Advantage Tahnoon Nimer

Following the late drama of yesterday, today has been an even more astonishing day of developments and revelations which surely signal more significant change at Charlton Athletic Football Club. If Matt Southall thought he had won on points last night with his statement on the club website at the end of play, Nimer would appear to be close to a victory this afternoon.

In an assumed close by Southall this morning, the club posted an acceptance of Nimer's resignation from ESI in a short statement. Nimer responded with a three page document on Instagram which clearly benefited from someone with better English and at least a pseudo-legal understanding. The statement was a much more detailed fill-in of the previous night's accusations and it was a damning view on Matt Southall which claims that Nimer has just discovered that filings from his holding company (Panorama Magic General Contracting) in the UAE that the EFL have been requesting have not been made by Matt Southall and his team which had lead to a transfer embargo on the club and possibly a failure to complete Source of Funds necessary for completion of the take-over. With this news fresh in our minds, he went on to say that this was just the "tip of the iceberg" and that Southall had been misusing the clubs' funds on "leasing expensive flats, buying expensive cars, promising large fees to agents and personal expenses instead of fulfilling squad and Manager's urgent needs." Nimer also said he had instructed lawyers to take steps to remove "the persons responsible from the Club and appoint a new chairman to lead the Club."

Since that statement there has been an avalanche of supporter comment on social media which has swung decidedly in Nimer's favour. It was boosted by news that the club's long-serving Secretary, Chris Parkes, had been suspended by Southall for reportedly having been in communication with Nimer about the EFL. One can only speculate here but a decent assumption is that Parkes could see what was happening in terms of the building EFL issues and decided to go above Southall's head and alert Nimer directly. 

The icing on the cake today in terms of the case against Southall was a damning leak of recent expenses purportedly for Matt Southall, Lee Amiss, Jacco van Seventeer and John Hirst. The sums and items all look excessive and very much in line with what Nimer has already been complaining about. The lease payments on the £100k Range Rovers are there as well as wapping Consultancy fess for each as well as large hotel bills, general expenses and well as rent for what looks like Southall's riverside apartment across from the Shard. If the leak is verified, Southall looks to have been paid £90,000 in Consultancy fees between 7th January and 7th February (this may have included a one-off £50,000 bonus for completion of the takeover as previously rumoured/reported - a takeover that doesn't look complete). His Range Rover lease payment of £2,409 and for some reason, a service bill of £2,195, although I am unsure why you would be servicing a new vehicle. Rent is £12,567 and hotel/expenses total just shy of £8,000. 

So, not a good day for Matt Southall and unless he can somehow spin this, he is going to have to perform a miracle to recover from here. The mood amongst the fans is one of growing anger and he will be pleased the game on Saturday is at Hull although he will be wise to avoid visiting Addick fans if possible. He may well walk before then but I really can't see him being at The Valley next Tuesday for the QPR game.