What the Belgian did in Belgium

A different look at Roland's depredations by focusing on what he did at Standard Liege: Duchatelet as Standard Liege owner

Roland is a shrewd businessman and he has probably not walked away from The Valley empty handed. The article notes, 'Duchatelet sold Standard in 2015 for around €30m, making a small loss, but he is thought to have made plenty of financial gains over his time there, paying himself a hearty executive’s salary replete with bonus and dividends payments, including a €10m divestment to Standard shareholders (himself, mainly) shortly before selling the club.'

Analyst Thomas Driesen did not like the contents of the piece, describing it on social media as a bull**** article.

Standard Liege sold

Roland Duchatelet has sold Standard Liege to the club's vice-president Bruno Venanzi who is also the owner of Lampiris, an energy supply company based on green tariffs: Sale

83 per cent of Standard supporters who have voted so far in an online poll have welcomed the news: Au revoir

Roland Duchatelet reaffirmed his interest in football according to Belgian outlet L'Avernir who quoted him saying: 'I will stay in football. But not Belgian football.'

The most optimistic reading of this would be that he could see the financial potential in enabling Charlton to become a Premiership side.

Mother ship to be sold?

Reports are circulating in Belgium that Roland is planning to sell Standard Liege to Russian investors. There will be a press conference later this morning: Standard Liege

Standard Liege has also been the lynchpin of the network, but Roland is a businessman and would not turn down a good offer. It appears, however, that he is no longer asking for €70 million.

Quite what the implications for Charlton might be are uncertain. It could release further funds for investment with Charlton becoming the new mother ship. Or Charlton could be sold and the network gradually dismantled.

Peeters for mother ship?

Rioting fans forced the abandonment of Standard Liege's match at the weekend and tried to reach Roland in his box. The club is now just above the relegation zone.

The Belgian press is speculating that Bob Peeters may now be asked to return to the mother ship, but this does not seem like an immediate or very realistic prospect: Bob Peeters

Roland is travelling to England today and is expected to be at tomorrow night's match against Bolton, but this trip has been planned for some time.

Bob Peeters has subsequently ruled out any move to the mother ship: Staying in SE7

The advantages of the feeder club model

I thought that the following post by a fan on the Glynne Jones list was worth a wider airing, although arguably it is a little too optimistic about how the feeder club model might work out at Charlton:

'Manchester United and Chelsea both use Belgian clubs as training clubs. If we are to be a proving ground for SL players this is not a lot different. There is no reason why the feeder system should not operate both ways.

'I do not think that the concept of being a proving ground is necessarily an indication that things will take a turn for the worse. If SL prosper, as we have to hope they will in the circumstances, it is likely to result in their attracting ever better young players that will be loaned to us for development.

'The Belgian teams working with MU and Chelsea are stronger for the loans and it is perfectly conceivable that within a short period we will also be receiving quality players on loan to work with our own home-grown talent. The chance to have a strong squad with little need to buy in has a lot of attraction to me and the owner's idea of running without loss becomes perfectly realistic.

'The only downside is that the best players will always be cherry-picked during transfer windows, but I see nothing in this scenario to prevent us becoming a decent Premiership club once the system starts to work as every cherry-picked player will be replaced by a decent replacement in the ideal scenario.

'Part of that scenario requires the management of feeder clubs to give playing time to youngsters that have been sent over for development. The rumours suggest that Powell was not prepared to be told who should be playing, but although that goes to his credit for his principles it does suggest a certain failure to recognise the reality of the motive behind the takeover and when has had a chance to reflect it may be that he may feel he could have handled it better.

'If the owner has a bought a club as part of a plan he is entitled to require that the manager, as an employee, buy into that plan. If that means that he be required to accommodate certain players then so be it.I am sure there will be disagreement but I do not see that the owner is totally in the wrong here.'

Sheffield derby called off

That's what I call a celebration

Hamer came back in goal for the Addicks tonight, while Fox started in front of a crowd of 24,607, perhaps 1,500 of them Addickted. The Wednesday fans needed their ticket stubs for the anticipated Sheffield derby. Charlton won an early corner. Wilson set up Astrix, but his shot was over hit. Llera was giving attention to Church. A handball by Llera was ignored by referee Clattenburg. With a better angle a cross from Cousins could have set up Church.

Fox was playing his part in clearances. Wednesday seemed to be hoofing the ball a lot, particularly through Llera. Wilson provided good defending. Wood had to usher the ball back to Hamer, giving the home fans their first moment of excitement. Charlton came very close to scoring. Astrix’s first shot was blocked by Llera and his second was deflected for a corner. Charlton continued to ask the questions.

Wood tackled well to deny Best. Wednesday continued to offer long and high balls. A good ball in evaded Harriott. Michael Morrison dealt well with a ball pumped forward. Church won a corner for Charlton under pressure. The Addicks won another corner, taken this time by Jackson. Cousins put a cross in as the Owls appealed for a foul, a shot from Astrix was blocked and Harriott slammed the ball into the right-hand corner to make it 1-0 to Charlton in the 21st minute.

Church put in a snap shot from the edge of the area with the home side at sixes and sevens. Wilson dealt with an Owls attack well, stopping Maghoma from threatening. The home crowd were getting restive. Wednesday got the ball, but gave it away to Wilson.

A foul on Church was ignored by Clattenburg. Hamer was seeing a lot of the ball as it came over the top. There was a long pause in the game for an injury to an Owl.

Ben Hamer had to make a good save diving to his left. A Wednesday free kick ended in one for Charlton. Best put in a quick fire shot which went straight to Hamer but enlivened the home crowd.

