticket every year since 1985 and this is the lowest I have felt about the club since 1991?? when Alwen etc saved us.

    Would love to be proved wrong though.
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    edited January 2011
    [cite]Posted By: aliwibble[/cite] Slater has screwed up his communication with the fans

    In your opinion, Aliwibble. Rather more seem to have welcomed his decision, which was pretty much in tune with the thousands who walked out before the end on Monday evening. So we will simply have to agree to differ.
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    [cite]Posted By: nth london addick[/cite]But has Slater screwed it up to a lot of us he got it spot on

    Most have no issue with what he said and done

    And there's the rub.

    Those who wanted Parky out see Slater/the board's decision as correct and praiseworthy. It shows him to be decisive and pro-active because he did what they wanted.

    Others, many of whom had more time for Parky, see it as hasty, reactive and inconsistent with Slater's very recent statements as well as not "the Charlton way".

    Reluctantly I too agreed enough was enough after Swindon and the players and fans helped make the board's decision an easy one but that is by the by.

    There seems to be a new orthodoxy being pushed now. Where as a few weeks ago doom and gloom seemed almost mandatory on Charlton Life and any expression of optimism or joy in following our team was denigrated by some as "rose tinted" or "being happy we are in a s**** league" now any small doubt or reservation about the new "owners" and the Brave New World they are set to bring is seen as a heresy.

    Sincerely expressed views such as Chizz are dismissed while he is told to "man up". Yet such negativity was regularly praised as "realistic" and "pragmatic" only days ago.

    Personally I don't agree with Chizz but then again neither am I totally sold on the takeover.

    While Peter Varney and Richard Murray are firmly in the "good guys" camp in my book neither is perfect and both have made what could be seen as hard or even harsh decisions in the past. What both have is a track record against which to measure them. Some good, some bad. With Slater and Jiminez we have very little so far to go on. And as we still don't even know the names of the true owners we have nothing at all to go on with them. Varney vouches for them and that's a big plus in my book but sorry not quite enough.

    We don't know to what extent Varney and Murray can influence the other board members now the deal is done and we still have a lot of major gaps in our knowledge.

    We don't know who really owns the Club, where the money and how much of it is coming from, what the business plan is, if the Academy and the Valley are to be protected or developed and, crucially for me, what the exit strategy is? How and when do they plan to walk away?

    Maybe we have been spoilt down the years with copies of accounts, AGMs, Q & As, Fans Forum's etc. We have become used to far more information and discussion on how the Club is run and where the money is spent than is normal for professional clubs. Directors were fans and happy to chat about Charlton. Maybe we should just accept that those times have gone, take our Soma and chant "everybody's happy nowadays" as the characters in Brave New World did.

    Or maybe like Prague Addick and AFKA and some others we should retain some caution and some inquisitiveness alongside our optimism.
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    edited January 2011
    [cite]Posted By: incorruptible addick[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: aliwibble[/cite]Slater has screwed up his communication with the fans

    In your opinion, Aliwibble. Rather more seem to have welcomed his decision, which was pretty much in tune with the thousands who walked out before the end on Monday evening. So we will simply have to agree to differ.

    The decision is one thing, whether one agrees or disagrees with it we are at the beginning of a transfer window, however categorically stating that there were to be no big changes and that "we were going to sit down with Phil and see what is needed" is quite another. They also categorically stated that there were no plans to involve Dennis Wise now he appears to be the odds on favourite for the job.

    It is the seeming lack of integrity that is the real concern from shadowy unknown figures and one cannot help but wonder what other plans they have for our beloved club.
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    edited January 2011
    [cite]Posted By: incorruptible addick[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: aliwibble[/cite]Slater has screwed up his communication with the fans

    In your opinion, Aliwibble. Rather more seem to have welcomed his decision, which was pretty much in tune with the thousands who walked out before the end on Monday evening. So we will simply have to agree to differ.

    Aliwibble isn't talking about the decision - she's talking about a new owner saying one thing one day then doing the opposite four days' later. That does not bode well for winning the trust of the fans.

    RCT - this is a very different situation from Les Reed. We are in a play-off position, not a relegation position, and Parky built the squad from nothing on a shoestring. Yes, not everything was rosy on the pitch, but I'm not sure that a knee-jerk reaction of sack the manager is the best way to put that right.

    It all depends who comes in as next manager - if Wise is involved in any shape or form, then I will find myself firmly in the dark, dark corner with Chizz. Until then, I am hoping against hope that it doesn't come to that.
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    I think it's natural to feel a little hollow at the moment. It is part down to some poor results and performances on the pitch after a great run had given us so much hope, partly the sacking of a liked manager that whilst some may have wanted to go, most probably were happy to give him more time. It's partly that the new board has come in and sacked the manager before we have really got a feel for what they are about - are they going to bring in the right man, do they know what they are doing, are we going to bring in some players? This is not meant to be critical but merely questions we don't know the answers too and the worry/uncertainty makes it natural to feel a bit hollow.

