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New Article: Thomas Sandgaard - The Moonshot 🚀

I know lots of things are said in the heat of battle and in this case I take battle to mean Thomas’ “battle to acquire CAFC and battle it was. Premiership football in five years ? with regular European football in fifteen. Very lofty ambitions and I’m certainly not knocking that. His starting point is a beleaguered third tier team desperately in need of reinforcements,  a still relatively inexperienced manager and coaching staff, a magnificent stadium that is coming up for some TLC and a training ground that is less than half way through a vital upgrade. Not the most promising of beginnings of what would be a journey not completed by any other English football club. It’s not all negatives though. Thomas is correct that Charlton Athletic are a unique club with a unique history and just like him a passionate and willing fan base, hungry and eager for any success. A location in an area that has massive support potential and really, if tapped into successfully its truly massive.  What better club to embark on a moonshot voyage ? 

The rate of change and successes required to hit those eye watering targets will be nothing short of staggering. Although promotion this season is without doubt the aim, I think it’s fair to say that given what the club has endured in recent times and the strength of the squad it’s far from a certainty. Assuming this season is eventually just the catalyst for change and nothing more, then the programme looks even more eyebrow raising. 

What’s going to be needed to ignite the rockets ? Certainly money. Some on the above list can only be achieved with money. The Valley, Sparrows Lane and the first team squad right now need money spent, but we know that in football,  throwing money at a club doesn’t necessarily bring success, although I also think it’s fair to say it helps. 

What is going to be the thing that makes Charlton Athletic different from all the others in reaching Mr. Sandgaards goals ? Why will it be us that sparkle and shine and not Sunderland or Portsmouth or Derby or Blackburn ? 

This season has to be about consolidation and for me used as a platform for building a squad for next season. Anything else a bonus. One down, fourteen to go. The more I think about it the more I think Thomas has given us all a welcome and exciting fiction. I think seeing CAFC competing at the very highest level is highly unlikely. The financial chips are stacked so heavily against it. I don’t really care and would be happy with a target of promotion to the top flight and a secure and solid future for the club. Just like this season anything else an unbelievable bonus. 

Perhaps the reason TS is a mega multiple successful businessman and I'm not is that he believes it’s possible and I just don’t. I’m really excited by what’s ahead of the football club over the next few years because I believe Thomas believes it’s possible. I think it’s going to be an unbelievable journey with a few crashes on the way to something better than we currently have. Where the moonshot reaches I just don’t know. Regular European football- its just not possible. Is it ? 
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Comments

  • edited September 2020
    Great post and it sums up my feelings exactly.

    While I would obviously love us to be a 'top club' vying for Champions League places every season, I think that becoming a stable, mid-table Premiership team is a more attainable goal.

    Even this will not be easy and I think that we should temper our expectations and concentrate on becoming a 'top club' in League one first.
  • Does it really even matter? The grass is always greener somewhere else and success is relative. With our history having the club owned by someone who cares is a very comfortable place to be.

    I have a colleague in Milan who has always been a mad keen Juventus supporter but who is now pissed off with Ronaldo because their kick-off times are now fixed to suit the Asian market rather than the Itlian one 
  • he cares, he’s aiming for where I think the club should be short term, which is top of the Championship and potentially stable Premier League, the European stuff is a good stretch goal, and we could achieve what Stoke and Wolves have.

    As for the Brent comparison, they stop with the guitar, you don’t get as rich as Sandgaard, or have a successful growing medical firm, that has to deal with the FDA, without being a super and ruthless business man. He is positive, and I hope he can start by changing and embedding a really strong culture throughout the club. 
  • edited September 2020
    I heard European football not champions League but I understand and appreciate your feelings.

    Personally I don't think that Europe is an impossible target. Plenty of average sides have got up and around it.

    5-7 years Premier League

    12-15 years Europe

    17-20 years champions league will do me 😉
  • How fantastic is it to even be having this conversation? European football in the timeframe is a stretch but I do think we will win promotion this season. The rest of the story remains to be seen and it will very interesting to see how it unfolds. Remember though we are a club that has operated badly the last few years. LB has done a fantastic job with the tools at his disposal, maybe he has to learn as we go along as do us fans what it is like to be able to actually buy players with a long term aim in mind
  • I can't believe how many people feel he has officially declared his business plan for Charlton for the short/medium/long term. He has dissembled our club from crooks and also the unrealistic contracts the crooks had set in place to trip up any potential new owner. His words for me were to signal positivity and slow progress to where we all as fans feel we belong. Suddenly we don't feel we belong there, because our owner has stated we should aim for there? 
  • Dazzler21 said:
    I heard European football not champions League but I understand and appreciate your feelings.

