If you think about SL they are one of the bigger name clubs in Europe probably one of biggest in Belgium so the fans are used to more success and have probably had other owners splashing the cash in the past. They are used to buying Million plus players so along comes Roland with his mathematical, cautious approach so they clearly are not used to this type of ownership. We on the other hand are fairly used to not much in the way of named players, have been a selling club etc so maybe this guy's approach would be better for us and slowly build from the bottom up which I believe S & J started and let Powell & Hart manage. Good business sense
Also weve seen in the past how Europeans fans like to riot and protest over practically anything... Is this another case of some SL fans throwing their toys out of the pram because they cant have everything from RD
belgium have transformed as a nation some of the talented players they have now is unreal compared to the efficant workman like squads of the past. Eden hazard benteke juansi fellani kompany.. If any of rolands smaller clubs are bringing the next generation through hes bound to pass them on to us. Unlike the inter milan valencia liverpool linkup this has already bared fruit also sending our youngsters the other way will reap rewards playing european football new training styles new systems and styles as aposed to 3 months at torquay on good awful pitches playing hoof and run.
God sake, give the bloke a chance, he's taken over and immediately bolstered our squad.
With all due respect English football is a totally different ball game to Belgian football, and I think RD will know this. I will save my judgement until He's been in control at least a year
I agree that we have to wait & give him time but lets not forget that the "club" approached RD not the other way around, who knows what bullshit they fed him & not all succesful buisnessman are savvy, just look at the chicken farmers at Blackburn.
I wonder if as a result of this takeover, we will now see a big reduction in the high number of 'undisclosed fee' transfers that we as a club experienced during the previous secret squirrel reign...
Some of the conspiracy theories amaze me: 'RD just wants to take over The Valley and charge CAFC to use it'. Well, we, as a club, are in significant debt and lose money each year (meaning that the owner either has to put in more and more money each year or persuade someone to lend ever more) so who, in there right mind, would lend us even more money each year solely for RD to put it on his pocket?
'He will lend us players from his other clubs that are no good' - what would be the good of that??? It is still expensive to move players to different countries for a time.
I, for one, hope that he wants to run things in a sensible, profitable fashion (better that than the opposite) because the only way for him to make a profit is for us to be in a better position when he leaves than when he arrived, probably by being in the Premiership.
As others have said - give the guy a chance!
Agree with this^
From what we know of him he appears to be an intelligent, ambitious, focused and driven man with a fantastic business brain. You don't make the kind of money this bloke has by accident.....and we're not talking a string of shops type success either but fantasy/dream wealth....and look what he's made his money in, `micro electronics'...very technical. Put this together with his political endeavors and we're talking a very serious individual here.
Some people have voiced concerns and have criticized the fact he owns multiple clubs....but i'm thinking it could be a good thing. He clearly has an interest in football and particularly the business side of the sport. With his sort of financial power he could have dived in, taken control of a single bigger/more established club and chucked loads of money at it but that doesn't appear to be his way. He's purchased smaller clubs that he can learn 'the business' through whilst developing/improving them for possible future sales. Standard Liege was him obviously moving up a level and just look at them....currently the best team in their league. He's doing something right! I'm thinking/hoping that we are his latest project, his latest challenge. He's had a good look at us and decided 'yeah, I can do something here' so good luck to him I say. I personally am feeling pretty optimistic about things and lets face facts....it could have been a LOT worse.
If RD has bought Charlton to make a profit, the only way he can do that is to get us in the top half of the premier. If he can do that for a few years, then sells us for a profit, I do not blame him, and cannot complain. Unfortunately I cannot see how he can make profit with the capacity of the Valley. I think I am right in that we will not be able to expand to 40,000, which I would have thought would be the minimum required. I do not know how big we could become, but it would seem ( and I do not want this anymore than others), we will have to get a bigger stadium, on the peninsular or elsewhere. Economic reality!
If RD has bought Charlton to make a profit, the only way he can do that is to get us in the top half of the premier. If he can do that for a few years, then sells us for a profit, I do not blame him, and cannot complain. Unfortunately I cannot see how he can make profit with the capacity of the Valley. I think I am right in that we will not be able to expand to 40,000, which I would have thought would be the minimum required. I do not know how big we could become, but it would seem ( and I do not want this anymore than others), we will have to get a bigger stadium, on the peninsular or elsewhere. Economic reality!
TV revenue is more important than extra seats, especially as the latter are a cost wherever they are provided. For example, 13,000 extra seats sold at £30 net profit (not at all achievable in my view) would generate £390k per match, which if achieved every home game is about £7m extra a year. In practice you'd do very well to generate half that, even with ancillary income. That compares to TV revenue of, what, £50m pa - and it costs probably £50-100m to build the seats too.
I think people should make their own minds up first instead of listening to other clubs fans first
And that's all we can do. I hope I'm wrong ,but I have a feeling Barnie & co will earn their stripes in the foreseeable.
