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NEW ARTICLE: Difficulty with 'welcoming' a new manager?

I’m finding it all a bit of a catch-22 at the moment to be honest.

One the one hand, from the perspective of a 'disgruntled supporter' it is difficult to have sympathy, warmth with any manager that willingly applies to work under Roland / Meire at this stage.

It’s against a backdrop of knowing there is major discontent surrounding the club and widespread ridicule in the media. Away from the headlines, word in football circles (players, coaches, scouts etc) regarding the running of the club has been incredibly poor for over two years. Everyone in the game knows what they are getting into and when people like Slade arrive at the Club, and probably now Robinson, they do so with their eyes wide open that there are major structural flaws / issues at the Club and deep-rooted division with supporters.

However, on the other hand you can see why it is actually a potentially attractive proposition to out of work managers. Firstly, they need to work, and there are far worse places to be based than the London suburbs. Secondly, their ego will be telling them that they are THE MAN that can make the difference; they don’t fully understand the low-level detail of why supporters are so against Duchatelet / Meire, and they will genuinely believe that they can take what they see as an underperforming squad, lift them higher, and all the off field issues will fade away. Their reputation will be enhanced as the man who turned around / stopped the rot at Charlton.

And if it doesn’t work out? So what, ready-made excuses are already in place; no one in the game will hold it against them like they would with failure at other clubs as everyone knows how difficult things are at Charlton.

As a manager who could potentially bring credibility, you are in a strong bargaining position now when taking the job. Ensure your agent secures the right payout / assurances in your contract and if the worst comes to the worst, you’ll be getting a decent payout. If in the meantime there is an ownership shift then you equally will be getting that payout if the new owners don’t want you, or you could ride on the likely momentum / new budget opportunity with what they would bring.

As fans, you naturally want Charlton to have a good manager and do well, it’s fundamentally what we all want. And Karl Robinson is certainly someone I have always rated as an upcoming manager with potential, and who sets his teams up in an attractive way.

But at the same time if you are determined for ownership change, which thousands of supporters currently are, then part of you does not really want anyone with any credibility bringing credibility to the regime. Particularly if you are convinced that the overriding problems will not go away.

It’s a difficult one, and I suspect I’m not going to be the only one whose views will flip flop about on this.

Thoughts?
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Comments

  • The problem with us is that as RD / KM have been hiring and firing at will most of our players will think that any manager won't be around long.

    I have also heard that quite a few players want away this coming window as they are unhappy with the regime. If this is the case, any new manager has his work cut out
  • Correct. Every time Roland employs a new manager he is basically setting himself up for another 'pants pulling down' episode.

    They can't lose. Only Roland can lose. And he is losing. ..And the score is currently 17-0..

    Businessman my ars*!
  • Being the cynical old git I am I think some managers will see it as 'no lose' in that when Roland interferes their lengthy contract will be paid up thank you very much as we have seen with Slade.

    In the unlikely event of no interference from Duchatelet or Meire then, if successful, they will considerably enhance their reputation.

    Win, win.
  • On the face of it, it's a decent appointment but there is still meddling from Belgium going on in the background, of that I'm convinced, I mean they really can't help themselves can they? It won't take much to get us up into the playoffs, this league is surprisingly poor compared to last time. But I genuinely cannot see the long-term fortunes of the club being changed by a manager, the fundamental problems at the club remain and are massive.
  • I am in Lens camp as above. Sadly football is no longer a sport, it is a business come circus/funfair and the managerial merry go round is one of the main rides.

    Do well at a club and maybe get a promotion on your CV and all sorts of chairman around the country are queuing up to throw contracts and money at you.

    Do badly and get sacked after 3 months and you walk away with a pay off, however the same chairmen mentioned above are queuing up only this time after you have been out the game for a few months.

    And so it goes round.
  • edited November 2016
    I know I have a tendency to be way too optimistic at times but maybe, just maybe, the new manager (whomever it is) will get us into a position, be that promotion or just looking very likely to be, where an offer to buy the club will become attractive enough for Roland to sell. Maybe promotion will make us attractive enough for an offer that Roland will agree to cut his losses and walk away.

    My worry with the 'let's fall so low that they will walk away' is that we are not as likely, in my view, to get the kind of owner that we want moving forward. The last thing we need (well the second last as what we have is the last) is a chancer that thinks he can throw a few quid at it and then sell for a profit - especially if he doesn't have enough to achieve his goals.

