Very good article and nicely balanced. I guess we'll never know what's really been going on behind the scenes and that's a shame. I'm not trying to defend the Owners, but if we knew what had really been going on we might see both good and bad.
It does seem to me that within whatever budgets have been set, money has been spent wisely even if at times the approach has appeared chaotic.
We can perhaps think of the last regime in three main phases. Phase 1 was the rebuild in the Summer of 2011. Not only was money made available, but the execution was faultless. Rarely can an entire playing squad have been as radically, as quickly and as successfully restructured. Much credit for that may belong to PV for all I know, but the fact is that it was funded and approved by TJ et al.
Phase 2 was the summer of 2012. I'm led to believe that a further, albeit less dramatic upgrade of the squad was planned with players lined up and an increase in wage bill of perhaps £3m or more envisaged. As we all know, for some reason it all went pear shaped at that point and it would appear that TJ/MS have been on the back foot and ducking and diving ever since. Clearly, that's not always been a pretty sight.
However, whilst some may view their subsequent behaviour as below that which might have been expected (and I'm not disagreeing), the fact is that, somehow, money was still made available. No players were sold and transfer fees were agreed (if not paid) for Wilson and Button. Ricardo Fuller was signed on what by all accounts was a very lucrative deal and money was made available for loans when required, e.g. Rob Hulse. The squad was strengthened.
The stakes were clearly raised last summer when Phase 3 ushered in a very aggressive reduction of the wage bill of the playing staff, perhaps in the region of £2m plus. However, even then, the very expensive Fuller apart, nobody released would have been a first team regular this season and, indeed, the other contributor last season, Danny Haynes, isn't even guaranteed a start at relegation threatened Notts County. In short, a squad that was too large and considered to be unaffordable has been savagely pruned without materially damaging the quality of the starting eleven, again Fuller apart.
What's my point? Again, I'm not defending the previous Owners. They've been uncommunicative and, allegedly, somewhat brutish in their dealings with Club employees. They started very well, but the wheels came off when the funding model collaped, for whatever reason. However, through the chaos and uncertainty they do appear to have spent the money available to them very wisely. We still have all our best players and if these can now be retained we'll be in good shape with, I would guess, amongst the lowest FFP losses in the Championship.
If Roland Duchatelet spends whatever budget he makes available as wisely we'll be in good shape. We'll have to wait and see I guess. However, and to be a little controversial, its clear to me that he knows a lot less about football than TJ and MS did. Only time will tell whether that matters.
The bottom line is simple really, once Cash pulled out then the game changed completely.
TJ and MS were only ever KCs functionaries and without his cash were totally stuck and could only hope to find a new buyer, they themselves were nobodies as they were not funding it.
As the great American congressman Huey "Doc" Long used to say, "Them that's got the gold makes the rules."
So, people asking questions about the strategy of TJ and MS are barking up the wrong tree, the real question is why KC got involved in the first place and why did he pull out?
There are so many unanswered questions on this, we can only hope that Duchatelet has a more realistic grip on things than KC did with regard to finances.
If Roland Duchatelet has gaps in his knowledge of Championship football then at least we have some insurance in that Richard Murray is staying on board and will have the authority to communicate what he has witnessed of this squad and management over the last three years - after all he has been watching the same games as us -no pressure!
If Roland Duchatelet has gaps in his knowledge of Championship football then at least we have some insurance in that Richard Murray is staying on board and will have the authority to communicate what he has witnessed of this squad and management over the last three years - after all he has been watching the same games as us -no pressure!
I think we have been left in a stronger position albeit I think it started to go pear shaped because they couldnt find the right buyer soon enough. I think also that if they wanted to remain private about the financing and funding in this day and age of "I must know every single fact and figure and I must know now" bully for them...they stuck to there guns right to the end. A lot needed changing at the Valley and they did this as we all know too well....whether you agree with it or not is up to the individual. My view was that things had gone very stale and it needed a shake up...they did this too albeit not to everyones satisfaction least of all those that got the chop, (rightly or wrongly). Back in the day, we wouldnt have gotten to know a fraction of what was happening inside the club, and in many ways I actually prefered it that way...less to speculate about and certainly no 2+2=5 multiplied by 100+ regular posters each with there own formula. All Charlton's dirty washing was aired on a minute by minute basis in the last 5 years and I have to say I didnt enjoy that and that in turn made my visits here mainly to view the non footballing side of the forum. Hopefully at least for the time being that can all be put aside and we can again enjoy the club for its footballing aspects and forget about the politics. I firmly believe you can have too much information, add in specualtion, rumour, discontent etal and suddenly the reason for what brings us here comes into question. Hopefully we can look forward to a period where the football does the talking, I for one sincerely hope so.