    Personally I don't think that Europe is an impossible target. Plenty of average sides have got up and around it.

    5-7 years Premier League

    12-15 years Europe

    17-20 years champions league will do me 😉
    Or we should just be happy to see the Premier League stars of the future playing at The Valley.
  • sam3110 said:
    I want us to be in a position that we were in 15-20 years ago, a middling Premier League team with a long term manager who used to play for us, with the occasional flirt with European football or a cup run 
    Flirting never got us layer though did it.
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  • Talk of European football is very optimistic to say the least but what's the point in buying a club if you don't have ambitions?

    Honestly for me I'd be very happy to be a stable championship club that flirts with the play offs every now and again. Premier League is a bonus but of course it can become reality with the right people in charge and investment in players 
  • It's a sorry state of affairs in respect of football when we have been fortunate enough that TS has managed to sort through the rubbish and do the deal. However even a successful man like him isnt anywhere near close enough in terms of wealth to get us as a top premium team. Chelsea so far this window spent £240m and only managed a squeaky bum time 3-3 draw lol. Ridiculous isnt it
  • edited September 2020
    If we’d have had the right type of owner bought us 6 years ago, in stead of a disinterested fellow in Belgium, I believe run correctly we would easily at least have been in the Premier League.

    We all know the players who have slipped through our hands for peanuts, that are playing at a much higher level.

    If Bournemouth, Leicester, Southampton, Sheffield United and Wolves can do it, why can’t We?

    We need to focus on the here and now, and getting back out of this division, is a must, but not a given.

    We need to build a squad that can compete at a higher division and go through the gears, just want a team to be proud of, not mercenaries out for a payday, so much money has been wasted under Roland.

    Adam Mathews would be a great start, will Dillion share the vision?

    Hope we can get Alfie on a longer term contract, with a promotion clause where his wages increase significantly if we gain promotion.
  • It all starts with a dream; every journey the first step.

    Shame it was a step backwards yesterday. 

    But it will focus minds on what needs to be done today, rather than day dreaming about the future.


  • Oggy Red said:
    It all starts with a dream; every journey the first step.

    Shame it was a step backwards yesterday. 

    But it will focus minds on what needs to be done today, rather than day dreaming about the future.
    Two players got experience and we were able to see other areas that need strengthening on top of the known ones. 

    Always a positive angle to take. We know more about our squad following that game, if we do so then do Bowyer and Gallen. 
  • Nothing has changed. 
    We need footballers that WANT TO PLAY FOR CHARLTON. 
    Anyone thinking about a “stepping stone” or an easy wage is just a passenger. 
    In the current squad (excl youngsters), I would say Jonny, JFC, and Amos Are the good guys -  with the jury still out on a couple of others. 
  • My target is stabilisation this year and escape from League One (upwards) next year. After that, let's see where we are.
  • Chizz said:
    It would be very difficult for someone to take the reins of a "beleaguered third tier team desperately in need of reinforcements,  a still relatively inexperienced manager and coaching staff, a magnificent stadium that is coming up for some TLC and a training ground that is less than half way through a vital upgrade" and turn it into a club that regularly competes in Europe.  However, there are some things that need to be borne in mind. 

    1. Thomas Sandgaard has done the impossible, by buying a club that wasn't allowed to be sold, agreeing a deal with a landlord it's impossible to do deals with and re-uniting and re-invigorating a desperate, bewildered and fractured fanbase. So the merely "very difficult" needn't be so much as a challenge for him. 

    2. Manchester City have done exactly the same.  Within fifteen years of playing in the third tier, they had won their third Premier League title.  If you told Thomas Sandgaard that Manchester City has exceeded that target, he would want to know why anyone thinks Charlton Athletic can't achieve it. 

    3. Leicester City moved from tier 3 to Premier League champions in seven years.  If you told Thomas Sandgaard that Leicester City had exceeded the target in half the time, he would want to know why anyone thinks Charlton Athletic can't achieve it. 

    Set yourself an ambitious target and you may well miss it.  But, would any current Charlton fan right now complain if within fifteen years we were "only" a mid-table, well-run, profitable Premier League team?  

    One more thing.  To win games in fifteen years' time, we will need players who are about eight, nine or ten years old right now.  Who are you going to sign for at that age?  A team desperate to cling on to its L1 status, or a team with an ambitious owner, heading to take the club as high as it can?  

