Cant understand all the early questions about financials before he even joined. It's history, who cares. No wonder he got frustrated at that. Sure, he raised it yesterday but it really is an irrelevance given it was nothing to do with him.
Hopefully we get good news on the academy and Cat 1.
Interesting about partners to buy the property assets "maybe friendly property people". Could it be the Barclay family back as their way in to Charlton?
It was him who brought the £100m up and talked money and referenced Derby
TS said that that split into two categories: clubs like Gillingham and Oxford which have low operating costs, but don’t have the ability to make much revenue; and clubs like Brentford which had focused on player development. He said that Charlton are starting to bring in individual coaches to help players break through with their careers. He said that Brentford didn’t really have an academy, and that he is doing the opposite because “we have an amazing foundation with one of the best academies in the country”. TS continued that he was continuing to develop the player side and focus on buying and seller in a better way than we have done in the past. In terms of being financially prudent, we can’t be like Gillingham, because we have a huge fanbase which we can mobilise. “Hopefully long term we’ll make a profit due to smart player trades.” (So we can be like Brentford ... but not like Brentford).
HA asked how he expects it to pan out for next season. TS said that the club is trying to be more consistent in getting good football players rather than just those who are good at getting the long balls (What?). He said that we will continue to build a squad that could do well at Championship level. TS said that we made some improvements in the midfield, but he’s looking to make more. He said that that will always be his key focus. He said that if George Dobson had better players around him, he could play at Premier League level. “I’m going to focus a lot on the attacking midfielder, and also players who can get the ball up (What?).” TS also mentioned Ryan Innis being out with injuries, and that we need to make improvements at the back. He said that there will be a minimum of a couple of players who will give us a significant boost.
TS said it comes back to his strategy for the business side, which is to increase revenues. “I have a strong belief that we can increase sponsorship revenues and ticket sales, get more food and drink sales, and increase hospitality sales.” He said that he is willing to make the investment in not necessarily seeing bigger short-term revenues, but first and foremost getting every seat filled. He said that if a sponsor sees a full stadium, it’s more likely they’ll be willing to get involved. “That’s where it all starts. (Umm ... no, Thomas. It starts with a decent team)” TS said he has tested a number of things, including things we may not have noticed, and some have worked and others haven’t. He said people have been handing out tickets at events at the O2, but hardly any of those were used. TS said that giving season ticket holders the ability to bring three friends was initially very popular but dropped off. He also mentioned initiatives with grassroots football clubs and schools in the area, which he said has some momentum. TS also mentioned an initiative with the University of Greenwich, but said there seemed to be absolutely no interest there in them coming to football games (So, actually ... none of them have worked, have they, Thomas?). TS said the club is using consultants on this. “I’m not letting up until that stadium is full. Period.” (Then you might want to prioritise on a decent team. No charge, no consultant's fee ... you can have that one for free, Thomas).
Related to that, HA said that people are questioning the value for money with their season tickets due to the free tickets available. She asked what TS’s strategy for season tickets is for next season. TS said he intends to put a good effort into ensuring the club has as many season ticket holders as possible. We have a little over 10,000 season ticket holders at the moment, and TS wants to continue to build on that figure. “That’s the basis of how we grow our club. We want to make sure that they get as much attention as possible, and we serve them as well as we possibly can.” TS said that, in parallel with that, we need to bring more people into the stadium, which might include people who have never seen a football game before, or never seen a Charlton game before. He mentioned that we have never really extended our reach beyond Greenwich, which we need to do, because there are fans all over London, and all over England. TS said that South London will get a lot more attention. (Yes, they'll just come flying in from (insert place with no easy access to a professional football team) to see us lose at home to Oxford).
HA picked back up on the player interactions. TS said he’s looking at a structured process for signatures and meeting players, and a system that the players know. He said it’s a big part of the experience. “I want the overall experience, from when someone leaves home to when they get back, to be as great as it can be.” (Start with the result on the pitch, Thomas. No charge).
Tom and Rosh asked whether TS has considered some friendly investors to share the load. TS said that he had not at this time, and that it’s probably not necessary. One possibility is a potential acquisition of the Valley and the training ground, but it might make more business sense to have some friendly real estate investors. He said that it might also be that we end up in “that weird place in the Championship where it would take a long time and a lot of money to get into the Premier League”. He said that he thinks he can avoid that by “just being smarter about how we run this business.” (That's great news because no investor will be remotely interested, Thomas. You have nothing but debt and running costs to sell).
Mike asked what went wrong in last summer’s transfer window. TS said that one of two agents “really managed to screw up two main targets for us”. He said that “when you literally have a deal in place and you see them being shopped around other clubs, that’s very frustrating.” TS said that, other than that, he thinks we got a good start on building the club we want for the future. We brought in several young, hungry players who will continue to improve. “I don’t think we got a whole lot wrong. We missed out on a few opportunities. Realistically, you should probably expect that, but I’m very competitive.” (So why are we currently 16th in League 1, Thomas? Maybe we got a lot wrong ... or does 'very competitive' mean OK with mid-table?).
I could go on, but it hurts me to do so.
The man is a half-wit.
Sounds like you have the perfect expertise. Have you considered applying for CEO?
Yes, happy to advise. I'm retired now, but operate a business improvement consultancy.
I'm not cheap ... but you get value for money.
Maybe let Thomas know if you speak to him?
I somehow doubt he would retain anyone who called him 'A half-wit'.
Sadly having worked for many years in an environment run by yanks (yes I know he is not one but he has taken on the bad habits of one) he just comes across as a typical one.
Full of ideas and promise (bull shit), knowing in his own mind that he is mostly right, willing to throw money at projects but misses the real obvious things to do, but finally doesn’t take on board ideas from people with more experience.
The sense of entitlement and self importance and self proceed expertise has proved to be mind boggling.
I'm referring to some posts on here. Not Thomas, of course. He's shelling out millions and millions, which gives him a bit more say that someone buying a bloody ticket.
Increasingly, I am failing to see any appreciable difference between Thomas and son Martin versus Roland and niece Katrien.
In truth, Roland's flawed strategy to run a network of European clubs and cut out the influence of agents was at least coherent. His main error was poor communications and replacing football experts with amateurs and sycophants..
