Addicks chief has overseen the club’s worst start to a season at this level for 90 years to leave them in relegation fight Fan's view By RICK EVERITT 3rd October 2016, 12:53 pm
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CHARLTON have never played in English football’s fourth tier.
But the Addicks have never been closer to dropping in to it than after Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat by Rochdale – stretching latest manager Russell Slade’s side’s winless run to seven matches. Russell Slade is in the firing line PA:Press Association 5 Russell Slade is in the firing line Absentee owner Roland Duchatele is a hugely unpopular figure PA:Press Association 5 Absentee owner Roland Duchatelet is a hugely unpopular figure
It’s the club’s worst start to a season at this level for 90 years and Slade was booed off the pitch by the Valley faithful, who at one point resorted to chanting “put two up front” in protest at his baffling formation.
Absentee Belgian owner Roland Duchatelet has already changed his first-team boss SIX times since buying the club in January 2014 – and at this stage few would bet against him making it a far-from-magnificent seven before Christmas.
It’s easier, after all, to keep changing the manager than to face up to the fact that dismal player recruitment under chief executive Katrien Meire means the club is still footing the bill for seven senior players who are effectively unavailable for Slade to select.
Four are out on subsidised season loan; two more – Jorge Teixeira and El-Hadji Ba – have been confined to U23 duties after Meire failed to move them on in August; while Roger Johnson has effectively sidelined himself by rowing with travelling fans behind the goal on the opening day at Bury. Charlton fans protest against Belgian supremo Duchatelet Getty Images 5 Charlton fans protest against Belgian supremo Duchatelet Supporters even held a mock funeral for club last season Reuters 5 Supporters even held a mock funeral for club last season Furious Charlton fans chuck stress balls on pitch during Birmingham cl
Veteran boss Slade is probably the man most likely to stand up to the barmy Belgians since local hero Chris Powell was sacked two and a half years ago, even if his cautious tactics have had many fans scratching their heads.
His squad is thin in the midfield engine room and overstocked with central defenders, while he has struggled to find a winning combination up top. Starting Josh Magennis as a lone front man in the latest two home games almost suggested he had given up trying.
In a further sign of the madness behind the scenes at The Valley, 20-something computer-geek Belgian scout Thomas Driesen last week gave an interview in which he confirmed his own continuing involvement in recruitment at the club.
Despite playing a high-level role at Charlton since 2014, including being the only other person copied in to a string of emails about the team sent between Duchatelet, Meire and Powell, the Addicks had previously declined to acknowledge Driesen’s existence. Related Stories anti-social media Charlton 'threaten to ban fans' who post negative comments about the club on social media Chris QUITS Former England goalkeeper Chris Kirkland quits Bury less than 48 hours before season opener Cracked Addicks Charlton fan protests are falling on deaf ears... but Nicky Ajose promises to bring joy to unhappy Valley EZRI DOES IT Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all scouting wonderkid Ezri Konsa BARCLAY'S FIRST XI Eleven key points from our man for this weekend’s Football League action
With Duchatelet having failed to attend a Charlton match in Britain for two years and no other board members, 32-year-old former lawyer Meire has carte blanche to do what she likes at the club.
And what she likes has so far included a house music DJ in a matchday family lounge, the nationally ridiculed Fans Sofa next to a corner flag, proposals for Saturday evening kick-offs and a scheme to scrap the paid-for matchday programme.
Poor football leading to relegation, bizarre ideas and a string of foot-in-mouth public utterances have made Meire a toxic figure among Charlton fans, 4,000 of whom gave up their season tickets in despair over the summer.
So regardless of what happens to Slade, this night-Meire is set to continue.
Good to get Driesen's involvement into the national press, even if it is in the Current Bun:
"In a further sign of the madness behind the scenes at The Valley, 20-something computer-geek Belgian scout Thomas Driesen last week gave an interview in which he confirmed his own continuing involvement in recruitment at the club.
Despite playing a high-level role at Charlton since 2014, including being the only other person copied in to a string of emails about the team sent between Duchatelet, Meire and Powell, the Addicks had previously declined to acknowledge Driesen’s existence."
I see @Airman Brown has nicked some of my prose from the recent email about the appointment of Pinnochio to the FBA panel of judges, no problem as long as the cheque is in the post .
Do we really want Slade out? What other options are there out there for our level?
The football is stupendously crap at the moment but I'm not convinced there are too many better options that would welcome the challenge and make a success of it without their own squad
I'm sure if Slade gets the boot the owner will take that as evidence that having a manager with English football experience is pointless and revert to transferring some muppet from his network.
