“ A bunch of rich Americans have bought us for passion “ ?
Yes it sounds a bit ott. On the other hand flipping us as soon as we’re in the Championship doesn’t make sense to me. As the profit would be tiny and inconsequential for these billionaires.
Quite possibly they see this project as a “ hobby “. Think about it, the two main men are both at the age/stage of life, with family’s grown up. Time to look around & smell the flowers a little bit more.
Hopefully they would start to “ enjoy the ride “.
Who knows we might see them more often IF we’re promoted.
The previous two ownerships have led to us being run(into the ground) by two/three people who did things their own way and knew f*** all. This time around there are various different individuals with experience. Let us hope it goes well.
He's not pulled the common trick of slagging off the previous owners/staff by saying how awful it is and how much there is to do so as to lessen the pressure on himself and GFP.
He says improvements are needed and performance and return on investment have to improve. Don't think anyone would disagree.
But he's quite vague as to what those required improvements are or what the targets are. OK, publicly quoted targets can just bring pressure (see Mr T Sandgaard formally of this parish) but it is all very vague, very broad stroke and no detail.
What does success look like?
How will commercial success by measured.
If there is a five year plan where ideally will the club be in July 2028? Not league position but in staffing, commercial income, spend per visitor, sponsorship income, etc?
I'm the last person to want wild predictions and much prefer under promise, over deliver but owners to need to articulate some ambition. Otherwise we back at "enjoy the dancing after the game" and "See the premier league stars of the future" territory of the RD
I accept getting the balance between showing ambition and over promising is difficult.
I'm also struggling with the new owners seeing this as a "passion" while it also being an investment.
We haven't seen any demonstration of "passion" from the new owners, most of whom haven't made any public comments IIRC.
I don't believe you have to be born a fan or watched us get thumped at some godforsaken northern hell hole in 1900 and frozen stiff to be a "real" fan.
Any one at any age in any location can get the bug but it's a bit early yet to be talking of "passion".
I hope they do "get it" and that inspires them to run the club well but I'm not sure Charlie telling us that that is the case convinces me, especially when he goes on to say how wealthy they are and so this a relatively small investment for them.
And the proof isn't in the pudding.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating
I'm sure Marc boyan has put something out on twitter , also the Singapore lot have
I reckon there will be a decent pre-season tour abroad next summer, trying to spread the Charlton word. These overseas investors and Charlie boy may see an angle here.
I’ll be honest I have had a number of “chats” with CM now. From a lot on LinkedIn, a few on WhatsApp and in person at the Gills game. I must admit to coming round to him. He does seem to have the role of “front of house” and he seems to be playing it pretty well at the moment. We are moving forward and thee seems to be a bit of money there to strengthen. The senior management team all appear to know their roles and are getting on with stuff rather than shouting about how great they all are.
my optimism hasn’t been this high for a while. Long May it continue hopefully
Charlie has done his home work on Charlton Life for sure.
“I’m not saying no chance – because never say never. Who knows? Some guy could come over the horizon who decides his single biggest wish in life is to buy Charlton. It’s rather like owning a nice house. You don’t want to sell it but then somebody comes along and changes your mind.
All lol's and jokes aside I couldn't help but feel it seems he's been browsing this forum and telling us what we want to hear, I noticed this as well in the interview with the dossier.
In fairness though i wouldn't blame him if he had and I know for a fact that if i owned a club i'd certainly go on its fan forums. It's by far the easiest way to find out what the fans are thinking as you'll find a lot more there than you would at an in-person forum where some people might hold back.
I agree he can just tell us what he thinks we want to hear, but words are cheap and of course he knows as well as we do that the proof will be in the actions him and the club makes.
Charlie has done his home work on Charlton Life for sure.
“I’m not saying no chance – because never say never. Who knows? Some guy could come over the horizon who decides his single biggest wish in life is to buy Charlton. It’s rather like owning a nice house. You don’t want to sell it but then somebody comes along and changes your mind.
All lol's and jokes aside I couldn't help but feel it seems he's been browsing this forum and telling us what we want to hear, I noticed this as well in the interview with the dossier.
In fairness though i wouldn't blame him if he had and I know for a fact that if i owned a club i'd certainly go on its fan forums. It's by far the easiest way to find out what the fans are thinking as you'll find a lot more there than you would at an in-person forum where some people might hold back.
I agree he can just tell us what he thinks we want to hear, but words are cheap and of course he knows as well as we do that the proof will be in the actions him and the club makes pudding
He also made the “no flipping” comment in the interview with the Supporters Trust back in May which was published recently on the Charlton Dossier web page.
For someone that is not involved in the day-to-day running of our club, it seems like every single day he's talking to a different news reporter about us.
Or they are phoning him. They are asking specific questions and he's giving them answers.
Other media outlets google for quotes and regurgitate. Social media does the rest. Usual stuff.
He's obviously seen as the public face of Global Partners and he's here in the UK.
For someone that is not involved in the day-to-day running of our club, it seems like every single day he's talking to a different news reporter about us.
