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ESI Ownership shenanigans bite size thread - now dormant

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  • edited September 2020
    Thursday 17th September - Mini Bitesize
    1. The Court of Appeal hearing was heard by remotely by Lord Justice Lewison and Lord Justice Males. Lauren Kreamer appeared for Panorama Magic and Paul Chaisty for Lex Dominus again
    2. The evidence was largely similar to the original hearing on 1st September, so I won't repeat those bits here
    3. Chaisty argued that Judge Pearce had applied the law on balance of convenience incorrectly, and gave too much weight to the impact on the club.
    4. Steve Gallen provided additional evidence about the impact of the injunction on the footballing side, but Chaisty claimed the hard transfer embargo has been in place since April?
    5. Still no evidence from Mihail about the details of a deal that would be lost if the injunction granted, nor the position if the injunction was refused
    6. Also no evidence that the club has spoken to the EFL about the position that would prevail in various scenarios as a result of the case.
    7. Paul Elliott claims to be worth £12m (but provided no evidence for this, nor the source of the 500K he put into the club in June)
    8. Allegedly Heller was offered £100k for the shares of ESI at one point (not sure why that was relevant)
    9. The ruling was given by Judge Lewison, and seemed to hinge on whether Panorama could be adequately compensated by damages. Pearce's conclusion was described as counter-intuitive.
    10. Panorama's failure to provide evidence of an impending sale or its terms proved crucial, and Lord Justice Lewison said "Panorama must live with its decision to remain silent" on that.
    11. Lord Justice Lewison said Pearce adopted the wrong legal hypothesis in deciding against the injunction, so the appeal was allowed. Injunction is granted until the case on 23rd November
    12. In other news, CAST published details of their meeting with the EFL this week, who were typically uncommunicative, but did explain the reason for the ODT appeal delay (basically their regulations don't stipulate any kind of timescale for the process to be concluded 🙄).
    13. The EFL have also refused to make any comment after the Court of Appeal judgment.
    14. Sandgaard will be coming to the Doncaster game, and says he still wants to buy the club, but won't deal with Lex Dominus.
    15. The Court of Appeal Hearing was mentioned on the Price of Football podcast (recorded before the judgment) and Charlton Live (recorded afterwarsds)
    Media Coverage:
    Court Case: SLP, BBC Sport, Sky Sports (slightly garbled)
    Podcasts: Charlton Live, Price of Football (on Spotify), Price of Football (on Apple)
  • Friday 18th September - Mini Bitesize
    1. CAST have published their weekly round up of events
    2. CAFCFansForFans have handed a letter in to the EFL, informing them they'll be moving on to Stage 3 of their protests, which is targetting the EFL and their partners, and seems to have the codename #lightsout
    3. Other fans have been lobbying Mind, the mental health charity, about their relationship with the EFL, given the detrimental effect their actions are having on fans of various clubs.
    4. The EFL CEO David Baldwin, issued a message to supporters about the pilot programme for fans returning to games. It was not well received on the whole.
    5. Charlton Times published an email they'd received from Marian Mihail following the result of the court case, which got a mixed reception, particularly as there's still been no official statement from the club about it
    6. Lee Bowyer has decried "silly" offers from other clubs for Macauley Bonne and Alfie Doughty, which they think they can get away with due to our precarious financial position.
    7. Rumours continue to swirl about developments this weekend, and Sandgaard continues to sound positive, although he is starting to get grief from some quarters. What actually transpires, we wait to see.
    Media Coverage:
    Embargo/Effect on Squad: SLP
  • Sunday 20th September - weekend mini bitesize
    1. Sandgaard came to the Doncaster match and got a rousing reception, but reports vary as to long how he'll be staying for
    2. Doncaster's third goal was scored by Tyreece John-Jules, the Arsenal loanee we missed out on due to the embargo, and Bowyer continues to be unhappy at the effect of the embargo
    3. CAFCFansForFans held a protest against the EFL outside a local branch of Screwfix, as part of their campaign to target EFL "partners"
    4. ButtleJr has taken a commanding lead on the ITK table, but someone really needs to take the ReFace app off Dazzler21
    Media Coverage:
    Embargo: SLP (Bowyer on the team), SLP (Bowyer on John-Jules)
    General Chat: Charlton Live
  • edited September 2020
    Monday 21st September - mini bitesize
    1. Sandgaard has reportedly gone back to the US
    2. The protests against EFL partners continue, and a late night Sky Sports News outage may or may not be related to it (more on that tomorrow probably)
    3. Rumours continue to swirl about the possible solution to the ownership deadlock, but many of today's posts were instead inspired by some musings from @oohaahmortimer in the early hours, which lead to some fairly bizarre, somewhat NSFW contributions.
  • edited September 2020
    Tuesday 22nd September - "...and it's all gone quiet over here..."
    SUMMARY FOR THOSE WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS:
    1. Nothing much happening on the takeover front, although there are rumours that the hold up is down to Roland moving the goalposts (surprise, surprise)
    2. CAFCFansForFans have done another on site protest, this time at Screwfix in Greenhithe
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    ...My understanding is that some key parts of the deal TS wants have been completed.
    One significant part remains undone over what, in the context a football club purchase, many would consider an insignificant amount of money.
    But it's easy to say that when I'm not the one paying it.
    My view is that it is very close but not done as of last night.
    It could be signed, sealed and delivered very quickly but it could also drag on for days.
    These things don't run to neat timetables.
    This talk of timetables led MrLargo to develop a very on-brand conspiracy theory:
    I think you might have accidentally stumbled on the secret truth behind the long-running takeover saga @TelMc32 ! SouthEastern Trains are the mystery benefactor, it all makes complete sense now, just look at the clues....
    Amongst all of the speculation, one thing that would seem a certainty is that TS has spent a significant amount of money, even for a millionaire, on getting this deal done. One would expect such a commitment to be carried through to a satisfactory conclusion. When TS suggests "patience", that would seem to be good advice.
    TS has been quiet on social media and the ITK's haven't heard anything. I'm not ITK at all, but it feels like either TS has some really pressing business stateside, or we're entering the end game (one way or the other). Government announcements the last couple of days may have forced one or more party's hands. You'd imagine only the party with a long term plan would want to be holding the baby come pay day next week....
    Some fans resorted to what is rapidly becoming a takeover tradition, namely interrogating @Ollywozere on his workload for the day:
    https://twitter.com/SamBurgess3/status/1308348267873398785
    "Cracker of a report yesterday Olly. We on for some bigger news today? 👍 or 👎🏼"
    I don't for one second expect it'll happen today but even if it did I'm not sure it would be Olly breaking the news from his personal twitter account with a thumbs-up emoji
    Well said, @Ollywozere would use clap, clap, bag of dollars, bottle of champagne, red circle, white circle, Denmark flag, guitar, bicep clench
    (For those of you wondering what that would look like it's something like this:
    👏👏💰🍾🔴⚪🎸💪)

