FF well done, I know you've put a lot of effort into this over years. Personally I couldn't think of anything worse than having a player of the year this year, especially if we go down. I mean no disrespect to any of the organisers, I just think to celebrate what a shower of shit this season has been would be pathetic. Even those the likes of JJ and Solly aren't worthy winners this year. It's been a miserable season, it is likely to continue to be a miserable season, and to have to sit in the same room as the likes of Ba whilst we celebrate their catastrophic failure just wouldn't do it for me at all....
Best of luck FF and I do mean that because these owners really have shafted you in trying to make a go of it this year
Maybe the way to think of it, without being at all disrespectful to the players, is as a celebration of the season when Charlton fans found their anger, voice and fighting capability again.
I've always been baffled by any need to socialise with players. So yet again I'll skip this. But I hope it goes well for those who enjoy this sort of thing.
Problem for me is I cannot think of one player to vote for
Henderson... For having the guts to come out after the Huddersfield match. Jackson... For being a constant leader and servant for Charlton even during these time?
For those who look at stats
Gudmundsson... For having the most assists in the whole League Makienok... For being our Top scorer
Cousins is the only other performer that springs to mind for his consistency across the season.
Some Lackey: Katrien the Fans ehrm customers want their own party!
Katrien: NO WAY I want it to be all about me not the players who aren't really needed to make a successful club!
Some Lackey: But this is tradition, it maybe seen as a step to far and will infuriate the little fan I mean customer base we have left!
Katrien: I don't care! they are all WEIRD!
Some Lackey: ok ok we will have a party just for you!
Walks off shaking head and decides to just keep her in the dark, By distracting her with photos of football players from the internet that she can use her expert selection method on!
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" can be heard in the background!
Problem for me is I cannot think of one player to vote for
Henderson... For having the guts to come out after the Huddersfield match. Jackson... For being a constant leader and servant for Charlton even during these time?
For those who look at stats
Gudmundsson... For having the most assists in the whole League Makienok... For being our Top scorer
Cousins is the only other performer that springs to mind for his consistency across the season.
Problem for me is I cannot think of one player to vote for
Henderson... For having the guts to come out after the Huddersfield match. Jackson... For being a constant leader and servant for Charlton even during these time?
For those who look at stats
Gudmundsson... For having the most assists in the whole League Makienok... For being our Top scorer
Cousins is the only other performer that springs to mind for his consistency across the season.
Would you Adam and Eve it,
It's a funny old game !
Yeah I didnt believe it until it was mentioned after the Rotherham game
For those interested... Simon Makienok is now the next Charlton player in the list of assists with three. Someone who is no longer with the club had four assists but the establishment would prefer it if his name was kept off here
Ahearne Grant / Bergdich / Reza / Holmes-Dennis / Fox / Lennon / Vaz Te / Vetokele / Ba all have one assist.
Says it all really about our Midfield this season when only Gudmundsson has got more than one assist with Ba being the sole Central Midfielder with one, like I said on another thread, makes it easy for the opposition to find our most attacking threat... If they sensibly mark Johann out of the game, we fall apart and it makes JBG look like he's not interested or that he's done nothing.
Like many others, it's never nice to rain on someone else's parade and I applaud what has been achieved here by many Charlton fans, who somehow, manage to continually find time, energy and the love needed to carry on supporting the club.
Having read the comments on this thread though, it immediately strikes me that this year, perhaps the event does need to be watered down or possibly even made a non-starter.
I think it highly likely we will be going down and it's the style in which we have gone down that make it almost impossible to distinguish one player over the rest of them. Lets be honest, are any of them deserving of such an award?
A much bigger statement by the fans would be to cancel such an event. What is the atmosphere going to be like? Is it money well spent? But most of all, is it appropriate to be 'celebrating' at the end of a season which has seen this club turned on its head for all the wrong reasons. That has divided fans and lost many, many more. It is right that the winner of such an award should get it for the wrong reasons ?(Henderson for his humiliating but brave speech or Jackson for his personal 'refund' campaign).
