Jeeesus, so depressing. How's the Protest Fund looking? Have we got enough to cover the cost of a decent hitman (and I'm not talking about a 20 goal a season striker)?
Delete. Even though it was a joke.
Why?
Because some twat might use it against you? No skin off my nose though.
What frustrates me about Jim White is how poor his questioning is. Roland said during today's interview that it isn't about the money he is asking. But we know of bidders prepared to pay £30m - one even announced it with a deadline in the Evening Standard. Surely if you are even a crap journalist, you would explore this a bit with him. It feels to me that he really isn't interested in anything he talks about, and he just has a formula he adheres to and does everything by numbers for what he sees as the gormless plebs that listen to him every day.
I've just listened to the interview. Nothing has changed.
Roland still, after all these years, has his world ideologies and political views clouding his judgement on this.
At risk of being controversial, I have this belief that fundamentally, he's a decent man with good intentions. He wants everyone to have fun, be together, operate on "fair" terms for everyone. He's a true socialist. It's not about the result, it's about people coming together. All well and good, if a bit happy-clappy-hippy-dippy.
Trouble is, that's not the world of competitive sport. Quite the opposite, arguably.
It's tribal.
We WANT to beat the other team. We don't expect to win the Premier League any time soon, but we want to believe that one day, it could happen. We want to believe we are working towards that, and be the next Leicester.
That's why people buy clubs, Roland. That's why they throw stupid money at it. It's a badge of honour, a status symbol, a point of pride. Anyone who gets involved in this game should know that, and be willing to pay the (literal) price.
Roland, you can't come back with the argument "It would all be fine if everyone just chilled out and played by the same rules as me" because that's not the point of owning a competitive football club.
This game isn't for you, Roland. Your attempts to change it are well-intentioned, and admirable. They're also delusional.
You want that sense of community in sports? Go fund several grass-roots teams and have them compete in your own "competition". You have the finances. Then everyone back to yours for dancing, huh?
Please, accept that you aren't going to be the agent of change that you seem to think everyone wants, sell the club to the next chancer, and be done with it. You have no moral obligation for our future.
The EFL might not be sustainable, but that's not your problem either.
When it all goes wrong, you can stand back and say "I told you so."
And we won't care.
I want to "like" this, as it is very convincing. But I honestly don't think it is the case and I also think it's too generous towards Roland.
I believe he is entirely driven by money, something surely a 'true socialist' is never about? He's lost money at Charlton due to his own errors. But will now not sell, until he gets that lost money back.
He thought he could make money from football in England. And maybe the FFP rule change ruined this for him, but the notion that he was /is interested in a club existing for "the sense of community" is to me not something I've seen much evidence of in the time he has been in control. Maybe recent small gestures with the likes of Lyle Taylor going to visit the terminally ill could count; but let's face it, that is probably driven by Bowyer, Taylor and other people within the club.
Does he really see himself as a custodian of Charlton, like Andy Holt does for Accrington Stanley? I believe not. He is rather the owner who now has the sole aim of turning a profit and recouping losses from the club by spending next to nothing and selling young talent where possible.
And for that reason I believe he will not be "done with it" until he (as Covered End says) gets the money back either through getting someone to pay the price he wants or gambling with (as Airman says) mid league 1 player wages in the championship.
There is perhaps a possibility that he reaches a point where the club loses so much money he accepts defeat. To assist this, supporters could stop going (investing), but the catch 22 is that we could potentially end up with no recognisable club at all. And who wants that? Who wants to stop going to watch THEIR team week in week out, no matter how crap they are?
Some folk on here talk about just stopping going just like that. I don't think it is that straightforward for a lot of people. It's "tribal", not something you can just pack in.
So, Championship clubs lose more money than League 1 clubs. That means he's going to lose even more money this season so why doesn't he make every possible effort to sell instead of effectively warning people off buying? At an increased price to boot!
He's a stubborn bastard and the concept of cutting his losses just isn't in his mind. His business idea is to provide us with a budget for relegation as we'd be easier to sell in League One. The problem is he failed to pull that off in the past as well.
