The Takeover Thread - Duchatelet Finally Sells (Jan 2020)

Gerard Murphy is being described as a 'business associate' of Muir's, but I'd be surprised if he is financially invested in the takeover.
He's actually a sports psychologist who, when I knew him, was working with the England rugby team and then QPR.
I believe he went back to Australia after that time. I'm not sure what he's been doing since then, but certainly when I knew him he wasn't someone with the sort of wealth that would enable him to become a business partner of Muir's. Things may have changed of course, but I suspect he's probably more of an adviser.

I'll get behind him once he is described as 'centre'.

daveaddick said:

Read about this on teletext but haven't read the other 600odd posts on the thread. Since Duchatelet took over the club we have seen what feels like the death of a thousand cuts and truthfully this season has been amongst the worst I have personally witnessed in the 56 years I have been supporting Charlton. There has been absolutely nothing positive coming out of Duchatelet tenure as owner of our club, we have been lumbered with a clueless, arrogant CEO and bargain basement managers who take the job because they need to pay the mortgage and are happy to work under ridiculous restrictions regarding player recruitment and selection.

However I have often wondered "What comes next after Duchatelet?" "Who exactly will buy our club?" my fears have always been that Duchatelet will redevelop the ground to get money back, why not he's a business man with absolutely no affiliation to the club, money is his god. So I have been hoping for someone to come in and take the club out of this arseholes grip and push us forwards.

This deal if real would appear to be less than edifying as we will not be rid of Duchatelet he will be the bloody landlord and you can bet your last penny he won't be happy with a pepper corn rent as he well knows the value of the real estate that constitutes The Valley. Given this scenario potentially any consortium will struggle to pay the rent and have funds to build a team if I was a conspiracy theorist (which I am definitely not) I would start to think this was Duchatelet's way of doing exactly what he planned all along i.e. the redevelopment of The Valley.

We should not trust him and this deal to me looks like a means to abdicate costs of the team and cash in on the value of the ground. Getting rid of this man should be a priority but all I caution is be careful what you wish for, because in reality if he still owns the ground, well we haven't got rid of at all.

I believe any proper prospective owners with dosh to spend that were interested would have a total clean sweep of the flotsam that currently sit in the Director's box.

I reckon they lost interest/ were put off ages ago.

Thanks to RM and RD the Aussie bunch are now the only alternative, and I don't think it'll end well.

Happy days!

I think if it is announced today then I win the pool.

Davidsmith said:

ShootersHillGuru said:

Davidsmith said:

Airman Brown said:

Davidsmith said:

Airman Brown said:

Stig said:

Airman Brown said:

PragueAddick said:

razil said:

I know they’re both adults just not sure this should carry on in full view now

You're right. Sorry for the diversion. But at least now we know Bob's a Lifer, I'm sure everyone would really be pleased if he could explain his tweet which kicked it all off.

FWIW, I've heard this morning from other decent sources that the rumours regarding the structure of the deal (landlease, cut on transfers and funding via share issue) have no credibility. Which seems like good news to me.

There is conflicting information, some of it anecdotal, but I was also told that it is a “clean” deal - and that is the only way (lease element) it can be completed without the ex-directors.

Airman, can I just check that I understand you correctly. Are you suggesting that the ex-directors are looking after the interests of the club by blocking any deal that would give Duchatelet any level of control over the club or income from the club post-sale?

Simply they have had no approach or contact from the Aussies or re the Aussies as of yesterday.

I heard the same, my question is why have they not called a Creditors meeting, isn't there a requirement in their Loan Documentation to inform Lenders of a potential change of ownership.
Maybe their Lawyers are watching to see what happens.
Either way you would assume as a group of seven substantially wealthy individuals ,that Roland's actions are being monitored.

They are not “a group” of seven though, as you know. At least three of them wouldn’t put Murray out if he was on fire.

I know but stating 7 wealthy businessmen,you would think 3 or 1 or 4 or whatever number individually would have their Lawyers on the case.

If the standing agreement is that their loans can be rolled over without agreement as per Aimans understanding of the situation and we know that none of the magnificent seven have heard a dicky bird. I’m not sure what their respective legal teams can be on the case of.

They can be rolled if buyers don't want charges or more importantly their Lenders don't, but if they were a cash rich group with Millions to spend,why would you leave charges in place.
Particularly when at least one major creditor in that group would do a deal to stay involved.
Unless they are still scrambling for funds as they have been for a year.

Oh god

Curb_It said:

cafcfan said:

The Red Robin said:

Scoham said:

Anyone know who the bloke next to Elliott is in the Newsshoper photo? Pretty sure it isn't him but looks a bit like Usmanov - owns 30% of Arsenal (and is looking to sell those shares) and 30% of Rangers and is the business partner of Moshiri, who is the majority shareholder at Everton, a deal brokered by Keith Harris.



Don't think it's him but not too dissimilar.

Could it be Philip Aiken? He was apparently sniffing around Coventry a year ago with Murphy. https://coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/who-gerard-murphy-philip-aiken-12966086

He, too, is Australian but lives in the UK. He is Non-exec Chairman of Balfour Beatty the construction giant. Here's a photo for comparison:



You'd have to add a touch of "Just For Men" mind.

No I sent it to my pal last week who knows him and he confirmed it wasn't him. He also told him he wasn't involved any more.

FFs - that’s quite a big picture of my head in the bottom right hand corner of the mercury photo

ShootersHillGuru said:

JamesSeed said:

Gerard Murphy is being described as a 'business associate' of Muir's, but I'd be surprised if he is financially invested in the takeover.
He's actually a sports psychologist who, when I knew him, was working with the England rugby team and then QPR.
I believe he went back to Australia after that time. I'm not sure what he's been doing since then, but certainly when I knew him he wasn't someone with the sort of wealth that would enable him to become a business partner of Muir's. Things may have changed of course, but I suspect he's probably more of an adviser.