I think we have been left in a stronger position albeit I think it started to go pear shaped because they couldnt find the right buyer soon enough. I think also that if they wanted to remain private about the financing and funding in this day and age of "I must know every single fact and figure and I must know now" bully for them...they stuck to there guns right to the end. A lot needed changing at the Valley and they did this as we all know too well....whether you agree with it or not is up to the individual. My view was that things had gone very stale and it needed a shake up...they did this too albeit not to everyones satisfaction least of all those that got the chop, (rightly or wrongly). Back in the day, we wouldnt have gotten to know a fraction of what was happening inside the club, and in many ways I actually prefered it that way...less to speculate about and certainly no 2+2=5 multiplied by 100+ regular posters each with there own formula. All Charlton's dirty washing was aired on a minute by minute basis in the last 5 years and I have to say I didnt enjoy that and that in turn made my visits here mainly to view the non footballing side of the forum. Hopefully at least for the time being that can all be put aside and we can again enjoy the club for its footballing aspects and forget about the politics. I firmly believe you can have too much information, add in specualtion, rumour, discontent etal and suddenly the reason for what brings us here comes into question. Hopefully we can look forward to a period where the football does the talking, I for one sincerely hope so.
Well said Tel. I happen to agree with all of that.
The failure to push on with the momentum of promotion clearly coincided with KC withdrawing funding and they obviously didn't do their due diligence on checking how finances would be in the Championship , I can't believe Tv money was reduced by millions These things can and did happen but it's the behaviour from that point which showed a lack of class from there on in Clearly they pissed SCP about promising him funds right up to late on that summer and they didn't materialise Then the pressure they put staff under and behaviour towards longstanding senior staff lead to many people leaving and court cases that don't look favourable I understood fully they may want their own 'yes' men in but there are ways and means of going about that procedure I'm not fussed about their communication and in years gone by we wouldn't have known about the turmoil but we DO know how they treated staff (and I have spoken to some ) and people behaving like c***s to other humans is not something I can personally pretend didn't happen when those staff members have their own family's and livelihoods to look after But I guess to some it doesn't affect me so it don't matter mentality is their prerogative
Oohaah sometimes mate things aint what they seem, the club was in decline since the premiership years, which includes all them longstanding members of staff who many were recruited in our pomp, something had to give.
I agree in part with you Tel (in hindsight), but I do believe it is wrong to compare different eras because they are exactly that, different eras.
We live in an age of information and it is a two way street. Supporters have the platforms to discuss and speculate that they hadn't before, and in turn clubs have the ability to engage with their fanbase and feed information like never.before. in that era the club would produce a programme every fortnight. Now it does a programme a fortnight, and around five marketing emails a week, 50 web articles, 100 facebook articles and 300 tweets a week.
It is providing a huge amount of information to its fanbase, so it is only natural that that in turn creates more questions, and internet when big ticket items like who actually owns out club are shrouded in mystery.
I'm sure You are right that some of the behind the scenes dirty laundry washing hasn't helped at times, however the scope of change in quite a stable industry during what was only ever going to be a short term reign in either acrimonious disciplinary circumstances or straight forward 'can't take no more' resignations was huge, and natural stirs curiosity. When it is coupled with the other mysterious aspects I can see hoe it fuelled the distrust and speculation, especially when the funding aspect seemed to come to a halt.
However,despite all that change I just feel they could have still done all that no problem had they just gone about the PR aspect in a different light.
I think you have to go back to what TJ and Slater were saying at the time they took us other - namely that Charlton were not sustainable in League One, but would be so in the Championship. If they were telling us that, they surely told Cash that too. Now there were some changes to TV money after we got promoted that would have had an impact, but that assessment seems highly optimistic even so. Cash was then being told the club would need 5-8 million a season and I suppose under those circumstances you can understand why he threw his rattle out of the pram.
