Best article so far....if they are improving communication perhaps I will now get a response to the emails I've sent her......No...I didn't think so, so we need to keep the pressure up. For someone who is a lawyer she really is making herself look foolish! I will make sure as many people as I know see and read this article.
I always wonder what she means when she claims to love the club. Given that she has no time for its history and hosts a barely concealed contempt for its fans, what exactly is it that she 'loves' about it?
Shes very strange. Doesnt seem to take anything seriously or learn or listen properly. She honestly thinks that potential investors upset the FANS. F*ck sake either deluded, trying to convince herself of that or lying to the interviewer to try and give off a different perception.
How long does it take to come up with an idea on how to engage with the fans better? She's been repeatedly saying that bollocks for a long time and never finds a laid out answer or solution. A sentence that makes me wana vomit by the way. The engage part...its just so stupid and meaningless. Patronisingly dumb.
She's actually the biggest wind up merchant ever associated with Charlton.
Taken out of context? Utter bs, she went off on one and set the tone.
Spot on. She's completely out of her depth. What a shambles.
Just read Guardian piece and added a comment. Had to slightly change my user name as cherryorchard had already been taken. PS Being the Guardian doubt it they were raised on the Cherry Orchard Estate SE7 !!
Well written article, thanks Owen. But one word that jumps out to me of Meirecat is 'delusional'. She actually believes the rubbish that she spouts, even though she reinvents the mantra every time (presumably on the train to The Valley and home every day). We (CAFC fans) are not stupid people BUT she firmly thinks we are! Tell your 'real football' ideas to any customers you can find in shopping centres, cinemas or restaurants and leave CAFC fans alone. We are realistic, faithful and tenacious.
What is all this 'once it gets out the club is interested in investment it upsets the fans' nonsense?
Surely it's the selling of the good players, the wasting money on bad players and the lack of investment of the club in its players, manager and back from staff that upsets the players and upsets the staff?
Any utterance from her, Murray etc is now made to the press with the media in mind. It sounds good and reasonable.
“Results are very important but I think there is a lot of work to be done with the fans and I recognise that. There is a huge gap but why shouldn’t we try and improve things? We all love this club. I’m sure we can find a common ground. You can hardly explain the six managers. Nobody wanted that. We haven’t communicated clearly. We have to find a way to engage with the fans better,”
And yet we know from the past months it just bullshit. She has no intention of any communication with fans, nor does she 'love the club'. It's disgusting to read. She should get complete hell from start to finish on Saturday.
Agree totally.
When fans tried to communicate they were ignored, laughed at or insulted (or in one case accused of being a criminal)
How she has the cheek to claim the Dublin statements were taken out of context I don't know as they are on film but she has made zero effort to explain or lessen the impact of that video. It is only because the journalists asked her that she has responded here.
As for "You can hardly explain the six managers. Nobody wanted that." What does that mean? What are you doing to stop this happening? What have you learnt from your mistakes and what are you doing differently? As far as I can see nothing at all.
"Joe Read, an 18-year-old Charlton fan who spoke passionately at the AGM and started a successful campaign to persuade fans to wear black and white to register their disapproval,"
I can explain the 6 managers. Undermine the good ones by not giving them a good enough squad and forcing them to play dross. Hire a load of pony yes men...then leave the situation to run.
Re the Dublin comments, I do think she was trying to say that football is different from cinema/ restaurants. However, she could not hide her contempt in saying she found this "weird" and her actions in failing to engage properly with fans are there for all to see. Well, actually they aren't because it is her inaction, but you know what I mean.
So both her and judas Murray have said they need to communicate better with fans but to my knowledge have still not replied to the trust statement following judas Interview statement?
They have also not communicated why Riga was appointed?
They gave admited they have under estimated the championship or mentioned how competitive the championship is but have the provided any communication to provide details of how they are going to change that?
She thinks she is being clever playing the media but all she is doing is digging her self a bigger hole with quotes that can be used as a measure
Think Owen was charmed by her in the end. He replied to my tweet saying it could be down to her second language. Not join. That, she is fluent in English
This is a big deal. It should be noted that Owen Gibson is their (or one of their) #1(s) for the print paper. He has done a lot of investigatory work around FIFA, the Olympic stadium, and various other high profile causes, and he is a very good, proper investigative journalist. It's great to see him pick up this story, and the Guardian is usually good that once they get a story/expose, they write follow-ups.
Owen Gibson lives in Charlton, attends matches at The Valley five or six times a season with his child (though supports Chelsea). He was guest speaker at Trust AGM which he mentions in article. He's a really good guy and credit should go to @PragueAddick for building a relationship with him through the Olympic Stadium campaign.
The same @PragueAddick who gives up his spare time to be part of the Trust, and look, we now have a bloody good write up in a national newspaper about what a mess we are, helping our campaign. But what does the bloody Trust do anyway?
Kind of reiterating what's been said before, but the bit about new investors "upsetting" the fans - from where I am sitting it was the revelation that a serious approach had been ignored that really tipped the balance for many who had previously been willing to give the three stooges more time. Or am I wrong?
Kind of reiterating what's been said before, but the bit about new investors "upsetting" the fans - from where I am sitting it was the revelation that a serious approach had been ignored that really tipped the balance for many who had previously been willing to give the three stooges more time. Or am I wrong?
Agree, because it gave an answer to the question "what's the alternative?"
When people could see a, as far as we can judge, better alternative it focused people on just how badly things are now.
She's not worried about "upsetting" fans.
