This sums up my feelings last season although I didn't know it at the time. Thanks GGA
"I still relished every trip to see my beloved team play no matter how poor we were.
Im not dispirited because of a few results or because of some Premier League hangover, im dispirited because nearly everything I associate with Charlton has been removed & all the hard work Chris Powell did to bring back that Charlton feeling has been removed due to the insane anti sport policies of our Belgian overlord who can't even be interested enough to attend a game or two a season"
I'm not sure that the feeling we all have is not just a side effect of being a Premier League side for best part of a decade and the realisation that we are not going to be one again any time soon.
Apart from two good runs towards the end of the season we have been average, at best, in the Championship since we won League One and that was a one off season. The year before we finished 13th. If you look at all of the seasons since we were relegated from the Premier League (and include that season) we have finished 19th (PL) 11th and 24th (2nd div) 4th, 13th, 1st (3rd div) then 9th, 18th and 12th in the 2nd division.
After the Curbishley years that is bound to have a negative effect on enthusiasm. Richard Murray was heavily criticised for his appointment of Dowie and Les Reed, Slater and Jimenez were vilified (helped by their treatment of Airman Brown and his, subsequent, revelations) and now RD and KM are hated.
The truth is that watching football at Charlton is not as much fun as it was ten years ago. Even when we were winning the League One Title I just felt relieved to be getting out of the 3rd division. It was never an aspiration of mine to win the 3rd division, I never wanted to be in it in the first place.
I'm not sure that anything short of a side genuinely challenging for promotion to the Premier League will be enough to make the football watching experience enjoyable again. What happens if RD does sell up and take KM with him? As desirable as that is we will still have a club with significant losses each season, a poor squad that is not equipped to cope with the English second division, a dwindling fan base and the poor atmosphere that comes with it.
I remember feeling jealous and a little bitter in, about, 2008 when the media started talking about Stoke as having such a fantastic atmosphere at the Britannia. Something that had been said about us a few years before. Fans that are given a little taste of something new and exciting tend to 'show it' in the atmosphere at their home games. We were heading for the third division and Stoke seemed to have taken our place as the club that all the media talked about as being well managed and having 'great fans'. This was made even worse when, in 2013, Palace became the new darlings of the media for their fantastic atmosphere and the marvellous way their club was managed.
We've had our day in the sun and now we have to get used to life in the normal world of League Football with no money, no exciting transfers, no internationals, poor crowds constantly talking about past glories and every player showing any promise, at all, being tempted away for more money and a chance at the big time. It wasn't that long ago that we were hand picking the stars in all the second division sides and signing them. What goes around comes around.
I'd love a change of ownership but I'm not sure that, on its own, will change how I (and many others) feel about afternoons at The Valley. Maybe it is time for many of us to find something else to do with our leisure time and have a new fan base come in that is not always going to be comparing the experience with beating Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool at The Valley. Maybe some of us will never be able to accept anything less that those heady days where we were, in truth, punching above our weight.
I don't think I have ever disagreed more with a post on here.
There is only one reason I boycott and don't go to the Valley and that is THIS owner.
I enjoyed the Powell promotion season as much as I enjoyed the peaks of the premiership. I enjoyed going to the Valley in the poor seasons eg 71/2 79/80. I went to the Valley and the Boleyn through thick and thin.
But for the first time the enjoyment has gone. Not because we are no longer premier league but because we have THIS owner. Sheff U away did it for me. But I will be back when he sells.
We were a second division side when I started watching in the 60's and a fair few people I've spoken with would be happy for us to be stable in that division (Championship) with the occasional play off place or maybe a promotion. Lack of ambition there? If you like, but it's just my and a few friends view.
Sorry to add to the negativity but I've been through all the ups and downs since the early 70s - am used to poor performances and relegation but this owner has sucked all my enjoyment out of Charlton. To be fair the premier lge dominance and ever widening inequality between prem and football league has been a factor as well but the rat's inexplicable experiment with overpriced euro "talent" and out of depth coaches along with his arrogant I'm the owner and you're just a customer and I don't care what you think attitude works both ways as I now longer care about the club I have loved for 40 odd years. Cheers.