We shouldn't forget that TJ and Slater made a lot of right decisions on taking us over and when they came onto the pitch at the end of our record breaking promotion campaign, the applause and reception they got from the fans was heart felt. Without the money TJ had to duck and dive - he would probably claim, if we beat it out of him, that he did what he had to do. But the dodgy business practices and stitching up of good people and club partners rubbed some decent people within up the wrong way and the club was split behind the scenes. It seemed like the owners adopted a you are with us or against us approach and got rid of who they thought were in the latter category. Money was scraped together in our first season back to strengthen. It was probably a bit less than we were hoping for but still allowed us to bring in notably Fuller and Wilson. The club put in a late run and just missed out on a play off place that they would have had a decent chance of winning had they made it.
Prior to this season, TJs plan was still on track, despite the lack of funds, but he and Slater needed a backer, and this wasn't forthcoming. With no money, savings had to be made and an opportunity to build on the previous season was lost. I'm sure this will have frustrated TJ as much as it frustrated us. He could probably smell the success of his venture only to have it taken away when it was so close to fulfillment. When it was clear that the hand to mouth existence was not sustainable for very much longer, a buyer was sought and quite a few people sniffed around. The high price probably put a few off but clearly TJ wanted a return.
WIth the club heading for doom, he sold up for a far lesser amount. Not to a billionaire who wanted a plaything, but a business man who wanted to make money. Much the same scenario as when TJ and Slater came in themselves. I think TJ was visionary to a certain extent, in that he could see a way to make a lot of money from Charlton and his plan was sound. A lot of people seemingly still cant see it, but it is there. Where he fell down was probably because he was a ducker and diver rather than a brilliant business man and for the plan to work, you had to put a significant amount of money in to get the big payday out.
Now he has gone, it will be interesting to see what happens. I was always re-assured by one thing when TJ was at the helm. That was, whatever you thought of him, and for whatever reason, his interests were aligned with ours. When the money ran out, there was no point protesting, we wanted him out and he wanted out! I think the same is true for the new owner - for him to find that croc of gold under the rainbow, that TJ knew was there, he has to make Charlton better and stronger. There isn't another way.
So, TJ has left the club in a better state than he found us - I think it would be churlish to argue otherwise. With the peninsula opportunity, you can see how a Premiership Charlton would really appeal to an owner with big money in the near future. Imagine owning a top club, based in the heart of Europe's financial capital on a truly stunning site. £300m for Fulham, not out of the question for us under those conditions. TJ sniffed it, but ultimately didn't have the money to get there.
Now the Belgian is going to have a crack at the jackpot! It is also a mistake in my opinion to look at the owners other clubs. Charlton offers him a unique and different opportunity to make money.
Oohaah sometimes mate things aint what they seem, the club was in decline since the premiership years, which includes all them longstanding members of staff who many were recruited in our pomp, something had to give.
I understand that and a lot of people had left before the arrival of TJ and co because we'd been out of the prem for 4.5 seasons but the way they went about streamlining us could definitely have been done better
Oohaah sometimes mate things aint what they seem, the club was in decline since the premiership years, which includes all them longstanding members of staff who many were recruited in our pomp, something had to give.
I understand that and a lot of people had left before the arrival of TJ and co because we'd been out of the prem for 4.5 seasons but the way they went about streamlining us could definitely have been done better
Thing is, if you want to blame the staff for the decline - although it was really about the team - the business was not in decline in the summer of 2012. It was recovering and this was because of decisions made by the management that was then removed (Varney/Kavanagh). It is now under performing because of the management that replaced them, issues within it and a structure that doesn't work.
The long-serving and senior staff that have left in recent months haven't gone because of Slater and Jimenez - they've left because the current senior management is inadequate and uses the disciplinary system to bully people. All this has been pointed out to the board, Prothero and more recently Murray, but thus far they haven't been interested. Now management is worried and upset that Dave Archer and Prettee Jayasundera are leaving too, because they've lost too much knowledge from within the business and are less and less able to cope, yet it's no one's fault but their own - or if you like the board for creating this situation in the first place.
There are still a lot of good people on the staff, if generally short of experience, but it needs capable leadership at the top to hold people to account and put a stop to nonsense - in short an experienced full-time chief executive, which may well be someone completely new to the club. I'm not arguing for bringing any individual back, but the idea the set-up has been improved is laughable and everybody close to the situation knows that.