    The cure will be a few new faces and getting back to winning ways. But we probably will have a week or two of the blues until the grey areas are coloured in.
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    [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: nth london addick[/cite]But has Slater screwed it up to a lot of us he got it spot on

    Most have no issue with what he said and done

    And there's the rub.

    Those who wanted Parky out see Slater/the board's decision as correct and praiseworthy. It shows him to be decisive and pro-active because he did what they wanted.

    Others, many of whom had more time for Parky, see it as hasty, reactive and inconsistent with Slater's very recent statements as well as not "the Charlton way".

    Reluctantly I too agreed enough was enough after Swindon and the players and fans helped make the board's decision an easy one but that is by the by.

    There seems to be a new orthodoxy being pushed now. Where as a few weeks ago doom and gloom seemed almost mandatory on Charlton Life and any expression of optimism or joy in following our team was denigrated by some as "rose tinted" or "being happy we are in a s**** league" now any small doubt or reservation about the new "owners" and the Brave New World they are set to bring is seen as a heresy.

    Sincerely expressed views such as Chizz are dismissed while he is told to "man up". Yet such negativity was regularly praised as "realistic" and "pragmatic" only days ago.

    Personally I don't agree with Chizz but then again neither am I totally sold on the takeover.

    While Peter Varney and Richard Murray are firmly in the "good guys" camp in my book neither is perfect and both have made what could be seen as hard or even harsh decisions in the past. What both have is a track record against which to measure them. Some good, some bad. With Slater and Jiminez we have very little so far to go on. And as we still don't even know the names of the true owners we have nothing at all to go on with them. Varney vouches for them and that's a big plus in my book but sorry not quite enough.

    We don't know to what extent Varney and Murray can influence the other board members now the deal is done and we still have a lot of major gaps in our knowledge.

    We don't know who really owns the Club, where the money and how much of it is coming from, what the business plan is, if the Academy and the Valley are to be protected or developed and, crucially for me, what the exit strategy is? How and when do they plan to walk away?

    Maybe we have been spoilt down the years with copies of accounts, AGMs, Q & As, Fans Forum's etc. We have become used to far more information and discussion on how the Club is run and where the money is spent than is normal for professional clubs. Directors were fans and happy to chat about Charlton. Maybe we should just accept that those times have gone, take our Soma and chant "everybody's happy nowadays" as the characters in Brave New World did.

    Or maybe like Prague Addick and AFKA and some others we should retain some caution and some inquisitiveness alongside our optimism.

    Well observed, Henry.

    I think that the Parkinson haters are using the "bold" decision to sack Parkinson as a justification for saying that nobody should question the new owners about their motives or their actual resources.

    I am sorry, but I don't see sacking Phil Parkinson and ending up with a Dennis Wise/Ray Wilkins combination as any sort of progress for Charlton Athletic Football Club.

    People talk about Parkinson's lack of managerial achievements, so what has Dennis Wise ever done in management? Er, got Leeds relegated and helped to get Millwall relegated as well.

    Wilkins? Lovely guy, that reminds me of someone else too, but as a manager he has done nothing. Zilch. Zero. Rien. Nada. Feck All.

    Now, if we end up getting a class manager and spending some serious cash in January then I will gladly eat my words but if we don't then there are plenty on here who might wish they had taken a bit longer to think before declaring the new regime to be the best thing since sliced bread.

    If the new owners don't invest heavily in January - given how desperate they have said they are to get out of League One - then it will only be for one reason: They don't have much money after all.

    I look forward to eating a large slice of humble pie if I am wrong, we will soon see anyway.
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    Agree to an extent with your sentiments Weegie but I dont think the sacking was knee- jerk. The new owners whilst only being at the club a matter of days will be vastly aware of parkinsons performance since he had the job, additionally influenced by the knowledge passed on to them by supporters such as RM and PV who have seen it first hand.

    Of course Parkinson's performance is the issue that has divided many fans for the past couple of years and so logically those who felt he underperformed are likely to be pleased whereas those who deemed him to be doing a good job will be displeased.......the cycle of that argument continues it would seem! ;-)
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    I have caution Henners it may not seem like i do in my posts but i do.

    I am trying after 4 seasons of worry and 3 seasons of having no faith in the manager placed in control of my club due to the results that he had steered us to, thats pardew and parkinson.

    I asked after Pardew for a clean sweep, we never got it and it resulted in 2 more years of poor performances, poor decision making and poor signings.

