Roland, please change your ways.

cafcnick1992

Roland is willing to spend money on Charlton Athletic. He has shown this in his investments on facilities around the club, and on players across Europe. It isn't really debatable; Roland is spending more money on Charlton than any owner has for 6-7 years.

But the way he chooses to run the club undermines his investment. Everything could be so much better if he just changed his ways.

1) Let's have a manager and not a head coach. A manager is able to buy whatever player he likes. A manager can get a favour from other managers and loan us a rough diamond who might propel us up the league. A manager has total control and everyone knows who, on a day to day basis, is the boss.

No self respecting manager will come to a club where he has players given to him. Can you imagine Paul Lambert being happy with someone signing Bergdich?

2) This leads me onto my second point. Let's have a manager with experience. There are so many managers not currently in a job who would be appreciated down at Charlton. Managers are actually human beings and forge relationships with other managers; some in a higher league (which obviously has its advantages).

No premier league manager has heard of José Riga, Bob Peeters, Guy Luzon or Karel Fraeye. Why then would Premier League manager X loan a player to Karel Fraeye when he could loan a player to his mate, Manager Y!

Also managers who have been at other clubs can often pull past players to their new club. Powell + Kermorgant being a fantastic example.

3) Let's have a manager who is British. I was listening to Neil Lennon talk on 94.9 on the way home today and I enjoyed it. I understood why he was disappointed and I felt that what he was saying was the honest truth. With our string of Belgians, you know what they're going to say before they say it. I don't listen to press conferences anymore. What's the point? They're all the same!

A manager everyone knows also gives the club an identity. Ask any non-Charlton fan who the manager/head coach of Charlton is and they won't have a clue. Ask anyone who the manager of Ipswich is and we all know its bloody Mick McCarthy! It's Ipswich's McCarthy. It's fat bastard Evan's Leeds. It's 'can-only-do-it-in-Scotland Neil Lennon's Bolton side.


Other points:

-When the scouting network concept was introduced to us, I thought there was a chance that it might be a success. Maybe we'd have a competitive advantage over other clubs. Turns out it has done nothing that any other club could have achieved. There are plenty of foreign players playing for other championship sides, and a lot of them seem to be a darn sight better than ours.

-Communication. Why is Karel still the interim manager? Why do we not opt for an experienced manager? Why isn't Tony Watt at Charlton. Where is Igor?

I'm a very patient fan when it comes to the big decisions at Charlton. I didn't want Powell sacked & I didn't want Parky sacked. But even I'm tired of us having nobody at the club we can relate to.

So please Roland. Give up the current regime and try something different.

Fin

cafctom

Really sorry mate but you've just written a really long letter to a man who won't read it, won't care and will do the exact opposite of everything you've suggested.

iainambler

Nick, you're absolutely right.

Roland has done good things with the infrastructure of the club hence the investment in an academy, new pitch, seats and a lick of paint at SE7.
However what he lacks is the people management investment.
That may be how he runs his businesses, but as most of us with both feet planted in the real world will know, good businesses only become great ones when their owners empower and invest in their workforce.
We are a club with so much potential - but 99.9% of it is going unrealised.

InspectorSands

I hope you've sent him a Christmas card. Still time. Details here: http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/70232/send-a-christmas-card-to-katrien-and-roland-spell-it-out-in-black-and-white

Atletico Addick

cafcnick1992 said:

Roland is willing to spend money on Charlton Athletic. He has shown this in his investments on facilities around the club, and on players across Europe. It isn't really debatable; Roland is spending more money on Charlton than any owner has for 6-7 years.

But the way he chooses to run the club undermines his investment. Everything could be so much better if he just changed his ways.

1) Let's have a manager and not a head coach. A manager is able to buy whatever player he likes. A manager can get a favour from other managers and loan us a rough diamond who might propel us up the league. A manager has total control and everyone knows who, on a day to day basis, is the boss.

2) This leads me onto my second point. Let's have a manager with experience. There are so many managers not currently in a job who would be appreciated down at Charlton. Managers are actually human beings and forge relationships with other managers; some in a higher league (which obviously has its advantages).

No premier league manager has heard of José Riga, Bob Peeters, Guy Luzon or Karel Fraeye. Why then would Premier League manager X loan a player to Karel Fraeye when he could loan a player to his mate, Manager Y!

Also managers who have been at other clubs can often pull past players to their new club. Powell + Kermorgant being a fantastic example.

3) Let's have a manager who is British. I was listening to Neil Lennon talk on 94.9 on the way home today and I enjoyed it. I understood why he was disappointed and I felt that what he was saying was the honest truth. With our string of Belgians, you know what they're going to say before they say it. I don't listen to press conferences anymore. What's the point? They're all the same!