It's a bit like Thai and Chinese businesspeople in Thailand who would rather leave a property empty, often for years, than perceivably lose face by renting at a little cheaper than the price they want even during market downturns.
I don't buy that we would be easier to sell in League One, how does that make any sense? Surely any owner is going to want to buy the club and get it promoted to The Championship!
He won’t lose more as we have a League 1 budget but have Championship income - several million more in TV money plus more ticket sales. However clubs with that sort of budget always get relegated within a couple of seasons.
@Airman Brown even suggested he could make a small profit this season.
He won’t lose more as we have a League 1 budget but have Championship income - several million more in TV money plus more ticket sales. However clubs with that sort of budget always get relegated within a couple of seasons.
@Airman Brown even suggested he could make a small profit this season.
So the club is more attractive if anything, if it stands to make a profit this season.
He won’t lose more as we have a League 1 budget but have Championship income - several million more in TV money plus more ticket sales. However clubs with that sort of budget always get relegated within a couple of seasons.
@Airman Brown even suggested he could make a small profit this season.
So the club is more attractive if anything, if it stands to make a profit this season.
If it was possible to stay up and everybody was happy, probably. But it isn't sustainable sadly, which I think was the point Airman was making.
I think he showed Simon Jordan an uncalled for amount of disrespect.
Let's just put the past to one side for a second. The palace thing is to do with football. This has now become something else.
Simon quite rightly and openly said that he understood at least a part of what Roland was moaning about. Pretty much the only person that has given him the time of day and treated him with a balanced amount of fairness....for the purpose of trying to talk sense and having a meaningful discussion.
Roland didn't appreciate that someone actually attempted to see things from his point of view....even though it is really really clear that Roland is just a complete tosspot bufoon.
Actions speak louder then words.
Roland's action are a disgrace to business to football.
Comments
No skin off my nose though.
We're doomed to put up with him for a while longer aren't we...
A truly twatty Tuesday....
...until tonight's T7 , that is !
I believe he is entirely driven by money, something surely a 'true socialist' is never about? He's lost money at Charlton due to his own errors. But will now not sell, until he gets that lost money back.
He thought he could make money from football in England. And maybe the FFP rule change ruined this for him, but the notion that he was /is interested in a club existing for "the sense of community" is to me not something I've seen much evidence of in the time he has been in control. Maybe recent small gestures with the likes of Lyle Taylor going to visit the terminally ill could count; but let's face it, that is probably driven by Bowyer, Taylor and other people within the club.
Does he really see himself as a custodian of Charlton, like Andy Holt does for Accrington Stanley? I believe not. He is rather the owner who now has the sole aim of turning a profit and recouping losses from the club by spending next to nothing and selling young talent where possible.
And for that reason I believe he will not be "done with it" until he (as Covered End says) gets the money back either through getting someone to pay the price he wants or gambling with (as Airman says) mid league 1 player wages in the championship.
There is perhaps a possibility that he reaches a point where the club loses so much money he accepts defeat. To assist this, supporters could stop going (investing), but the catch 22 is that we could potentially end up with no recognisable club at all. And who wants that? Who wants to stop going to watch THEIR team week in week out, no matter how crap they are?
Some folk on here talk about just stopping going just like that. I don't think it is that straightforward for a lot of people. It's "tribal", not something you can just pack in.
@Airman Brown even suggested he could make a small profit this season.
Oh, hang on...
Let's just put the past to one side for a second. The palace thing is to do with football. This has now become something else.
Simon quite rightly and openly said that he understood at least a part of what Roland was moaning about.
Pretty much the only person that has given him the time of day and treated him with a balanced amount of fairness....for the purpose of trying to talk sense and having a meaningful discussion.
Roland didn't appreciate that someone actually attempted to see things from his point of view....even though it is really really clear that Roland is just a complete tosspot bufoon.
Actions speak louder then words.
Roland's action are a disgrace to business to football.
He is a bastard.