"Charlton CEO surprises a young supporter at The Valley"

http://www.cafc.co.uk/news/article/charlton-vip-q-and-a-meeting-filmed-shown-2274139.aspx
"Meanwhile, Meire recently surprised a young season-ticket holder who wrote to the club with some questions of his own.
Rather than send a reply via email, 15-year-old Ben Rudkin was invited into The Valley to speak with Charlton’s CEO personally, before being presented with a signed home shirt.
A short film documenting the meeting can be seen below."

Comments
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She's surprised us all this year. And not in a good way.10
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They're definitely getting their PR exercises in early ahead of Wednesday aren't they?12
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You never miss an opportunity mate, i'll give you that!The Red Robin said:She's surprised us all this year. And not in a good way.
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Maybe a Trust rep should write in as a 16 yo10
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"Out of the hundreds of email we received. yours stood out"
which was probably down to the fact it's a 15 yr old kid that will probably be in awe of the whole situation and won't question any of her answers. Just smacks of a cheap publicity stunt to keep the natives quiet................37 -
She certainly is a very (sexy and) clever woman .. a pity that she has blotted her copybook over the new manager fiasco .. a very intelligent grilling from young Mr Rudkin and clear answers from Ms Meire3
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Its interesting, but leaves the door open for a lot of explanations, which would be resolved if the Network communicated to the fans. I hope the VIP's going tomorrow watch this and ask the supplementary questions that were not asked. Things like "If there is a misunderstanding why don't "you" engage with the vast majority of the fans and explain more clearly what is happening and clarify the misunderstanding."Lincsaddick said:She certainly is a very (sexy and) clever woman .. a pity that she has blotted her copybook over the new manager fiasco .. a very intelligent grilling from young Mr Rudkin and clear answers from Ms Meire
The VIP meeting is part of that clarification process and I hope there are people there who are able to ask the questions out side of the written question requirements.
And, of course, for Bromley Addicks there will be 12th March session with KM, where I am sure, if she goes ahead, a lot of poignant questions will be answered.0 -
I thought the rest of the thread's headline would read, " By telling the truth".5
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If the lad had been on CL rather than FB his questions might have been sharper and reflected more education.7
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Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
People bitch that she never responds.
People bitch when she responded to a young fan.
Who cares if it is a PR stunt - this is the sort of stuff the club did in the past and people praised it as the club was connecting with the fans. For fucks sake why can't some people stop trying to twist everything the club does.37 -
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The type of question that I think would open the door to the most interesting exchange (and I do mean an exchange) would be about why/why not, and the reasons for people attending the Valley. Unravelling that one would almost set an agenda in itself, unless the answers wholly revolved around potholes and vegetarian cheese of course.0
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Because they meant it. Of course you have to care if it's a PR stunt, how could you not!?Swisdom said:Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
People bitch that she never responds.
People bitch when she responded to a young fan.
Who cares if it is a PR stunt - this is the sort of stuff the club did in the past and people praised it as the club was connecting with the fans. For fucks sake why can't some people stop trying to twist everything the club does.
If anything the poor boy must have been absolutely rattled, as he looked it, why did it need to be video'd for youtube? It's all bread and butter for KM as of course she wouldn't get phased by a 15 year old boy put in a nerve-wracking position. Publicity stunt at it's finest.
It's not hard, reply to people's e-mails, AT LEAST the long serving fans of our Football Club. Or better that invite EVERYONE to do the same as this young boy, rather than cherry picking the easy target, so to speak, bless him.17 -
There is "something" I like about her (and its not the obvious!)
I think she is trying to endear herself to "us" I think she has got a very difficult job on her hands. There is no doubt we are better off with Mr Duchatelet in charge and with Ms Meire as his "sidekick" than we was with that last shower of shit in charge. I know people say yes we have a lovely pitch and some lovely shiny red seats but this was something that really had to be sorted, remember last season when we were ALL embarrassed with our pitch, opposition players "forking" "sweeping" the bloody puddles off the mud bath!! I am not for one minute the powers to be but we must be patient, the man has invested a hell of a lot of money in our club, arguably saved us from administration!? We do have some very good players at our club and should definitely be able to compete in this division. I said months ago that the communication from our club was (my exact words) were pants! A lot of people said that we "tweeted" and "posted" more than this club and that club, but I still stand by my words. It is obviously the way Mr Duchatelet works and runs his clubs/ businesses?