The thing is too many fans want to now too much. Do we really need the trust to be asking questions as to why parts of the ground will be shut when we know a very low crowd is expected
The thing is too many fans want to now too much. Do we really need the trust to be asking questions as to why parts of the ground will be shut when we know a very low crowd is expected
How many clubs staging FA Cup matches will shut two thirds of the home capacity of their ground today? At a guess, none. And if they did most would be asked why.
A major problem for me, as others have said, is the appalling handling of communications with the fan base. We were perhaps exceptional previously in terms of access to the board and the transparency that led to. But pretty much from day one that changed, the links broken, speculation started about ownership/aims/finances, etc. When you have an 'owner' and board clearly wanting to operate in the shadows, coupled with the removal of long standing members of staff then this is only going to lead to distrust and animosity where previously we were all pulling in the same direction.
Hopefully, RD will take a different approach and I'm encouraged that the club has, on day one, finally acknowledged that there is a long term problem with the pitch and we are going to do something about it.
I think TJ was visionary to a certain extent, in that he could see a way to make a lot of money from Charlton and his plan was sound. A lot of people seemingly still cant see it, but it is there. Where he fell down was probably because he was a ducker and diver rather than a brilliant business man and for the plan to work, you had to put a significant amount of money in to get the big payday out.
And
Now the Belgian is going to have a crack at the jackpot! It is also a mistake in my opinion to look at the owners other clubs. Charlton offers him a unique and different opportunity to make money.
@MuttleyCAFC - very good post, but the above is the key point for me - short of getting into the Premier League and/or selling the ground, how does he do that?
There are three promotion spots up for grabs every year - one hinging on the play-offs and the possibility of penalties etc - and with quite a few of our rivals having similarly ambitious owners whose own business plan must ultimately see Premier League football as almost a necessity, it is never going to be straightforward.
Then you have to add in to the mix three relegated teams with a lot of parachute money and the assumption that at least one of them will not have squandered it all on long-term contracts they can't afford, or 'do a Pardew' with what they have left, and at least one of the three spots could be gone.
To their credit in that first summer, the previous owners must have spent big for League One in securing the likes of Kermorgant, Stephens, Wiggins, Green and Hollands on relatively long contracts, and it worked.
The general consensus seems to be that we now need to do the same again to be properly competitive in this division, which could well mean £1 million+ signings - anyone remember them?!
And to make the Peninsula a realistic option, surely we would need to be established in the Premier League?
Hopefully the new man does actually have something resembling the fabled five-year plan, because to achieve anything significant enough to make him a profit before that looks pretty challenging.
Genuine question: Do we know for a fact that Cash was the money man behind the Mysterons?
I ask because when the last lot took over, the massed hoards of forensic-accountants that frequent Charlton Life all quickly reached the conclusion that TJ and MC couldn't have had enough money to buy the club on their own. As quick as you could say quickly 'Les Bourdes', an assumption was reached that because of other business dealings it must be KC - with or without the Sunshine Band. At some point that assumption stopped being noted as tentative. Did I miss some genuine confirmation that we guessed it right, or was the theory just accepted as fact?
Has he ever coughed to it, or have Jimenez or Slater or RM ever said so? Has anyone ever seen him at The Valley or Sparrows Lane or anywhere else connected with the club? Has anyone ever seen any official documentation with his name on it? Has it ever been reported as a fact in the press; not just speculation? Is anyone genuinely ITK that Cash was the man? And if so, was he a solo player or were there other Mysterons who kept under the radar and remain, for the moment at least, unknown?
I think it was all circumstantial Stig. The fact that Michael Slater and Kevin Cash have had dealings over the years. But the loans into Baton came from BVI and so it can never be established how much of the c. £15M originated from Cash and how much from others. There are threads on the shareholdings but many of these were kept below 10% thus avoiding disclosure. theguardian.com/football/2011/jan/07/sepp-blatter-smaller-european-leagues Most of the other links on a google search of Kevin Cash Charlton go to Daily Mail or Charlton Life!
Genuine question: Do we know for a fact that Cash was the money man behind the Mysterons?
