The CAS Trust open meeting on the direction of the club will be held in Woolwich on Wednesday 18 February: Meeting details.
Clearly those who 'want our club back' should try and attend although whether the meeting generates more heat than light remains to be seen. What is needed is a feasible way forward and that won't be easy to find.
Communication with fans has been unsatisfactory, but that was also the case with the Slater/Jiminez regime. Under the Murray/Varney regime, Charlton fans enjoyed a degree of communication and involvement that was unusual for a football club. We have now reverted to the norm.
Roland Duchatelet is a not unusual example of a businessman who having enjoyed commercial success thinks that he can apply what he has learnt in different spheres of activity, first, in his case, in politics, and more recently in football. From all I have read he seems to be a rather obdurate individual who is convinced that his chosen path is the right one. I agree with him that football is an overly conservative sector that needs shaking up in an era of globalisation. However, the network concept is utopian and, as it has been applied, flawed.
What outcomes do fans want and are they achievable? I doubt whether Roland is inclined to sell the club and, even if he was, it would be difficult to find a quality buyer. The notion of the fans raising enough money to buy the club is not possible. Even if they could, how would they fund the operating deficit which runs at least £5m a year?
Possibly many fans would like Roland to change his operating plan, relying less on the network and Belgian players more generally, and bringing in a manager with Championship experience. It seems to me that the difference between the way football is played in the Championship and other leagues is often exaggerated. In any event, I don't see Roland modifying his model.
Many fans have said that they will not renew their season tickets, arguing that the best way to influence Roland is to hit him in the pocket. However, that would weaken the club and make it less attractive to a new buyer.
Hopefully, someone at the meeting will have some ideas for a feasible plan of action.
15 comments:
I just wish RD would open up and share his vision with the supporters. I have been told by a work colleague in Belgium who knows RD personally and I quote " He is very rich… and very ambitious! . It’s true to say that Fans club and press media are generally against him because he doesn’t share his vision and sportive choices in the press."
That is a totally unrealistic stance to take when a football club is such a important part of the true supporters life , it should be a privilege to own a club like Charlton and with that privilege comes the responsibility of sharing your vision. All this blogger talk of how evil RD is on a scale of 1>10 is just a stupid distraction and total guess work , because none of us really know.
I don't like the network concept or the way the club is being run. But it is Mr Roland's money and he is under no obligation to consider his customers. Fans can rant but he won't change his business plan or his isolation.
And why should he? Is the trust going to donate a couple of million for a new striker? The crux of the fan problem is brand loyalty. So shout and scream - the traditional method - or go compare the market.
don't forget the club losing 500k a month which rd has taken on so any potential new owner will have to fund that loss
Why should he change anon? Maybe because even Roly won't find it appealing to see us in league one with 8000 fans a game and making double his current operating loss? That's where we're heading. We don't need to kiss his arse.. There are plenty of wealthy owners who run clubs with respect for their fans and we are entitled to want one. Roly will be dead in 20 years or so, Charlton will not. There will always be a next owner.. They aren't that rare.
exactly we are now debt free and very attractive proposition for any future owner
To all intents and purposes this meeting won't change a thing. I would like to know, like most, RD's thinking and not supposition based on putting two and two together to make five. However why not put the anger into more positivity whilst the team are playing and only venting feelings at the final whistle. If we did happen to win then most of the negativity would disappear, at the beginning of the season RD'S name was barely mentioned and Katrien was seen in a far more generous light. Not sure which mythical Charlton some want back because there are many times that we definitely should not revisit. Most are probably thinking of some heady times in the noughties when an end of season slump was the most of our worries.
Success to the fans means moving upwards. Not sure what RD sees as success. And the lack of communication is fuelling the discontent. Why does a successful businessman invest in a football club he has no interest in and won't fund properly? Can't work it out myself.
When RD took over a lot of supporters were rightly concerned about the quality of the players that were being brought in from the network. Therefore they have perceived that network quality and experience (with a few exceptions) in both players and managers as being a major problem. But now when you look at recent recruitment from outside of it, it also appears to be just as erratic and wayward. If there is no alternative i.e. different ownership. The only hope is someone with Championship knowledge leading the club, but RD shows no signs of appreciating this yet.
Curbs nailed this one when recommending a role for a Director of Football. But I think the anti-Curbs brigade just thought he was fishing for a job. Personally I think he was not that bothered and he was just trying to help out with a bit of guidance. But who's going to listen, no one. So be it, it is what it is.
Ere are the last anon I agree with all wot your sayin, I really wanted Curbs back n all even if the Board agreed for im to elp ahrt Guy e'd get the defence all sor'ed ahrt.
To all intents and purposes this meeting won't change a thing. I would like to know, like most, RD's thinking and not supposition based on putting two and two together to make five. However why not put the anger into more positivity whilst the team are playing and only venting feelings at the final whistle. If we did happen to win then most of the negativity would disappear, at the beginning of the season RD'S name was barely mentioned and Katrien was seen in a far more generous light. Not sure which mythical Charlton some want back because there are many times that we definitely should not revisit. Most are probably thinking of some heady times in the noughties when an end of season slump was the most of our worries.
Well said I agree with all wot your sayin on ere. Wot days to people want to go back to, Curbs n Powell were the best but remember Pards, Reed n Dowie, nah thanks. I really like the new Board meself, there wasn't anyone else who was serious abahrt runnin ourn at the time anyway the American geezer wasn't prepared to fund it either.
What is important is NOT bringing Curbs back, but what he was advising or saying. Which was, "Get a (bloody) Director of Football in with knowledge of the Championship". Anyone who can do the job!
RD has no love of football and boy does it show.
I have supported and loved Charlton for nearly 60 years now and only once have I thought seriously about giving up. That was when it was being rumoured that Slater/Jimenez were going to bring in Dennis Wise as manager. That would have been wrong. RD and his people have not done anything that I regard as morally wrong and, therefore, out of character with the club and its reputation; they have just made mistakes, mistakes which have cost me and countless others lots of heartache and cost RD lots of money. I don't like the apparent lack of respect for supporters and their views and I don't like the fact that another man can control such an important part of my life without any reference to me. However, his £20m + investment, together with his ability to bear seemingly growing losses, regrettably gives him the right to manage the club's affairs as he pleases. We are still in the early stages of his ownership and, perhaps when we look back in a couple of years, we might wonder what all the fuss was about. Perhaps RD and his team will learn from their mistakes; perhaps not and he will move on. I fear that, other than withdraw our support from the team that we all love, we can really do very little at the moment and why would we do that?
Quote from Football Rumours?
08 Feb 2015 21:31:21
Charlton Athletic,
Will be approached by a Lebanese business man
In regards to a buy out,
Also Chinese business women/developer also showing interest,
Meetings regarding one of the above held in Manchester on Thursday 5/02/15
100% fact.
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