Roll up, roll up, it's the Charlton circus

[blade1889]

Seems a bit odd after a couple of good early signings you made. What happened?

 

[Bobbin']

Seems a bit odd after a couple of good early signings you made. What happened?

Not odd at all unfortunately.

It's typical of those in charge, they do something to make it appear they have changed/learnt from previous mistakes/listened to fans but soon revert back to their old ways because they are so insistent that it's the right way despite being wrong time and time again.

Our now ex-goalkeeper Stephen Henderson posted this on Twitter yesterday evening too, interesting if you read between the lines of that second paragraph.

 

[Bobbin']

Just when I think this club can't get any worse, we're already offering free tickets for the first home game of the season as we've sold hardly any tickets and they can't even get the date right

 

[Lamby]

You're pathetic.

 

[Bobbin']

You're pathetic.

Why's that? For expecting a professional football club to at least get the date right when trying to advertise a game?

Come on fella, you're not the sharpest - I get that but surely even you can't still defend these clowns 'running' the club.

 

[Bobbin']

Here's another one for you.

Local Journo tweets last weekend that we're looking to bring in 5 players this weekend, Friday night and no signings.

Someone tweets journo asking what the score is with the 5 signings and he replies 'they're off now so I don't know'

5 blokes we had apparently lined up and all 5 deals are dead

Why exactly are people backing us to get promoted? We're going to be lucky to stay up.

 

[PuB]

Get back down to your natural level

 

[Bobbin']

https://sports.vice.com/en_uk/artic...to-50-years-explain-why-they-wont-be-renewing

Good article, the three bottom paragraphs sum up everything that is wrong with our club perfectly.

 

[Millwall_Matt]

To be honest Bobbin, whilst clearly your club board has demonstrated a level of incompetence in recent years in terms of sanctioning player purchases/sales, appointing poor managers and ultimately being responsible for a relegation, I imagine its a story that the majority of clubs in this division could also claim to have experienced. I'd argue that we suffered as bad a series of mismanagement decisions in the appointment of Lomas and then Holloway, alongside the spunking of huge sums of money on elderly crap players (12k a week for the broken Nicky Bailey), at the same time as closing our academy and ultimately relegating us. Luckily our Chairman had some credit in the bank having previously appointed Jackett and delivered some success.

It doesn't take a lot to put right these things in this division. A decent manager (which you now have), a reasonable squad (which GK aside you look to have) and a bit of stability and things will improve quickly and considerably. Fan demonstrations will ultimately only undermine the footballing side far more effectively than removing an unpopular chairman (look at Blackpool). As far as 'languishing' in league one is concerned, Charlton aren't an unusually big club to be in this league. Southampton, Leeds, Forest, Norwich and others are all far bigger and have spent time in this division. All of those (bar Forest) have since experienced the premier league, so a drop into this level can give a club the bouncebackability (© Iain Dowie) leading to significant success.


Just my 2 penny'worth looking in from the outside. So stop moaning!

 

[Bobbin']

To be honest Bobbin, whilst clearly your club board has demonstrated a level of incompetence in recent years in terms of sanctioning player purchases/sales, appointing poor managers and ultimately being responsible for a relegation, I imagine its a story that the majority of clubs in this division could also claim to have experienced. I'd argue that we suffered as bad a series of mismanagement decisions in the appointment of Lomas and then Holloway, alongside the spunking of huge sums of money on elderly crap players (12k a week for the broken Nicky Bailey), at the same time as closing our academy and ultimately relegating us. Luckily our Chairman had some credit in the bank having previously appointed Jackett and delivered some success.

It doesn't take a lot to put right these things in this division. A decent manager (which you now have), a reasonable squad (which GK aside you look to have) and a bit of stability and things will improve quickly and considerably. Fan demonstrations will ultimately only undermine the footballing side far more effectively than removing an unpopular chairman (look at Blackpool). As far as 'languishing' in league one is concerned, Charlton aren't an unusually big club to be in this league. Southampton, Leeds, Forest, Norwich and others are all far bigger and have spent time in this division. All of those (bar Forest) have since experienced the premier league, so a drop into this level can give a club the bouncebackability (© Iain Dowie) leading to significant success.


Just my 2 penny'worth looking in from the outside. So stop moaning!