I ask because when the last lot took over, the massed hoards of forensic-accountants that frequent Charlton Life all quickly reached the conclusion that TJ and MC couldn't have had enough money to buy the club on their own. As quick as you could say quickly 'Les Bourdes', an assumption was reached that because of other business dealings it must be KC - with or without the Sunshine Band. At some point that assumption stopped being noted as tentative. Did I miss some genuine confirmation that we guessed it right, or was the theory just accepted as fact?
Has he ever coughed to it, or have Jimenez or Slater or RM ever said so? Has anyone ever seen him at The Valley or Sparrows Lane or anywhere else connected with the club? Has anyone ever seen any official documentation with his name on it? Has it ever been reported as a fact in the press; not just speculation? Is anyone genuinely ITK that Cash was the man? And if so, was he a solo player or were there other Mysterons who kept under the radar and remain, for the moment at least, unknown?
I think that it's in the nature of Mr Cash that you'll never get the evidence you want. He's unlikely to 'cough to it' and Jimenez or Slater (or probably even RM - if he knows for certain) are unlikely to say so. This is a man who told an employment tribunal that he couldn't possibly have sacked his servants as he is merely a 'non paying guest' in the mansion he occupies. Possibly PV, who was involved in the takeover by (nominally) Jimenez and Slater, knows the actual source of their funding and may now choose to tell the story (if any legal prohibitions permit him to)?
There was quite a lengthy discussion on here at time of their takeover - including a 'who's who' of some of Cash's companies, and the limited evidence available points to Slater being Cash's employee rather than an independent financier/business man in his own right.
With the peninsula opportunity, you can see how a Premiership Charlton would really appeal to an owner with big money in the near future. Imagine owning a top club, based in the heart of Europe's financial capital on a truly stunning site. £300m for Fulham, not out of the question for us under those conditions. TJ sniffed it, but ultimately didn't have the money to get there.
Now the Belgian is going to have a crack at the jackpot! It is also a mistake in my opinion to look at the owners other clubs. Charlton offers him a unique and different opportunity to make money.
I agree with a lot of what you say with the exception of the above two points.
VOTV has set out in detail the obstacles and problems of any peninsula move - in particular that one of the two possible sites is already in the hands of a developer who has already announced plans and engaged architects for a more limited 'events space' smaller than the valley and unsuitable for football (and you have to wonder why they would do that if the opportunities are so great), while the other possible site seems to be heavily polluted and has serious access problems.
As for it being "a mistake...to look at the owners other clubs" I think that the detail and consistency of the (negative) information that has been posted on here by a number of fans of Duchatelet's other clubs is something we should take seriously.
Does it really matter who the previous owners were? You can't change the past - is there a point to learning about it? Does leaning about it help us in the present or the future? We are where we are.
At the beginning of last season I met socially with an employee of the club and, over a few drinks, I was told that one of the directors ( not to be named here), had helped himself to a considerable sum of money out of the football club, in order to fund some of his other interests. When it came to light, KC was rather aggrieved as you can imagine, and the rest is history.
This is of course only hearsay, but if true it does perhaps help make some sense of the way the club has been run since then.
I had the name confirmed to me by someone who was once very closely connected to the cabal. The term used specifically to describe the structure was a 'front.'
However I have chosen never to name him directly either here (or more importantly on my blog) as I don't want to risk even a tiny chance of being sued because in truth he may simply have been pulling the strings behind a network of opaque brassplate companies (not something I fancy proving). It seems others are more relaxed.
Interestingly they also described Jimenez as "frightening" though I didn't pry into whether they were describing his business practices, physical prowess or perhaps just his "frightening" intellect :-)
Interesting the things that are starting to come to light, i wouldnt blame KC for stopping the cash if he knew one of the directors was pocketing it. It would also explain those that left at a point of principle - i dont think i ever remember airman ever saying anything about KC but rather TJ and MS.
Interesting the things that are starting to come to light, i wouldnt blame KC for stopping the cash if he knew one of the directors was pocketing it. It would also explain those that left at a point of principle - i dont think i ever remember airman ever saying anything about KC but rather TJ and MS.
I'm in no doubt personally that Slater has been representing Cash and there are people who could give evidence to that effect.
