It is only a few weeks ago that there was a gnashing of teeth (as well as chattering in Woolwich) and a feeling that the Duchatalet regime was destroying our club and taking us down to League 1, from where we would never return.
Luzon was renamed as Luzer and 20 minutes into his regime chants of “You don’t know what you are doing”.
Demands were made that fans meet with Duchatalet, not his lying henchman and negatives were being sought and exploited.
But this is a results business. Regardless of what is said on the fans forums, the majority of fans want to turn up to a match see us play good football and win.
So the recruitment of Johnson, the playing of Watt for 90 minutes, moving Cousins to central midfield and we have three home wins in a row and four out of five and all is well at the Valley.
Or is it?
When you distil the unrest it came down to poor communication of the direction that the club is going. The poor football, previous years poor recruitment, the confusing departures of Yann and Powell, as well as the botched recruitment of Luzon, put the club under the microscope held by niche of us that are not only interested in the club on the field but also off the field now and in the future.
It is hard to know if all is well at The Valley, beyond the end of this season, because we really do not know Duchatalet's intentions. Eagles and Johnson are only here on short term contracts, Bulot and Buyens are on loan from sister ship Liege.
Word has it that Katrien has said that we have exceeded our player’s budget.
The desire and re stated intention is that Charlton Athletic breaks even. So fans are wary, without any explanation, of how we get there.
Will we release the short term and loan deals, bringing down expenditure, but then surely making us less competitive on the pitch?
Do we keep short term deals release loanees and make everyone operate on short term deals – creating uncertainty and only keeping those that cannot secure more security elsewhere.
How about selling the youth? Well really only Gomez has any chance of commanding a sizeable fee and that is only based on potential, so I do not see a £5m up front transfer fee coming in there.
Maybe Katrien will be able to answer these questions in the forthcoming Bromley Addicks meeting, it would help the club and its relations with all fans if she were able to give some information on the behind the scenes strategy.
I know people want to talk directly to Duchatalet and people have branded Katrien a liar, but I don’t believe that this is the case. I believe that she is honest and works hard for the club, but was seriously undermined during the sacking recruitment process by her boss. Believe me I have been in similar situations with “entrepreneurial” bosses. however, she will take a long time to rebuild her credibility with most fans.
Some questions were asked on Charlton Life about Duchatalet’s commitment for the future and even though I am more for than against this regime, I think they are worth each fan considering them:-
Let's see if he spends any cash in the summer outside the network
To be honest I don’t care where the players come from, as long as they improve the club. Duchatalet has not been afraid to bring in players from outside the network and they have been the best of the bunch, until Tony Watt came in, JBG and Igor, so it’s the quality we should be looking at, inside or out.
Let's see if communication improves
For the vast majority of fans the communication is Tony Watts foot behind the ball, its what they care about, they leave the politics of business and home at the turnstiles. But for some of us, an indication of where we are heading would be appreciated. Katrien is charming, professional, rides the train with the fans (even now) and is attending meetings. If she adds to this substance then even the majority of the fans who have an interest behind the scenes will be satisfied.
Let's see if he can resist interfering with team selection
To be honest, if he is picking the team now, then I wish he had been doing it since November.
Let's see if Luzon makes it past the six month mark
Well I expect that if he does not then we will be in another slump and we’d want him out.
Now that we have all but secured another season in the Championship, Luzon is going to have to avoid the traditional Charlton March seasonal slump or we’ll be meeting back in Woolwich, because for the majority of us … IT’S ALL ABOUT RESULTS
5 comments:
Whatever happens on the pitch between now and the end of May, the summer is once again crucial - will Eagles, Johnson, and Diarra be retained on longer contracts? Will Bikey and Ben Haim be offered new contracts? Will Gudmondsson be offered a new contract (he will only have a year left...)? Or will Vetokele, Cousins, Gomez, and maybe Wiggins or Fox be sold to balance the books? The right moves (retaining the best players and bringing in support where needed) could see a resurgent Charlton next season, but the wrong moves could see another wasted year of on-field struggles. Your move Roland...
Pedro45
I'm juss enjoyin the games as they come n the wins n style of play. Every win is a defeat for the negative boo boys n their ilk n a triumph for the gaffer, owner n players n thass all there is to it. I've every confidence they do know wot there doin dahn our gaff n will carry on supportin them n all.
Too many people who used to work at club,involved in Valley Party or wannabees at CAST, need to have a little more faith. Yes the new owner and his CEO have made mistakes,but he has spent a lot of money and has brought in real quality in Watt,Vetokele,Gudmunsson,Bulot,Ben Haim,Henderson added to ever improving Cousins,Gomez and Fox add experience of Johnson,Bikey,Eagles,Diarra and Lepoint you can't say he doesn't care or ask his ambition now. It has always been to get to Premier League,where he has been misguided is on breakeven basis,that's impossible.I for one am happy that he is not constantly chattering away to all those wannabees like Murray used to do.If we win regularly people will buy tickets and come and if we were in Premier League we would sell out again,it's all about results.
Thass juss wot I think anon. There or a bunch of moaners n groaners, I'm juss appy with the club n all the efforts the board are makin to offer excitin n attractive football dahn our gaff. There muss be another fans group supportin the board so it aint all CAST n their ilk who shout ahrt lahd against the rest of us.
Pedro I understand (friend of a friend, who knows a cat, who ate a mouse that lived at the valley) that JBG is in negotiations with the club already about an extension, part of the discussion is about ambition for the future. There was rumour that TBH's agent was in discussions with Maccabi in January, so he may already be on his way. Definitely this summer Roland and Kat have the opportunity to win us over in the summer.
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