    Later in the day, FULLERpromise provided some screenshots of a chat with Sandgaard:
     
    ... Roland has moved the goalposts more than once over the past few days and it's causing problems. TS is starting to get a little agitated by it all but he is also determined to see it through to the end. Whenever that will be.
    As he always does, and TS was warned he would.
    It seems that some of our fanbase were proposing another Belgium protest as a result:
    Don't think a visit to RD is needed.
    and given he's currently our most reliable ITK source, I'm happy to go with that.

    Protests
    After last night's Sky Sports News outage, which was supposedly a result of the CAFCFansForFans action, there was a report in the Daily Mail about it.
    There was also  another blockade of a Screwfix store, this time at Greenhithe:
    https://twitter.com/BenjyNurick/status/1308456205858353161
    "For the second time in four days @CAFCfansforfans are blockading the entrance to @Screwfix , a commercial partner of the EFL, this time in Greenhithe, Dartford.
    Updates to follow...
    #cafc #SaveCAFC"

    https://twitter.com/BenjyNurick/status/1308460007642537985
    "Word has clearly traveled throughout @Screwfix across the region, if not the country.
    The manager of this @Screwfix in Greenhithe had already been briefed as to the possibility of a @CAFCfansforfans protest from higher-ups in the company prior to today.
    #cafc #SaveCAFC"

