Charlton Athletic Takeover Attempt - The right move?

I noticed the recent article on the Kent Live news that the rumoured Charlton Athletic bid from the Australian Football Consortium (AFC) had stalled owing to a lack of capital raise.

While any move to oust Duchatelet as owner should be seen as a good thing I can’t but help think that if a consortium has trouble in even raising the suggested purchase price then questions must be raised as to their ability to maintain the ongoing financial commitment that is required for a football club.

Let’s not kid ourselves here.  Breaking even is an admirable goal and might be achievable but currently not many clubs do achieve this.  The Deloitte 2016 annual review of football  gave an average annual loss for the 2014/15 season of £1.7m for League One clubs and £0.5m for League Two clubs.

Charlton’s losses run even larger than this and given the term of existing players’ contracts, the commitment made to the training ground and the size of the Valley generally such losses cannot be curtailed immediately.

In fact the AFC’s website states that “A critical component of AFC’s strategy will be to invest heavily into the training facility so that the club can attract and develop local talent and provide them with the opportunity to represent their club at a senior level.”

Given all this, any investor would need a sizable war chest just to allow the club to continue in its current form.  This is just not going to come from a scratch investment company such as AFC. The last thing that fans want is a nervous wait while the company struggles with a whip around in order to avoid bankruptcy.  

Any debt to finance these losses would need to be raised from external commercial lenders such as banks (rather than a benevolent owner) at commercial rates and with suitable security over assets such as the football stadium.

I'm no Duchatelet fan but while I'm sure that the AFC has a board with the necessary football experience (unlike our current CEO and owner) we need to ensure that they have the adequate resources to go along with it.

Sources

Kent Live Article

http://www.kentlive.news/charlton-athletic-takeover-talks-australian-investors-attempting-to-raise-more-cash/story-30314448-detail/story.html

Deloitte Annual Review of Football

https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/sports-business-group/articles/annual-review-of-football-finance.html

Deloitte Annual Review of Football

While Charlton fans are waiting for our new manager to be appointed, I thought it might be worthwhile pointing out that the accounting firm Deloitte have issued their Annual Review of Football Finance, a summary of which can be found here  :-

www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/sports-business-group/articles/annual-review-of-football-finance.html

I wrote about the Financial Fair Play implications for Charlton falling down to league one in this blog a short while ago and the latest Supporters Trust newsletter also has an article on the subject.  The key point is that clubs in this division are subject to a Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) player wages must be no more than 65% of turnover (there are of course plenty of exceptions for newly relegated clubs, definition of turnover etc).  See more on this topic here:-

wrongsideofthethames.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/financial-fair-play-all-change-as.html


The task of complying with those rules is shown clearly on page 26 and 27 of the Deloitte summary.  It shows total League One revenues to be less than a quarter of the Championship.  Despite the SCMP, wages in League One breached the cap but this may be down to the exceptions from larger clubs such as Wigan dropping down and does not necessary signify a breach.

The challenges for Charlton Athletic are huge and the delay in announcing a new manager cannot help the situation.

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Ticket Chaos at the Valley

First a happy Clive Mendonca Day to all Charlton fans.

Well as usual another Tuesday at Charlton Athletic didn’t let us down, this time it appears with shenanigans in the ticket office.  Sources state that the head of ticketing Mandy Anderson- Myers has quit apparently after a disagreement with the chief financial officer.

It would be a fair assumption to make that this was over resources for the upcoming season.  As the club is relegated to league one revenues fall and so cuts have to be made in all areas.  This happened last time the club was demoted and should not be an unexpected development.

So was Anderson-Myers right to protest?  To start with there is the issue of up to 2,400 refund requests for all those in the North Lower whose view was obscured by the posts and netting.  It appears that the club is dithering on its response with Anderson-Myers appearing to have passed the buck to another department according to various sources on twitter.  I wouldn’t hold my breath for a resolution any time soon, but fans should keep on insisting on a refund for a clearly unacceptable situation.

