I know it's very difficult to wage a campaign in the close-season, but everything's been very quiet for a couple of months. I don't like it when it's quiet. It gives the outward appearance that things are OK when they, most definitely, are not. It gives space for regime sympathisers to pretend they've learned from their mistakes and everything will be different. What we have though is the same absentee owner, the same incompetent chief exec, the same bunch of sycophantic yes-men on the smt, the same structural problems resulting in recruitment and retention problems and an ever widening gap between our real finances and duchats claims around club debt and value.
Recent threads on Charlton Life though have not been about fighting back. They have been about transfers, friendlies and whether the roly-poly laff-a-minute Scouser can cling on for a full nine months thus breaking a record for a manager under this disgusting regime. And tonight there are dozens of posts about a kit launch. That's right the regime that is pulling our club apart is selling an overpriced piece of tat and people are debating it as if it's something that's appeared in the latest fashion catalogue.
Just to remind anyone who thinks things might be ok or that they might have learned their lessons:
- This is a regime whose first public actions were to sack a winning manager and dismantle a winning team; replacing proven high-quality footballers with untried gambles at the behest of an unqualified and inexperienced computer-nerd.
- This is a regime that has consistently (I was going to say systematically, but that credits them with too much organisational ability) lied about what they are doing and why.
- This is a regime that has fired countless managers, claiming the each was better than the last.
- This is a regime that got us relegated and has not got us close to bouncing back.
- This is a regime that is so disinterested in the well being of the club that they put an NHS Call centre where the ticket office was.
- This is a regime that hasn't so much decimated as massacred our home support alienating fans and sending them away in droves.
- This is a regime that thinks CAFC is some sort of social club for people who are as interested in dancing as they are in competitive football.
So what are are plans for protesting next season? My personal belief is that we should not give this regime a penny and should avoid giving them any credibility through attendance at The Valley. Last season's demos were ok but were not as big, original or newsworthy as the preceding season's. I think we need to be opportunistic and to build alliances with other supporters. That said, I think the real battleground should be in Belgium. Roly doesn't like being humiliated in front of his compatriots, and that is exactly where we should hit him.
Then again maybe we should all just buy the new away kit. After all it's a lovely shade of blue and it's got chevrons. Having your club wrecked is surely a small price to pay for such a magnificent garment.
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Don't think that means I've lost sight of the real battle in freeing us of robbing Roly and rebuilding our club. That said, I do think there is a case of resistance fatigue among some people.
The only solution is wins actually, and if we are our usual chite then the gloves are off.
It does seem quiet I grant you, but remember it was only mid-May when CAFC fans padlocked the STVV training ground gates and left various anti-regime protest placards attached the the fences. And only three or four weeks after that, a small group of CAFC fans were back in Sint Truiden to discuss possible future joint action against Duchatelet, along with our friends GrAS. On that occasion I believe a large "Roland Out" sticker was left, attached to the entrance-lobby wall of Duchatelet's apartment.
I can assure anyone who has concerns, there are several "very interesting" protest ideas being developed and evaluated right now, with a view to initiating them at the earliest opportunity.
Problem is, we love our Club. Whatever shit they want to dump on us, it's a new season coming on us. We're optimistic. It's what being a football fan is all about.
We're going up. At least we believe we can until the first ten games tell us otherwise.
I detest this regime. I've protested, both at Charlton and in Belgium (more than once). But no matter what shit they throw at me, Charlton are a massive part of my life. It's like a drug. I'm hooked. I tried cold turkey last season. No season ticket and only attending home games when I got a free ticket. But I went to eleven away games which the Club still got some of my money.
I need this drug as much as I've always needed it. It's not the quality of football - that's easy to ignore. It's the fact that I'm Charlton. Always have been. And that means a match day with my mates who are also Charlton. Whether I meet them every other week or know them by a nod of acknowledgement in a pub in Rochdale.
I'm so looking forward to the Pirates game. A team my Dad supported. A new season. A fresh start. Fresh hope.
And I will be buying tickets for the game for myself, my son and my stepson.
I'll continue to protest, as and when it's needed, whether here or in Belgium. I'm lucky, I can afford to, both in time and money.
But I need to be there on 5th August. Because I'm a Charlton fan. And we're going to get promoted this season.
Aren't we?
Yes, the regime has sacked manager after manager, but most, if not all, were necessary (apart, obviously, for SCP). Its not as if they sacked a successful manager that had won match after match & played exciting football, & most supporters were in agreement with those decisions.
A new kit launch is nothing new & just because fans may be discussing it doesn't mean they are in the wrong. Its a new kit & I, for one, may buy it (I prefer a blue top as I find it more "acceptable" and "non-football" than a red one.
The club hasn't decimated the home support - every individual can decide for themselves whether they attend matches or not. I have protested, stood up & sang "Roland out", thrown pigs, taxi's & stress balls as well as buying a protest shirt - but all the while I've attended 95% of home games and around 30% of away ones. I may be in a very small minority, but as a non-appeaser I would rather everyone attends The Valley again, getting attendances back to the pre-regime levels - mainly to show them that they can't win, no matter what they do, but also because a packed Valley would help the team (& it looks a lot better than thousands of empty seats)
I do agree with you on ne point - the protests should be stepped up this season, but in Belguim - at his home ground & his favourite restaurant. Show him that we are not his bastard child that he doesn't want to acknowledge, but a model offspring, that should be looked after, cherished & loved.
New season approaching, in the third tier, most probably played out in front of our lowest home crowds since Selhurst days.
Roland Out.
Yes, I AM Charlton 'til I die. End of.
