RD speaks
The following message is from Charlton Athletic owner Roland Duchatelet.
Our win at Wembley was fantastic and, as I mentioned, a credit to all involved.
Following the win, I was filled with hope as one of the parties interested in buying the club wanted to move forward quickly to complete the purchase of the club. They want to solve the issue of the ex-directors loans first, which I can understand but may take time. In this respect I would like to thank Richard Murray, Sir Maurice Hatter, David White and David Hughes for their cooperation during this process.
The delay is frustrating, because the fact Charlton are now back in the Championship should increase our chances of being sold and now, with the summer transfer window opening, is the right time to acquire a club.
The past few years, I have continued to pay everything at the club, despite the way some of our staff members, their family, my friends, my family and myself have been treated by individuals who claim they act in the best interest of the club.
I do not intend to do otherwise until the club has been sold. However, I want to bring the yearly losses to a more reasonable level. Operating on a small budget will limit our chances of promotion to the Premier League, which are already obstructed by the large, unsustainable, overspending by some other clubs in the division. Does it mean we have no chance? No.
Does it mean we will be relegated? Not at all. We have good players, good staff and the fans seem to be united behind the team again.
Nevertheless, it is unlikely we will win as many games as we did in League One, where we had one of the largest wage budgets and we will need everyone behind the team as you were this season.
Once again there have been some brilliant players to come through our academy this season and we will continue to bring players through next year. Our staff have already begun preparations for additions to our squad for next season and we have some good players at the club already as we look to build on last season.
The club first spoke to Lee Bowyer about a contract extension earlier in the season. There is a trigger in his contract for a contract extension, which we exercised in May, and he needs to agree to this for his contract to be extended as per the current agreement. He has done a fantastic job and therefore talks about improving Lee’s contract are scheduled for next week. Both the club and Lee want him to be the Charlton Athletic manager next season.
Stability is essential, even if the club gets sold soon.
I have been trying to sell the club for nearly two years now. Many English football clubs are for sale and many of those have been for a long time. The main reason is that nearly all Championship club owners face huge yearly losses. It is unclear how long this can continue, with clubs losing tens of millions of pounds each year. It has become unaffordable for nearly anyone to own a football club in the Championship meaning it is not easy to find a suitable buyer.
For example, it is debatable whether the first candidate for buying the club, who was pushed, with the very best intentions, by ex-CEO Peter Varney, ex-director Derek Chappell and Rick Everitt (VOV from 29 12 15), the current owner of Ebbsfleet football club, would have been the right fit for Charlton.
A specific issue in relation to the sale of Charlton is that while a club in London is very attractive, the value of land and buildings is high because the stadium and the training ground are located in London. This wouldn’t be a problem for rich enough acquirors but we have had quite a few interested parties who wanted to buy the club while renting the stadium and the training ground.
Being back in the Championship will be of help to a takeover because it is one step less to the ultimate goal: getting into the Premier League. In the meantime owner and fans are stuck together. Please make the best of it. Let’s try to win games and enjoy those moments at The Valley.
Comments
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Aye. Speaks bollocks.2
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The guy is a fucking bellend.2
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We’re up the creek I think3
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I hate to admit it but that update actually made me smile inside. What an absolute circus of a club we are!1
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The following message is from Charlton Athletic owner Roland Duchatelet.
Our win at Wembley was fantastic and, as I mentioned, a credit to all involved.
Following the win, I was filled with hope as one of the parties interested in buying the club wanted to move forward quickly to complete the purchase of the club. They want to solve the issue of the ex-directors loans first, which I can understand but may take time. In this respect I would like to thank Richard Murray, Sir Maurice Hatter, David White and David Hughes for their cooperation during this process.
The delay is frustrating, because the fact Charlton are now back in the Championship should increase our chances of being sold and now, with the summer transfer window opening, is the right time to acquire a club.
The past few years, I have continued to pay everything at the club, despite the way some of our staff members, their family, my friends, my family and myself have been treated by individuals who claim they act in the best interest of the club.
I do not intend to do otherwise until the club has been sold. However, I want to bring the yearly losses to a more reasonable level. Operating on a small budget will limit our chances of promotion to the Premier League, which are already obstructed by the large, unsustainable, overspending by some other clubs in the division. Does it mean we have no chance? No.
Does it mean we will be relegated? Not at all. We have good players, good staff and the fans seem to be united behind the team again.
Nevertheless, it is unlikely we will win as many games as we did in League One, where we had one of the largest wage budgets and we will need everyone behind the team as you were this season.
Once again there have been some brilliant players to come through our academy this season and we will continue to bring players through next year. Our staff have already begun preparations for additions to our squad for next season and we have some good players at the club already as we look to build on last season.
The club first spoke to Lee Bowyer about a contract extension earlier in the season. There is a trigger in his contract for a contract extension, which we exercised in May, and he needs to agree to this for his contract to be extended as per the current agreement. He has done a fantastic job and therefore talks about improving Lee’s contract are scheduled for next week. Both the club and Lee want him to be the Charlton Athletic manager next season.
Stability is essential, even if the club gets sold soon.
I have been trying to sell the club for nearly two years now. Many English football clubs are for sale and many of those have been for a long time. The main reason is that nearly all Championship club owners face huge yearly losses. It is unclear how long this can continue, with club’s losing tens of millions of pounds each year. It has become unaffordable for nearly anyone to own a football club in the Championship meaning it is not easy to find a suitable buyer.
