The nature of the pro-regime mindset?

Is anybody actually "pro regime" ? I think there is a decent number of fans who just want to watch football and don't really care about all the other stuff, that's why they come into conflict with CARD whom they see as disrupting their match day experience, but I'm not sure I've met anyone (in real life, not on Internet forums) who is actually "pro-regime" as such.

If you have a strong stomach, visit elsewhere or an answer to your questions. Colin will fill you in.

I would hazard a guess that the the apologists are thinly spread although there is more concentration around the prawn sandwich 'siddarn' brigade in the West Stand who seem more vociferous. There is also a sprinkling in the East Stand but they really are the vast MINORITY.

Then of course you have the anti CARD mob (that other forum who shall not be named) who are not necessarily anti regime but at odds with certain names heavily involved in the Coalition.

I was in West Stand Lower v Coventry in a block where there was a mix of protesters and non-protesting fans and I didn't witness one crossword between the two. They are all Charlton fans

The most noticed pro-regime voice is I believe Sue Perks (aka Parkes) on the SE& Valiants facebook site.
She has an added agenda as the wife of the Club Secretary but I would never deny that she is a Charlton fan and her husband has been a loyal servant of the club for nearly three decades I believe.

At the risk of repeating myself, I believe that she has been so taken in by Meire that they are akin to a 19th century Mistress and her servant relationship.

Don't think that there are many, other than a handful on SE7Valiants who are quite so in the thrall of Meire and quite so ready to defend the regime.

Are there really that many pro-regime? The only obvious ones are those that have some relationship with management, be it personal or just having access to "important" people.

Most of the others are either indifferent, in that they just want to watch a game, or simply have anti-CARD personal vendettas.

There seem to be a smattering of those who don't believe you can criticize ownership unless you can present the alternative, which I can't understand. It's a bit like not being allowed to ask to have the manager sacked for being useless.

Oakster said:

RedChaser said:

I would hazard a guess that the the apologists are thinly spread although there is more concentration around the prawn sandwich 'siddarn' brigade in the West Stand who seem more vociferous. There is also a sprinkling in the East Stand but they really are the vast MINORITY.

Thanks - good to know! Reading various reports on here it would seem that this minority is not afraid to make itself heard though.

A number of the protesters around the Directors Box area got some verbal grief on Saturday because their (prawn sandwich brigade) usual peace and tranquility during a game had been disturbed.

Their main argument is 'we wouldn't have a club without the Douchbag so we should be careful what we wish for'.

I haven't got the club I've known for the last <60 years anyway so what's to lose.

Get out of our club!

I cant understand how anyone can be pro-regime, surely relegation to League 1 and our present struggles in the lower half of the table would illustrate how pathetic they are.

If we were in a Hull situation I could understand being pro-regime, after all they are enjoying spells in the premier league and signing good players and look like they want to be successful. Even if their owner is a nutter though with the whole name change thing, its a million miles from our situation.

Bigbadbozman said:

I work with 5 season ticket holders, all long term, 3 of which are valley gold members. They are all of the mindset that they just want to watch cafc on a Saturday afternoon. None of them like or think Katie is doing a good job but are apathetic to the protests. Shame

I think we have to accept this. It just doesn't matter to some people as much as it does to others. That's why supporter disappear with relegation. They are true supporters until it's not attractive enough to turn up to games.

I know when I was visiting and had the misfortune to go to the Oldham & Rochdale games, I was more than a little annoyed by the end of the game. Some people just dont have that emotional attachment.

We've just got to accept that there are a lot of these people, and keep them at least notionally on our side, even if they will never be active. What we don't want is to give them a reason to line up behind ownership.

One day when they are sitting there... there are flats where the JS stand used to sit, and 2000 homers in the ground for a 2nd division relegation decider, THIS WILL HAPPEN!

A number of excuses are banded about for doing nothing. Realistically, there will always be a percentage of people that will sit on their hands, who cannot bring themselves to do anything despite the need to do so. They could be sitting in their lounge with their house burning down around them but for various spurious reasons (eg they don't want to miss the end of the film, the fire brigade might not get there in time, their neighbours may complain about the fire engine blocking the road) they do nothing.

Hex said:

So if someone 'just wants to watch the football' rather than protest then it is fair to assume they are unconcerned about the future of the club. In which case should we refer to them as football supporters rather than Charlton supporters ?

I don't think so, they just have different priorities. As @cantersaddick says, there's nothing to be gained by playing the "better supporter" game, as that's all driven by personal perspective.

The important thing is to not to drive them into the opposite camp.

There are a myriad of fans customers who align themselves to Charlton and each and everyone has an individual take.

A few observations based on personal circumstances, conversations and what I see at matches:

1) 'What I see at matches' is a statement in itself because a lot on here would argue that I should not have renewed my season tickets and thus not be at matches.

In response I would reply that Charlton has been my Club for 50 plus years and my late father's, grandfather's and great grandfather's long before that.

It goes against the grain to allow a jumped up schoolgirl like Meire to drive me out with her openly expressed hatred of people of my age, demographic and historic attachment to the Club. If the sight of my wrinkly old mug and sometimes arthritic hobbling about the ground and surrounding areas annoys her then all the more reason to keep going!

If and when I can afford it I donate to the protest fund and spend no money at the ground whatsoever by way of food, drinks, programmes, Jackpot tickets or merchandise.

I would dearly love to buy my little grandsons Charlton shirts to properly start the sixth generation but that is absolutely one thing I will not do under this regime.

Apart from all that at my age I do not know how long I will be blessed with the health to keep attending games so while I physically still can I will.

2) On the note of physically being able to attend games a bloke who sits near me is 80 years of age and is not particularly keen on the Belgians but has said to me before words to the effect of 'I don't know how long I've got if I boycott I might never get back.' Hard to argue with that.

3) If we are looking to judge fellow fans customers then when I am at matches before the match and at halftime I see people in protest shirts and / or with black and white scarfs eating food and drinking beer. My ancient bladder means that I sometimes need to take a comfort break in Bartrams if my journey has taken longer than it should (30 MPH on the A2 dual carriageway in Eltham for instance with no workmen or cones in sight) and it is rammed full of people drinking and sometimes eating.

I hear them moaning about Roland and 'Meire' without a trace of irony that their pints are lining the Belgians' pockets. But it's each to their own.

Football and Charlton is meant to be fun and a pleasure. I can understand why people want to bury their heads in the sand even if I personally look beyond that.