Most fans are in 'wait and see' mode in relation to Roland Duchâtelet's takeover of Charlton if the results of our online survey of fans are to believed. It was the most popular response to three of the four questions in which it was available as an option. It seems to me to be a very reasonable response. We don't really know yet how things are going to pan out and some us do not have access to the worrying information that some claim to hold.
Some of the initial responses have been a little over the top. The notion of Charlton being a feeder club to Standard Liège depends on the willingness of players to go there or to any of the other clubs in Roland's network (the Hungarian one seems to be in deep do do, see an important post by the Chicago Addick). They are not university students in an Erasmus scheme with some knowledge of foreign languages. As for being Standard Liège reserves, this overlooks the great longer run potential of the Addicks as an investment.
I do not claim that the survey is representative of Charlton fans as a whole. It is based on 165 responses from fans who happen to visit this blog and bothered to answer the survey. It may, however, be indicative of the state of opinion, particularly among less vociferous fans.
Asked for their overall view of the takeover, two-thirds chose the 'wait and see' option, while 15 per cent approved and 18 per cent disapproved (1% don't know). Only 15 per cent said that Chris Powell should have been dismissed when he was, although I didn't include a 'should have been dismissed in January' option. 24 per cent chose the 'wait until summer' option, 15 per cent approved the action and 8 per cent didn't know.
Asked whether the identity of the club had changed since the takeover, nearly half of those responding (46 per cent) thought it had with 'wait and see' coming in second this time at 31 per cent. 21 per cent thought that there had been no change and 2 per cent didn't know.
Roland's European network model won approval from just 14 per cent of respondents, although nearly half (47 per cent) chose 'wait and see' in relation to his experiment. 31 per cent disapproved and 2 per cent didn't know. Slightly more (20 per cent) thought it would be beneficial for Charlton, just over a third (34 per cent) thought it would be harmful but nearly a half (47 per cent) chose 'wait and see'.
60 per cent said that they would continue to attend home games and only 5 per cent said they wouldn't. 15 per cent said they would come occasionally (but that might have been their pattern of attendance anyway). 11 per cent said they would come until their season ticket expired but some of them might well renew when the time comes. 3 per cent didn't come anyway, probably supporters living a long way away.
My summary would be that most Charlton fans are less agitated about the takeover than some of the activists and are at least prepared to give Roland a chance to show what he could. Given that the alternative to accepting his bid would probably have been administration, it may be best to stick to nurse for fear of something worse. Some believe that something worse is in store, but I haven't seen their cards.
8 comments:
Thank you for the opportunity to express my views in this way. The picture is as confused as you would expect and, with the information currently to hand, 'wait and see' is the only real way forward.
Agree, with previous comment, thanks for taking the time. Your analysis is very thorough. I think it shows most fans are rational common sense folk.
Like many others I was mostly "wait & see". However, it feels for the best that the activists are already started organising. The key results for me in your survey are that 46% thought the club's identity had already changed. Interpreting your figures in para 4 it looks like 48% of fans were opposed to CP's immediate dismissal and 24% thought the issue should have waited. When is the Trust publishing its survey?
I am glad most Charlton fans I speak to are in the "wait and see" camp.
However the issue to me that really needs explaining is the interpretation of a " feeder Club".
It seems the press have now jumped on the (poor old Charlton will just become a feeder club to SL ) bandwagon.
In my mind a feeder club is one that feeds its young players to the lower divisions to gain valuable experience and to see whether they can make it. How many players do we really think we can produce that will go straight into the SL first team ( plus would they go ). I can however see SL sending us some of their fringe players which should be a good thing (a bit like the loan system ) if they are good enough then great, if they are not good enough then what is the point.
Please Wynn could you and any other fellow Addick`s offer their interpretation because I am confused !
Colin G
The identity results are interesting and I may write something about that specific topic when time allows. There certainly wasn't much support for CP's immediate dismissal. I don't know when the Trust survey is coming out, but that should have a much larger number of responses. There is some confusion over the use of the phrase 'feeder club' and also 'nursery club'. A nursery club takes younger players from the main club and develops them, e.g., Crewe was a de facto nursery club from Liverpool. We could play such players in the U21 team where they would be exposed to a higher level of football than they would get in Belgium. SL may well send us some fringe players and the question then is whether they are good enough (if we were in League 1 they might find the physical side of the game intimidating). In the feeder club model there would be the prospect of our best players going to the SL first team, although I am not sure how much that would happen in practice. More French-speaking footballers speak English than the other way round.
We can only judge el 'President' by what he says and does. So far he has sold a genuine goal soccer at this level, sacked a very unique and much appreciated manager and told us that we are part of a family of clubs. What ever you call it feeder club, nursery club
or European business model, I'll take Chris Powell's assessment - it's just plain nuts.
What he also did was pay 20 million pounds for the club and that I think is where the "wait and see" comes into it .
Plain nuts sounds to simple for me but you may be right ?
Colin g
OBIKA'S BACK! perhaps there is a way forward now.
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