Poyet put in a poor ball back and Hamer had to react quickly. Wednesday won their first corner in the 44th minute. Hamer flapped a little and it was panic stations until the ball was cleared. Three minutes were added on and the Owls continued to apply pressure. Charlton won a free kick to ease the pressure. Wilson went down, but managed to get up, but then had to go off for treatment. Llera clattered in to Church and took him out, but Clattenburg missed it when it should have been a yellow at least. Johnnie Jackson and other Charlton players spoke to the referee as the teams went off.

Half time: Owls 0, Addicks 1

Cousins cleared as the ball pinged around in the penalty area. Poyet was pushed over and Clattenburg waved it away. An effort by Jackson which was hit low and hard was close as Martinez scrambled across.

Wednesday were applying more pressure as they attempted to get back into the game. They equalised through Leon Best on 55 minutes, a long ball into the box and a header down. The atmosphere in the ground became electric with the home fans singing a song for the first time. The Owls made a double substitution.

Jackson had to complete a clearance after Hamer was unable to do so. Charlton applied a little pressure. Clattenburg booked Best for dissent. Llera clattered Church again, got a yellow card and Charlton won a free kick. Church got on the end of the Jackson free kick with his head to make it 2-1 to Charlton.

Morrison had to head the ball out for the second Wednesday corner of the game on 71 minutes and Hamer saved on the touchline and Wood was down injured. He got up, but was struggling.

Wilson defended well by sticking to his man. Harriott went down, but recovered. Church came off. Lawrie Wilson defended superbly to stop a run. Hamer made a superb save and the offside flag went up.

Wood got a yellow card which could have been red. The free kick led to a corner on 89 minutes but Llera put it over the bar. Wood came off and was replaced by Dervitte. Wednesday fans started to leave for the exit. Five minutes were added on. Charlton launched an attack and won a free kick 35 yards out. Hughes came on and Astrix went off to be congratulated by Chris Powell.

Hamer had to make a great save from a ball that took a deflection. There was chaos in the box after the corner. Charlton won a free kick. The whistle blew and the Addicks were one step closer to Wembley, although the Blades will be no pushover.

I see that Radio 5 referred to our result as 'elsewhere'. But a message of congratulation from Standard Liège is appreciated: 'Félicitations a l'équipe de Charlton qui s'rest qualifée ce soir pour le quarts de finale de la FA Cup.' Merci beaucoup. Allez les rouges!

Hopefully we will get a chance to play them in a pre-season friendly. I did think of going over myself, but my French is not good enough, plus my accent (which is a mixture of Bruxellois and Quebecker) might arouse the suspicions of the locals who might think I was Flemish rather than English.

Mother ship may be sold

Roland may be about to sell Standard Liege, thus giving reassurance to fans who were worried about the financial security of the club: Mother Ship (Sorry about the overload of ads on this site). En Francais ici: Takeover

The offer is believed to be €50 million with the funds already available in the Rothschild Bank. However, Roland is holding out for €60m. The club should qualify for the Champions League next season as they are ten points clear at the top of the Pro League and unbeaten in fifteen games.

The money from any sale would then be available to invest in Charlton, hopefully!

What Roland might do

The message boards have been full of arguments for and against retaining Chris Powell as manager over the weekend. I want to leave these rather repetitive discussions to one side and speculate about what Roland Duchâtelet might do. I would emphasise that this is pure speculation as I have no particular inside knowledge about the new regime. However, more information about Roland is coming out and I probably have some understanding of Belgium having spent short stints working there. Despite its scruffiness and impossible politics, I have a real affection for the country. Brussels is a more liveable city than Paris.

Roland is a man who likes change, as is true of many successful businessman. They achieve success in part by challenging the existing paradigms. This was true of Roland when he was a student rebel; when he was building up his businesses; when he made his failed venture into politics when he tried to think outside the box (particularly difficult in Belgium); and now on his mission to change football. In many ways that looks like a mission impossible, but one can be sure that every attempt will be made from the mother ship in Liège.

Roland strikes me as a nice and sensible person and I think that his local representative, Katrien Meire, is smart, sophisticated and cosmopolitan. However, as a businessman, he is not sentimental and able to take tough decisions. He is, in some respects, a man in a hurry. I do not think he would be blasé about Charlton being relegated, but he is not a fan, and he has sensibly covered himself to the tune of £4m if the worst happens.

My hunch is that he is still assessing Chris Powell, but will probably let his contract run out in the summer. Roland likes to base decisions on statistics and he knows that replacing a manager often only brings short run gains. Replacements should not be made in a panic taking whoever turns up with a DVD, but after thinking through the strategic needs of the club and researching those who are available, rather than taking anyone willing to move a few miles north. With a foreign owner there would be a symmetry in having a foreign manager, preferably one whose first language is French, as that will increasingly be the language of many of the players. However, a French speaker operating at managerial level normally has a decent command of English: Roland's English is ten times better than my French, albeit that I have a Belgian accent.

Such a manager would probably introduce a different style of play, a patient game of possession football based on counter attack rather like that of Gus Poyet when he was at Brighton. English fans tend to prefer a style of all out attack and have difficulty in understanding why the smart move is often to play the ball sideways or backwards, which helps to explain England's problems at international level.

Whether Charlton will be successful under Roland's stewardship, remains to be seen but I don't think it will be boring.

For anyone who hasn't heard, tomorrow night's FA Cup match against Arsenal has been postponed. Apart from the state of the pitch, Arsene Wenger couldn't face another big defeat.