I don't believe the heart of the club has been lost. It was on display 3 minutes after the kick-off on Wednesday night. We still got behind the team and were there to clap them off at full-time. It was done with dignity and showed to Riga and RD why the club is special. Who is favour of repeating the applause at every home game this season both out of continued respect for Chris Powell and a reminder that he and The Valley are special to us?
To me RD has performed an autopsy on "my" Charlton.
He has overseen the removal of the working organs and replaced them with robotic parts. He will be able to use his remote control from his arm chair and flick players around his clubs as he would tv channels. The nursery prospects will be raised under perfect conditions from the raw material to players worth millions and ripe for sale to the highest bidder. In the meantime player units will be passed around to add value to his various clubs as they improve their league positions. Then, at a time RD can see an acceptable profit, clubs will be sold off and other cheaper ones bought.
He could make millions - good luck to him and I hope it makes him happy.
Football used to be run by football people. Yes, they could not keep up when the really big money machine hit the game and the already rich saw the possibility of making more riches from our sport. That's when we lost "our game".
I agree whole heartedly with RM who started this thread. It's not about anything else, it's about losing "our club"
I don't need any smart arse telling me that my post is crap. I am telling you how it feels for me and I think many other fans of very long standing. And I am allowed to express my point of view as you are yours.
Some of you will be dramatically against my point of view but I would ask you to respect it as I respect yours. We all love the club and want to see it prosper.
I strongly feel I have lost my Charlton and currently feel empty because, whatever my support, it will influence nothing.
Sorry not sure how that the early post - posted before being edited
Princess Fiona, please explain why it does not feel like our club, what is fundamentally the problem? I am really interested in understanding why many people feel why the club is so different.
vff - I am not telling anyone who and how they support their football club. We have not had any goal scoring forwards all season it is why we are lowest scoring team in the league. RD has not yet been in control for 10 weeks during which time we have tried to sign Best, Wickham and apparently even Miller - they all decided to go elsewhere - and they are the ones we know about.
In terms of Powells' departure I disagree. It showed both respect and confidence in the mans ability by seeking to employ him in the role that you wanted to head the football side of the business. In terms of his track record it would have been fundamentally foolish not to explore such opportunity. Regrettably because of a fundamental difference of opinion as to how the club should move forward they could not reach agreement
KentRed - can you not read? I asked you specifically on another thread to tell me what club you do want? Then please tell me how do you intend to pay for it?
The situation is staring you in the face. The club as a trading entity does generate enough funds; - to pay peoples salaries, why do you think the previous lot manufactured the departure of half the admin staff - to offer the 28 players (inc.loans) soon to be out of contract, any improved terms. - to maintain the playing surface which is why it requires a dome to cover it and £500k plus investment in the close season - to invest in new recruits, agents did not even bother to let players come for a trial - it was not worth it, because the club could not even offer players "off the street" a contract. - to invest in Category 1 status for the academy which is why our young players are being "stolen" from the academy.
It is no point whingeing about it - THESE ARE FACTS. Will RD have all the answers to all of the above? I have no idea - we will find out - but to argue people have not offered any alternatives is frankly absolutely ridiculous.
The whole point is RD is offering an alternative. I have tried over 2, 3 even 4 pieces to outline the issues. We even have the bizarre assertions at what RD is offering is a short term solution - he is certainly not - he is looking at ways to make struggling clubs financially viable and still remain competitive.
I apologize if I particularly pick on you with these comments they could apply to so many contributors. So I ask RalphMilne the same questions.
In this scenario you cannot endlessly keep telling people what you do not want. Well you can but it does not get you anywhere - people have been electing governments for decades on the same basis but this is neither a democracy nor do we have the ability to raise taxes to pay for it.
Can you not see the very reason we are now under new ownership is because we have spent our way through large portions of Murrays', Chappells', Murrays' acquaintances' and TJs' mystery investors' fortunes? It has not and will not work without major, major funding and the very real risk of major, major losses even then there is no guarantee, look at Bolton, look at QPR.
I am sure there will have been a number of interested parties in buying the club but each was looking at us in an entirely different perspective. Some were "playing chicken" waiting for us to go into administration, others had real estate in mind. Such people had plenty of opportunity to step in and chose not to.