For example, it is debatable whether the first candidate for buying the club, who was pushed, with the very best intentions, by ex-CEO Peter Varney, ex-director Derek Chappell and Rick Everitt (VOV from 29 12 15), the current owner of Ebbsfleet football club, would have been the right fit for Charlton.
A specific issue in relation to the sale of Charlton is that while a club in London is very attractive, the value of land and buildings is high because the stadium and the training ground are located in London. This wouldn’t be a problem for rich enough acquirors but we have had quite a few interested parties who wanted to buy the club while renting the stadium and the training ground.
Being back in the Championship will be of help to a takeover because it is one step less to the ultimate goal: getting into the Premier League. In the meantime owner and fans are stuck together. Please make the best of it. Let’s try to win games and enjoy those moments at The Valley.
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He is mental.1
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By his demented standards that's pretty reasonable, but my response is simply 'Ok! Get it sold then'41
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Haha, I call BS.clive said:I do not intend to do otherwise until the club has been sold. However, I want to bring the yearly losses to a more reasonable level. Operating on a small budget will limit our chances of promotion to the Premier League, which are already obstructed by the large, unsustainable, overspending by some other clubs in the division. Does it mean we have no chance? No.
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Am I missing something ? Apart from the fact I don't think RD wrote this it seems a reasonable statement to me
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Why is it that after reading anything he says I’m left completely confused?
Clear as mud that.0 -
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It's very, very rare that I read a statement with a badly-placed apostrophe and that doesn't come close to being the thing that annoys me the most.14
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First couple of paragraphs you're like, ah nice one Roland, he seems a decent chap, then, as usual, he digs out the fans.
Interesting scoop though regarding Ebbsfleet. Never knew @Airman Brown was their owner, or that Roland was a VOTV subscriber.
'...Rick Everitt (VOV from 29 12 15), the current owner of Ebbsfleet football club.'
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We won't be taken over.
We won't be spending money.
Through gritted teeth he might offer Bowyer a contract.
Otherwise it will be someone like Slade or Fraeye.
Without Bowyer the majority of the current squad will spend the future thinking about their next club.1 -
Im not sure its the best sales tactic to be shouting from the rooftops that "all Championship club owners face huge yearly losses"17
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Yeah I agree..... An RD fan I certainly am not, which is why I don’t think he wrote this. It’s a perfectly reasonable statementAddickedAthletic said:Am I missing something ? Apart from the fact I don't think RD wrote this it seems a reasonable statement to me
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He is like a dementor.
Continually sapping life and momentum out of the club.
Relegation seems a certainty reading that.2 -
This is possibly the most reasonable thing to come out of this arsehole ballbag's mouth (an interesting anatomical diagram for you there).
Sell up and be done with it. Lower your asking price and then we're cooking.17 -
Agreed to an extentAddickedAthletic said:Am I missing something ? Apart from the fact I don't think RD wrote this it seems a reasonable statement to me
He's right that Championship spending is slightly stupid
He's right that our smaller budget doesnt mean instant relegation (take Accrington in League One this season)
He's right that we've got some good kids coming through
He's even right that we stand more chance of being sold now we're back in the Championship BUT despite being a club in London (meaning expensive land) he still needs to lower his asking price for any deal to happen quickly20 - Sponsored links:
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Probably the single most frustrating aspect of all of this is that RD is fundamentally correct that football is fucked and running a club to a high level requires massive losses year on year. And of course, he knew this before he bought us! Or at least, he should have known! Caveat emptor you dickhead30
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Can someone interpret that for me. I’ve read this three times and I still don’t quite understand what he’s trying to say. I think he’s saying that the interested parties want to move quickly but the director loans are still a problem. He thanks some of the former directors but not others. Are they blocking the deal? Also, Peter Barney brought his old boss to the takeover table but Roland doesn’t think he’s right for us? If we’re not sold, we’ll have a budget that’s good enough for keeping us in the league. And finally, he’s exercising a contract extension in LB’s existing contract? I just wish he’d stop using Google Translate and get one of the Comms Team to write things for him2
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OMG...................... I really don't know what to say. If I repeated every thought at present, it would get me banned from this wonderful forum for life.1
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To me it says bowyer has a contract extension in place, he either signs and carries on or fucks off because he’s not getting offered anything more6
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As of today I’m reasonably confident that Bowyer will sign a new contract. Can’t see us getting rid of Roly anytime soon though. Just excuse after excuse as to why the deal hasn’t gone through yet.0
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He wants LB to trigger his contract extension on existing terms.
Delusional.11 -
I think he stupidly thought he could change football and as usual for him, underestimated how expensive and difficult it is to succeed here, especially when you think Karel Fraeye is a football manager.Leuth said:Probably the single most frustrating aspect of all of this is that RD is fundamentally correct that football is fucked and running a club to a high level requires massive losses year on year. And of course, he knew this before he bought us! Or at least, he should have known! Caveat emptor you dickhead5 -
More self-justifiying nonsense.
Expensive land? That is impossible to develop. He paid £18m for team, stadium, training ground, the lot. Now he thinks it's worth £40m+, magically, somehow.
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Are people saying there is some merit in this latest statement?
I can't see any.
Can anybody winkle out any positives?
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re Directors loans - he's dumped a couple of people in it right there hasn't he. We can assume those mentioned, who he thanks, are playing ball from which I assume the others are not. Also confirms recent rumours that ex director loans are holding up a sale **
** assuming Roland can be believed.
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