    As much as I want Roland to lose money and for KM's reputation to be so damaged that she is finished what I want most is them gone, and as quickly as possible. In reality if I had a hundred million pounds I'd rather give him all the money back just to see the back of the pair of them.
  • LenGlover said:

    Being the cynical old git I am I think some managers will see it as 'no lose' in that when Roland interferes their lengthy contract will be paid up thank you very much as we have seen with Slade.

    In the unlikely event of no interference from Duchatelet or Meire then, if successful, they will considerably enhance their reputation.

    Win, win.

    Agree 100%. As a fan, I cannot see any long term solution for the club until we rid ourselves of the jokers in charge.
  • Summed it up perfectly. Taken very little pleasure from two consecutive victories, as I'm sure Katrien is now patting herself on the back for ludicrously getting rid of yet another manager after only a handful of games, and I fear a combination of those results and the appoint of a new manager with a reasonable reputation will take the sting out of the protests for a few weeks, until results deteriorate and it once again becomes apparent that the manager isn't the problem.

    At least part of Robinson's mindset in taking this job must be "worst case scenario I'll be able to go on holiday in February with 3 years wages in my back pocket and my reputation still intact." Hard to get excited about a new manager who takes the job on that basis, particularly when he is apparently very aware that he's walking into a "basketcase of a club" (quote from BDL).
  • I know I have a attendance to be way too optimistic at times but maybe, just maybe, the new manager (whomever it is) will get us into a position, be that promotion or just looking very likely to be, where an offer to buy the club will become attractive enough for Roland to sell. Maybe promotion will make us attractive enough for an offer that Roland will agree to cut his losses and walk away.

    The difficulty I have with that KHA is I feel the likelihood of that scenario is particularly slim. This is a loss-making business, both at League 1 and at Championship, so the longer RD remains the more the Club's debt to him will increase, the more he will be seeking to retrieve, the more unlikely we are to obtain new ownership . The only opportunity of offsetting some of that is through player sales.

    So long-term you are looking at the need for progression against a backdrop of selling your best / emerging talent.

    Who knows, perhaps with this league being week, the potential bounce from (another) new manager could get us into the Championship next summer and perhaps the Club does become more viable as a sale with potential TV revenues / only being one step away from the big pay day again being in play.

    But its just as likely then that Roland will see us once more looking more attractive as a long-term prospect for his model (that everyone else knows can't succeed) and want to hang on longer. I really don't know.

  • The problem is we are interviewing out of work (failed) managers rather than targeting someone to take us forward (like Wilder). No reports of club X refusing us permission to talk to their manager. Doubt Roly cares who he is paying, he is waiting for Lookie and Konsa to boost his coffers/ego.
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  • Purely for football reasons - sacking Slade was the right decision.If Robinson comes in then let's back him and give him a chance.He is taking over a good squad of players even with the injuries we have should still see the play offs as a minimum target.Lets try and give the team the support they deserve and and cheer them on to beat the Blades on Saturday.COYR
  • ...they don’t fully understand the low-level detail of why supporters are so against Duchatelet / Meire, and they will genuinely believe that they can take what they see as an underperforming squad, lift them higher, and all the off field issues will fade away...

    This is the key thing for me. I've heard managers, pundits and players all making statements to the effect that the protests are just about results. Some of whom (Slade and Curbs in particular) really should have known better. I'm sure that Robinson, and anyone else who went for the job, will be thinking that if we get into the play-offs the protests will just melt away. I suspect, if it happens, someone will be in for a surprise.
  • I just can't bring myself to care about any managerial appointment at Charlton while Roland Duchatelet and Katrien Meire remain in charge - although it's pretty obvious Katrien holds very little influence when it comes to managerial appointments and changes.

    Although I'm not a fan of Robinson as a bloke, under any other ownership he could be a fairly shrewd appointment. His MK Dons sides were always at the right of the table when in League One and they always tried to pay good, positive football. He is a slight upgrade on Slade.

    However, we all know he won't receive sufficient backing by the regime, will have his best players sold off at the first bid, as Lookman will be in January, or just given away as Tex will be in the same month, and then sacked to distract from protests. Repeat cycle.
  • The problem is we are interviewing out of work (failed) managers rather than targeting someone to take us forward (like Wilder). No reports of club X refusing us permission to talk to their manager. Doubt Roly cares who he is paying, he is waiting for Lookie and Konsa to boost his coffers/ego.

    tbf they did target Wilder. They just cocked up his appointment.
  • Win win for Robinson. He fails, he gets sympathy and a decent pay off, does well he gets all the credit and probably a good move to a bigger and better run club.
  • Brilliant post Seth.
  • appointing managers appears to be like buying raffle tickets for RD.

    Buy enough tickets and you increase your chances of winning.