In my honest opinion, unless results dramatically and very quickly improve and a player begins to shine way brighter than the rest, this event should be a non-starter. It just wont be appropriate. Had we battled all season long, in exceptional circumstances, and fought to the bitter end, with every man on the pitch giving 100%, I may think differently. But that certainly hasn't happened.
But I will say again, well done in achieving what you have, I just hope a lot of thought is given to whether or not it should go ahead.
This is good news but I am a little surprised by the OP as on the FF video, that I saw, it was just suggested that the players would prefer the event on the Saturday. No decision had been made and as soon as Ian said that he wouldn't get involved if it was on the Saturday those around the table (employed by the club) said that no decision had been made.
Unless something happened after the FF meeting it seems a little disingenuous so call it a 'dramatic u-turn'. They suggested something different and were told that would not be popular and came back and agreed to let it stay the same.
I'm not an apologist for the club but after all the stick KM gets for lying I think that we need to be beyond reproach and, rather like the steward punching a women in the face debarcle, the facts don't seem to match up with what I saw on the FF video.
POTY is Watt - who won't be in attendance, so nor will I.
I think you may be right....Watt could easily get voted POTY, but it wont be for the right reasons. As I mentioned earlier, Henderson or Jackson could also be in with a shout, but none of them will be awarded it for their efforts on the pitch, and I think that very reason has to add weight to the argument that it may not be appropriate this year. And to be honest, if anyone else wins, it doesn't give the accolade much credibility, Mak, Reza, Fox.........really?
Probably not the safest of events if the season goes on as it is.. I can only imagine what I'd be saying to Bergdich or Makienok after a few shandies .
I am finding it hard to pick a MOTM let alone a POTY. If it wasn't for the hard work put in by our own Fanny and Ian Wallis then I'd advocate encouraging everyone to vote for Watt or Cebellos or Moussa etc. As it is I probably won't vote.
This is good news but I am a little surprised by the OP as on the FF video, that I saw, it was just suggested that the players would prefer the event on the Saturday. No decision had been made and as soon as Ian said that he wouldn't get involved if it was on the Saturday those around the table (employed by the club) said that no decision had been made.
Unless something happened after the FF meeting it seems a little disingenuous so call it a 'dramatic u-turn'. They suggested something different and were told that would not be popular and came back and agreed to let it stay the same.
I'm not an apologist for the club but after all the stick KM gets for lying I think that we need to be beyond reproach and, rather like the steward punching a women in the face debarcle, the facts don't seem to match up with what I saw on the FF video.
Perhaps, but it was the third meeting running at which the club had asserted its intention to override the views of the people who had organised it successfully as volunteers for the last few years. If anything it summed up her attitude to the forum, which is basically that it is cosmetic and will not change anything but is useful to show she is engaging with selected fans. That's the same attitude that led to the Crossbars debacle in 2014 and why a number of people no longer attend, because they have seen and judged her first hand over many meetings.
That three meeting saga alone makes it clear that Meire had decided that she was going to stamp her feet until she got her own way, which she didn't on the night last year. Obviously she knew there was a camera there this time, which was bound to influence what was said and how it was said.
Problem for me is I cannot think of one player to vote for
Then we should vote for someone who makes a mockery of the whole process. Like Tony Watt, Diego Poyet or Rhys Williams.
If it was organised by the club then I agree. I would happily make a mockery of it so that when Williams is named player of the year, the team, manager, CEO, owner etc. all know we are taking the piss and their event was a total waste of time......
However, as it's not organised by the club I don't feel it's necessary to vote for someone who has hardly played for us all season or been absolute shite. Fans/volunteers will put in a lot of time and effort to arrange it, and for it to possibly be considered a mockery isn't right.
Problem for me is I cannot think of one player to vote for
Then we should vote for someone who makes a mockery of the whole process. Like Tony Watt, Diego Poyet or Rhys Williams.
