Well, well, well….
“Charlton Athletic can confirm that following discussions with Northampton Town manager Chris Wilder and his assistant Alan Knill over the vacant managerial role at The Valley, the club has been unable to reach an agreement.” (more)
The Chris Wilder timeline:
Two weeks ago: Chris Wilder is recommended to Roland Duchatelet. Jose Riga’s fate is sealed long before he “resigned.” Privately Roland Duchatelet has said he will bankroll a quick return to The Championship to preserve his investment and will listen to appeals to bring in a British manager and players to make a concerted push for promotion.
One week ago: Chris Wilder is flown out on a private jet to met Roland Duchatelet in Belgium. A vastly superior salary to what he is getting at Northampton was agreed, as was length of contract and the addition of assistant Alan Knill. Duchatelet was impressed with Wilder and an official approach was made to Northampton Town. Meanwhile Wilder does a lot of calling around to get the inside scoop on Charlton’s problem’s that are being played out under the national spotlight. Charlton end their season with another defeat marred by further disruption and chaos.
Monday: Compensation is agreed with Northampton and both clubs in unison announce that the parties will meet to discuss a move on their official websites.
Yesterday: Wilder and Knill meet Katrien Meire for the first time. Her job is to seal the deal and the lawyer will finalize the small print. Wilder refuses to sign a contract unless he is allowed total control over team selection and player signings. He also wants input into the appointment of a chief scout and a potential director of football if he is to be titled as head coach and not team manager. No agreement is found.
Today: Further discussions between Meire and Wilder are fruitless as Duchatelet refuses to accept Wilder’s demands for control in writing. A verbal agreement from Meire is not enough and the club announce that the deal is off.
What an embarrassment and once again the PR at the club is laughable. Why have all that play out in public? The whole football world will know why Wilder and Knill did not move and it certainly wasn’t money or a late interest from Sheffield United.
Duchatelet and Meire are a cancer and they are killing our club a day at a time.
Chicago Addick 
that last sentence is so apt CA. I really liked the sound of this bloke, and given what he was asking for I like him even more. for him a wise decision to look elsewhere. I’m hoping this is another nail in Rat’s coffin and tips him over the edge in to selling.
Pembury Addick
Best of luck to Wilder and Knill they clearly deserve much better prospects than CAFC can offer whilst the current regime is still in place. Duchatelet has trashed this great club and is totally incapable of making any sort of progress. The sooner he goes the better it will be for all who care not just about Charlton but the welfare of football in general. He should be banned from pursuing any further interest in other football clubs and hounded out by those that he still has his poisonous hands on.
Let’s get him out now, he hasn’t got a clue
I’m sick to the teeth with the way the regime is going about their business. It is clear as day there was never to slightest of chances that Chris Wilder and Knill was going to be appointed by these Stooges. The whole idea that he is looking for an English manager is as likely as a man on Mars. He once again is pulling the wool over our eyes with the CEO bringing to the table another program that was already printed which outlined all the club is prepared to offer which made reading it not at all comprehensive with many demands lost in translation. We are again heading for the same scenario and in the driving seat a inadequate coach with the title intrim.
oh bollocks we are well and truly in the pooh pooh
What manager in their right mind would want to put their reputation on the line at Duchatelet Pathetic FC where he likes to rule the roost from afar with an electric prod. It’s HIS way or the highway, so here’s a suggestion Roland baby, why don’t you get your sorry arse down to The Valley {….} huh instead of getting some other unlucky barsteward to do your dirty work in the dug-out !! #simples{…….}huh
Feel really sorry for you guys hope you get rid of the cancer in your club soon NTFC Loyal
Thanks Billy. I hope you get to keep Wilder. Seems like a honourable fella.
Billy, Duchatelet is an expert at creating havoc at his football clubs and it is extremely regrettable that his mayhem has now affected Northampton Town to the point where it might be unfeasible for Wilder to continue there. I hope not.
Team selection is clear, but I struggle to see how a manager can expect total control over player signings.
