Valley and Sparrows Lane lease extended to 2040
A little bit out of the blue this today.
The club announced the extension of the club’s lease of The Valley and Sparrows Lane through to June 2040.
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Oct 7
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When the samba rhythm starts to play🎵. Still singing.
I’ve been staring at the picture of next season’s Championship clubs. A little foreboding, a lot exciting. Other than Wrexham, we have played regularly against the others since I started watching Charlton in the mid 70’s. In fact Portsmouth (116 times), Middlesbrough, Blackburn and Derby are all among the teams we have played the most in our history.
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Methven deal off
Thomas Sandgaard said today that the sale of the football club to Charlie Methven and his consortium is off.
Sandgaard’s reasoning is that there were “some very specific terms that were very clear at the end of January and coming into February that they didn’t comply with.”
Methven’s group say that a price was always agreed at £8.5million for a 90 per cent stake in the football club and that a deposit (£850,000) was paid and banks funded. It is not thought that the EFL had yet given it’s approval.
In a nest of liars, who to believe?
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An upgrade in optimism
After seeing some of the good work going on at Sparrows Lane I decided to leave off picking on Thomas Sandgaard for a while. The investment the owner along with Valley Gold has made at Sparrows Lane is transformational. The new buildings and great improvement to the infrastructure at the training ground is impressive, even more so knowing that the land and the facility is owned by Roland Duchatelet.
The new environment can’t help but to bring fresh optimism, culture and ambition when Ben Garner meets his players for the first time in person next week.
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Knowing math, and knowing football
This Blog has often questioned Thomas Sandgaard’s grasp of football club ownership. It’s never questioned his intentions, his enthusiasm nor his business acumen. I would also say too much communication is far better than none at all. Thomas meet Roland.
If you listened to Zynex’s recent investor call (I did as I am a shareholder, which so far hasn’t proven to be one of my most astute investments), then Thomas can come across as a driven single minded head of a company and entrepreneur.
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Sandgaard laughs off Bassini threats
That man of the people Laurence Bassini has threatened to wind Charlton Athletic up unless he is paid the £1.7m he thinks he is owed by the football club after he ‘helped’ bring in ESI to rescue the club from Roland Duchâtelet.
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One year on
A year ago yesterday Thomas Sandgaard rode into SE7 like a knight in shining armor with a guitar slung over his shoulder.
It has been a difficult first year for Sandgaard, but I for one would not forego difficult for non-existent, because that is where we were heading under a series of crooks and chancers that followed the negligence of Roland Duchatelet.
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Thanks for the memories Lee
A sad day.
Lee Bowyer gave me one of the best days of my life. 90 +4. Wembley Stadium. Me, my son, my brother, my mates, 39,000 joyous fellow Addicks. Thank you Lee.
This time may well be right for everyone, and although I cringed whenever fellow fans were calling for his head, today’s resignation with a move to Birmingham City expected allows everyone to shake hands turn around, and walk away with a big smile on their faces.
Pompey game called off. Now on Tuesday
It’s poured all week in London town, and about an hour before kick off the officials called our game against Portsmouth off, the first game called off for weather since Roland Duchatelet refused to repair the pitch drainage.
Thomas Sandgaard week one
The dark clouds lifted in SE7, the sky cleared and in walked Thomas Sandgaard. Guitar, sunglasses and all.
It was still the dead of night in Castle Rock, Colorado but a man slept in his bed knowing that the next day he would be the owner of Charlton Athletic Football Club.
It was no dream, Sandgaard had finally closed the deal after getting EFL approval and OADT sign off. With no shortage of help from top law firm Freshfields Druckhaus Deringer, the Dane had navigated the shark infested waters of ESI and claimed ownership of our historic club.
Barclay and Varney drop out
The Andrew Barclay and Peter Varney takeover of Charlton was always destined to fail. Too good to be true. A progressive young empathetic businessman with plenty of family money combined with, well, simply one of us. Not only an Addick, but a proven leader. I’ve had dreams not as good as that.
