Tuesday 14 February 2017

Oldham Athletic 1 v Charlton Athletic 0

A goal after 4 minutes this evening was enough to inflict Charlton's seventh defeat of the season and consolidate our 13th place position in League One.

It seems we had a go, with 56% possession and 16 corners and 16 efforts at goal but we couldn't score. No doubt we will nick a goal at Rochdale on Saturday but what I said in my last post holds true. We don't have enough attacking threat to challenge in League One and we failed to address this in the January transfer window. This is the sixth window in succession where we have shuffled the pieces but not come out with a convincing enough squad and have had to watch the consequential struggle. As I said, it's Groundhog Day and it will only change when something is done about it.

The false hope of those desperate to believe things have changed is being laid bare. It puts Karl Robinson in a difficult position. He will have to eat some humble pie and stand by his players and fight on but ultimately this season is another write-off. I am ambivalent about Robinson. He spouts too much and frankly, isn't convincing, but I do believe you need to persevere with a manager if you are ever to have a chance of throwing a double-six. By that I mean over-achieving with what you have, which is what anyone working for Duchateket at Charlton has to do. The trouble is, Duchatelet has an itchy trigger finger and when the furore from the fans and criticism from the media gets too much, he fires. My guess is that will happen again before much longer and it will be a case of does he persevere or try someone else? As we know, the answer thus far has been try someone else.

Elsewhere today I was interested to hear that the nutcase owner at Leyton Orient is holding out for £4m before selling. Four million? Puts Roland's £75m asking price for us into ultra high definition. We are not quite as small as the O's but, hey, we are a darn sight closer to £4m than £75m! Having acquired us for £14m and having taken us down a division, I would have thought he would have done well to get his buying price back. That would mean he needs to acknowledge that his mismanagement of Charlton Athletic over three and a half years has cost him around £30m in operating losses if you take the latest player sales into consideration. I think Roland needs to get real and cut his losses. At the moment he looks very much like a loser in a casino chasing his money and that's not a good place to be.

12 comments:

  1. With all due respect was it Rick Everett who said it was £75 million?! Jesus Christ - are you the same person who said our games aren't streamed online so Roland doesn't watch?

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  2. Brain - I have heard several figures bandied about and £75m has come from two different sources (as well as other figures well north of what might sound credible).. You obviously don't believe Rick Everett has any better information than anyone else but his track record is rather good in my experience and he doesn't speculate. The EFL offers a streaming service of live matches for owners and other dignitaries who live abroad, so I am aware they can be viewed. What I find laughable is the notion that Roland Duchatelet prioritises any time to watch them, live or otherwise. We know for a fact he wasn't watching the Swindon game live and given his complete lack of interest in us - he has owned us for three years and hasn't bothered to attend a live game since October 2014, I don't believe he watches all our games or anything like it.

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  3. Dave

    To me its really starting to become obvious that it doesn't matter how much the club is really worth, Roland won't, and doesn't need to sell ..

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  4. The problem is that Robinson is digging his own grave. If you are constantantly coming out saying the players are amongst the best in the league and you are sitting in position 13, by your own words you are under-achieving. That's now 1.2 points per game, same as Slade and we know how hot Roly is on points per game stats don't we.....

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  5. January was a difficult window to sort out the mistakes of the summer rebuilding program (hey, deja vu there!!), and I could sort of see the reasons in being carefull. However, we did have the Lookman/Fox cash. Chris Powell built a squad to win promotion on the 1m from Jenkinson. Surely the richest owner in the club's history could have let Robinson have 2m to start to build a squad worthy of the name.
    But no. The apologists witter on about breaking even, as if that was the central aim of football. If it was Duchatalet's intention to do so, he should have kept his money and stayed out of football - Mark Hulyer famously said owning a football club was like being held over a drain and shaken so that the money fell out, and he would know.
    Last night was the end product of the last two botched transfer windows. Why anyone will expect better this summer is an open question - Karl Robinson has already stated that the recruitment should start now, so he had better have a chat with Roland. Whether he gets the backing he undoubtedly needs is another story, but he could look back over the history of Charlton for the last few years, and see what having jhalf a squad and the subsequent overuse of youth players has done for the managers.
    Finally, there is an ongoing message that the 'fans' are tired of the protesters, whose days are numbered. Funny that all the howls of disappointment last night come as a backdrop to the SMT having 'learned' from past mistakes. Northampton away ooks a fairly meaningless fixture as of this morning. Geeting Roland to sell a club he manifestly has no interest in is in the best interest of every fan. For those who wish to support the team, fir play, but for those who spitefully complain about the protesters, enjoy last night. It's a taste of the future.
    Ken Shabby

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  6. Good summary, Dave, as always.