    I think that, under Thomas Sandgaard, every single stakeholder in Charlton Athletic - players, staff, supporters and ambitious, young footballers - is going to have to re-set their outlook.  In the simplest terms, for the first time ever, kids playing for Charlton are going to have to make sure they have one extra piece of vital equipment before they can consider themselves a footballer.  A passport. 
    Agree with most of this, the only caveat being that the Man.City and Leicester owners are 'considerably richer than TS' (to be said in a Black Country accent).
  • Chizz said:
    It would be very difficult for someone to take the reins of a "beleaguered third tier team desperately in need of reinforcements,  a still relatively inexperienced manager and coaching staff, a magnificent stadium that is coming up for some TLC and a training ground that is less than half way through a vital upgrade" and turn it into a club that regularly competes in Europe.  However, there are some things that need to be borne in mind. 

    1. Thomas Sandgaard has done the impossible, by buying a club that wasn't allowed to be sold, agreeing a deal with a landlord it's impossible to do deals with and re-uniting and re-invigorating a desperate, bewildered and fractured fanbase. So the merely "very difficult" needn't be so much as a challenge for him. 

    2. Manchester City have done exactly the same.  Within fifteen years of playing in the third tier, they had won their third Premier League title.  If you told Thomas Sandgaard that Manchester City has exceeded that target, he would want to know why anyone thinks Charlton Athletic can't achieve it. 

    3. Leicester City moved from tier 3 to Premier League champions in seven years.  If you told Thomas Sandgaard that Leicester City had exceeded the target in half the time, he would want to know why anyone thinks Charlton Athletic can't achieve it. 

    Set yourself an ambitious target and you may well miss it.  But, would any current Charlton fan right now complain if within fifteen years we were "only" a mid-table, well-run, profitable Premier League team?  

    One more thing.  To win games in fifteen years' time, we will need players who are about eight, nine or ten years old right now.  Who are you going to sign for at that age?  A team desperate to cling on to its L1 status, or a team with an ambitious owner, heading to take the club as high as it can?  

    I think that, under Thomas Sandgaard, every single stakeholder in Charlton Athletic - players, staff, supporters and ambitious, young footballers - is going to have to re-set their outlook.  In the simplest terms, for the first time ever, kids playing for Charlton are going to have to make sure they have one extra piece of vital equipment before they can consider themselves a footballer.  A passport. 
    Agree with most of this, the only caveat being that the Man.City and Leicester owners are 'considerably richer than TS' (to be said in a Black Country accent).
    Its not how much money you have though, its how much of it you spend on achieving the ambition.  Oh and finding a goalscorer that can bang in 25-30 goals a season.  
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  • edited September 2020
    I still maintain that the biggest challenge in getting success is finding the right manager. Owners can waste years on achieving any success by hiring the wrong man. 

    For me Lee Bowyer has absolutely earned the right to be given his chance   with a proper owner and proper resources. Given the circus Charlton have been right throughput his tenure he has been fantastic. We all hope that Lee is part of Sandgaards journey but I suspect perhaps for the very first time that Lee will be under the microscope. Personally I’ve more or less written this season off but I’m expecting exciting football and a real promotion push next. 
    If I remember correctly Powell only needed the one transfer window to get us out of League 1 as champions. He changed out 18 players in the close season I believe. He basically had to start from scratch. He did however have a full pre-season with his team. Bowyer had a successful first campaign too, but with the restraints of Roland. Sadly that's about where the similarities end for me. In Powell's first season in the Championship we finished 9th with almost no investment beyond loans.

    Bowyer can get us to the Championship, of that I am sure. It is after then that I am left with questions. That's not a problem for now though. That may be next seasons or even the season after's problem. 

    In Bowyer, Gallen, Jackson, Avory, Euell and Sandgaard we must now trust to take us forward. 
  • I still maintain that the biggest challenge in getting success is finding the right manager. Owners can waste years on achieving any success by hiring the wrong man. 

    For me Lee Bowyer has absolutely earned the right to be given his chance   with a proper owner and proper resources. Given the circus Charlton have been right throughput his tenure he has been fantastic. We all hope that Lee is part of Sandgaards journey but I suspect perhaps for the very first time that Lee will be under the microscope. Personally I’ve more or less written this season off but I’m expecting exciting football and a real promotion push next. 
    Getting the right manager is the second most important part.  Getting the player trading right is more important. 

    The more money you have the more mistakes you can make.  Bournemouth, us, Bolton, Leicester (when O'Neil had gone), Sunderland the list goes on.  Were all established Premier league sides and made bad, or aweful recruitment decisions, that they couldn't afford to rectify. 
  • Chizz said:
    It would be very difficult for someone to take the reins of a "beleaguered third tier team desperately in need of reinforcements,  a still relatively inexperienced manager and coaching staff, a magnificent stadium that is coming up for some TLC and a training ground that is less than half way through a vital upgrade" and turn it into a club that regularly competes in Europe.  However, there are some things that need to be borne in mind. 