So it is what it is. Tell us what club you do want, what this mysterious identity is all about, and sadly yes how you pay for it - I will very happily and quite genuinely listen but a list of "I do not wants" doesn't cut it. To achieve anything you have to set out your target and then work out how to get there.
I will add this final thought on Powells' departure. As with Kermorgant he was offered a contract to stay with the club. Would the club have been better served by his staying at the helm? Would he have had the ability to contribute to the plan going forward? Absolutely, which is why he was offered a new contract.
He did not want however to give up his autonomy over team selection. I understand and respect the decisions he made that led to his departure but head coaches on the continent, and most of us in our daily working lives, make such compromises all the time for the good of the clubs, and the businesses, they and we all work for.
That in no way diminishes my respect for the man, but he could still be here.
This is a very well made point Grapevine, which, for me, goes right to the heart of of the issue regarding people's concerns over the 'network' element of the takeover.
You ask a polite open question, unfortunately I, for one, would be amazed if you received any kind of constructive answer other than that what is needed if for 'someone with the good of the team at heart' to 'invest' (ha!!!) in the club, which is, of course, code for 'someone with more love for the club than financial sense to simply give it millions of pounds each year so that an otherwise insolvent organisation can continue to live beyond its means'.
I absolutely respect your position, and I have some of the same feelings myself, but: Most or all of the players, staff, manager and owners who played in the 1947 cup final are dead. Most of those who saw it are dead. The stands are different, the kit is different. What makes it Charlton? What do we support? Change is inevitable, desirable and difficult. If we look too closely at what we support we may find it uncomfortably like an onion. One layer after another, all of which can be peeled away or lost and none of which are the heart of the onion. Surely there is something there about community - isnt that why we cling to regional names for our teams and abhor the likes of Franchise Dons as something unnatural. If that happened, then talk about the end.
Polar opposite views were what I was expecting when I posted this. To mock those who believe something is now missing or the 'soul' of the club has forever been tarnished should not be mocked. My original point is that we have been through worse times, but the supporters stood firm and fought for what they believe in. We are now just another club, run by foreign money, with a foreign manager and soon the 'team' will have no identity with the supporters. Regardless of if you wanted Powell to stay or go, you know that come 5pm on a Saturday night, if we had lost you knew that Powell would be as upset as any supporter. The same goes for many of the players, Jackson, Hamer, Hughes, Solley, Harriott obviously care about the club. Do you think these new players will feel the same?
Powell has been treated disgracefully, and I for one will never forget that. It will be very interesting to see how season ticket sales will be affected. My guess is at least 25-35% down.
I've been a Charlton supporter for 35 years, through the tough times and the occasional good times. But I can honestly say I will never feel the same again. They will always be my team, but I cannot attend matches as I feel that my arse in that seat only gives justification on RD's actions and intentions. I hope I am wrong, but I have a feeling over the next 2-3 years RD's true intentions will be all to clear and by then it will too late.
And as many people state, change is inevitable? Yes to some extent that is correct. However, in 1985 with a 'message to our supporters' our board decided that ground sharing would be the best way forward. Would you still embrace that now? After all change is inevitable. Cobblers, without the supporters fighting hard, we eventually moved back to the Valley. Change for changes sake is not always good. I'm not saying Powell should be reinstated, however, I cannot give my backing to another of RD's stooges taking the reins, we may as well have employed Jim Henson, he was good at operating puppets.
And as many people state, change is inevitable? Yes to some extent that is correct. However, in 1985 with a 'message to our supporters' our board decided that ground sharing would be the best way forward. Would you still embrace that now? After all change is inevitable. Cobblers, without the supporters fighting hard, we eventually moved back to the Valley. Change for changes sake is not always good. I'm not saying Powell should be reinstated, however, I cannot give my backing to another of RD's stooges taking the reins, we may as well have employed Jim Henson, he was good at operating puppets.
You make a good point well, but it is a question of what do you want to fight for, particularly on the financial/network side? Fight to get another sugar-daddy fan who will pay out for the losses each year to stop the club folding? Fight to cut the club's biggest costs - players wages, either for each player or by cutting the size of the squad? What should the club do?