    Parkinson never had a chance in my eyes i couldnt forgive him as he was a part of pardew

    i said either the days leading upto or the day he was installed that he would need to win the league,

    he had to start well to be given an amount of time from the fans to get behind him,

    He did that fair play to him first 6 games last season we were like a different team,

    then it started to happen, poor tactics turning wins into draws, no real inspiration from the sideline, poor signings coming in and poor mgmt of our best footballing prospect.


    Then ultimately failure we wernt going up in the autos but we had the best team to pull out in the playoffs

    the tactics at Swindon were shocking the fault for the 2nd goal was yet again from our corner, how many times did we fudge our own set plays and put pressure on our defense.

    We got an away goal in a game we should have lost 3 or 4 -1

    Then we started well at home we got infront we turned a 2-1 losing postition into a 3-2 winning one ( iam not balming him for the penalty misses) but we shouldve seen the game out he shouldve ensured we see the game out by doing something to make sure it happend,

    Nicky Bailey had been allowed in the games throughout the season to continue to try that worldy pass when an easier one was on,

    Bailey was asked by someone on here if parkinson was a shouter an enforcer of his ideas and was told no he is a cuddler a pal of the players.

    this showed with the same poor decisions being made by the same players.

    We now have a new broom it has swept clean it is the start of a new era and one that i will support whole heartedly i will vocally support at every match i attend


    because they deserve that support because as football fans its our club or desire to achieve taht they are trying to assist.

    In My opinion they have done nothing wrong so far for me to question them
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    [cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite]
    [cite]
    I look forward to eating a large slice of humble pie if I am wrong, we will soon see anyway.


    Dont think there is a need for anyone to do this whatever the outcome. We all want the same thing for our club ultimately ie success and financial security etc.

    After the past few years of real disharmony amongst Charlton fans if things really turned round and fortune favoured us I be happy and certainly wouldnt get any pleasure from the "told you so" and vice versa would hope it would apply if it did go tits up.
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    I just looked up what Prague Addick said three days ago, in a post that was widely praised by many on the forum at the time.

    Has everything really changed because the new owners felt they had no option but to remove a managerial team which showed on Monday night that they had lost the plot, the fans and possibly the players, too? And do we really believe that decision was taken against the wishes of Varney and Murray and not with their full support?

    The position at the moment is that a club that was slowly expiring has been given a lifeline. Personally, I agree with what Prague Addick said on Monday : we have to ''let the new team bed in, especially in January, and see how it all plays out''. Declaring that we are now owned by Beelzebub and complaining that ''our'' club has been hijacked by the forces of darkness is, at this stage, a ridiculous over-reaction.

    Anyway, here's what Prague Addick said:-


    It's going to be alright, I think.

    Richard Murray is not just on a salary, he continues to have a stake. He wants to concentrate on maintaining communications with the fans, together with Peter. They see themselves as being the guardians of the club's "soul", which is great news. It could have been sold to the devil, after all.

    I think there is more to the new ownership than just messrs Slater and Jiminez, but there is definitely a strategy to keep things low key because otherwise other clubs will smell money and make life difficult. So on that basis we'd probably be doing them a favour if we let the new team bed in, especially in January, and see how it all plays out.

    It is not going to be a a dramatic change on the surface. But I was helped to realise something important today. Just being a well run club, organised on sound commercial principles, as Michael Slater described yesterday, will give us a huge advantage over the next 2-5 years, because most of the rest of them are going to hell in a handcart. Not very sexy, but very sound thinking.

    It's going to be alright...
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    Seems to me the one thing which should bring us all together is that we all clearly care about cafc. If we didn't then we wouldn't be so adamant in our views.

    I would have given Parky some money and time (till the end of the season at least). But the new board clearly want to put a line under what has gone before and move forward. If money is available they want to give it to someone they trust. I can understand the reasoning. I do not agree with a complete u-turn in the managerial position over the course of one weekend and think with a few more carefully chosen words they could have handled things better. But that does not matter now.

    Looking ahead I personally couldn't care less if we ever reach the Premiership again. I didn't find it to be the utopia that we expected and financially it doesn't solve any problems. A number of teams have been their since day one and are still suffering financial problems. All i want is for the new owners to attempt to gain success through a sound financial plan (not the Cardiff route) and only time will tell if that will be the case.
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    Excellent post HI, sums up my own stance perfectly.


    As an aside, can we try and refrain from the term 'Parky haters' ? I don't think anyone hated Parky. Didn't think he was good enough as manager, yes, but hate ? Don't think so.

    Ps. Would happily put myself up for Chairman of the Wise Hating Committee
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    [cite]Posted By: AFKABartram[/cite]Excellent post HI, sums up my own stance perfectly.


    As an aside, can we try and refrain from the term 'Parky haters' ? I don't think anyone hated Parky. Didn't think he was good enough as manager, yes, but hate ? Don't think so.

