[This post is being reissued as Katrien Meire has paid to have negative articles about her largely cleansed from search engines - no-one should be able to control free information]
Katrien Meire, it's time to go. You are the most overpaid and despised employee in the Club's history and there's been some tough competition on the playing staff for that honour (especially under Duchaletet's reign). Time you raised the white flag and realised that your position as CEO at Charlton Athletic Football Club is now contradictory to the responsibilities of the postholder. Whilst you remain arrogantly and selfishly clinging to your job, the Club's supporters will continue to outsmart and outmanoeuvre you at every turn. We will make your job unmanageable.
We are committed to ensure you fail, even if that means we deprive the club we love of revenue until you are gone and we have professional owners who have the interests of the football club at heart and not just the exploitation of young players. You have overseen the loss of Championship football in pursuit of turning a coin for a hugely wealthy but ultimately mean Shareholder whose strategy for owning our club fell apart within months of purchase due to the failure of FFP. Your hastily rehashed strategy of, er, "being competitive in the Championship with ambitions of Premier League," was another baseless statement (we have had so many) and you will be scratching your head about what guff to give us for next season.
Today our supporters thwarted your attempts to woo Club sponsors by inviting them along to the Training Ground at Sparrows Lane where Roland is spending some of the debt he is leveraging on our club. We were there in numbers to greet any deluded Sponsors with a couple of very clear messages related to your primary interest (their money) and your view of our fans (weird customers). Only four bothered turning up and we understand at least two of those were taking the opportunity to let you know what little they think of inept running of our once proud club.
Once again you had Security men running hither and tither filming our supporters, presumably, so you can try to exclude them from Charlton in the future (meaningless action as most are happy to vote with their feet anyway). Your pettiness and vindictiveness knows no bounds. Attempting to pursue the individual who amusingly resigned you as a Director via Companies House to banning an Executive Box holder from displaying Pinnochio posters as a protest at your habitual fibbing. Filming fans who protest and wasting Club resources on moves simply aimed at covering up the shambolic mess you have made as CEO e.g. giving thousands and thousands of free tickets away to make the ground look less empty because of what you have done to the fanbase.
Target 20,000? Don't make us laugh. It starts with a competent CEO and adequate investment. Everything else is jam. Building a better future together? Slashing an already impoverished Club staff? Sacking our main scout? Having no Comms professionals? Chopping and changing a host of cheap, third-rate Flemish-speaking Managers. Watching the Premier League stars of other clubs in the near future? Improving the match day experience irrespective of the football or the results? Surrounding yourself with equally incompetent Yes Men and Women to make yourself look less hopeless? Having to be escorted everywhere by Security personnel because you have alienated your Customers so much you fear for your safety? Three cheers for Mel Baroni. A woman with the Cahones to see what a circus you are presiding over and resign rather than be any part of it.
I have long since given up on the notion that you might do the honourable thing and resign, so we will make your job unmanageable and you will eventually be removed. Will you still be smirking when the time comes and we are officially relegated? I bet you are praying it happens away from home so you have less angry supporters to avoid. In the meantime we will continue to fight you and the invisible Belgian on every front.
Katrien Meire, it's time to go. You are the most overpaid and despised employee in the Club's history and there's been some tough competition on the playing staff for that honour (especially under Duchaletet's reign). Time you raised the white flag and realised that your position as CEO at Charlton Athletic Football Club is now contradictory to the responsibilities of the postholder. Whilst you remain arrogantly and selfishly clinging to your job, the Club's supporters will continue to outsmart and outmanoeuvre you at every turn. We will make your job unmanageable.
We are committed to ensure you fail, even if that means we deprive the club we love of revenue until you are gone and we have professional owners who have the interests of the football club at heart and not just the exploitation of young players. You have overseen the loss of Championship football in pursuit of turning a coin for a hugely wealthy but ultimately mean Shareholder whose strategy for owning our club fell apart within months of purchase due to the failure of FFP. Your hastily rehashed strategy of, er, "being competitive in the Championship with ambitions of Premier League," was another baseless statement (we have had so many) and you will be scratching your head about what guff to give us for next season.
Today our supporters thwarted your attempts to woo Club sponsors by inviting them along to the Training Ground at Sparrows Lane where Roland is spending some of the debt he is leveraging on our club. We were there in numbers to greet any deluded Sponsors with a couple of very clear messages related to your primary interest (their money) and your view of our fans (weird customers). Only four bothered turning up and we understand at least two of those were taking the opportunity to let you know what little they think of inept running of our once proud club.
