Another rambling Duchatelet missive was posted on the Club's website this afternoon. It updates on the general state of the club, the implications of running it in the Championship and negotiations on Lee Bowyers contract as well as a possible takeover. I will take the topics one at a time in order of what I believe was important to Duchatelet in putting this out.
Lee Bowyers' Contract - Duchatelet tells us that the club first spoke to Bowyer about a contract extension "earlier in the season." Obviously live to supporters widespread concerns that it wasn't done early enough or with enough determination to get it over the line, this is a poor explanation as he goes on to say they triggered an extension clause in Bowyer's contract "in May." Duchatelet makes it clear that this clause enables his contract to be extended and states that "he needs to agree this for his contract to be extended as per the current agreement." That tells you Duchatelet is not offering him any improvement on terms which were agreed when he had no track record and was a fledgling League One manager. It ignores promotion and everything that Bowyer and his team have done to achieve that against all the odds. I believe this will be the sticking point with Bowyer and who can blame him?
Operating Costs/Budget for the Championship - Duchatelet repeats what he has said before in that he intends to cut the operating losses further and that "operating on a small budget will limit our chances of promotion, which are already obstructed by large, unsustainable overspending by some other clubs in the division." They won't limit our chances Roland, they will prevent us from competing at the top end of the table and we are very likely to follow Rotherham's relegation battle following their promotion from League One in 2017-18. He goes on elsewhere in the statement to say that "it has become unaffordable for nearly anyone to own a football club in the Championship." What he means is the level of competition to win the hundreds of millions of Premier League money is such that you have to gamble and invest heavily to do so and take some risk. As one of the wealthiest owners in the Championship he could do this but clearly isn't interested in taking the risk. That's his choice and good luck to him - he has already admitted he is no longer interested in football. At least it's out in the open now if you didn't believe it before. All that hot air previously about being prepared to invest in January if we were handily placed has been well and truly exposed. He never expected us to be in that position because he wouldn't invest sufficiently in the Summer to support it and it would never be a problem come Christmas. He really must be torn over Bowyer's promotion from League One.
Sale of the Club - Very interesting to hear him state that "following the win (at Wembley), I was filled with hope as one of the parties interested in buying the club wanted to move forward quickly to complete the purchase." Presumably, this is still the Aussies given they were at the match and there is still no smoke on any other credible buyers who have made anywhere near as much progress.
He then goes on to say he is frustrated because the long understood issue of Directors loans has not been easy (or quick) to resolve. He names and thanks four former Directors for having agreed their positions and by exception calls the others out. I understand they are owed around £2.6m of the £7m at stake and are presumably less willing or unable to accept the proposed buyout. David White is one of those owners Duchatelet thanks but he has been quick to Tweet that he's had a phone call asking if he was willing to discuss his loan and he agreed but nothing else has happened. Either Roland is once again misinformed or he's telling porkies.
The irony here, of course, is that Duchatelet himself is holding out for as big a price as he can get for the club but expects these smaller fish to take what I assume will be sizeable losses on their loans. He then makes the point that the high cost of land/assets in London has made it hard to conclude a sale. What he doesn't say is that the price he has been trying to get for the club (the assets) is hugely more than what he paid for them in 2014 and suspiciously close to the debt he has wracked up in running the club rather than simple land/asset inflation. He calls the land/asset price "a specific issue" which sounds very much like it remains unresolved and, as such, is a much higher hurdle in the sale of the club than any remaining Director's loans.
Ongoing dig at Peter Varney & Co - He really can't help himself can he? He has to have a go at someone in every statement. Having already said that he "continued to pay for everything...despite the way the staff, my friends, my family and I have been treated by individuals who claim to act in the best interests of the club," he then goes on to say that the "first candidate for buying the club," pushed by Varney, Chappell and Everitt was the owner of Ebbsfleet (badly worded in his original to suggest that might be Rick Everitt!) and that it was debatable that they would "have been the right fit for Charlton."
The fact is, as far as I am aware, that Peter Varney couldn't get any air time with Lord Duchatelet as Meire blocked him at every turn so perhaps it is debatable if Duchatelet ever heard them out. The email trail over several months was exposed ages ago and it was clear that Meire insulted Varney by not treating his approach with the seriousness it deserved and by blocking his group from direct communication with the Organ Grinder. Richard Murray poisoned the water here for Peter Varney, even if Varney was acting on behalf of the actual buyer. The notion that Duchatelet gives a toss about the right fit for Charlton is laughable. He would sell the club to anyone who would meet his inflated asking price. As for Varney and Co not being the right fit, Duchatelet is presumably typically uninformed that Varney and Co ran the club through the most successful period in its history in the Premiership. I suspect Murray took all the credit for that when briefing Duchatelet initially.
Finally he ends on an embarrassing "let's try to win games and enjoy those moments at the Valley." I say embarrassing because he clearly won't be part of it having not seen a game at the Valley since October in the year of our Lord 2014. It also sounds like he isn't expecting his team to be able to win many games away from the Valley with its' impoverished squad.
