Really enjoyed his interview on the website. Obviously he has the gift of the gab but talks lots of sense. Actions speak louder than words but lets pray we hit the ground running next season.
Listened to the whole thing, there's a lot to unpack but I think I've broken down a few things...
Women's team He doesn't commit to it, saying no-one else in League 1 funds an academy and a women's team to the extent we do, and there's a lot of uncertainty around the current setup and how it will be commercially and with a new TV deal etc.
Academy Linked to the above, sounds like if they're to cut one to help fund the other, the academy wins out (rightly so IMO) as it's such a fundamental part of the club. Didn't sound like they're thinking of closing it any time soon which I'm sure will disappoint some fans looking to sharpen their pitchforks. Said talent should move on not for financial reasons but for growth reasons and because it's the right thing to do. Mentioned (without saying it directly) that many of them are young lads from the local communities which leads on to...
Support Recognises the passion and honesty of the fanbase (his way of saying he's got some stick from us) but also recognises the fact that our crowds don't reflect the area and aren't very diverse. Community engagement, a new fan zone, better brand identity, better food offerings, better social media, better outreach all mentioned as things we are going to improve.
Management/Leadership Spoke about how much of a leader NJ is, and what he instills in the club. Wanted him in September but he said no at the time. Mentioned how behind the scenes we needed changes in senior roles, hopeful the Brighton man will help everyone be fitter and available more. Recognises that a lot of change is needed and it will take time to implement, and to see those changes have a positive effect. Spoke of 3 year plan still on, and for the end of the 3 years to be in a position that's better than now across all fronts.
Players Spoke of large investment in January and of more in the summer, wants it done early so preseason everyone is in already and playing together
Ownership Said not involved in day to day leaves that to technical team, owners are investing financially but started to get more invested emotionally too.
All in all it comes across well and a lot of it makes sense, as he said himself actions speak louder than words but he's hopeful we can all take this journey together.
Oh and everything has a circularity to it, apparently
You can take the boy out of Eton but you can’t take Eton out of the boy……very very accomplished speaker who undeniably spoke a lot of sense. It’s the first time I have heard him offer up a lengthy interview and from it I have to say I rather like him. However…….let’s see where we are this time next year.🤞 Love his “take a look under the bonnet” quotes…… very catchy.
Spoke well about the DNA in terms of the academy and the community, and the sense that the club has roots and tentacles. I hope he means it in terms of the Academy, because he is right in recognising it as one of our strengths, and it needs support which I hope is ongoing.
He said nine players were recruited in January, but he didn’t say if any of them cost anything.
He said it was significant investment and unbudgeted funding, which is PR speak for cost is more than we wanted it to, which suggests fees involved. Ramsay, REG and Coventry definitely all cost money
He said nine players were recruited in January, but he didn’t say if any of them cost anything.
He said it was significant investment and unbudgeted funding, which is PR speak for cost is more than we wanted it to, which suggests fees involved. Ramsay, REG and Coventry definitely all cost money
I was told at the Shrewsbury game that Coventry was a free transfer. I don’t know about REG or Ramsay. Of course all incoming transfers mean a spend of some kind, but I am not sure if West Ham United got any money, maybe it means none initially and money comes into it if Coventry is sold.
He's a very polished speaker I'll give him that. But there's something about him that I don't trust. If we get promoted next season I will be more than happy to give him credit.
As a speaker he is plausible and persuasive. One thing he repeated is to be judged on results, which is something I suspect everybody would agree with.
Very interesting interview on the OS website. Promotion is defo the goal next season and the owners seem to be bought into it! He comes across very well and sounds very enthusiastic. This summer could prove to be very insightful as to where the owners see us going. Are they going to try and get us promoted on the 'cheap', or really push the boat out and go for it with the 25/26 season also in mind?
He said nine players were recruited in January, but he didn’t say if any of them cost anything.
He said it was significant investment and unbudgeted funding, which is PR speak for cost is more than we wanted it to, which suggests fees involved. Ramsay, REG and Coventry definitely all cost money
I was told at the Shrewsbury game that Coventry was a free transfer. I don’t know about REG or Ramsay. Of course all incoming transfers mean a spend of some kind, but I am not sure if West Ham United got any money, maybe it means none initially and money comes into it if Coventry is sold.
Coventry was on a free, this was confirmed. West Ham have a substantial sell on fee from him though.
Gillesphey was a very small fee according to a lot of Plymouth fans.
No idea on REG & Ramsay, but considering REG was someone Huddersfield wanted rid of in a relegation season, and Ramsay being signed from Harrogate, I can't imagine the grand total for all 3 was anymore than 200-300k. Pure speculation of course on the final two players.
He said nine players were recruited in January, but he didn’t say if any of them cost anything.
