On the subject of ‘hitting him where it hurts’, it is clear that protests and match day disruptions have only a limited effect on Roland’s thinking. He appears to be able to rationalise that to himself as his ‘asset’ having crappy fans. We have already seen glimpses of that from his statements. Rationalising to himself that all fans are unhappy when their team doesn’t win and we are ungrateful fair-weather fans not worthy of his attention.
The Belgium missions are on a parallel track. Intended to annoy and embarrass him where he lives. And have had a reasonable amount of success in doing so.
His reputation amongst Charlton fans and football people in general is that of a laughing stock. A buffoon with a deluded view of his own omnipotence . But this seems to have had zero effect on how he views himself. I’ve been wracking my brain to figure out a way to break through. He clearly does not respect or pay any attention to our option of him. He is safe in his bubble of “I am a business man, these football people think they are special but I have a proven track record of glorious success” and “this would all be working if these peasants weren’t wrecking it all”.
So here is my conclusion. We somehow need to strike directly at his integrity and business acumen.
Roland came to Charlton with a business plan. It was however a despicable plan. Namely, to use the good name and reputation of Charlton Athletic to cloak his scheme to subvert the Financial Fair Play rules and cheat his way to success and the Premiership. Using his network of clubs he could violate the restrictions that all the other Championship clubs would be operating under and give himself an unfair advantage in transfers and operating cost accounting. This plan was totally unworthy of Charlton’s good name and if successful would have forever tainted the public perception of the club. Embarking on this dishonourable plan shows all too clearly Roland’s total lack of integrity.
What happened next was that the plan failed. Utterly and abjectly. This was the result of a combination of things. Firstly, it was executed so incompetently, by people without the right skills or experience. Roland the businessman failed to appoint a capable management team and belligerently refused all business advice and counsel. Secondly, the FFP rules proved to be worthless, with club after club simply ignoring the restrictions. The rules were then further diluted officially in November 2014, dispelling any lingering hope that Roland’s despicable plan could ever be successful even if he somehow found the business competence to execute it effectively.
With his plan in ruins it was time for plan B. Any good businessman always has a backup plan. Roland did not. What has followed is a weird strategic limbo. The list of poor business decisions now start to mount up. The long list of sackings and resignations point to poor leadership. The confused and contradictory approaches to the transfer windows again point to a fundamental lack of strategy and objective setting. His people management failings are exemplified by his backing of a CEO who has repeatedly demonstrated a serious lack of capability in managing a complex business. Her unprofessional management of the Varney-fronted approach were grounds for dismissal on their own; given the potential loss of commercial opportunity for the club and financial opportunity for the owner. And then of course there is the most baffling and frustrating failing, which is relationship management. Whether it is with the media, the fans, the sponsors, their playing staff or their backroom staff the totally inept handling of communications and relationship building is an abject lesson in how a business can fail when it breaks the bonds of loyalty and trust that others have worked to build up over many years.
There must be someone we know who can write the story and get it published in a ‘reputable’ business paper or on a business news channel. We know he has failed. But I don’t think he will accept that he has failed until he hears it from sources other than us.
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Comments
Wants charlton in league 2
Wanted 1st relegation after 2 years
Wanted to finish 2nd from bottom
Whenever he and Meire speak...a giant load of shit comes out.
The man is number 2
It's annoying really, if he wasn't so clueless football wise we'd probably be in a pretty good position. Watford, although not particulary heavy on inter-player exchange nowadays, have ulitized the whole network, worldwide scouting idea expertly, bringing through talent (Gyan, Inler, Benatia and many more - all brought for peanuts and sold for millions) and remaining competitive. EDIT - Not Watford, meant the Pozzo's themselves.
Meanwhile, due to huge football naviety, we ended up with the likes of Nego and Pete and wasted cash.
One can only question Roland's political supporters by that logic.
His surname sounds like Franglais for two shits.
His CEO's name is frighteningly close to merde.
What a shit show.