As a member of the camp that feels the club and the fans are being taken for a ride at the moment, I was wondering if others had thoughts and ideas about combating the sense of hopelessness so many of us feel.
Watching our club being turned into a meaningless football shell - Team 2 of a network - where the fans, the overall ability of the current squad, the club's recent progress, and anything inherently 'Charlton' seem of little importance to the regime, is very difficult, with the my own feelings of powerlessness currently being enhanced by the fact I'm living the other side of the world for a few months!
Right now I just want there to be something meaningful to throw my support into when I'm back again for next season. I can't place any emotional investment in this Duchatelet/Riga Charlton at the moment. It doesn't feel like 'Charlton'. I know there's far more to 'Charlton' than Chris Powell, but his removal is so symbolic of our spirit and soul being slung on the bonfire for the sake of us becoming a compliant cog in a rich Belgian's business wheel. It's not just this week, the damage was already being done in January as everyone knows.
Could there be some extension of the Trust that get's our voices heard on matchdays? A group of supporters united in trying to keep the spirit of the club alive, not ambivalently accepting current events like a lot of fans are. I'm not suggesting protests outside The Valley every Saturday, and the team should always get 100% support inside the ground (poisonous Blackburn-Venkys situations are certainly damaging) but some kind of tangible, visible movement is needed right now to help keep the Charlton spirit going in this weird, surreal, and depressing time. I, and I imagine a lot of others, are worried about not feeling part of something truly Charlton with the way things are going right now. It's all very hard to relate to closely. Perhaps a fan movement can keep that sense of belonging and excitement going on a Saturday. I just don't want to lose that.
I'm probably being over-dramatic with the week's events still so fresh. And I'm fully aware I've made no real concrete suggestions of action here, but I just wondered if others felt the same way. I hope the Trust can continue to grow and give some kind of leadership to the disillusioned factions, and I fully apologise if I've missed directives and messages from them over the last few days.
We just need some fan togetherness right now, and to show a little bit of that spirit the Selhurst/Valley Party generation did. Now, how to do it...
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In the new age of football I prefer what I have heard (admittedly not enough) of the credo of the new owners compared to the likes of Messrs Yeung, Fernandez, Tann etc as RD & Co appear to understand the issues of sustainability.
Maybe I'm just a glass half full kind of fan and time could prove me a trusting idiot but hey that's just the way I am.