    https://twitter.com/BenjyNurick/status/1308466741119528962
    "Sign at @Screwfix says “We know time is money...”
    @CAFCfansforfans have currently taken up about 45 minutes of @Screwfix ’s time.
    #cafc #SaveCAFC"
    and this seems to have got the attention of Simon Jackson, Screwfix's Customer & Digital Director
    https://twitter.com/CAFCfansforfans/status/1308459809323319296
    "Hi @simon8922
    Thanks for the follow.
    If, at some point in the near future, you or colleagues wish to engage in meaningful dialogue regarding your brand association with EFL, we would be more than willing participants.
    Kind regards
    CAFC Fans4Fans"

  • edited September 2020
    Wednesday 23nd September - "Daaaaaadd? Are we nearly there yet?"
    SUMMARY FOR THOSE WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS:
    1. A possibly tongue in cheek message from Sandgaard that got leaked on twitter caused a flurry of discussion as to whether he's tiring of all the social media interaction
    2. The suggestion from a Danish paper that we might be signing Ronnie Schwartz from FC Midtjylland, sparked further hopes that the transfer embargo might be lifted soon
    3. And just when I thought it was safe to go to bed, Sandgaard popped up on twitter with an update, indicating the property side of things was the stumbling block at the moment
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    Something Of A Sense Of Humour Failure
    As something of a follow-up to his tweet about a possible Belgian protest, Darren New tweeted the following:
    https://twitter.com/dneventslogist1/status/1308639024400289800
    "It’s the messages like this that get sent to our fans that rightly have them getting more than pissed off. This was sent to me from a worried fan in a DM last night and it needs to stop. If it is true would you still wish to wait before you acted? Ask yourself how long do we wait"
    Sandgaard joke
    Opinion was divided as to the tone of that last comment, with @flyingkiwiDK of the view that:
    I think the response from TS is Ill advised but firmly tongue in cheek tbh. Danish humour at its worst.
    while others detected a degree of irritability at all the questions, and @Chunes suggested:
    Someone should advise him to make a statement about needing to focus on the deal and come off of social media. It must be driving him mad.
    ... We’re in the final furlong of this, and fans sitting by their phones, expecting Sandgaard to reply within a certain SLA is a joke. It’s being done, these things have delays, and they take to resolve. A week ago, there was an injunction that some thought was fatal for the club, and now we’re a lot closer then we’ve been before....
    Was that really only a week ago? It shows how mad all this is that it feels significantly longer.
    ... TS Has today responded to a message I sent a few days ago apologising for the amount of hassle he may be getting as people become desperate...

    No I don't know why I felt the need to message him, but I specifically stated no reply was needed...



    It ain't over til it's over.
    ... We all want the takeover done and we all want it done ASAP but that's not how the real world works.

    It will be done when it's done.  Things are, so I'm informed, progressing but there are still relatively minor issues to be resolved.  I doubt it will take a year but it will take as long as it takes.

    Then suddenly, the news will be on the official site.

    WIOTOS
    Heard it could be a tax problem.
    Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. The intercompany debt position is like a bombsite and we all know from the original leaked LVT/MS email exchange how important tax efficiency (i.e. maximising losses to carry forward) is for Roland. Good way to save cash by not doing anything. What could be better for his tastes.
    ... As to why I am not commenting or predicting takeover outcomes, there's little point in trying to engage in this flurry of informal social media contacts in which interested parties are sharing partial information, however well intentioned. There are too many moving parts for any of it to be completely reliable and while some of it is interesting the aggregate effect is to confuse fans further.

    If Thomas Sandgaard is able to get the club into a better place by removing some or many of the leeches hanging around it then he deserves our support and regardless he deserves our thanks for trying. I doubt if his present level of engagement on social media is sustainable in any event and commentary on it by fans is probably best ignored in the meantime.
    TS only mistake has been thinking it can’t be that difficult to buy a football club from a couple of chancers and an eccentric businessmen. A mistake anyone lacking an intricate knowledge of the recent history of Charlton Athletic could have made, if we’re honest. Had he had advance warning I’m 99% sure he wouldn’t have bothered.

