Heal the rift

Change can be hugely unsettling for people. The bigger the change the bigger the potential challenge. It's usually uncomfortable and it can become devisive and damaging if it's not managed properly. Much depends on how people approach change and their willingness to embrace it but management of it is critical. It also has the potential to completely alter the order of things, way out of proportion to the actual change itself.

When I look around the Valley at the moment, what I think we are witnessing is precisely this and it may well lead to a step-change in our fan base (positive or negative) and it's relationship with the club. That may sound dramatic but the signs are there.

Technology has changed the way supporters interact with their club. News, views and opinions are near instant and proliferate. Geographical boundaries no longer exist. Our entire fan-base around the globe have the same access to pretty much all of the information at the same time and a number of different mediums have developed to meet a nascent demand. 

Over the last ten years we have seen the emergence of a long line of Bloggers covering Charlton Athletic and a number different message boards that have developed naturally to largely reflect the views and interests of their audiences - some fan-lead and others commercially modelled on a national basis. The Club have developed their "digital" presence too with an ever-expanding official website and the teaming with CAFC-Player has brought live match commentaries to the masses, albeit with quality issues. All of this has brought far more fans closer to the action and the surrounding debate.

Into that mix, we have to throw the last three years with an invisible financial backer, a non-communicative public majority shareholder and some very short-sighted and inflammatory senior management decisions affecting the running of the club away from the playing side. Then we have the on-off sale of the club this season, the lack of investment, the threat of Administration and a relegation battle. If you think that's not enough to contend with, we are then taken over by a multi-millionaire with an unorthodox business model involving a stable of other European clubs who isn't prepared to throw money at the problem but does decide to sack the loyal first team Manager after the club go bottom of the table and exit the F A Cup. I think we would all agree that this represents big change by anyone's standards.

We now face a split amongst our fan base and our numerous supporter groups as a result, as we splinter largely along two lines. On the one side we have those in what I will call the Old Camp, who are naturally distrusting of the new owner and doubtful about his footballing model. They are also largely pro-Chris Powell in the sense that they believe he was doing a decent job in very trying circumstances and that we will regret dismissing him. The other side of the coin, I'll call the New Camp who were fed-up with Chris Powell's style of football and tactics and have been advocating for change. They have also embraced new ownership, so have, in effect got just what they wanted (although if you wait long enough a bus will come along). There are a number of other generalisations I could make about the Old and the New Camps, but I will avoid the temptation to do so as I will be immediately contradicted by all and sundry. The internet is the battleground for both sides of the debate which is probably just as well given some of the emotions.

What is also obvious is that we all still ultimately want to see the same outcome - a sustainable and financially stable club with an exciting, competitive and successful football team. 

So what? Well I think the new owner and his team need to be alert to the situation. They can't afford winners and losers amongst our fan base. They need to take us all with them and to do that, it's pretty obvious they need to reach out to those who need more reassurance than others. It doesn't mean they need to alter their direction or pander to opinion but it could potentially make all the difference. All of us should recognise the value of them doing that given we all want the same thing. There have been some encouraging recent signs and it would be great if Roland Duchatelet and Katrein Meire can provide the reassurance many seek. Perhaps they will be unable to do this because the truth may be that the ambitions of Charlton Athletic are ultimately to be diluted for the betterment of the stable of clubs, but it must be worth a go if there is genuinely nothing to hide. They owe us that after the comments of Guy Luzon at Standard Liege and Rowland's own concerning how this model will work.

C'mon M Duchatelet, reassure and unite us!