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Charlton back up for sale - Guardian article comment from Gavin Carter p18
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It will be good to resurrect a take over thread, mostly to take our minds off the thumping we received at the weekend.
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I wonder if the new efl spending rules have contributed to our owners ‘going cold’. We were low down on the list of Championship spenders anyway and the new rules have just exacerbated that position further. Our owners could have looked at this and thought ‘even if we spend to the max we cannot hope to compete for promotion so what’s the point. Let’s cut our losses.’
I’m not sure I’ve ever bought that they were in it for the long term. For a medium size club we were relatively cheap to buy as there are no property assets (ground/training ground) which makes us very attractive to even shorter term investors than football normally attracts. Jones and the players have done a great job in getting us up to the Championship and keeping us there but the lack of ownership of the property is always going to be a significant weakness which comes home to roost every 3 years or so when owners realise there is no fast buck.
The article may be exaggerated somewhat and hopefully Jones has a bit more money to spend to at least give us a chance of being competitive in holding our place in the division. But, no smoke without fire, the warning signs are there - we’ve seen them several times. I’m bracing myself for a very tough ride.1 -
My thoughts exactly. It’s like changing estate agents because you’ve had no offers for six months. Maybe it’s just that no one wants your house.Henry Irving said:Reading Cawley's piece I suspect the club's stance would be that this is the same as before ie they are still looking for additional investment, as they said months ago (remember the "we've got £20m to spend" myth that came from the Athletic story), but the last agency didn't find anyone so they've gone with a new one.
Now, we can choose to believe that or not. We all have varying degrees of PTSD as a result of previous ownerships so I'm not surprised by the reaction to the Guardian story.
Whatever the real story is, the club "declining to comment" has only fuelled the flames and again highlights the need, IMHO, for an on the ground CEO and for the club to get ahead of the narrative.
Not having permanant staff at the top could be read as leaving the decks clear for new owners to appoint their own staff. It may be nothing of the sort and much more mundane recruitment issues but the delay/vacuum invites speculation.
There is also a question as to why the original agency failed and if the new one can do any better? Are we an unattractive deal, is the price too high or does the lack of physical assets put investors off?
Someone pointed out the Bolton owners sold a minority stake in their club this summer but why were they able to make a deal but not, so far at least, us?
Over to you GFP6 -
https://x.com/i/status/2084426381539119537
The not appointed by supporters fan advocates have tweeted the above from Cawley. Could be a very naive post on their part1 -
...Shenanigans all over again...0 -
Some ridiculous comments about the current owners here, as if they were conmen/leaches like Southall or Farnell or crazy like Sandgaard.
They've invested significant sums into what was a L1 club, and is now a Championship club with a WSL women's team. Yes we would all like more money spent, and yes it would be disappointing if they want to sell out, but let's get some perspective about the current regime, and indeed Carter.
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We had one of the bigger budgets in league 1 to get promoted, and then we spent about £10m last season after being promoted. You can definitely argue it wasn’t spent well but the level of backing has been very good up until this summerChippycafc said:NabySarr said:
I think until this summer that criticism is extremely harsh. They’ve backed us very well up until this pointChippycafc said:Not been happy with our owners since they took over. Their lack of real investment on the playing front each window demonstrates this.
Just hope this doesn't unsettle the players. But I think we are in trouble this season.
I don't think so when you look at the clubs around us Preston, Birmingham, Wrexham etc have gone out and got some marquis players, both bought and loaned to improve their status. With the exception of Kelman its been Luton reserves, free transfers and anybody at a loose end.
Yes the pitch looks lovely but quite frankly you never hear a word from them.
How many more times are we going to have chancers as owners. One of the issues in my view of course is the asking price it's like bargain bucket football club that will only attract those that want to deal at that end.
You can’t compare us to Birmingham and Wrexham, or clubs that have been in the championship for a decade. That’s just not realistic and if we tried to match those levels of funding we’d probably end up with points deductions further down the line7 -
It’s all been a bit overnight, knee-jerk reactive to the news so far and a club statement may well rein it in, or not as the case may be, but in the meantime my not ITK view of things might as well make a contribution.
