Could happy days be here again?

Probably not as far as many Charlton fans are concerned as the Addicks face Sunderland at The Valley tomorrow.   Many fans seem to enjoy wallowing in gloom more than looking for more positive signs.  the CAS Trust preview is here: https://www.castrust.org/2022/03/owner-predicts-2-1-win/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=owner-predicts-2-1-win

For what it's worth, the manager of my pharmacy is a keen Sunderland fan.   He regards Charlton as a bogey team and is still recovering from the last play off defeat.  He regards it as a bad omen if I go into his shop just before a match, but I had to go in yesterday and have to go in again today.

Sunderland's recent form has been inconsistent and they are in the bottom half of the form table, although Charlton are second from bottom which will please the fans forecasting relegation.  I don't bet, but if I did Iwould take short odds on Charlton surviving.   The teams below us are not that great.

Last Saturday's 3-1 victory over Wigan for Sunderland included two penalties, but then you have to win them and score them.  Away from home the Black Cats have a remarkable record of win six, draw six, lose six.   No doubt they will be hoping to improve the win column tomorrow.

The local paper has declared that 'it is a good time to play Charlton', citing our run of defeats.  However, the nominated player is more cautious describing it 'as a tough place to go' - but then, of course, that makes the win look even better: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/ross-stewart-wigan-win-charlton-23283791

Charlton should have Jayden Stockley and Scott Fraser back with Conor Washington possibly on the bench.  It is difficult to see how we could be expected to win matches without a proper forward line.  Stockley is also key in defence from set pieces, although perhaps we rely on him too much.

However, many fans think the problem is the formation rather than the players.   I simply don't know - I don't have any coaching badges, I have never played even park football or enjoyed any success on Football Manager.

My sport was orienteering and what you learn from that is actually quite relevant to football.   I would say that the key lessons are: having a clear sense of purpose and direction; maintaining a steady pace for the long haul; navigating well and reading the terrain ahead; overcoming obstacles and not becoming disheartened by them.

All that could apply to a football club.   I wasn't able to listen to Thomas Sandgaard's Q and A, but hopefully he is becoming more realistic about the scale of the task he faces.  A summary of the meeting is available here and apparently it reads better than the overnight tweets: https://www.castrust.org/2022/03/thomas-i-am-still-as-ambitious-as-i-was-before-i-bought-the-club/

I do not think that a club the size of Charlton can ever be in the Premier League again.  With the Championship distorted by parachute payments even that is a big ask so clubs like Peterborough end up as yo-yo teams.   We may have to settle for League One football for a few years yet.   Some fans may leave, but we could then up with fewer moaners and more of a core of loyal supporters.

Ramsgate fan rebukes owner

Tweeting from his Thanet base,VOTV editor Rick Everitt has pointed out a number of errors in recent statements by Thomas Sandgaard.

'According to TS last night, Charlton made an operating loss of £100m over several decades before RD turned up. Club did run an operating loss 1992-1998 - which aggregates to £7m. From 1999 to 2008 it often made an operating profit but the aggregate is a loss of about £15m.

This isn’t the actual loss though because it doesn’t account for player trading. In the next seven years, under RD, the operating loss was £70.5m. Thomas claimed that RD improved the finances but the facts suggest he made them MUCH worse.

Charlton made an operating PROFIT during five of eight PL seasons and lost £59k in another. They did make an operating loss of £7.5m in 2005/06 and £11.6m in 06/07, and £6.6m in the First Division in 99/00, but the claim there was a £100m cumulative operating loss pre-2014 is false.

In 2009/10 it would have made an operating loss of £3m on trading without a big debt write-off (which shows as profit). Thereafter the operating loss was £10m in 2009/10, £6m in 10/11, £6.8m in 11/12, £6.4m in 12/13. So, you can make a case for about £50m over 21 years before RD.

It’s also the case that the"Spivs"* inherited relatively little debt in 2010/11, because the former board had wiped most of it in 2009. Comparisons with Derby County are ridiculous and amount to no more than the obvious point that English football is a money pit. Yes, we know!'

* Shome mishtake shurely - ed. Experienced entrepreneurs who had plans for a new ground for the club

A long-standing fan from London has provided an alternative view: 'There seems to be some dissent on TS comments around the debt of the club when RD bought it. Rick Everitt is disputing TS figure of £100M saying it was only about £7-8M and that the club made some small profits when in the Premier League. 

Without looking at the accounts I guess the difference is RE is looking at the balance sheet, which doesn’t include any directors’ loans that had been written off, whereas TS is including them as the loads were required to cover external debt so therefore meant there was a loss that would have been shown if the loan was still in place. I get where TS is coming from.'

