Encouraging

Unsubstantiated stories continue to flutter around SE7 of Roland Duchatelet coming to terms with failure for apparently the first time in his life. See, he’s human after all huh?

Following on from the Belgian acknowledging that there are suitors out there with a price of £38m quoted to former defender Paul Elliott. Peter Varney and his backers are known to still be interested in acquiring the club and there is also an American based interest as well.

It has been mentioned before but it now appears apparent that work had been halted at Sparrows Lane. A Category One youth academy is pretty much impossible to acquire in League One and would also be a huge hit to the bottom line. Maybe another scenario that Duchatelet didn’t envision when he was clearly content to accept relegation.

Whilst almost every decision made by the owner since he walked into the door has had a smell of such short-termism about it, the one far reaching long-term action was his desire to achieve academy Cat One status. This would always have been a process, as was the remodel and expansion of Sparrows Lane, so in many ways relegation, at least if there was any ambitions to bounce back, should not stop his plans.

So, this could be looked at in a couple of ways. Most promisingly is that the Belgian is prepared to cut his losses and move on, or more depressingly that Duchatelet will just let us flounder in the lower leagues playing a squad of youth players that he will sell to fund losses at the first sign of another team’s cheque book. Criticized for trying to shove poor quality network players into The Championship, the buffoon may now expect that players from AD Alcoron and Carl Zeiss Jena will fit nicely into a team playing in the same league as the likes of (no disrespect) Port Vale and Fleetwood Town.

However these titbits coming out of the club have to give us some encouragement that Duchatelet maybe prepared to walk away and the protests, combined with the sheer extent of their catastrophic stewardship of the club is coming home to roost.

Over the weekend another senior club official resigned to Ms Meire. Felicity Waller, Head of Commercial has left after just 8 months in the role. When we were relegated to League One last time the club made 14 non-playing and coaching staff redundant. I would struggle to think if there are 14 employees left reporting to Meire these days.

Tonight we expect to be put out of our misery in Lancashire as we play Bolton. It would be just about right that the bottom club beat us and relegate The Addicks for the 9th time in our history.