Once again you had Security men running hither and tither filming our supporters, presumably, so you can try to exclude them from Charlton in the future (meaningless action as most are happy to vote with their feet anyway). Your pettiness and vindictiveness knows no bounds. Attempting to pursue the individual who amusingly resigned you as a Director via Companies House to banning an Executive Box holder from displaying Pinnochio posters as a protest at your habitual fibbing. Filming fans who protest and wasting Club resources on moves simply aimed at covering up the shambolic mess you have made as CEO e.g. giving thousands and thousands of free tickets away to make the ground look less empty because of what you have done to the fanbase.
Target 20,000? Don't make us laugh. It starts with a competent CEO and adequate investment. Everything else is jam. Building a better future together? Slashing an already impoverished Club staff? Sacking our main scout? Having no Comms professionals? Chopping and changing a host of cheap, third-rate Flemish-speaking Managers. Watching the Premier League stars of other clubs in the near future? Improving the match day experience irrespective of the football or the results? Surrounding yourself with equally incompetent Yes Men and Women to make yourself look less hopeless? Having to be escorted everywhere by Security personnel because you have alienated your Customers so much you fear for your safety? Three cheers for Mel Baroni. A woman with the Cahones to see what a circus you are presiding over and resign rather than be any part of it.
I have long since given up on the notion that you might do the honourable thing and resign, so we will make your job unmanageable and you will eventually be removed. Will you still be smirking when the time comes and we are officially relegated? I bet you are praying it happens away from home so you have less angry supporters to avoid. In the meantime we will continue to fight you and the invisible Belgian on every front.
Very well said and not one swear word. You are a credit to the campaign to remove the cancer that has been inflicted on us. A once proud football club reduced to the laughing stock of football.
ReplyDeleteThat was so well put Dave
ReplyDeletePembury Addick
Great post and interesting to note that KM was not smirking but scowling when she drove through the training ground gates this morning. Also hadn't realised that I am also now a film star! Must be a lot of images of people being stored on a computer somewhere? And there was me thinking that data protection meant that you had to ask permission before filming someone on public land and storing their images!
ReplyDeleteHi, it's not illegal to film people, but the data protection act means that you can ask for any personal information held electronically, and this includes CCTV images. If say 200 people make such a request, then the club has 40 days to respond. They may charge a fee of£10, but there's few grounds for not responding. The cost is likely to be significant. Check out the ICO, but unless you were doing anything illegal they have top provide it and in all probability have to remove everyone else in the film before giving it to you. I'm an is expert, not a lawyer, but this is quite clear. Current fine levels are only up to 1m, so peanuts but more to the point km is now showing she doesn't understand law .
DeleteProbably the best protest CARD have made. This really hits hard in the pocket of our deluded owner. How has she got the nerve to stay on? Keep up the great work everyone
ReplyDeleteBest work so far CARD.Keep up the pressure this will really cost our deluded owner. How does she have the nerve to stay on?
ReplyDeleteDave
ReplyDeleteI wrote a similar blog a few months ago and I wholeheartedly agree with your comments .
If I had to guess , I would suggest that she has already resigned and agreed with Roland that she will leave at the end of the season. It would be too much egg on both their faces to go now and she was probably persuaded to finish the season.
I will be amazed if she is still here next season.
On a separate point, surely filming people against their wishes is an infringement of personal privacy . I would be interested in the legal position on this.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteKatrien Meire will not resign, why should she?
ReplyDeleteShe is obviously doing an excellent job.
I know this because she has not been sacked.
Bit of a rant there son. Hangover after too much champers last night? You even made it onto Facebook. Anyway, I got my season ticket renewal form through this morning, only £175 in the North Lower.Fancy it? ☺
ReplyDeleteJust a note to ExpatCyp. Unfortunately you are incorrect. In a public place (i.e on the public highway as you mention), ANYBODY can film or take photographs without permission of the people and without permit or license. Police have no powers to stop this from happening.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Dave, I've always enjoyed your blog, but I'm particularly enjoying your frank and cutting comments towards this joke of a regime. Please keep it up, you are an oasis in an otherwise sea of doom and gloom.
Stevie Thanks for correcting me. My apologies. I wish my opinion was right though !
DeleteBrilliant post Dave.
ReplyDeletePH
You completely hit the nail on the head there, smashed it in fact !!
ReplyDeletePete,
ReplyDeleteYou're pyschic and, no, I won't be renewing or spending another bean until Duchatelet and that Witch have naffed off. Will catch-up this weekend.
Cheers
Dave.
Four days later and this post has clocked up 2000 unique page views. I think that's the most I have ever had for a single post in approaching 9 years blogging. Says it all really.....
ReplyDeleteNo data protection means that you can demand any recording of you that the club holds, if you want, providing you are not on club property or committing an offence. They cannot refuse this, only make a nominal charge for it. So if they've been filming hundreds of protesters then you should follow up.
ReplyDelete