Richard Murray has poisoned Roland Duchatelet’s mind towards Peter Varney about absolute claptrap. But the snake Murray got into the Belgian’s head and he was never prepared to speak to Varney or Barclay. Add to that as Barclay said himself, the risks of doing business with ESI are also too great, then today the pair decided to drop out of their bid to buy the club.
Dave Jones the next blood sucker to appear at the pyre
As surprised as Chris Farnell was when those Addicks stormed his office in Hale on Friday, were those Addicks who saw David Jones sat with Farnell plotting his future role in their phony organization.
Rich Cawley now reports that Farnell and Elliott want ex-Cardiff and Sheffield Wednesday manager Dave Jones to be head of the football side of the club with Gallen and Bowyer reporting to him.
Duchatelet due survival bonus
One of the long list of items to be resolved before Huw Jenkins, or any other potential buyer for that matter, wants before buying the club, also includes a £1.5m ‘bonus’ ESI promised to pay Roland Duchatelet if we stay up.
Journalist Alan Nixon, who broke the Jenkins story, had been hinted at other unknown liabilities the last couple of days and today dropped the story. You can read it here.
Circus
Lyle Taylor has never been one to hide his true feelings. Rightly he stepped away from social media after taking himself a little too seriously, although he couldn’t resist the odd barb, which has kept us amused during lockdown like the photo above of his namesake’s Range Rover dealership just after Matt Southall and his partner had their cars impounded.
Taylor is extremely likeable, articulate, grounded and an all round good bloke. Matt Southall is neither of those things.
Our very own TV series
Another week. Another week of isolation, and another week of Tahnoon Nimer keeping his hands firmly in his pocket.
Staff got paid at Charlton this week, thankfully, but that money again came out of the current account leftover from the days of Duchatelet and whatever funds have been given to the club by the EFL.
The players have deferred their salaries by 25% to help the continual financing of the club, and non-playing staff were furloughed. Although those operating the website and social media platforms carry on working in earnest. That your Excellency, an oxymoron if ever I saw one, is what you call commitment and responsibility.
The fight to save our club
Maybe I’ve been locked up indoors too long, but I think the first person I may hug after all this is over is Simon Jordan.
In event times the ex-Palace owner and chairman has stood up for Charlton and it’s supporters more than Richard Murray has done for years. The world has changed, a lot, but who would have thought that in 2006?
Nimer also looking to cash in
The Evening Standard is reporting that they have sources claiming that Tahnoon Nimer is trying to sell Charlton for as much as £4,000,000. Quite a mark up on the £1 ESI acquired it from Roland Duchatelet.
After on Monday telling fans that he’d “never let us down and that he was ready to inject money and support it,” he’s apparently looking to cash it in without doing anything as far as I can, including still convincing the EFL that he has the funds and credible sourcing.
ESI takeover in shreds as Tahnoon Nimer pulls out
Chaos reigns again tonight after HE Tahnoon Nimer announced on social media to fans that he is pulling out of his Charlton investment. He has blamed Matt Southall and the senior management, which is really only Southall and Jonathan Heller of repatriating money for their own good. The voice note is something else. Listen here.
Later on the OS, Southall issued a statement saying that a letter was received today from Tahnoon Nimer which is in the hands of his lawyers for whom he will discuss what actions to take. Threats have been made to other members of the club’s senior management, about what who knows as East Street Investments morphs into a school playground squabble.
The supposed majority owner of Charlton was pictured outside Dinamo Bucharest on Saturday whilst we were losing to Middlesbrough.
ESI training ground plans
Released on Charlton Life by permission from ESI. Link to drawings and plans here.
These plans originated in the Duchatelet era but despite plenty of promising words feet were dragged, plans were changed and an infamous trench were dug, but the Sparrows Lane redevelopment became mothballed.
Matt Southall first impressions
Matt Southall had already shown more compassion and humility in a few weeks than Roland Duchatelet did in 6 years. He was clearly humbled by the welcome he got when he first walked into fans at the Sheffield Wednesday game.