I have no idea what Thomas' strategy is, except to be the centre of attention.
TS said that that split into two categories: clubs like Gillingham and Oxford which have low operating costs, but don’t have the ability to make much revenue; and clubs like Brentford which had focused on player development. He said that Charlton are starting to bring in individual coaches to help players break through with their careers. He said that Brentford didn’t really have an academy, and that he is doing the opposite because “we have an amazing foundation with one of the best academies in the country”. TS continued that he was continuing to develop the player side and focus on buying and seller in a better way than we have done in the past. In terms of being financially prudent, we can’t be like Gillingham, because we have a huge fanbase which we can mobilise. “Hopefully long term we’ll make a profit due to smart player trades.” (So we can be like Brentford ... but not like Brentford).
HA asked how he expects it to pan out for next season. TS said that the club is trying to be more consistent in getting good football players rather than just those who are good at getting the long balls (What?). He said that we will continue to build a squad that could do well at Championship level. TS said that we made some improvements in the midfield, but he’s looking to make more. He said that that will always be his key focus. He said that if George Dobson had better players around him, he could play at Premier League level. “I’m going to focus a lot on the attacking midfielder, and also players who can get the ball up (What?).” TS also mentioned Ryan Innis being out with injuries, and that we need to make improvements at the back. He said that there will be a minimum of a couple of players who will give us a significant boost.
TS said it comes back to his strategy for the business side, which is to increase revenues. “I have a strong belief that we can increase sponsorship revenues and ticket sales, get more food and drink sales, and increase hospitality sales.” He said that he is willing to make the investment in not necessarily seeing bigger short-term revenues, but first and foremost getting every seat filled. He said that if a sponsor sees a full stadium, it’s more likely they’ll be willing to get involved. “That’s where it all starts. (Umm ... no, Thomas. It starts with a decent team)” TS said he has tested a number of things, including things we may not have noticed, and some have worked and others haven’t. He said people have been handing out tickets at events at the O2, but hardly any of those were used. TS said that giving season ticket holders the ability to bring three friends was initially very popular but dropped off. He also mentioned initiatives with grassroots football clubs and schools in the area, which he said has some momentum. TS also mentioned an initiative with the University of Greenwich, but said there seemed to be absolutely no interest there in them coming to football games (So, actually ... none of them have worked, have they, Thomas?). TS said the club is using consultants on this. “I’m not letting up until that stadium is full. Period.” (Then you might want to prioritise on a decent team. No charge, no consultant's fee ... you can have that one for free, Thomas).
Related to that, HA said that people are questioning the value for money with their season tickets due to the free tickets available. She asked what TS’s strategy for season tickets is for next season. TS said he intends to put a good effort into ensuring the club has as many season ticket holders as possible. We have a little over 10,000 season ticket holders at the moment, and TS wants to continue to build on that figure. “That’s the basis of how we grow our club. We want to make sure that they get as much attention as possible, and we serve them as well as we possibly can.” TS said that, in parallel with that, we need to bring more people into the stadium, which might include people who have never seen a football game before, or never seen a Charlton game before. He mentioned that we have never really extended our reach beyond Greenwich, which we need to do, because there are fans all over London, and all over England. TS said that South London will get a lot more attention. (Yes, they'll just come flying in from (insert place with no easy access to a professional football team) to see us lose at home to Oxford).
HA picked back up on the player interactions. TS said he’s looking at a structured process for signatures and meeting players, and a system that the players know. He said it’s a big part of the experience. “I want the overall experience, from when someone leaves home to when they get back, to be as great as it can be.” (Start with the result on the pitch, Thomas. No charge).
Tom and Rosh asked whether TS has considered some friendly investors to share the load. TS said that he had not at this time, and that it’s probably not necessary. One possibility is a potential acquisition of the Valley and the training ground, but it might make more business sense to have some friendly real estate investors. He said that it might also be that we end up in “that weird place in the Championship where it would take a long time and a lot of money to get into the Premier League”. He said that he thinks he can avoid that by “just being smarter about how we run this business.” (That's great news because no investor will be remotely interested, Thomas. You have nothing but debt and running costs to sell).
Mike asked what went wrong in last summer’s transfer window. TS said that one of two agents “really managed to screw up two main targets for us”. He said that “when you literally have a deal in place and you see them being shopped around other clubs, that’s very frustrating.” TS said that, other than that, he thinks we got a good start on building the club we want for the future. We brought in several young, hungry players who will continue to improve. “I don’t think we got a whole lot wrong. We missed out on a few opportunities. Realistically, you should probably expect that, but I’m very competitive.” (So why are we currently 16th in League 1, Thomas? Maybe we got a lot wrong ... or does 'very competitive' mean OK with mid-table?).
I could go on, but it hurts me to do so.
The man is a half-wit.
That makes depressing reading, he really doesn't have a clue does he ?
The sense of entitlement and self importance and self proceed expertise has proved to be mind boggling.
I'm referring to some posts on here. Not Thomas, of course. He's shelling out millions and millions, which gives him a bit more say that someone buying a bloody ticket.
Agree, many are like spoilt ungrateful children.
The claims he's making terrible decisions because he's got no football experience, judged by people with... no football experience.
Nothing has changed from his very first tweet really. He's still a likeable, enthusiastic guy, that enthusiasm can be determined in different ways, pessimists will feel it's because he's got a diamond in the (potential) cat 1 academy, cultists will feel it's because he's a fan.
He's got a business plan and that's to turn the club break even, the Roland comparisons will keep on coming and that's fair given Sandgaard, ultimately, wants to achieve the same thing, and really, in the same way -THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE'LL ACT THE SAME AS RD, so cultists stop getting your knickers in twist and demanding people fork out 8 million to have a say.
The reluctance to take on industry know how and go it alone is a strange one, just making things that little more difficult for himself... However, reading between a few lines Sandgaard doesn't really see it as the "football industry" but more the "entertainment business"
The talk around transfers has shined a bit more light on the process, data first then looked at with human eyes both in person and YouTube compilations, Sandy has known Martin for a few years and trusts him as he's a very good data modeller, Martín's role means Gallen can spend more time negotiating, they work well together. Sandgaard's input is a little more than signing off cheques, he runs the rule over the targets to make sure they don't deviate from the plan - young, energetic, baller's - He'll have a watch of the scouting videos as well.
