i dont care where they get their money from or even if they are able to hold a pleasant conversation, if they bring/buy the same kind of success that chelsea are having, then im all for those oligarch ilk from russia
Again I have no experience of Russian businessmen but on two seperate holidays where the hotels were predominantly made up of Russian guests I found the Russian tourists to be arrogant, surly and boorish. Not a sweeping statement but fact in my small experience.
I have to say I experienced this a lot last year when in Turkey on holiday. The russians acted as though they owned the place, constantly smoked around the kids swimming pool despite signage in every language imaginable. The talked to waiting staff as though they were below pond life.
Thoroughly unpleasant experience to be honest. (And before anyone asks they had Russian flags and towels all over the place. They were russian and proud)
Russians in holiday locations are great. With their gold track suits, joyless drinking, awful manners and speedos in the restaurant, they've made the Brit abroad a popular alternative.
Russians in holiday locations are great. With their gold track suits, joyless drinking, awful manners and speedos in the restaurant, they've made the Brit abroad a popular alternative.
In the interest of balance, can I just say that the most unbelievably, dazzlingly, outrageously beautiful women I have ever set eyes on have been Russian? Thank you.
In the interest of balance, can I just say that the most unbelievably, dazzlingly, outrageously beautiful women I have ever set eyes on have been Russian? Thank you.
Russians in holiday locations are great. With their gold track suits, joyless drinking, awful manners and speedos in the restaurant, they've made the Brit abroad a popular alternative.
I take that as a personal challenge, to take offensive behaviour to an all new level
Again I have no experience of Russian businessmen but on two seperate holidays where the hotels were predominantly made up of Russian guests I found the Russian tourists to be arrogant, surly and boorish. Not a sweeping statement but fact in my small experience.
I have to say I experienced this a lot last year when in Turkey on holiday. The russians acted as though they owned the place, constantly smoked around the kids swimming pool despite signage in every language imaginable. The talked to waiting staff as though they were below pond life.
Thoroughly unpleasant experience to be honest. (And before anyone asks they had Russian flags and towels all over the place. They were russian and proud)
Again a bit of a generalisation but from my experience I can't stand Russians one little bit, of all the nationalities I have come across it is the Russians that i dislike the most.
Not sure it is completly fair to judge all Russians on the holiday crowd as have you seen the average brit abroad especially in places like Spain.
We have just about survived the Almost Got into my Swimwear Pink Blubber Experience aboard the Island Escape. They make the Russchians on holiday look positively cultured and the Egyptian vultures on Menorca seemed positively beautiful by comparison.
Not sure it is completly fair to judge all Russians on the holiday crowd as have you seen the average brit abroad especially in places like Spain.
Lived in both New York and Singapore, so I'm not judging them from a holiday perspective.
But a few on here are and for instance my personal experiance of Russians, is mostly good but they have been either bands or journalists.
I was just pointing out how ashamed i would be if everyone from Britain was judged by some of are holiday goers especially in places like Spain & Greece.
Not sure it is completly fair to judge all Russians on the holiday crowd as have you seen the average brit abroad especially in places like Spain.
Lived in both New York and Singapore, so I'm not judging them from a holiday perspective.
But a few on here are and for instance my personal experiance of Russians, is mostly good but they have been either bands or journalists.
I was just pointing out how ashamed i would be if everyone from Britain was judged by some of are holiday goers especially in places like Spain & Greece.
We all work on the basis of our personal experiences. One of the most surprising things I've learnt, living close to Germany since 1993 is what a great country it is, and how nice most of the people are there. That definitely wasn't the experience I arrived with. As for Russians the only ones I met on holiday were way back in the early 90s', aforementioned outrageously beautiful women. I fell for one of course. She even came to the Den and Upton Park with me. But it all started to fall apart when she calmly informed me that the Holocaust was all Jewish propaganda. The terrifying thing was that she was young and uni. educated. In fact she was literally working in a rocket science lab. You can only go on what you see and hear in front of you, right?
Not sure it is completly fair to judge all Russians on the holiday crowd as have you seen the average brit abroad especially in places like Spain.
Lived in both New York and Singapore, so I'm not judging them from a holiday perspective.
But a few on here are and for instance my personal experiance of Russians, is mostly good but they have been either bands or journalists.
I was just pointing out how ashamed i would be if everyone from Britain was judged by some of are holiday goers especially in places like Spain & Greece.
Here's a sweeping generalisation for you -- over the years, most football club owners have been a pretty unattractive lot (makes you realise how blessed we were through the Richard Murray years). Like many here, I don't relish being owned by a typical Russian oligarch (& by that I mean appears to have 'earned' his dosh via sweet deals with politicians, ripping off ordinary people, etc.). But most of the truly mega-rich from other nations are also hard to love....
The reality is that a football fan is left with little alternative but to accept whatever ownership is in place (& hold our noses). No doubt if we'd clubbed together, Richard Murray would have happily sold out to a Charlton Life co-operative, but back in the real world...