Times are tough, but I don't think we should be so dispirited about our chances of getting rid of him. He's a pathetic old man who admits that he is counting his months. He failed in politics and packed it in. He failed at Liege and sold up. He's failing with us, and as sure as eggs are eggs, he'll reach the point where he's had enough of Charlton. Just look at that photo of him last week, tired and haggard. He didn't want to be here, but he felt he had to because everything's such a mess. He stands to lose millions if we are relegated and that is surely not to pleasant a prospect for him. Perhaps worse though, this old man who so desperately wants to prove that he is something special needs to be a success at something. Any workable plan that he might have had was blown out of the water within months of his 'arrival', when the rest of the league stuck two fingers up at FFP.
Listen to his answers last week as well. When critiqued as an absentee owner all he could do was bleat that '...I have so many other things which I do...'. These aren't the words of a young man full of verve that would give us a run for our money. These are the words of a decrepit old git who has bitten off more than he can chew. And on the subject of leaving, his 'I fully understand their feelings. But the conclusion that I should sell is a bit too quick' statement is hardly the sort of stuff you'd carve in granite. He's not ruling out going at all, it's a 'bit too quick' that's all. We just need to keep pushing an pushing to bring him a bit closer to the realisation that the experiment is over.
This is a war of attrition. It was never going to be over in a few days or weeks. It'll take months, maybe years. But at some point the penny will drop and he'll realise that he is wasting his time on something that is brining him no joy, no money and no prestige. There's no need to be too dispirited because some people don't like Pinocchio masks or because people didn't hang around so long in the rain. It's our club and as the poster said, we'll be here long after he's gone. So, let's keep at it. We have the power to win this, but we've got to believe.
I'm not sure that the feeling we all have is not just a side effect of being a Premier League side for best part of a decade and the realisation that we are not going to be one again any time soon.
Apart from two good runs towards the end of the season we have been average, at best, in the Championship since we won League One and that was a one off season. The year before we finished 13th. If you look at all of the seasons since we were relegated from the Premier League (and include that season) we have finished 19th (PL) 11th and 24th (2nd div) 4th, 13th, 1st (3rd div) then 9th, 18th and 12th in the 2nd division.
After the Curbishley years that is bound to have a negative effect on enthusiasm. Richard Murray was heavily criticised for his appointment of Dowie and Les Reed, Slater and Jimenez were vilified (helped by their treatment of Airman Brown and his, subsequent, revelations) and now RD and KM are hated.
The truth is that watching football at Charlton is not as much fun as it was ten years ago. Even when we were winning the League One Title I just felt relieved to be getting out of the 3rd division. It was never an aspiration of mine to win the 3rd division, I never wanted to be in it in the first place.
I'm not sure that anything short of a side genuinely challenging for promotion to the Premier League will be enough to make the football watching experience enjoyable again. What happens if RD does sell up and take KM with him? As desirable as that is we will still have a club with significant losses each season, a poor squad that is not equipped to cope with the English second division, a dwindling fan base and the poor atmosphere that comes with it.
I remember feeling jealous and a little bitter in, about, 2008 when the media started talking about Stoke as having such a fantastic atmosphere at the Britannia. Something that had been said about us a few years before. Fans that are given a little taste of something new and exciting tend to 'show it' in the atmosphere at their home games. We were heading for the third division and Stoke seemed to have taken our place as the club that all the media talked about as being well managed and having 'great fans'. This was made even worse when, in 2013, Palace became the new darlings of the media for their fantastic atmosphere and the marvellous way their club was managed.
We've had our day in the sun and now we have to get used to life in the normal world of League Football with no money, no exciting transfers, no internationals, poor crowds constantly talking about past glories and every player showing any promise, at all, being tempted away for more money and a chance at the big time. It wasn't that long ago that we were hand picking the stars in all the second division sides and signing them. What goes around comes around.
I'd love a change of ownership but I'm not sure that, on its own, will change how I (and many others) feel about afternoons at The Valley. Maybe it is time for many of us to find something else to do with our leisure time and have a new fan base come in that is not always going to be comparing the experience with beating Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool at The Valley. Maybe some of us will never be able to accept anything less that those heady days where we were, in truth, punching above our weight.
I don't think I have ever disagreed more with a post on here.
There is only one reason I boycott and don't go to the Valley and that is THIS owner.