Do we really want Slade out? What other options are there out there for our level?
The football is stupendously crap at the moment but I'm not convinced there are too many better options that would welcome the challenge and make a success of it without their own squad
It's not whether the fans want him out.
It's not even if Meire wants him out (she won't)
It's whether Roland "Doesn't do failure" Ducktape wants him out.
He's been very trigger happy before.
I think we were 12th in the Championship when Peeters went.
We could easily be in the relegation zone by the time of the Coventry game.
And Roland knows best so of course Nobby Vinager or Chris O'Loughin will be the right decision and improve our rating and of course all the apologists lauding Slade will quickly fall into line and say what a great decision it was to sack Slace and give the job to whoever RD appoints.
Personally I'm torn. Slade hasn't done well but he hasn't had much time and hasn't been given full support from KM or RD. But in football the manager carries the can regardless.
Nicky Ajose's bit at the bottom of that article is laughable:
The striker, 24, told SunSport: “We want promotion at any cost — that’s the mentality of the whole dressing room. We’ve got a boss who managed at Cardiff last year and knows the league. We’re very confident.
“I don’t believe that doing the same as last year and scoring 24 goals is out of reach by any stretch.
“I’ll get chances in this team that I’ll hopefully be able to put away.”
I don't think it matters, he's got a contract that will be paid up and we get another manager. I actually think Slade is less than an average manger and I did predict he would be sacked by the end of September, l got the latter wrong but I'm sure we've had a coach/manger sacked with a better record. I can't really remember we've been through a good few in recent years. Whoever is next will be much of same as we have had for the last couple of years. This mob either don't want success or haven't a clue how to get it. My mum knows more about football than the combined brains of Roland and his senior management team at Charlton.
I don't think it matters, he's got a contract that will be paid up and we get another manager. I actually think Slade is less than an average manger and I did predict he would be sacked by the end of September, l got the latter wrong but I'm sure we've had a coach/manger sacked with a better record. I can't really remember we've been through a good few in recent years. Whoever is next will be much of same as we have had for the last couple of years. This mob either don't want success or haven't a clue how to get it. My mum knows more about football than the combined brains of Roland and his senior management team at Charlton.
I'm sure if Slade gets the boot the owner will take that as evidence that having a manager with English football experience is pointless and revert to transferring some muppet from his network.
Whatever he does, we must remember that "every appointment has been better then the last"
The report in the South Wales Echo from January 2016 about Cardiff fans demanding Slade be sacked contains this assessment of why he was so unpopular:-
Right from the start, despite the early wins, fans began moaning about what they perceived as route one, old-fashioned 4-4-2 football. Because they were outnumbered in the centre of midfield, Cardiff were frequently outplayed by the opposition, even when winning some matches. Slade did not accept the accusation that his team was boring. To be fair, the side changed style and began to play with far more purpose and flair. But for many the damage had already been done... they found Slade's style a turn-off and began staying away.
So he's now switched to 4-5-1 and become even duller. This can only end in tears.
The conclusion of the article is also familiar ...
In a way you have to feel sorry for Slade. Never really given a proper chance by many fans, even some of those who did support him have subsequently turned. There are suggestions the shambolic FA Cup defeat at the weekend could be the beginning of the end, particularly given the embarrassingly low gate which shows fans are voting with their feet. Slade might be justified in arguing the fans were never with him from day one, so he'll just carry on regardless. But the whole situation makes for an uncomfortable disconnect between Cardiff City FC and their fans.
The report in the South Wales Echo from January 2016 about Cardiff fans demanding Slade be sacked contains this assessment of why he was so unpopular:-
Right from the start, despite the early wins, fans began moaning about what they perceived as route one, old-fashioned 4-4-2 football. Because they were outnumbered in the centre of midfield, Cardiff were frequently outplayed by the opposition, even when winning some matches. Slade did not accept the accusation that his team was boring. To be fair, the side changed style and began to play with far more purpose and flair. But for many the damage had already been done... they found Slade's style a turn-off and began staying away.
So he's now switched to 4-5-1 and become even duller. This can only end in tears.
The conclusion of the article is also familiar ...
In a way you have to feel sorry for Slade. Never really given a proper chance by many fans, even some of those who did support him have subsequently turned. There are suggestions the shambolic FA Cup defeat at the weekend could be the beginning of the end, particularly given the embarrassingly low gate which shows fans are voting with their feet. Slade might be justified in arguing the fans were never with him from day one, so he'll just carry on regardless. But the whole situation makes for an uncomfortable disconnect between Cardiff City FC and their fans.