During my 15 months involved in the supporters Trust I have heard a number of allegations. I have not repeated them nor have I contradicted others where I know their account to be less than 100%. This for a number of reasons: I don't always know the truth of these statements nor do I ever have a chance to get the full picture and I fail to see how it helps the club which I support. Let us hope that the outstanding case with Steve Kavenagh is settled with the minimum of public laundry washing and that we can move on with the competent execution of a decent strategy both on and off the pitch which takes the club back to a more sustainable place and of course higher up the league.
Comments
It does seem to me that within whatever budgets have been set, money has been spent wisely even if at times the approach has appeared chaotic.
We can perhaps think of the last regime in three main phases. Phase 1 was the rebuild in the Summer of 2011. Not only was money made available, but the execution was faultless. Rarely can an entire playing squad have been as radically, as quickly and as successfully restructured. Much credit for that may belong to PV for all I know, but the fact is that it was funded and approved by TJ et al.
Phase 2 was the summer of 2012. I'm led to believe that a further, albeit less dramatic upgrade of the squad was planned with players lined up and an increase in wage bill of perhaps £3m or more envisaged. As we all know, for some reason it all went pear shaped at that point and it would appear that TJ/MS have been on the back foot and ducking and diving ever since. Clearly, that's not always been a pretty sight.
However, whilst some may view their subsequent behaviour as below that which might have been expected (and I'm not disagreeing), the fact is that, somehow, money was still made available. No players were sold and transfer fees were agreed (if not paid) for Wilson and Button. Ricardo Fuller was signed on what by all accounts was a very lucrative deal and money was made available for loans when required, e.g. Rob Hulse. The squad was strengthened.
The stakes were clearly raised last summer when Phase 3 ushered in a very aggressive reduction of the wage bill of the playing staff, perhaps in the region of £2m plus. However, even then, the very expensive Fuller apart, nobody released would have been a first team regular this season and, indeed, the other contributor last season, Danny Haynes, isn't even guaranteed a start at relegation threatened Notts County. In short, a squad that was too large and considered to be unaffordable has been savagely pruned without materially damaging the quality of the starting eleven, again Fuller apart.
What's my point? Again, I'm not defending the previous Owners. They've been uncommunicative and, allegedly, somewhat brutish in their dealings with Club employees. They started very well, but the wheels came off when the funding model collaped, for whatever reason. However, through the chaos and uncertainty they do appear to have spent the money available to them very wisely. We still have all our best players and if these can now be retained we'll be in good shape with, I would guess, amongst the lowest FFP losses in the Championship.
If Roland Duchatelet spends whatever budget he makes available as wisely we'll be in good shape. We'll have to wait and see I guess. However, and to be a little controversial, its clear to me that he knows a lot less about football than TJ and MS did. Only time will tell whether that matters.
TJ and MS were only ever KCs functionaries and without his cash were totally stuck and could only hope to find a new buyer, they themselves were nobodies as they were not funding it.
As the great American congressman Huey "Doc" Long used to say, "Them that's got the gold makes the rules."
So, people asking questions about the strategy of TJ and MS are barking up the wrong tree, the real question is why KC got involved in the first place and why did he pull out?
There are so many unanswered questions on this, we can only hope that Duchatelet has a more realistic grip on things than KC did with regard to finances.
All Charlton's dirty washing was aired on a minute by minute basis in the last 5 years and I have to say I didnt enjoy that and that in turn made my visits here mainly to view the non footballing side of the forum. Hopefully at least for the time being that can all be put aside and we can again enjoy the club for its footballing aspects and forget about the politics. I firmly believe you can have too much information, add in specualtion, rumour, discontent etal and suddenly the reason for what brings us here comes into question. Hopefully we can look forward to a period where the football does the talking, I for one sincerely hope so.
and they obviously didn't do their due diligence on checking how finances would be in the Championship , I can't believe Tv money was reduced by millions
These things can and did happen but it's the behaviour from that point which showed a lack of class from there on in
Clearly they pissed SCP about promising him funds right up to late on that summer and they didn't materialise
Then the pressure they put staff under and behaviour towards longstanding senior staff lead to many people leaving and court cases that don't look favourable
I understood fully they may want their own 'yes' men in but there are ways and means of going about that procedure
I'm not fussed about their communication and in years gone by we wouldn't have known about the turmoil but we DO know how they treated staff (and I have spoken to some ) and people behaving like c***s to other humans is not something I can personally pretend didn't happen when those staff members have their own family's and livelihoods to look after
But I guess to some it doesn't affect me so it don't matter mentality is their prerogative
We live in an age of information and it is a two way street. Supporters have the platforms to discuss and speculate that they hadn't before, and in turn clubs have the ability to engage with their fanbase and feed information like never.before. in that era the club would produce a programme every fortnight. Now it does a programme a fortnight, and around five marketing emails a week, 50 web articles, 100 facebook articles and 300 tweets a week.