Tbh, some of the thought process and ideas are as baffling as Roland's, does that mean I want ESI back, no, it's eyebrow raising at the moment but he has some humility about him and can own up to mistakes so the potential to change his ways is there, it would be a pretty big waste of time and money if we have to go a few shite league one seasons before getting to that point though.
Do I want his plan to work, yes, do I think it will, not really.
As some other poster used to say, bumpy ride (although this time the cars taxed and mot'd)
summer recruitment - expects 2- 4 players to sign on in summer with some retained - (negotiations going on now), some players loaned out and maybe some sold... expects 1 experienced player to sign on with the rest of the perms investments, will fill out squad with 5-6 inexpensive (but good!) loans
So we're signing anything between 7-10 players with a mix of perms and loans..........same as every other summer then.
summer recruitment - expects 2- 4 players to sign on in summer with some retained - (negotiations going on now), some players loaned out and maybe some sold... expects 1 experienced player to sign on with the rest of the perms investments, will fill out squad with 5-6 inexpensive (but good!) loans
So we're signing anything between 7-10 players with a mix of perms and loans..........same as every other summer then.
summer recruitment - expects 2- 4 players to sign on in summer with some retained - (negotiations going on now), some players loaned out and maybe some sold... expects 1 experienced player to sign on with the rest of the perms investments, will fill out squad with 5-6 inexpensive (but good!) loans
So we're signing anything between 7-10 players with a mix of perms and loans..........same as every other summer then.
Not really. He was making the point that we have been buying players for the long term that they believe will develop and improve and be able to play in the Championship. He used Dobson as an example and said you could see him playing in the Premiership with better players around him. Also mentioned Lavelle who he said was young. This summer we shall continue with this by buying two ‘mark’ players ( I assume that means v. good) and maybe as many as five. The two players were an attacking midfielder and a player who can hold the ball up front. I took that to be a big striker.
I guess one of these is young and one experienced and that discussions have already started, but that is very much my take on what was said.
I would also add that the comments about his son and Fraser may not be fair. I would have to listen again but I thought he was talking about tracking good players who were not playing for their club who may therefore be available - like Fraser.
Increasingly, I am failing to see any appreciable difference between Thomas and son Martin versus Roland and niece Katrien.
In truth, Roland's flawed strategy to run a network of European clubs and cut out the influence of agents was at least coherent. His main error was poor communications and replacing football experts with amateurs and sycophants..
I have no idea what Thomas' strategy is, except to be the centre of attention.
It is different because he wants to be involved in everything and tries to communicate in a very down to earth manner.
Whether he can pull it off is another thing as I said earlier he is going to do it his way but he’s dedicated to spending a lot of money in this way for the foreseeable future.
To your last point he seems like a good guy he’s no Simon Jordan
The sense of entitlement and self importance and self proceed expertise has proved to be mind boggling.
I'm referring to some posts on here. Not Thomas, of course. He's shelling out millions and millions, which gives him a bit more say that someone buying a bloody ticket.
I agree entirely Major. Sense of entitlement is the exact phrase I had in my mind as I was reading this thread last night. Of course Thomas is not perfect and I don't agree with everything he says, but having watched last night, I’m convinced that he has his heart and mind on achieving the best for our club. I think we just have to be a bit patient.
Thank you to CAST for organising last night's professionally delivered webinar.
Nothing has changed from his very first tweet really. He's still a likeable, enthusiastic guy, that enthusiasm can be determined in different ways, pessimists will feel it's because he's got a diamond in the (potential) cat 1 academy, cultists will feel it's because he's a fan.
He's got a business plan and that's to turn the club break even, the Roland comparisons will keep on coming and that's fair given Sandgaard, ultimately, wants to achieve the same thing, and really, in the same way -THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE'LL ACT THE SAME AS RD, so cultists stop getting your knickers in twist and demanding people fork out 8 million to have a say.
The reluctance to take on industry know how and go it alone is a strange one, just making things that little more difficult for himself... However, reading between a few lines Sandgaard doesn't really see it as the "football industry" but more the "entertainment business"
The talk around transfers has shined a bit more light on the process, data first then looked at with human eyes both in person and YouTube compilations, Sandy has known Martin for a few years and trusts him as he's a very good data modeller, Martín's role means Gallen can spend more time negotiating, they work well together. Sandgaard's input is a little more than signing off cheques, he runs the rule over the targets to make sure they don't deviate from the plan - young, energetic, baller's - He'll have a watch of the scouting videos as well.
Tbh, some of the thought process and ideas are as baffling as Roland's, does that mean I want ESI back, no, it's eyebrow raising at the moment but he has some humility about him and can own up to mistakes so the potential to change his ways is there, it would be a pretty big waste of time and money if we have to go a few shite league one seasons before getting to that point though.
Do I want his plan to work, yes, do I think it will, not really.
As some other poster used to say, bumpy ride (although this time the cars taxed and mot'd)
summer recruitment - expects 2- 4 players to sign on in summer with some retained - (negotiations going on now), some players loaned out and maybe some sold... expects 1 experienced player to sign on with the rest of the perms investments, will fill out squad with 5-6 inexpensive (but good!) loans
So we're signing anything between 7-10 players with a mix of perms and loans..........same as every other summer then.
Not really. He was making the point that we have been buying players for the long term that they believe will develop and improve and be able to play in the Championship. He used Dobson as an example and said you could see him playing in the Premiership with better players around him. Also mentioned Lavelle who he said was young. This summer we shall continue with this by buying two ‘mark’ players ( I assume that means v. good) and maybe as many as five. The two players were an attacking midfielder and a player who can hold the ball up front. I took that to be a big striker.
I guess one of these is young and one experienced and that discussions have already started, but that is very much my take on what was said.
I would also add that the comments about his son and Fraser may not be fair. I would have to listen again but I thought he was talking about tracking good players who were not playing for their club who may therefore be available - like Fraser.
The Fraser signing was used as an example of Martin's data modelling as Fraser had become a "forgotten man" at Ipswich, which meant we could do a deal. Tbh, I'd just read it as a business owner talking up his staff member and process more than anything.
