Stay of execution

Frustrating news late yesterday from the 'consequences' hearing following the decision of Judge Pearce on Tuesday. Paul Elliott's QC argued the case for an Appeal, ironically using the fact that there may well be an imminent takeover of the club. The presence of Thomas Sandgaard (and Andrew Barclay) seemed to have escaped the Judge and Paul Elliott's QC on Tuesday and they had actually been arguing that timing for a trial or subsequent hearing was unlikely to be detrimental to Panorama Magic or the club as there appeared to be no sign of any imminent buyout. I can accept Judge Pearce may not be up on all-things-Charlton but it was surely tactical on the QC's part to play-down the very real interests of Barclay and Sandgaard.

Elliott's QC used evidence of Charlton's celebrating supporters to demonstrate that a buyout was indeed possible in the short term and tried to discredit Lauren Kreamer, Panorama's Barrister by exposing the fact that she was in fact a Charlton supporter, as if that somehow discredited her. Judge Pearce refused the Appeal but he did agree that Elliott should be allowed to go to the Court of Appeal to try and obtain one and therefore granted a temporary injunction until 4pm Wednesday on any possible sale of the club. Whilst disappointing, Elliott is effectively still two down with five minutes to play.

The other thing that struck me yesterday, was the stark comparison between the interested individuals, some recent 'Directors' of the club present at the hearing yesterday, and the ex-Directors of the club's past. On the line was the odious Matt Southall, the couldn't-care-less Paul Elliott, the slippery Chris Farnell, dodgy El Kashy-whatever-his-name is, weirdo Heller and even Chris Farnell's biggest psychophant, 'John Burke' aka Fred Rose. 

Most of these characters have had a material input on the ownership and running of Charlton Athletic this year. They have told lie-after-lie since they crawled onto the scene and, even now, fight desperately amongst themselves to get back on the horse maintaining the thinnest of lies that they have the club's best interests at heart and want to provide long-term stewardship. In reality, they are little more than chancers and wise-guys, out for a fast-buck with no regard for any collateral damage, even if that is with the future or even existence of famous football club that plays such a significant part in British football as well as with it's own community.

Contrast them then with three ex-Directors who felt forced to take legal action to challenge the sale of the club by Roland Duchatelet to ESI. Their case is pretty clear - the interest-free loans they made to Charlton in the past were only payable upon promotion back to the Premier League or in the event of a sale of the club when their repayment would take first priority. They didn't challenge the sale of the club to ESI in December or January for the only reason that they were pleased to see the back of Duchatelet and believed the new owners might be good for the club. No, they only took action when it became glaringly obvious that ESI was an empty suit and that the club's future was being imperilled by the proposed flipping of the club to ESI2. 

These thieves couldn't care less about the Transfer Embargo they brought upon the club. They don't care about Lee Bowyer's challenge to get a side ready for League One kick-off in nine days time. They don't care about dragging this out for as long as possible even if that delays a serious investor from saving they club. All they care about is themselves and their pockets.

If you want any other proof, you can see these ex-Directors ordinarily at every home game and some aways. We have already lost sight of Nimer and we won't see Southall, Farnell, Elliott, El Kashy, Heller etc at the Valley ever again. Not just because they would be endangering their health but because they have zero interest in Charlton Athletic Football Club. They simply want to profit from the club in the short-term and then move on at the expense of a serious investor or leave the club in huge financial trouble. The EFL and the government have to act now in order to prevent unqualified, inadequate and inappropriate individuals from being able to operate in the way they have here and at numerous other clubs.