Southall has done his Addicks research, but he is soon finding out that he has only scratched the surface of what a power house of joint forces of boardroom, coaching staff, players and fans can make.
Proud after the fight ends
On countless occasions I have been proud to stand amongst Addicks but I am in awe of the tireless and selfless work of those at CARD, as well as other groups that led the fight against Roland Duchatelet’s dictatorship.
ROT, WAR and particularly the B20, who really got under Duchatelet’s skin in his own back yard, have all downed weapons and declared peace.
Add to that the many benevolent supporters who backed the efforts either financially or with their time, it was incredible to see Addicks again mobilized into action to protect our little piece of heritage in London SE7.
Finally. Good riddance
Good riddance to old fruit loop rubbish. 6 years to the day that Roland Duchatelet added Charlton to his football club collection, we are rid of the old scroat after the EFL finally ratified East Street Investments purchase for a sum guessed to be in the £50m range.
After the narcissist ownership of Tony Jimenez and Michael Slater backed by the secretive and shall we say complicated assets of Kevin Cash, we were very glad then to see a new owner with fresh ideas take the club on in January 2014. Especially after Cash cut Jimenez’s credit card up and for the longest time the club survived on a shoestring.
Happy New Year
It’s hard to even fathom that 20 years ago today we were at work unsure as to whether the computers would even come back on after we came back from the new Millennia celebration. Millennials can look up that near calamity here.
2019 has flown by, work has been the busiest I have known it since I’ve been in Bermuda, the results have been bloody good though, but absolutely exhausting and it didn’t surprise me to just be told I have almost 4 weeks holiday left for the year.
My predilection for travelling has thus taken a backward seat this year, for which I’m very disappointed with myself. Good news though is that after years of attempting to renovate a house in Sarasota, Florida, which has veered from the tortuous to the exorbitant, it may finally become liveable so that is an exciting development and will be a home from home.
Half-term report
The first half of the season ticked off then, well plus one. How nice it is being back in The Championship, and when I look at the struggle to get up that Pompey and Sunderland are having this season, it makes me even more thankful for Patrick Bauer’s 94th minute goal.
Relegation favourites, our budget the lowest. We started the season on fire, unknown to everybody, scared of no one, surprising all and sundry including ourselves, and we quickly added points to the board. Then we lost a whole team to injury, naturally teams countered our style, defensive errors cost us points, and we lost some confidence, but significantly we have stayed in games, and vitally won on Boxing Day as we began the second half of the season.
Mr Grinch
Rich Cawley was full of joys of the season this morning as he announced that both Jonny Williams and Sam Field have suffered setbacks in their returns from injury.
Both were expected to be on the bench on Saturday at Loftus Road, but Williams has tweaked his hamstring and Field likewise his knee during a full training session at West Brom, his last one before he was to drive back down to SE7. Happy bloody Christmas.
Liar Meire charged
It looks as if the lying, the incompetence, and sheer spitefulness has finally caught up with Katrien Meire.
Our ex-CEO left a similar role at Sheffield Wednesday in February, and is now back in Belgium as COO at Club Brugge, but her past is catching up with her and yesterday she was charged with misconduct by the EFL alongside Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri and CFO John Redgate.
Sheikh it up baby
Still necking the espresso’s.
After what seems like a lifetime we have our Charlton back. Roland Duchatelet’s ownership has sucked the life of Addicks fans, had burdened us with debt, made us a footballing laughing stock, and has ridiculed men, women and children who have our little football club in their blood.
No Black Friday as Duchatelet sells
I’m on my 4th expresso, but I’m still rubbing my eyes at the statement on the club website.
“We are proud and delighted to announce East Street Investments have agreed the purchase of Charlton Athletic Football Club.”
Duchatelet now wants £60m
Let’s premise this that it’s The Sun, not always a purveyor of the truth. Although writer Alan Nixon does appear to be well connected. Nixon tells a story today that Duchatelet is now asking £60m for the club. (SIXTY MILLION POUNDS).