It is providing a huge amount of information to its fanbase, so it is only natural that that in turn creates more questions, and internet when big ticket items like who actually owns out club are shrouded in mystery.
I'm sure You are right that some of the behind the scenes dirty laundry washing hasn't helped at times, however the scope of change in quite a stable industry during what was only ever going to be a short term reign in either acrimonious disciplinary circumstances or straight forward 'can't take no more' resignations was huge, and natural stirs curiosity. When it is coupled with the other mysterious aspects I can see hoe it fuelled the distrust and speculation, especially when the funding aspect seemed to come to a halt.
However,despite all that change I just feel they could have still done all that no problem had they just gone about the PR aspect in a different light.
We shouldn't forget that TJ and Slater made a lot of right decisions on taking us over and when they came onto the pitch at the end of our record breaking promotion campaign, the applause and reception they got from the fans was heart felt. Without the money TJ had to duck and dive - he would probably claim, if we beat it out of him, that he did what he had to do. But the dodgy business practices and stitching up of good people and club partners rubbed some decent people within up the wrong way and the club was split behind the scenes. It seemed like the owners adopted a you are with us or against us approach and got rid of who they thought were in the latter category. Money was scraped together in our first season back to strengthen. It was probably a bit less than we were hoping for but still allowed us to bring in notably Fuller and Wilson. The club put in a late run and just missed out on a play off place that they would have had a decent chance of winning had they made it.
Prior to this season, TJs plan was still on track, despite the lack of funds, but he and Slater needed a backer, and this wasn't forthcoming. With no money, savings had to be made and an opportunity to build on the previous season was lost. I'm sure this will have frustrated TJ as much as it frustrated us. He could probably smell the success of his venture only to have it taken away when it was so close to fulfillment. When it was clear that the hand to mouth existence was not sustainable for very much longer, a buyer was sought and quite a few people sniffed around. The high price probably put a few off but clearly TJ wanted a return.
WIth the club heading for doom, he sold up for a far lesser amount. Not to a billionaire who wanted a plaything, but a business man who wanted to make money. Much the same scenario as when TJ and Slater came in themselves. I think TJ was visionary to a certain extent, in that he could see a way to make a lot of money from Charlton and his plan was sound. A lot of people seemingly still cant see it, but it is there. Where he fell down was probably because he was a ducker and diver rather than a brilliant business man and for the plan to work, you had to put a significant amount of money in to get the big payday out.
Now he has gone, it will be interesting to see what happens. I was always re-assured by one thing when TJ was at the helm. That was, whatever you thought of him, and for whatever reason, his interests were aligned with ours. When the money ran out, there was no point protesting, we wanted him out and he wanted out! I think the same is true for the new owner - for him to find that croc of gold under the rainbow, that TJ knew was there, he has to make Charlton better and stronger. There isn't another way.
So, TJ has left the club in a better state than he found us - I think it would be churlish to argue otherwise. With the peninsula opportunity, you can see how a Premiership Charlton would really appeal to an owner with big money in the near future. Imagine owning a top club, based in the heart of Europe's financial capital on a truly stunning site. £300m for Fulham, not out of the question for us under those conditions. TJ sniffed it, but ultimately didn't have the money to get there.
Now the Belgian is going to have a crack at the jackpot! It is also a mistake in my opinion to look at the owners other clubs. Charlton offers him a unique and different opportunity to make money.
The long-serving and senior staff that have left in recent months haven't gone because of Slater and Jimenez - they've left because the current senior management is inadequate and uses the disciplinary system to bully people. All this has been pointed out to the board, Prothero and more recently Murray, but thus far they haven't been interested. Now management is worried and upset that Dave Archer and Prettee Jayasundera are leaving too, because they've lost too much knowledge from within the business and are less and less able to cope, yet it's no one's fault but their own - or if you like the board for creating this situation in the first place.
