So after tonight's meeting we've established that the CEO couldn't give a shit about the fans. KL is highly likely to get the job permanently, Murray has sold his soul to the Belgians and we've got some pretty in-loyal fans......so in response, the plan is to have another totally pointless demonstration in the car park before the game? Why?
The TV cameras won't focus on that. It's not something of interest to others watching the game on TV. The cameras will pick up more of the West Stand than any other part of the ground, but it means nothing? Not everyone can sit in the west stand?bsky cameras are designed so as not to pick up a lot of crowd noise. Anyone watching will probably not even realise the fans are 'protesting'!
I'm sorry but I still think this lot will only listen if fans boycott games. An empty stadium will be far more noticeable on TV. It will also hit RD and KM where it hurts. A few banners here and there will have no effect. Another 20 minute protest in the car park will have no effect. Chanting a few songs, flying a plane, none of these will have any effect!
I'm sorry but I'm fed up of hearing about 'supporting the team not the regime' etc. perhaps the team need to understand that if it wasn't for the fans they wouldn't be getting paid. Perhaps they will understand the fan's frustrations are with the club, not the team. Perhaps they will then put pressure on the club to do something about it?
It's time to get tough. Not pussy foot around and be all gentlemanly about this. Not one fan should go to the Ipswich game. An empty ground on TV cannot be ignored. A protest in the car park, a few songs, a few banners here and there can be!
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The club has played the line too long of using the players and playing on the supporters perceived 'shame' to try and dissuade from any criticism, or god forbid, protest.
Don't go, it's that simple, or we'll go round and round in circles.
Let's see her take a photo of empty blocks with dotted orange stewards....
2. Empty seats will be ignored.
All very well demanding that other fans don't watch the team but many fans don't want to miss a game. You think they are wrong but you can't control them, you can't force them.
So if you accept that for now you are not going to persuade more than a few 100 to boycott the game then you have to look at the alternatives.
That means making a protest that is viable, visable and which is it is easy for a lot of fans to join without them leaving their comfort zone.
Sorry that that isn't radical or extreme enough but while it would be great if no one came or everyone walked out we're just not at that point yet, the vast majority of fans are not yet at that level of discontent.
It is easy for people who have already decided not to go to games and haven't bought a season ticket to the tell others who do and have that they must make a sacrifice, much harder to Co - ordinate such a boycott.
But if you believe that a boycott is the way forward then go for it but you won't organise it and make it work solely from here.
Even during the Selhurst years there was never a mass boycott. One was planned but then cancelled.
We're jumping to the last resort first.
So let's, reverse the question, as you are a great example of a barometer of how far a fan can be pushed before he stops going (not likely
1. At what stage would you consider a boycott as reasonable (if ever)?
2. If not then do you think there is any other real alternative than the noisy and visual methods employed by SL supporters (Which isn't really our style IMO)?
Personally, I am led to believe RD is out as soon as he can find a buyer. I think SL events took a lot out of him and I think he is tired of his sociology football experiment.
I have a lot time for those that preach caution because if RD was hit by a
buschauffeured limousine tomorrow then we would be in admin by the end of the season.Doesn't mean that we should put up with this freak show though. RD out, next season league one
RD continues, season by season everyone will forget who Belgo Consortium FC ever were or why they used to go to SE7 every other Saturday.
Wearing Black and White.....what difference is that going to make? No one watching the game on TV will even notice. Sky will NOT be putting their cameras on the crowd to highlight the fans attire for the game.
How is a protest in the car park more effective? What effect did the last one have? It didn't. Not one bit. The CEO couldn't have given less of a toss if she'd tried. How effective was this other than make fans think they were doing something really great for 15 mins?
Empty seats will be ignore? How can you say that? Do you not think people at home will be asking why there is no one at the ground? Do you not think the Sky pundits will have to acknowledge the empty stadium and explain to their viewers why this is? If 5000-6000 loyal (but deluded) fans turn up for the game, people at home will just think we have shit support these days. Nothing more.
Balloons on the pitch - the club will be fined as the game is on Sky. Any delay to the game will cost someone something!