That’s an increase from £40m a year ago, and £34m the year before. Once in an online rant the old bugger said he’d sell it for a quid, now that price appears to be £59,999,999 more! We maybe a division nearer the promised land, but the assets other than the unchanged stadium and training ground consist of a management team on short term contracts, loan players, youngsters and only nine players with contracts that extend beyond this season.
New training ground plans
According to local Eltham based community magazine SEnine, Charlton have submitted new proposals for Sparrows Lane training ground improvements. Scaled down from those previously submitted, which literally lay in the dirt, the new plans still include a purpose-built indoor facility and a two storey pavilion to house state-of-the-art training equipment and accommodation.
The Steve Gallen interview
There’s been many people associated with Charlton Athletic over the years that I’ve admired and had many reasons to be thankful for, whether they are players, managers, coaches, owners or fans. Steve Gallen is the latest.
The 45-minute interview with Steve on Valley Pass is insightful and absorbing as he talks about a whole range of subjects from his childhood through to being appointed a Director of the club recently.
Nurse….
Oh look. A new pronouncement from our leader.
The old bugger escaped from his ward again this afternoon and managed to crank open the charge nurse’s typewriter.
No…. not a well done message to Lee Bowyer for our very encouraging start, or to the noisy Addicks in the big crowd on Saturday. Or to explain how he supported the manager in the transfer window, even though it meant selling another Premier League star of the future. Not even a pat on his own back by telling the story of turning down Brentford’s seven offers for Lyle Taylor.
Beram Kayal late through the door
The 5th and final loan happened way after the 5 o’clock deadline tonight when Brighton’s experienced Israeli international Beram Kayal signed up for the season.
Kayal is thought off very fondly down on the south coast, and it was pleasing to see so many good wishes from Seagulls fans towards both the player and us.
The Israeli moved from Celtic to Brighton in 2015 and made 122 appearances, including 37 in the Premier League during the last two seasons. He brings ability and much needed experience, and he sounds every bit a Bowyer player.
Oh no, not Taylor
Sick to my stomach. That is how I felt this morning when I woke up and saw all the Lyle Taylor transfer stuff online. Even ratified by journo sage Rich Cawley.
Brentford are flush and in the market for a striker after selling Neil Maupay to Brighton for £20m, and Middlesbrough, well they can’t believe how easy it is to take sweets from a senile old football club murderer.
The lying rat. Djiksteel sold
Anfernee Djiksteel will complete his move to Middlesbrough on Tuesday just a few days after Roland Duchatelet said he wasn’t for sale, That wasn’t true of course as Boro just had to meet Roly’s price, which was £2m. Djiksteel is being paid peanuts, Duchatelet offers a few more peanuts, but would rather liquidize the asset, and Boro offer the 22-year old £10k a week. As Lee Bowyer knew last week, that is the end of that.
Ready or not
Ready or not, here we go. Back in The Championship, back after that wonderful Sunday at the end of May when we celebrated a goal like nothing before. It still gives me goosebumps.
Yes, we’ve had a another summer of player turnover, and potential ruination thanks to our short-sighted and arrogant owner. Our hero Lee Bowyer publicly rejected by him, Jacko and Marshall to follow suit. Only the calmness and loyalty of Bowyer preventing total Addick meltdown.
Did we miss out on Walker and McNulty?
The pre-season friendlies continued last night at Colchester as the Addicks came from behind to win 2-1.
It was another good run out for players such as Forster-Caskey, Oshilaja, and Williams before a whole lot of changes were made at the half and on the hour. Brendan Wiredu came on in the final minutes and scored the winner, his 4th in 4 games. The midfielder seemingly being given more of a wide forward role by Bowyer in pre-season, and the 19-year old has done himself no harm and with numbers short, he can expect to be knocking on the first team squad door, just as Albie Morgan did at the start of last season.
Aribo picks Rangers
I am sure Steven Gerrard had a huge influence on Joe Aribo’s decision to move to the Scottish Premier League with Rangers. If Lee Bowyer improved Joe, then Gerrard will take him to the next level as a footballer, and an athlete.
