Now I don’t really want any other outcome than this owner selling the club and taking his useless CEO with him, but it is worth asking a question. If Duchatelet remains, has CARD and its supporters lost? I think the answer a lot of people will say is yes of course. But, I think there is an argument that means the protests have been a partial success even if he stays. For one thing, will we ever have a manager like Fraeye dumped on us again? Roland is not in the firing line, he’s hiding in his Belgian bunker, but his employees are. We pretty much know that pressure was applied from those at the front line not to employ the Upjest manager to replace Fraeye which forced a quick U-turn. We know that there was opposition to his crazy statement, to the point we had a resignation. Whilst this didn’t stop him in that instant, the statement was hidden away on the website without a fanfare as much as possible. We hear that the CEO didn’t want him to publish it. I would say she is learning from the protests. She clearly is much more careful about what she says – to the point of saying pretty much nothing. That has to be good. The owner will always be the owner until he sells, but the club is now aware of reactions of fans in every decision it makes and it influences decisions. This has the potential to temper Duchatelet’s madness to degree going forwards. Not ideal, but we can’t say it isn’t having some effect.
Instead of the stupid loans we made under Fraeye – Riga has made the right signings. Too late – the damage has been done some would say, but there are fine lines sometimes between success and failure and if we can prevent the craziness the club will be better for it. Who knows? Whilst still highly unlikely, our interventions could still keep us up – as whilst we may not have the best manager possible, we probably have the best manager we can expect under Duchatelet. And that is probably thanks to us!
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Apparently he said last week that he thinks he will have to sell Charlton as it is becoming unattainable.
Some supporters are trying to get confirmation from our moles
Eyes and ears everywhere!
- we would currently have Nebojša Vignjević as our manager,
- Roland would still be in the dark to the extent of the discontent
- Roland would be looking to continue his ownership long-term.
None of those three things are now the case.
- while the protests at Liege did not alone force him out, if they had not happened, he would still be owner.
- protests in Jena forced him into dialogue and clarification of his business intentions. This may have flared up again, BTW, we are talking to Jena fans about the current situation.
C.A.R.D have the intelligence,patience,support and momentum to continue to expose her.
This has become a fight that she knows full well she doesn't want to be in , she can't win.
Therefore I'd say they have been successful so far but it can't stop until her and RD are gone for good.
I guess although i will hold Roland responsible if in 5 years i'm watching us in league 2 with 3000 people in the Valley, i will regret that we actively encouraged people to stay away. I think if you really want Roland out you are better off in the Valley on a Saturday afternoon letting him know rather than at home forgotten.
I can only speak for myself, however, I am not renewing my season ticket and I am not going to any more home games under Roland. However, the day he sells up I will immediately purchase a season ticket, home shirt, red and white scarf, club gnome, away shirt, club key ring, club tie, I will then stuff my face with as much food and drink as possible in the ground.
When that day comes it will be celebrated as one of my happiest moments at The Valley.
You've matured @AFKABartram - once upon a time you used to write these huge articles that most Charlton fans would nod in agreement with, and now you are able to condense that same sentiment in to one line instead ;-)
We could easily get another dodgy owner if RD leaves and we have to hope we don't.
Whether that is with CARD using funds to promote/buy tickets or whatever but that would be one hell of a statement.
Helped enormously, of course, by some glorious gaffes by the regime itself, who seem willing to leave no stone unturned to demonstrate things are a bit of a mess...
Will the future owners be dodgy? Who knows, we can only speculate, but what I do know is they will be light years better than Roland and this regime, it will be impossible any other way.
If you honestly think he will fund a promotion chasing squad for next season then I think you're incredibly naive.