“S said that, in parallel with that, we need to bring more people into the stadium, which might include people who have never seen a football game before, or never seen a Charlton game before. He mentioned that we have never really extended our reach beyond Greenwich, which we need to do, because there are fans all over London, and all over England. TS said that South London will get a lot more attention.”
This, as every Charlton fan knows, would be complete tosh, although I think he qualified it with “in recent years”, which is closer to the truth. Greenwich is about 20% of season-ticket holders and a huge amount of work was done outside the borough over two decades by both club and fans.
The fact “there are fans all over London” is a red herring. There will be relatively few fans in London outside of the SE London boroughs/DA postcodes who don’t have roots in the latter area. There is way too much competition and noise to get any traction elsewhere in London and transport links are a significant factor too.
Charlton have badly neglected Kent (and part of East Sussex) in recent years and the sensible thing is to promote support where there is a Valley Express infrastructure to underpin it. This extended to schools and football teams on a large scale in the past but that work, which yielded new people still going today, has been largely abandoned.
it’s not the only thing that works and different strategies are needed locally but you are not going to redraw the map of London by giving free tickets away in areas that do not identify with Charlton at all, as is happening at present. It’s not how London works.
Nothing has changed from his very first tweet really. He's still a likeable, enthusiastic guy, that enthusiasm can be determined in different ways, pessimists will feel it's because he's got a diamond in the (potential) cat 1 academy, cultists will feel it's because he's a fan.
He's got a business plan and that's to turn the club break even, the Roland comparisons will keep on coming and that's fair given Sandgaard, ultimately, wants to achieve the same thing, and really, in the same way -THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE'LL ACT THE SAME AS RD, so cultists stop getting your knickers in twist and demanding people fork out 8 million to have a say.
The reluctance to take on industry know how and go it alone is a strange one, just making things that little more difficult for himself... However, reading between a few lines Sandgaard doesn't really see it as the "football industry" but more the "entertainment business"
The talk around transfers has shined a bit more light on the process, data first then looked at with human eyes both in person and YouTube compilations, Sandy has known Martin for a few years and trusts him as he's a very good data modeller, Martín's role means Gallen can spend more time negotiating, they work well together. Sandgaard's input is a little more than signing off cheques, he runs the rule over the targets to make sure they don't deviate from the plan - young, energetic, baller's - He'll have a watch of the scouting videos as well.
Tbh, some of the thought process and ideas are as baffling as Roland's, does that mean I want ESI back, no, it's eyebrow raising at the moment but he has some humility about him and can own up to mistakes so the potential to change his ways is there, it would be a pretty big waste of time and money if we have to go a few shite league one seasons before getting to that point though.
Do I want his plan to work, yes, do I think it will, not really.
As some other poster used to say, bumpy ride (although this time the cars taxed and mot'd)
After watching that good recruitment still feels like the key area hide to TS to get right. That’s not necessarily solved by having an experienced football CEO. He’s perhaps been burnt after the failed appointments of Adkins and Roddy (he mentioned it was expensive to part with Nigel), so he’s gone for a more Roland-like approach of appointing someone he trusts in his son (who he’s known for a few years???). Is Martin the best person for the role? Probably not, but from TS point of view how do you separate the good from the Nigels? When talking about a CEO you could see that was his way of thinking, he wants to take as long as it takes to find the right person.
I’m not so concerned about signings like Fraser, it’s the rest of the squad building where there’s so much room to go wrong - we need more Dobsons than Kirks. We need to get them on the right contracts if we’re to sell for a profit and revinest a chunk of it back on the squad (as Brentford have done so well at for years) - Dobson has another year while Kirk has three more.
Unlike Brentford he also wants to use the academy - RD had that idea too, but it resulted in several youngsters padding out the squad who either just not good enough or weren’t ready at the time (Grant).
Get recruitment right and this next batch of youngsters working out then we’ll win more games and his aim to fill the ground will sort itself out. Another summer like the last one and we’ll be closer to League 2 than the Championship.
The first sign of the direction we’re heading will be contract renewals. I’d keep Washington as a squad player but beyond that I don’t think there’s any (including the loanees) we need to keep. JFC probably gets another year, Pearce might be player/coach. The red flags for me will be if we keep Inniss, Matthews and Purrington - the former can’t play twice a week and is injury prone, the latter need to go so we have depth in the wing back positions. Without pace, energy and attacking ability Jackson’s formation will fail and in turn Sandgaard’s plans.
summer recruitment - expects 2- 4 players to sign on in summer with some retained - (negotiations going on now), some players loaned out and maybe some sold... expects 1 experienced player to sign on with the rest of the perms investments, will fill out squad with 5-6 inexpensive (but good!) loans
So we're signing anything between 7-10 players with a mix of perms and loans..........same as every other summer then.
Not really. He was making the point that we have been buying players for the long term that they believe will develop and improve and be able to play in the Championship. He used Dobson as an example and said you could see him playing in the Premiership with better players around him. Also mentioned Lavelle who he said was young. This summer we shall continue with this by buying two ‘mark’ players ( I assume that means v. good) and maybe as many as five. The two players were an attacking midfielder and a player who can hold the ball up front. I took that to be a big striker.
I guess one of these is young and one experienced and that discussions have already started, but that is very much my take on what was said.
I would also add that the comments about his son and Fraser may not be fair. I would have to listen again but I thought he was talking about tracking good players who were not playing for their club who may therefore be available - like Fraser.
The Fraser signing was used as an example of Martin's data modelling as Fraser had become a "forgotten man" at Ipswich, which meant we could do a deal. Tbh, I'd just read it as a business owner talking up his staff member and process more than anything.
I am pleased that I did not get that wrong and that you agree that he was not claiming that MS identified Fraser as a player we should sign, but was using it as an example of how MS has developed a data modelling system that will identify and track players that have fallen out of favour at their clubs. He was asked about transfers and answered it using an example we know about.
The application sounds impressive. It is not just about what happened to that player we were interested in. Much more complicated and it should help recruit better players for the team which is good.
I think it is unfair to suggest he was just talking up his son. I think these interviews are more difficult to do than we imagine. Reading summaries can and has lead to incorrect conclusions being drawn. One misses so much of the feeling and sub conscious understanding of what is being said at a meeting when just reading a transcript.