    Another Transfer Embargo Omen
    Over on the ITK thread, @flyingkiwiDK had some news that raised hopes that the transfer embargo might be lifted soon, with a Danish football website report suggesting that we could be signing Ronnie Schwartz, a 31 year old striker from FC Midtjylland, the Danish team who have links to Brentford:
    https://acefootball.com/da/fodboldnyheder/avis-charlton-er-interesserede-i-ronnie-schwartz/     (Google translate version here)
    There's some confusion as to what his "Plaffminister" nickname actually means, with Google translate suggesting "Minister of Public Works", which is really quite weird, or “The Minister of shooting hard balls” according to @flyingkiwiDK, and @Scoham and @Callumcafc had footage of him in action. Normally, I wouldn't include transfer rumours here, because there's far too many of them, but given that @flyingkiwiDK said this:
    Schwartz completed his medical this morning btw. He'll be able to join us as soon as the deal between TS and RD goes through and our transfer embargo is lifted
    it may be more indicative of progress than the usual paper talk.

    An Update From Sandgaard
    After the discussion earlier in the day about Sandgaard's social media interactions, just after midnight we got a tweeted update:
    https://twitter.com/SandgaardThomas/status/1308906241121562626
    "Wanted to give fans an update. Discussions have been moving forward positively so far, however the property piece remains an obstacle."
    https://twitter.com/SandgaardThomas/status/1308909038663593984
    "If we can’t agree immediately, the players we have lined up to sign will go elsewhere and that would ruin our season. I personally don’t want to be part of a scenario where we cannot sign the players lined up. Let’s get this done."
    Given the lateness of the hour, immediate reaction was somewhat limited, but Thursday's bound to be a different matter.
  • Thursday 24th September - Mini bitesize
    1. Sandgaard's late night twitter update caused meltdown on the Takeover thread as expected
    2. Lobbying from @BigDL on twitter prompted further expressions of support from the Leader and Opposition Leader of Greenwich Council
    Media Coverage:
    General Chat: Charlton Live
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  • edited September 2020
    Saturday 26th September - mini bitesize
    1. 21 year old defender Akin Famewo has signed on a year's loan from Norwich
    2. CAST have endorsed Sandgaard's takeover.
    3. In an interview with BBC Radio London, Sandgaard says he will be CEO at the Valley
    Media Coverage:
    Sandgaard : SLP (CAST), BBC Radio London (from 22mins), SLP (BBC interview)
    Embargo/Transfers: SLP, BBC Sport
  • Friday 2nd October - mini bitesize
    1. Sandgaard went on TalkSport on Wednesday to announce he'd be back in the UK for the Sunderland game, and has now arrived.
    2. Marcus Maddison has signed on a free for a year, with an option of an additional 12 months
    3. Companies House has been updated to show Tahnoon Nimer, Marian Mihail and Claudiu Florica are no longer directors of ESI
    4. Macauley Bonne has been sold to QPR for an undisclosed fee, although values of £700k and £2m have been suggested by various sources.
    5. Charlie Barker has signed a 3 year deal to keep him at the club until 2023
    6. The Supporters Trust have produced their final weekly update, and Heather McKinlay was interviewed by the Price of Football podcast to give the Trust's view on the takeover.
    7. The new Voice of the Valley is going out in the post today, with Sandgaard on the cover.
  • placeholder post
  • Wednesday 7th October - Final regular edition.
