Charlton have made an extraordinary U-turn by agreeing to double their offer of a new contract for Lee Bowyer just hours after branding the manager as greedy for rejecting a new deal.
The former England midfield player has signed an amended one-year rolling contract to stay at the Valley next season with his salary increased to over £400,000 as recognition for his efforts in leading the club back to the Championship.
The Charlton owner Roland Duchâtelet is understood to have had a change of heart yesterday evening after a backlash from fans following the club’s remarkable statement which denounced Bowyer’s wage demands and branded fellow Championship owners crazy for paying million-pound salaries. The Belgian contacted Bowyer at around 10pm last night asking him to stay with a contract worth almost double his previous offer, and a deal was quickly agreed.
Bowyer had always wanted to stay at Charlton, where he made his name as a player and has impressed hugely in his first management job, stabilising the first-team as a caretaker following the sacking of Karl Robinson last year before leading them to promotion via the League One play-offs.
“We went on a real journey last season,” Bowyer said in a statement this morning. “The club came together — the players, the staff, the fans and we achieved something special. The journey hasn’t finished yet and I’m delighted this has all been agreed.
“This has been a long process and I never wanted to leave, I love this club. I’d like to thank the owner for giving me the initial opportunity and now for continuing to believe in me. We have a fantastic fan-base here and my focus continues to be getting our squad in the best possible shape for the Championship next season.”
Charlton’s change of heart is remarkable, and took place around six hours after Duchâtelet authorised a statement Bowyer of making unreasonable wage demands that are not sustainable at the loss-making club. He has been seeking to sell Charlton for two years, and remains in talks with Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman over a potential takeover, and felt unable to offer more.
“Lee has been offered a one-year extension to his contract at a level which is approximately three times what he had since his last increase when he became permanent manager in September [2018],” the statement read. “It is six times what he earned when he started as assistant manager in 2017 and 50% more than what any Charlton manager previously had (excluding the Premier League years). But Lee wanted much more.
“The owner understands Lee’s point of view, because many Championship clubs pay huge amounts (some pay millions of £ per year) to their manager. It is fair that Lee feels he should be paid like many other Championship managers. The owners are crazy.”
Something has made that happen. Maybe a combination of things including reaction of fans.
Agreed - it certainly isn't the backlash from the fans - the Rat doesn't give a stuff for us.
What a turnaround. From depths of despair last night to utter joy this morning. Lee agreeing a new contract has to be the best signing of the summer. Onwards and upwards!
That bonkers statement went out yesterday at what, 4.30? It now emerges that everything was done and dusted last night.
So that means after weeks of negotiations that went nowhere, two parties (both clearly angered) in different locations negotiated, agreed a deal, had a contract wrote out, reviewed by advisors and penned, with supportive quoted PR fixed up as well. All in just a few hours??
Again, that in itself suggests to me that after the statement came out Bowyer basically just said “Sod it, I’ll sign the offer”
We all want to believe that RD capitulated and upped his offer, or that a new owner came in and had a word - but this wouldn’t have been turned around that quickly if the deal was any different from what was on the table.
It has been reliably reported Duchatelet doubled his offer!
If that is true then it could only be as a result of external pressure.
Charlton have made an extraordinary U-turn by agreeing to double their offer of a new contract for Lee Bowyer just hours after branding the manager as greedy for rejecting a new deal.
The former England midfield player has signed an amended one-year rolling contract to stay at the Valley next season with his salary increased to over £400,000 as recognition for his efforts in leading the club back to the Championship.
The Charlton owner Roland Duchâtelet is understood to have had a change of heart yesterday evening after a backlash from fans following the club’s remarkable statement which denounced Bowyer’s wage demands and branded fellow Championship owners crazy for paying million-pound salaries. The Belgian contacted Bowyer at around 10pm last night asking him to stay with a contract worth almost double his previous offer, and a deal was quickly agreed.
Bowyer had always wanted to stay at Charlton, where he made his name as a player and has impressed hugely in his first management job, stabilising the first-team as a caretaker following the sacking of Karl Robinson last year before leading them to promotion via the League One play-offs.