I enjoyed the Powell promotion season as much as I enjoyed the peaks of the premiership. I enjoyed going to the Valley in the poor seasons eg 71/2 79/80. I went to the Valley and the Boleyn through thick and thin.
But for the first time the enjoyment has gone. Not because we are no longer premier league but because we have THIS owner. Sheff U away did it for me. But I will be back when he sells.
Sheff Utd? The chap had only been here for a few weeks then and Powell hadn't even been sacked.
I don't think Roland is deliberately trying to get us relegated - his "plan" is to run a network and make money farming players and he will make a great deal less money in League One. He is a terrible mixture of rich, arrogant and stubborn and simply doesn't understand football at any level. His and Katriens reign here has been an appalling parade of mismanagement.
However no one owns a club for ever and in my opinion all of the protests are having a huge effect - otherwise why would he seek out coverage in a local paper after two years of silence? He is rattled and knows he might lose money. Similar protests in Liege saw him sell.
Anyone who thought that he would pack up and sell after a couple of months of protests is understandably despondent, however it was always going to take more time. So let's all get behind the protests, sustain them, boycott seasons and be in this for the long haul. Roland will sell and this club will be here and thriving a long time after he has gone.
I'm not sure that the feeling we all have is not just a side effect of being a Premier League side for best part of a decade and the realisation that we are not going to be one again any time soon.
Apart from two good runs towards the end of the season we have been average, at best, in the Championship since we won League One and that was a one off season. The year before we finished 13th. If you look at all of the seasons since we were relegated from the Premier League (and include that season) we have finished 19th (PL) 11th and 24th (2nd div) 4th, 13th, 1st (3rd div) then 9th, 18th and 12th in the 2nd division.
After the Curbishley years that is bound to have a negative effect on enthusiasm. Richard Murray was heavily criticised for his appointment of Dowie and Les Reed, Slater and Jimenez were vilified (helped by their treatment of Airman Brown and his, subsequent, revelations) and now RD and KM are hated.
The truth is that watching football at Charlton is not as much fun as it was ten years ago. Even when we were winning the League One Title I just felt relieved to be getting out of the 3rd division. It was never an aspiration of mine to win the 3rd division, I never wanted to be in it in the first place.
I'm not sure that anything short of a side genuinely challenging for promotion to the Premier League will be enough to make the football watching experience enjoyable again. What happens if RD does sell up and take KM with him? As desirable as that is we will still have a club with significant losses each season, a poor squad that is not equipped to cope with the English second division, a dwindling fan base and the poor atmosphere that comes with it.
I remember feeling jealous and a little bitter in, about, 2008 when the media started talking about Stoke as having such a fantastic atmosphere at the Britannia. Something that had been said about us a few years before. Fans that are given a little taste of something new and exciting tend to 'show it' in the atmosphere at their home games. We were heading for the third division and Stoke seemed to have taken our place as the club that all the media talked about as being well managed and having 'great fans'. This was made even worse when, in 2013, Palace became the new darlings of the media for their fantastic atmosphere and the marvellous way their club was managed.
We've had our day in the sun and now we have to get used to life in the normal world of League Football with no money, no exciting transfers, no internationals, poor crowds constantly talking about past glories and every player showing any promise, at all, being tempted away for more money and a chance at the big time. It wasn't that long ago that we were hand picking the stars in all the second division sides and signing them. What goes around comes around.
I'd love a change of ownership but I'm not sure that, on its own, will change how I (and many others) feel about afternoons at The Valley. Maybe it is time for many of us to find something else to do with our leisure time and have a new fan base come in that is not always going to be comparing the experience with beating Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool at The Valley. Maybe some of us will never be able to accept anything less that those heady days where we were, in truth, punching above our weight.
I don't think I have ever disagreed more with a post on here.
There is only one reason I boycott and don't go to the Valley and that is THIS owner.
I enjoyed the Powell promotion season as much as I enjoyed the peaks of the premiership. I enjoyed going to the Valley in the poor seasons eg 71/2 79/80. I went to the Valley and the Boleyn through thick and thin.
But for the first time the enjoyment has gone. Not because we are no longer premier league but because we have THIS owner. Sheff U away did it for me. But I will be back when he sells.
Sheff Utd? The chap had only been here for a few weeks then and Powell hadn't even been sacked.
