You can probably count the number of Addicks in Warwickshire on one hand. Apart from me, I know of one near Warwick, one in Stratford and one in Coventry. One of the leading lights emigrated to Canada a long time ago, but at least I was able to get a ticket for him for the Greatest Game.
Yesterday I was giving a presentation at King Henry the Eighth School in Coventry and I started with a joke about Charlton because everyone in Coventry thinks you are barmy to support Charlton when you could be supporting the glorious Sky Blues (at least that's an easy away game for me). Somehow or other, sitting in his Ramsgate fastness, VOTV editor Rick Everitt picked up on what I said and tweeted about it.
Having tea in the staff room afterwards, one of the teachers asked me incredulously if I was really a Charlton season ticket holder. I pointed out that for each home Saturday game I would be setting off from Coventry Station adjacent to the school.
It is crazy when you think of what Roland has done to the club. Fans have been heartened to some extent by the appointment of Russell Slade. If Roland really wanted to mend bridges, he could find Katrien Meire a suitable job in his Belgian operations. He could then appoint a chief executive with relevant experience and less of a reputation for offering contentious versions of reality.
Roland's whole scheme was premised on the assumption that financial fair play would kick in and create a level playing field. Even someone who is not a lawyer like me knew that this was likely to be challenged as a breach of competition law, as it has been.
Katrien Meire is a competition lawyer. She is a graduate of University College London and has been an intern at some leading law firms. Before she came to Charlton she had a post at Standard Liege that involved responsibility for legal affairs. Why didn't she warn Roland? Or did she think it would be unwise to speak truth to power? I don't know, but I am puzzled.
This post also appears on Addick's Third Division Diary.
14 comments:
Too much importance is attached to qualifications these days. Which Unversity you attended does not of itself mean that you are a competent lawyer ( or a politician for that matter ! ). A CEO who has attended at the University of Life and has common sense and "customer" friendly attributes would be ideal.
Naturally I would disagree. We live in a knowledge intensive and society. I would agree that is not the same thing as good judgment which is lacking in her case. She is simply a square peg in a round hole.
Wynn
Further examination of Katrien's cv on Linkedin would have told any sensible employer that she was a very high risk appointment .
Despite being in her thirties , she has never stayed anywhere longer than 5 minutes in her entire career , Charlton is now her longest tenure anywhere. She has no demonstrable record of experience , success or achievement in any role.
I totally agree that the most constructive and sensible thing that Roland could do ( in the absence of her resignation which any honourable person would have done months ago) is to give supporters her head on a plate - metaphorically speaking of course.
you are not alone wynn I live in deepest west wales and have played for Charlton and supported them my whole life I am now 72.
Albury Addick.....a reference in a website called "Linkmissing" would be more apt !
wynn I live in west wales supported and played for the colts I am now 72 so only watch local matches that I can travelto with ease Coventry as an example so I rely on people like your good self and dr kish. I would of thought now it seems that we are moving in the right direction it would suggest that the removal of katrien mere is paramount to restore some degree of calm and support around the club.
It's good to hear for someone who has played for the club.
Well I am part of the "Basildon Barmy patrol !! yes deep in that capitol of Brexit there is a small enclave of us,ok not too far away,very much a Hammers and Gunners stronghold,but it still takes a C2C train a DLR,and a bus if one likes a drink,and if one likes to show the colours,ridicule.
A comment by Brian Cowen that I was hoisted by my own petard seems to have got lost somewhere, for which I apologise. I wasn't trying to block the comment.
"We live in a knowledge intensive and society."
Hoisted by your own petard, Wyn ?
And you spelt my name wrong.
Apologies for getting your name wrong. What with the referendum and now Chilcot, I am like a spinning top.
Apology accepted.
Chilcot, and referendum ? May we live in interesting times.
(I do remember you being "keen" on Katrien along while ago. But we all make mistakes.)
Keep up the good work.
Mea culpa. I thought (and do think) that sometimes 'the world of football' is too inward looking and that she would bring a fresh perspective. Indeed, I thought that Charlton needed to move on somewhat, but not to get rid of all the institutional memory. The fact that we should had moved around a lot between different internships was not unusual for a young lawyer. What I did not realise at first was how poor her judgment was. Moreover, lawyers are very careful about what they say and how they say it and she was the opposite.
Wyn, I live in Worcestershire and work in Warwickshire, so not a million miles from you. Haven't been to a game for some time though....
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