    The law of averages alone means that we will get a successful manager in place at some stage.

    This does not mean that Roly should get any credit if and when it happens however.

  • The problem is we are interviewing out of work (failed) managers rather than targeting someone to take us forward (like Wilder).

    I wouldn't particularly call Robinson a failed manager.

    He did well enough based on his resources at MKD, built sides that played attractive football, getting into the playoffs twice plus a promotion within 4 seasons.

    Sure MKD struggled last year but he wasn't given the resources to strengthen his promotion winning side to Championship standards.
    Most managers would have struggled in those circumstances.

    And the club did target Wilder - he was ready to accept the Charlton job but didn't get the written assurances that they had promised him.
    So he walked away.



  • If he genuinely has said "the protests need to stop", then he can get ****ed.

    If not, he could be the kind of manager who might get results without needing you to respect him in the way you may have respected our former managers.

    At this stage in proceedings, results would be great, but if you are another apologist for the regime then it really doesn't matter what else you do.
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  • appointing managers appears to be like buying raffle tickets for RD.

    Buy enough tickets and you increase your chances of winning.

    The law of averages alone means that we will get a successful manager in place at some stage.

    This does not mean that Roly should get any credit if and when it happens however.

    As true as that is, failing to provide the manager sufficient resources to achieve the minimum target and/or not giving him long enough means that if they do get a decent manager in they are just as likely to move him on before he achieves any success.
  • LenGlover said:

    Being the cynical old git I am I think some managers will see it as 'no lose' in that when Roland interferes their lengthy contract will be paid up thank you very much as we have seen with Slade.

    In the unlikely event of no interference from Duchatelet or Meire then, if successful, they will considerably enhance their reputation.

    Win, win.

    Agree. He's currently out of work, in all likelihood he'll now pick up a year or more's money for 4 months' work without any significant damage to his reputation as everyone knows we are a basket case of a club. Win, win for him.
  • Any manager can come shit on my doorstep as long as he does the double over the Spanners!
  • appointing managers appears to be like buying raffle tickets for RD.

    Buy enough tickets and you increase your chances of winning.

    The law of averages alone means that we will get a successful manager in place at some stage.

    This does not mean that Roly should get any credit if and when it happens however.

    We've got a January transfer window coming up. Rudd or Ulvestad could be recalled, Lookman could be sold, we could struggle to bring anyone in, a player could be sold unexpectedly (someone like Bauer/Magennis?), KM/RD could fall out with Robinson etc.

    They usually find a way to mess things up. That's a big reason for the protests - how can a manager ever be succesful if we're always selling players, failing to sign enough players and sacking managers.
  • Scoham said:

    appointing managers appears to be like buying raffle tickets for RD.

    Buy enough tickets and you increase your chances of winning.

    The law of averages alone means that we will get a successful manager in place at some stage.

    This does not mean that Roly should get any credit if and when it happens however.

    We've got a January transfer window coming up. Rudd or Ulvestad could be recalled, Lookman could be sold, we could struggle to bring anyone in, a player could be sold unexpectedly (someone like Bauer/Magennis?), KM/RD could fall out with Robinson etc.

    They usually find a way to mess things up. That's a big reason for the protests - how can a manager ever be succesful if we're always selling players, failing to sign enough players and sacking managers.
    I was under the impression that a player could only play for two sides in the season so I guess Magennis is unlikely to move.

    Unless I am wrong about that, of course.
  • I feel more positive about him than I have about any managerial appointment since Pardew. Powell's appointment was exciting but I welcomed it more with hope than expectation. I don't expect Robinson to become a Charlton supporter. I hope he refrains from commenting on the protests other than in a very general way. I just want him to coach the squad in the week, guide the team through their matches, beat Millwall at least once, and win promotion.

    I am of the view that promotion is more likely to lead to the club being sold than staying in League 1.
  • Win win for Robinson. He fails, he gets sympathy and a decent pay off, does well he gets all the credit and probably a good move to a bigger and better run club.

    Exactly. Quite bizarrely, the more dysfunctional we get, the more attractive we become to someone out of work
  • I really don't care any more, it's just shuffling deckchairs with a broken system.
  • Good luck to him, I think we are a better prospect for a sale as a championship club.

    I hope he doesn't talk about the protests negatively because that would really get a decent number of fans backs up when he could just avoid the subject.

  • If the new manager has the force of personality to get Duchatelet to become a good owner, brilliant. Win win.

    If not we know what'll happen. The spiral down will continue and a new puppet will eventually be brought in as the correct managerial decision as this one is got rid of.
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Roland Out Forever!