Matt Southall addresses the supporters

New Charlton Athletic Chairman, Matt Southall, addressed the clubs' supporters today in an inaugural video that was released at 7pm. The timing was perfection that in came on the day that news had been broken about the Club's withdrawal of their contract extension offer to want-away Lyle Taylor and the apparent bombshell that Roland Duchatelet still owns Sparrows Lane.

Charlton fans have something akin to shell-shock after six years of Roland Duchatelet and one false dawn after another in terms of sale of the club. We have trust issues and this morning's property news brought understandable fears that ESI's failure to acquire the training ground may have been an indicator that the takeover might not be all it was purported to be.

Rich Cawley, who broke the Taylor and Training Ground news this morning, had been quick to follow-up on his Tweet to say that ESI had qualified that they had an option to buy Sparrows Lane within six months and that the reason it hadn't been bought along with the football club and The valley was simply because they hadn't had enough time to prioritise surveys and due diligence. Their urgency to get the deal over the line in order to be ready to maximise the January transfer window was the driver. That explanation will go well with fans but also raises expectations that we will invest satisfactorily in January. Matt Southall was quick to reassure supporters that the clear intention would be to complete the training ground purchase as soon as they were comfortable to do so. 

He went on to say that ESI have long term plans for the club and that they want to invest on a sensible and sustainable basis. Southall had already ticked a number of boxes concerning rationale for acquiring Charlton (London, Academy, Heritage, Fanbase, Competitiveness etc) and explained that he has already discussed Bowyer's contract with his agent and that they have agreed to pick up on this after the January window. That would seem eminently sensible as it allows the club to concentrate on bringing the players needed this month and that should go some way to convincing Lee Bowyer that they are serious and that he wants to part of it.

Southall repeatedly mentioned the need to reconnect with fans and I felt he was completely genuine when he said this and that he fully understood the value of doing it. This might seem obvious but it never was to Roland Duchatelet. He spoke about getting fans and sponsors to return and has made it clear to Ravi and his commercial team that he will "get in front" of anyone they need him to in order to bring new revenue into the club. 

For anyone still unaware, he reiterated that he is making a big personal effort on social media and in person to meet supporters. He told us that his family had been to games and that he comes to as many as he can because he is a fan and enjoys it, not just because he's the Chairman. He name-checked Jason Morgan at the Community Trust, Ravi Patel the Commercial Manager, Steve Avory at the Academy, his Fifa duel with George Lapslie and even Nathan the Groundsman.

He spoke deferentially about "his Excellency" and joked that he was an enthusiastic person as already picked-up on by fans following his Twitter account. The owner will be making an appearance at a game later this month and will continue to come but obviously he won't be here regularly. Again, perfectly understandable given he lives in Abu Dhabi and given his travel commitments shared on Twitter.

All-in-all, I was comfortable that Matt Southall is genuine and he quickly comes across as a football person. Darragh MacAnthony, the Peterborough owner, tweeted earlier today to say he was pleased to hear from his old friend Matt and that they would be having lunch soon to catch-up. Southall speaks easily and is able to reinforce points he makes about Charlton with confidence by recalling players and events from our recent past which suggest more than that he has just boned up for an interview. 

There is a long way to go but this was a great start from Matt. Let's see some sensible transfer moves this month. The extension of Bowyer and Co's contracts next month would be another good move and securing Sparrows Lane before the end of the season would cement an impressive ESI start. If the boycotting fans return and we can start to win again more regularly, we might just get the club moving again with a head of steam. That would be fantastic going into a fresh season with a settled management team and hopefully a strengthened squad of players ready to put in a sustained Championship challenge next season.

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