    1. Thomas Sandgaard has done the impossible, by buying a club that wasn't allowed to be sold, agreeing a deal with a landlord it's impossible to do deals with and re-uniting and re-invigorating a desperate, bewildered and fractured fanbase. So the merely "very difficult" needn't be so much as a challenge for him. 

    2. Manchester City have done exactly the same.  Within fifteen years of playing in the third tier, they had won their third Premier League title.  If you told Thomas Sandgaard that Manchester City has exceeded that target, he would want to know why anyone thinks Charlton Athletic can't achieve it. 

    3. Leicester City moved from tier 3 to Premier League champions in seven years.  If you told Thomas Sandgaard that Leicester City had exceeded the target in half the time, he would want to know why anyone thinks Charlton Athletic can't achieve it. 

    Set yourself an ambitious target and you may well miss it.  But, would any current Charlton fan right now complain if within fifteen years we were "only" a mid-table, well-run, profitable Premier League team?  

    One more thing.  To win games in fifteen years' time, we will need players who are about eight, nine or ten years old right now.  Who are you going to sign for at that age?  A team desperate to cling on to its L1 status, or a team with an ambitious owner, heading to take the club as high as it can?  

    I think that, under Thomas Sandgaard, every single stakeholder in Charlton Athletic - players, staff, supporters and ambitious, young footballers - is going to have to re-set their outlook.  In the simplest terms, for the first time ever, kids playing for Charlton are going to have to make sure they have one extra piece of vital equipment before they can consider themselves a footballer.  A passport. 
    Last paragraph best read alongside 5 jagerbombs and this playing in the background:

    https://youtu.be/PluvpwlgNPM?t=63
  • Cafc43v3r said:
    I still maintain that the biggest challenge in getting success is finding the right manager. Owners can waste years on achieving any success by hiring the wrong man. 

    For me Lee Bowyer has absolutely earned the right to be given his chance   with a proper owner and proper resources. Given the circus Charlton have been right throughput his tenure he has been fantastic. We all hope that Lee is part of Sandgaards journey but I suspect perhaps for the very first time that Lee will be under the microscope. Personally I’ve more or less written this season off but I’m expecting exciting football and a real promotion push next. 
    Getting the right manager is the second most important part.  Getting the player trading right is more important. 

    The more money you have the more mistakes you can make.  Bournemouth, us, Bolton, Leicester (when O'Neil had gone), Sunderland the list goes on.  Were all established Premier league sides and made bad, or aweful recruitment decisions, that they couldn't afford to rectify. 
    And I presume it was a manager that made those choices ?
  • Cafc43v3r said:
    I still maintain that the biggest challenge in getting success is finding the right manager. Owners can waste years on achieving any success by hiring the wrong man. 

    For me Lee Bowyer has absolutely earned the right to be given his chance   with a proper owner and proper resources. Given the circus Charlton have been right throughput his tenure he has been fantastic. We all hope that Lee is part of Sandgaards journey but I suspect perhaps for the very first time that Lee will be under the microscope. Personally I’ve more or less written this season off but I’m expecting exciting football and a real promotion push next. 
    Getting the right manager is the second most important part.  Getting the player trading right is more important. 

    The more money you have the more mistakes you can make.  Bournemouth, us, Bolton, Leicester (when O'Neil had gone), Sunderland the list goes on.  Were all established Premier league sides and made bad, or aweful recruitment decisions, that they couldn't afford to rectify. 
    And I presume it was a manager that made those choices ?
    Not necessarily, Southampton's relative success was when the manager wasn't responsible for it.  Same at Brentford now.

    Also it wasn't our managers that agreed the fees for Gomez, Grant, Pope et al.

    Of course the manager is important but having someone in charge of buying and selling, who is actually good at it is vital. 
  • edited September 2020
    Being an established premier club would be great which I think is possible remember the foggy Friday night at the withdean with a few thousand fans look at brighton now
    Plenty of clubs went down to league 1 and have found it a long slog to get back but have  but I believe we have the solid foundations now and passion hard work and a bit of good will hopefully we can progress back to the promised land but for now I'm happy just to have this takeover to have happened after a ridiculous 9 months
  • Feels a long way off, but never say never. 
  • The important thing here is not to look at the big picture. Something like this is a step by step process and I absolutely believe that, with the correct approach, patience and perseverance, all of the goals mentioned are obtainable. But, it is so important to only focus on the next attainable goal and go from there.  
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