And if she and Roland didn't want to confuse matters over the investment they could and should have said "no" straight away.
Excellent article. My only problem with it is that I wish he'd quoted her "every decision was the right one" after the six managers comment.
I wouldn't be surprised if she read it today though and thought the article was a good reflection on her and the PR war against the fans. The problem is that her and the board have gone into bunker mentality and have lost any sense of perspective they may have had previously. (i.e. not much)
We the fans are now clearly the enemy and I can totally imagine that right now they're shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders in a "what more can we do?" manner after appointing "fan favourite" Riga, laying on free travel to Rotherham nine days before the game and signing Championship experienced players like Relegation Roger etc.
My suspicion is that while some heroes in the lounges challenge her, the majority are sycophantic and not necessarily aware of the extent of the clusterf**k she's presiding over, so while she may have upped her 2% estimation upwards by now I reckon she still thinks it's the vocal minority.
When this whole sorry mess is over and she's had time to decompress and reflect I suspect that Katrien will look back and realise how misguided she was.
Until then, I genuinely think when she talks about getting the fans onside and turning it around, in her head she's hoping that the current weirdos will get bored of protesting and stop coming to games and then the new fans she recruits from West London will take our place and lap up all of the entertainment and facilities the Charlton Entertainment Corporation will serve up alongside the less important goings on on the pitch.
"Joe Read, an 18-year-old Charlton fan who spoke passionately at the AGM and started a successful campaign to persuade fans to wear black and white to register their disapproval,"
Well done Joe, inspired idea : - 0
Hahaha, sorry.
I did say it was just the twitter account I started :-)
Patronising and deluded - maybe she's going to change the sofa to placate the 'weirdos'.
With her dreadful communication skills this won't end well. As the protests continue her responses will merely make things worse - her customers will prove how 'weird' they are.
"You can hardly explain the six managers" I thought she had at her Power Point meeting. They were all improvements on the previous one, or did she not allude to that?. Or at least it was for five managers/coaches or whatever they are called nowadays. What would be harder to explain is; why is the sixth the same as the first appointed by you and why is your grasp of reality so far removed from everybody else?
Comments
Shes a liar and a fraud. She holds anyone that doesn't have the same ideas and views as her in total contempt.
Not interested in balanced articles anymore, we are way past that.
We (CAFC fans) are not stupid people BUT she firmly thinks we are! Tell your 'real football' ideas to any customers you can find in shopping centres, cinemas or restaurants and leave CAFC fans alone. We are realistic, faithful and tenacious.
Surely it's the selling of the good players, the wasting money on bad players and the lack of investment of the club in its players, manager and back from staff that upsets the players and upsets the staff?
Oh and the incompetence of the CEO
When fans tried to communicate they were ignored, laughed at or insulted (or in one case accused of being a criminal)
How she has the cheek to claim the Dublin statements were taken out of context I don't know as they are on film but she has made zero effort to explain or lessen the impact of that video. It is only because the journalists asked her that she has responded here.
As for "You can hardly explain the six managers. Nobody wanted that." What does that mean? What are you doing to stop this happening? What have you learnt from your mistakes and what are you doing differently? As far as I can see nothing at all.
Excellent article though
Well done Joe, inspired idea : - 0
They have also not communicated why Riga was appointed?
They gave admited they have under estimated the championship or mentioned how competitive the championship is but have the provided any communication to provide details of how they are going to change that?
She thinks she is being clever playing the media but all she is doing is digging her self a bigger hole with quotes that can be used as a measure
How depressing.
Sorry anti Trustites couldn't resist that one
Nice work Prague mate
When people could see a, as far as we can judge, better alternative it focused people on just how badly things are now.
She's not worried about "upsetting" fans.
And if she and Roland didn't want to confuse matters over the investment they could and should have said "no" straight away.
I wouldn't be surprised if she read it today though and thought the article was a good reflection on her and the PR war against the fans. The problem is that her and the board have gone into bunker mentality and have lost any sense of perspective they may have had previously. (i.e. not much)
We the fans are now clearly the enemy and I can totally imagine that right now they're shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders in a "what more can we do?" manner after appointing "fan favourite" Riga, laying on free travel to Rotherham nine days before the game and signing Championship experienced players like Relegation Roger etc.
My suspicion is that while some heroes in the lounges challenge her, the majority are sycophantic and not necessarily aware of the extent of the clusterf**k she's presiding over, so while she may have upped her 2% estimation upwards by now I reckon she still thinks it's the vocal minority.
When this whole sorry mess is over and she's had time to decompress and reflect I suspect that Katrien will look back and realise how misguided she was.
Until then, I genuinely think when she talks about getting the fans onside and turning it around, in her head she's hoping that the current weirdos will get bored of protesting and stop coming to games and then the new fans she recruits from West London will take our place and lap up all of the entertainment and facilities the Charlton Entertainment Corporation will serve up alongside the less important goings on on the pitch.
I did say it was just the twitter account I started :-)
you got to be f*cking kidding me?! basically you score more that you let in.
With her dreadful communication skills this won't end well. As the protests continue her responses will merely make things worse - her customers will prove how 'weird' they are.
Maybe she can try out as CEO of Millwall next?
I thought she had at her Power Point meeting. They were all improvements on the previous one, or did she not allude to that?.
Or at least it was for five managers/coaches or whatever they are called nowadays.
What would be harder to explain is; why is the sixth the same as the first appointed by you and why is your grasp of reality so far removed from everybody else?