Sunday 25 October 2015

It's not who next, but what next?

Charlton Athletic Football Club have been suffering under the Roland Duchatelet's 'network model' for two years. Four managers have now been sacked during that period and three of them  deserved more time or more financial backing (Powell, Riga and Peeters).

Luzon had lost the support of the players and had to go, although he too wasn't supported fully in the Summer and had to make do with a paper-thin squad outside his first choice eleven. The question we are all absorbed with now, is who next? The strong view is that whoever it is, it will be the wrong choice for our club and someone who will simply perpetuate the decline and the suffering of our supporters. Malky Mackay was photographed at the match yesterday which set some hares running. His appointment would reflect very poorly on Katrien Meire (what's new) given her recent vote of confidence in Guy Luzon and the fact that Mackay was bound to be spotted. Ordinarily you would assume that, that level of incompetence might suggest Mackay might have been  there for other reasons (Brentford are also to appoint a permanent manager) but given Meire's track record it would be entirely in keeping that she invited him. Karel Fraye is the other name being strongly bandied and as a network manager you can see him being appointed next after the customary exhaustive search for the best candidate on the planet. Fraye's credentials have seen him appointed to his current third tier Belgium club role where his side are struggling and who were hammered 4-0 yesterday.

The question we should all be asking is 'what next?' Whoever the incoming manager is, it will either make no difference to our relegation battle or it will simply prolong the inevitable and that is that we have to move Roland Duchatelet and Katrien Meire on. You can argue that we are financially secure and that Roland is investing in the future but it's also clear that he expects the club to break even sooner rather than later and that means we will be remain uncompetitive in the Championship where the only clubs who get close to that typically go down. The eternal optimist will also say that we should struggle on and wait until our Academy begins to bear fruit. That presupposes that Duchatelet would hold onto his emerging talent in sufficient numbers to get us promoted. The facts are that Poyet was sold a year ago and Gomez this year. Frankly, I don't trust him not to just sell the talent on and continue to fund a side that could compete in League One. I am not prepared to wait for four or five years to see and probably experience another relegation in the meantime.

I am going to vote with my feet and protest. Boycotts are never popular because they are counter-intuitive. As fans we want to watch our side and support them financially. However, the current regime is driving fans away more successfully than we have managed to attract them in the past. The money is irrelevant given Roly's wealth and, well, the football we have been playing is hardly an attraction either.

Like Riga, Peeters and Luzon I will support the individual and hope for the best but we can't let form affect our focus on removing the Puppet-Master and Pinnochio. Standard Liege fans have shown us the way and we must imitate their successful campaign. No-one likes bad publicity but businessmen and politicians absolutely hate it. My guess is Duchatelet will cut and run if we get our act together this season. The idea of a state of the art training facility is attractive but I'd rather we had owners who were committed to getting the best and most competitive side out that they can with an experienced and credible Chief Exec and First Team coach.

Credit to LeaburnForEngland for the cartoon.

1 comment:

  1. There is one connection in that funny image you posted Dave and I won't state it, but we all know what it is. Enoughs enough!

    ReplyDelete

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