My feeling is that the best tactic is to attempt to Charltonise whoever comes on board. If it's someone who seems like Abramovitch Mk2, the best thing we can do is educate him/her that SE7 is not SW6, & try and bring them down to earth asap. This won't be easy, especially if a new owner sweeps out similarly-minded staff, etc. The mega-rich can be are thick-skinned types not always caring overmuch for the views of the ordinary citizen/customer/fan (yeah, generalisation I know, but c'mon, starting naming exceptions...)
As for Russian business practices & culture, i think Prague & others are not too wide of the mark. Take a look at this article
We all work on the basis of our personal experiences. One of the most surprising things I've learnt, living close to Germany since 1993 is what a great country it is, and how nice most of the people are there. That definitely wasn't the experience I arrived with. As for Russians the only ones I met on holiday were way back in the early 90s', aforementioned outrageously beautiful women. I fell for one of course. She even came to the Den and Upton Park with me. But it all started to fall apart when she calmly informed me that the Holocaust was all Jewish propaganda. The terrifying thing was that she was young and uni. educated. In fact she was literally working in a rocket science lab. You can only go on what you see and hear in front of you, right?
Make you right there Prague, re Germans, my experience of them and their country is all positive......shame about your Russian beauty.
Despite defending Russians i have to agree that i would be very uncomfortable if we had an owner like Chelsea where it all seems very murky how he is so wealthy but on that note it is almost impossible to get an owner who will not have something dodgy about them in modern football where you need mega rich to compete.
We all have are personal line where are own morals would be tested about us being happy with the owners, for instance i lost much support for are current owners when they signed a long term deal with Nike but i no many of our fans were delighted with that deal.
It's easy to get bogged down with the small details, but on the bigger picture, something has to give surely ?
We currently have a chairman who rejects invites to supporters groups, yet is able to follow another club in Europe.
We have a majority owner who point blank from day one refuses to engage with supporters, local or national press.
We have vice chairman keeping an equally low profile, whose also not engaging with supporters groups, and who appears to be more a part time consultant if the rumour mill is to believed.
We have no Chief Executive.
We are likely to lose millions of pounds this year amid persistent rumours the main financial backer has eased interest and involvement.
Regardless of individual thoughts on speculation, rumours etc, none of the above is how a people business like a football club that's looking to be progressive should be run.
These issues will keep cropping up as long as we remain outside the premiership, there will remain the reliance of individuals to fund the losses outside of player sales. With the model we appear to have currently, that scares me, and I think. It's every right that supporters question motives or seek to understand more.
The big question though is what the hell can be done to make Charlton (and others.like us) break-even clubs outside the premiership when there is no moneyman on the scene to bridge the gap ?
In the interest of balance, can I just say that the most unbelievably, dazzlingly, outrageously beautiful women I have ever set eyes on have been Russian? Thank you.
I can't believe you are saying that and you live in Prague! The women in Prague are unreal.
I have to say I don't care about Russians on holiday being rude or ignorant. I care about Charlton.
If the rumours are true and we are financially up the creek, then investment is needed. If we sold Solly in January or even the Summer, got no replacements with the money as it was going to debt. How many of us would be wishing a Russian Billi/millionaire would come in and sort us out?
Football outside the top tier Prem. has largely become an unsustainable business where wages continue to flout normal economic rules. We are reliant on rich 'I love my club' owners like Jordan or kudos seeking wide boys wanting to buy us. I suppose a return to the Prem may be possible, a buyer may get lucky and make money, but it seems to me that losses are a more likely outcome. I still do not understand why KC put his money into CAFC unless it was as a favour to a a bosum buddy like JT. None of it has made sense and I can't see why Russians, dodgy or otherwise, would want to buy us either. AFKA's apposite question leaves me floundering in Eyeore moments where all I can say is that we haven't had an hurricane lately.
I'll be accused of being utopian etc, but there are rarely pat answers to intractable problems. But it seems to me that the Germans studied our idea of how football is to be enjoyed, and then exported it, while we gave it all way in 1990 to Murdoch and a few wannabe fat cat chairmen like David Dein.
In Germany the TV money is shared far more evenly and across both top divisions, so falling out of Bundesliga 1 is never a financial meltdown. The top authority in the game is not the Bundesliga but the DFB, the equivalent of the FA, but clearly far more effective. Then of course most of the clubs have some kind of fan ownership, so the good things are more likely to remain. Things like safe standing, sensible pricing, decent beers while watching the game. Huge crowds everywhere, just take a look at the Bundesliga highlights show (ignoring the awful presenters), and tell me you don't want a piece of all that.
So that's what we want, I think. How to get there is the much more intractable problem. But if most clubs had active Trusts, we'd be moving towards ownership, and that also would create a powerful political lobby.
In the interest of balance, can I just say that the most unbelievably, dazzlingly, outrageously beautiful women I have ever set eyes on have been Russian? Thank you.