    Ps. Would happily put myself up for Chairman of the Wise Hating Committee
    Think you might have to fight Weegie for it. :-)
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    [cite]Posted By: AFKABartram[/cite]Excellent post HI, sums up my own stance perfectly.


    As an aside, can we try and refrain from the term 'Parky haters' ? I don't think anyone hated Parky. Didn't think he was good enough as manager, yes, but hate ? Don't think so.

    Ps. Would happily put myself up for Chairman of the Wise Hating Committee

    Fair enough AFKA but I continue to believe that the way Parkinson has been talked about on here by certain individuals is an absolute bloody disgrace and an embarrassment.

    Fine to criticise him and his performance in reasonable terms but some of the comments were way out line and totally disrepectful to a man who has spent a lifetime in the professional game. Do these people visit their GP and if unhappy with their consultation tell him to his face that he is "technically inept" or "clueless"?

    He was a decent man working his bollocks off for the club and did not deserve the vitriol he got, most of which came about solely because of his association with Pardew.

    If Wise joins then I will be vice-chairman of that committee.
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    edited January 2011
    [cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite] Do these people visit their GP and if unhappy with their consultation tell him to his face that he is "technically inept" or "clueless"?

    If you mean me, then the answer is yes. In 1976, when my wife was pregnant with our first son, she got what I regarded as very poor and insensitive treatment from our GP in Manor Road, Beckenham. He was 77 years old and I told him to his face that he was totally out of touch and should have been pensioned off years ago.

    I then wrote a formal letter of complaint to Bromley Health Authority and two weeks later we got a letter of apology from the doctor and a letter from the Health Authority thanking us for drawing the matter to their attention and informing us that the doctor concerned had now agreed to take retirement. I suspect we were not the first people to have complained that he was no longer fit to do the job.

    In a way the same thing happened on Monday night. A large section of the crowd helped the employer to see that the employee was not up to the job.

    I hope these things can still be done decently (and presumbaly Parkinson, who once walked out on Colchester with a year of his contract stll to run, has done very nicely, banking half a year's pay for nothing). But the age of deference is long gone - whether its deference to doctors, football managers,politicians - or even journalists!
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    I am glad Parkys gone the Swindon Game is the worst style of football i have seen us play. The only way huge upfield punts work is if you have beast but a good one at centre forward which we do not have.I do agree however that he did his best and the personal stuff is not on to be honest.
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    [cite]Posted By: savaloy[/cite]I am glad Parkys gone the Swindon Game is the worst style of football i have seen us play. The only way huge upfield punts work is if you have beast but a good one at centre forward which we do not have.I do agree however that he did his best and the personal stuff is not on to be honest.

    Yeah and the new owners must have been watching PP on the touchline, arms folded, doing NOTHING and thought... your'e having a laugh mate.
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    I too can see this panning the takeover out either way , but agree the 'little old Charlton' we have all supported is probably now dead .

    Currently , in terms of the new manager I don't know what or who to believe . The point Incorruptable makes is well made Parky is a nice guy but he did walk out on Colchester and shake on a deal to take over Huddersfield only to remain here . What will the attitude be on CL if as is being widely reported if he teams up with Pards again at the Toon.

    In League One terms I suspect he was a well paid Manager and it seems there is almost ( a sad ) consensus emerging that Parky was clueless on Monday and the performance woeful . If I had just brought the club I think I would have made a similar u turn .

    I was broadly a Parky supporter and originally fell into the give him this season camp . On Monday I felt if we want promotion this year we needed to change quickly .

    Lets all move on and hope we return to our former glories.
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    [cite]Posted By: Richard J[/cite]but he did walk out on Colchester and shake on a deal to take over Huddersfield only to remain here . What will the attitude be on CL if as is being widely reported if he teams up with Pards again at the Toon.

    Colchester refused to allow him to talk to us unless we paid a £250k, non-repayable fee. They did the same with Ipswich so maybe PP felt he was justified as they were so unreasonable.

    Parky's version is that he never accepted the Huddersfield job. He asked for time to think about it and then was told that the press conference to announce his appointment was the next morning.
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    edited January 2011
    [cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite]

    Colchester refused to allow him to talk to us unless we paid a £250k, non-repayable fee. They did the same with Ipswich so maybe PP felt he was justified as they were so unreasonable.

    But if he had signed a contract with them and it still had a year to run, were they being ''so unreasonable''? Maybe Brighton are taking a similarly ''unreasonable'' attitude over Poyet!

    Anyway, he's gone and been paid off pretty handsomely with six months salary. The important thing is that we replace him with someone who can get the best out of the players we have, bring in some fresh blood and make the whole team 'gel' a bit quicker than the last chap could.
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