Personally, I think things have happened a bit too fast and it’s caught the owners out, blame Nathan and that lady running the women’s team for the ‘Desmond’ (two, too) early successes, and probably the absence of a CEO.
The owners have been having to run to catch up. What were probably initial and accepted financial costings for success are likely having to be accelerated and updates to the investors are I suspect WTF moments when they regularly drop. Bringing on other investors is the easiest way of soothing that for them but if I can offer one thing to our US ‘cousins’ it is this…Keep calm and carry on 😉4 -
There are a number of examples that prove you to be wrong here though aren't there?Chris_from_Sidcup said:Always baffles me that people (or investors) buy football clubs with the intention to make money.
Unless you take an underperforming Championship team or a league one team to the Premier league and keep them there for 2-3 years then you are not ever making money. And even then the profit is surely negligible as you will have likely lost a lot of money to get to the PL, and then spent most of your tv money on players/wages to keep you there.
A good recent example is Marinakis at Forest. He bought them for 50m, has lost a reported 250m, but they're supposedly worth over 500m now. But Forest are a rarity and even then they almost ended up back in the Championship last season which would've killed the valuation.
Steve Gibson (i know he's a fan and not an investor) has spent close to 400m of his own money on Middlesbrough and they've spent 16 of the last 17 years in the Championship.
Albeit on a different scale admittedly, the owners of liverpool bought the club for circa £300m, and the club is valued in the billions now.
Making money in football can be done, just very difficult and rare1 -
It is likely being conducted at global football partners level, not the club, so unlikely the press team at the club would have any detail or even knowledgeTheFXguy said:
They got an ‘out of offers assistant’ returngolfaddick said:
The article says that they have approached the club for a reply. If the article was wrong & the club was only looking for additional investors then surely they would have said so.Er_Be_Ab_Pl_Wo_Wo_Ch said:@Airman Brown do you think the club could be seeking additional investment, not a sale, and the reporter has come to the wrong conclusion?1 -
My take on the leaking of the documents to the guardian is, we were getting to close to a big signing say Holsgrove, so somebody thought they would disrupt our bid.Oh well it’s just as stupid as some of the other conspiracy theory being put about on this forum 😀😀0
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I had no idea you were a skier.ProperCharlton said:FFS this has ruined my day and I'm about to start work! It's all down hill from here.9 -
I would wait a little while before jumping out the window. Our ownership is an investment group, investment groups typically like to attract additional investment to keep the capital ticking over and the risk diluted. Good chance that’s all this is.8
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This - it’s not really new news, it’s just been picked up and run with by a newspaper to create more headlines.Covered_End_Lad said:I really don’t think this is anything new at all, we have known since late last year they were looking for additional investors (as plenty of clubs actively are) all that has changed is the middle man agency handling that from what I can see.
Don’t think this changes anything in the short term personally.
I’d imagine most clubs are ‘up for sale’ to the right bidder and for the right price. I doubt this changes much with regards to this season. Maybe different if the situation remains the same more longer term.
They are literally trying to capitalise on the perceived success of the WC in the US and draw out anyone with more money than sense who fancies a crack at owning a share in a UK football club.5 -
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Actively seeking buyers and appointing an agency to make it happen is not the same as every club is always up for sale.12
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Is this an official part of the club?JohnnyH2 said:https://x.com/i/status/2084426381539119537
The not appointed by supporters fan advocates have tweeted the above from Cawley. Could be a very naive post on their partSo rather than give a statement they just gone yeah read this…0 -
Without the ground or the training ground we’re unlikely to get anyone worth the time of day to invest.They’re essentially asking people to purchase a name at this point.3
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I doubt the club has had anything to do with this.AberystwythAddick said:
Is this an official part of the club?JohnnyH2 said:https://x.com/i/status/2084426381539119537
The not appointed by supporters fan advocates have tweeted the above from Cawley. Could be a very naive post on their partSo rather than give a statement they just gone yeah read this…2 -
I reckon NJ will be given a serious 'additional incentive' to his contract if he can somehow keep us up again this year?Desmond Oulu said:We would be worth next to fuck all if we got relegated. I'm pretty sure the owners know that too so I think they'll do what they can to keep us up.