If it was organised by the club then I agree. I would happily make a mockery of it so that when Williams is named player of the year, the team, manager, CEO, owner etc. all know we are taking the piss and their event was a total waste of time......
However, as it's not organised by the club I don't feel it's necessary to vote for someone who has hardly played for us all season or been absolute shite. Fans/volunteers will put in a lot of time and effort to arrange it, and for it to possibly be considered a mockery isn't right.
Agreed... Remember if you make a mockery of this, your not making a mockery of KM you'll be making a mockery of Fanny etc.
And if so it'll be another reason for the club to chuck it in after this season!!
Jean, as you know, there's little value, in taking into account the views or fans, that would/have never attended, in the good times (no offence intended).
The relevant views, in this scenario, are of fans that have attended in the past, or who would have attended this season.
Personally, I'm unsure at this stage, whether I would attend as usual. It would undoubtedly ruin my evening if Meire and Murray were there and I'm not certain, I wouldn't say something to her. Perhaps, I'd propose a toast (of sorts).
Under the circumstances, I'm not sure whether I would attend or not.
This possibly doesn't help, but if regular attendees are doubtful, it gives some indication.
Many thanks to you & Ian for all your efforts. You're better people than me, if you can speak to Meire without losing your rag.
This is good news but I am a little surprised by the OP as on the FF video, that I saw, it was just suggested that the players would prefer the event on the Saturday. No decision had been made and as soon as Ian said that he wouldn't get involved if it was on the Saturday those around the table (employed by the club) said that no decision had been made.
Unless something happened after the FF meeting it seems a little disingenuous so call it a 'dramatic u-turn'. They suggested something different and were told that would not be popular and came back and agreed to let it stay the same.
I'm not an apologist for the club but after all the stick KM gets for lying I think that we need to be beyond reproach and, rather like the steward punching a women in the face debarcle, the facts don't seem to match up with what I saw on the FF video.
Perhaps, but it was the third meeting running at which the club had asserted its intention to override the views of the people who had organised it successfully as volunteers for the last few years. If anything it summed up her attitude to the forum, which is basically that it is cosmetic and will not change anything but is useful to show she is engaging with selected fans. That's the same attitude that led to the Crossbars debacle in 2014 and why a number of people no longer attend, because they have seen and judged her first hand over many meetings.
That three meeting saga alone makes it clear that Meire had decided that she was going to stamp her feet until she got her own way, which she didn't on the night last year. Obviously she knew there was a camera there this time, which was bound to influence what was said and how it was said.
Airman has summarised the situation perfectly.
As he wrote in the latest VOTV, Katrien was aghast when she discovered that he was attending but also saying a few words last year and took me to one side to show her displeasure. I told her that Rick had every right to come and that he was due to speak about the Valley Party only so there would not be a problem. She wasn't happy but had to accept it and of course, there was no reason for her to have been concerned. This, of course would ultimately lead to her wanting control of the dinner this time....
At the meetings that Airman mentioned, she told us that the players did not like having to return to The Valley on a Sunday once the season was over.....hence why she wanted the event to take place on the evening of the last home match. She also indicated that a sit down dinner was not necessarily her plan.
So, this is the background prior to the recent videoed FF meeting when Ian made it perfectly clear that he and I would not be interested in a Saturday based event which most fans would find difficult. A meeting was then requested by Felicity which Ian duly attended before the Bristol City match and was told to carry on" regardless"....
Whether this was after discussion at management level & the conclusion reached was that it could be a dead duck /problematical in the current circumstances or whether it placed too heavy a load on the limited staff in place , I know not. We might also be chasing a lost cause as some on here have pointed out but believe me, we do have supporters' interests at heart & the tradition of this Club which our owner & CEO have no respect for. There is no way we wished to be involved in a buffet "bun fight" on a Saturday night where feelings could be running extremely high, especially if that afternoon's match had sealed our fate with relegation to Division One. And it was made abundantly clear that we were not for turning.
So, it is what it is. We, or rather Ian played his hand very cleverly on behalf of all supporters who enjoy said event year after year and those who may wish to attend to mark the end of another season together with friends and family. We felt that this is what you would want us to do.
