The minds boggle

Great Charlton reading on t'internet at the moment. The collective butterflies and differing views of the prospective takeover are proving perfect for the internet medium.

As always, New York Addick, pens a thought-provoking piece about the takeover and it's typical of the moment that it's under the title of the Cardiff preview. He raises the prospect that what we may be seeing with the Zabeel deal is a reaction to the world's current economic turmoil and, as such, a possible model for future big money investors. That is to say that the Premiership big-boys with their big-boy debts and enormous commercial exposures, are no longer attractive to the largest investors and that more solidly financed and well-run clubs are the better buys. If this plays out we could well see a new order and Charlton could be the first beneficiary. Wouldn't it also be just typical of Charlton to again break the mould? In terms of his insight into the Cardiff fixture, he gives us the truism that Jay Bothroyd has finally found his footballing level which he has somehow managed to avoid for most of his career (cue the opener on Saturday).

Elsewhere meanwhile,  a number of sites are reporting that Pards "fears takeover torment." Whilst he's at pains to point out the obvious excitement around the Valley and the fact that he's keeping an "open mind," he relates his experiences at West Ham when the Kia Joorabchian deal hung about for an age before coming to nothing and the problems he suffered with his squad as a result. I suppose this might be opportunist for Pards in preventing a ready-made excuse for any reversals in the coming games, especially as he thinks it's "a long way off." Oh, and it does no harm to let the prospective buyers know that you have experience of managing a squad through a difficult takeover process.

Pedro45 also raises the prospect of finally getting your money back on any Charlton shares you may have bought as an "investment" in the past.  I hadn't contemplated this previously, assuming that Zabeel would simply look to buy out a controlling stake from Chappell, Murray and maybe several of the other majority shareholders. I have a tiny interest myself and will be interested to see if I automatically get a sale offer as part of the process. I won't be interested in taking the money if I do; first because it doesn't amount to much, and secondly because it might actually represent a decent investment in future, something it certainly didn't when I put the money in.

Bring it on!