    My heart dropped reading Anons comment ref. Roland. The longer this goes on the more I think he/she is right. I can't help but wonder if Roland is holding on out of spite

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  7. Anon - as far as Roland's inclination to sell, why would he hang on long term? His network model has failed - we have our second English manager and there has been a change of policy on transfers in terms of network stooges. It's just a matter of getting out without taking too much of a financial loss. If football clubs were like property he has the backing to wait but nothing will change without some investment and he has already demonstrated that he isn't going to gamble and risk throwing good money after bad. Hence, he's slashed our operating costs by doing down and has actually made a profit this year given the £5m recouped pre-season and the Lookman/Fox £8-9m in January. He will sell when he gets the right offer and asking silly money is a starting point on negotiations. The one thing we do know is that Duchatelet is a businessman and he will act like one when it comes to getting a deal done. He may be eyeing Konsa and Aribo as opportunities to trade in profit again over the next twelve months. If that's the case he can afford to take his time....

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  8. Anon - as far as Roland's inclination to sell, why would he hang on long term? His network model has failed - we have our second English manager and there has been a change of policy on transfers in terms of network stooges. It's just a matter of getting out without taking too much of a financial loss. If football clubs were like property he has the backing to wait but nothing will change without some investment and he has already demonstrated that he isn't going to gamble and risk throwing good money after bad. Hence, he's slashed our operating costs by doing down and has actually made a profit this year given the £5m recouped pre-season and the Lookman/Fox £8-9m in January. He will sell when he gets the right offer and asking silly money is a starting point on negotiations. The one thing we do know is that Duchatelet is a businessman and he will act like one when it comes to getting a deal done. He may be eyeing Konsa and Aribo as opportunities to trade in profit again over the next twelve months. If that's the case he can afford to take his time....

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  9. Suicidal Addick - Robinson can talk all he likes but he can't dodge results and the table doesn't lie. With season ticket renewals on the way, this is not the time to fall flat on your face but that's what appears to be happening. Once this squad recognises the play-offs are beyond us, we could easily see a string of poor results as our loanees check-out and effort levels drop. Whilst I think we should give him longer, Duchatelet didn't do that with Riga, Peeters or Slade.

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  10. Suicidal Addick - Robinson can talk all he likes but he can't dodge results and the table doesn't lie. With season ticket renewals on the way, this is not the time to fall flat on your face but that's what appears to be happening. Once this squad recognises the play-offs are beyond us, we could easily see a string of poor results as our loanees check-out and effort levels drop. Whilst I think we should give him longer, Duchatelet didn't do that with Riga, Peeters or Slade.

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  11. Ken - don't forget that Robinson made a public deal of heading out to Paris with his assistant and the club Captain (and Meire) before Christmas with the express intention of asking Duchatelet for more funds for the January window. He came back empty handed and the window has proven that. My bet is Robinson is far less happy with the situation than he is letting on but when he finally talks there should be a lot to listen to for once. I am less interesting in those who have been trying to put a positive spin on Robinson and the Regime and far more concerned about the hardcore fans who are simply packing it in and fading away. As I have said, I am losing interest by the week and can see myself not bothering next year. I can hardly believe that and neither can anyone who has known me for the last forty years but it's happening and only a change of owner will offer any realistic hope of regaining the enthusiasm, the excitement and the hope of match days following Charlton Athletic.

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  12. Hungry Ted - you have to believe that Duchatelet is too smart and too wise for that. He hung on at Standard for a good while after it was obvious he couldn't remain in charge. The fans aggressive tactics in the stadium and by confronting him in his offices were clearly embarrassing for him and he did sell, although he put a brave face on it for the best part of a year, although selling a football club does take time.

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