“We went on a real journey last season,” Bowyer said in a statement this morning. “The club came together — the players, the staff, the fans and we achieved something special. The journey hasn’t finished yet and I’m delighted this has all been agreed.
“This has been a long process and I never wanted to leave, I love this club. I’d like to thank the owner for giving me the initial opportunity and now for continuing to believe in me. We have a fantastic fan-base here and my focus continues to be getting our squad in the best possible shape for the Championship next season.”
Charlton’s change of heart is remarkable, and took place around six hours after Duchâtelet authorised a statement Bowyer of making unreasonable wage demands that are not sustainable at the loss-making club. He has been seeking to sell Charlton for two years, and remains in talks with Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman over a potential takeover, and felt unable to offer more.
“Lee has been offered a one-year extension to his contract at a level which is approximately three times what he had since his last increase when he became permanent manager in September [2018],” the statement read. “It is six times what he earned when he started as assistant manager in 2017 and 50% more than what any Charlton manager previously had (excluding the Premier League years). But Lee wanted much more.
“The owner understands Lee’s point of view, because many Championship clubs pay huge amounts (some pay millions of £ per year) to their manager. It is fair that Lee feels he should be paid like many other Championship managers. The owners are crazy.”
What a bizarre series of events, even by Roland's standards.
Was the rant Roland genuinely giving up on negotiations or was it his way of negotiating in public by bringing things to a head? Cawley made it clear last night that the statement rant came as a shock to Bowyer, and that they had spoken after it went up - he tweeted this at 6pm. Roland clearly had a think about it and presumably came back with a new offer later that evening.
Last night I had wondered if someone had contacted Roland to ask him what the **** he was doing (e.g. the potential new owners), that might have had an effect. Maybe Murray, his son or Jim White rang him up to query the statement? I doubt that the reaction from fans would have changed his mind though!
Charlton have made an extraordinary U-turn by agreeing to double their offer of a new contract for Lee Bowyer just hours after branding the manager as greedy for rejecting a new deal.
The former England midfield player has signed an amended one-year rolling contract to stay at the Valley next season with his salary increased to over £400,000 as recognition for his efforts in leading the club back to the Championship.
The Charlton owner Roland Duchâtelet is understood to have had a change of heart yesterday evening after a backlash from fans following the club’s remarkable statement which denounced Bowyer’s wage demands and branded fellow Championship owners crazy for paying million-pound salaries. The Belgian contacted Bowyer at around 10pm last night asking him to stay with a contract worth almost double his previous offer, and a deal was quickly agreed.
Bowyer had always wanted to stay at Charlton, where he made his name as a player and has impressed hugely in his first management job, stabilising the first-team as a caretaker following the sacking of Karl Robinson last year before leading them to promotion via the League One play-offs.
“We went on a real journey last season,” Bowyer said in a statement this morning. “The club came together — the players, the staff, the fans and we achieved something special. The journey hasn’t finished yet and I’m delighted this has all been agreed.
“This has been a long process and I never wanted to leave, I love this club. I’d like to thank the owner for giving me the initial opportunity and now for continuing to believe in me. We have a fantastic fan-base here and my focus continues to be getting our squad in the best possible shape for the Championship next season.”
Charlton’s change of heart is remarkable, and took place around six hours after Duchâtelet authorised a statement Bowyer of making unreasonable wage demands that are not sustainable at the loss-making club. He has been seeking to sell Charlton for two years, and remains in talks with Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman over a potential takeover, and felt unable to offer more.
“Lee has been offered a one-year extension to his contract at a level which is approximately three times what he had since his last increase when he became permanent manager in September [2018],” the statement read. “It is six times what he earned when he started as assistant manager in 2017 and 50% more than what any Charlton manager previously had (excluding the Premier League years). But Lee wanted much more.
“The owner understands Lee’s point of view, because many Championship clubs pay huge amounts (some pay millions of £ per year) to their manager. It is fair that Lee feels he should be paid like many other Championship managers. The owners are crazy.”