Appreciate everything you have said, but it does show a slight lack of understanding on what is happening at the club, which I would expect, this is part of the reason of why I started this thread in the first place.

This is so much more than just a case of mismanagement that can be easily rectified. This is a case of a football club being used as some rich old fool's play thing as part of a network and who's sole aim appears to be to strip the club of any and all assets just to make a quick buck. Fans have been lied to consistently, the same mistakes have been continuously made despite us being told they have been learnt from. Our CEO has been proven to have lied on several occasions and is currently being threatened with legal action by ex-chief executive Peter Varney for doing just that. The fact she is even CEO is laughable, she is nothing more than the lawyer daughter of a friend of the owner.

The fans have been treated with complete contempt, been accused of being thugs and for wanting the club to fail.

There is so much I could go into but I'd be here for days, the links on the opening post give a slightly clearer picture.

You refer to our squad, wrong again. We have signed 3 players, around triple that have left, we barely have a squad of first team players, no recognised goalkeeper and no sign of any incomings with 6 days until the season starts. Russell Slade said last week that the team is miles away from being able to compete, that is frankly unacceptable, we've know we'll be in League One since April.

Relegation isn't the issue, I'm not sure why people seem to think Charlton fans have this opinion that we are too big to be in League One, not one fan I know has suggested that. We were here only 4 years ago, a lot of the older fans have know us to play in the third division for most of their lives. I think we can take issue from an owner who is estimated to be worth €800m who walks into the club throwing these plans around about making it to the Premier League and then to be relegated to League One only two years later. €800m, £4m in outgoing transfers and yet Slade also said last week that we had to let two trialists go because we needed to look at finances.

I really can't emphasise enough the damage that is being caused by the Belgians, I can only hope that further posts in here and hopefully more media attention will open people's eyes.

 

[Lamby]

It will open peoples eyes to seeing what actual fuckwits you are trying to disrupt and abandon games.

 

[Bobbin']

It will open peoples eyes to seeing what actual fuckwits you are trying to disrupt and abandon games.

You have never offered a counter-argument. Why are you defending them?

 

[SkyBlueElephant]

I wish we had problems like Charltons

 

[Lamby]

You have never offered a counter-argument. Why are you defending them?

What use is protesting going to be? It's not done anything before and won't achieve anything now. Most people are seemingly using their hatred of Roland as a military operation of sorts.

 

[Bobbin']

What use is protesting going to be? It's not done anything before and won't achieve anything now. Most people are seemingly using their hatred of Roland as a military operation of sorts.

That's it?

Your counter-argument, that is seriously it?

 

[Lamby]

That's it?

Your counter-argument, that is seriously it?

I offered you one before but you didn't take any notice of it so why should I bother again?

 

[Bobbin']

I offered you one before but you didn't take any notice of it so why should I bother again?

The one where you said 'who else is going to buy the club? Just get on with it'?

 

[ccfctommy]

This sounds eerily similar to Coventry.

 

[Millwall_Matt]

Appreciate everything you have said, but it does show a slight lack of understanding on what is happening at the club, which I would expect, this is part of the reason of why I started this thread in the first place.

Fair enough, I'm by no means an expert but its hardly unusual for supporters to see the best/worse in any given situation because football is highly emotive. Looking at Charlton as a neutral it really doesn't seem all that bad.

This is so much more than just a case of mismanagement that can be easily rectified.
.

Is it really? How much damage has actually been done, aside from 1 demotion? Club still exists, decent ground, despite your later comment a decent league one squad. If the board resigned tomorrow would the club really not recover?

This is a case of a football club being used as some rich old fool's play thing as part of a network and who's sole aim appears to be to strip the club of any and all assets just to make a quick buck.

True of almost every club in English football today. Foreign owners are never going to be in it 'for the good of the game'.

Fans have been lied to consistently, the same mistakes have been continuously made despite us being told they have been learnt from. Our CEO has been proven to have lied on several occasions and is currently being threatened with legal action by ex-chief executive Peter Varney for doing just that. The fact she is even CEO is laughable, she is nothing more than the lawyer daughter of a friend of the owner.

Again, board members that failed to deliver on promises. Hardly unique to Charlton or even that unusual. Coventry, Blackpool etc have boards that have genuinely fucked over their clubs.