    Given the Southall/Nimer era has now officially ended, this seems like a good point to abandon regular bitesize updates. I've got to go back and fill in a few details along the way, and if something major happens, (such as one of the protagonists gets struck off, arrested or made bankrupt, or if the Lex Dominus v Panorama Magic court case goes ahead) then there'll be the occasional random update, but other than that, that's all folks!
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    SUMMARY FOR THOSE WITH SHORT ATTENTION SPANS:
    1. Sandgaard was over for the Sunderland game and spent a bit of time commentating for Valley pass
    2. He's also announced he wants to set up a fans' "advisory board", but how this will differ from the Fans' Forum is currently unclear
    3. Peter Varney has announced he won't be involved with the running of the club moving forward.
    4. On Saturday it was announced 17 year old Aaron Henry has signed a 3 year contract
    5. Celtic continue to have bids for Alfie Doughty rejected, while the Ronnie Schwartz transfer fell through on transfer deadline day.
    6. Former Burnley left back Ali Koiki is back on trial with the under 23s, while Welsh right back Chris Gunter was reportedly set to join us according to the BBC (now confirmed)
    7. Companies House has been updated to show that Southall and Heller are no longer directors of ESI.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    Sandgaard
    As promised, Sandgaard was at the Sunderland game, and spent the first 20 minutes in the press box with Terry and Greg from Charlton Live:
    https://twitter.com/LouisMend/status/1312392033156374529
    "The new boss is here. @SandgaardThomas arrives for his first home game as official #cafc owner, joining the boys over on @Valley_Pass"
    Sandgaard commentary
    https://twitter.com/LouisMend/status/1312394147119202304
    "Can tell @KillersBeard is rubbing off on Sandgaard already, can hear the Dane moaning about a linesman on comms
    ⏱ 8' 🔴 #cafc 0-0 #safc ⚫"
    Clearly a 0-0 draw didn't dent his enthusiasm, as on Sunday he tweeted:
    https://twitter.com/SandgaardThomas/status/1312730323013304320
    "Great to be at the Valley yesterday! The team is improving. Up from here. #CAFC #UpTheAddicks"
    followed a little while later by a video of him playing a bit of Valley Floyd Road on his guitar:
    https://twitter.com/SandgaardThomas/status/1312778089169125376
    "For those asking, here are a few notes. It's a start... #ValleyFloydRoad
    https://youtu.be/sbQa07hzluM"
    This got a bit of a mixed reaction. LeaburnForEngland enthused
    We've been bought by David Brent BUT I LOVE IT
    ...David Brent (the character) has nothing to back up his bravado and confidence (which is what made him a sad character). TS is a multi millionaire, fronting a NASDAQ listed company. He can do what the fuck he wants and is loving it.
    while Matt Wright seemed amused:
    https://twitter.com/mattjobob/status/1312835871553527813
    "Charlton fans: What we need most from our new owner is stability; a focus on getting #cafc back on an even keel and being run sensibly.
    Thomas Sandgaard: Let's ROCK!!!!!"
    (quoting this tweet from @SandgaardThomas)
    On Monday, Jack Pitt-Brooke shared a link to his interview with Sandgaard, which included a detailed rundown of all that's gone on at the club over this year:
    https://twitter.com/JackPittBrooke/status/1313008519571017728
    ""There will be less stress and drama at Charlton now"
    I spoke to Thomas Sandgaard about rebuilding the club after nine months of chaos. And looked at how close Charlton came to being the next Bury.
    https://theathletic.com/2104638/2020/10/05/charlton-owner-sandgaard-interview/"
    Unfortunately the piece is paywalled, but it's worth a read if you can get hold of it.

