I don't think we should get hung up on hitting the club cashflow - RD is multi, and if we are going to make a loss (cert) then it makes little difference to him when he funds it. He is obviously not bothered about KM's failures - because she would have gone ages ago with the cock up she has made of things.
So where are we?
Thin squad Low crowds
I expect the top half of the table at the very best.
The Belgians have to go and we have to protest them out the door.
AGO , away games only for me , booked up for Bury. I haven't renewed and not remotely tempted to. Home match days will be spent in the Rose , so all you guys and girls come and join the fun. The alternative , an empty Valley and all that can be heard is Relegation Roger's motivational cajoling
Can we even refer to the spanners as "smallwall" anymore? Our crowds are going to be pretty much the same as them this season.
I feel sick even contemplating that....
I'll stop calling them Smallwall when they've won an FA Cup and spent a significant proportion of their history (rather than just one season) in the top flight.
It's also significant that we have to reach absolute rock-bottom and be a club in complete disarray on and off the pitch in order for our gates to fall as low as what Millwall get when everything's fine.
It would be good to get the exact figure 'nearly 5,500' is not 5,500. Some reports on Twitter saying 5,368 which is close to 5,400 not 5,500. It would be handy to know how many of these are comps or going out to club employees / families
They should state 'purchased season tickets' and yes, it is telling that it's nearly 5,500. All about wording I guess. If they'd said 'under 5,500' it sounds like a negative. I expect if we'd sold 5,650 it'd be 'nearly 6,000'.
If they keep the momentum they were building they may just start to reach 10,000. How close we get to that (or whether we surpass it) will probably depend on who is added and how early results go.
What momentum was that then the English manager and three 'marquee' signings before the fire sales? Righto
Aren't they what fans have also been asking for ?
A British manager that knows the game and the division
Players that look like they will give it a good go rather than looking like they want to go
THREE players. Meire said that they want to 'build a squad like Chris Powell did'. Well Powell brought in around 15 players that season and most of them were done and dusted before this stage in the pre-season.
We are so far off a fit for purpose squad it's laughable. Those three players aren't likely to make much of a difference if we don't bring in at least another 6 or 7 of similar quality. As I said in another thread, even if they do manage a glut of signings, half of pre-season has already gone, getting them fully prepared for the opening game is going to be very very difficult.
They should state 'purchased season tickets' and yes, it is telling that it's nearly 5,500. All about wording I guess. If they'd said 'under 5,500' it sounds like a negative. I expect if we'd sold 5,650 it'd be 'nearly 6,000'.
Can we even refer to the spanners as "smallwall" anymore? Our crowds are going to be pretty much the same as them this season.
I feel sick even contemplating that....
I'll stop calling them Smallwall when they've won an FA Cup and spent a significant proportion of their history (rather than just one season) in the top flight.
It's also significant that we have to reach absolute rock-bottom and be a club in complete disarray on and off the pitch in order for our gates to fall as low as what Millwall get when everything's fine.
I do think it'll be an eerie Valley, especially for night games. Night crowds weren't great even in the League One promotion season
That's modern football though. Especially in Winter when people have had a long day, it's a lot more tempting to stay at home and watch Champions League on TV or Gilette for the live score updates.
If we can draw big crowds away (fat chance) it will be a huge credit to us, the home crowd is irrelevant as people do not want to put money into RD's pocket - those that do can't break their habit of watching Charlton or are blind to the elements and will watch Charlton regardless. The crowds will pick up, slowly, once RD has gone.
I do think it'll be an eerie Valley, especially for night games. Night crowds weren't great even in the League One promotion season
That's modern football though. Especially in Winter when people have had a long day, it's a lot more tempting to stay at home and watch Champions League on TV or Gilette for the live score updates.
If we can draw big crowds away (fat chance) it will be a huge credit to us, the home crowd is irrelevant as people do not want to put money into RD's pocket - those that do can't break their habit of watching Charlton or are blind to the elements and will watch Charlton regardless. The crowds will pick up, slowly, once RD has gone.
True. They now treat midweek league games as a guaranteed loss. Hence there are now often South v North games in midweek. They know crowds will be low so focus on keeping the closer games as being on Saturdays and try to make those attendance as high as possible. Barnet's first two midweek home games are Blackpool and Morecambe. Ours are Shrewsbury and Oldham.
If they keep the momentum they were building they may just start to reach 10,000. How close we get to that (or whether we surpass it) will probably depend on who is added and how early results go.
What momentum was that then the English manager and three 'marquee' signings before the fire sales? Righto
Aren't they what fans have also been asking for ?
A British manager that knows the game and the division
Players that look like they will give it a good go rather than looking like they want to go
THREE players. Meire said that they want to 'build a squad like Chris Powell did'. Well Powell brought in around 15 players that season and most of them were done and dusted before this stage in the pre-season.