Isn’t he being rumoured as CEO

This is Charlton. Anything is possible.

Henry Irving said:

ShootersHillGuru said:

So much negativity when in reality we don’t have much genuine information to base it on.

What we do know is that Muir is wealthy and supposedly a decent human being. He probably isn’t alone in financing the purchase.

He’s likely to be Club Chairman and I doubt someone of his wealth and standing would take that role lightly or want it to flop badly.

Paul Elliot is Charlton through and through and can be seen at the club for most matches. He’s without doubt got the club’s best interests at heart. As rumoured Vice Chairman he is likely to be more hands on than Muir. Elliot is a football man.

Let’s just wait a bit longer and see what actually transpires once it’s been officially announced.

LJWABLASWATOIBOA it is

It's a serious challenge to WIOTOS.

@Redhenry are your mob definately out now or could they be tabling a last minute bid?














are Red bull Still in?

Desperately searching for some good news, I found this on 'ROAR' , an Australian online sports website its dated errr tomorrow, its all a bit depressing really..


'The exciting part of the mooted Aussie consortium seeking to buy Charlton Athletic is that they are (reportedly) seeking to create a feeder system for Australian talent.

If true this idea is long overdue and a fascinating experiment in artificially boosting the European development of Australian players. In principle this could mean that a player like Troisi looking for a gig in Europe could knock on Charlton’s door and find a more accommodating recruitment team.

Now Charlton just lost a Championship promotion playoff, but let’s say for convenience that a Championship level Charlton would be a fascinating concept that could be replicated across Europe.

Imagine a Championship level club ready willing and able to pick up a 20-year-old Daniel Arzani – even on loan for a season from City – to work on his talents with game time against seasoned professionals.

Or Josh Brillante being invited to compete for a spot in central midfield and really challenge himself rather than risk falling into complacency at a level that he has mastered. This could be a game-changer for the National team.

Perhaps the Lowys or the guy who owns Mona, or Dick Smith could put their hands in their pockets and buy up Zulte Waregem, FC Groningen or 50-1 per cent of VfL Bochum to solve the demand-side problem our Australian talent faces'

full link -https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/05/16/league-hold-back-national-team/

Shrew said:

Desperately searching for some good news, I found this on 'ROAR' , an Australian online sports website its dated errr tomorrow, its all a bit depressing really..


'The exciting part of the mooted Aussie consortium seeking to buy Charlton Athletic is that they are (reportedly) seeking to create a feeder system for Australian talent.

If true this idea is long overdue and a fascinating experiment in artificially boosting the European development of Australian players. In principle this could mean that a player like Troisi looking for a gig in Europe could knock on Charlton’s door and find a more accommodating recruitment team.

Now Charlton just lost a Championship promotion playoff, but let’s say for convenience that a Championship level Charlton would be a fascinating concept that could be replicated across Europe.

Imagine a Championship level club ready willing and able to pick up a 20-year-old Daniel Arzani – even on loan for a season from City – to work on his talents with game time against seasoned professionals.

Or Josh Brillante being invited to compete for a spot in central midfield and really challenge himself rather than risk falling into complacency at a level that he has mastered. This could be a game-changer for the National team.

Perhaps the Lowys or the guy who owns Mona, or Dick Smith could put their hands in their pockets and buy up Zulte Waregem, FC Groningen or 50-1 per cent of VfL Bochum to solve the demand-side problem our Australian talent faces'

full link -https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/05/16/league-hold-back-national-team/

Speculation without any understanding on the strict immigration rules in this country unless the player holds an EU passport or is a regular full Aussie International, he wont be able to play here. Only been mentioned on here about twenty times when this type of story comes up.

Shrew said:

Desperately searching for some good news, I found this on 'ROAR' , an Australian online sports website its dated errr tomorrow, its all a bit depressing really..


'The exciting part of the mooted Aussie consortium seeking to buy Charlton Athletic is that they are (reportedly) seeking to create a feeder system for Australian talent.

If true this idea is long overdue and a fascinating experiment in artificially boosting the European development of Australian players. In principle this could mean that a player like Troisi looking for a gig in Europe could knock on Charlton’s door and find a more accommodating recruitment team.

Now Charlton just lost a Championship promotion playoff, but let’s say for convenience that a Championship level Charlton would be a fascinating concept that could be replicated across Europe.

Imagine a Championship level club ready willing and able to pick up a 20-year-old Daniel Arzani – even on loan for a season from City – to work on his talents with game time against seasoned professionals.

Or Josh Brillante being invited to compete for a spot in central midfield and really challenge himself rather than risk falling into complacency at a level that he has mastered. This could be a game-changer for the National team.

Perhaps the Lowys or the guy who owns Mona, or Dick Smith could put their hands in their pockets and buy up Zulte Waregem, FC Groningen or 50-1 per cent of VfL Bochum to solve the demand-side problem our Australian talent faces'

full link -https://www.theroar.com.au/2018/05/16/league-hold-back-national-team/

"If true". The uninformed journalist's go-to caveat.

What this speculation-full, but fact-free article fails to shed light on is any reason why Charlton's owners would do this.

The Belgian Turing had an idea to swap playing and coaching staff around his network to lower costs and add value. It was a sound idea, poorly executed and consequently an expensive and embarrassing failure. But at least it had the merit of planned cost reduction and vale adding.

This poor article fails to deliver an answer to the one question surrounding the new owners' motivation: why?