I have to say having once lived in Crowborough & Mayfield are you sure you come from Tunbridge Wells?
"To me RD has performed an autopsy on "my" Charlton. He has overseen the removal of the working organs and replaced them with robotic parts."
Sorry what does that actually mean -
"The nursery prospects will be raised under perfect conditions from the raw material to players worth millions and ripe for sale to the highest bidder."
What you mean like Hinton, Bailey, Bonds, Campbell, Elliott, Flanagan, Glover, Hales, Jenkinson, Konchesky, Parker, Shelvey, Went, Walsh etc.,? Hardly a new approach for us - is it?
"In the meantime player units will be passed around to add value to his various clubs as they improve their league positions."
Well we ARE one of his clubs - so if he added value to us and improved our league position that would be good wouldn't it?
"Then, at a time RD can see an acceptable profit, clubs will be sold off and other cheaper ones bought."
Well as you obviously don't like the bloke and if someone else wants to buy us and give him a profit then we would have be in a materially better position than we are now when most prospective investors were waiting for us to go into administration. So that's "a win - win" too
"He could make millions - good luck to him and I hope it makes him happy".
I agree he could and when he does it to our disadvantage I will be the first to complain. At the moment he is anything from £12mn - £25mn in credit.
"Football used to be run by football people".
I agree entirely but they have all run out of money. That is not a problem RD created. It is a problem his approach is trying to address
"I agree whole heartedly with RM who started this thread. It's not about anything else, it's about losing "our club"
Please explain what does that actually mean. How have you lost your club to any greater degree than the Gliskstens, Hulyer (where everybody very nearly did lose the club), Sunleys (where the club was certainly misplaced), Murray (now everybodys' pantomime villain) and Jiminez (where we had no bloody idea who really owned the club)
"I don't need any smart arse telling me that my post is crap. I am telling you how it feels for me and I think many other fans of very long standing. And I am allowed to express my point of view as you are yours."
You are certainly allowed to express your opinion and am genuinely interested in trying to understand it. However it does seem largely based on supposition and after less than 10 weeks it is probably just a tad early to make such assessments.
"I strongly feel I have lost my Charlton and currently feel empty because, whatever my support, it will not influence a thing."
I am truly sorry to feel that way but in all honesty did you really feel you were going to influence any of the earlier owners of the club?
Is anyone on here old enough to remember the Eddie Firmani sacking as manager. I was a young kid, but remember my Dad being upset as Eddie was idolised as a Charlton player. Does anyone remember the general reaction of the fans at the time and whether there was a similar degree of outrage?
Curb_it, you might be right about the conversation going on, but I believe I am right in saying that it will get you nowhere, and won't change anything. I have an open mind on the situation at the moment, and will concentrate on supporting my Club. Forward with CAFC.
Is anyone on here old enough to remember the Eddie Firmani sacking as manager. I was a young kid, but remember my Dad being upset as Eddie was idolised as a Charlton player. Does anyone remember the general reaction of the fans at the time and whether there was a similar degree of outrage?
2 blokes discussed it for 2 minutes over a pint of brown ale in The Bugle and then we all moved on. Looking at some of the embarrassing stuff that has been posted on here since Monday I am not sure what the better days were
Both football and CAFC have changed and not for the better. The days where the fans are a big part of this club are passing - the loss of a seat on the board by a fan was a big blow. Now we're becoming what most other teams in the 92 have become - a club where you have customers instead of fans, employees instead of players and assets instead of heroes. We will always sing our lungs out for the team wearing the badge and as long as we have the Valley they can't take away our spirit. Talk of the club's death is premature by many years and is only a side-effect of the shock that a takeover will have - we're not the first set of fans to cry that our club is forever lost when the club changes hands or a manager is sacked. The fact you are occupying yourself with thoughts of this instead of the fact that we need to have a big presence at Millwall tomorrow says it all - don't forget that the football comes first, always. Our owner could be Fred Flintstone and our manager could be Snoop Dogg for all I care as long as we're still putting 11 players out there every week of the season.
Curb_it, you might be right about the conversation going on, but I believe I am right in saying that it will get you nowhere, and won't change anything. I have an open mind on the situation at the moment, and will concentrate on supporting my Club. Forward with CAFC.
