Saw 'Bob' yesterday in the car park.....or what is left of it at the Valley. Must admit he looks a big guy, he had a couple of buddies and they mumbled something (sorry do not speak Flemish/French) I actually thought they were looking at the heavy plant at the back of car park?.... He got into a black 4 door Porsche with a foreign number plate. No idea who the other two were? So the Bob has landed....... He looked straight at me, and walked on......He had been with Katrien, as I saw here as well........ They were also still working on the pith, or 'beach' as it is at present, apparently they are on 'time' according to a CAFC source.....
I see the camera they use is so archaic the bitrate is only 17mbps. That's around the same bitrate as the iphone 5 there or there abouts. No wonder the cafc player stuff looks a bit dodge
First reports suggest that Bob Peeters is settling in very quickly and integrating into the club and that the staff have been impressed with him. Work's going on trying to keep players and sign new ones, so, fingers crossed, we should be quietly optimistic.
Snippet uploaded to YouTube regarding transfers , peeters stated that we are in for a number of players and the deals are looking good "just got to finish them"
Just watched the full video, nothing to get excited about, just the sort of thing we already know, mentioned the academy many times, so we are the place to be if your a young player looking for a chance to make it next season, it would seem.
Bob and Katrien are on the pith? Hope they are not driving.
Spelt 'her' wrong as well mate?...... I blame the education I got at school in Greenwich, my parents and upbringing. But you being a grammar school boy never have those issues I guess? How I have survived I will never know......
I think you will find @Henry Irving that I am not alone in pointing out that CAFC is in line for the biggest prize in the network. The only reason anyone would spend real money acquiring CAFC is for the academy and the chance to attain premier league status even if only for a year. All this talk of bumpy roads is fairly meaningless and about as precise as a fecking horoscope! The plan three years ago was to regain premier league status, just that the previous owners couldn't or wouldn't fund the ambition. We now have an owner who can afford it and has a clear emphasis on youth and the academy. If Morrison and Gomez sign then that's two more to complete the set for next season.it won't all be plain sailing but following Charlton never has - if you're going to run crying everytime we fail to sign a player or renew one of our own then buy some kleenex. If you're suggesting that Duchatelet runs an oversized squad full of players not good enough for the championship then I suggest you find a way to fund £1-2M per annum for the cost of that. Having loads of reserve quality players on the payroll doesn't sell seats. The trouble with endless criticism of how the owner won't shell out or lose the maximum allowed under FFP is that you want the owner to spend millions on your hobby. Just so that the CAFC owner can lose as much money as the board at Forest, Ipswich etc. I know it was different when you were on the board and Pardew was given enough budget to sign 4,000 players to nearly wipe the club out...and that with the proceeds of Darren Bent sale and two years parachute money! But I prefer the football and non football management to earn their keep and make the club sustainable. Sell Stephens...play Poyet...he goes and pick up a fee...find someone else... This way we will be in the transfer and loan market in 2015 which is more than I can say for Bournemouth and others.
You've got this bit completely the wrong way round. CAFC isn't our hobby, as you assert - it's Duchatelet's hobby. He is a fantastically wealthy man with a personal fortune estimated at £420m, who bought our club for a paltry £18m and promptly declared that he wasn't going to spend large amounts on transfer fees or players' wages.
Academy players are cheap to run - as is a young manager from a minor Belgian club. This is further evidence of Duchatelet's lack of ambition for CAFC. With our respectable history, impressive stadium, and solid regular support of 15,000 we ought to be aiming at least for the play-offs next season - anything less would be failure. To achieve the heights we must buy good players and reward them well - something that Duchatelet has clearly ruled out.