Something has made that happen. Maybe a combination of things including reaction of fans.
Agreed - it certainly isn't the backlash from the fans - the Rat doesn't give a stuff for us.
No, but he does care what some fans might do to his interests.
Wire tap from the phone call last night (minus the Belgian accent, which I can't be bothered to do):
LB: Roland, what's with the mad announcement on the OS? RD: It will be difficult for a mere mortal such as you to understand the workings of my brilliant mind, but I am a mastermind of negotiation, and I had to put pressure on you and make it clear to the world it's not my fault. None of it. Nothing that ever goes wrong .... LB: (interrupts the ramblings) But what's with me 'wanting 6 times my salary'? We're negotiating? RD: That's what your agent asked for, it's outrageous! LB: No, Roland, that's called negotiation. He's asked for more than I actually want. You're supposed to meet me somewhere in the middle. RD: Is that how you think it works? You Anglo Saxons are mad. How it works this side of the Manche is that I tell you what I want. You then just accept that. And that's it. No wonder you English couldn't get a deal out of Barnier. LB: No, this is how it works. You offer 200, I ask for 600. We wait to the last possible minute and then you offer 400. And then we're done. RD: Shit, don't tell Olly Robins that, he might get ideas. I must admit, my masterplan is clearly too sophisticated for the English brain. I'm being told that the twattersphere has gone berserk and my personal security people are threatening to resign. I now have to go on Talksport tomorrow and get insulted there by people who aren't nearly as clever as me. It's humiliating! LB: Just give me a contract on 400 and it will all go away, I promise. I'll even say some nice things about you in the press conference - the comms guys have already got it all lined up. (Doesn't mention to sly dig they get in about professionalism) RD: So, you'd accept 400, then? So why did your agent ask for 600? I still don't get it. The little git also says you want a 3 year deal?! LB: Yes, of course, I'd love a 5 year deal, but I'll take one year and take the chance that you've fucked off long before then and I'm dealing with somebody rational. RD: Mmmm, I suppose I could flog someone cheaply to cover that. Lyle Taylor, maybe. OK, done. I'll save half that money on hiring an army of security guards for the next 6 months. You English are irrational! The reaction has been completely ridiculous!! Why can't they understand my brilliance??!!! LB: Excellent, I'll get the PR team to put that notice out then. RD: Excellent. I'll be a hero. It also gives me back time to work on my even more cunning negotiation to sell the kloob. More idiots. Why don't these people understand that of course the price keeps going up every day - they have to pay me back for all my super-intelligent investment decisions.
I my gut feeling for what it is worth is that this improved offer to Lee Bowyer has not happened because of the fans backlash to yesterday’s story, but more likely that a prospective buyer has told Roland that they are only interested with Lee as manager. No Lee Bowyer, No chance of a sale.
Lee Bowyer has been speaking to Sky Sports News about signing his new deal with Charlton less than a day after the club released a statement suggesting he may be on the verge of leaving the club at the end of his old deal, which expired at the end of this month.
He said: "As everyone knows at Charlton nothing is straightforward. Thankfully though I'm deflighted to say we've reached an agreement and I'll be there next season.
"For me, it wasn't close. The statement went out yesterday and I wasn't really aware of it, I'm out in France and it's only when I spoke to my wife she said apparently you're gone. But I spoke to the owner, and I had a normal conversation with him. It was civilised and we just negotiated. It was only when I came off the phone I heard the statement had gone out.
"Last night it was sorted out, maybe two or three hours after I'd spoken to him. Then he called in the evening and said I would like to agree with what we'd spoken about earlier, and move things forward and start planning. That was great to hear, all I wanted to do is stay at the club - I love the club. To hear that was great."
I my gut feeling for what it is worth is that this improved offer to Lee Bowyer has not happened because of the fans backlash to yesterday’s story, but more likely that a prospective buyer has told Roland that they are only interested with Lee as manager. No Lee Bowyer, No chance of a sale.