Might also mean that the owners gamble on keeping those on expiring contracts (Ramsey, Jones, TC) at the club rather than selling in order to try to make this happen but I can't see them making any serious player investments to do it?
I hope NJ is up for it and he doesn't get any tempting offers to leave.
He will know this is going to be a tough gig and what worries me is the very poor performances in pre-season may give us a hint on his mind set right now?0 -
Mate, cmon. If you genuinely think that the club decided a statement through a non club affiliated twitter account was the best way to deal with comms on this issue, you need to give your head a wobbleAberystwythAddick said:
Is this an official part of the club?JohnnyH2 said:https://x.com/i/status/2084426381539119537
The not appointed by supporters fan advocates have tweeted the above from Cawley. Could be a very naive post on their partSo rather than give a statement they just gone yeah read this…4 -
If it’s just investment that is such a poor article by the Guardian.There is a massive difference between being open to new investment or actively looking to sell. One would help the club grow and the other would lead to a massive downgrade in tools likely leading to relegation2
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Rich made the Substack piece free to read https://www.southlondonsportcharltonathleticedition.com/p/charlton-athletic-exploring-investment6
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That assumes the Oakwell appointment post dates the World Cup, whereas as I’ve suggested the event is the leak not the appointment.Elthamaddick said:
This - it’s not really new news, it’s just been picked up and run with by a newspaper to create more headlines.Covered_End_Lad said:I really don’t think this is anything new at all, we have known since late last year they were looking for additional investors (as plenty of clubs actively are) all that has changed is the middle man agency handling that from what I can see.
Don’t think this changes anything in the short term personally.
I’d imagine most clubs are ‘up for sale’ to the right bidder and for the right price. I doubt this changes much with regards to this season. Maybe different if the situation remains the same more longer term.
They are literally trying to capitalise on the perceived success of the WC in the US and draw out anyone with more money than sense who fancies a crack at owning a share in a UK football club.
i doubt if a sales document for investment looks the same as one for a full sale - the former would set out the structure you would be joining, the latter the potential opportunity you could shape.
Considering three key players at the time of the takeover - Scott, Methven and Warrick - have all been removed by the ownership, I would suggest that points to underperformance against their expectations / requirements.
They are now at a point where they need to commit to pushing forward or bailing out if they can. The risk of destroying what value they have created (by getting relegated) is clear and they have learned that the club is not the business proposition they hoped or were led to believe.
The failure to appoint a proper non-football management structure is indicative in my view. Who is in charge at The Valley? (The matchday ticket prices are a bit mad, in my opinion).
That said we are not dealing with the Spivs, Duchatelet or Sandgaard here. They are not going to run out of money. I don’t think panic or abuse is the right response; it’s a product of people wanting to believe this ownership was more than it ever was.34 -
Possibly because the owners that aren’t billionaires are struggling to fund the losses. Why don’t the billionaires increase their funding, possibly because the multi owner structure doesn’t allow them to, the billionaires might not be the ones really into football and don’t want to increase their ownership percentage. Who knows what the motivation is for owning a football club. Unless I was a billionaire, where money was no object I would go nowhere near owning a club.blackpool72 said:Two of our owners are Billionaires.
If the cost of running Charlton is approximately 15 million per year then that is little more than loose change to them.
So I have no idea why they are so keen to bring in extra investments.
Carter is little more than their mouthpiece and he will come out with whatever he is told too.
I seriously have no idea what our owners are playing at , but I no longer believe they want to be here in the long run no matter what Carter will probably come out with today.0