Are you sure you're not rewriting history?
He had already sold a number of good players and replaced them with tosh.
Times are tough, but I don't think we should be so dispirited about our chances of getting rid of him. He's a pathetic old man who admits that he is counting his months. He failed in politics and packed it in. He failed at Liege and sold up. He's failing with us, and as sure as eggs are eggs, he'll reach the point where he's had enough of Charlton. Just look at that photo of him last week, tired and haggard. He didn't want to be here, but he felt he had to because everything's such a mess. He stands to lose millions if we are relegated and that is surely not to pleasant a prospect for him. Perhaps worse though, this old man who so desperately wants to prove that he is something special needs to be a success at something. Any workable plan that he might have had was blown out of the water within months of his 'arrival', when the rest of the league stuck two fingers up at FFP.
Listen to his answers last week as well. When critiqued as an absentee owner all he could do was bleat that '...I have so many other things which I do...'. These aren't the words of a young man full of verve that would give us a run for our money. These are the words of a decrepit old git who has bitten off more than he can chew. And on the subject of leaving, his 'I fully understand their feelings. But the conclusion that I should sell is a bit too quick' statement is hardly the sort of stuff you'd carve in granite. He's not ruling out going at all, it's a 'bit too quick' that's all. We just need to keep pushing an pushing to bring him a bit closer to the realisation that the experiment is over.
This is a war of attrition. It was never going to be over in a few days or weeks. It'll take months, maybe years. But at some point the penny will drop and he'll realise that he is wasting his time on something that is brining him no joy, no money and no prestige. There's no need to be too dispirited because some people don't like Pinocchio masks or because people didn't hang around so long in the rain. It's our club and as the poster said, we'll be here long after he's gone. So, let's keep at it. We have the power to win this, but we've got to believe.
What a post! Did anyone else start to hear the slow steady strains of some inspiring classical music in the background as they were reading it?
I understand the frustration. I support the CARD approach but it will take time. The club did limit the banner protest. Maybe the Bristol result did offer a chance for large scale protest yet the club still had to pay for excess security. Pinocchio day was not for everyone but was a nice twist on a "schools day".
It is not feasible to make headline “statements” every week.
I respect the critics but we need to be careful in giving comfort to those who appear blind to the issues or who feel nothing can be achieved. I am sure if some wish to bring a different strand to the Coalition the chance to add to the protests remains.
“What else is there?” is not an answer. It’s not even the question yet there remains a strong perception;
a) There is no one else b) This owner is providing financial stability c) The protests are pointless causing more harm than good
Todays SLP articles (see other thread) reiterate what is at stake.
It is the future of Charlton Athletic Football Club.
"There is no one else"
Not true, in defence of the Varney fiasco the executive state they receive regular enquiries.
There is no interest in selling, but until you know any proposals how can you determine their value to you and most importantly the club? Who does this stance serve?
Prospective investors exist. To insist on the detail is unrealistic. We knew not of Duchatelet until agreements were binding. All negotiations are governed by strict confidentiality.
"This owner is providing financial stability"
New figures out soon will reveal the financial health of the Charlton Athletic Football Club group of companies.
Duchatelet funds the group via Staprix N.V. but does such funding provide financial stability? Every indication suggests every element of funding is by way of new debt for which Staprix charge interest. To argue as such debt is "unrecoverable" it is "quasi equity" ignores any terms attached to the debt and the Duchatelet family alleged penchant for gaining financial benefit from such investments.
The clubs' trading position will have materially worsened. The funding method serves only the investor - Less ”quasi equity” more “quasi investment”?. Debt is debt. Which poses a few questions;
Was the level of the club debt incurred for pitch refurbishment necessary?
Is the level of debt in developing the training ground/ academy value for money? Why were original plans, with external funding in place, changed? Whose interest did this serve?
What debt have we incurred for the coaching & player recruitment failures?
If “balancing the books” why burden the balance sheet with capital & operating expense which the clubs' trading profile clearly cannot support? Where is the sustainability in this approach? Which books are we balancing? Where is there an iota of evidence Duchatelet will write off the debt his executive is creating?
To argue the owners financial strength will secure our future is pure hyperbole.
"The protests are pointless causing more harm than good"
No protest is pointless if it influences change for the better. Why the rush to judgement after only weeks of protest? How long did the return to the Valley take?