All a bit premature for me and i'd definitely give him more time, but I suppose it's easy for us boycotters to say that not having seen much of us play.
All a bit premature for me and i'd definitely give him more time, but I suppose it's easy for us boycotters to say that not having seen much of us play.
For me the signing of Crofts crucifies him. A player that had 77 appearances in four years. Had been injured for nearly a year and Gills had him on loan but didn't want him. Brighton fans reckoned he wasn't the same player after his break. All reports of pre-season action didn't rate him but RS signed him anyway. He is 32 FFS and had a serious injury at 30. He has been wank for us but still starts. All feedback is that we don't close down in midfield but him Foley and Jackson still get picked. If the fans can see it why can't Slade?
I am usually pretty patient with managers, but can honestly say I wouldn't give a monkey's if he was sacked tomorrow. His team is serving up utter bilge every week. I sit bored out of my brain as we tippy tap passes along our back four before hoofing it to Magennis.
I appreciate that he hasn't been backed in reapect of a Central Midfielder, but that doesn't explain why he insists on setting us up so defensively, why his team retreats and retreats until it concedes a goal and appears to be lacking any togetherness.
IMO what we are seeing on the pitch is largely attributable to him. His lack of response to changing game situations is infuriating and something he has been criticised for at almost every club he has managed.
At the moment he seems, to me, out of his depth. Something I find ridiculous given his time in the game.
I didn't notice on Saturday, but others have mentioned that the players "left him to it" when the crowd vented at the end. That is significant and I wonder what his relationship with them is like? I can't warm to him and his talk reminds me of classic middle management waffle.
I hope he proves me wrong and turns it round, but in all honesty a poor result tomorrow and another against Coventry and I think Roland will play the "told you so" card and revert to another no-mark coach who'll be kept on way to long.
I fear for us and as stupid as it sounds with this squad available in this division can see us getting dragged into a season long relegation scrap.
Comments
Fan's view
By RICK EVERITT
3rd October 2016, 12:53 pm
Shares
Comment
CHARLTON have never played in English football’s fourth tier.
But the Addicks have never been closer to dropping in to it than after Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat by Rochdale – stretching latest manager Russell Slade’s side’s winless run to seven matches.
Russell Slade is in the firing line
PA:Press Association
5
Russell Slade is in the firing line
Absentee owner Roland Duchatele is a hugely unpopular figure
PA:Press Association
5
Absentee owner Roland Duchatelet is a hugely unpopular figure
It’s the club’s worst start to a season at this level for 90 years and Slade was booed off the pitch by the Valley faithful, who at one point resorted to chanting “put two up front” in protest at his baffling formation.
Absentee Belgian owner Roland Duchatelet has already changed his first-team boss SIX times since buying the club in January 2014 – and at this stage few would bet against him making it a far-from-magnificent seven before Christmas.
It’s easier, after all, to keep changing the manager than to face up to the fact that dismal player recruitment under chief executive Katrien Meire means the club is still footing the bill for seven senior players who are effectively unavailable for Slade to select.
Four are out on subsidised season loan; two more – Jorge Teixeira and El-Hadji Ba – have been confined to U23 duties after Meire failed to move them on in August; while Roger Johnson has effectively sidelined himself by rowing with travelling fans behind the goal on the opening day at Bury.
Charlton fans protest against Belgian supremo Duchatelet
Getty Images
5
Charlton fans protest against Belgian supremo Duchatelet
Supporters even held a mock funeral for club last season
Reuters
5
Supporters even held a mock funeral for club last season
Furious Charlton fans chuck stress balls on pitch during Birmingham cl
Veteran boss Slade is probably the man most likely to stand up to the barmy Belgians since local hero Chris Powell was sacked two and a half years ago, even if his cautious tactics have had many fans scratching their heads.
His squad is thin in the midfield engine room and overstocked with central defenders, while he has struggled to find a winning combination up top. Starting Josh Magennis as a lone front man in the latest two home games almost suggested he had given up trying.
In a further sign of the madness behind the scenes at The Valley, 20-something computer-geek Belgian scout Thomas Driesen last week gave an interview in which he confirmed his own continuing involvement in recruitment at the club.
Despite playing a high-level role at Charlton since 2014, including being the only other person copied in to a string of emails about the team sent between Duchatelet, Meire and Powell, the Addicks had previously declined to acknowledge Driesen’s existence.