We don't really have any choice other than to "stay away" (I'm not sure what good this would do the team?) OR to carry on going and supporting our much loved club, I know which I will be doing, and I will not be chanting any stupid childish "songs" at our manager or our players, I know everyone is entitled to their opinions but I fail to see what good can come of all this negativity. Hopefully Saturday was the start of us going on a little unbeaten run which can only bring confidence to our team. I know the "hardened" fans that remember the 3, 4000 gates we used to get in the old second division and some pretty dire games we had to endure. So I still think we are not in that bad a place in comparison to some famous old clubs.
COYR.........5 -
When the young boy asks about the transparency with the fans and whether this is all just an experiment for Roland her first point of answer is regarding them being the first to invest in the pitch in 16 years as this is a vital part of the club. Even when she goes out of her way to arrange this all she still doesn't answer the lad's questions.
Further on goes to say she wants to answer the questions as honest and as complete as she can... Hmm.
She frustrates me, because I'm sure she's a lovely lady but even she sometimes doesn't look like she believes what she's saying. For a CEO it's a really poor showing, I wonder if the boy felt he got anything from it because I felt like I was watching a lady repeat answers that are repeated despite being to different questions.
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The worrying thing for me CW and I agree with everything you have said, is that they are not learning from their mistakes and the biggest one is that they are not communicating. For a lot of fans a clear explanation as we go on this journey would help a great deal and would have helped earlier. the difficulty now is that after the debacle of January, many are skeptical of what comes out of the mouth of ownership of the club.charliewright1 said:There is "something" I like about her (and its not the obvious!)
I think she is trying to endear herself to "us" I think she has got a very difficult job on her hands. There is no doubt we are better off with Mr Duchatelet in charge and with Ms Meire as his "sidekick" than we was with that last shower of shit in charge. I know people say yes we have a lovely pitch and some lovely shiny red seats but this was something that really had to be sorted, remember last season when we were ALL embarrassed with our pitch, opposition players "forking" "sweeping" the bloody puddles off the mud bath!! I am not for one minute the powers to be but we must be patient, the man has invested a hell of a lot of money in our club, arguably saved us from administration!? We do have some very good players at our club and should definitely be able to compete in this division. I said months ago that the communication from our club was (my exact words) were pants! A lot of people said that we "tweeted" and "posted" more than this club and that club, but I still stand by my words. It is obviously the way Mr Duchatelet works and runs his clubs/ businesses?
We don't really have any choice other than to "stay away" (I'm not sure what good this would do the team?) OR to carry on going and supporting our much loved club, I know which I will be doing, and I will not be chanting any stupid childish "songs" at our manager or our players, I know everyone is entitled to their opinions but I fail to see what good can come of all this negativity. Hopefully Saturday was the start of us going on a little unbeaten run which can only bring confidence to our team. I know the "hardened" fans that remember the 3, 4000 gates we used to get in the old second division and some pretty dire games we had to endure. So I still think we are not in that bad a place in comparison to some famous old clubs.
COYR.........2 -
"Charlton CEO surprises a young supporter at The Valley"
She needs to be careful, otherwise they'll be chants of "Operation Yewtree, it's coming for you".11 -
The kid has great hair.2
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I wonder if so many people had not "stayed away" in the late eighties, we would still be sharing Selhurst Park?charliewright1 said:There is "something" I like about her (and its not the obvious!)
I think she is trying to endear herself to "us" I think she has got a very difficult job on her hands. There is no doubt we are better off with Mr Duchatelet in charge and with Ms Meire as his "sidekick" than we was with that last shower of shit in charge. I know people say yes we have a lovely pitch and some lovely shiny red seats but this was something that really had to be sorted, remember last season when we were ALL embarrassed with our pitch, opposition players "forking" "sweeping" the bloody puddles off the mud bath!! I am not for one minute the powers to be but we must be patient, the man has invested a hell of a lot of money in our club, arguably saved us from administration!? We do have some very good players at our club and should definitely be able to compete in this division. I said months ago that the communication from our club was (my exact words) were pants! A lot of people said that we "tweeted" and "posted" more than this club and that club, but I still stand by my words. It is obviously the way Mr Duchatelet works and runs his clubs/ businesses?