Causing more harm than good argues to the crux of the issue. It does not get more basic. What does Charlton mean to you?
As a professional sports club its intent has been for its team to be the best they can be. The focus has been the continuing pursuit of sporting achievement. Any commercial and associated social activity has been defined by its support of these goals. Such are basic industry cannons.
All commercial, social & community activity is to be applauded but not to the point they take precedence over the football. Commercial trading purely for the benefit of the business and its investors is a breach of trust.
We/ you have a choice. What is your priority, a successful football team with a supporting commercial & social agenda or a primary financial focus, pristine social environment with a secondary football aspect?
You can argue for it all but what is your priority? Is it the football or the social stuff? If the latter this regime may be the one for you.
The priority sets the tone of the organisation. It defines the reason people go to work. Dilute or confuse your goals when in direct competition with others and you will fail. It is why we struggle today. This regime is unable to enunciate a clear unequivocal coherent strategy. Against every conceivable performance benchmark it has failed.
Why choose a CEO with no working knowledge of the football industry? Why not choose and empower a head coach with UK experience to take repeated risks with ill equipped and unproven head coaches? Why take repeated risks with inexperienced, oft injury profiled player “projects?
Success in football is not the priority.
Why did the executive refuse to fully and openly engage with club supporters?
Knowing little of the UK football industry or its culture, of our club, our history or our values they had nothing of value to say. Football is not their priority. Any delivery of a competitive championship football club will be mere happenstance.
Football is secondary to the revenue the team and its component parts can secure.
Their priority is the business hence you are a customer but look how badly you have been served.
If you are content to be a customer able to watch any game of football, no matter the standard or quality to enjoy a social event with family and/or friends I wish you well. Many local clubs offer you this opportunity more cheaply and in a more social environment.
Is such the future you see for our club? Will you settle for 3rd, 4th, 5th tier football?
The "crunch" has long since arrived. As weekly operational mishap follows communication blunder follows puzzling recruitment we witness the “crumbling” of a professional football organisation. If such failures are of little importance to you respect those for whom such ineptitude, such disregard for our history and those who have served the club over the generations mean great deal more!
Claims of misrepresentation serve only to show how little they understand. The discord within the club and its environs arises entirely from the investor and the representatives he chose to serve his interests.
Who else, is no longer valid because the end game will be the same. There will be no professionally competitive football club worthy of such classification operating in SE7.
As a direct result of the pursuit of their distorted policies with every stumble, on and off the field of play, we approach the point of no return. The condemnation of this regime is rightly industry wide and publicly declared. Peel back the layers and there is nothing to see.
The focus on youth development started 70yrs ago. It created a legend in the late Sir Matt Busby. His goal was sporting glory. A man with 17yrs in the UK football industry, empowered to deliver his vision it even took him 5yrs to deliver his vision.
His quote (hijacked by the late Bill Shankly) "Aim for the stars and there is a good chance you will hit the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and fail the only place you will hit is the floor" says it all.
The owners' recent unconvincing contribution confirms they are locked into a failed strategy pursuing their perverted version of a football policy pursued for decades, with inadequate organisational investment to meet local market needs.
Our executive today offer no ambition. Our club is leaderless and flounders in a market this executive neither respects nor understands. They have shown zero ability to learn to adapt and move forward.
If you do not see evidence of such failures please look harder.
This executive offer absolutely no redeeming qualities. No more excuses they have to go!
I still haven't worked out why RD bought the club given he has no interest in football. The Valley is hardly a prime piece of real estate and as a business venture he certainly won't make money.
I believe that RD bought the club because he wanted to conduct an experiment (as he did with his political party in Belgium) in doing things differently and in challenging the status quo. Remember, he sees himself as a visionary who can see opportunities that others don't. He wanted at the outset to demonstrate that 'success' (whatever he means by it) could be achieved through strict adhesion to Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules and in appointing KM (a lawyer whose expertise was competition law). He thought no doubt that he had someone in place who would know best how to fight that particular corner. Of course, KM has instead been tied up doing the day-to-day running of the club with no experience, with an acknowledged rejection of the club's history, with total and utter insensitivity towards staff and fans alike and with a reliance instead on 'modern' business practices undertaken to reduce overheads and maximise other revenue sources (e.g. cut staff by a third and rent out the ticket office). Whether she ever took part in the discussions which saw the relaxation of FFP she clearly wasn't listened to. We have therefore, at the helm as CEO someone who is now totally adrift and an owner who is apparently indifferent.