It may not get you anywhere but like when most relationships come to an end people like to go through it in fine detail. And anyone who can move on without a backward glance in a matter of hours tend to be heartless psycho's.
Doesn't mean to say those upset can't support the club. And all of you getting upset with people that are upset that Powell has gone then well quite frankly tough tits!
Is anyone on here old enough to remember the Eddie Firmani sacking as manager. I was a young kid, but remember my Dad being upset as Eddie was idolised as a Charlton player. Does anyone remember the general reaction of the fans at the time and whether there was a similar degree of outrage?
2 blokes discussed it for 2 minutes over a pint of brown ale in The Bugle and then we all moved on. Looking at some of the embarrassing stuff that has been posted on here since Monday I am not sure what the better days were
Yes your posts among them. Why do you need to get aggressive and patronising because others see things different to you. You appear to be happy to sit in your hospitality and enjoy the football no matter what is happening. I envy you that in a way but many others are thinkers and are concerned.
Trouble on here too many people are sentimental and unfortunately that does not stop us getting relegated Move on
Still with the bloody move ons. A change of manager ain't likely to do it either. The current non strengthening of the team will not stop Charlton getting relegated either.
Is anyone on here old enough to remember the Eddie Firmani sacking as manager. I was a young kid, but remember my Dad being upset as Eddie was idolised as a Charlton player. Does anyone remember the general reaction of the fans at the time and whether there was a similar degree of outrage?
2 blokes discussed it for 2 minutes over a pint of brown ale in The Bugle and then we all moved on. Looking at some of the embarrassing stuff that has been posted on here since Monday I am not sure what the better days were
Yes your posts among them. Why do you need to get aggressive and patronising because others see things different to you. You appear to be happy to sit in your hospitality and enjoy the football no matter what is happening. I envy you that in a way but many others are thinkers and are concerned.
"Aggressive" "Patronising" Do me a favour Kentred, I finish a vast majority of my posts on here with a :-) and I am known for my "Sheff Utd will come good" comments just for a laugh.
Nobody has died, nobody has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, a football manager has been sacked because the team he used to manage is lying at the bottom of the league 4 points adrift.
Trouble on here too many people are sentimental and unfortunately that does not stop us getting relegated Move on
Still with the bloody move ons. A change of manager ain't likely to do it either. The current non strengthening of the team will not stop Charlton getting relegated either.
Ah good What did you plan to do then? Buy Roland the rat out and bring Powell back then? Or even parkinson?
All I am trying to do is trying to a have reasoned debate on the issues. You made a series of comments which you are perfectly entitled to do and I quite genuinely am simply asking you to clarify those comments.
Grapevine49 - I admire your hard-headed pragmatism. I've been gradually falling out of love with football generally since the advent of the Premiership and Sky when 'professional' and money became more nakedly what the business is all about rather than the (I suppose) outdated notions of the 'Corinthian Spirit' and high ideals of sport. I've clung on to Charlton out of loyalty and habit - my first game was in 1949 - and because there always seemed to be something to justify my belief that there was something 'special' about the club, especially with events such as the Valley Party etc. and because there were always some people associated with the club who seemed to care about it and the ethos that I found attractive. During the horrible Jiminez/Slater days it was Chris Powell and some of his staff who seemed to me to embody that same spirit that kept me attached. At this moment I am not sure if there's any vestige of that left. Foreign owner, foreign head coach, some vast pan-European network - well, I'll give it time, but at the moment it doesn't bode well for the continuation of what I've loved over the years. And I can't bring myself to join the 'who cares as long as we win' mentality. Perhaps foolishly, I do care for other things in addition to the result. But in the meantime, since it seems that CAFC has been dragged into the results-only world, M. Duchatelet and his associates will be judged by me, simply on their results. In a way it will be easier and less stressful for me because I used to care enormously about whether we won or lost because of the people involved - I cared and wanted success for them as much as for me. Now I will be more dispassionate because I won't be feeling for M. Duchatelet or Mr Riga if we lose - it's their club and their ethos, not mine. Perhaps I am becoming more hard-headed and pragmatic!