We don't really have any choice other than to "stay away" (I'm not sure what good this would do the team?) OR to carry on going and supporting our much loved club, I know which I will be doing, and I will not be chanting any stupid childish "songs" at our manager or our players, I know everyone is entitled to their opinions but I fail to see what good can come of all this negativity. Hopefully Saturday was the start of us going on a little unbeaten run which can only bring confidence to our team. I know the "hardened" fans that remember the 3, 4000 gates we used to get in the old second division and some pretty dire games we had to endure. So I still think we are not in that bad a place in comparison to some famous old clubs.
COYR.........
Sometimes you are left with no alternative, and short term pain leads to long term gain.
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It worked then, not sure if it would now. Hopefully there may be another alternative after Wednesday.Algarveaddick said:
I wonder if so many people had not "stayed away" in the late eighties, we would still be sharing Selhurst Park?charliewright1 said:There is "something" I like about her (and its not the obvious!)
I think she is trying to endear herself to "us" I think she has got a very difficult job on her hands. There is no doubt we are better off with Mr Duchatelet in charge and with Ms Meire as his "sidekick" than we was with that last shower of shit in charge. I know people say yes we have a lovely pitch and some lovely shiny red seats but this was something that really had to be sorted, remember last season when we were ALL embarrassed with our pitch, opposition players "forking" "sweeping" the bloody puddles off the mud bath!! I am not for one minute the powers to be but we must be patient, the man has invested a hell of a lot of money in our club, arguably saved us from administration!? We do have some very good players at our club and should definitely be able to compete in this division. I said months ago that the communication from our club was (my exact words) were pants! A lot of people said that we "tweeted" and "posted" more than this club and that club, but I still stand by my words. It is obviously the way Mr Duchatelet works and runs his clubs/ businesses?
We don't really have any choice other than to "stay away" (I'm not sure what good this would do the team?) OR to carry on going and supporting our much loved club, I know which I will be doing, and I will not be chanting any stupid childish "songs" at our manager or our players, I know everyone is entitled to their opinions but I fail to see what good can come of all this negativity. Hopefully Saturday was the start of us going on a little unbeaten run which can only bring confidence to our team. I know the "hardened" fans that remember the 3, 4000 gates we used to get in the old second division and some pretty dire games we had to endure. So I still think we are not in that bad a place in comparison to some famous old clubs.
COYR.........
Sometimes you are left with no alternative, and short term pain leads to long term gain.
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Nice thing to do for the lad but pretty transparent! Must have been reading up on Sun-Tzu choosing this "opponent"...0
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I tend to agree HA, but I was just airing another point of view really. I like CW1's optimistic outlook, but experience thus far doesn't quite fit with that.HantsAddick said:
It worked then, not sure if it would now. Hopefully there may be another alternative after Wednesday.Algarveaddick said:
I wonder if so many people had not "stayed away" in the late eighties, we would still be sharing Selhurst Park?charliewright1 said:There is "something" I like about her (and its not the obvious!)
I think she is trying to endear herself to "us" I think she has got a very difficult job on her hands. There is no doubt we are better off with Mr Duchatelet in charge and with Ms Meire as his "sidekick" than we was with that last shower of shit in charge. I know people say yes we have a lovely pitch and some lovely shiny red seats but this was something that really had to be sorted, remember last season when we were ALL embarrassed with our pitch, opposition players "forking" "sweeping" the bloody puddles off the mud bath!! I am not for one minute the powers to be but we must be patient, the man has invested a hell of a lot of money in our club, arguably saved us from administration!? We do have some very good players at our club and should definitely be able to compete in this division. I said months ago that the communication from our club was (my exact words) were pants! A lot of people said that we "tweeted" and "posted" more than this club and that club, but I still stand by my words. It is obviously the way Mr Duchatelet works and runs his clubs/ businesses?
We don't really have any choice other than to "stay away" (I'm not sure what good this would do the team?) OR to carry on going and supporting our much loved club, I know which I will be doing, and I will not be chanting any stupid childish "songs" at our manager or our players, I know everyone is entitled to their opinions but I fail to see what good can come of all this negativity. Hopefully Saturday was the start of us going on a little unbeaten run which can only bring confidence to our team. I know the "hardened" fans that remember the 3, 4000 gates we used to get in the old second division and some pretty dire games we had to endure. So I still think we are not in that bad a place in comparison to some famous old clubs.