    On Tuesday, an interesting proposal was announced:
    https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313774580364972033
    "Thomas Sandgaard wants to be able to gauge the views of Charlton Athletic fans - and is considering setting up an 'advisory board'.
    https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-owner-thomas-sandgaard-wants-to-set-up-advisory-group-of-fans/"
    I like that idea, but you know it’ll cause endless squabbling as to who deserves to sit on that board.
    That'll be fun considering the vast chasm across the groups we currently have.
    Erm, how is that different to the Fans Forum?
    Just don't let @Grapevine49 take the minutes!

    Varney Update
    https://twitter.com/_PeterVarney/status/1313755135215054849
    "An update from me around the current situation with #CAFC and moving forward."
    Richard Cawley was disappointed by this:
    https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313782705142861824
    "Think that is a real shame that Peter Varney not involved moving forward. Genuine expertise on how to run a football club. Was very pivotal to knitting things together when Chris Powell's side rampaged to the League One title."
    as was former director Bob Whitehand:
    whitehand
    'Being largely USA based' was an unnecessary dig.
    No need to put it in there, other than being told he wasn't needed by Sandgaard and being a little bitter about it.
    ... I don't think it's a dig, he's saying that the culture of the club has suffered a lot because in the absence of strong leadership, people like burger boy have stepped in and morale etc. is at a dangerously low level. Not just morale, but the club's lost a lot of knowledge (what Varney calls "cultural and structural changes"). It's organisational atrophy. And it will need someone to devote full attention to correcting it.
    I think Peter Varney is a great man but seems odd to cast aspersions on Sandgaard because he doesn't want to bring someone who he barely knows into the fold of running a business he's just spent a fortune on.
    Aspersions? I think we all agree that TS has earned the right to make his own decisions. Equally it’s a bit strange to believe the business can be run by Zoom from the US with the people currently on the ground, excluding the football management...
    It’s worth remembering that it wasn’t Varney who talked about his getting involved under TS; it was TS unilaterally to multiple outlets. Otherwise there would be no need to roll it back...
    I can understand if TS wants to be hands on at first, but I do think he needs professional help to run a football club, as it's unlike anything he's ever managed before.
    Especially as the (non football) management has been hollowed out in the last few years. For a start we need a strong and competent Chief Financial Officer/Finance Director

    Squad Updates
    On Saturday morning another new contract was announced:
    https://twitter.com/CAFCofficial/status/1312306466288791555
    "📜 More good news from the academy this morning as highly-rated youngster Aaron Henry commits to the club until at least 2023. #cafc"
    and Benjy Nurick had some more background for those of us who haven't been following Aaron's progress quite so closely:
    https://twitter.com/BenjyNurick/status/1312325320553398273
    "Another important step in securing the immediate future of the club.
    Congrats Aaron Henry! Big things to come!
    Check out his story below 👇
    #cafc https://medium.com/@benjynurick/aaron-henry-mr-confident-as-told-by-charlton-academy-manager-steve-avory-a4ffa65c94d5"
    Following hs transfer to QPR (and scoring an injury time equaliser on his debut) Macauley Bonne tweeted out:
    https://twitter.com/MBonne9/status/1312476440701530112
    "To all of #CAFC, it's been fantastic. As all chapters end, another starts for us both. I'm thankful for every moment. I wish you well for the future!"
    and Voice of The Valley had some discussion of his departure:
    https://twitter.com/airmanbrown/status/1312766852410544128
    "NEW FROM VOTV - Why Macauley Bonne's departure from #cafc barely raised a ripple: trust has been restored in SE7. Read it now at http://votvonline.com"

    Then on Monday Richard Cawley had further updates on Doughty and Phillips:
    https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313045561113743361
    "Lee Bowyer says Celtic have had another bid rejected for Alfie Doughty.
    There is also an English club who are keen on the 20-year-old.
    https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/celtic-get-another-transfer-knock-back-as-charlton-reject-fresh-approach-for-alfie-doughty-english-club-also-interested-in-winger/"
    https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313096116695642112
    "Lee Bowyer says Dillon Phillips runs the risk of being "forgotten" if he doesn't get a move out of Charlton Athletic before the end of this transfer window.
    https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/lee-bowyer-dillon-phillips-could-be-forgotten-if-he-does-not-get-move-away-with-charlton-athletic/"
    Also on Monday, the BBC website published a piece saying that Chris Gunter was set to join us having been released by Reading - finally confirmed first thing Thursday morning.
    Then on Tuesday, after the international transfer deadline had passed:
    https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313374937995005952
    "Charlton are not signing FC Midtjylland striker Ronnie Schwartz.
    Deal had looked dead yesterday morning, then back on again yesterday evening.
    But it didn't happen."
    https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313375259916148736
    "Probably another example of why Charlton don't want these things massively playing out in press. Salary cap is making life difficult enough.
    Still plenty of time to get deals done. Addicks want to bring in two frontmen.."
    and former Burnley left back Ali Koiki, who was on trial a few weeks ago, is back again:
    https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313375528867581954
    "Ali Koiki set to play for Charlton U23s today.
    If he does well then a decent chance the former Burnley left-back will get a deal.
    https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/former-burnley-man-set-to-feature-for-addicks-as-he-aims-to-land-deal/"

    Yet More Companies House Shenanigans
    On Tuesday, Richard Cawley had news of another Companies House update:
    https://twitter.com/RichCawleySLP/status/1313442828979183616
    "Latest Companies House alerts - Matt Southall and Jonathan Heller no longer directors of ESI. Also another one saying "cessation of Matthew Southall as a person with significant control"."
    Kieran Maguire of the Price of Football podcast provided the relevant screenshots:
    https://twitter.com/KieranMaguire/status/1313462493726093312
    "Matt Southall, formerly in charge of Charlton’s holding company East Street Investments, ceases to have control over that company. #CAFC"
    Companies House
    ...Southall also no longer a person of significant control. Suggests they've taken the money and run.
    This means that none of the original Shenanigans protagonists are now involved with the club.