TS said that that split into two categories: clubs like Gillingham and Oxford which have low operating costs, but don’t have the ability to make much revenue; and clubs like Brentford which had focused on player development. He said that Charlton are starting to bring in individual coaches to help players break through with their careers. He said that Brentford didn’t really have an academy, and that he is doing the opposite because “we have an amazing foundation with one of the best academies in the country”. TS continued that he was continuing to develop the player side and focus on buying and seller in a better way than we have done in the past. In terms of being financially prudent, we can’t be like Gillingham, because we have a huge fanbase which we can mobilise. “Hopefully long term we’ll make a profit due to smart player trades.” (So we can be like Brentford ... but not like Brentford).
HA asked how he expects it to pan out for next season. TS said that the club is trying to be more consistent in getting good football players rather than just those who are good at getting the long balls (What?). He said that we will continue to build a squad that could do well at Championship level. TS said that we made some improvements in the midfield, but he’s looking to make more. He said that that will always be his key focus. He said that if George Dobson had better players around him, he could play at Premier League level. “I’m going to focus a lot on the attacking midfielder, and also players who can get the ball up (What?).” TS also mentioned Ryan Innis being out with injuries, and that we need to make improvements at the back. He said that there will be a minimum of a couple of players who will give us a significant boost.
TS said it comes back to his strategy for the business side, which is to increase revenues. “I have a strong belief that we can increase sponsorship revenues and ticket sales, get more food and drink sales, and increase hospitality sales.” He said that he is willing to make the investment in not necessarily seeing bigger short-term revenues, but first and foremost getting every seat filled. He said that if a sponsor sees a full stadium, it’s more likely they’ll be willing to get involved. “That’s where it all starts. (Umm ... no, Thomas. It starts with a decent team)” TS said he has tested a number of things, including things we may not have noticed, and some have worked and others haven’t. He said people have been handing out tickets at events at the O2, but hardly any of those were used. TS said that giving season ticket holders the ability to bring three friends was initially very popular but dropped off. He also mentioned initiatives with grassroots football clubs and schools in the area, which he said has some momentum. TS also mentioned an initiative with the University of Greenwich, but said there seemed to be absolutely no interest there in them coming to football games (So, actually ... none of them have worked, have they, Thomas?). TS said the club is using consultants on this. “I’m not letting up until that stadium is full. Period.” (Then you might want to prioritise on a decent team. No charge, no consultant's fee ... you can have that one for free, Thomas).
Related to that, HA said that people are questioning the value for money with their season tickets due to the free tickets available. She asked what TS’s strategy for season tickets is for next season. TS said he intends to put a good effort into ensuring the club has as many season ticket holders as possible. We have a little over 10,000 season ticket holders at the moment, and TS wants to continue to build on that figure. “That’s the basis of how we grow our club. We want to make sure that they get as much attention as possible, and we serve them as well as we possibly can.” TS said that, in parallel with that, we need to bring more people into the stadium, which might include people who have never seen a football game before, or never seen a Charlton game before. He mentioned that we have never really extended our reach beyond Greenwich, which we need to do, because there are fans all over London, and all over England. TS said that South London will get a lot more attention. (Yes, they'll just come flying in from (insert place with no easy access to a professional football team) to see us lose at home to Oxford).
HA picked back up on the player interactions. TS said he’s looking at a structured process for signatures and meeting players, and a system that the players know. He said it’s a big part of the experience. “I want the overall experience, from when someone leaves home to when they get back, to be as great as it can be.” (Start with the result on the pitch, Thomas. No charge).
Tom and Rosh asked whether TS has considered some friendly investors to share the load. TS said that he had not at this time, and that it’s probably not necessary. One possibility is a potential acquisition of the Valley and the training ground, but it might make more business sense to have some friendly real estate investors. He said that it might also be that we end up in “that weird place in the Championship where it would take a long time and a lot of money to get into the Premier League”. He said that he thinks he can avoid that by “just being smarter about how we run this business.” (That's great news because no investor will be remotely interested, Thomas. You have nothing but debt and running costs to sell).
Mike asked what went wrong in last summer’s transfer window. TS said that one of two agents “really managed to screw up two main targets for us”. He said that “when you literally have a deal in place and you see them being shopped around other clubs, that’s very frustrating.” TS said that, other than that, he thinks we got a good start on building the club we want for the future. We brought in several young, hungry players who will continue to improve. “I don’t think we got a whole lot wrong. We missed out on a few opportunities. Realistically, you should probably expect that, but I’m very competitive.” (So why are we currently 16th in League 1, Thomas? Maybe we got a lot wrong ... or does 'very competitive' mean OK with mid-table?).
TS said that that split into two categories: clubs like Gillingham and Oxford which have low operating costs, but don’t have the ability to make much revenue; and clubs like Brentford which had focused on player development. He said that Charlton are starting to bring in individual coaches to help players break through with their careers. He said that Brentford didn’t really have an academy, and that he is doing the opposite because “we have an amazing foundation with one of the best academies in the country”. TS continued that he was continuing to develop the player side and focus on buying and seller in a better way than we have done in the past. In terms of being financially prudent, we can’t be like Gillingham, because we have a huge fanbase which we can mobilise. “Hopefully long term we’ll make a profit due to smart player trades.” (So we can be like Brentford ... but not like Brentford).
HA asked how he expects it to pan out for next season. TS said that the club is trying to be more consistent in getting good football players rather than just those who are good at getting the long balls (What?). He said that we will continue to build a squad that could do well at Championship level. TS said that we made some improvements in the midfield, but he’s looking to make more. He said that that will always be his key focus. He said that if George Dobson had better players around him, he could play at Premier League level. “I’m going to focus a lot on the attacking midfielder, and also players who can get the ball up (What?).” TS also mentioned Ryan Innis being out with injuries, and that we need to make improvements at the back. He said that there will be a minimum of a couple of players who will give us a significant boost.