If we get to meet Monsieur Duchatelet that will be one more meeting than we had with Tony Jiminez! The Trust are aware that they need to assess the situation and would ask that fans on here bear in mind one simple truism: When we started talking to the club 11 months ago the Trust had 200 members and 500 subscribers - it took c. 4 weeks to get an email response to a query.
Earlier this week as the Trust network approaches 4,500 contacts with nearly 1,000 members and 1,550 subscribers the Trust received a professional and complete response to a set of questions about the cup within 24 hours.
So I ask as a fan and as a member of the Trust board that you consider signing up. More members mean that the Trust communications carry more weight. We are acutely aware that some feel that the Trust does this or that wrong or approaches someone in the wrong way etc. And we know there is a large minority who won't join. But the Trust has been consistent in its message and methodology and now is the time when it might need to "earn its stripes"
If RD has bought Charlton to make a profit, the only way he can do that is to get us in the top half of the premier. If he can do that for a few years, then sells us for a profit, I do not blame him, and cannot complain. Unfortunately I cannot see how he can make profit with the capacity of the Valley. I think I am right in that we will not be able to expand to 40,000, which I would have thought would be the minimum required. I do not know how big we could become, but it would seem ( and I do not want this anymore than others), we will have to get a bigger stadium, on the peninsular or elsewhere. Economic reality!
Airman is quite right to point out that TV revenue is far bigger component. The only clubs with significant advantage in the Premier League because of capacity are Arsenal and Man Utd - their revenues are far higher than the blue teams at the top. If I recall correctly Charlton had no debts and no significant losses until Curbishley left. Look at it another way Burnley and Blackpool are competing in the Championship with nil debts after just one year in the Premier League. I would suggest that CAFC attains a lot of value simply by winning the play-off final. We can worry about what happens after that but let's enjoy the ride while we can.
Football is now an expensive business, and whether you agree with this or not is of no consequence if you want to continue to support it at our level. You need money and a shrewd business acumen in order to make a club successful at our level and if we want to push on we should welcome RD - warts and all. I say give the guy a chance, we could potentially be a lot worse off when you look at some of the new breed of football entrepreneurs that currently grace? our game.
I don't get it. We ask Belgium fans for their opinion, the opinions aren't pretty, some fans are concerned by this then told not to be negative and give the guy a chance. Makes you wonder what the point in asking the Belgium's in the first place?!
I'm delighted the takeover has gone through, I'll give the guy a chance but I'm not getting too excited just yet.
I don't get it. We ask Belgium fans for their opinion, the opinions aren't pretty, some fans are concerned by this then told not to be negative and give the guy a chance. Makes you wonder what the point in asking the Belgium's in the first place?!
I'm delighted the takeover has gone through, I'll give the guy a chance but I'm not getting too excited just yet.
If RD has bought Charlton to make a profit, the only way he can do that is to get us in the top half of the premier. If he can do that for a few years, then sells us for a profit, I do not blame him, and cannot complain. Unfortunately I cannot see how he can make profit with the capacity of the Valley. I think I am right in that we will not be able to expand to 40,000, which I would have thought would be the minimum required. I do not know how big we could become, but it would seem ( and I do not want this anymore than others), we will have to get a bigger stadium, on the peninsular or elsewhere. Economic reality!
This is not the only way to make a profit though...if he can get Charlton into the play-offs, our club value is (a gamble I know) increased hugely, and if we were then promoted, he could, in theory, sell us that summer for £40 or £50 million and therefore make a very good, double your money, profit in just matter of months (6 or 18).
Hopefully he is here for the long run, and we will get a prolonged period in the top league that will catapult us into a valuation a la Fulham (recently sold for £300 million..) - then he could recoup major wonga!
I see no reason why an intelligent successful businessman would take a random gamble with such slim odds. I think he will have a broader business model than "invest heaviy and hope we win enough football matches to win one of 3 places out of 48".
With the Fifa fair play Financial rules this guy is just what we need to move forward, other teams in the Championship will suffer around us with bigger debts and high wages etc so we will be in a stronger position going forward especially with our youth policies. We now have a good connection with a Champions League outfit so not sure any other Championship club has that? The only problem I see is the property issue and as long as this remains as is then no need to worry. Onwards and upwards
If RD has bought Charlton to make a profit, the only way he can do that is to get us in the top half of the premier. If he can do that for a few years, then sells us for a profit, I do not blame him, and cannot complain. Unfortunately I cannot see how he can make profit with the capacity of the Valley. I think I am right in that we will not be able to expand to 40,000, which I would have thought would be the minimum required. I do not know how big we could become, but it would seem ( and I do not want this anymore than others), we will have to get a bigger stadium, on the peninsular or elsewhere. Economic reality!
If I recall correctly Charlton had no debts and no significant losses until Curbishley left.
There were only 2 seasons when we were in the premiership that we make a profit. They were when we sold Parker and Bent.
I think powell has until the end of jan to prove to the owner hes the man, even then it might not be enough if he loses a few later on in season. But i hope he gets a chance
I think we are all agreed then, he has bought us to make a profit, he can only possibly do that if he funds us to the EPL.
or he assets strips to pay back this investment and makes a mint on renting the Valley back to new owners. Hanson, did this for years, buying undervalued businesses with assets
How is Fulham worth £300m? Genuinely interested in what makes anyone think that.