    Media Coverage:
    SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-agree-long-term-contracts-for-two-of-their-rising-stars/
    SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/celtic-get-another-transfer-knock-back-as-charlton-reject-fresh-approach-for-alfie-doughty-english-club-also-interested-in-winger/
    SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/lee-bowyer-dillon-phillips-could-be-forgotten-if-he-does-not-get-move-away-with-charlton-athletic/
    SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-interested-in-deal-for-former-reading-and-forest-defender-chris-gunter/
    BBC Sport: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54422719
    SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/former-burnley-man-set-to-feature-for-addicks-as-he-aims-to-land-deal/
    SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-owner-thomas-sandgaard-wants-to-set-up-advisory-group-of-fans/
  • Thursday 12th November - the return of the mini bitesize
    I was hoping I wasn't going to have to do one of these again until the court case on the 23rd of this month, but sadly, here we are.
    1. Farnell has won his appeal against his EFL Owners and Directors' Test failure, or at least it was effectively commuted to a suspension until 14th September (this was announced on the 28th of October)
    2. Also on the 28th October, Farnell and Kashashy announced that they were bidding to take over Burnley for £200m
    3. CAST and other Charlton fans have been communicating with the Burnley supporters to warn them of the issues relating to Farnell and co, although this has had a variable reception
    4. The Sunday Mirror on the 8th of November was claiming that El Kashashy was worth £9.65Bn, which coincidentally is exactly what Roman Abramovich is worth. We've not been able to find any evidence that this is true.
    5. Today, Elliott is claiming that due to Nimer failing to follow certain directions from the court, that the court has ruled in his favour that the ESI Sale and Purchase Agreement is valid. His press release says this means that Lex Dominus is the true owner of CAFC, but it's not clear whether that's just his assertion or part of the judgment, which I've not been able to find.
    6. The press release also says that "Mr Sandgaard has been given notice to leave the club immediately", although as Lauren Kreamer points out it's only really a notice or an order if it's been issued by the court, otherwise it's just a letter. (Perhaps she's seen the judgment? 🤞 )
    ----------------------------------------------------------------
    Media Coverage:
    Farnell: SLP
    Burnley Takeover: BBC Sport, Sky Sports, The Guardian, The Times (paywalled)
    El Kashashy: Sunday Mirror (screenshot)
    Elliott:  Evening Standard, BBC Sport, CAST
  • edited November 2020
    Wednesday 18th November - mini bitesize
    1. Elliott was interviewed by Jim White on TalkSport today, pre-recorded rather than live, possibly because he was afraid of getting grilled by Simon Jordan
    2. Sandgaard was also interviewed again on Talksport and said the club was losing about £1m a month at the moment.
    3. The club has announced it has repossessed the infamous Range Rovers (and a Mercedes!), and one of them is being raffled off to fans buying match streaming passes up until Christmas.
    Media Coverage:
    Radio: TalkSport: Elliott (from 4m40) and Sandgaard from 18:50
    TalkSport: https://talksport.com/football/efl/791240/charlton-athletic-thomas-sandgaard-dismisses-paul-elliott-claims/
    SLP: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/motoring-charlton-athletic-fans-stand-a-chance-of-winning-one-of-infamous-range-rovers-as-thomas-sandgaard-makes-it-prize-in-competition/
    Evening Standard: https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/charlton-thomas-sandgaard-ps90-000-range-rover-b73215.html
    Sky Sports: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11684/12135776/new-charlton-owner-thomas-sandgaard-in-range-rover-giveaway
    Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8962013/Charlton-raffle-one-infamous-90-000-Range-Rovers-bought-former-owners.html
    The Sun: https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/13236403/charlton-giving-away-100k-range-rover/
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