Elliott move tokenism?

The Paul Elliott story has, I understand, just being mentioned by Richard Keys on TalkSport in a discussion with a journo about racism in sport. It was suggested that his appointment might be tokenism.

This is the problem with the way in which this story is perceived in the media. To most Addicks, Paul Elliott is a respected former player who has continued doing important community work. Much of that is directed at racism, but people do not think of him in terms of the colour of his skin but what he has achieved.

Further checking has led me to believe that the Paul Elliott story arose from someone in the club talking to the Mirror journalist. It is not my belief that this person was Rick Everitt, now on his bike in the Isle of Thanet, contrary to suggestions elsewhere. I think that what happened was that someone let the cat out of the bag too quickly. That of itself might make it more difficult to proceed. But whilst I do not think it will happen in the immediate future, Elliott's appointment as executive chair remains an option.