Interim ESI sale of Charlton Athletic prepares the ground for new ownership

Long awaited and much-anticipated news that East Street Investments, the vehicle used to acquire Charlton Athletic for a Pound in December, have finally acknowledged that they never intended any investment or proper ownership of the club and have passed it on. The mainstream media appear to be having trouble keeping up with events at Charlton because practically all the stories coming out from them are half-arsed, poorly researched and are misleading the nations football fans about what's really happening in SE7.

The facts are that ESI have sold on to 'Paul Elliot.' No, not the former Charlton Player and Blackheath Bluecoats pupil known as "Tek" but an otherwise unknown 'Manchester Businessman.' The phrase 'Manchester Businessman' now conjures up an uncomfortable feeling that thieves and crooks are once more afoot, but it does appear that this guy is just a convenient person to take temporary ownership of the club to ensure Matt Southall is removed at nil cost. For that we should all be grateful to lawyer Chris Farrell for arranging it and the fact he's another from Manchester may just be because he knows Farnell and not because he is a dodgy low-life like Matt Southall.

You have to assume that the sale price to Paul Elliott has been precisely £1 so that Matt Southall gets no more than this money back for his 'shareholding' in the worthless East Street Investments. His Excellency the Fake Sheikh may also end up 65p in profit but the sooner we forget about that nonentity, then frankly the better.

So what next for Paul Elliott? Well you can be reasonably sure that Paul Elliott isn't going to be holding the baby for too long. He won't want to be paying June's wage bill and he definitely won't want to be beholden to the asset purchase inherited from ESI  or the potentially costly debt repayment to the former Directors whose case against ESI he may also face next if he can't pass the parcel quickly enough.

So why would he have put himself in the frame? I think it's fair to say he is an associate of Chris Farrell and has agreed to assume the title as part of The Phase 2 Sale. This is where the club will be sold again, this time for considerably more than a Pound and where the sale price can be shared by those who have 'managed' the sale. May I be so bold as to suggest that Paul Elliott will pick up his fee, Chris Farrell will do better out of it than he does, given he's done most of the work and, finally, the grubby Fake Sheikh will have his palms crossed with yet more funds that he will be unable to provide satisfactory proof or source of.

So what have the real new owners got to be able to do? Very clearly it needs to be someone with money. In addition to paying off 'Paul Elliott,' the club is going to soak up £3-4m more in operating costs in 2020 without materially investing in the squad and there is unlikely to be any significant supporter income until 2021 at the earliest. Investment in the squad is likely to use up any EFL and TV money that may come into the club. The new owners are also going to have to settle Duchatelet's asset obligation and they will also need to pacify the former Directors. 

So who can do this? The bottom line is anyone with deep enough pockets and who is prepared to take the risk. I would also suggest that getting an agreement with Duchatelet is going to be tough, given I cannot see anyone accepting the ridiculous terms that ESI accepted willy-nilly because they had no intention of ever going through with the asset purchase. Hopefully Old Wooden Top will have realised this by now and may finally be ready to concede to Common Wisdom, The Reality of the Marketplace and for his own Peace of Mind. I am also convinced that the former Directors will also put up a £7m line of resistance to anyone they are not absolutely convinced has the club's long term good health foremost in their plans.

So who is the next real owner? Of all of the names already floated in terms of potentials, Andrew Barclay and Peter Varney would look like favourites. I am sure they have the money and that they would be the preferred option of the former Directors. The key question is, can they get through the thick outer shell of Roland Duchatelet's Noggin and agree an acceptable price for the assets? That remains the fundamental issue.

I sincerely hope they can so our football club can be taken off life-support and given the chance once again to thrive. If this comes to pass, us supporters will owe a huge debt of gratitude to the former Directors whose love for Charlton Athletic remains undimmed and whose action to protect their debt position has been used magnanimously to try to protect the club against the charlatans who have had control and also, hopefully, to get Duchatelet back onside and perhaps ready, finally, to see sense and complete a realistic deal and exit stage left. Frankly, if it's to be anyone other than Barclay and Varney, I will be very suspicious of their real motives. Hopefully, there's very little left to steal from the club and also fewer people willing to pay a ransom just to save the club from Administration. That being the case, Barclay and Varney might be the last real hope we have of scoring the future of Charlton Athletic Football Club.