I'm not sure that the feeling we all have is not just a side effect of being a Premier League side for best part of a decade and the realisation that we are not going to be one again any time soon.
Apart from two good runs towards the end of the season we have been average, at best, in the Championship since we won League One and that was a one off season. The year before we finished 13th. If you look at all of the seasons since we were relegated from the Premier League (and include that season) we have finished 19th (PL) 11th and 24th (2nd div) 4th, 13th, 1st (3rd div) then 9th, 18th and 12th in the 2nd division.
After the Curbishley years that is bound to have a negative effect on enthusiasm. Richard Murray was heavily criticised for his appointment of Dowie and Les Reed, Slater and Jimenez were vilified (helped by their treatment of Airman Brown and his, subsequent, revelations) and now RD and KM are hated.
The truth is that watching football at Charlton is not as much fun as it was ten years ago. Even when we were winning the League One Title I just felt relieved to be getting out of the 3rd division. It was never an aspiration of mine to win the 3rd division, I never wanted to be in it in the first place.
I'm not sure that anything short of a side genuinely challenging for promotion to the Premier League will be enough to make the football watching experience enjoyable again. What happens if RD does sell up and take KM with him? As desirable as that is we will still have a club with significant losses each season, a poor squad that is not equipped to cope with the English second division, a dwindling fan base and the poor atmosphere that comes with it.
I remember feeling jealous and a little bitter in, about, 2008 when the media started talking about Stoke as having such a fantastic atmosphere at the Britannia. Something that had been said about us a few years before. Fans that are given a little taste of something new and exciting tend to 'show it' in the atmosphere at their home games. We were heading for the third division and Stoke seemed to have taken our place as the club that all the media talked about as being well managed and having 'great fans'. This was made even worse when, in 2013, Palace became the new darlings of the media for their fantastic atmosphere and the marvellous way their club was managed.
We've had our day in the sun and now we have to get used to life in the normal world of League Football with no money, no exciting transfers, no internationals, poor crowds constantly talking about past glories and every player showing any promise, at all, being tempted away for more money and a chance at the big time. It wasn't that long ago that we were hand picking the stars in all the second division sides and signing them. What goes around comes around.
I'd love a change of ownership but I'm not sure that, on its own, will change how I (and many others) feel about afternoons at The Valley. Maybe it is time for many of us to find something else to do with our leisure time and have a new fan base come in that is not always going to be comparing the experience with beating Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool at The Valley. Maybe some of us will never be able to accept anything less that those heady days where we were, in truth, punching above our weight.
I don't think I have ever disagreed more with a post on here.
There is only one reason I boycott and don't go to the Valley and that is THIS owner.
I enjoyed the Powell promotion season as much as I enjoyed the peaks of the premiership. I enjoyed going to the Valley in the poor seasons eg 71/2 79/80. I went to the Valley and the Boleyn through thick and thin.
But for the first time the enjoyment has gone. Not because we are no longer premier league but because we have THIS owner. Sheff U away did it for me. But I will be back when he sells.
Sheff Utd? The chap had only been here for a few weeks then and Powell hadn't even been sacked.
Are you sure you're not rewriting history?
He had already sold a number of good players and replaced them with tosh.
Not another unfit player, I never remember Tosh playing for us, I suppose they got rid of him with all the other useless players
The point about supporting this club is that you and I support it through the good and bad times as it will be here long after the current ownership has packed up and headed off into the sunset. What I do find disgusting is all this name calling and wishes for someone to die by hanging or death by whatever means possible. As soon as someone starts with pathetic old man or eff off and die you old c*** I can't be bothered to read the rest of the post. I am not a fan of RD or KM and I have no view on Murray but some the vile crap being spouted by some on here whose posts I have read and respected beggars belief. Manny pacqiao gets slaughtered for his anti gay comments but calling someone an old c*** and to piss off and die is OK? Sorry if I have gone off topic but this abuse seems to crop up on all sorts of threads.
