To: Charlton Athletic Football Club Subject: Current situation...
Hi there,
Just a quick note to register my complete disappointment with the way the club is being run.
It must be clear now to all that we are in a downward spiral and this will continue until the owner sells or changes course.
I have season tickets for myself and my son however we have decided not to renew as we can't support the owner and senior exec team who really do not know how to run a football club.
The list of poor decisions is already well documented and in the public domain and are making us look like a complete shambles of a football club.
I welcome a positive response however fear that I will just get some standard wording around "...we share your concerns...etc"
Please can you at least confirm that Roland and Katrien are fully aware that a huge number of fans are really unhappy and that the protests will continue till the end of the season and into the closed season and beyond.
They have seriously underestimated our resolve as loyal supporters and need to fully understand that they bought the wrong club.
We are disappointed that you feel this way but we are all working hard to upturn the fortunes of CAFC.
We can also inform you that Mr Duchatelet has no plans on selling the club at present.
Also, we are not happy to hear that you will not be renewing your season tickets but we do understand why. We would like to thank you for your loyalty over the years and we do not want to lose any of our family of supporters. We know we might, which means we will have to work even harder to bring them back to The Valley.
We are all aware of the current situation and upset amongst some so we are working hard to rectify this.
Rocking up past lunchtime on a matchday doesn't strike me as working particularly hard. Try getting to work at reasonable hour instead of laying in your pit all Saturday morning Katrien.
I have been a Charlton fan for all my life. I attended my first game when I was three years old, and got my first season ticket aged seven. I have watched Charlton play in the top division, as well as the second and third tiers of English football over the years. In all this time - through all the highs and lows, watching some really great football and some really awful football - I have never felt as disconnected from the club as I do under the current management, who have all but destroyed the links between Charlton Athletic and its fans, its history, and the local community. I have only one question: why should I come back next year?
I have been a Charlton fan for all my life. I attended my first game when I was three years old, and got my first season ticket aged seven. I have watched Charlton play in the top division, as well as the second and third tiers of English football over the years. In all this time - through all the highs and lows, watching some really great football and some really awful football - I have never felt as disconnected from the club as I do under the current management, who have all but destroyed the links between Charlton Athletic and its fans, its history, and the local community. I have only one question: why should I come back next year?
Yours,
[ateamofcorygibbs]
Holding my breath...
My guess is that you should come back for "The cheapest football in London" and "a great matchday experience".
Wow, they replied in under 5 minutes. Almost as if they just copied and pasted from a pre-written answer...
Hello [ateamofcorygibbs],
Thank you for your email.
We understand that you are feeling disappointed at this current time. However we can assure you that we are working hard to upturn[?] the fortunes of the club for the future.
We would love to see you next season and here are our future plans so it can hopeful [sic] help you make a decision:
In terms of our plans, the most important thing is the first team. It’s this that those in charge of the football side of the business need to get right. We are currently interviewing for a Chief Scout position. The head coach is involved in this because it is important that the coach is getting the players he believes are right for his team and the club.
The Academy plays an important role in that. Charlton have always provided a pathway to the first team for young players and that will continue to be the case. There is major investment programme taking place at the training ground which will be complete in around 18 months time. This is an important commitment in the future of the Academy and will help ensure that we will continue to attract the best young talent from across London and the South East.
It is important that we work closer with fans. Plans have started on that already but in light of recent events we will need to put in place plans that can help repair trust between now and the start of the new season.
The Community Trust will ensure that the club remains an important community hub and at the club we are working on initiatives that will see us connect more with the local community. Again, we hope fans will play a role here.
"We are currently interviewing for a Chief Scout position. The head coach is involved in this" but the post will report to a lawyer who has no meaningful background in professional football.
They keep on saying how hard they're working. Where's the evidence of that? I mean if the workforce has the tone set by the time the CEO arrives for work that isn't a good start. Especially as any conversation I've had with club employees is that they have to do what they're told. So they can wait around to be told what to do by a CEO who arrives any old time, and on matchdays that can be as late as 1pm, when she then wanders aimlessly around it seems to me. Working hard to establish a 'good' relationship with fans, is there any evidence anywhere that this is happening? Until I know otherwise I assume they're bone idle.