The fans have been treated with complete contempt, been accused of being thugs and for wanting the club to fail.

As a Millwall fan I complete agree. Charlton fans are complete animals and should be banned.

You refer to our squad, wrong again. We have signed 3 players, around triple that have left, we barely have a squad of first team players, no recognised goalkeeper and no sign of any incomings with 6 days until the season starts. Russell Slade said last week that the team is miles away from being able to compete, that is frankly unacceptable, we've know we'll be in League One since April.

Goalkeeper is an issue but otherwise:
Chris Solly
Roger Johnson
Alou Diarra
Johnnie Jackson
Ricky Holmes
Callum Harriott
Andrew Crofts
Lee Novak
Ajose

All are decent league one players and several have played at a better level. Add a few journeymen to that side and its good enough for top 6.

Relegation isn't the issue, I'm not sure why people seem to think Charlton fans have this opinion that we are too big to be in League One, not one fan I know has suggested that. We were here only 4 years ago, a lot of the older fans have know us to play in the third division for most of their lives. I think we can take issue from an owner who is estimated to be worth €800m who walks into the club throwing these plans around about making it to the Premier League and then to be relegated to League One only two years later. €800m, £4m in outgoing transfers and yet Slade also said last week that we had to let two trialists go because we needed to look at finances.

Again, we had Peter De-Savary with his 5 year plan to get us into Europe not that long ago. Most teams at this level will have similar anecdotes. Signings like Ajose, Novak and Holmes suggest that money isn't that tight.

I really can't emphasise enough the damage that is being caused by the Belgians, I can only hope that further posts in here and hopefully more media attention will open people's eyes.

Again, dispassionately it looks like your board a useless and haven't done you any favours. I can understand you wanting them out, but I don't see them as being close to on a par with the worst of their contemporaries.

 

[Bobbin']

Fair enough if you don't see it as being that bad, but it really is.

There is so much more to it that probably can't be fully expressed over the Internet but there is a reason why thousands of fans are protesting weekly and why around 7,000 fans have not renewed their season tickets and why members of staff have left their positions (not just playing staff) we have even had members of the comms team who have resigned and have immediately spilt the beans on the disgraceful handling of the club and have since joined in with protests etc. That isn't normal.

You are right about money not being tight, it isn't but you have a problem when the owner just won't spend it, we have only spent fees on Holmes and Ajose. Instead we have managers who are having medicocre cast-offs from within the network thrust upon them. We have got progressively worse since the Belgians have taken over and that is showing no signs of halting.

Again, I appreciate you can't see what the problem is from the outside but it is calamity after calamity. Just because we're not in league 2 yet or because we haven't had to leave The Valley this time, doesn't mean everything is rosy. This lot are just as bad as the Venky's et al.

 

[SkyBlueElephant]

This sounds eerily similar to Coventry.

They have a lot further to sink before they reach level Coventry

 

[Bobbin']

Don't normally do this sort of thing but would hugely appreciate anyone that could sign or share this.

https://www.change.org/p/david-gill-remove-charlton-athletic-ceo-katrien-meire-from-the-fa-council

Our CEO, who has no understanding of football, no understanding of the relationship fans have with their clubs has outrageously been elected to represent the football league as a member of the FA council. It's surely clear to anyone that she is far from suitable for this role. Appreciate any extra exposure this gets.

 

[JJH]

Done, and shared on Twitter.

Despise her sour face and her constant lies.

 

[Fedora Dale]

Signed.

We're good enough to finish above Charlton anyway, without them being handicapped by idiot owners. And the mess they've made at The Valley should disqualify them from a national position.

She's actually probably less trustworthy than the Milky Bar Kid at Bury...

:giphy:

 

[MagpieBee]

I do think that they've done a terrible job, and you should be rightly annoyed and angry, but I've got to disagree with a few of your comments.

You mention you are annoyed at not being able to sign a few free agents because finances are tight, however that's absolutely no surprise when you've sold 7k fewer season tickets this year. That's a huge amount of income lost for the club, on top of everything else you lose going into League 1. It's absolutely no surprise finances are tight.

Your comment on Roland being worth €800m yet not putting in more of his money to cover new losses that aren't neccessary is part of what has gone really wrong with football the past 10 years or so. Expecting owners to completely squander their own wealth on getting a club success means many decent owners can't compete any more, and it floods the leagues with owners who don't care and just have more money than sense. It's bad for football, and it's a terrible attitude for fans to have.