He said it was significant investment and unbudgeted funding, which is PR speak for cost is more than we wanted it to, which suggests fees involved. Ramsay, REG and Coventry definitely all cost money
I was told at the Shrewsbury game that Coventry was a free transfer. I don’t know about REG or Ramsay. Of course all incoming transfers mean a spend of some kind, but I am not sure if West Ham United got any money, maybe it means none initially and money comes into it if Coventry is sold.
Coventry was on a free, this was confirmed. West Ham have a substantial sell on fee from him though.
Gillesphey was a very small fee according to a lot of Plymouth fans.
No idea on REG & Ramsay, but considering REG was someone Huddersfield wanted rid of in a relegation season, and Ramsay being signed from Harrogate, I can't imagine the grand total for all 3 was anymore than 200-300k. Pure speculation of course on the final two players.
He said nine players were recruited in January, but he didn’t say if any of them cost anything.
He said it was significant investment and unbudgeted funding, which is PR speak for cost is more than we wanted it to, which suggests fees involved. Ramsay, REG and Coventry definitely all cost money
I was told at the Shrewsbury game that Coventry was a free transfer. I don’t know about REG or Ramsay. Of course all incoming transfers mean a spend of some kind, but I am not sure if West Ham United got any money, maybe it means none initially and money comes into it if Coventry is sold.
Coventry was on a free, this was confirmed. West Ham have a substantial sell on fee from him though.
Gillesphey was a very small fee according to a lot of Plymouth fans.
No idea on REG & Ramsay, but considering REG was someone Huddersfield wanted rid of in a relegation season, and Ramsay being signed from Harrogate, I can't imagine the grand total for all 3 was anymore than 200-300k. Pure speculation of course on the final two players.
Maybe it is a zero sum game given the CBT transfer. Our (very good) Charlotte didn’t ask the salmon trousered Oxford fan about January in much detail
Watched the whole thing and personally, I'd like my 28 minutes back. He just says a lot without actually saying anything. I believe he speaks well, and he's very brushed up on the English language, but that doesn't mean you have the quality to run a football club, or that Charlton Athletic will be promoted because you speak with a hint of elegance with most sentences.
He's pandered to Charlton fans by highlighting the things we are all very aware of, such as being a community club, having a great academy etc. I'm personally not going to award him any brownie points for saying what the average football fan would think about us as a club. These are easy words to feed to an interviewer.
All that matters is strengthening this very weak squad, and then hopefully, winning football games, anything else said is bollocks. Give our Welsh Wizard money Charlie and friends, that is quite literally the only thing that will turn Charlton Athletic around. All the rest is PR bollocks.
Charlie says a lot but really there isn't much there to cheer me up. He says things most fans would expect him to say. When I listen to what he would like and what we all know has happened on a regular basis over the best part of 20 years I have difficulty taking him anymore seriously than the others that preceded him. I'm going to judge him on performance rather than how well he speaks or what are his views on various parts of our club. So far he is not as good as he was at Sunderland, at least they were on Netflix. We're on course for our worse finish for the best part of 100 years, something we should achieve this coming weekend. As ever I look forward to next season and hope it cant be worse than the last. But the reality is things are worse and they can certainly get worse. We don't own a ground, a training ground and the playing squad is somewhat short of quality to achieve a top six finish. The academy, women's team and our support will suffer if the 1st team continue in a downward slide season on season, hopefully Nathen Jones can reverse this trend. Thus far he has been an improvement on the other managers we've had this season. Nice to here the actual owners are going to be invested emotionally too, who'd of thought that would occur to them.
Watched the whole thing and personally, I'd like my 28 minutes back. He just says a lot without actually saying anything. I believe he speaks well, and he's very brushed up on the English language, but that doesn't mean you have the quality to run a football club, or that Charlton Athletic will be promoted because you speak with a hint of elegance with most sentences.
He's pandered to Charlton fans by highlighting the things we are all very aware of, such as being a community club, having a great academy etc. I'm personally not going to award him any brownie points for saying what the average football fan would think about us as a club. These are easy words to feed to an interviewer.
All that matters is strengthening this very weak squad, and then hopefully, winning football games, anything else said is bollocks. Give our Welsh Wizard money Charlie and friends, that is quite literally the only thing that will turn Charlton Athletic around. All the rest is PR bollocks.
Completely agree, it's just PR. It's easy to say what the fans want to hear. He's not exactly going to say anything negative on a club release.
About two thirds of the way through, when Charlotte asks him about club growth off the pitch.
His response is actually interesting, aside from using the word “circularity”, he says that it’s obvious to everyone that the club is going to have to perform on the pitch to see any meaningful growth off the pitch.
But nonetheless that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try otherwise “you might as well make the manager the marketing director … but that would do the rest of us out of a job”.