"We are currently interviewing for a Chief Scout position. The head coach is involved in this" but the post will report to a lawyer who has no meaningful background in professional football.
But like Chappell, unless he is targeting Belgian or free foreign players who will play for low wages, he's suggestions will be ignored
"It is important that we work closer with fans. Plans have started on that already but in light of recent events we will need to put in place plans that can help repair trust between now and the start of the new season."
Wow, they replied in under 5 minutes. Almost as if they just copied and pasted from a pre-written answer...
Hello [ateamofcorygibbs],
Thank you for your email.
We understand that you are feeling disappointed at this current time. However we can assure you that we are working hard to upturn[?] the fortunes of the club for the future.
We would love to see you next season and here are our future plans so it can hopeful [sic] help you make a decision:
In terms of our plans, the most important thing is the first team. It’s this that those in charge of the football side of the business need to get right. We are currently interviewing for a Chief Scout position. The head coach is involved in this because it is important that the coach is getting the players he believes are right for his team and the club.
The Academy plays an important role in that. Charlton have always provided a pathway to the first team for young players and that will continue to be the case. There is major investment programme taking place at the training ground which will be complete in around 18 months time. This is an important commitment in the future of the Academy and will help ensure that we will continue to attract the best young talent from across London and the South East.
It is important that we work closer with fans. Plans have started on that already but in light of recent events we will need to put in place plans that can help repair trust between now and the start of the new season.
The Community Trust will ensure that the club remains an important community hub and at the club we are working on initiatives that will see us connect more with the local community. Again, we hope fans will play a role here.
Thank you for your support.
Kind Regards
The Supporter Relations Team
Word for word that's what I got today supposedly answering my 7 questions...... Which it didnt't!!
"We are currently interviewing for a Chief Scout position. The head coach is involved in this" but the post will report to a lawyer who has no meaningful background in professional football.
To be fair the Head Coach/Regime Puppet & the Lawyer/Regime Puppet are 100% indebted to Roland for their jobs - doesn't really matter who the Chief Scout reports to, as Roland will decide what's best for us.
Wow, they replied in under 5 minutes. Almost as if they just copied and pasted from a pre-written answer...
Hello [ateamofcorygibbs],
Thank you for your email.
We understand that you are feeling disappointed at this current time. However we can assure you that we are working hard to upturn[?] the fortunes of the club for the future.
We would love to see you next season and here are our future plans so it can hopeful [sic] help you make a decision:
In terms of our plans, the most important thing is the first team. It’s this that those in charge of the football side of the business need to get right. We are currently interviewing for a Chief Scout position. The head coach is involved in this because it is important that the coach is getting the players he believes are right for his team and the club.
The Academy plays an important role in that. Charlton have always provided a pathway to the first team for young players and that will continue to be the case. There is major investment programme taking place at the training ground which will be complete in around 18 months time. This is an important commitment in the future of the Academy and will help ensure that we will continue to attract the best young talent from across London and the South East.
It is important that we work closer with fans. Plans have started on that already but in light of recent events we will need to put in place plans that can help repair trust between now and the start of the new season.
The Community Trust will ensure that the club remains an important community hub and at the club we are working on initiatives that will see us connect more with the local community. Again, we hope fans will play a role here.
Thank you for your support.
Kind Regards
The Supporter Relations Team
Word for word that's what I got today supposedly answering my 7 questions...... Which it didnt't!!
This paragraph is really starting to grind with me, while "staff" maybe trying to do exactly that there are two or three that basically don't give a cr@p what people do........ *We understand that you are feeling disappointed at this current time. However we can assure you that we are working hard to upturn[?] the fortunes of the club for the future.*
As an aside to this, has anyone else noticed the commercial on tv for the bank that likes to refer to its staff as "Partners" just a thought
For what it is worth, my correspondence and their response below....