A manager everyone knows also gives the club an identity. Ask any non-Charlton fan who the manager/head coach of Charlton is and they won't have a clue. Ask anyone who the manager of Ipswich is and we all know its bloody Mick McCarthy! It's Ipswich's McCarthy. It's fat bastard Evan's Leeds. It's 'can-only-do-it-in-Scotland Neil Lennon's Bolton side.


Other points:

-When the scouting network concept was introduced to us, I thought there was a chance that it might be a success. Maybe we'd have a competitive advantage over other clubs. Turns out it has done nothing that any other club could have achieved. There are plenty of foreign players playing for other championship sides, and a lot of them seem to be a darn sight better than ours.

-Communication. Why is Karel still the interim manager? Why do we not opt for an experienced manager? Why isn't Tony Watt at Charlton. Where is Igor?

I'm a very patient fan when it comes to the big decisions at Charlton. I didn't want Powell sacked & I didn't want Parky sacked. But even I'm tired of us having nobody at the club we can relate to.

So please Roland. Give up the current regime and try something different.

Fin

The loose phrasing of spending people use is the key point I'd like to make, he's investing it, other owners would 'invest' to the club for one reason to try push the team/club up, which would of course see them with a return on their investment in more ways than one including financial. Roland is investing it in a business sense, if it's on the training facilities then that's to attract more young talent which in future will be sold, if it's in the first team it's on players that he can try to make a profit on, for no other real reason.

Also, he may be loaning some of this expenditure to the club, AKA we owe it to him.....

It's easy to paint him in a nice light based on money spent but take a step back and a look at why and what he's spending it on and it all makes more sense, he's also cutting funds left right and centre including key academy projects. If it doesn't give him a return in a business sense he'll sack it off.

killerandflash

Atletico Addick said:

cafcnick1992 said:

Roland is willing to spend money on Charlton Athletic. He has shown this in his investments on facilities around the club, and on players across Europe. It isn't really debatable; Roland is spending more money on Charlton than any owner has for 6-7 years.

But the way he chooses to run the club undermines his investment. Everything could be so much better if he just changed his ways.

1) Let's have a manager and not a head coach. A manager is able to buy whatever player he likes. A manager can get a favour from other managers and loan us a rough diamond who might propel us up the league. A manager has total control and everyone knows who, on a day to day basis, is the boss.

2) This leads me onto my second point. Let's have a manager with experience. There are so many managers not currently in a job who would be appreciated down at Charlton. Managers are actually human beings and forge relationships with other managers; some in a higher league (which obviously has its advantages).

No premier league manager has heard of José Riga, Bob Peeters, Guy Luzon or Karel Fraeye. Why then would Premier League manager X loan a player to Karel Fraeye when he could loan a player to his mate, Manager Y!

Also managers who have been at other clubs can often pull past players to their new club. Powell + Kermorgant being a fantastic example.

3) Let's have a manager who is British. I was listening to Neil Lennon talk on 94.9 on the way home today and I enjoyed it. I understood why he was disappointed and I felt that what he was saying was the honest truth. With our string of Belgians, you know what they're going to say before they say it. I don't listen to press conferences anymore. What's the point? They're all the same!

A manager everyone knows also gives the club an identity. Ask any non-Charlton fan who the manager/head coach of Charlton is and they won't have a clue. Ask anyone who the manager of Ipswich is and we all know its bloody Mick McCarthy! It's Ipswich's McCarthy. It's fat bastard Evan's Leeds. It's 'can-only-do-it-in-Scotland Neil Lennon's Bolton side.


Other points:

-When the scouting network concept was introduced to us, I thought there was a chance that it might be a success. Maybe we'd have a competitive advantage over other clubs. Turns out it has done nothing that any other club could have achieved. There are plenty of foreign players playing for other championship sides, and a lot of them seem to be a darn sight better than ours.

-Communication. Why is Karel still the interim manager? Why do we not opt for an experienced manager? Why isn't Tony Watt at Charlton. Where is Igor?

I'm a very patient fan when it comes to the big decisions at Charlton. I didn't want Powell sacked & I didn't want Parky sacked. But even I'm tired of us having nobody at the club we can relate to.

So please Roland. Give up the current regime and try something different.

Fin

The loose phrasing of spending people use is the key point I'd like to make, he's investing it, other owners would 'invest' to the club for one reason to try push the team/club up, which would of course see them with a return on their investment in more ways than one including financial. Roland is investing it in a business sense, if it's on the training facilities then that's to attract more young talent which in future will be sold, if it's in the first team it's on players that he can try to make a profit on, for no other real reason.