The club is owned by a man who has publicly confirmed that he is not interested in the team winning
I agree in the main with what you have said LL. But, is the above actually a fact? I haven't seen that anywhere.
I might be wrong but I recollect that shortly after buying the club RD stated that winning a match was not a priority. Others with better memories than I can possibly give chapter and verse.
Comments
Thanks GGA
"I still relished every trip to see my beloved team play no matter how poor we were.
Im not dispirited because of a few results or because of some Premier League hangover, im dispirited because nearly everything I associate with Charlton has been removed & all the hard work Chris Powell did to bring back that Charlton feeling has been removed due to the insane anti sport policies of our Belgian overlord who can't even be interested enough to attend a game or two a season"
There is only one reason I boycott and don't go to the Valley and that is THIS owner.
I enjoyed the Powell promotion season as much as I enjoyed the peaks of the premiership. I enjoyed going to the Valley in the poor seasons eg 71/2 79/80. I went to the Valley and the Boleyn through thick and thin.
But for the first time the enjoyment has gone. Not because we are no longer premier league but because we have THIS owner. Sheff U away did it for me. But I will be back when he sells.
Nothing to do with being in the prem for me.
We were a second division side when I started watching in the 60's and a fair few people I've spoken with
would be happy for us to be stable in that division (Championship) with the occasional play off place or maybe a promotion.
Lack of ambition there? If you like, but it's just my and a few friends view.
Listen to his answers last week as well. When critiqued as an absentee owner all he could do was bleat that '...I have so many other things which I do...'. These aren't the words of a young man full of verve that would give us a run for our money. These are the words of a decrepit old git who has bitten off more than he can chew. And on the subject of leaving, his 'I fully understand their feelings. But the conclusion that I should sell is a bit too quick' statement is hardly the sort of stuff you'd carve in granite. He's not ruling out going at all, it's a 'bit too quick' that's all. We just need to keep pushing an pushing to bring him a bit closer to the realisation that the experiment is over.
This is a war of attrition. It was never going to be over in a few days or weeks. It'll take months, maybe years. But at some point the penny will drop and he'll realise that he is wasting his time on something that is brining him no joy, no money and no prestige. There's no need to be too dispirited because some people don't like Pinocchio masks or because people didn't hang around so long in the rain. It's our club and as the poster said, we'll be here long after he's gone. So, let's keep at it. We have the power to win this, but we've got to believe.
Are you sure you're not rewriting history?
However no one owns a club for ever and in my opinion all of the protests are having a huge effect - otherwise why would he seek out coverage in a local paper after two years of silence? He is rattled and knows he might lose money. Similar protests in Liege saw him sell.
Anyone who thought that he would pack up and sell after a couple of months of protests is understandably despondent, however it was always going to take more time. So let's all get behind the protests, sustain them, boycott seasons and be in this for the long haul. Roland will sell and this club will be here and thriving a long time after he has gone.
It is not feasible to make headline “statements” every week.
I respect the critics but we need to be careful in giving comfort to those who appear blind to the issues or who feel nothing can be achieved. I am sure if some wish to bring a different strand to the Coalition the chance to add to the protests remains.
“What else is there?” is not an answer. It’s not even the question yet there remains a strong perception;
a) There is no one else
b) This owner is providing financial stability
c) The protests are pointless causing more harm than good
Todays SLP articles (see other thread) reiterate what is at stake.
It is the future of Charlton Athletic Football Club.
"There is no one else"
Not true, in defence of the Varney fiasco the executive state they receive regular enquiries.
There is no interest in selling, but until you know any proposals how can you determine their value to you and most importantly the club? Who does this stance serve?
Prospective investors exist. To insist on the detail is unrealistic. We knew not of Duchatelet until agreements were binding. All negotiations are governed by strict confidentiality.
"This owner is providing financial stability"
New figures out soon will reveal the financial health of the Charlton Athletic Football Club group of companies.
Duchatelet funds the group via Staprix N.V. but does such funding provide financial stability? Every indication suggests every element of funding is by way of new debt for which Staprix charge interest. To argue as such debt is "unrecoverable" it is "quasi equity" ignores any terms attached to the debt and the Duchatelet family alleged penchant for gaining financial benefit from such investments.