The proof of this particular pudding will be in the eating of course but personally, I shall be disappointed if regular attendees decide to boycott the dinner but it's down to individuals' of course. I have already stated that any profit made will be placed in the FF account. And that's about it as I can add nothing more at this point in time.
A final thought though.... I realise that the Club finds itself in a "unique" situation under this regime, and that, as a result, the relationship between Club and fans is fraught to say the least. The relationship between fans and players is also an unusual one this year but that's a direct result of the regime's policy. And we really don't know the truth regarding what's been happening in the changing room and at SL ...but 3 managers and numerous incoming players in 5 months could be a clue as to the state of minds of our lads. This is ONE EVENING where solidarity between fans & players who have ALL been affected by this regime should surely be at the forefront of proceedings.
We're in this together ....so let's show "them" by making it a successful & enjoyable evening once again.
It could be the last tradition we retain under the current ownership after all.
Comments
Best of luck FF and I do mean that because these owners really have shafted you in trying to make a go of it this year
Jackson... For being a constant leader and servant for Charlton even during these time?
For those who look at stats
Gudmundsson... For having the most assists in the whole League
Makienok... For being our Top scorer
Cousins is the only other performer that springs to mind for his consistency across the season.
Katrien: NO WAY I want it to be all about me not the players who aren't really needed to make a successful club!
Some Lackey: But this is tradition, it maybe seen as a step to far and will infuriate the little fan I mean customer base we have left!
Katrien: I don't care! they are all WEIRD!
Some Lackey: ok ok we will have a party just for you!
Walks off shaking head and decides to just keep her in the dark, By distracting her with photos of football players from the internet that she can use her expert selection method on!
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" can be heard in the background!
It's a funny old game !
Ahearne Grant / Bergdich / Reza / Holmes-Dennis / Fox / Lennon / Vaz Te / Vetokele / Ba all have one assist.
Says it all really about our Midfield this season when only Gudmundsson has got more than one assist with Ba being the sole Central Midfielder with one, like I said on another thread, makes it easy for the opposition to find our most attacking threat... If they sensibly mark Johann out of the game, we fall apart and it makes JBG look like he's not interested or that he's done nothing.
'Protester of the year' in the Oak.
Having read the comments on this thread though, it immediately strikes me that this year, perhaps the event does need to be watered down or possibly even made a non-starter.
I think it highly likely we will be going down and it's the style in which we have gone down that make it almost impossible to distinguish one player over the rest of them. Lets be honest, are any of them deserving of such an award?
A much bigger statement by the fans would be to cancel such an event. What is the atmosphere going to be like? Is it money well spent? But most of all, is it appropriate to be 'celebrating' at the end of a season which has seen this club turned on its head for all the wrong reasons. That has divided fans and lost many, many more. It is right that the winner of such an award should get it for the wrong reasons ?(Henderson for his humiliating but brave speech or Jackson for his personal 'refund' campaign).
In my honest opinion, unless results dramatically and very quickly improve and a player begins to shine way brighter than the rest, this event should be a non-starter. It just wont be appropriate. Had we battled all season long, in exceptional circumstances, and fought to the bitter end, with every man on the pitch giving 100%, I may think differently. But that certainly hasn't happened.
But I will say again, well done in achieving what you have, I just hope a lot of thought is given to whether or not it should go ahead.
You stop it one year and under these clowns it'll be impossible to get it going again if we had a successful period again
Unless something happened after the FF meeting it seems a little disingenuous so call it a 'dramatic u-turn'. They suggested something different and were told that would not be popular and came back and agreed to let it stay the same.
I'm not an apologist for the club but after all the stick KM gets for lying I think that we need to be beyond reproach and, rather like the steward punching a women in the face debarcle, the facts don't seem to match up with what I saw on the FF video.
Is it possible that the Belgians know it might be poorly attended - so have passed ownership of the Titanic back before it hits the Johann Berg ?