I agree that Duchatelet is wealthy. I don't know the relative wealth of the Glikstens in their day but Duchatelet is by far the wealthiest owner of CAFC in the modern era. I also agree that we have a solid, regular support most of which was built up in two eras - pre 1985 and the growth years in the 90s. One could easily argue that we should be up there with Forest, Ipswich and Borough given our history over the last 20 years...But that is still a long way from the top six. However I think there is a wide range of definitions for success and failure for CAFC. Getting relegated is 100% a fail. Climbing the table is a success but at what rate? I suspect the fans will have a wide range of views - there is obviously a balancing act between keeping the club sustainable and in existance and pushing on to make the play-offs sooner or later. My point about the Pardew era was that it appears that the board, management and fans were all aligned in going for it and not thinking about the consequences if (and when) Pardew failed to even get into the play-offs. It has taken six long years to regain some semblance of financial reality in SE7 and there are still clubs out there losing £10-15M a year who won't get promoted. The thing is that FFP will limit those losses or stop those clubs ramping up wages as they will no longer be able to register players. In Janury 2015 we will know who faces sanctions and perhaps then or next summer CAFC starts to ramp up?
So in the short term, like @ShootersHillGuru I set my sights lower and hope for mid-table perhaps 15th while the club grows and other clubs lose more money than us. For a number of reasons I really hope that 2015-16 is our year not least because all of our young squad will still be with us and will be two years older and Duchatelet and Meire will then have had 18 months to get all aspects of the club right. If certain parts of the club fail then Duchatelet will not hesitate to change personnel whether that is on or off the pitch. He is decisive and ambitious - perhaps he wants the whole club to do some heavy lifting and not just his bank balance?
Bob and Katrien are on the pith? Hope they are not driving.
Spelt 'her' wrong as well mate?...... I blame the education I got at school in Greenwich, my parents and upbringing. But you being a grammar school boy never have those issues I guess? How I have survived I will never know......
I see the camera they use is so archaic the bitrate is only 17mbps. That's around the same bitrate as the iphone 5 there or there abouts. No wonder the cafc player stuff looks a bit dodge
What are these words that you speak? Translation please!
so has anyone listened to the interview? Any danger of anyone dissecting it and destroying any positive aspects by spinning it into a negative?
What's your take? I've listened to it, pretty standard stuff to be honest. A cynic would say we will be playing a team of youngsters and will see very few Championship experienced players coming in. A more positive fan would say he knows Championship football and what it takes in this league and players that can compete will come in. All rather vague but to be expected if you ask me. Seems like a decent bloke. I don't think anything will be clear till 4 or 5 games into the season, I'm not convinced we will know too much about any players coming in though.
Comments
I actually thought they were looking at the heavy plant at the back of car park?.... He got into a black 4 door Porsche with a foreign number plate. No idea who the other two were?
So the Bob has landed....... He looked straight at me, and walked on......He had been with Katrien, as I saw here as well........ They were also still working on the pith, or 'beach' as it is at present, apparently they are on 'time' according to a CAFC source.....
we need a few upfront.
And wingers.
And in the middle.
And down at the back.
How I have survived I will never know......
However I think there is a wide range of definitions for success and failure for CAFC. Getting relegated is 100% a fail. Climbing the table is a success but at what rate? I suspect the fans will have a wide range of views - there is obviously a balancing act between keeping the club sustainable and in existance and pushing on to make the play-offs sooner or later. My point about the Pardew era was that it appears that the board, management and fans were all aligned in going for it and not thinking about the consequences if (and when) Pardew failed to even get into the play-offs.
It has taken six long years to regain some semblance of financial reality in SE7 and there are still clubs out there losing £10-15M a year who won't get promoted. The thing is that FFP will limit those losses or stop those clubs ramping up wages as they will no longer be able to register players. In Janury 2015 we will know who faces sanctions and perhaps then or next summer CAFC starts to ramp up?
So in the short term, like @ShootersHillGuru I set my sights lower and hope for mid-table perhaps 15th while the club grows and other clubs lose more money than us. For a number of reasons I really hope that 2015-16 is our year not least because all of our young squad will still be with us and will be two years older and Duchatelet and Meire will then have had 18 months to get all aspects of the club right. If certain parts of the club fail then Duchatelet will not hesitate to change personnel whether that is on or off the pitch. He is decisive and ambitious - perhaps he wants the whole club to do some heavy lifting and not just his bank balance?
Translation please!
I trust your apologies were accepted by your 'unreliable' source?!