It's Jiminez, not Powell

As tempers rise amongst angry Addicks, the debate is beginning to concentrate around who is responsible for Charlton Athletic's current predicament. For me it's a no brainer - Tony Jiminez. Powell is simply doing the best with what he's been given and is being professional to a fault in getting on with the coaching role and not looking for excuses outside his playing and management staff.

Dumb Jiminez, meanwhile, says nothing because he appears incapable or, more likely, he doesn't see why he needs to explain himself to Charlton fans, the mere punters. Let's face it, he doesn't even support Charlton. The facts are that Jiminez was the broker of the deal to acquire the club. He has sufficient personal wealth to shoulder the club for awhile, if not to run it properly. Slater is merely his lawyer and had taken the limited speaking role of the Board after the takeover and when begging fans to waste their money on a to renew season tickets. 

It was Jiminez who had the personal contacts willing to bankroll a limited promotion push and attempt to inflate the value of the club for ultimate lucrative resale. Slater was the lawyer who helped set the deal up via offshore tax havens and company shells to protect the identities of the other investors. From his previous role at Newcastle, Jiminez obviously fancies himself as a judge of a player and thinks he can perform the illusion of making a club out-perform the investment.

It was Jiminez who fell out with the money men (and nearly everyone else by the looks of it) and who is left with legal responsibility along with the lawyer for the clubs debts and fortunes as majority shareholder. It's that reason why we are now in a bind. He has over-committed on debts to Directors and former Directors and as well as looking to recover the cost of the venture, presumably for himself and the money men backers. The total of that lot (rumoured to be £40m) is far higher than the value of the club and is deterring potential investors.

Instead, they will simply wait until push comes to shove and we have to call in the Administrators. That way the debt will be written down heavily and they will get the club for a fraction of the current asking price and, presumably, have the funds left to play their version fantasy football (don't laugh). The trouble is, Administration incurs a points deficit likely to take a struggling club down a division.

Chris Powell is soldiering on and trying to get results with what he's got. He has a good track record since coming into management as Valley Talk so ably points out. He got us out of that wretched division and has already steered us to within three points of the play-offs. He had no money to strenghten in the Summer and has had to watch Jon Obika and Ricardo Fuller move on (not so convinced Fuller was value for money) but his squad is largely similar to last season. 

One key difference that may be making Powell's job harder, is the negative atmosphere within the club due to high-handed and dictatorial senior management/Board decisions that have been very unpopular with staff and supporters. They have also been embarrassing for those who have taken them as they have been forced to settle civil cases out-of-court and face more to come. Ultimately, Jiminez is responsible for this as majority shareholder.

There is also the bizarre position of the majority of the first-team's playing contracts expiring in June with no apparent urgency to renew them. This may simply be because we have no money to improve what they already have and running them down is seen as an attractive option for prospective new buyers who will have far fewer financial obligations to players they may not want. Solly has had his renewed but that may simply be to retain his value as a saleable asset. Nick Pope's was renewed this week but as a reserve goalie that wouldn't have registered in the scheme of things. If this is causing uncertainty amongst the playing staff, and it's hard to see how it wouldn't, Jiminez is ultimately responsible.

So, what to do? Pointless blaming Powell for the current predicament. He is doing the best with what he's got and there is zero prospect of a better manager coming in and doing any better with no money. No, for me the heat needs to be turned on the Board and Jiminez in particular. His hand needs to be forced and his ego won't like his name being bellowed abusively at home games. He especially won't like it when he actually attends a match, presumably when he's trying to impress any prospective buyers who may be left. That may force him to wake up and smell the coffee, cut the losses and move on. The spectre of Administration looms large, let's not blame Chris Powell for that or the personal struggle I believe he is having in trying to get the best from his increasingly disillusioned side.