Thus giving them a mandate to seize it back once the wreck is discovered.
VOTY - Villain of The Year - could be a hotly contested award.......
FOTY - Fan of The Year - One stands out for his sheer dedication to attending games no matter how shite we are
LPOTY - Loan Player of The Year - who did the best for another team when we needed them the most
MOTY - Manager of The Year - we have a few nominees
SOTY - Sofa of The Year - One clear contender but others could be recognised for their contribution this season?
That three meeting saga alone makes it clear that Meire had decided that she was going to stamp her feet until she got her own way, which she didn't on the night last year. Obviously she knew there was a camera there this time, which was bound to influence what was said and how it was said.
However, as it's not organised by the club I don't feel it's necessary to vote for someone who has hardly played for us all season or been absolute shite. Fans/volunteers will put in a lot of time and effort to arrange it, and for it to possibly be considered a mockery isn't right.
And if so it'll be another reason for the club to chuck it in after this season!!
The relevant views, in this scenario, are of fans that have attended in the past, or who would have attended this season.
Personally, I'm unsure at this stage, whether I would attend as usual. It would undoubtedly ruin my evening if Meire and Murray were there and I'm not certain, I wouldn't say something to her. Perhaps, I'd propose a toast (of sorts).
Under the circumstances, I'm not sure whether I would attend or not.
This possibly doesn't help, but if regular attendees are doubtful, it gives some indication.
Many thanks to you & Ian for all your efforts. You're better people than me, if you can speak to Meire without losing your rag.
As he wrote in the latest VOTV, Katrien was aghast when she discovered that he was attending but also saying a few words last year and took me to one side to show her displeasure. I told her that Rick had every right to come and that he was due to speak about the Valley Party only so there would not be a problem. She wasn't happy but had to accept it and of course, there was no reason for her to have been concerned. This, of course would ultimately lead to her wanting control of the dinner this time....
At the meetings that Airman mentioned, she told us that the players did not like having to return to The Valley on a Sunday once the season was over.....hence why she wanted the event to take place on the evening of the last home match. She also indicated that a sit down dinner was not necessarily her plan.
So, this is the background prior to the recent videoed FF meeting when Ian made it perfectly clear that he and I would not be interested in a Saturday based event which most fans would find difficult. A meeting was then requested by Felicity which Ian duly attended before the Bristol City match and was told to carry on" regardless"....
Whether this was after discussion at management level & the conclusion reached was that it could be a dead duck /problematical in the current circumstances or whether it placed too heavy a load on the limited staff in place , I know not. We might also be chasing a lost cause as some on here have pointed out but believe me, we do have supporters' interests at heart & the tradition of this Club which our owner & CEO have no respect for. There is no way we wished to be involved in a buffet "bun fight" on a Saturday night where feelings could be running extremely high, especially if that afternoon's match had sealed our fate with relegation to Division One. And it was made abundantly clear that we were not for turning.
So, it is what it is. We, or rather Ian played his hand very cleverly on behalf of all supporters who enjoy said event year after year and those who may wish to attend to mark the end of another season together with friends and family. We felt that this is what you would want us to do.
The proof of this particular pudding will be in the eating of course but personally, I shall be disappointed if regular attendees decide to boycott the dinner but it's down to individuals' of course. I have already stated that any profit made will be placed in the FF account. And that's about it as I can add nothing more at this point in time.
A final thought though.... I realise that the Club finds itself in a "unique" situation under this regime, and that, as a result, the relationship between Club and fans is fraught to say the least. The relationship between fans and players is also an unusual one this year but that's a direct result of the regime's policy. And we really don't know the truth regarding what's been happening in the changing room and at SL ...but 3 managers and numerous incoming players in 5 months could be a clue as to the state of minds of our lads. This is ONE EVENING where solidarity between fans & players who have ALL been affected by this regime should surely be at the forefront of proceedings.
We're in this together ....so let's show "them" by making it a successful & enjoyable evening once again.
It could be the last tradition we retain under the current ownership after all.