COYR.........
Sometimes you are left with no alternative, and short term pain leads to long term gain.0 -
Yeah, pick a fight with someone your own size Ms Miere!Addicted said:Nice thing to do for the lad but pretty transparent! Must have been reading up on Sun-Tzu choosing this "opponent"...
Until she can answer serious questions from serious people about the current and future running of the club, I'm not buying any of it.
And they need to stop banging on about the lovely new pitch. This HAD to be done or they'd be losing fortunes on cancelled fixtures and getting endless grief from the Football League for an unfit playing surface.
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What a nice thing to do. Well done.10
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A group of middle aged men posing as a youngster.Kap10 said:Maybe a Trust rep should write in as a 16 yo
Probably not the best idea in the current climate.21 -
I really like what the club has done here - they recognised that there is a problem and that people have legitimate and honest questions and concerns, so they have gone out of their way to try and answer them.
Clearly, yes, the interview must have taken place under fairly controlled circumstances, but that, quite frankly, is the only sane course of action - would it really be better to invite one of the 'what kind of direct action are we going to use to force change' fans, to ask anything they like of her, completely unprepared, when they have an agenda and probably won't believe any of her answers anyway? It would have been a fiasco that would have embarrassed the club.
As I have said before, it does come down to a question of trust - when, for example, KM gives her explanation for the appointment of Guy Luzon, people are entitled to either trust that or not, but that really is all that the club can do. It would not be reasonable, for example, to expect them to go back over the specifics of that decision for a whole host of reasons.
I, for one, believe that the club is being run by the owner in what they believe to be its best interests (which is not to say that every decision made has been correct), so I am inclined to feel that the club is in good hands and that things will improve over time.7 -
The saddest part about all this, is that, the train incident aside, it's the most information we've seen come from the club for many many months, even if a lot of it was recycled answers.3
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Of course and if RD is the clever businessman we are led to believe, the value of the work would have been reflected in the purchase price of the club. Therefore, zero investment.Missed It said:
Yeah, pick a fight with someone your own size Ms Miere!Addicted said:Nice thing to do for the lad but pretty transparent! Must have been reading up on Sun-Tzu choosing this "opponent"...
Until she can answer serious questions from serious people about the current and future running of the club, I'm not buying any of it.
And they need to stop banging on about the lovely new pitch. This HAD to be done or they'd be losing fortunes on cancelled fixtures and getting endless grief from the Football League for an unfit playing surface.5 -
A 15 year old kids sends an email and gets a sit down interview with the CEO.
He did not even ask if she liked the flowers sent to her by a CL member.
PR stunt which some people will buy into. I am not buying into it though.
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I'm becoming very concerned at the section of our fans that seem to view everything as 'cynical ploys', 'lies', 'just a PR job', 'not interested in results', 'just want their cronies in place' etc. etc.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, it's just that the negative one is very loud at the moment and, I feel, almost shouting down those of us who have a little more positive view.
Do I feel everything is right in the camp? No. But this is CAFC and the times when everything is right have been few and far between.
I don't agree with the public meeting as a) it is way too early for that reaction which, in my view, was borne just out of a bad run of results, and, b) I struggle to see that the meeting population will be a microcosm of the CAFC fan base. It will be biased to those with the same negative viewpoint and be flawed by groupthink. I hope those present will be able to make an honest assessment as to whether the output represents the views of fans in general.
So why don't I go to the meeting? I've got better things to do tbh, I never asked for a meeting in the first place so why should I or others equally as passive 'defend' the positive line?
The main problem at the moment, I think, is one of communication and expectation setting. The interview with the articulate young lad and the download of the VIP meeting have got to be good things surely? It seems to me KM is reading the mood of some of the fans and trying to do something about it. More open communication channels to the point of overkill would seem to me a good way of helping everybody to feel a little calmer.
What else do you expect? Sacking Luzon ain't gonna happen. Promising never ever to buy a bad player again, cross my heart and hope to die. Perhaps we should turn back time and replace Vetokele, Watt, Gudmundsson, Ben Haim, Johnson and Henderson with Dickson, McCleod, McCormack, Doherty, Crainie and Weaver.
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