Jacko's plea for time

Keyboard warriors are calling for Johnnie Jackson to go (probably the same ones who called for him to be hired), but Jacko thinks that the time to judge him is after the summer and the transfer window: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/johnnie-jackson-on-the-right-time-to-judge-him-as-charlton-athletic-manager/

Washington back soon

Conor Washington should be back soon.  If I read this correctly, he could be on the bench against Sunderland and return against Accrington Stanley: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-set-for-striker-boost-with-conor-washington-closing-in-on-return/

Complainers say that the absence of a forward line has nothing to do with the absence of a forward one and is the result of Jacko choosing the wrong formation.  As I don't have a coaching badge, I can't adjudicate.

Sandgaard claims get sceptical reception from fans

Thomas Sandgaard has claimed that Charlton have the third largest budget in League One: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/thomas-sandgaard-claims-charlton-have-third-highest-league-one-budget-and-outline-role-he-hopes-to-play-in-future-success/

He also claims that Charlton are aiming for a top two finish next season and that Johnnie Jackson remains part of his plans which will disappoint those fans who have been calling for the manager's head: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/thomas-sandgaard-sets-charlton-top-two-target-for-next-season-with-johnnie-jackson-at-the-helm/

Sandgaard's claims have been greeted with scepticism by some fans who say they have heard it all before. It is also being said that Sandgaard is now telling people how badly the club was run when it was in the Premier League, based on the operating losses.  It is questionable whether he can have a useful opinion given he wasn’t around at the time. He seems to have taken on board certain things from Roland about how the latter was let down by the staff, but of course they were Roland’s staff.

Having said that, he is the owner and we are unlikely to get a new one - even Chelsea may not find that easy.   I always feel constrained about criticising owners when all I put in to the club is a season ticket and a Valley Gold subscription.   Actually I have put some money into my non-league club because at that level a few K can make a real difference.

Some perspective is needed on ownership issues,  Although it now seems a long time ago we had the spivs  who wanted to sell The Valley and move to a soulless stadium on the Greenwich Peninsula.   [Ed - entrepreneurial owners with a strategic vision].  We then had Roland who hollowed out the club.  They were followed by East Street Investments who admittedly brought a new class of vehicle to the West Stand car park, but attracted the opprobrium of fans despite their unique entrepreneurial qualities.

I know some fans say it is a ridiculous argument to say that we should be glad to have a club, but it was in real jeopardy and may still be.   I would rather play in the National League than disappear altogether.

I think that TS is a classic example of someone who has been successful in business thinking that they can apply those skills in football which is a unique sector of the economy and society.   Any person with money would be best advised to stay away because you will turn a large fortune into a small one and get a lot of grief along the way.

'Wronged' Southall seeks to prove his point

Matt Southall feels that he was wronged at Charlton and is out to prove a point with his involvement at Rochdale which is heading for a court case: https://footballeconomyv2.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-tangled-legal-web-at-rochdale.html

Come back Roland, all is forgiven?!

Football fans, particularly Charlton fans, never cease to amaze me.  I often wonder about their decision-making in their day jobs, but I suppose a different side of their personality comes out in football.

A number of fans on social media keep suggesting that life was better when Roland was 'in charge'.  They argue that he provided funds: yes, he did, but they were loans with interest attached.  The interest rate was reasonable, but the club now has a big pile of debt which could still threaten its future.   The first thing that TS has to pay for is the lease on The Valley and Sparrow Lane.

The barmy Belgian had no emotional connection with the club, attending just one match.   His interest was in building a network of European clubs, an idea poorly executed and eventually abandoned.  In the meantime he foisted on us some hopeless continental players (nominated by boy wonder Thomas Driesen) and a merry go round of managers.   Remember Karel Fraeye?

He also appointed a chief executive with no prior experience in football who negotiated some poor contracts with excessive lengths, inflated wages and a lack of sell on deals.   Then we had innovations like the fan sofa which is as naff as it gets.

Perhaps worst of all, he allowed the sale of the club to East Street Investments.  

Some people say that TS doesn't have enough, but people need to wake up and smell the coffee.  A billionaire is never going to come to Charlton.

Some people object to him playing his guitar on the pitch, but if I put millions into a club I would expect some personal benefits.

Some of the money has been poorly spent, but that happens at clubs apart from Charlton.  I was as guilty in many other fans in thinking that Kirk was a good signing.

Last night's results show once again that the clubs below us are not that great and at least four or five of them are clearly worse.