If your owner does put lots of investment in, great! Be grateful. It's seems like Duchalet did at the start (Gudmundson, Vetokele), but it's completely reasonable for him to refuse to do so again now given it was totally ineffectual last time. I would be very surprised if your owners have made any money from owning Charlton.

As others have said, many many clubs have much worse problems, and the fans still get behind the team and try to help out.

 

[Bobbin']

I do think that they've done a terrible job, and you should be rightly annoyed and angry, but I've got to disagree with a few of your comments.

You mention you are annoyed at not being able to sign a few free agents because finances are tight, however that's absolutely no surprise when you've sold 7k fewer season tickets this year. That's a huge amount of income lost for the club, on top of everything else you lose going into League 1. It's absolutely no surprise finances are tight.

Your comment on Roland being worth €800m yet not putting in more of his money to cover new losses that aren't neccessary is part of what has gone really wrong with football the past 10 years or so. Expecting owners to completely squander their own wealth on getting a club success means many decent owners can't compete any more, and it floods the leagues with owners who don't care and just have more money than sense. It's bad for football, and it's a terrible attitude for fans to have.

If your owner does put lots of investment in, great! Be grateful. It's seems like Duchalet did at the start (Gudmundson, Vetokele), but it's completely reasonable for him to refuse to do so again now given it was totally ineffectual last time. I would be very surprised if your owners have made any money from owning Charlton.

As others have said, many many clubs have much worse problems, and the fans still get behind the team and try to help out.

1. There is no-way that the losses on season ticket sales outweigh the sales of the likes of Joe Gomez, Gudmundsson, Cousins, Pope, Henderson. 16 players have left the club this summer, 16 sets of wages gone. The fact we couldn't offer Lewis Buxton a couple of grand a month is bollocks. Not forgetting the fact our illustrious CEO claimed we have a 'top six budget'.

2. He has spent fees on players in the past, yes. Not players the managers actually wanted though. Gudmundsson worked out, the rest were pretty useless, most of our incomings had just been passed around his network though, no fees and wages he was already paying.

If Money is that right, he should be looking firmly at Katrien Meire, her negotiations for outgoing deals have been shambolic. It's probably now a good time to mention that yesterday, on a day when Barnsley get a hefty bit of cash from the sale of John Stones that it came to light that Dale Stephens - a man deemed not good enough by the Belgians is subject to a £7mil bid from Burnley and that Ms. Meire negotiated no sell-on clause. Huge round of applause for that. Probably one of the most basic clauses in modern day football.

Finally, regardless of what people think of our situation. No-one can ever question the loyalty of Charlton fans, ever. No set of fans have ever done what we have for our club when creating The Valley Party to compete for a seat on the council to get our home back and never will. I don't understand these comments about clubs being in worse states than us. Yes, true some are at the moment. So what are we supposed to do, wait until we get into that state before doing anything? Bollocks. We've been there before and don't intend to do so again.


Over a 1,000 fans went to Bury, we're behind the team.

 

[Bobbin']

Done, and shared on Twitter.

Despise her sour face and her constant lies.

Signed.

We're good enough to finish above Charlton anyway, without them being handicapped by idiot owners. And the mess they've made at The Valley should disqualify them from a national position.

She's actually probably less trustworthy than the Milky Bar Kid at Bury...

:giphy:

Cheers gents.

No matter your opinion of the situation at Charlton, the fact this woman has caused mass protests, boycotts of season tickets and made some rather interesting comments about football fans it should be quite clear to anyone that this person is not suitable to be representing the interests of 72 football league clubs.

 

[Millwall_Matt]

Cheers gents.

No matter your opinion of the situation at Charlton, the fact this woman has caused mass protests, boycotts of season tickets and made some rather interesting comments about football fans it should be quite clear to anyone that this person is not suitable to be representing the interests of 72 football league clubs.

I don't know Bobbin, I'd say she's doing a fairly sterling job of representing our interests at the moment...

 

[Bobbin']

I don't know Bobbin, I'd say she's doing a fairly sterling job of representing our interests at the moment...

 

[EricSabin]

Unbelievable