Evolution of the Perfect Protest

The "Sandgaard Ownership Discussion" on Charlton Life has been moving slowly but steadily towards open revolt in the last month. Incredibly naive Non-Executive, Leo Rifkind, stirred the hornets' nest last month by suddenly piping up on Twitter and suggesting that the club was not dependent on "ownership funding" and that fans were somehow responsible for balancing the books. Thomas Sandgaard was forced to apologise and say that he was unaware that Rifkind was going to suddenly appeal to the fans. However, the comments were made on the back of Sandgaard's new 'Break Even' policy in which ambition has taken a back-seat to cutting his operating losses. 

Since then things at the Club have continued to slide, both on and off the pitch. The owner and his partner appear to have managed to alienate the entire club staff so much, that we have an anonymous employee telling tales on Twitter which would appear to be on the money and are adding colour to a Summer of cost-cutting and a cull of loyal servants.

Things are no better on the pitch where we have not won in seven league games and seem unable to score more than a goal-a-game. We don't seem to be able to play for more than one half in any match and look content with draws. We have dropped down the table and are only three points above the drop zone despite being in 12th. 

Manager Ben Garner still retains the support of the majority of the supporters but even he has been sounding a tad defeatist in his recent post-match interviews when clearly he is struggling to explain what's going wrong in games.  Indeed, on Saturday he named and shamed a player for the first time. Corey Blackett-Taylor was dropped from the squad and called out after the game for his lack of application at Barnsley the previous week. For the record, I agree with the manager here and have said as much about CBT myself, however, when a manager begins publicly blaming players, it's often a sign that there is trouble in the dressing room. Hopefully he has done it in a supportive way and we can all move on but he also focused praise on his enforced substitutions on Saturday because the eleven he selected to start were so abysmal in the first-half. 

Dismay amongst fans is spreading and Sandgaard is being called out openly for his lack of ambition, failure to support his manager adequately and for the nonsensically high cost of attending matches at the Valley. There is no chance of Sandgaard getting to break even in two seasons unless he can find £10m worth of player sales. In the absence of that, he needs to do something different but appears to be ploughing on in his 'I know best' fashion which has not worked at all well for him since he took over the club.

Given the apparent stalemate, fans are once again raising the prospect of protest and what can be done to encourage the owner to find someone with more money and ambition to take it on. Fair to say too that we love a protest at Charlton. At times, sadly, during the last five years protesting was the highlight of supporting the club and attending matches. 

However, when you look at where we have come from and where we find ourselves, I think we have evolved sufficiently that we are now delivering the perfect protest without trying too hard.

The facts are that whilst Sandgaard dreams about doubling and trebling revenues, our supporters are actually stopping attending matches. For non-season ticket holders, the prices represent bad value-for-money and, unforgivably, we still have the salt in the wound of the Meire Tax for those unable or unwilling to commit to purchase several days in advance. He can't say he hasn't been warned either...

Season ticket holders may have paid upfront but even tangible numbers of them are not bothering given that the actual attendances at recent games has been less than the numbers of season ticket holders we have (7,000 v 8,000).

All those stay-aways don't spend money on club gear, food, drink or hospitality either. Revenues from those lines must also be parlous. The Club Shop stocks nothing now but replica kits and track tops. Castore, who run the stop now, look like they are far too big to be bothered with a struggling League One club and the contract we have signed with them doesn't appear to give us any levers. Oh dear.

The price of hospitality packages too has been whacked up in line with admission prices and doesn't have fans queuing up. £170 for deal that involves a match ticket, 'free' drink, a programme and three course meal isn't packing the lounges and at Saturday's game, the club closed the bars and outlets serving the East Stand. 

Thomas Sandgaard's break even plan would appear to be succeeding only in exacerbating the losses. So what should we do? The answer, I believe, is keep calm and carry on. Sandgaard may be stubborn but he is no fool and he is caught in the perfect storm. Only a dramatic improvement in our style of play and results is going to improve his outlook from here and that looks as unlikely as the £10m transfer fees from this squad of players. 

Protesting under Duchatelet often boosted gates as fans came to protest and to try to get things off their chests. The current loss-of-interest is actually the perfect riposte to Break Even. 

Personally, I haven't been to a game yet this season (I do watch most live on TV). That's not a deliberate decision but just a week-to-week one and I really resent coughing up £34-37 for what I fear will be another poor show. I have felt much happier at Welling where they are making it affordable and enjoyable and where they understand football fans and run rings around our marketing and comms.