I appreciate what you say Nadou and of course you are perfectly justified in your opinion, but, to be fair (to the best of my knowledge) RD has never said his is a 'results-only world'. Quite the opposite - he was negotiating to renew CP's contract when the club had only won six games all year!
I appreciate what you say Nadou and of course you are perfectly justified in your opinion, but, to be fair (to the best of my knowledge) RD has never said his is a 'results-only world'. Quite the opposite - he was negotiating to renew CP's contract when the club had only won six games all year!
No-one knows what was involved in those negotiations but my opinion is he was paying lip-service to appease fans before making his move to get rid of Powell which he planned to do all along.
Fair point, StevieK. I guess what I really meant, and expressed poorly, was that, in presenting Powell with the kind of vision for the club's future that he could not go along with, rather than trusting that here was a man of honour and integrity who had done well in the past and was just as likely to get us out of the relegation battle as anyone else, Duchatelet has opted for a modus operandi that seems at odds with what I like and admire.
Nadou - I understand your view very well - I started in 1957.
If you can cast your mind back to the potential takeover by Zabeel I offered the following comments in October 2008.
The game I grew up loving and the club I supported for over 50 years no longer exist.
Any semblance of a level playing field in professional football has long gone. There were always “haves” and “have nots” as clearly clubs based in the larger cities had the greater fan base and attendances and thus the revenue to acquire the better players but there was always the chance for a club with good management to buck the trend, say an Ipswich or Nottingham Forest who both excelled in the top division and indeed Europe.
Since the removal of shared attendance revenue the divide between the larger and smaller clubs has grown. The divide became and remains cataclysmic with the introduction of Sky money, the PL and the Champions league.
Unlike US sports who recognized the need for the semblance of financial equilibrium with salary caps and wealth taxes the FA sat on its hands and now all we have left is a parody of what competitive sport should be – the PL - nothing more than an ego fuelled financial pissing contest.
Over the past 15 years those guiding Charlton have done a phenomenal job in getting & keeping the club at least on the same playing fields. They, despite mistakes in the past 2/3 years deserve the most fulsome praise.
During this journey it seems they have recognized both the scope of their ability to secure even a small seat at the table and where the unfettered ambitions of the few at the very top would ultimately leave the club they have so ably led.
As we view the changes that have overtaken our national sport we must surely realize nothing stays the same - is it not only a matter of time before a Super PL or European Super League is established with franchised membership? (i.e.no promotion or relegation). This will have nothing to do with fairness, sporting spirit, a merit based access to the top but will be finance based with TV rights & monies to match.
For all those scratching their heads as why an investment group so strongly rumoured to be in talks with Newcastle and Liverpool would even give little old Charlton a second look such a future is the answer. In the capital you have 2 North (Arsenal & Spurs), 1 West (Chelsea), possibly 1 East (West Ham) based club capable of supporting a franchise model.
There is nothing in the capital’s south or even South East of England. No disrespect to other London clubs.
In such terms Charlton at the price it is available, with the infrastructure the board developed within the club and in communities across the South East the potential is every bit as attractive as any other investment opportunity.
As a long term strategic move, for both the club and the investment company, it makes perfect sense.
In such a model will it be the same little old Charlton, probably not, but in reality when was last really thus. The board, like the fans, can only play the cards they are dealt.
To those alienated by the thought of such a change of ownership, by all means remember the not so good old days - we at least had the opportunity to live that experience but I suggest those really have already been consigned to history.
Look at this new step as at least an opportunity to participate in the future. It may not be the same but it will be the nearest you are likely to ever get to the real thing.
Comments
We still got behind the team and were there to clap them off at full-time. It was done with dignity and showed to Riga and RD why the club is special.
Who is favour of repeating the applause at every home game this season both out of continued respect for Chris Powell and a reminder that he and The Valley are special to us?
To me RD has performed an autopsy on "my" Charlton.
He has overseen the removal of the working organs and replaced them with robotic parts. He will be able to use his remote control from his arm chair and flick players around his clubs as he would tv channels. The nursery prospects will be raised under perfect conditions from the raw material to players worth millions and ripe for sale to the highest bidder. In the meantime player units will be passed around to add value to his various clubs as they improve their league positions. Then, at a time RD can see an acceptable profit, clubs will be sold off and other cheaper ones bought.