TS said it comes back to his strategy for the business side, which is to increase revenues. “I have a strong belief that we can increase sponsorship revenues and ticket sales, get more food and drink sales, and increase hospitality sales.” He said that he is willing to make the investment in not necessarily seeing bigger short-term revenues, but first and foremost getting every seat filled. He said that if a sponsor sees a full stadium, it’s more likely they’ll be willing to get involved. “That’s where it all starts. (Umm ... no, Thomas. It starts with a decent team)” TS said he has tested a number of things, including things we may not have noticed, and some have worked and others haven’t. He said people have been handing out tickets at events at the O2, but hardly any of those were used. TS said that giving season ticket holders the ability to bring three friends was initially very popular but dropped off. He also mentioned initiatives with grassroots football clubs and schools in the area, which he said has some momentum. TS also mentioned an initiative with the University of Greenwich, but said there seemed to be absolutely no interest there in them coming to football games (So, actually ... none of them have worked, have they, Thomas?). TS said the club is using consultants on this. “I’m not letting up until that stadium is full. Period.” (Then you might want to prioritise on a decent team. No charge, no consultant's fee ... you can have that one for free, Thomas).
Related to that, HA said that people are questioning the value for money with their season tickets due to the free tickets available. She asked what TS’s strategy for season tickets is for next season. TS said he intends to put a good effort into ensuring the club has as many season ticket holders as possible. We have a little over 10,000 season ticket holders at the moment, and TS wants to continue to build on that figure. “That’s the basis of how we grow our club. We want to make sure that they get as much attention as possible, and we serve them as well as we possibly can.” TS said that, in parallel with that, we need to bring more people into the stadium, which might include people who have never seen a football game before, or never seen a Charlton game before. He mentioned that we have never really extended our reach beyond Greenwich, which we need to do, because there are fans all over London, and all over England. TS said that South London will get a lot more attention. (Yes, they'll just come flying in from (insert place with no easy access to a professional football team) to see us lose at home to Oxford).
HA picked back up on the player interactions. TS said he’s looking at a structured process for signatures and meeting players, and a system that the players know. He said it’s a big part of the experience. “I want the overall experience, from when someone leaves home to when they get back, to be as great as it can be.” (Start with the result on the pitch, Thomas. No charge).
Tom and Rosh asked whether TS has considered some friendly investors to share the load. TS said that he had not at this time, and that it’s probably not necessary. One possibility is a potential acquisition of the Valley and the training ground, but it might make more business sense to have some friendly real estate investors. He said that it might also be that we end up in “that weird place in the Championship where it would take a long time and a lot of money to get into the Premier League”. He said that he thinks he can avoid that by “just being smarter about how we run this business.” (That's great news because no investor will be remotely interested, Thomas. You have nothing but debt and running costs to sell).
Mike asked what went wrong in last summer’s transfer window. TS said that one of two agents “really managed to screw up two main targets for us”. He said that “when you literally have a deal in place and you see them being shopped around other clubs, that’s very frustrating.” TS said that, other than that, he thinks we got a good start on building the club we want for the future. We brought in several young, hungry players who will continue to improve. “I don’t think we got a whole lot wrong. We missed out on a few opportunities. Realistically, you should probably expect that, but I’m very competitive.” (So why are we currently 16th in League 1, Thomas? Maybe we got a lot wrong ... or does 'very competitive' mean OK with mid-table?).
TS said that that split into two categories: clubs like Gillingham and Oxford which have low operating costs, but don’t have the ability to make much revenue; and clubs like Brentford which had focused on player development. He said that Charlton are starting to bring in individual coaches to help players break through with their careers. He said that Brentford didn’t really have an academy, and that he is doing the opposite because “we have an amazing foundation with one of the best academies in the country”. TS continued that he was continuing to develop the player side and focus on buying and seller in a better way than we have done in the past. In terms of being financially prudent, we can’t be like Gillingham, because we have a huge fanbase which we can mobilise. “Hopefully long term we’ll make a profit due to smart player trades.” (So we can be like Brentford ... but not like Brentford).
HA asked how he expects it to pan out for next season. TS said that the club is trying to be more consistent in getting good football players rather than just those who are good at getting the long balls (What?). He said that we will continue to build a squad that could do well at Championship level. TS said that we made some improvements in the midfield, but he’s looking to make more. He said that that will always be his key focus. He said that if George Dobson had better players around him, he could play at Premier League level. “I’m going to focus a lot on the attacking midfielder, and also players who can get the ball up (What?).” TS also mentioned Ryan Innis being out with injuries, and that we need to make improvements at the back. He said that there will be a minimum of a couple of players who will give us a significant boost.
TS said it comes back to his strategy for the business side, which is to increase revenues. “I have a strong belief that we can increase sponsorship revenues and ticket sales, get more food and drink sales, and increase hospitality sales.” He said that he is willing to make the investment in not necessarily seeing bigger short-term revenues, but first and foremost getting every seat filled. He said that if a sponsor sees a full stadium, it’s more likely they’ll be willing to get involved. “That’s where it all starts. (Umm ... no, Thomas. It starts with a decent team)” TS said he has tested a number of things, including things we may not have noticed, and some have worked and others haven’t. He said people have been handing out tickets at events at the O2, but hardly any of those were used. TS said that giving season ticket holders the ability to bring three friends was initially very popular but dropped off. He also mentioned initiatives with grassroots football clubs and schools in the area, which he said has some momentum. TS also mentioned an initiative with the University of Greenwich, but said there seemed to be absolutely no interest there in them coming to football games (So, actually ... none of them have worked, have they, Thomas?). TS said the club is using consultants on this. “I’m not letting up until that stadium is full. Period.” (Then you might want to prioritise on a decent team. No charge, no consultant's fee ... you can have that one for free, Thomas).
Related to that, HA said that people are questioning the value for money with their season tickets due to the free tickets available. She asked what TS’s strategy for season tickets is for next season. TS said he intends to put a good effort into ensuring the club has as many season ticket holders as possible. We have a little over 10,000 season ticket holders at the moment, and TS wants to continue to build on that figure. “That’s the basis of how we grow our club. We want to make sure that they get as much attention as possible, and we serve them as well as we possibly can.” TS said that, in parallel with that, we need to bring more people into the stadium, which might include people who have never seen a football game before, or never seen a Charlton game before. He mentioned that we have never really extended our reach beyond Greenwich, which we need to do, because there are fans all over London, and all over England. TS said that South London will get a lot more attention. (Yes, they'll just come flying in from (insert place with no easy access to a professional football team) to see us lose at home to Oxford).
