New Article: The Best Explanation of Roland Duchatelet's Approach to Charlton
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He chose us because we were available. We really have to take the fight to him. We haven't achieved anything yet - KM and KF haven't resigned. We need to make that happen very soon for starters. If they continue to hide away as they have been doing, this is going to get nastier for them. It has to, we are fighting for our club.4
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Really?? That's just mental. Surely just kids unaware of what's happening?boggzy said:
Cos our fans in the main are meek, trainspotting types. (Where's that pic of people getting autographs from Fraeye on Saturday?)HantsAddick said:Why did he have to choose us for his experiment?
Perfect choice.
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So I reckon there is a fairly dodgy tax scheme using a Belgian finance company that could heavily reduce the cost of supplying debt into the UK. Debt structure likely to last 2-3 years max under changes to international tax happening now.
That can't be the only reason he's bought all these football clubs. His original master plan of sharing scouting and players within a network seems to have fallen apart as far as Charlton recruitment is concerned and certainly totally as far as Liege is concerned.
Still if you have a decent body of fans threatening to pop down the road and burn down your house and your business (metaphorically or actually), and you believe them, that might do it. Can't see it happening for a club not in Belgium....
RD 'We have retreated to the mild tropical storm bunker, should we ready the hurricane bunker?'
KM 'No it will all blow over before we need that one or the nuclear bunker RD'
The only thing that gives me hope there is if KM said it, certain to be bollocks.
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The Belgian football fans are like English Rugby Fans. They turn up at the ground a couple of hours before kick-off to go into the club, spend their money on beer and food, watch the game, and stay at the club after the game. Apart from the very top teams in Belgium, it's all about beer and frites and meeting your pals at the Club. The result is incidental.InspectorSands said:Excellent points. The one thing that baffles me is the whole "match day experience" stuff - a look at Sint-Truiden's ground on Google Streetview will show you it has lots of retail, etc, built into it.
But beyond maybe a hotel and some residential, The Valley's simply in the wrong location to repeat that trick.
Pinocchio is trying to set up a similar atmosphere. Where we all spend our dosh at the club before and after the game. They can't get their head around the English culture and why we are all happy in the Bugle, White Swan & the Lib, spending our dosh there and meeting our pals and then going to the game. She keeps banging on about creating a unique experience and introducing gimmicks to try to attract people into the ground early. Hence opening up Crossbars.
It ain't gonna happen. The football is everything in England, not the sideshows. Results matter right through the Leagues. RD should have bought Blackheath Rugby Club22 -
Don't wait for him to come to The Valley. We should go there!Hex said:If what HTC says is correct, and I think it is, then our only hope is to get close-up and personal to RD as well as RM and KM. Although RM and KM are only his buffers, we need to keep up the pressure on them to make the club impossible to run, as @AirmanBrown promised. However, we need to develop a strategy to make things ugly for RD. All the while he can sit in his cave and tweak his plan here and there our pain will get worse. Perhaps this was his original plan with SL until the heat got too hot for him in his own country, but we are conveniently out of sight - or so he thinks ! When's he next due at The Valley ? ;-)
https://www.google.fr/maps/place/Transportstraat+1,+3980+Tessenderlo,+Belgium/@51.0698746,5.143645,3a,66.8y,78.14h,91.57t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sctWbrN7OXR-h_TnGDdwVqA!2e0!4m2!3m1!1s0x47c13756e02480f3:0x7ce4e19bddb9d4e0 -
This analysis looks spot on. Two things I'd add:
1. I went to the St Truiden pre season match. Two sides of the ground is a hotel. Another side has a range of shops built into it. When we arrived on the Friday there was a pitch side bbq going on with football being played on the 3G pitch. There were more matches ahead of the Charlton game on Saturday, after which the main stand turned into a night club with loud music. I've no doubt this is the sort of thing Katrien has in mind for The Valley.
2. I can't see Roland walking away from his £12m (?) investment in the academy. This will be a valuable breeding ground for his network. Youngsters could play for any of his clubs as well as being sold to other clubs at all levels.
Depressing indeed.
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Does anyone know the name of the Charlton holding companies in the Uk? I'll pull the accounts tomorrow and provide a short summary Wednesday night. If not, I'll try and find them.0
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The unit of shops that have also been built into the new stand also bring in much rent.Did notice this year 2015-2016 that one of the bars across the road from the ground had closed down,that bar was open in 2014-2015 season and had been doing business for many ayear.SX_Addick said:This analysis looks spot on. Two things I'd add:
1. I went to the St Truiden pre season match. Two sides of the ground is a hotel. Another side has a range of shops built into it. When we arrived on the Friday there was a pitch side bbq going on with football being played on the 3G pitch. There were more matches ahead of the Charlton game on Saturday, after which the main stand turned into a night club with loud music. I've no doubt this is the sort of thing Katrien has in mind for The Valley.
2. I can't see Roland walking away from his £12m (?) investment in the academy. This will be a valuable breeding ground for his network. Youngsters could play for any of his clubs as well as being sold to other clubs at all levels.