We can speculate and none of us know other than something made it happen. I don't think a sale is close personally because the price is too high so I can't see how a buyer who can't agree a price is going to have that much say.
If i've learned anything over the last 24 hours , its the renewed passion to get rid of Roland, how we do it i don't know, how do we do i don't care, i want to , but i don't believe a takeover is going to happen soon.
We must get rid of this fella, or this is going to keep coming up, to have no manager 2 days before the fixtures are released was mental.
Obviously it was a negotiation tactic from Roland but maybe Mehmet did call him up and say you need to sort this out, especially if he has now signed a deal worth double what was on the table before.
I dunno, just when you think you might have finally got a bit of a handle on the word ‘unique’, along comes Roland again with his zany madcap antics, and the whole deck of cards get thrown up in the air again. His running of the club is definitely unique. As are his negotiating skills, his salesmanship, his PR skills, his ideas on success and failure and his dancing. Oh and his shoes. We’re going to need a bigger dictionary if this carries on much longer.
So overnight we've gone from Bowyer's left, Taylor will hand in a transfer request and others won't be far behind him, let's burn our season tickets and riot in Belgium.............to Bowyer is back and we'll have 4-5 new signings by the end of the month.
So overnight we've gone from Bowyer's left, Taylor will hand in a transfer request and others won't be far behind him, let's burn our season tickets and riot in Belgium.............to Bowyer is back and we'll have 4-5 new signings by the end of the month.
What a club.
Yeah, but it's Charlton...would you have it any other way?
RD got the arse as LB wanted more than RD wanted to pay, plus he only wants to spend 2% of his time on CAFC. So loses temper & sticks it on OS to force the issue & speed it up. It worked.
He just has no emotion so doesn't realise and doesn't care about the emotional damage caused.
I haven't changed my mind about RD. It's all about not losing money. He may hate us, but it's not a vendetta. If it was he wouldn't have offered & finally agreed a contract.
So you don't think that bizarre statement was to wind up the fans !
He must be on the autistic scale for you to be correct ?
On second thought you may be right
I don't think for one second that statement was put out to wind up the fans. He put out a statement that was possibly factually correct. He did it to get the deal clinched quickly and whist being a ridiculous & high risk strategy, it worked, from that point of view. We have to be careful what we say, as the last thing anyone would want to do, would be to upset fellow fans. However, yes in my limited knowledge RD shows autistic/aspergers traits. He seems to be totally void of the expected emotional responses. He lives in his own Roland world. Whilst everyone else was in emotional turmoil yesterday, he was probably very angry, but lacking awareness as to the damage he caused. He judges everything on the right now and can never judge the impact his decisions have. Let's call him Mr Spock.
Comments
Agreed - it certainly isn't the backlash from the fans - the Rat doesn't give a stuff for us.
Was the rant Roland genuinely giving up on negotiations or was it his way of negotiating in public by bringing things to a head? Cawley made it clear last night that the statement rant came as a shock to Bowyer, and that they had spoken after it went up - he tweeted this at 6pm. Roland clearly had a think about it and presumably came back with a new offer later that evening.
Last night I had wondered if someone had contacted Roland to ask him what the **** he was doing (e.g. the potential new owners), that might have had an effect. Maybe Murray, his son or Jim White rang him up to query the statement? I doubt that the reaction from fans would have changed his mind though!
LB: Roland, what's with the mad announcement on the OS?
RD: It will be difficult for a mere mortal such as you to understand the workings of my brilliant mind, but I am a mastermind of negotiation, and I had to put pressure on you and make it clear to the world it's not my fault. None of it. Nothing that ever goes wrong ....
LB: (interrupts the ramblings) But what's with me 'wanting 6 times my salary'? We're negotiating?
RD: That's what your agent asked for, it's outrageous!
LB: No, Roland, that's called negotiation. He's asked for more than I actually want. You're supposed to meet me somewhere in the middle.
RD: Is that how you think it works? You Anglo Saxons are mad. How it works this side of the Manche is that I tell you what I want. You then just accept that. And that's it. No wonder you English couldn't get a deal out of Barnier.