HA picked back up on the player interactions. TS said he’s looking at a structured process for signatures and meeting players, and a system that the players know. He said it’s a big part of the experience. “I want the overall experience, from when someone leaves home to when they get back, to be as great as it can be.” (Start with the result on the pitch, Thomas. No charge).
Tom and Rosh asked whether TS has considered some friendly investors to share the load. TS said that he had not at this time, and that it’s probably not necessary. One possibility is a potential acquisition of the Valley and the training ground, but it might make more business sense to have some friendly real estate investors. He said that it might also be that we end up in “that weird place in the Championship where it would take a long time and a lot of money to get into the Premier League”. He said that he thinks he can avoid that by “just being smarter about how we run this business.” (That's great news because no investor will be remotely interested, Thomas. You have nothing but debt and running costs to sell).
Mike asked what went wrong in last summer’s transfer window. TS said that one of two agents “really managed to screw up two main targets for us”. He said that “when you literally have a deal in place and you see them being shopped around other clubs, that’s very frustrating.” TS said that, other than that, he thinks we got a good start on building the club we want for the future. We brought in several young, hungry players who will continue to improve. “I don’t think we got a whole lot wrong. We missed out on a few opportunities. Realistically, you should probably expect that, but I’m very competitive.” (So why are we currently 16th in League 1, Thomas? Maybe we got a lot wrong ... or does 'very competitive' mean OK with mid-table?).
I could go on, but it hurts me to do so.
The man is a half-wit.
That makes depressing reading, he really doesn't have a clue does he ?
Hats off to Thomas for doing the Q&A and answering some tough questions especially considering how poor we’ve been playing. He admits to his mistakes and apologises which is far more than our previous owners have ever done. Hopefully the fans constantly digging and making embarrassing comments about him being skint and relying on hear say and rumour, can now calm down and we can build something next season.
I didn't hear TS last night but listened to his radio interview the night before. He has started talking a lot more about the business side of a club, and there's no doubt he's been a success in business. Probably more so than the majority of us on here. So let's talk about this in business terms.
TS has been a success in business by having good products for the business to sell. He therefore found it easier to sell them than competitors with poorer products. There will have been other factors like marketing and price or course, but if the product is a good-un, it generally will be more popular.
This success can sometimes make businesspeople feel they can sell anything. They can't. They always need to start with a good product.
Has he got a good product at Charlton? Clearly not at the moment. I've brought friends and families to games this season and none have asked to come again.
Many posters above have said the same, and TS clearly knows this to be the case. He also knows that the 'product' is simply the results - not the manager, players, ground or fans. If we'd won the last few games instead of losing them, last night's Q&A would have been very different. There are many things we as fans like to see, youth players coming through, a traditionally coloured kit, decent catering but if we're honest I think the only thing that significantly affects our mood is seeing a team that wins more games than it loses.
Sort that out and the rest will become a lot easier.
"we need to bring more people into the stadium, which might include people who have never seen a football game before, or never seen a Charlton game before. He mentioned that we have never really extended our reach beyond Greenwich, which we need to do, because there are fans all over London, and all over England"
I admire his optimism but as is fairly obvious, this simply isn't going to happen unless we're promoted.
I didn't hear TS last night but listened to his radio interview the night before. He has started talking a lot more about the business side of a club, and there's no doubt he's been a success in business. Probably more so than the majority of us on here. So let's talk about this in business terms.
TS has been a success in business by having good products for the business to sell. He therefore found it easier to sell them than competitors with poorer products. There will have been other factors like marketing and price or course, but if the product is a good-un, it generally will be more popular.
This success can sometimes make businesspeople feel they can sell anything. They can't. They always need to start with a good product.
Has he got a good product at Charlton? Clearly not at the moment. I've brought friends and families to games this season and none have asked to come again.
Many posters above have said the same, and TS clearly knows this to be the case. He also knows that the 'product' is simply the results - not the manager, players, ground or fans. If we'd won the last few games instead of losing them, last night's Q&A would have been very different. There are many things we as fans like to see, youth players coming through, a traditionally coloured kit, decent catering but if we're honest I think the only thing that significantly affects our mood is seeing a team that wins more games than it loses.
Sort that out and the rest will become a lot easier.
There is certainly a lot of truth in what you say, but, as the owner, he cannot rely on always having a winning team. It would be great if he could, but it is simply impossible. He has to try to get people to come when the team is not winning, or at least only winning sometimes.
Some clubs are simply better at this than others (for a variety of reasons, not all of which are in the owner's control), but that needs to be a key focus. For example, Ipswich have if anything been even more disappointing than us, compared to expectations, this year and their home average attendance is 19,571.
Did anybody ask why the opposition keep slipping the ball past Matthews and DJ to score quite easily? That for me, is a clear Ownership based mistake that needs rectifying asap. ;-)
I didn't hear TS last night but listened to his radio interview the night before. He has started talking a lot more about the business side of a club, and there's no doubt he's been a success in business. Probably more so than the majority of us on here. So let's talk about this in business terms.
TS has been a success in business by having good products for the business to sell. He therefore found it easier to sell them than competitors with poorer products. There will have been other factors like marketing and price or course, but if the product is a good-un, it generally will be more popular.
This success can sometimes make businesspeople feel they can sell anything. They can't. They always need to start with a good product.
Has he got a good product at Charlton? Clearly not at the moment. I've brought friends and families to games this season and none have asked to come again.
Many posters above have said the same, and TS clearly knows this to be the case. He also knows that the 'product' is simply the results - not the manager, players, ground or fans. If we'd won the last few games instead of losing them, last night's Q&A would have been very different. There are many things we as fans like to see, youth players coming through, a traditionally coloured kit, decent catering but if we're honest I think the only thing that significantly affects our mood is seeing a team that wins more games than it loses.
Sort that out and the rest will become a lot easier.
There is certainly a lot of truth in what you say, but, as the owner, he cannot rely on always having a winning team. It would be great if he could, but it is simply impossible. He has to try to get people to come when the team is not winning, or at least only winning sometimes.
Some clubs are simply better at this than others (for a variety of reasons, not all of which are in the owner's control), but that needs to be a key focus. For example, Ipswich have if anything been even more disappointing than us, compared to expectations, this year and their home average attendance is 19,571.