Or they are phoning him. They are asking specific questions and he's giving them answers.
Other media outlets google for quotes and regurgitate. Social media does the rest. Usual stuff.
He's obviously seen as the public face of Global Partners and he's here in the UK.
They can't win, people were moaning that nobody came out to talk after the take over.. now people are moaning about who is doing the talking.
He also made the “no flipping” comment in the interview with the Supporters Trust back in May which was published recently on the Charlton Dossier web page.
The interview was with The Dossier directly but CAST shared it. CAST’s communications to date have been with Rodwell.
He also made the “no flipping” comment in the interview with the Supporters Trust back in May which was published recently on the Charlton Dossier web page.
The interview was with The Dossier directly but CAST shared it. CAST’s communications to date have been with Rodwell.
My idea of “flipping” is where you buy an asset, normally a distressed asset, with the intention of immediately selling on for a profit. Often the tactic of characters who don’t actually have the means to complete the purchase, relying on the genuine purchaser’s funds to finance the purchase.
Selling for a profit is not flipping, it’s trading, and not necessarily the problem, it’s the time scale and the intentions while you own the club that matters in football.
I take CM as saying they are not looking to sell in the short term - no more and no less..
My idea of “flipping” is where you buy an asset, normally a distressed asset, with the intention of immediately selling on for a profit. Often the tactic of characters who don’t actually have the means to complete the purchase, relying on the genuine purchaser’s funds to finance the purchase.
Selling for a profit is not flipping, it’s trading, and not necessarily the problem, it’s the time scale and the intentions while you own the club that matters in football.
I take CM as saying they are not looking to sell in the short term - no more and no less..
I can't work out why football fans seem so against somebody buying a football club, improving it and then moving it on a few years later.
I wonder if other clubs fans demand the owner is a 5th generation fan, a billionaire but also will never sell them
He also made the “no flipping” comment in the interview with the Supporters Trust back in May which was published recently on the Charlton Dossier web page.
This is fantastic, in that case we can wave goodbye the chief burger flipper.
My idea of “flipping” is where you buy an asset, normally a distressed asset, with the intention of immediately selling on for a profit. Often the tactic of characters who don’t actually have the means to complete the purchase, relying on the genuine purchaser’s funds to finance the purchase.
Selling for a profit is not flipping, it’s trading, and not necessarily the problem, it’s the time scale and the intentions while you own the club that matters in football.
I take CM as saying they are not looking to sell in the short term - no more and no less..
I can't work out why football fans seem so against somebody buying a football club, improving it and then moving it on a few years later.
I wonder if other clubs fans demand the owner is a 5th generation fan, a billionaire but also will never sell them
Nobody is against that. The concern was/is that the "improvements" include things like bringing down the running costs by flogging off assets like the academy etc and then passing the buck onto the next schmuck, or just using the club as a glorified laundering/get rich quick con.
Which is very valid fear given that ESI did precisely that.
My idea of “flipping” is where you buy an asset, normally a distressed asset, with the intention of immediately selling on for a profit. Often the tactic of characters who don’t actually have the means to complete the purchase, relying on the genuine purchaser’s funds to finance the purchase.
Selling for a profit is not flipping, it’s trading, and not necessarily the problem, it’s the time scale and the intentions while you own the club that matters in football.
I take CM as saying they are not looking to sell in the short term - no more and no less..
I can't work out why football fans seem so against somebody buying a football club, improving it and then moving it on a few years later.
I wonder if other clubs fans demand the owner is a 5th generation fan, a billionaire but also will never sell them
Nobody is against that. The concern was/is that the "improvements" include things like bringing down the running costs by flogging off assets like the academy etc and then passing the buck onto the next schmuck, or just using the club as a glorified laundering/get rich quick con.
Which is very valid fear given that ESI did precisely that.
It became obvious quite quickly that the words from the ESI actors were inconsistent with actions that followed. Guarded words from Bowyer and evidence of outright lies. early on showed they were in it to personally profit and had no other plan.
So far, everything that's passed is consistent with the words so I think the justified initial fears of "flipping" can be put aside.
To cut costs you simply close the academy. There's enough that could happen going forward that we might be worried about, but flogging assets they don't even own to make a profit that doesn't exist and they can't access in the absence of a trading profit is not one of them.
If and when we see them running down the academy and randomly selling off critical players without replacement we can worry.
"Having no plans to flip the club" is a totally meaningless statement. It's a line from the Tory Book of PR.
With a fast shrinking operational pot and a start that has seen our actual home gates halve since the opening day, Methven will be feeling the heat. He has one last throw of the dice around a new manager but even if that is deemed a 'relative' success, we look likely to remain in League One this season - the squad isn't near strong enough to survive the challenges of a full season and win promotion. That is going to force Methven to take action and I strongly suspect that will be to cut costs now that the chance to sell players has gone for now.
If he can't turn this around sufficiently, either one or more of the investors coughs up another chunk of money or he may be forced to flip the club, in which case I refer to my first sentence. We have to keep reminding ourselves that GFP's interest in Charlton is 100% financial and nothing else.