The next step towards the cliff edge will be Bowyer accepting a better offer elsewhere. If that happens, Roland Duchatelet will have a much bigger problem on his hands than being unable to sell the club.
Lee Bowyers' Contract - Duchatelet tells us that the club first spoke to Bowyer about a contract extension "earlier in the season." Obviously live to supporters widespread concerns that it wasn't done early enough or with enough determination to get it over the line, this is a poor explanation as he goes on to say they triggered an extension clause in Bowyer's contract "in May." Duchatelet makes it clear that this clause enables his contract to be extended and states that "he needs to agree this for his contract to be extended as per the current agreement." That tells you Duchatelet is not offering him any improvement on terms which were agreed when he had no track record and was a fledgling League One manager. It ignores promotion and everything that Bowyer and his team have done to achieve that against all the odds. I believe this will be the sticking point with Bowyer and who can blame him?
Operating Costs/Budget for the Championship - Duchatelet repeats what he has said before in that he intends to cut the operating losses further and that "operating on a small budget will limit our chances of promotion, which are already obstructed by large, unsustainable overspending by some other clubs in the division." They won't limit our chances Roland, they will prevent us from competing at the top end of the table and we are very likely to follow Rotherham's relegation battle following their promotion from League One in 2017-18. He goes on elsewhere in the statement to say that "it has become unaffordable for nearly anyone to own a football club in the Championship." What he means is the level of competition to win the hundreds of millions of Premier League money is such that you have to gamble and invest heavily to do so and take some risk. As one of the wealthiest owners in the Championship he could do this but clearly isn't interested in taking the risk. That's his choice and good luck to him - he has already admitted he is no longer interested in football. At least it's out in the open now if you didn't believe it before. All that hot air previously about being prepared to invest in January if we were handily placed has been well and truly exposed. He never expected us to be in that position because he wouldn't invest sufficiently in the Summer to support it and it would never be a problem come Christmas. He really must be torn over Bowyer's promotion from League One.
Sale of the Club - Very interesting to hear him state that "following the win (at Wembley), I was filled with hope as one of the parties interested in buying the club wanted to move forward quickly to complete the purchase." Presumably, this is still the Aussies given they were at the match and there is still no smoke on any other credible buyers who have made anywhere near as much progress.
He then goes on to say he is frustrated because the long understood issue of Directors loans has not been easy (or quick) to resolve. He names and thanks four former Directors for having agreed their positions and by exception calls the others out. I understand they are owed around £2.6m of the £7m at stake and are presumably less willing or unable to accept the proposed buyout. David White is one of those owners Duchatelet thanks but he has been quick to Tweet that he's had a phone call asking if he was willing to discuss his loan and he agreed but nothing else has happened. Either Roland is once again misinformed or he's telling porkies.
The irony here, of course, is that Duchatelet himself is holding out for as big a price as he can get for the club but expects these smaller fish to take what I assume will be sizeable losses on their loans. He then makes the point that the high cost of land/assets in London has made it hard to conclude a sale. What he doesn't say is that the price he has been trying to get for the club (the assets) is hugely more than what he paid for them in 2014 and suspiciously close to the debt he has wracked up in running the club rather than simple land/asset inflation. He calls the land/asset price "a specific issue" which sounds very much like it remains unresolved and, as such, is a much higher hurdle in the sale of the club than any remaining Director's loans.
Ongoing dig at Peter Varney & Co - He really can't help himself can he? He has to have a go at someone in every statement. Having already said that he "continued to pay for everything...despite the way the staff, my friends, my family and I have been treated by individuals who claim to act in the best interests of the club," he then goes on to say that the "first candidate for buying the club," pushed by Varney, Chappell and Everitt was the owner of Ebbsfleet (badly worded in his original to suggest that might be Rick Everitt!) and that it was debatable that they would "have been the right fit for Charlton."
The fact is, as far as I am aware, that Peter Varney couldn't get any air time with Lord Duchatelet as Meire blocked him at every turn so perhaps it is debatable if Duchatelet ever heard them out. The email trail over several months was exposed ages ago and it was clear that Meire insulted Varney by not treating his approach with the seriousness it deserved and by blocking his group from direct communication with the Organ Grinder. Richard Murray poisoned the water here for Peter Varney, even if Varney was acting on behalf of the actual buyer. The notion that Duchatelet gives a toss about the right fit for Charlton is laughable. He would sell the club to anyone who would meet his inflated asking price. As for Varney and Co not being the right fit, Duchatelet is presumably typically uninformed that Varney and Co ran the club through the most successful period in its history in the Premiership. I suspect Murray took all the credit for that when briefing Duchatelet initially.
Finally he ends on an embarrassing "let's try to win games and enjoy those moments at the Valley." I say embarrassing because he clearly won't be part of it having not seen a game at the Valley since October in the year of our Lord 2014. It also sounds like he isn't expecting his team to be able to win many games away from the Valley with its' impoverished squad.
The next step towards the cliff edge will be Bowyer accepting a better offer elsewhere. If that happens, Roland Duchatelet will have a much bigger problem on his hands than being unable to sell the club.
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