Yes, I AM an anti regimer & will continue to protest until they've gone.
And, yes, this close season has been unlike any other for me.
Why ?
Well, I normally spend May, June & July , champing at the bit waiting for the fixtures to be announced, planning the away trips to grounds old & new , scrutinising CL & even the OS for any news of signings and finally , when anticipation reaches fever pitch, welcoming the new season with a sigh of relief amid feelings of nervous excitement .
Summer 2017 has been somewhat different, viewed from Fanackapan Towers.
Whilst there is no way I'll be missing from the majority of games both home & away from 5th August onwards ( health permitting ) a numbness has stealthily crept up on me, well, in certain areas above the belt, affecting my ability to feel any emotion regarding the approaching season. I'm honestly unmoved by rumours of potential signings, departures, new kits & expectations over the next 10 months or so. In other words, it's abundantly clear that much as I yearn for success for our club, I just cannot feel the same sense of attachment under this owner. And, like it or not, explain it or not, that's the way it is.
Call me stubborn; call me unfathomable; call me deluded - I'm possibly all three but don't tell me I'm not a Charlton supporter, through & through , and with all my heart. That in a nutshell is why I shall not rest until OUR club is in the hands of someone who respects us, and who we can respect in turn in the knowledge that he/she will re-install the values that our beloved club epitomises.
So, when the doors open on another season, marred by the dark shadow that still hangs over our heads, I'll be there, waiting patiently to see how it unfolds and hence, how I may play my part when the time comes. I agree with @Stig that further trips to Belgium may be required in order to remind Roland that we won't go away until he leaves.
If that is the case, then, as a devoted Addick, I know what I have to do.
I won't be attending any games, home or away, this season, as I couldn't care less whether we win or not (at least when Millwall were in the same division there were two games that I wanted us to win, irrespective of anything else!). I certainly don't want us to get promotion while he remains as owner. I doubt that I'll even attend any protests at The Valley, if there are any this year, as I think that they have had their day and I don't believe that they bother Roland in any way. I will consider returning to Belgium for further protests, as this, I believe, is where any battle with the rat and the squirrel will be won or lost.
Protests at The Valley will not be the same now the 5000 missing supporters are not around.
Kashi returning strengthens the midfield but serious doubts remain over his fitness to get through a whole season. Ceballos looks like he will be gone.
No real backup for Magennis. Ajose and Vetokele shipped out and not replaced.
Positives we kept Holmes and the away kit looks nice. And we have kept the same manager.
We'll be told to judge after 10 games and then Christmas, by which time the wheels will have fallen off and we'll spend January to May trying to fix things.
Every day that Meire is in charge the losing mentality at the club remains acceptable.
A lot the fans now care as little about the club as he does.
Not in those words, but that was the feeling I picked up on.
I truly believe this is their final crack at it. They've been hit with a massive reduction (again) of ST sales. The squad in my opinion looks well short of anything like a promotion campaign and the ever present uncertainty of RD as owner means KR could be given the boot if we go on a bad run or if one day RD wakes up and has a bad croissant
Then, everything KM said will be irrelevant because it will be like ground hog day. They aren't competent. RD for me is unknown quantity (still) who has erratic tendancies.
They will blow it again and I'll be very surprised if we see them past next season.
The fact that it may seem a little quiet again or even slightly optimistic on here is more testament to us as fans and the respect we pay to the new players and old. We gave Slade that chance at the start of last season, we're giving KR a chance now in his first (full) season
However I see nothing new than the same old, same old under them and if that's the case, I'll be outside in the west car park supporting CARD
They have had no valid reason to hold the supporters in such low regard, and apart from the general shite on the pitch, I can no longer invest in anything they say or do as a result, so I'm afraid I'm out.
I hate this regime with all my heart and will never stop campaigning to get them out.
i think the little bubbles of positivity are because people are judging them against what has gone before and I guess it's fair to say that they have kept a lower profile and made fewer serious screw ups in the past 6 months.
But we should judge them against how a football club should be run and how it should treat and engage with its fans. On that basis they remain pathetically inadequate.
Myself along with many others are not going any more, so my disgust at the regime is unheard.
KM you should be, but are not, ashamed of yourself.
Seeing the excitement from some over the launch of our away kit was beginning to trouble me a little. Some people will always get more excited over being able to buy a new kit than others and I'm definitely a bit nonplussed over kit launches. That's without factoring in not wanting to give them a penny more than necessary.
I know it's not happening but I'm hoping that not one single replica shirt is purchased. That would be the message to send.
Nothing has really changed over the summer, we've bought some players, others have left, just like everyone else in the league. But we still have a thin squad with gaps in it, just like every other year they've been here.
They are still here, unfortunately, but their goodwill boat sailed a long time ago. I'm certainly not going to start cutting them slack just because they have kept KM locked in a cupboard and managed not to make a mess up over the summer.
That's the minimum requirement for running a football club, not something to be celebrated.
The cycle of failure, denial, superficial change and then pleading for time goes on and on and on. And all the time they are not only causing misery to thousands of decent Charlton fans but they are making it ever more difficult for future owners to repair the lasting damage.
Still Katrien, you have another bite of the cherry, and another, and another.
Not only are they incompetent at running a football club, they are pathetic as human beings.
After the January transfer window KR said research has been done and he knew what players needed recruiting in the summer but obviously that is proving harder than he thought.
The squad is still looking very thin and lacking quality in depth with two fighting for each position which I believe KR also said.
Playing a faster tempo (KR likes to do) looks like only being achieved by making the players fitter and not from recruitment. I hope decent signing can be made but I remain sceptical.