For the record - I do have a season ticket. As do my 2 sons and my father. But none of us are going anymore until there is a significant change - whether that be the CEO, owner, investment, manager, I don't know. But we are not happy to accept what is going on anymore, and I believe many feel the same way. But....it WILL go on for much longer than it needs to all the while fans are still going to games, still spending money, still 'supporting' the team and not the 'regime'........
STAYING AWAY, IS THE ONLY WAY.
I never said it wasn't reasonable, I commented that it will be very hard to get everyone or even a significant number to boycott
2. If not then do you think there is any other real alternative than the noisy and visual methods employed by SL supporters (Which isn't really our style IMO)?
I'm all for noisy and visual methods although that doesn't mean we have to copy SL
Empty seats will be seen as "your support is ******* S***", plastics not turning up as on TV, what you expect when bottom 3" in my opinion.
And unless someone explains that there is a boycott, what the boycott is for, and as you say even you aren't sure what you want to change, it's a hard sell to fans and an even harder job to explain to the media.
Protests in the ground will be seen. Maybe someone will ask "Charlton play in red and white, why so many black and white scarves?" maybe they won't but it gives people a chance to visibly show their protest in front of the cameras.
OK, not everyone will be happy or think it radical enough but there is more than one way to skin a cat, more that one form of protest and they can run alongside each other. People at the demo were wearing black and white scarves, one doesn't stop the other or hinder the other. mock funerals, tennis balls, planes, bill boards, more demos, banners have all been suggested. It doesn't just have to a boycott or nothing.
We can argue about the original aims of the Spell it out campaign. A lot of easy wins for the club but last night, so it seems as I've not seen the video, they have shown that they aren't interested in REAL communication or REAL improvements. So we move on, the idea of using Black and White remains.
Once we have an understanding of these figures, we then need to see how many of those would be interested in some kind of peaceful but visible/audible demonstration. It seems to me that unless we have a large section of the fan base on board, any form of action will always be dismissed as a vocal minority. Only then can we really start to think about a coordinated way to get the message across to the Meire, RD and RM.
I still like the Black and White idea. If enough fans would be willing, we can get some black and white flyers (or similar) held up at certain points during the match. Instead of sea of red, a sea of black and white would show the club management exactly how many fans want to see some change. It's also something that could be picked up very clearly on the Sky cameras. I'm sure there are many fans (myself included) who would donate to a fund to get some printing done.
It might at least be a simple yet effective way to get the wider fan base on board and it's a peaceful demonstration of the level of disquiet amongst the fans.
It is not any fans fault that the club is in the mess it is now, but we do all have a responsibility to make things right before it's too late.
Wearing a black and white scarf (which is quite fashionable at the moment anyway), protesting for 15 minutes in the car park, letting off some balloons and singing a song that no one else will hear and understand (other than those in the ground who feel the same way anyway).......they are so subtle they are ineffective.
Honestly, why anyone thinks putting on a black and white scarf will make a difference is beyond me? I wouldn't be at all surprised to see KM arranging for black and white scarves to be sold in the club shop with the same naïve few actually buying them!!
Move on all you like with the largely irrelevant and ineffective black and white theme, but all that is actually doing is stopping/delaying the club from moving on in the right direction.
With leadership we can define precisely what we want to achieve and formulate a structured approach to making that happen.
For instance, a boycott of a game will take multiple levels of marketing - fliers, a single-message website, social media, memes, comms with the SLP, Metro or Evening Standard (when was the last time a team from the top two division boycotted their own game? Must be newsworthy), maybe even a picket line of fans.
The game can't just be the next one (especially as it's on TV), we'll need time to get the word around. To get that word to mean something too - some fans hate missing games through a kind of peer pressure, we would have to sway that pressure the other way.
I've no idea what I'm talking about but this seems logical to me. At the moment a new post is landing every day and spreading us too thinly. Like butter over too much bread!
I reckon the overall aim should be a fan ownership model. Ambitious, yes, but the only way to guarantee our club is run in the best interests of all.
Or I know...why don't I buy a black and white scarf, let off a balloon, have my photo taken in the car park by the CEO and then spend £20 on matchday.......that'll show 'em I mean business!
Look, there are thousands of Charlton fans....some have a suffragette's attitude, some are more like suffragists.....both respected and with their own ideas of how to achieve their end goal. The only difference is that 100 or so years later, we only remember one of them.....the one that actually achieved that goal.