There are still a lot of good people on the staff, if generally short of experience, but it needs capable leadership at the top to hold people to account and put a stop to nonsense - in short an experienced full-time chief executive, which may well be someone completely new to the club. I'm not arguing for bringing any individual back, but the idea the set-up has been improved is laughable and everybody close to the situation knows that.
Do we really need the trust to be asking questions as to why parts of the ground will be shut when we know a very low crowd is expected
Hopefully, RD will take a different approach and I'm encouraged that the club has, on day one, finally acknowledged that there is a long term problem with the pitch and we are going to do something about it.
There are three promotion spots up for grabs every year - one hinging on the play-offs and the possibility of penalties etc - and with quite a few of our rivals having similarly ambitious owners whose own business plan must ultimately see Premier League football as almost a necessity, it is never going to be straightforward.
Then you have to add in to the mix three relegated teams with a lot of parachute money and the assumption that at least one of them will not have squandered it all on long-term contracts they can't afford, or 'do a Pardew' with what they have left, and at least one of the three spots could be gone.
To their credit in that first summer, the previous owners must have spent big for League One in securing the likes of Kermorgant, Stephens, Wiggins, Green and Hollands on relatively long contracts, and it worked.
The general consensus seems to be that we now need to do the same again to be properly competitive in this division, which could well mean £1 million+ signings - anyone remember them?!
And to make the Peninsula a realistic option, surely we would need to be established in the Premier League?
Hopefully the new man does actually have something resembling the fabled five-year plan, because to achieve anything significant enough to make him a profit before that looks pretty challenging.
I ask because when the last lot took over, the massed hoards of forensic-accountants that frequent Charlton Life all quickly reached the conclusion that TJ and MC couldn't have had enough money to buy the club on their own. As quick as you could say quickly 'Les Bourdes', an assumption was reached that because of other business dealings it must be KC - with or without the Sunshine Band. At some point that assumption stopped being noted as tentative. Did I miss some genuine confirmation that we guessed it right, or was the theory just accepted as fact?
Has he ever coughed to it, or have Jimenez or Slater or RM ever said so? Has anyone ever seen him at The Valley or Sparrows Lane or anywhere else connected with the club? Has anyone ever seen any official documentation with his name on it? Has it ever been reported as a fact in the press; not just speculation? Is anyone genuinely ITK that Cash was the man? And if so, was he a solo player or were there other Mysterons who kept under the radar and remain, for the moment at least, unknown?
theguardian.com/football/2011/jan/07/sepp-blatter-smaller-european-leagues
Most of the other links on a google search of Kevin Cash Charlton go to Daily Mail or Charlton Life!
There was quite a lengthy discussion on here at time of their takeover - including a 'who's who' of some of Cash's companies, and the limited evidence available points to Slater being Cash's employee rather than an independent financier/business man in his own right.
VOTV has set out in detail the obstacles and problems of any peninsula move - in particular that one of the two possible sites is already in the hands of a developer who has already announced plans and engaged architects for a more limited 'events space' smaller than the valley and unsuitable for football (and you have to wonder why they would do that if the opportunities are so great), while the other possible site seems to be heavily polluted and has serious access problems.
As for it being "a mistake...to look at the owners other clubs" I think that the detail and consistency of the (negative) information that has been posted on here by a number of fans of Duchatelet's other clubs is something we should take seriously.
This is of course only hearsay, but if true it does perhaps help make some sense of the way the club has been run since then.
However I have chosen never to name him directly either here (or more importantly on my blog) as I don't want to risk even a tiny chance of being sued because in truth he may simply have been pulling the strings behind a network of opaque brassplate companies (not something I fancy proving). It seems others are more relaxed.
Interestingly they also described Jimenez as "frightening" though I didn't pry into whether they were describing his business practices, physical prowess or perhaps just his "frightening" intellect :-)
I don't always know the truth of these statements nor do I ever have a chance to get the full picture and I fail to see how it helps the club which I support.
Let us hope that the outstanding case with Steve Kavenagh is settled with the minimum of public laundry washing and that we can move on with the competent execution of a decent strategy both on and off the pitch which takes the club back to a more sustainable place and of course higher up the league.