My email to Katrien which was not responded to back in Nov 2015...I then forwarded onto the fans email address last week...
-----------------------
Katrien,
Having seen another fairly inept performance by our players I have an idea which may just help improve performances.
It strikes me that we have had a massively high turnover of players in recent years not to mention managers, long standing coaching and general staff and I am concerned that whilst the quality of our first 11 at least looks reasonable we are not performing to the sum of our parts.
Having been a regular attendee for some 30+ years I can absolutely assure you that Charlton is /was a unique club. Most fans of clubs like to think this is the case but there are not many clubs where fans got together to start a political party to fight for their clubs future (and in our case, ultimately the return to The Valley). Where fans turned up to clear the pitches and stands. It strikes me that when we had Alan Curbishley as manager he knew the club inside out and made sure all of the players were aware of its history.... Have you heard the storey of how he got Paulo Di Canio to sign by climbing over PDC's side gate (PDC was out when he called) and dropping a copy of the Back to The Valley DVD off with him? It's a great storey. Those days we were regularly out performing our budget and Curbs was a master at getting the best out of what he had.
I worry that all of this history and tradition is lost through the huge turnover of staff. I was recently listening to a teacher of a failed school where they have a job to turn it around and have bought in 2 hours of compulsory 'after-schooling' which they call enlightenment and use the time to improve the kids life skills and it got me thinking... What about we do this to our players after training and pick some inspirational fans from the clubs history to come in and tell the players just what is so special about the club? What makes it unique? How passionate and what an asset the fans can and have been. Really get engagement. Build a bond, get the players to 'buy in' to CAFC a little more. Explain to them what is happening with the academy and make them feel a piece of something and pride in something.
I know after 3 main employers that the one I would have worked hardest, longest etc for is the one that made me feel part of their culture.
It would cost nothing and, I would imagine, be relatively risk free... What is there to lose?
Let's make CAFC better than its parts again. This club, like all of a similar size, has always been better when everyone is pulling together.
Thanks
-----------------------------------
I forwarded the above to the fans email and got this back...
Thank you for your email.
We understand your concerns and please know there is a large team working hard to upturn the fortunes of the club for the better. We are the Supporter Relations Team at head office direct employees of the club.
Dear me, it's like they have set themselves up to fail again! Finally give an email address to fans that will be answered by the club, but oh, they are so overwhelmed with complaints and questions that they give cut and pasted answers! Then they don't answer the questions, show no regard about losing long term fans and still keep lying. What did they expect from their 'customers'? A couple of polite emails asking about trivialities like the sofa after 2 years of inept communication and management. By the way, I still have not had a reply to my emails dated the 16th and 17th of March. Working to build bridges...having a laugh more like.
We apologise about this, I have spoken to the relevant people and they remember this competition. They said that we can send you a signed programme as a prize if you would still like it. If so please send us your address and we can get that posted to you.
Best Regards The Supporter Relations Team
I can't really fault them on this although as far as memorabilia goes, Chris Powells signature is worth a lot more to me than most of the dross there at the moment.
I also really enjoy the mental image of some lad from a crisis management consultancy running around the CAFC office to try and find out if anyone remembers a Twitter competition from 2013 which had a signed Chris Powell mask as a prize.
They must have quite a few old programmes to shift too!
They keep on saying how hard they're working. Where's the evidence of that?
To be fair, the people who say that (the ones sending the emails) are obviously working very hard in the Philippines or India or wherever. They seem to be sending a lot of emails every day. Stock replies, copied and pasted, sure, but that's not their fault.
I think this is an elaborate attempt by the club to find out every CL member's email address and name.
We apologise about this, I have spoken to the relevant people and they remember this competition. They said that we can send you a signed programme as a prize if you would still like it. If so please send us your address and we can get that posted to you.
Best Regards The Supporter Relations Team
I can't really fault them on this although as far as memorabilia goes, Chris Powells signature is worth a lot more to me than most of the dross there at the moment.
I also really enjoy the mental image of some lad from a crisis management consultancy running around the CAFC office to try and find out if anyone remembers a Twitter competition from 2013 which had a signed Chris Powell mask as a prize.