NYA – you have made these comments before and you are of course right. In my job I can hire and fire who I want AS LONG AS I can justify the decision, convince senior leaders that it is the right thing for the business, it won’t get us sued, and I stay within a pre-agreed budget.
Our friend Mr Murray gave Iain Dowie carte blanche to do what he wanted. Look at the results of that.
No manager or head coach should have complete authority over transfers, and I don’t think that is what Wilder wanted. But they should have a say, a recommendation, their own strategy of a successful recruitment programme, be part of the decision making process and understand budget constraints. After all head coach, team manager, whatever, are solely responsible for results and performances on the pitch. Without any influence on who is sold, bought, loaned, then they haven’t a hope in hell. They are a puppet.
And I also also imagine that Wilder was very keen a to avoid a situation where players just arrive at the training ground unannounced. I would imagine that Wilder had a very interesting chat with Sir Chris and had a list of things that he did not want to happen. I would so love to have been a fly on the wall in KMs office when Wilder told her, “thanks, but no thanks.”
There is a vast sliding scale between the current, largely shambolic, management of player recruitment and movement out of the club and the demand by a potential new manager for complete control over these matters. It would appear that Wilder demanded a seismic shift of that scale towards his, and presumably, Knill’s judgement. It is exactly what any worthy potential manager/head coach would have done. There might have been other factors that made him turn down Duchatelet as other interest in him was always going to be likely, but that crucial point of control over player movement in and out along with general issues of trustworthiness will continue to haunt the regime as they search for their man..It is going to be a question of how far a new candidate will toe the line and do as they’re told-back to the network then-‘Fraeye, Peeters, Riga, I’ve forgotten the Israeli’s name! but whoever you are pack your overnight bag join the others and form an orderly queue and wait for the phone call, Your president might need.you.
why not have draw at every home game, and winner gets to manage club for one week cannot be any worse than whats happening now. The previous owners of the club could not have checked Duchatalets credentials before selling to a madman. GHCAFC
Now, that is a proper customer experience. Maybe we could switch benches for sofa’s?
Chris Wilder is exactly the type of man that we desperately need at the Valley – sensible, knowledgeable, a winner, principled and shrewd. Which is exactly why he wouldn’t have fitted in with the regime…
Well, they’ve done their bit – they’ve gone for a British manager and Chris has shown them what to expect …. anyone with half a brain will not come to Charlton unless they can have an input into team selection.
I note your comments New York Addick and it’s as dangerous to have all the power in the hands of the manager as it is to have it in the hands of the owner.
The manager should be able to decide with the owner the structure of his management team and the individuals he wants to work with. Similarly the manager should put forward the players he wants to sign and the owners’ job is to go forward and get them to sign within the purchasing budget and wage structure of the club.
And there lies the problem – with Duchatelet there is no room for compromise … Charlton is HIS club (or so he thinks…) and as we’ve seen it is HIS policy that will rule, regardless of how bad that is.
Now that Duchatelet / Meire have tested the water with trying to bring in a British manager, and unsurprisingly failed miserably, it will be back to the regime or the back-waters of Belgian football for the next incumbent at the Valley – and another relegation year to follow.
The ONLY way forward is for Duchatelet to compromise…. but will he?
If he does there is hope, if he doesn’t our club will be out of the league and possibly out of business within four years.
As for the FA and FL in all of this – the expression “as useful as tits on a fish” comes to mind.
They are there to oversee and run football in the UK and to a certain degree protect clubs from idiots such as Duchatelet/Meire and the similar regimes at Leeds, Blackpool, Cardiff etc.
But they don’t – they see what is going on and do nothing. The “fit and proper persons” rule for owners isn’t worth the paper that its written on.
At least Will Carlings comment about the old farts running the Rugby Union only referred to a collective of about 50 individuals – the FA has nearly 100 of them on their Board… surely a fair number of those ‘old farts’ can see what is going on and bring about the necessary change?
Oh, sorry, of course not – the FA is only interested in the Premier League and sod what goes on below that level….
…and so the fiasco in SE7 goes on unabated.
I gotta an idea !!!!……The Seven Dwarfs and Snow White aren’t busy till Christmas, so give them a ring !!!