Comments
Kirk? and his performance in the Cray Valley replay i hope.
https://www.charltonafc.com/video/player/0_8fmdpwo1
Women's team
He doesn't commit to it, saying no-one else in League 1 funds an academy and a women's team to the extent we do, and there's a lot of uncertainty around the current setup and how it will be commercially and with a new TV deal etc.
Academy
Linked to the above, sounds like if they're to cut one to help fund the other, the academy wins out (rightly so IMO) as it's such a fundamental part of the club. Didn't sound like they're thinking of closing it any time soon which I'm sure will disappoint some fans looking to sharpen their pitchforks. Said talent should move on not for financial reasons but for growth reasons and because it's the right thing to do. Mentioned (without saying it directly) that many of them are young lads from the local communities which leads on to...
Support
Recognises the passion and honesty of the fanbase (his way of saying he's got some stick from us) but also recognises the fact that our crowds don't reflect the area and aren't very diverse. Community engagement, a new fan zone, better brand identity, better food offerings, better social media, better outreach all mentioned as things we are going to improve.
Management/Leadership
Spoke about how much of a leader NJ is, and what he instills in the club. Wanted him in September but he said no at the time. Mentioned how behind the scenes we needed changes in senior roles, hopeful the Brighton man will help everyone be fitter and available more. Recognises that a lot of change is needed and it will take time to implement, and to see those changes have a positive effect. Spoke of 3 year plan still on, and for the end of the 3 years to be in a position that's better than now across all fronts.
Players
Spoke of large investment in January and of more in the summer, wants it done early so preseason everyone is in already and playing together
Ownership
Said not involved in day to day leaves that to technical team, owners are investing financially but started to get more invested emotionally too.
All in all it comes across well and a lot of it makes sense, as he said himself actions speak louder than words but he's hopeful we can all take this journey together.
Oh and everything has a circularity to it, apparently
It’s the first time I have heard him offer up a lengthy interview and from it I have to say I rather like him.
However…….let’s see where we are this time next year.🤞
Love his “take a look under the bonnet” quotes…… very catchy.
I hope he means it in terms of the Academy, because he is right in recognising it as one of our strengths, and it needs support which I hope is ongoing.
Of course all incoming transfers mean a spend of some kind, but I am not sure if West Ham United got any money, maybe it means none initially and money comes into it if Coventry is sold.
But there's something about him that I don't trust.
If we get promoted next season I will be more than happy to give him credit.
As a speaker he is plausible and persuasive.
One thing he repeated is to be judged on results, which is something I suspect everybody would agree with.
https://talksport.com/radio/listen-again/1713862800/1713864600/
Part 2
https://talksport.com/radio/listen-again/1713862800/1713866400/
He comes across very well and sounds very enthusiastic. This summer could prove to be very insightful as to where the owners see us going. Are they going to try and get us promoted on the 'cheap', or really push the boat out and go for it with the 25/26 season also in mind?
Nothing else matters.
Gillesphey was a very small fee according to a lot of Plymouth fans.
No idea on REG & Ramsay, but considering REG was someone Huddersfield wanted rid of in a relegation season, and Ramsay being signed from Harrogate, I can't imagine the grand total for all 3 was anymore than 200-300k. Pure speculation of course on the final two players.
Our (very good) Charlotte didn’t ask the salmon trousered Oxford fan about January in much detail
He's pandered to Charlton fans by highlighting the things we are all very aware of, such as being a community club, having a great academy etc. I'm personally not going to award him any brownie points for saying what the average football fan would think about us as a club. These are easy words to feed to an interviewer.
All that matters is strengthening this very weak squad, and then hopefully, winning football games, anything else said is bollocks. Give our Welsh Wizard money Charlie and friends, that is quite literally the only thing that will turn Charlton Athletic around. All the rest is PR bollocks.
We're on course for our worse finish for the best part of 100 years, something we should achieve this coming weekend.
As ever I look forward to next season and hope it cant be worse than the last. But the reality is things are worse and they can certainly get worse. We don't own a ground, a training ground and the playing squad is somewhat short of quality to achieve a top six finish. The academy, women's team and our support will suffer if the 1st team continue in a downward slide season on season, hopefully Nathen Jones can reverse this trend. Thus far he has been an improvement on the other managers we've had this season. Nice to here the actual owners are going to be invested emotionally too, who'd of thought that would occur to them.
Like what the owners have done so far but this window is make or break.
His response is actually interesting, aside from using the word “circularity”, he says that it’s obvious to everyone that the club is going to have to perform on the pitch to see any meaningful growth off the pitch.
But nonetheless that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try otherwise “you might as well make the manager the marketing director … but that would do the rest of us out of a job”.
Saying the quiet part out loud perhaps?