Yet, it is hard not to shake your head by this move. Short term, okay. Playing under Gerrard, getting regular games, challenging for trophies (again), throw in a bit of Europa Cup. But, the SPL has been as graveyard for many young players, and old, and what happens when Gerrard leaves, or Aribo outgrows that team? Is the SPL the stepping stone, the evolution of a player ready for a move to the EPL?
Only at Charlton – Bow signs
And now we got Lee Bowyer, we’re f’kin dynamite.
Glorious news. “Charlton Athletic are delighted to confirm that Addicks’ boss Lee Bowyer has agreed a contract extension with the club.” (more)
What a difference a day makes, or really an evening. Lee Bowyer and Duchatelet agreeing to a deal last night just hours after the owner once again went into one of his mental rants airing the clubs dirty laundry in public.
In the fact the two stories sit side by side on the official website. It really is bonkers.
What happens today?
Roland Duchatelet has typed or dictated some scatterbrained old tosh in the past, but yesterday’s beats the lot.
As always blaming everybody and everything other than himself. The man has no shame. Dragging into public consumption details of salaries and negotiations is utterly disgusting. He trashes other clubs and their owners because as we know only Roland has the plan for a sustainable and successful football club.
Duchatelet has dealt with agents broadly since he and Katrien Meire were in charge of the club. We had the third highest agent fees in League One in 2018 and in two seasons RD lined agents pockets to the tune of over £1m. So why the dig at Lee having a representative? The poor bloke has had to deal with Duchatelet’s representative Lievan de Turck for ages. Conflict of interests my arse.
Bowyer to leave
Heartbroken.
Roland Duchatelet slathers the cream on top of a disastrous short-sighted reign as our owner. I don’t know if I can hate that man any more.
A post obviously written by the old bastard himself or an advisor is on the Official Site has just told devastated Charlton fans everywhere that he has been unable to reach agreement with Lee Bowyer and his will leave the club.
Let’s hope sense prevails
Roland Duchatelet is many things but sensible is not one adjective that springs to mind.
Some way, some how Lee Bowyer and his management team cobbled together a group of players, improved them, gave them belief and not only got them promoted but also managed to superglue players and fans back together. After many seasons of depressing dislocation, last season culminating with that Sunday three weeks ago, when almost 40,000 Addicks rocked Wembley Stadium, those men gave us memories for a lifetime.
More hopes ready to kill us
Is this the week Roland Duchatelet clears his football clubs from his wardrobe?
Today Duchatelet sold his Spanish club AD Alcorcón to Crystal Palace’s American investor David Blitzer and Ivan Bravo of the Aspire Academy of Qatar group. The deal is said to be worth between €12 million (£10.6 million) and €14 million (£12.4 million).
In January 2014 Duchatelet bought Charlton and AD Alcorcón just a couple of weeks apart, which may be a good omen because this afternoon it broke in Wales that current Cardiff City chairman Mehmet Dalman maybe close to buying the Addicks.
Bowyer contract talks continue next week
I’ve hardly removed my Charlton pants for washing and already Twitter is alive with rumours of who’s joining and leaving. As Bow said success breeds teams trying to steal your players and manager. I’m paraphrasing of course, but if the Belgium twit doesn’t get his finger out then I going to go over there and daub his building with my sharpie myself.
The internet is suggesting all sorts of clubs that want to talk to Bowyer, but according to the Rat and the more reliable source of Rich Cawley, Bow will continue his discussions with the owner over a new contract next week.
Just staggering
I took today of work mostly to look after my daughter who wasn’t well enough to go to school, but it also did me a proper favour as my voice was shot and I am absolutely knackered. That was quite the weekend.
Today the club made a decision to split the Jimmy Seed Stand for the 2nd leg and make available 1,000 tickets to Addicks. These went on sale at 5pm. By midnight 850 of those had been sold. The rest will surely go first thing and over 24,000 Addicks will back Bowyer’s men on Friday night.