The clubs' trading position will have materially worsened. The funding method serves only the investor - Less ”quasi equity” more “quasi investment”?. Debt is debt. Which poses a few questions;
Was the level of the club debt incurred for pitch refurbishment necessary?
Is the level of debt in developing the training ground/ academy value for money? Why were original plans, with external funding in place, changed? Whose interest did this serve?
What debt have we incurred for the coaching & player recruitment failures?
If “balancing the books” why burden the balance sheet with capital & operating expense which the clubs' trading profile clearly cannot support? Where is the sustainability in this approach? Which books are we balancing? Where is there an iota of evidence Duchatelet will write off the debt his executive is creating?
To argue the owners financial strength will secure our future is pure hyperbole.
"The protests are pointless causing more harm than good"
No protest is pointless if it influences change for the better. Why the rush to judgement after only weeks of protest? How long did the return to the Valley take?
Causing more harm than good argues to the crux of the issue. It does not get more basic. What does Charlton mean to you?
As a professional sports club its intent has been for its team to be the best they can be. The focus has been the continuing pursuit of sporting achievement. Any commercial and associated social activity has been defined by its support of these goals. Such are basic industry cannons.
All commercial, social & community activity is to be applauded but not to the point they take precedence over the football. Commercial trading purely for the benefit of the business and its investors is a breach of trust.
We/ you have a choice. What is your priority, a successful football team with a supporting commercial & social agenda or a primary financial focus, pristine social environment with a secondary football aspect?
You can argue for it all but what is your priority? Is it the football or the social stuff? If the latter this regime may be the one for you.
The priority sets the tone of the organisation. It defines the reason people go to work. Dilute or confuse your goals when in direct competition with others and you will fail. It is why we struggle today. This regime is unable to enunciate a clear unequivocal coherent strategy. Against every conceivable performance benchmark it has failed.
Why choose a CEO with no working knowledge of the football industry?
Why not choose and empower a head coach with UK experience to take repeated risks with ill equipped and unproven head coaches?
Why take repeated risks with inexperienced, oft injury profiled player “projects?
Success in football is not the priority.
Why did the executive refuse to fully and openly engage with club supporters?
Knowing little of the UK football industry or its culture, of our club, our history or our values they had nothing of value to say. Football is not their priority. Any delivery of a competitive championship football club will be mere happenstance.
Football is secondary to the revenue the team and its component parts can secure.
Their priority is the business hence you are a customer but look how badly you have been served.
If you are content to be a customer able to watch any game of football, no matter the standard or quality to enjoy a social event with family and/or friends I wish you well. Many local clubs offer you this opportunity more cheaply and in a more social environment.
Is such the future you see for our club? Will you settle for 3rd, 4th, 5th tier football?
The "crunch" has long since arrived. As weekly operational mishap follows communication blunder follows puzzling recruitment we witness the “crumbling” of a professional football organisation. If such failures are of little importance to you respect those for whom such ineptitude, such disregard for our history and those who have served the club over the generations mean great deal more!
Claims of misrepresentation serve only to show how little they understand. The discord within the club and its environs arises entirely from the investor and the representatives he chose to serve his interests.
Who else, is no longer valid because the end game will be the same. There will be no professionally competitive football club worthy of such classification operating in SE7.
As a direct result of the pursuit of their distorted policies with every stumble, on and off the field of play, we approach the point of no return. The condemnation of this regime is rightly industry wide and publicly declared. Peel back the layers and there is nothing to see.
The focus on youth development started 70yrs ago. It created a legend in the late Sir Matt Busby. His goal was sporting glory. A man with 17yrs in the UK football industry, empowered to deliver his vision it even took him 5yrs to deliver his vision.
His quote (hijacked by the late Bill Shankly) "Aim for the stars and there is a good chance you will hit the ceiling. Aim for the ceiling and fail the only place you will hit is the floor" says it all.
The owners' recent unconvincing contribution confirms they are locked into a failed strategy pursuing their perverted version of a football policy pursued for decades, with inadequate organisational investment to meet local market needs.
Our executive today offer no ambition. Our club is leaderless and flounders in a market this executive neither respects nor understands. They have shown zero ability to learn to adapt and move forward.
If you do not see evidence of such failures please look harder.
This executive offer absolutely no redeeming qualities. No more excuses they have to go!
Sad that it could come to it.