Also, he may be loaning some of this expenditure to the club, AKA we owe it to him.....

It's easy to paint him in a nice light based on money spent but take a step back and a look at why and what he's spending it on and it all makes more sense, he's also cutting funds left right and centre including key academy projects. If it doesn't give him a return in a business sense he'll sack it off.

But he HAS spent money on signings, there have been loads of players brought in during the last 2 years... and most of them have been rubbish or totally unsuited for this division, and have been a complete waete of our (and Roland's) money.

Sarr, Bergdych, Makienok were all on the bench, the former seemingly cost £1.6m. Powell or Parky could have found us a much more suitable CB for a fraction of that sum. How many of Mick McCarthy's Ipswich team cost that amount?

His methods are not only failing us on the pitch, they aren't working financially either...

Atletico Addick

killerandflash said:

Atletico Addick said:

cafcnick1992 said:

Roland is willing to spend money on Charlton Athletic. He has shown this in his investments on facilities around the club, and on players across Europe. It isn't really debatable; Roland is spending more money on Charlton than any owner has for 6-7 years.

But the way he chooses to run the club undermines his investment. Everything could be so much better if he just changed his ways.

1) Let's have a manager and not a head coach. A manager is able to buy whatever player he likes. A manager can get a favour from other managers and loan us a rough diamond who might propel us up the league. A manager has total control and everyone knows who, on a day to day basis, is the boss.

2) This leads me onto my second point. Let's have a manager with experience. There are so many managers not currently in a job who would be appreciated down at Charlton. Managers are actually human beings and forge relationships with other managers; some in a higher league (which obviously has its advantages).

No premier league manager has heard of José Riga, Bob Peeters, Guy Luzon or Karel Fraeye. Why then would Premier League manager X loan a player to Karel Fraeye when he could loan a player to his mate, Manager Y!

Also managers who have been at other clubs can often pull past players to their new club. Powell + Kermorgant being a fantastic example.

3) Let's have a manager who is British. I was listening to Neil Lennon talk on 94.9 on the way home today and I enjoyed it. I understood why he was disappointed and I felt that what he was saying was the honest truth. With our string of Belgians, you know what they're going to say before they say it. I don't listen to press conferences anymore. What's the point? They're all the same!

A manager everyone knows also gives the club an identity. Ask any non-Charlton fan who the manager/head coach of Charlton is and they won't have a clue. Ask anyone who the manager of Ipswich is and we all know its bloody Mick McCarthy! It's Ipswich's McCarthy. It's fat bastard Evan's Leeds. It's 'can-only-do-it-in-Scotland Neil Lennon's Bolton side.


Other points:

-When the scouting network concept was introduced to us, I thought there was a chance that it might be a success. Maybe we'd have a competitive advantage over other clubs. Turns out it has done nothing that any other club could have achieved. There are plenty of foreign players playing for other championship sides, and a lot of them seem to be a darn sight better than ours.

-Communication. Why is Karel still the interim manager? Why do we not opt for an experienced manager? Why isn't Tony Watt at Charlton. Where is Igor?

I'm a very patient fan when it comes to the big decisions at Charlton. I didn't want Powell sacked & I didn't want Parky sacked. But even I'm tired of us having nobody at the club we can relate to.

So please Roland. Give up the current regime and try something different.

Fin

The loose phrasing of spending people use is the key point I'd like to make, he's investing it, other owners would 'invest' to the club for one reason to try push the team/club up, which would of course see them with a return on their investment in more ways than one including financial. Roland is investing it in a business sense, if it's on the training facilities then that's to attract more young talent which in future will be sold, if it's in the first team it's on players that he can try to make a profit on, for no other real reason.

Also, he may be loaning some of this expenditure to the club, AKA we owe it to him.....

It's easy to paint him in a nice light based on money spent but take a step back and a look at why and what he's spending it on and it all makes more sense, he's also cutting funds left right and centre including key academy projects. If it doesn't give him a return in a business sense he'll sack it off.

But he HAS spent money on signings, there have been loads of players brought in during the last 2 years... and most of them have been rubbish or totally unsuited for this division, and have been a complete waete of our (and Roland's) money.

Sarr, Bergdych, Makienok were all on the bench, the former seemingly cost £1.6m. Powell or Parky could have found us a much more suitable CB for a fraction of that sum. How many of Mick McCarthy's Ipswich team cost that amount?

His methods are not only failing us on the pitch, they aren't working financially either...

Exactly, he's trying to spend on these 'rough gem' players to sharpen them up and sell them at a profit, but it's a Football Manager style of recruiting and it will never ever work in the Championship. So not only is he trying to do something very unattainable he is also failing at it which affects us on the pitch as you say.