We are so far off a fit for purpose squad it's laughable. Those three players aren't likely to make much of a difference if we don't bring in at least another 6 or 7 of similar quality. As I said in another thread, even if they do manage a glut of signings, half of pre-season has already gone, getting them fully prepared for the opening game is going to be very very difficult.
Not to mention that one of the 3 players is injured if he misses much more of pre season, won't be match fit for the first game.
It would be good to get the exact figure 'nearly 5,500' is not 5,500. Some reports on Twitter saying 5,368 which is close to 5,400 not 5,500. It would be handy to know how many of these are comps or going out to club employees / families
I do think it'll be an eerie Valley, especially for night games. Night crowds weren't great even in the League One promotion season
That's modern football though. Especially in Winter when people have had a long day, it's a lot more tempting to stay at home and watch Champions League on TV or Gilette for the live score updates.
If we can draw big crowds away (fat chance) it will be a huge credit to us, the home crowd is irrelevant as people do not want to put money into RD's pocket - those that do can't break their habit of watching Charlton or are blind to the elements and will watch Charlton regardless. The crowds will pick up, slowly, once RD has gone.
True. They now treat midweek league games as a guaranteed loss. Hence there are now often South v North games in midweek. They know crowds will be low so focus on keeping the closer games as being on Saturdays and try to make those attendance as high as possible. Barnet's first two midweek home games are Blackpool and Morecambe. Ours are Shrewsbury and Oldham.
Very true. Good spot. They are not the ones that will have huge coverage on TV - goes to show how football is going. Only a small highlights reel on Sky Sports, then the weekend matches get a dedicated show (not as good as MOTD - albeit)
I don't think we should get hung up on hitting the club cashflow - RD is multi, and if we are going to make a loss (cert) then it makes little difference to him when he funds it. He is obviously not bothered about KM's failures - because she would have gone ages ago with the cock up she has made of things.
So where are we?
Thin squad Low crowds
I expect the top half of the table at the very best.
The Belgians have to go and we have to protest them out the door.
Duchatelet expects his business offshots to be self sufficient and adjusts the budget accordingly. This is why Meire has an obsession with reducing wages and getting players wages off the books, often detriment to short, mid or long term success. I suspect it is one of Duchatelet's red lines or performance indicators.
"Tickets will be posted out block-by-block beginning with those situated in East Stand Block A, moving anti-clockwise towards the Covered End, and the club anticipate all to be delivered by the end of July"
We've sold so many that they could've easily said 'by the end of this week'.
The ticket office may well be otherwise too busy. If we've sold 5,500 then there are likely to be waiverers and late purchasers that will decide it's now time to buy a ST. Fans should pick which winnable battles they want to fight and the ST boycott was always going to be one that we ahould have collectively avoided because it's self-defeating. Committed Charlton fans will always want to go to watch the team whenever they can, it's what we do, it's what we've always done. At least we now know there is going to be at least 5,500 of us in the ground on a match day to support the team and voice our displeasure with the regime.
Even with a few last minute purchases, the 5,400 + figure is a significant drop. The likely remaining sale of quality in the squad is not going to help either. Nearly 2 weeks to the start of the season and the squad is still thread bare and looking light, as per the Duchatelet & Meire normal practise. Its not going to help sales.
To make a division and claim the title of committed Charlton supporter as one's that have renewed is just not right. So a supporter who has had a season ticket for many years, chosen not to renew because of being sick of the Duchatelet regime can't claim the title any more ? There's some great posts above about Charlton supporters not dividing themselves out between those who have chosen not to renew and those that didn't. Everyone has legitimate reasons that need to be respected. It is important for Charlton Athletic supporters to stay together, so that Duchatelet can sell up and take one of those offers that he keeps getting to sell the club.
Very true.
@letthegoodtimesroll you have repeatedly made this unfair accusation and then withdrawn it only to yet again repeat it on another thread. It is, and had been for a while, very tedious.
Henry, I'm not saying that those that haven't bought a ST or won't be going are not committed fans. Fair play to anybody that can stay away but I'm just being realistic. For many of us, whatever shit has come the club's way over the years, I know we still keep going, no matter what. Staying away hurts us more than RD and KM because we are emotionally connected to the club, they're not.
Yet again you withdraw the remark after making it. As I said, tedious.
I'm consistent in my personal view that the call for a ST boycott was misjudged. At 5,500 and counting (because it probably will start to go up) then it's an easy PR victory for KM and she can make the claim that losing some fans was inevitable because we were relegated and everybody else outside of Charlton will believe her. If we hadn't been relegated then the fall off in ST sales would have made people sit up and take notice. CARD isn't going to win a financial pissing contest with RD, it's all going to be about selective PR.
You are entitled to your opinion @letthegoodtimesroll. I think you are utterly mistaken though.