Imagine you have a spare £300m down the back of the settee - how do you get a return on Fulham? You could sell it on to an even bigger mug if one could ever be found but you aren't going to be able to take millions out of the cash-flow to get a return without putting a large dent in the £300m valuation and having a load of fans on your case.
You could sell any players worth large bucks: but then take what I've said about the large dent and the fans and double it.
or he assets strips to pay back this investment and makes a mint on renting the Valley back to new owners. Hanson, did this for years, buying undervalued businesses with assets
The only assets being The Valley and Sparrows Lane - where would he find new owners to sell to on this basis ?
How is Fulham worth £300m? Genuinely interested in what makes anyone think that.
Imagine you have a spare £300m down the back of the settee - how do you get a return on Fulham? You could sell it on to an even bigger mug if one could ever be found but you aren't going to be able to take millions out of the cash-flow to get a return without putting a large dent in the £300m valuation and having a load of fans on your case.
You could sell any players worth large bucks: but then take what I've said about the large dent and the fans and double it.
i believe Fayad wiped all debt clean before he sold the club. So essentially what they've bought is (if run correctly) a cash cow, in london and in the premier league with no debts. Only issues are the stadium and paying players wages
How is Fulham worth £300m? Genuinely interested in what makes anyone think that.
Imagine you have a spare £300m down the back of the settee - how do you get a return on Fulham? You could sell it on to an even bigger mug if one could ever be found but you aren't going to be able to take millions out of the cash-flow to get a return without putting a large dent in the £300m valuation and having a load of fans on your case.
You could sell any players worth large bucks: but then take what I've said about the large dent and the fans and double it.
i believe Fayad wiped all debt clean before he sold the club. So essentially what they've bought is (if run correctly) a cash cow, in london and in the premier league with no debts. Only issues are the stadium and paying players wages
Comments
From what we know of him he appears to be an intelligent, ambitious, focused and driven man with a fantastic business brain. You don't make the kind of money this bloke has by accident.....and we're not talking a string of shops type success either but fantasy/dream wealth....and look what he's made his money in, `micro electronics'...very technical. Put this together with his political endeavors and we're talking a very serious individual here.
Some people have voiced concerns and have criticized the fact he owns multiple clubs....but i'm thinking it could be a good thing. He clearly has an interest in football and particularly the business side of the sport. With his sort of financial power he could have dived in, taken control of a single bigger/more established club and chucked loads of money at it but that doesn't appear to be his way. He's purchased smaller clubs that he can learn 'the business' through whilst developing/improving them for possible future sales. Standard Liege was him obviously moving up a level and just look at them....currently the best team in their league. He's doing something right!
I'm thinking/hoping that we are his latest project, his latest challenge. He's had a good look at us and decided 'yeah, I can do something here' so good luck to him I say. I personally am feeling pretty optimistic about things and lets face facts....it could have been a LOT worse.
When we started talking to the club 11 months ago the Trust had 200 members and 500 subscribers - it took c. 4 weeks to get an email response to a query.
Earlier this week as the Trust network approaches 4,500 contacts with nearly 1,000 members and 1,550 subscribers the Trust received a professional and complete response to a set of questions about the cup within 24 hours.
So I ask as a fan and as a member of the Trust board that you consider signing up. More members mean that the Trust communications carry more weight. We are acutely aware that some feel that the Trust does this or that wrong or approaches someone in the wrong way etc. And we know there is a large minority who won't join. But the Trust has been consistent in its message and methodology and now is the time when it might need to "earn its stripes"
If I recall correctly Charlton had no debts and no significant losses until Curbishley left.
Look at it another way Burnley and Blackpool are competing in the Championship with nil debts after just one year in the Premier League.
I would suggest that CAFC attains a lot of value simply by winning the play-off final.
We can worry about what happens after that but let's enjoy the ride while we can.
I'm delighted the takeover has gone through, I'll give the guy a chance but I'm not getting too excited just yet.
Hopefully he is here for the long run, and we will get a prolonged period in the top league that will catapult us into a valuation a la Fulham (recently sold for £300 million..) - then he could recoup major wonga!
The only problem I see is the property issue and as long as this remains as is then no need to worry. Onwards and upwards
Imagine you have a spare £300m down the back of the settee - how do you get a return on Fulham? You could sell it on to an even bigger mug if one could ever be found but you aren't going to be able to take millions out of the cash-flow to get a return without putting a large dent in the £300m valuation and having a load of fans on your case.
You could sell any players worth large bucks: but then take what I've said about the large dent and the fans and double it.
or he assets strips to pay back this investment and makes a mint on renting the Valley back to new owners. Hanson, did this for years, buying undervalued businesses with assets
The only assets being The Valley and Sparrows Lane - where would he find new owners to sell to on this basis ?
The main problem is you'd lose half of the ground during the 18 month - two year re-development (East and JS Stands).
And of course, about a spare £50m.