The Takeover Thread - Duchatelet Finally Sells (Jan 2020)

ShootersHillGuru said:

Well whoever it is they obviously have the ability to plant the rumour where it reaches both Buyer and seller who take it seriously enough to leak denials. The field of runners and riders cant be that big.

Addickted said:

Please note, that the below is all supposition and is only my depraved understanding on what I believe the issues are.


Without a doubt, proper DD has picked whatever issue it is up and the Aussies want it resolved before signing off the deal. Fairly confident it is a matter outside of the EFL fit and proper test.

I also get the feeling that this, as an issue, was picked up some six months or so ago and is one of the reasons why KM - as the Clubs CEO (and therefore responsible person at the time) did a runner so quickly. I also believe Duchatalet had no idea about this issue as it has been kept in the shadows until it was identified by the Aussies (and possibly others) during DD.

If the issue needs to come out into the open to be finally resolved, (and I have my own thoughts on what it may be), then the proverbial is going to hit the fan, which will result in financial and possibly also playing side penalties. The Aussies, quite rightly, don't want this hanging over them.

Unusually for me I seem to be supporting Duchatalet's and Meire's innocence in all this as I truly believe because of his poor DD the issue wasn't picked up. That does not however make either of them non complicit in not dealing with the problem, rather to be just seen to move it onto the next owner for them to resolve.

So my theory, is that this has been well hidden in the shadows for some time - see my previous reference to Varney and Kavanagh - and only this sale of the Club is going to force it out into the open.

Obviously, there are person/s who do not want this to happen at any price - I suspect because they are culpable. They are therefore doing all they can to prevent this sale going through and continue to let sleeping dogs lie.

Whatever the outcome, this will come out one day - whether sooner or later.

Of course, it could be all much simpler than this and actually be about Keohane and the marrow.

se9addick said:

TEL said:

I think Bowyer is being really naive if he thinks a smaller squad than last year will fair better. I like him, but I think he is kidding himself.

He thinks he's kidding us, however I reckon we won't be kidding anyone with this squad in a couple of months time.

Dave2l said:

Takeover complete page 1066?

cafcfan1990 said:

Dave2l said:

Takeover complete page 1066?

More likely to be 1966.

Curb_It said:

What is this mysterious issue? Are there dead bodies under the car park? Is that what is causing the potholes?

Cafc43v3r said:

To add to @Addicked points.

We know vast numbers of senior managment have left in "unusual" circumstances.

We know that RD believes someone took money out of the club.

We know that there is a divide amongst the former directors to the extent that some of them no longer speak to the others.

We know that PV is totally blackballed by Murray and by extension RD.

We know that Slater couldn't believe his luck that RD didn't do proper DD.

We know that RM held 10% of the shares when the spivs bought the rest and held a board position under RD.

We know someone has been briefing against the Australians for a long time but believe it's not RD or the club.

It has been repeatedly stated that if RD hadn't bought the club when he did there wouldn't be a club. Now I have dismissed this in the pasted due to the main source if it but could that be more truthful than we have credited?

The only conclusion I can reach is that RD has got himself in such a mess he can't get out of it with out a massive financial hair cut and more important to him being totally ridiculed in public. I believe he is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If indeed this is the case I believe things are going to get much, much worse before they get better. For us and RD.

Cafc43v3r said:

To add to @Addicked points.

We know vast numbers of senior managment have left in "unusual" circumstances.

We know that RD believes someone took money out of the club.

We know that there is a divide amongst the former directors to the extent that some of them no longer speak to the others.

We know that PV is totally blackballed by Murray and by extension RD.

We know that Slater couldn't believe his luck that RD didn't do proper DD.

We know that RM held 10% of the shares when the spivs bought the rest and held a board position under RD.

We know someone has been briefing against the Australians for a long time but believe it's not RD or the club.

It has been repeatedly stated that if RD hadn't bought the club when he did there wouldn't be a club. Now I have dismissed this in the pasted due to the main source if it but could that be more truthful than we have credited?