Because the only 'good' Club near to Ipswich is miles away, League 2 Colchester. Charlton has Millwall, Palarse, and Premier London teams to compete against. If results were better at the Valley people would be more inclined to come to a game.
Comments
Full of ideas and promise (bull shit), knowing in his own mind that he is mostly right, willing to throw money at projects but misses the real obvious things to do, but finally doesn’t take on board ideas from people with more experience.
I'm referring to some posts on here. Not Thomas, of course. He's shelling out millions and millions, which gives him a bit more say that someone buying a bloody ticket.
Increasingly, I am failing to see any appreciable difference between Thomas and son Martin versus Roland and niece Katrien.
In truth, Roland's flawed strategy to run a network of European clubs and cut out the influence of agents was at least coherent. His main error was poor communications and replacing football experts with amateurs and sycophants..
I have no idea what Thomas' strategy is, except to be the centre of attention.
The claims he's making terrible decisions because he's got no football experience, judged by people with... no football experience.
He's got a business plan and that's to turn the club break even, the Roland comparisons will keep on coming and that's fair given Sandgaard, ultimately, wants to achieve the same thing, and really, in the same way -THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE'LL ACT THE SAME AS RD, so cultists stop getting your knickers in twist and demanding people fork out 8 million to have a say.
The reluctance to take on industry know how and go it alone is a strange one, just making things that little more difficult for himself... However, reading between a few lines Sandgaard doesn't really see it as the "football industry" but more the "entertainment business"
The talk around transfers has shined a bit more light on the process, data first then looked at with human eyes both in person and YouTube compilations, Sandy has known Martin for a few years and trusts him as he's a very good data modeller, Martín's role means Gallen can spend more time negotiating, they work well together. Sandgaard's input is a little more than signing off cheques, he runs the rule over the targets to make sure they don't deviate from the plan - young, energetic, baller's - He'll have a watch of the scouting videos as well.
Tbh, some of the thought process and ideas are as baffling as Roland's, does that mean I want ESI back, no, it's eyebrow raising at the moment but he has some humility about him and can own up to mistakes so the potential to change his ways is there, it would be a pretty big waste of time and money if we have to go a few shite league one seasons before getting to that point though.
Do I want his plan to work, yes, do I think it will, not really.
As some other poster used to say, bumpy ride (although this time the cars taxed and mot'd)
This summer we shall continue with this by buying two ‘mark’ players ( I assume that means v. good) and maybe as many as five. The two players were an attacking midfielder and a player who can hold the ball up front. I took that to be a big striker.
I guess one of these is young and one experienced and that discussions have already started, but that is very much my take on what was said.
I would also add that the comments about his son and Fraser may not be fair. I would have to listen again but I thought he was talking about tracking good players who were not playing for their club who may therefore be available - like Fraser.
Whether he can pull it off is another thing as I said earlier he is going to do it his way but he’s dedicated to spending a lot of money in this way for the foreseeable future.
Thank you to CAST for organising last night's professionally delivered webinar.
The Fraser signing was used as an example of Martin's data modelling as Fraser had become a "forgotten man" at Ipswich, which meant we could do a deal. Tbh, I'd just read it as a business owner talking up his staff member and process more than anything.
This, as every Charlton fan knows, would be complete tosh, although I think he qualified it with “in recent years”, which is closer to the truth. Greenwich is about 20% of season-ticket holders and a huge amount of work was done outside the borough over two decades by both club and fans.
the latter area. There is way too much competition and noise to get any traction elsewhere in London and transport links are a significant factor too.
Charlton have badly neglected Kent (and part of East Sussex) in recent years and the sensible thing is to promote support where there is a Valley Express infrastructure to underpin it. This extended to schools and football teams on a large scale in the past but that work, which yielded new people still going today, has been largely abandoned.
it’s not the only thing that works and different strategies are needed locally but you are not going to redraw the map of London by giving free tickets away in areas that do not identify with Charlton at all, as is happening at present. It’s not how London works.
Bloody cheek!
😉
I’m not so concerned about signings like Fraser, it’s the rest of the squad building where there’s so much room to go wrong - we need more Dobsons than Kirks. We need to get them on the right contracts if we’re to sell for a profit and revinest a chunk of it back on the squad (as Brentford have done so well at for years) - Dobson has another year while Kirk has three more.
Unlike Brentford he also wants to use the academy - RD had that idea too, but it resulted in several youngsters padding out the squad who either just not good enough or weren’t ready at the time (Grant).
Get recruitment right and this next batch of youngsters working out then we’ll win more games and his aim to fill the ground will sort itself out. Another summer like the last one and we’ll be closer to League 2 than the Championship.
The first sign of the direction we’re heading will be contract renewals. I’d keep Washington as a squad player but beyond that I don’t think there’s any (including the loanees) we need to keep. JFC probably gets another year, Pearce might be player/coach. The red flags for me will be if we keep Inniss, Matthews and Purrington - the former can’t play twice a week and is injury prone, the latter need to go so we have depth in the wing back positions. Without pace, energy and attacking ability Jackson’s formation will fail and in turn Sandgaard’s plans.
Reading summaries can and has lead to incorrect conclusions being drawn. One misses so much of the feeling and sub conscious understanding of what is being said at a meeting when just reading a transcript.
Continue? I didn't realise we'd started, given that we don't even have a squad that can do well at league one level.
TS has been a success in business by having good products for the business to sell. He therefore found it easier to sell them than competitors with poorer products. There will have been other factors like marketing and price or course, but if the product is a good-un, it generally will be more popular.
This success can sometimes make businesspeople feel they can sell anything. They can't. They always need to start with a good product.
Has he got a good product at Charlton? Clearly not at the moment. I've brought friends and families to games this season and none have asked to come again.
Many posters above have said the same, and TS clearly knows this to be the case. He also knows that the 'product' is simply the results - not the manager, players, ground or fans. If we'd won the last few games instead of losing them, last night's Q&A would have been very different. There are many things we as fans like to see, youth players coming through, a traditionally coloured kit, decent catering but if we're honest I think the only thing that significantly affects our mood is seeing a team that wins more games than it loses.
Sort that out and the rest will become a lot easier.
I admire his optimism but as is fairly obvious, this simply isn't going to happen unless we're promoted.