They must have quite a few old programmes to shift too!
Fancy a game of "Which one will I get bingo"? I for one hope it's Boro and signed by Reza, Ba, Sarr, Makienok, Bergdich and Roger Johnson
For what it is worth, my correspondence and their response below....
I forwarded the above to the fans email and got this back...
Thank you for your email.
We understand your concerns and please know there is a large team working hard to upturn the fortunes of the club for the better. We are the Supporter Relations Team at head office direct employees of the club.
It is important that we work closer with fans. Plans have started on that already but in light of recent events we will need to put in place plans that can help repair trust between now and the start of the new season.
That IMO is an admission of guilt that they lied when posting multiple statements, including Duchatelet/Meire's ramble and that Duchatelet has met with certain groups of 'fans' potentially other things too.
It is important that we work closer with fans. Plans have started on that already but in light of recent events we will need to put in place plans that can help repair trust between now and the start of the new season.
That IMO is an admission of guilt that they lied when posting multiple statements, including Duchatelet/Meire's ramble and that Duchatelet has met with certain groups of 'fans' potentially other things too.
Not sure Duchatelet will be happy seeing that.
How on earth are the planning to repair trust? Where would they even start? Just yesterday they issued a threatening statement. I guess they haven't started yet.
Comments
Subject: Current situation...
Hi there,
Just a quick note to register my complete disappointment with the way the club is being run.
It must be clear now to all that we are in a downward spiral and this will continue until the owner sells or changes course.
I have season tickets for myself and my son however we have decided not to renew as we can't support the owner and senior exec team who really do not know how to run a football club.
The list of poor decisions is already well documented and in the public domain and are making us look like a complete shambles of a football club.
I welcome a positive response however fear that I will just get some standard wording around "...we share your concerns...etc"
Please can you at least confirm that Roland and Katrien are fully aware that a huge number of fans are really unhappy and that the protests will continue till the end of the season and into the closed season and beyond.
They have seriously underestimated our resolve as loyal supporters and need to fully understand that they bought the wrong club.
Regards
Rich
Thank you for your email.
We are disappointed that you feel this way but we are all working hard to upturn the fortunes of CAFC.
We can also inform you that Mr Duchatelet has no plans on selling the club at present.
Also, we are not happy to hear that you will not be renewing your season tickets but we do understand why. We would like to thank you for your loyalty over the years and we do not want to lose any of our family of supporters. We know we might, which means we will have to work even harder to bring them back to The Valley.
We are all aware of the current situation and upset amongst some so we are working hard to rectify this.
Thank you again for your support.
Kind Regards
The Supporter Relations Team
The Supporter Relations Team might be aware - but what are RD/KM doing to rectify this & are they even aware of this ?
Hello,
I have been a Charlton fan for all my life. I attended my first game when I was three years old, and got my first season ticket aged seven. I have watched Charlton play in the top division, as well as the second and third tiers of English football over the years. In all this time - through all the highs and lows, watching some really great football and some really awful football - I have never felt as disconnected from the club as I do under the current management, who have all but destroyed the links between Charlton Athletic and its fans, its history, and the local community. I have only one question: why should I come back next year?
Yours,
[ateamofcorygibbs]
Holding my breath...
amiright?
Hello [ateamofcorygibbs],
Thank you for your email.
We understand that you are feeling disappointed at this current time. However we can assure you that we are working hard to upturn[?] the fortunes of the club for the future.
We would love to see you next season and here are our future plans so it can hopeful [sic] help you make a decision:
In terms of our plans, the most important thing is the first team. It’s this that those in charge of the football side of the business need to get right. We are currently interviewing for a Chief Scout position. The head coach is involved in this because it is important that the coach is getting the players he believes are right for his team and the club.
The Academy plays an important role in that. Charlton have always provided a pathway to the first team for young players and that will continue to be the case. There is major investment programme taking place at the training ground which will be complete in around 18 months time. This is an important commitment in the future of the Academy and will help ensure that we will continue to attract the best young talent from across London and the South East.