The only conclusion I can reach is that RD has got himself in such a mess he can't get out of it with out a massive financial hair cut and more important to him being totally ridiculed in public. I believe he is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If indeed this is the case I believe things are going to get much, much worse before they get better. For us and RD.

Addickted said:

Please note, that the below is all supposition and is only my depraved understanding on what I believe the issues are.


Without a doubt, proper DD has picked whatever issue it is up and the Aussies want it resolved before signing off the deal. Fairly confident it is a matter outside of the EFL fit and proper test.

I also get the feeling that this, as an issue, was picked up some six months or so ago and is one of the reasons why KM - as the Clubs CEO (and therefore responsible person at the time) did a runner so quickly. I also believe Duchatalet had no idea about this issue as it has been kept in the shadows until it was identified by the Aussies (and possibly others) during DD.

If the issue needs to come out into the open to be finally resolved, (and I have my own thoughts on what it may be), then the proverbial is going to hit the fan, which will result in financial and possibly also playing side penalties. The Aussies, quite rightly, don't want this hanging over them.

Unusually for me I seem to be supporting Duchatalet's and Meire's innocence in all this as I truly believe because of his poor DD the issue wasn't picked up. That does not however make either of them non complicit in not dealing with the problem, rather to be just seen to move it onto the next owner for them to resolve.

So my theory, is that this has been well hidden in the shadows for some time - see my previous reference to Varney and Kavanagh - and only this sale of the Club is going to force it out into the open.

Obviously, there are person/s who do not want this to happen at any price - I suspect because they are culpable. They are therefore doing all they can to prevent this sale going through and continue to let sleeping dogs lie.

Whatever the outcome, this will come out one day - whether sooner or later.

Of course, it could be all much simpler than this and actually be about Keohane and the marrow.

seth plum said:

Addicted may be on to something.
My pure and total speculation is this.
Around about the time Joe Gomez was here, and being recognized as a very good player, it was put to me that a creative wage structure might include a degree of tax avoidance by using offshore routes.
It may well be that it is tax and legitimacy of club finance previously and maybe now that is the issue.
I suspect that if true it could be serious chite. If anybody thinks shenanigans would have emerged by now need only look at the Slater/Jimenez/Cash court case to see how stuff gets hidden.

se9addick said:

Oggy Red said:

se9addick said:

TEL said:

I think Bowyer is being really naive if he thinks a smaller squad than last year will fair better. I like him, but I think he is kidding himself.

He thinks he's kidding us, however I reckon we won't be kidding anyone with this squad in a couple of months time.

No, I don't think Bows is kidding us.
He's already working on instilling a winning mentality as priority.

Despite the difficulties in putting a squad together, from how he's saying things I believe he knows what he wants to do within the limitations imposed presently.

He's evidently got something of a budget, however small, and he's going to be juggling that best he can.
No doubt he has plenty of old mates and contacts within the game - and he's going to be leaning on them.

He's already got a decent nucleus of a squad and he'll trade 1 or 2, in order to bring in others on free transfers. There's sure to be long-term loans to augment signings.

He'll try and shape the team within his own image - hard running, tough and combatative, but with sufficient footballing ability to get results in this division. That will be his intention. Whether the current situation allows him to do everything he wants is perhaps, another matter.

All the points I've highlighted in bold are pure supposition, you're projecting what you, I and every other Charlton fan wants - but very rarely in the past few years have we got much of what we want. There's no evidence at all of how Bowyer wants the team to play or what his recruitment strategy might be.

Back in reality Bowyer was tactically outclassed in both matches of the Play Off semi finals - which isn't a dig, he was running a fishing lake 18 months ago so it's unfair to expect him to be the finished article yet.

It's debatable whether Bowyer could achieve anything with an unlimited budget, with a reduced squad and budget I highly doubt it but would love to be wrong. The biggest compliment I can pay him so far as a manager is that he's better than Karl Robinson, which isn't much of a compliment at all.