If the season tickets had held up, which they haven't and no amount of wishful thinking is going to make that season ticket higher that it is, then Meire would have said that Charlton supporters support the Duchatelet way of doing things and there is no reason to change method. Meire may make up some utter rubbish, risible spin or outright lie as per usual about the season ticket holders. In terms of the football world, she is without creadability and I don't think we have to worry too much about that. The spectacularly inept failure at Charlton is clear for all to see. This is the main driver for falling attendances.
Having a business failing so spectacularly as his is doing is going to cost him money. This is ultimately what Duchatelet cares about. This is why he will be selling the club. CARD and protesting Charlton supporters are helping him to make that inevitable decision.
I held off renewing until a few weeks ago - that was my protest - if I genuinely thought that a complete season ticket boycott and a disaster of an on pitch performance early in the season would lead to RD selling then I wouldn't have renewed. However, I am of the believe that the reverse is true. Who's right and who is wrong - I don't know, but that is my judgement and my reasoning and its enough to tip me into the renew category, along with change in strategy which is a clear admission that their network model has failed and further backs up my theory. Apologies if this is tedious to some but can't be any more tedious than the thousands of posts I've read regurgitating the same stuff. None of us is wrong or right as we don't really know what will take RD to leave.
I thought we'd end up with 6,000 S/T holders by the start of the season and we probably will.
My guess is that even without the protests the numbers would have fallen to 8,000. So there's possibly 2,000 not renewing that would like to, under ordinary circumstances.
I thought we'd end up with 6,000 S/T holders by the start of the season and we probably will.
My guess is that even without the protests the numbers would have fallen to 8,000. So there's possibly 2,000 not renewing that would like to, under ordinary circumstances.
6000. Only when including a liberal amount of freebies.
As a season ticket holder every single season since 1971, and my son since he was 8 months old (he is now 22), it is no surprise that I have been a waverer, as has my son. I won't say how many other ways I have expressed support for Charlton Athletic and for all those who deep down want the club to thrive. Supporting Charlton is one of the ways my whole life has been defined, sad but true. I will buy a season ticket, and so will my son, the day after this regime departs. For all people reading this who feel like sneering and snorting at me go right ahead, you have no idea what a wrench this has been, or how heartbreaking. And for those who have renewed you have my respect, because I could easily have been one of you. As I say, after 45 years in a row this decision has been very hard for me. I will go to matches, will be at Bury. However I intend to try to get to real change because I want to get my season ticket once again.
I am saddened, and feel bereft, and I feel fucking angry too.
As a season ticket holder every single season since 1971, and my son since he was 8 months old (he is now 22), it is no surprise that I have been a waverer, as has my son. I won't say how many other ways I have expressed support for Charlton Athletic and for all those who deep down want the club to thrive. Supporting Charlton is one of the ways my whole life has been defined, sad but true. I will buy a season ticket, and so will my son, the day after this regime departs. For all people reading this who feel like sneering and snorting at me go right ahead, you have no idea what a wrench this has been, or how heartbreaking. And for those who have renewed you have my respect, because I could easily have been one of you. As I say, after 45 years in a row this decision has been very hard for me. I will go to matches, will be at Bury. However I intend to try to get to real change because I want to get my season ticket once again.
I am saddened, and feel bereft, and I feel fucking angry too.
This 100% !!!
Thought you were going to say you brought one - your user name would have been ideal
My season ticket showed up today (Seeing they only announced it today) so for those who have also renewed hopefully the club have learnt from the Royal Mail mess last season
Never even got a flyer or an email or a call from the club Must have really valued my 15 years as a season ticket holder to not even try to tempt me back Only give it up a season ago and probably could have been tempted for me at least if not my lads as well If that's the case with all ex season ticket holders I wonder how many could have been tempted back by a call?
Comments
I feel sick even contemplating that....
So where are we?
Thin squad
Low crowds
I expect the top half of the table at the very best.
The Belgians have to go and we have to protest them out the door.
It's also significant that we have to reach absolute rock-bottom and be a club in complete disarray on and off the pitch in order for our gates to fall as low as what Millwall get when everything's fine.
We are so far off a fit for purpose squad it's laughable. Those three players aren't likely to make much of a difference if we don't bring in at least another 6 or 7 of similar quality. As I said in another thread, even if they do manage a glut of signings, half of pre-season has already gone, getting them fully prepared for the opening game is going to be very very difficult.
If we can draw big crowds away (fat chance) it will be a huge credit to us, the home crowd is irrelevant as people do not want to put money into RD's pocket - those that do can't break their habit of watching Charlton or are blind to the elements and will watch Charlton regardless. The crowds will pick up, slowly, once RD has gone.
Not to mention that one of the 3 players is injured if he misses much more of pre season, won't be match fit for the first game.
My guess is that even without the protests the numbers would have fallen to 8,000. So there's possibly 2,000 not renewing that would like to, under ordinary circumstances.
Must have really valued my 15 years as a season ticket holder to not even try to tempt me back
Only give it up a season ago and probably could have been tempted for me at least if not my lads as well
If that's the case with all ex season ticket holders I wonder how many could have been tempted back by a call?