Wtf {…}
Another message from Roland Duchatelet.
“I would also like to pass on my congratulations Norwich City and to Chris Wilder and Sheffield United on their respective promotions to the Premier League.”
Honestly, how does the old fart’s brain work? Not one mention of Lee Bowyer in his latest OS missive, but clearly wants to remind us that he almost nearly signed up Chris Wilder as our manager. No mention of the fact that Wilder told Duchatelet to stick it and he then went and hired Russell Slade instead.
And that worked out well.
Fakeover update
There was a Fans Forum meeting last week. Lievan de Turck (LdT) was again in SE7 full of apologies and shrugs.
This time though Ben Hayes from Bromley Addicks led a much stronger range of questioning of Duchatelet’s puppet and there was some interesting ripostes. CL notes from here and CAFC here.
And that’s the thanks
“Charlton supporters have been crucial this season and have played a huge role in helping Lee Bowyer’s team to secure some vital – and often dramatic – points..” (more)
So what do the club do? They put the season ticket prices up.
“Some areas of The Valley have seen price increases for 2019/20 due to a number of reasons, which include increases in inflation and minimum wage.”
Looking more closely at the detail it looks as if all “areas” have seen price increases of up to 5%. The prices will go up again on May 6th, before the play-off semi-finals!
Text message
The communication machine is well and truly in motion among Roland Duchatelet’s power cracker management elite. Not quite a trans-channel telegraph but a text message, sent to Lee Bowyer last night telling him that he will probably get an offer of some kind from the owner next week.
Outwardly at least, Bowyer looks as if not much bothers him and rightly is putting results and performances over and above waiting for a text message “from someone who works for the owner.” Bowyer also reminds those concerned that Johnnie Jackson and Andy Marshall and he come as a team. All three of those gentlemen’s work will not have gone unnoticed by others.
Fresh takeover bid
According to The Standard.
A former banker with experience of top level football has made a £30million bid to Roland Duchatelet to buy the club including The Valley and Sparrows Lane. Proof of funds have been supplied and the bid is lodged and sources say this proposition is much more substantial than the Australian consortium and all the other bids that Lievan de Turck has talked about.
John Thomas
After being ambushed by puppet and puppeteer last week, the fans forum had another crack at getting together last night (Monday). This time Steve Gallen joined to answer questions on transfer strategy and contract renewals. Things close to Addicks hearts after a tough end of January when Karlan Grant was sold and Lee Bowyer wasn’t allowed to replace him.
The meeting notes are here.
Another wow moment
As sure as night follows day, you prod the old yellow-teethed loon and sure enough he reacts. On Tuesday after his property was daubed with graffiti he called into TalkSport and after getting put back in his box by Simon Jordan, he yesterday reverted back to his favourite tool of one-way communication and wrote another mind-boggling statement himself on the club’s website.
Well, well. Thank you Simon Jordan
Whoever it was that sprayed naughties on the wall of Roland Duchatelet’s property in Stayen, Belgium rattled the old codger. Not for the first time Roland reacted instantly and called into Jim White’s TalkSport programme yesterday and once again came across as a complete buffoon. I will repeat myself for the thousandth time. How this idiot made any money from business is a complete mystery.
Duchatelet‘s most reprehensible act?
Roland Duchatelet has made some shameful decisions in his time as Charlton owner, but selling our top scorer, and pocketing the £2m, then offloading high wage earners Nicky Ajose and Billy Clarke and allowing just a short term signing of a 28-year old journeyman from Gillingham in the last 72 hours of the transfer window might top the lot.
As our promotion rivals all around us invested heavily we slunked into the background like someone uninvited to the party. If Bowyer and Jackson keep us in contention, Lennie Lawrence’s crown of adversity will have been well and truly topped.
Grant sold to Huddersfield
For an undisclosed fee. Roundly expected to have been £2m.
It was Bob Peeters who gave Karlan Grant, or Karlan Ahearne Grant as he was known then, his league debut at just 17-years old. He was nowhere near ready. The following season Guy Luzon and the infamous Karel Fraeye also threw him into the fold as the club staggered from one debacle to the next, eventually we were relegated as all matter of soft toys would rain down onto The Valley on a regular basis.