Depressing indeed.1 -
All the commercial stuff around the ground might work if the club was near a tube station in a better or more central location. It is just not going to work at Charlton, as much as I love the club the Southbank it ain't.2
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RD recently opened a new bar in Sint-Truiden's ground - he appears to live in the town.
http://www.hln.be/regio/nieuws-uit-sint-truiden/roland-duchatelet-opent-cafe-op-stayen-a2525200/
Can't help thinking that sooner or later, someone - be it media or fans - will have to go over there to put some questions to his face.1 - Sponsored links:
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The Stayen Cup could be interesting this summer...0
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Yep. I plan to be there if we're in the same mess. Roland and Katrien were both at the game last summer.daveydanger said:The Stayen Cup could be interesting this summer...
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All he needs to do is increase the capacity of the Jimmy Seed stand for away supporters and improve the facilities. As the away support will eventually outnumber the home support the customer satisfaction will hit the roof as they take with them 3 points.2
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My guess is that this has something to do with Roly's strategy
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-352801601 -
This is precisely where the problem lies. There isn't prize money for league position, and it's not something that Katrien can do anything about (at least on her own anyway). It would take the whole football league to make such a change - and the prize money would have to come from somewhere (ideally from the Premier League but we can dream on about that idea) to ensure that those at the bottom of the table weren't sent into bankruptcy at the expense of those at the top.RedPanda said:Good points well made. Katrien has complained about there not being prize money for where you place in this division. With that in mind 21st each season is probably the aim, and anything better means you've gone over budget.
We are merely a toy. It is an experiment and he's here for long-term meddling and testing rather than turning a quick profit. Varney would not have gone to him with the Kuwaiti money offering less than RD paid.
He is an arrogant, pig headed fool and only when we're relegated and losing millions more each year, will he take any notice. Like Henry says, that may be the time we really have to worry about.
Good managers know where their circle of influence lies, and they work on the change they can bring about and don't waste effort on things they can't affect.
Arrogant and pig-headed is about right - although perhaps Ostrich-like could be added as clearly there is an avoidance of reality (which if I was feeling charitable - and I am not - could be put down to extreme naivety).
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£120 million at stake for finishing 1st or 2nd.iainambler said:
This is precisely where the problem lies. There isn't prize money for league position, and it's not something that Katrien can do anything about (at least on her own anyway). It would take the whole football league to make such a change - and the prize money would have to come from somewhere (ideally from the Premier League but we can dream on about that idea) to ensure that those at the bottom of the table weren't sent into bankruptcy at the expense of those at the top.RedPanda said:Good points well made. Katrien has complained about there not being prize money for where you place in this division. With that in mind 21st each season is probably the aim, and anything better means you've gone over budget.
We are merely a toy. It is an experiment and he's here for long-term meddling and testing rather than turning a quick profit. Varney would not have gone to him with the Kuwaiti money offering less than RD paid.
He is an arrogant, pig headed fool and only when we're relegated and losing millions more each year, will he take any notice. Like Henry says, that may be the time we really have to worry about.
Good managers know where their circle of influence lies, and they work on the change they can bring about and don't waste effort on things they can't affect.
Arrogant and pig-headed is about right - although perhaps Ostrich-like could be added as clearly there is an avoidance of reality (which if I was feeling charitable - and I am not - could be put down to extreme naivety).0 -
He does live near the St Truiden ground - this was confirmed by one of the Begian posters on here (skywalker ?). Does he regularly go to their games?InspectorSands said:RD recently opened a new bar in Sint-Truiden's ground - he appears to live in the town.
http://www.hln.be/regio/nieuws-uit-sint-truiden/roland-duchatelet-opent-cafe-op-stayen-a2525200/
Can't help thinking that sooner or later, someone - be it media or fans - will have to go over there to put some questions to his face.
Maybe it might mean making a trip to St Truiden one day, interrupt one of their games - and make a nuisance of ourselves - all in front of the pre-advised Belgian press.
I'm game to do that.
Google maps tells me that its 2 hours 44 mins from Calais to St Truiden - so, could easily do it in a (long) day trip using the Tunnel.
Stayen Cup might be a good one
Do we have a St Truiden watch thread like we do with Alcorcon?1 -
Thing is, if the academy is the main way he wants to make a profit, why bother with the football club side of things at all?
Just set up a Glen Hoddle style academy to farm players and sell them to football clubs for a profit. Best thing about that is you dont have a football club running alongside that you also need to take care of and subsequently eat into your profit. Wouldnt that be cheaper/faster way of making money?0 -
Did it pre season, a very easy drive.The_President said:
He does live near the St Truiden ground - this was confirmed by one of the Begian posters on here (skywalker ?). Does he regularly go to their games?InspectorSands said:RD recently opened a new bar in Sint-Truiden's ground - he appears to live in the town.
http://www.hln.be/regio/nieuws-uit-sint-truiden/roland-duchatelet-opent-cafe-op-stayen-a2525200/
Can't help thinking that sooner or later, someone - be it media or fans - will have to go over there to put some questions to his face.
Maybe it might mean making a trip to St Truiden one day, interrupt one of their games - and make a nuisance of ourselves - all in front of the pre-advised Belgian press.
I'm game to do that.
Google maps tells me that its 2 hours 44 mins from Calais to St Truiden - so, could easily do it in a (long) day trip using the Tunnel.
Stayen Cup might be a good one
Do we have a St Truiden watch thread like we do with Alcorcon?0 -
His son (obviously him) causing a stir in Hungary, old article but well worth a read;
http://dailynewshungary.com/ujpest-trapped-in-the-web-of-debts-and-offshore-companies/1