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EZRI DOES IT Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all scouting wonderkid Ezri Konsa
BARCLAY'S FIRST XI Eleven key points from our man for this weekend’s Football League action
With Duchatelet having failed to attend a Charlton match in Britain for two years and no other board members, 32-year-old former lawyer Meire has carte blanche to do what she likes at the club.
And what she likes has so far included a house music DJ in a matchday family lounge, the nationally ridiculed Fans Sofa next to a corner flag, proposals for Saturday evening kick-offs and a scheme to scrap the paid-for matchday programme.
Poor football leading to relegation, bizarre ideas and a string of foot-in-mouth public utterances have made Meire a toxic figure among Charlton fans, 4,000 of whom gave up their season tickets in despair over the summer.
So regardless of what happens to Slade, this night-Meire is set to continue.
"In a further sign of the madness behind the scenes at The Valley, 20-something computer-geek Belgian scout Thomas Driesen last week gave an interview in which he confirmed his own continuing involvement in recruitment at the club.
Despite playing a high-level role at Charlton since 2014, including being the only other person copied in to a string of emails about the team sent between Duchatelet, Meire and Powell, the Addicks had previously declined to acknowledge Driesen’s existence."
Blimey, I didn't spot that. I thought it was rather more articulate and well-researched than their usual offerings !
Nice work
The football is stupendously crap at the moment but I'm not convinced there are too many better options that would welcome the challenge and make a success of it without their own squad
It's not even if Meire wants him out (she won't)
It's whether Roland "Doesn't do failure" Ducktape wants him out.
He's been very trigger happy before.
I think we were 12th in the Championship when Peeters went.
We could easily be in the relegation zone by the time of the Coventry game.
And Roland knows best so of course Nobby Vinager or Chris O'Loughin will be the right decision and improve our rating and of course all the apologists lauding Slade will quickly fall into line and say what a great decision it was to sack Slace and give the job to whoever RD appoints.
Personally I'm torn. Slade hasn't done well but he hasn't had much time and hasn't been given full support from KM or RD. But in football the manager carries the can regardless.
I'm not in favour of sacking Slade, FWIW.
http://www.voetbalbelgie.be/nl/article.php?id=113660
The striker, 24, told SunSport: “We want promotion at any cost — that’s the mentality of the whole dressing room. We’ve got a boss who managed at Cardiff last year and knows the league. We’re very confident.
“I don’t believe that doing the same as last year and scoring 24 goals is out of reach by any stretch.
“I’ll get chances in this team that I’ll hopefully be able to put away.”
Lol
Whoever is next will be much of same as we have had for the last couple of years. This mob either don't want success or haven't a clue how to get it.
My mum knows more about football than the combined brains of Roland and his senior management team at Charlton.
Right from the start, despite the early wins, fans began moaning about what they perceived as route one, old-fashioned 4-4-2 football. Because they were outnumbered in the centre of midfield, Cardiff were frequently outplayed by the opposition, even when winning some matches. Slade did not accept the accusation that his team was boring. To be fair, the side changed style and began to play with far more purpose and flair. But for many the damage had already been done... they found Slade's style a turn-off and began staying away.
So he's now switched to 4-5-1 and become even duller. This can only end in tears.
The conclusion of the article is also familiar ...
In a way you have to feel sorry for Slade. Never really given a proper chance by many fans, even some of those who did support him have subsequently turned. There are suggestions the shambolic FA Cup defeat at the weekend could be the beginning of the end, particularly given the embarrassingly low gate which shows fans are voting with their feet. Slade might be justified in arguing the fans were never with him from day one, so he'll just carry on regardless. But the whole situation makes for an uncomfortable disconnect between Cardiff City FC and their fans.
I appreciate that he hasn't been backed in reapect of a Central Midfielder, but that doesn't explain why he insists on setting us up so defensively, why his team retreats and retreats until it concedes a goal and appears to be lacking any togetherness.
IMO what we are seeing on the pitch is largely attributable to him. His lack of response to changing game situations is infuriating and something he has been criticised for at almost every club he has managed.
At the moment he seems, to me, out of his depth. Something I find ridiculous given his time in the game.
I didn't notice on Saturday, but others have mentioned that the players "left him to it" when the crowd vented at the end. That is significant and I wonder what his relationship with them is like? I can't warm to him and his talk reminds me of classic middle management waffle.
I hope he proves me wrong and turns it round, but in all honesty a poor result tomorrow and another against Coventry and I think Roland will play the "told you so" card and revert to another no-mark coach who'll be kept on way to long.
I fear for us and as stupid as it sounds with this squad available in this division can see us getting dragged into a season long relegation scrap.