I can't believe you are saying that and you live in Prague! The women in Prague are unreal.
Shed no tears for me, I married one :-). And daily I have to interview further examples.
Actually , this kind of beauty is pan-Slavic, the difference is in how they deploy it. Russian women deploy full on assaults on all the male senses. I dug out this email from my Spanner-supporting client when he was in Moscow a few months ago :
"(I'm in Moscow and it appears the fashion for the Summer is 'Pole Dancer'.)
The problem with Russian women is that they may be stunning but they have absolutely no style when it comes to dressing up without looking slutty. They same goes for how they apply their makeup. Oh and the accent is not exactly sexy is it?
I hope that AFKA's superb post isn't eclipsed by pole dancing Eastern European beauties. I think the club is at a crossroads yet again. I don't believe we are near or even in the same country as any possible takeover. I think TJ is slowly gaining control to make his job of wheeling and dealing that much easier. Not sure how all this will turn out but at the moment I am very concerned. Our current board and set up are as far away as possible from being how I want them to be. The success on the pitch last season is papering over a lot of cracks in the club IMHO. Please let me be wrong.
Comments
maybe I could suggest an experiment with your Russian colleagues? Why don't you ask them their opinion of Abramovic and their oligarch ilk
Personally,I wouldn't give a flying.. about what other Russians think about him.Be interested to hear a Chelsea fans view though.
There are words to summarise attitudes like that. The most polite one is "insular".
Thoroughly unpleasant experience to be honest. (And before anyone asks they had Russian flags and towels all over the place. They were russian and proud)
I was just pointing out how ashamed i would be if everyone from Britain was judged by some of are holiday goers especially in places like Spain & Greece.
The reality is that a football fan is left with little alternative but to accept whatever ownership is in place (& hold our noses). No doubt if we'd clubbed together, Richard Murray would have happily sold out to a Charlton Life co-operative, but back in the real world...
My feeling is that the best tactic is to attempt to Charltonise whoever comes on board. If it's someone who seems like Abramovitch Mk2, the best thing we can do is educate him/her that SE7 is not SW6, & try and bring them down to earth asap. This won't be easy, especially if a new owner sweeps out similarly-minded staff, etc. The mega-rich can be are thick-skinned types not always caring overmuch for the views of the ordinary citizen/customer/fan (yeah, generalisation I know, but c'mon, starting naming exceptions...)
As for Russian business practices & culture, i think Prague & others are not too wide of the mark. Take a look at this article
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_28/b4139033326721.htm
We all have are personal line where are own morals would be tested about us being happy with the owners, for instance i lost much support for are current owners when they signed a long term deal with Nike but i no many of our fans were delighted with that deal.
It's easy to get bogged down with the small details, but on the bigger picture, something has to give surely ?
We currently have a chairman who rejects invites to supporters groups, yet is able to follow another club in Europe.
We have a majority owner who point blank from day one refuses to engage with supporters, local or national press.
We have vice chairman keeping an equally low profile, whose also not engaging with supporters groups, and who appears to be more a part time consultant if the rumour mill is to believed.
We have no Chief Executive.
We are likely to lose millions of pounds this year amid persistent rumours the main financial backer has eased interest and involvement.
Regardless of individual thoughts on speculation, rumours etc, none of the above is how a people business like a football club that's looking to be progressive should be run.
These issues will keep cropping up as long as we remain outside the premiership, there will remain the reliance of individuals to fund the losses outside of player sales. With the model we appear to have currently, that scares me, and I think. It's every right that supporters question motives or seek to understand more.
The big question though is what the hell can be done to make Charlton (and others.like us) break-even clubs outside the premiership when there is no moneyman on the scene to bridge the gap ?
I have to say I don't care about Russians on holiday being rude or ignorant. I care about Charlton.
If the rumours are true and we are financially up the creek, then investment is needed. If we sold Solly in January or even the Summer, got no replacements with the money as it was going to debt. How many of us would be wishing a Russian Billi/millionaire would come in and sort us out?
In Germany the TV money is shared far more evenly and across both top divisions, so falling out of Bundesliga 1 is never a financial meltdown. The top authority in the game is not the Bundesliga but the DFB, the equivalent of the FA, but clearly far more effective. Then of course most of the clubs have some kind of fan ownership, so the good things are more likely to remain. Things like safe standing, sensible pricing, decent beers while watching the game. Huge crowds everywhere, just take a look at the Bundesliga highlights show (ignoring the awful presenters), and tell me you don't want a piece of all that.
So that's what we want, I think. How to get there is the much more intractable problem. But if most clubs had active Trusts, we'd be moving towards ownership, and that also would create a powerful political lobby.
Actually , this kind of beauty is pan-Slavic, the difference is in how they deploy it. Russian women deploy full on assaults on all the male senses. I dug out this email from my Spanner-supporting client when he was in Moscow a few months ago :
"(I'm in Moscow and it appears the fashion for the Summer is 'Pole Dancer'.)