It's finally begining to look like we may have a stable, mid-table League One team despite all the doubters. That's so much better than last season, because we were relegated last season. And we weren't this season. So we must be getting much better.
I think a lot of fans should be taking a long, hard look at themselves right now. Because Duchatalet and Meire have finally started to produce the goods. It's worth taking a look at their track record of achievements, since taking over.
1. The team looks very capable of competing in the mid-ranges of League One - and some of the players may still be here next season too.
2. The pitch is in great condition - and will remain so as long as it doesn't get too cold in the winter.
3. The West Stand, North Stand and East Stand will all be open, to some extent next season - so they deserve three out of four marks for that.
4. The proud history of the club is being recognised - there was a tweet to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the FA Cup win and Katrien has promised we can choose the kit for next season.
5. If it weren't for Roland Duchatalet's scouting system, there is no way Ademola Lookman would be playing for Everton.
6. The Player of the Year has been sold every year since Roland Duchatalet took over the club - but he has changed this policy. This season's player of the year hasn't been sold!
7. The Jimmy Seed Stand has had a new sign placed on it this season. And it will have another one placed on it next season: "Closed".
8. Prior to the last game of the season, for the first time since Roland Duchatalet's purchase of the club, drivers entering the car park were not occupied with thoughts about how bad the potholes were.
9. Frankly, in these days of epidemic obesity who could argue that fourteen wasn't precisely the right number of chips?
10. Communications are improving all the time. For example, against Swindon, there were threats made over the public address system *and* on the screen. And, in what is probably a first for Charlton, many of the stewards were providing information to the crowd by means of sign language as well as verbally. And without the big sign on the screen, who would have known that it was still possible to buy season tickets for this season yesterday? (In fairness, they've always been pretty good at communicating via the big screen. For example, thanks to the big screen display during the Graham Moore tribute, many fans now know what Alan Campbell looked like).
11. All of the top ten most expensive signings made since Roland Duchatalet took over have been really - all things considered - very, very expensive. And it's posible that as many as one or two of them might still be at Charlton next season too.
12. Some of the fans who had season tickets in the Championship still had season tickets this season and all of them turned up to every game. Some of those have - incredibly - bought season tickets for next season too.
I think they've done an amazing job. And, remarkably they've achieved all this, as well as avoiding an end-of-season relegation battle again, while only increasing the club's debt to somewhere in the region of fifty million quid.
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