He could make millions - good luck to him and I hope it makes him happy.
Football used to be run by football people. Yes, they could not keep up when the really big money machine hit the game and the already rich saw the possibility of making more riches from our sport. That's when we lost "our game".
I agree whole heartedly with RM who started this thread. It's not about anything else, it's about losing "our club"
I don't need any smart arse telling me that my post is crap. I am telling you how it feels for me and I think many other fans of very long standing. And I am allowed to express my point of view as you are yours.
Some of you will be dramatically against my point of view but I would ask you to respect it as I respect yours. We all love the club and want to see it prosper.
I strongly feel I have lost my Charlton and currently feel empty because, whatever my support, it will influence nothing.
COYR
Princess Fiona, please explain why it does not feel like our club, what is fundamentally the problem? I am really interested in understanding why many people feel why the club is so different.
vff - I am not telling anyone who and how they support their football club. We have not had any goal scoring forwards all season it is why we are lowest scoring team in the league. RD has not yet been in control for 10 weeks during which time we have tried to sign Best, Wickham and apparently even Miller - they all decided to go elsewhere - and they are the ones we know about.
In terms of Powells' departure I disagree. It showed both respect and confidence in the mans ability by seeking to employ him in the role that you wanted to head the football side of the business. In terms of his track record it would have been fundamentally foolish not to explore such opportunity. Regrettably because of a fundamental difference of opinion as to how the club should move forward they could not reach agreement
You ask a polite open question, unfortunately I, for one, would be amazed if you received any kind of constructive answer other than that what is needed if for 'someone with the good of the team at heart' to 'invest' (ha!!!) in the club, which is, of course, code for 'someone with more love for the club than financial sense to simply give it millions of pounds each year so that an otherwise insolvent organisation can continue to live beyond its means'.
GV; in short, the fundamental values.
Most or all of the players, staff, manager and owners who played in the 1947 cup final are dead. Most of those who saw it are dead. The stands are different, the kit is different. What makes it Charlton? What do we support? Change is inevitable, desirable and difficult. If we look too closely at what we support we may find it uncomfortably like an onion. One layer after another, all of which can be peeled away or lost and none of which are the heart of the onion. Surely there is something there about community - isnt that why we cling to regional names for our teams and abhor the likes of Franchise Dons as something unnatural. If that happened, then talk about the end.
Powell has been treated disgracefully, and I for one will never forget that. It will be very interesting to see how season ticket sales will be affected. My guess is at least 25-35% down.
I've been a Charlton supporter for 35 years, through the tough times and the occasional good times. But I can honestly say I will never feel the same again. They will always be my team, but I cannot attend matches as I feel that my arse in that seat only gives justification on RD's actions and intentions. I hope I am wrong, but I have a feeling over the next 2-3 years RD's true intentions will be all to clear and by then it will too late.
I have to say having once lived in Crowborough & Mayfield are you sure you come from Tunbridge Wells?
"To me RD has performed an autopsy on "my" Charlton. He has overseen the removal of the working organs and replaced them with robotic parts."
Sorry what does that actually mean -
"The nursery prospects will be raised under perfect conditions from the raw material to players worth millions and ripe for sale to the highest bidder."
What you mean like Hinton, Bailey, Bonds, Campbell, Elliott, Flanagan, Glover, Hales, Jenkinson, Konchesky, Parker, Shelvey, Went, Walsh etc.,? Hardly a new approach for us - is it?
"In the meantime player units will be passed around to add value to his various clubs as they improve their league positions."
Well we ARE one of his clubs - so if he added value to us and improved our league position that would be good wouldn't it?
"Then, at a time RD can see an acceptable profit, clubs will be sold off and other cheaper ones bought."
Well as you obviously don't like the bloke and if someone else wants to buy us and give him a profit then we would have be in a materially better position than we are now when most prospective investors were waiting for us to go into administration. So that's "a win - win" too
"He could make millions - good luck to him and I hope it makes him happy".
I agree he could and when he does it to our disadvantage I will be the first to complain. At the moment he is anything from £12mn - £25mn in credit.
