Following his elevation to 'permanent' manager status on a 9 month contract, Lee Bowyer was quick to sing his employer's praises telling the South London Press that Roland has "backed' him whenever he has asked for a player. I think you will find Lee that Duchatelet has only given you less-expensive replacements for better players he has cashed-in on and that you started the season with only 16 professionals and have struggled to field a full bench.
Bowyer acknowledged that "because of the budget it's been tough" but Roland has been supportive and even went the extra mile after the recent harrowing protests at the Fleetwood game to call him on the Sunday and ask "are you okay?" I note Lee that he did this by phone, not in person having come over to provide you and his other staff with visible and moral support. That's the same caring boss who reneged on a rare 10% bonus payment to poorly paid staff and who has turned off lights at Valley and Sparrows Lane as well as having stopped bottled water for non first-team players.
I am sure Bowyer is speaking as he finds and I respect him for that but I would have hoped he might have reflected more upon the treatment of his predecessor whom he worked with and perhaps done a little bit of light research to better understand the modus operandi of Roland Duchatelet with the multitude of other managers who have not been supported or been visibly out-of-their-depth. Karl Robinson always struck me as being too worried about his own position to openly criticise Duchatelet but he was royally embarrassed when he went to see Duchatelet pre-Christmas two years ago to beg for money to spend in the January sales and was sent home with his tail between his legs. For Robinson, it was always 'the next window.'
Let's see how Bowyer fares because my money is very heavily on Roland continuing to sell whoever he can as he tries to cut his enormous losses and Bowyer having to make do and mend. He has done that admirably but the point will come where he will realise he is not going to get any help beyond that of an average League One side in his attempts to exit this division. I honestly believe Duchatelet doesn't give a toss about promotion and is perfectly happy running a League One loss instead of a Championship one.
Bowyer was also fooled into telling us that Roland has assured him he "won't sell to just anybody" because he cares so much about the club. Catch yourself on Lee, he will sell to so-called ISIS if the price is right. I think what he actually said was he "won't sell to anybody, because no-one's yet been stupid enough to offer him twice what the club's worth."
Lee could also learn something if he reads Duchatelet's latest rant on the club website. It's directed at the EFL who want to speak to him about the state of things at CAFC but it's a barely coherent request that the EFL look into the supporters protests and reflect on those before he is called to account. No doubt this was another of his famous tantrums when he ordered the media team to put his dictat up unedited. The last one caused his then new Comms Manager, the honourable Mel Baroni, to resign but Tom Rubbashaw is made of thicker skin and less integrity and will no doubt put it down to the experience of working with the billionaire Belgian miser-genius.
Bowyer acknowledged that "because of the budget it's been tough" but Roland has been supportive and even went the extra mile after the recent harrowing protests at the Fleetwood game to call him on the Sunday and ask "are you okay?" I note Lee that he did this by phone, not in person having come over to provide you and his other staff with visible and moral support. That's the same caring boss who reneged on a rare 10% bonus payment to poorly paid staff and who has turned off lights at Valley and Sparrows Lane as well as having stopped bottled water for non first-team players.
I am sure Bowyer is speaking as he finds and I respect him for that but I would have hoped he might have reflected more upon the treatment of his predecessor whom he worked with and perhaps done a little bit of light research to better understand the modus operandi of Roland Duchatelet with the multitude of other managers who have not been supported or been visibly out-of-their-depth. Karl Robinson always struck me as being too worried about his own position to openly criticise Duchatelet but he was royally embarrassed when he went to see Duchatelet pre-Christmas two years ago to beg for money to spend in the January sales and was sent home with his tail between his legs. For Robinson, it was always 'the next window.'
Let's see how Bowyer fares because my money is very heavily on Roland continuing to sell whoever he can as he tries to cut his enormous losses and Bowyer having to make do and mend. He has done that admirably but the point will come where he will realise he is not going to get any help beyond that of an average League One side in his attempts to exit this division. I honestly believe Duchatelet doesn't give a toss about promotion and is perfectly happy running a League One loss instead of a Championship one.
Bowyer was also fooled into telling us that Roland has assured him he "won't sell to just anybody" because he cares so much about the club. Catch yourself on Lee, he will sell to so-called ISIS if the price is right. I think what he actually said was he "won't sell to anybody, because no-one's yet been stupid enough to offer him twice what the club's worth."
Lee could also learn something if he reads Duchatelet's latest rant on the club website. It's directed at the EFL who want to speak to him about the state of things at CAFC but it's a barely coherent request that the EFL look into the supporters protests and reflect on those before he is called to account. No doubt this was another of his famous tantrums when he ordered the media team to put his dictat up unedited. The last one caused his then new Comms Manager, the honourable Mel Baroni, to resign but Tom Rubbashaw is made of thicker skin and less integrity and will no doubt put it down to the experience of working with the billionaire Belgian miser-genius.
Maybe you're being a bit harsh on Lee . He's no fool and I'm sure he's entirely aware of what's going on and how RD operates. As a young ambitious manager he's also well aware of what happens to managers under RD if they speak out of line.
ReplyDelete24 hours later the despised ex-Forest owner Fawaz Al-Hasawi Tweets a picture of himself being shown around the Valley by Duchatelet's Belgian Gofer, Lieven De Turck. Yes, Lee, he won't sell to just anyone, he really cares about the club's future.
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