Grant was played in wrong positions, was horribly mismanaged, was sent out on loan, and bounced between youth football and the bench as other young strikers were loaned in ahead of him and all the while every time he looked up he had a new manager to talk to. Yes, Grant has been at Charlton since he was 12, but does he owe us anything?
Rat poison
Like a few other things in a busy last few weeks I missed that the EFL have extended an invitation to CARD to discuss the present and future of the club. This follows EFL’s meeting with Duchatelet, club staff and CAST in recent months.
Duchatelet ranted again on Friday ringing into his mate at Sky Sports, Jim White suggesting, as Lee Bowyer also did last week, that the sale may be completed in Januzzzzzzzz.
Basically all our fault then
Huh.
Roland Duchatelet’s interview today with Jim White on talkSPORT started rather sedentary, but by the end of it will have had the vast majority of Charlton fan’s blood boiling.
The man is an out and liar and a grade one delusional fool. If you haven’t listened then click the link but make sure the cat is outside and you are close to a strong drink.
Productive meeting
The Charlton Athletic Supporters Trust (CAST) had what they said was a productive meeting with the EFL on Wednesday night. CEO of the EFL Shaun Harvey (photo) plus John Nagle, who has the title Head of Policy and PR head Mark Rowan met the Trust board, and the key points are here.
Harvey admitted that he had met with Roland Duchatelet in Brussels, and plans to meet CAFC staff, who have spoken out about not getting paid their bonuses and with CARD.
Addicks and Blackpool fans join forces
Charlton and our friends from Blackpool joined forces today to protest against not just our irresponsible owners, but the many others, outside the EFL offices in west London today. Meanwhile northern based Addicks and a large contingent of Blackpool fans gathered outside the EFL HQ in Preston and loudly made their presence known.
The protests were heavily picked up by the national media as well as Sky Sports and a large crowd made their feelings loud and clear. Two Addicks got to meet EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey, and after, one of them Alan Davis, said that Harvey confirmed the delay in the ‘Australian takeover’ is not as a result of any lack of process of documentation at the EFL. This the reason that Duchatelet, de Turck and Murray have all publicly stated as the reason any takeover has not yet happened.
Fawaz Al-Hasawi
When my Dad convinced me that watching Andy Nelson’s 1974 Charlton was like watching Rinus Michels 1974 Netherlands team, I knew I was in for life of disappointment.
With the Aussies seemingly back on the boat down under, captured on camera today being shown around The Valley by Duchatelet’s latest bag man, Lievan de Turck was ex-Nottingham Forest owner Fawaz Al Hasawi and his right hand man Hassan Saef, basically what Meire was to Duchatelet. The photo on Twitter taken by Saef got deleted as Addicks fans went into meltdown and Forest fans scared the living day lights out of us.
{…} Strikes again
Dear Tom, I am sure you are a bright fellow. Ambitious, resourceful and proud. But tomorrow morning take a long good look at yourself in the mirror.
Tuesday, and Lievan de Turck, a Roland apologist with no affiliation or official connection to Charlton whatsoever, rocks up to SE7 with a scrappy piece of paper handwritten in Flemish. Ollie Groome makes a quick back exit for the Valley Cafe. Tom does what he is told. Mel Baroni doesn’t even show Charlton on her resume, take a note Tom, and not one of these {…}.
Read it. What an earth does it say? It’s an embarrassment.
Bowyer made permanent
Roland Duchatelet did the right thing today and made Lee Bowyer permanent first-team manager. Well deserved Lee.
The statement says a few things, possibly. There is a chance that the EFL told RD the club needs some stability and a permanent manager would be a start, but on recent history I’d be surprised that the EFL would be that demanding. It may tell us that the Aussie bid is dead, or not. It is only a 9 month contract after all, and I don’t think the two things are related. Finally it appears Richard Murray still has a tongue.
