I find it very strange that the situation of the club has got to where it is now. The fact that the 'regime' hasn't really changed since it first arrived is the part that confuses me most. The consistent same mistakes have just built up and slowly turned us against them, on their part I think that had been the biggest mistake. Katrien was actually quite popular for some time, her travelling with fans etc mad her likeable. Nothing has really changed but the previously forgivable mistakes have been made too often (the managerial situation is a key example). The process of us all turning against them was so easily preventable without having to give fully into what we want. What annoys me most is that the break even model could easily be met with proper managers and keeping our players such as Yann and Morrison. They've now gotten themselves into a situation that they cannot get out of, I'm not sure anything they could do will stop the protests. Hard to believe that Roland was smart enough to become rich but can't handle a football club, especially as I think that the break even model could have easily worked whilst still making us all happy.
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"Roland was smart enough to become rich but can't handle a football club"
Not unique in this, but thought he was being smart by bringing in a young Female :Wrong, if that young Female, was so out of her depth that even the
RN Lifeboat I, can't save her.
"the break even model could easily be met with proper managers"
The break even model in the Championship is nearly impossible because of the competitive wages you have to pay, but not giving Yann the extra 1k a week and 6 months longer on his contract has cost Duchatelet a lot more in bringing Polish Pete on a 5 year contract who struggled when playing in the U21's !
"They've now gotten themselves into a situation that they cannot get out of, I'm not sure anything they could do will stop the protests."
If Duchaelet or Meire had any Football acumen as opposed to just Business acumen( he must have to be worth 400 million) they could've got out of Jail a few months ago by spelling it out in Black and white, by telling Peter Varney either no, or spend 30 minutes with him, plus the Irish tape was a shocker( weird who me !).
Anyone left who doesn't realize the Serb was offered the job before Riga ?
Even Steve McQueen's character couldn't escape this hole that they have dug for themselves.
Roland was clearly a proficient businessman but his ego has outstripped his ability. His doomed attempts to break the political mold in Belgium in the best example. In outline his network idea could work, but it required skilled deputies and a real long-term plan. He had and has neither, and failing to plan, failing to understand football clubs are not simple products and that fans are not easily-swayed consumers has been his undoing. Sadly for us, just as he seems unlikely to admit defeat (he only did so with Standard Liege because it was too close to home when the heat was on) nor is he likely to change his approach. If the experiment fails he and his cronies walk away, write off losses against taxes elsewhere in his empire, and we are left to sift through the debris.
That's why we are protesting. Because the alternative if we don't (and probably even if we do) is a club in ruins.
Our best bet is attacking something which is vital to his business plan, and personally, I'm hoping that the discussions around building residential properties on the Jimmy Seed stand is vital - only because I think Greenwich council would be stupid to allow it to happen. If Greenwich were to block the plans then he may come unstuck and decide to bugger off.