"I met Katrien at the Valley before the Ipswich game and I know she’s been in for a lot of flak... But I can tell everybody that having met her, she wants to do the best she can for Charlton in very difficult circumstances – that much was clear."
Full quotes:
http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/sport/14146230.Sky_Sports_pundit_defends_Charlton_chief_executive_Katrien_Meire/
Comments
First he says that the Charlton hierarchy need to sort themselves out... then he defends her
And I can fully believe that she works hard and is feeling the strain.
How much of that is due to her own actions and the action of those she manages as well as Roland is up for debate but that doesn't mean she doesn't care.
- Small budget?
- Poorly used budget?
- Poorly negotiated player sales and purchases?
- Failed gimmicks?
- Alienation of fans leading to disinterest and protests?
To name a few
She may not be heartless and deliberately make incorrect decisions - but it doesn't make her good at the job and it certainly doesn't excuse her attitude and reactions.
Its a shame because I do really like Don Goodman and think he's the best Pundit that Sky have.
She came to a London club with a decent enough following, a tidy little squad assembled by a club legend not to mention the renowned youth system.
In my opinion all negativity after that point is the fault of her and Roland exclusively.
They need to get the squad back to a decent standard, gets fans back in the ground, appoint a manager for longer than 10 minutes and stop fucking whinging.
However she's shown herself to be incompetent, the best thing for the club is for her to step down.
It's why chants/shouts like "Katrien you slut" etc is completely uncalled for. She's a decent enough person just totally ill equipped to run a multi million pound business.
All that aside I suspect that she is doing her best and does want what is best for the club. It's just might be too late in the day for her to win the fans back.
She came to a London club with a decent enough following, a tidy little squad assembled by a club legend not to mention the renowned youth system.
In my opinion all negativity after that point is the fault of her and Roland exclusively.
They need to get the squad back to a decent standard, gets fans back in the ground, appoint a manager for longer than 10 minutes and stop fucking whinging.
Unfortunately much of this squad was out of contract at the end of the season. Yann, Hamer, Morro, Wiggins, Dale, Poyet plus the likes of Dervite and Sordell.
RD and KM may have made many mistakes, but they inherited a far worse situation than you suggest
Is the bloke a journalist? If he is he hasn't dug very far?
Of course she wants the club to do well...her career and ego are affected by it. It is very unlikely for altruistic reasons. The most incompetent CEO in my recent memory of the club and you should be caring, hard working and feeling the strain in such a position particularly when your operation has performed and continues to perform so poorly and below expectation and potential and you're losing customers by the thousands.
Richard Murray doing his best, making some miscalculations and running out of funds was difficult circumstances beyond real control without the luxury of hindsight.
Jiminez and Slater having the funding pulled was difficult circumstances beyond their immediate control.
But with this lot they've deliberately made this bed and don't appear to be showing any signs or intentions of getting out of it.
KM 100% backs this strategy espoused by RD which is clear to most that it will not work and certainly not go near 20k attendance or Premier League ambition yet it is completely their own choice and doing. The money is there, the football and Championship knowledge is out there and there is a loyal and EXTREMELY forgiving and obliging fanbase who would likely back them 100% if they turned round and said "You know what we've made a few mistakes, let's get back on track" and stopped the stupid experiment.
But they choose not to and continue to treat us with contempt and therefore garner very little sympathy from me.
I wish her all the very best during the rest of her time at CAFC, more for the sake of the club than for her own as I suspect that she'll continue to be a square peg in a round hole, or vice versa, for quite some time to come