There is a way to reduce costs without affecting anything significant and that is to replace / cut the senior management team. Mind you can’t see that happening, bit like turkeys voting for Christmas 😀😀.
Chance missed. Surely the thread title should have been Flipping Charlton Athletic
Yeah. Sort of let the cat out of the bag didn't he.. Although not naming our group directly, he did mention why so many American investors are getting involved in English football. The English football pyramid means that due to relegation and promotion you can pick up a club relatively cheap from the lower leagues.Something that you are unable to do in US sport as it's a closed shop in the major sports there You can then achieve success whilst avoiding spending millions on players and wages by bringing in experts in raising revenue and improving performance. You know, someone like Methven and Scott ( Handy that!) The club then gets promoted and it's value increases exponentially. FLIPping marvelous!
So this podcast is a good insight into his thought process. He's clearly singing a bit of a different song to the one he sung to Prague and his dossier.
"Having no plans to flip the club" is a totally meaningless statement. It's a line from the Tory Book of PR.
With a fast shrinking operational pot and a start that has seen our actual home gates halve since the opening day, Methven will be feeling the heat. He has one last throw of the dice around a new manager but even if that is deemed a 'relative' success, we look likely to remain in League One this season - the squad isn't near strong enough to survive the challenges of a full season and win promotion. That is going to force Methven to take action and I strongly suspect that will be to cut costs now that the chance to sell players has gone for now.
If he can't turn this around sufficiently, either one or more of the investors coughs up another chunk of money or he may be forced to flip the club, in which case I refer to my first sentence. We have to keep reminding ourselves that GFP's interest in Charlton is 100% financial and nothing else.
This 12million. Has it actually been paid to Thomas. Can anyone point me in the direction of proof please? I can't even remember if it's actually been mentioned since the new year shenanigans.
Comments
On the other hand flipping us as soon as we’re in the Championship doesn’t make sense to me. As the profit would be tiny and inconsequential for these billionaires.
Quite possibly they see this project as a “ hobby “.
Think about it, the two main men are both at the age/stage of life, with family’s grown up. Time to look around & smell the flowers a little bit more.
Hopefully they would start to “ enjoy the ride “.
This time around there are various different individuals with experience. Let us hope it goes well.
These overseas investors and Charlie boy may see an angle here.
my optimism hasn’t been this high for a while. Long May it continue hopefully
I agree he can just tell us what he thinks we want to hear, but words are cheap and of course he knows as well as we do that the proof will be in the actions him and the club makes.
They are asking specific questions and he's giving them answers.
Other media outlets google for quotes and regurgitate.
Social media does the rest. Usual stuff.
He's obviously seen as the public face of Global Partners and he's here in the UK.
Waitaminute
https://www.charltonafc.com/news/charlie-methven-charltontv-lounge-saturday
Selling for a profit is not flipping, it’s trading, and not necessarily the problem, it’s the time scale and the intentions while you own the club that matters in football.
I take CM as saying they are not looking to sell in the short term - no more and no less..
I wonder if other clubs fans demand the owner is a 5th generation fan, a billionaire but also will never sell them
Which is very valid fear given that ESI did precisely that.
So far, everything that's passed is consistent with the words so I think the justified initial fears of "flipping" can be put aside.
To cut costs you simply close the academy. There's enough that could happen going forward that we might be worried about, but flogging assets they don't even own to make a profit that doesn't exist and they can't access in the absence of a trading profit is not one of them.
If and when we see them running down the academy and randomly selling off critical players without replacement we can worry.
Two episodes so far from early August:
Why would anyone buy a football club
Inside the transfer window
https://shows.acast.com/wheres-the-money-gone
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/wheres-the-money-gone/id1700607219
With a fast shrinking operational pot and a start that has seen our actual home gates halve since the opening day, Methven will be feeling the heat. He has one last throw of the dice around a new manager but even if that is deemed a 'relative' success, we look likely to remain in League One this season - the squad isn't near strong enough to survive the challenges of a full season and win promotion. That is going to force Methven to take action and I strongly suspect that will be to cut costs now that the chance to sell players has gone for now.
If he can't turn this around sufficiently, either one or more of the investors coughs up another chunk of money or he may be forced to flip the club, in which case I refer to my first sentence. We have to keep reminding ourselves that GFP's interest in Charlton is 100% financial and nothing else.
Although not naming our group directly, he did mention why so many American investors are getting involved in English football.
The English football pyramid means that due to relegation and promotion you can pick up a club relatively cheap from the lower leagues.Something that you are unable to do in US sport as it's a closed shop in the major sports there
You can then achieve success whilst avoiding spending millions on players and wages by bringing in experts in raising revenue and improving performance. You know, someone like Methven and Scott ( Handy that!)
The club then gets promoted and it's value increases exponentially. FLIPping marvelous!
So this podcast is a good insight into his thought process. He's clearly singing a bit of a different song to the one he sung to Prague and his dossier.