LB: No, this is how it works. You offer 200, I ask for 600. We wait to the last possible minute and then you offer 400. And then we're done.
RD: Shit, don't tell Olly Robins that, he might get ideas. I must admit, my masterplan is clearly too sophisticated for the English brain. I'm being told that the twattersphere has gone berserk and my personal security people are threatening to resign. I now have to go on Talksport tomorrow and get insulted there by people who aren't nearly as clever as me. It's humiliating!
LB: Just give me a contract on 400 and it will all go away, I promise. I'll even say some nice things about you in the press conference - the comms guys have already got it all lined up. (Doesn't mention to sly dig they get in about professionalism)
RD: So, you'd accept 400, then? So why did your agent ask for 600? I still don't get it. The little git also says you want a 3 year deal?!
LB: Yes, of course, I'd love a 5 year deal, but I'll take one year and take the chance that you've fucked off long before then and I'm dealing with somebody rational.
RD: Mmmm, I suppose I could flog someone cheaply to cover that. Lyle Taylor, maybe. OK, done. I'll save half that money on hiring an army of security guards for the next 6 months. You English are irrational! The reaction has been completely ridiculous!! Why can't they understand my brilliance??!!!
LB: Excellent, I'll get the PR team to put that notice out then.
RD: Excellent. I'll be a hero. It also gives me back time to work on my even more cunning negotiation to sell the kloob. More idiots. Why don't these people understand that of course the price keeps going up every day - they have to pay me back for all my super-intelligent investment decisions.
No Lee Bowyer, No chance of a sale.
Bowyer on skysports this morning
Wrote this last night. I look forward to the photo of Roland landing a whopper
BOWYER: WIFE TOLD ME I WAS OFF!
Lee Bowyer has been speaking to Sky Sports News about signing his new deal with Charlton less than a day after the club released a statement suggesting he may be on the verge of leaving the club at the end of his old deal, which expired at the end of this month.
He said: "As everyone knows at Charlton nothing is straightforward. Thankfully though I'm deflighted to say we've reached an agreement and I'll be there next season.
"For me, it wasn't close. The statement went out yesterday and I wasn't really aware of it, I'm out in France and it's only when I spoke to my wife she said apparently you're gone. But I spoke to the owner, and I had a normal conversation with him. It was civilised and we just negotiated. It was only when I came off the phone I heard the statement had gone out.
"Last night it was sorted out, maybe two or three hours after I'd spoken to him. Then he called in the evening and said I would like to agree with what we'd spoken about earlier, and move things forward and start planning. That was great to hear, all I wanted to do is stay at the club - I love the club. To hear that was great."
"Roland is my hero, Roland is my hero, la la la la!"
NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One great piece of news to be followed, hopefully, by another that the Belgian has sold the club.
We must get rid of this fella, or this is going to keep coming up, to have no manager 2 days before the fixtures are released was mental.
Obviously it was a negotiation tactic from Roland but maybe Mehmet did call him up and say you need to sort this out, especially if he has now signed a deal worth double what was on the table before.
dozens of bad Cure puns coming in
If true, i'm guessing Eaves and Lameiras might be 2 of them.
His running of the club is definitely unique. As are his negotiating skills, his salesmanship, his PR skills, his ideas on success and failure and his dancing. Oh and his shoes.
We’re going to need a bigger dictionary if this carries on much longer.
What a club.
Yeah, but it's Charlton...would you have it any other way?
He put out a statement that was possibly factually correct.
He did it to get the deal clinched quickly and whist being a ridiculous & high risk strategy, it worked, from that point of view.
We have to be careful what we say, as the last thing anyone would want to do, would be to upset fellow fans.
However, yes in my limited knowledge RD shows autistic/aspergers traits.
He seems to be totally void of the expected emotional responses.
He lives in his own Roland world.
Whilst everyone else was in emotional turmoil yesterday, he was probably very angry, but lacking awareness as to the damage he caused.
He judges everything on the right now and can never judge the impact his decisions have.
Let's call him Mr Spock.