It is important that we work closer with fans. Plans have started on that already but in light of recent events we will need to put in place plans that can help repair trust between now and the start of the new season.
The Community Trust will ensure that the club remains an important community hub and at the club we are working on initiatives that will see us connect more with the local community. Again, we hope fans will play a role here.
Thank you for your support.
Kind Regards
The Supporter Relations Team
1/2 Karel Fraeye
3/1 Jose Jeunechamps
5/1 Nebojša Vignjevic
10/1 Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
15/1 Alan Curbishley
50/1 The Sofa
Where's the evidence of that?
I mean if the workforce has the tone set by the time the CEO arrives for work that isn't a good start. Especially as any conversation I've had with club employees is that they have to do what they're told. So they can wait around to be told what to do by a CEO who arrives any old time, and on matchdays that can be as late as 1pm, when she then wanders aimlessly around it seems to me.
Working hard to establish a 'good' relationship with fans, is there any evidence anywhere that this is happening?
Until I know otherwise I assume they're bone idle.
Once again I have to ask are RD & KM aware this ?
2 points come to mind, reading that.
Firstly that they are trying hard to hold on to the coat tails of CACT.
And secondly, as proud as we are of the Community Trust, a very high percentage of supporters live outside of the local community these days.
As an aside to this, has anyone else noticed the commercial on tv for the bank that likes to refer to its staff as "Partners" just a thought
My email to Katrien which was not responded to back in Nov 2015...I then forwarded onto the fans email address last week...
-----------------------
Katrien,
Having seen another fairly inept performance by our players I have an idea which may just help improve performances.
It strikes me that we have had a massively high turnover of players in recent years not to mention managers, long standing coaching and general staff and I am concerned that whilst the quality of our first 11 at least looks reasonable we are not performing to the sum of our parts.
Having been a regular attendee for some 30+ years I can absolutely assure you that Charlton is /was a unique club. Most fans of clubs like to think this is the case but there are not many clubs where fans got together to start a political party to fight for their clubs future (and in our case, ultimately the return to The Valley). Where fans turned up to clear the pitches and stands. It strikes me that when we had Alan Curbishley as manager he knew the club inside out and made sure all of the players were aware of its history.... Have you heard the storey of how he got Paulo Di Canio to sign by climbing over PDC's side gate (PDC was out when he called) and dropping a copy of the Back to The Valley DVD off with him? It's a great storey. Those days we were regularly out performing our budget and Curbs was a master at getting the best out of what he had.
I worry that all of this history and tradition is lost through the huge turnover of staff. I was recently listening to a teacher of a failed school where they have a job to turn it around and have bought in 2 hours of compulsory 'after-schooling' which they call enlightenment and use the time to improve the kids life skills and it got me thinking... What about we do this to our players after training and pick some inspirational fans from the clubs history to come in and tell the players just what is so special about the club? What makes it unique? How passionate and what an asset the fans can and have been. Really get engagement. Build a bond, get the players to 'buy in' to CAFC a little more. Explain to them what is happening with the academy and make them feel a piece of something and pride in something.
I know after 3 main employers that the one I would have worked hardest, longest etc for is the one that made me feel part of their culture.
It would cost nothing and, I would imagine, be relatively risk free... What is there to lose?
Let's make CAFC better than its parts again. This club, like all of a similar size, has always been better when everyone is pulling together.
Thanks
-----------------------------------
I forwarded the above to the fans email and got this back...
Thank you for your email.
We understand your concerns and please know there is a large team working hard to upturn the fortunes of the club for the better. We are the Supporter Relations Team at head office direct employees of the club.
Kind Regards
The Supporter Relations Team
By the way, I still have not had a reply to my emails dated the 16th and 17th of March. Working to build bridges...having a laugh more like.
I think this is an elaborate attempt by the club to find out every CL member's email address and name.
I for one hope it's Boro and signed by Reza, Ba, Sarr, Makienok, Bergdich and Roger Johnson
Not sure Duchatelet will be happy seeing that.