Yet another, in the long line of embarrassing statements on the club website, this time trying to justify why ambition-less Roland Duchatelet has failed to agree new contract terms with Lee Bowyer and why we have lost him as a result.
So unprofessional to put personal contract negotiation details into a public message but Duchatelet is clearly trying, once again, to lay the blame at someone else's door. Talking about Bowyer refusing a threefold salary increase is interesting but I suspect there is more to this and three times not very much and what may still be short of the going rate is still not enough. We do not know whether this was the reason Bowyer has refused - there could be numerous others. The statement also explains again that the wage bill is being cut, despite promotion, and that this also plays a part in terms of affordability. On that logic it's safe to assume that the question of his transfer budget was also not something Bowyer could agree to as presumably the proposal was to cut that further to support his proposed pay rise.
Duchatelet also looks to blame Lee's agent and gets another dig in at the over-spending culture in the championship. It really is very clear to me that Duchatelet would rather we had stayed in League One. It's why he sold Grant in January and didn't allow Bowyer an appropriate replacement. He really doesn't care at all about results and another relegation season in the Championship won't bother him in the slightest.
The biggest laugh I got was the notion that a possible takeover might have been complicated or even halted if Bowyer had been signed on a bigger or longer deal. That suggests the continuity of management hasn't been seriously discussed with any proposed buyer, which tells you all you really need to know about the state of any takeover talks.
It's also very clear to me what happens next. Several key players (bigger earners) will now exercise their right to move on for more money and Duchatelet will be able to cut his wage bill further. Cheaper players will be brought in, as well as more loanees and whoever is appointed manager will have to make do and mend and rely upon more Academy players being thrown into the fray. Using more Academy players was also a term in Bowyer's first draft contract which was based on "incentivisation." I note they aren't even talking about a new manager but a less expensive Caretaker who can be blamed and discarded at a whim when results go tits-up. In other words, we are likely to be heading back to the days of Karol Fraye and Guy Luzon.
Those who renewed their season tickets early may be feeling even more disappointed than the rest of us but they will have to put a brave face on it and support the boys (and Duchatelet) no matter what. Pretty sure they won't sell too many more.
In the circumstances, I see no realistic chance of a takeover happening and Duchatelet will be left funding the losses for another season, after which he will need to adjust his price to sell as a League One club again. Boy is he thick! He has also just pocketed north of a £1,000,000 in bonus revenues that Bowyer earned by getting us to the play-off final but he's not going to be wasting that on securing Bowyer or strengthening his side to maintain Championship status. If there is no takeover within the next four weeks I will be placing a sizeable wager on relegation and won't be wasting any money this season on watching any of it. So, so sad and short-sighted.
So unprofessional to put personal contract negotiation details into a public message but Duchatelet is clearly trying, once again, to lay the blame at someone else's door. Talking about Bowyer refusing a threefold salary increase is interesting but I suspect there is more to this and three times not very much and what may still be short of the going rate is still not enough. We do not know whether this was the reason Bowyer has refused - there could be numerous others. The statement also explains again that the wage bill is being cut, despite promotion, and that this also plays a part in terms of affordability. On that logic it's safe to assume that the question of his transfer budget was also not something Bowyer could agree to as presumably the proposal was to cut that further to support his proposed pay rise.
Duchatelet also looks to blame Lee's agent and gets another dig in at the over-spending culture in the championship. It really is very clear to me that Duchatelet would rather we had stayed in League One. It's why he sold Grant in January and didn't allow Bowyer an appropriate replacement. He really doesn't care at all about results and another relegation season in the Championship won't bother him in the slightest.
The biggest laugh I got was the notion that a possible takeover might have been complicated or even halted if Bowyer had been signed on a bigger or longer deal. That suggests the continuity of management hasn't been seriously discussed with any proposed buyer, which tells you all you really need to know about the state of any takeover talks.
It's also very clear to me what happens next. Several key players (bigger earners) will now exercise their right to move on for more money and Duchatelet will be able to cut his wage bill further. Cheaper players will be brought in, as well as more loanees and whoever is appointed manager will have to make do and mend and rely upon more Academy players being thrown into the fray. Using more Academy players was also a term in Bowyer's first draft contract which was based on "incentivisation." I note they aren't even talking about a new manager but a less expensive Caretaker who can be blamed and discarded at a whim when results go tits-up. In other words, we are likely to be heading back to the days of Karol Fraye and Guy Luzon.
Those who renewed their season tickets early may be feeling even more disappointed than the rest of us but they will have to put a brave face on it and support the boys (and Duchatelet) no matter what. Pretty sure they won't sell too many more.
In the circumstances, I see no realistic chance of a takeover happening and Duchatelet will be left funding the losses for another season, after which he will need to adjust his price to sell as a League One club again. Boy is he thick! He has also just pocketed north of a £1,000,000 in bonus revenues that Bowyer earned by getting us to the play-off final but he's not going to be wasting that on securing Bowyer or strengthening his side to maintain Championship status. If there is no takeover within the next four weeks I will be placing a sizeable wager on relegation and won't be wasting any money this season on watching any of it. So, so sad and short-sighted.
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