"Football used to be run by football people".
I agree entirely but they have all run out of money. That is not a problem RD created. It is a problem his approach is trying to address
"I agree whole heartedly with RM who started this thread. It's not about anything else, it's about losing "our club"
Please explain what does that actually mean. How have you lost your club to any greater degree than the Gliskstens, Hulyer (where everybody very nearly did lose the club), Sunleys (where the club was certainly misplaced), Murray (now everybodys' pantomime villain) and Jiminez (where we had no bloody idea who really owned the club)
"I don't need any smart arse telling me that my post is crap. I am telling you how it feels for me and I think many other fans of very long standing. And I am allowed to express my point of view as you are yours."
You are certainly allowed to express your opinion and am genuinely interested in trying to understand it. However it does seem largely based on supposition and after less than 10 weeks it is probably just a tad early to make such assessments.
"I strongly feel I have lost my Charlton and currently feel empty because, whatever my support, it will not influence a thing."
I am truly sorry to feel that way but in all honesty did you really feel you were going to influence any of the earlier owners of the club?
COYR
Doesn't mean to say those upset can't support the club. And all of you getting upset with people that are upset that Powell has gone then well quite frankly tough tits!
Move on
Nobody has died, nobody has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, a football manager has been sacked because the team he used to manage is lying at the bottom of the league 4 points adrift.
What did you plan to do then?
Buy Roland the rat out and bring Powell back then?
Or even parkinson?
All I am trying to do is trying to a have reasoned debate on the issues. You made a series of comments which you are perfectly entitled to do and I quite genuinely am simply asking you to clarify those comments.
Is that really so unreasonable?
If you can cast your mind back to the potential takeover by Zabeel I offered the following comments in October 2008.
The game I grew up loving and the club I supported for over 50 years no longer exist.
Any semblance of a level playing field in professional football has long gone. There were always “haves” and “have nots” as clearly clubs based in the larger cities had the greater fan base and attendances and thus the revenue to acquire the better players but there was always the chance for a club with good management to buck the trend, say an Ipswich or Nottingham Forest who both excelled in the top division and indeed Europe.
Since the removal of shared attendance revenue the divide between the larger and smaller clubs has grown. The divide became and remains cataclysmic with the introduction of Sky money, the PL and the Champions league.
Unlike US sports who recognized the need for the semblance of financial equilibrium with salary caps and wealth taxes the FA sat on its hands and now all we have left is a parody of what competitive sport should be – the PL - nothing more than an ego fuelled financial pissing contest.
Over the past 15 years those guiding Charlton have done a phenomenal job in getting & keeping the club at least on the same playing fields. They, despite mistakes in the past 2/3 years deserve the most fulsome praise.
During this journey it seems they have recognized both the scope of their ability to secure even a small seat at the table and where the unfettered ambitions of the few at the very top would ultimately leave the club they have so ably led.
As we view the changes that have overtaken our national sport we must surely realize nothing stays the same - is it not only a matter of time before a Super PL or European Super League is established with franchised membership? (i.e.no promotion or relegation). This will have nothing to do with fairness, sporting spirit, a merit based access to the top but will be finance based with TV rights & monies to match.
For all those scratching their heads as why an investment group so strongly rumoured to be in talks with Newcastle and Liverpool would even give little old Charlton a second look such a future is the answer. In the capital you have 2 North (Arsenal & Spurs), 1 West (Chelsea), possibly 1 East (West Ham) based club capable of supporting a franchise model.
There is nothing in the capital’s south or even South East of England. No disrespect to other London clubs.
In such terms Charlton at the price it is available, with the infrastructure the board developed within the club and in communities across the South East the potential is every bit as attractive as any other investment opportunity.
As a long term strategic move, for both the club and the investment company, it makes perfect sense.
In such a model will it be the same little old Charlton, probably not, but in reality when was last really thus. The board, like the fans, can only play the cards they are dealt.
To those alienated by the thought of such a change of ownership, by all means remember the not so good old days - we at least had the opportunity to live that experience but I suggest those really have already been consigned to history.
Look at this new step as at least an opportunity to participate in the future. It may not be the same but it will be the nearest you are likely to ever get to the real thing.
Grapevine49