Looking towards to the new season, clearly, the more season tickets sold by a club prior to the start of the season, the fewer resources they require to issue tickets throughout the season.  The latest on season tickets sold from Dansk_Red on the Charlton Life forum is 3,429 at the back end of April.  This may have now risen to 4,000 but is well below last year’s 10,000 plus tickets.  Most of this is down to an effective campaign to boycott season tickets by CARD (see @CharltonCARD and www.facebook.com/CharltonCARD for details ).  This means at least an additional 6,000 tickets to issue for each game.

This of course makes a big assumption that all those boycotting actually do buy individual match tickets and of course that attendances are static which undoubtedly will not be the case.  Last year's average attendance at the Valley was around 15,000-16,000.  Putting the boycott aside I would normally expect this to drop to around 11,000-12,000 which from memory was the crowd size last time we were in League One.

Assuming an effective boycott then individual match day ticket sales will actually be the lower than the season just gone.

The introduction of the ticketing website with print at home tickets and bar code scanning to enter the ground mean that less staff are required as the process becomes more automated.  This is not a complete panacea as there is a need to monitor and restrict ticket sales for high profile games such as Millwall or Leeds to ensure proper segregation but again it requires less resources.

On the subject of ticketing many fans have said that they will only be buying away tickets so that they can continue to support the team without putting money into the owner’s pockets.  I will be doing the same but you should be aware that Football League regulations state that the away club may receive a commission of 5% for tickets sold so if you really don't want to give money to the regime it might be better to buy on the day at the away club.

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We want our Charlton back !

Passionate Protest by Charlton Supporters on Saturday

The ourcharlton.org.uk petition against the current owner has now passed the 5,000 mark.  If CEO Katrien Meire's argument that the number of discontented fans is a mere 2% this means that there is an active Charlton fan base of 250,000!

However, if you take Saturday's attendance at the match against Blackburn of 13,512 that's 37% of fans (more if you exclude the away support).

Of course the true figure is a little south of this, with a number of Blackpool and Leeds fans having also signed the petition in sympathy with our plight. 

However, one can't argue that this is now a significant figure, and considerably north of our CEO's dismissive 2% comments.  You also can't dispute that there were 3,000 fans protesting after the game.

It got a little foggy

I'd get the calculator out Katrien, it doesn't look like maths is your strongest point.  Alternatively, rather than dismissing us you could try and be a bit contrite.  We all make mistakes and it's not too late for you and Roland to properly engage with the fan base and attempt to make amends.  You never know, it might also improve the club's financial situation.

However, as it stands, the recent media releases by the club mean that it looks like there is a long way to go before the CEO and distant owner are prepared to properly engage with fans and so the protests will go on.

If you are a Charlton fan and don't like the way the club is being run or the way fans are being treated then please visit the site above but do read the petition first before you choose to sign it.

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Harriott Pushes Charlton over the Line

First may I extend my gratitude to Charlton Live commentator Pete Finch for a quick behind the scenes tour of the press room and studio before the game.  It was good to meet Terry Smith, Paul Glover and match day host Dave Lockwood in person, having followed them for sometime on twitter.

Valley Faithful

There were fist pumps all round the room as Mr Lockwood confirmed the team news hot off the press with a 4-5-1 formation with Solly and Wilson both playing down the right hand side.  The omens were good and the game was better with three excellent goals from open play to secure our Championship position for another year.

I was really pleased for Callum Harriott.  Despite deserved criticism in recent games he stepped up when it mattered.  He knows he hasn’t had the best of games at home recently (partly as a result of being played out of position) and the two goals more than made up for it.  He does tend to blow hot and cold and I put it down in part to a lack of awareness of his surroundings leaving him struggling at times when he has the ball.  However, when he gets it right he plays some magnificent football, witness the game at Sheffield Wednesday creating Sordell’s goals with some sublime passing in difficult situations.

Troy Deeney’s goal for Watford was a corker and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is sought by a Premier League club this summer.  However, if the Hornets want any realistic chance of promotion they need to stop this cynical style of football that saw a flurry of yellow cards and a sending off.

Captain Jackson applauds the Fans

When our third goal went in my friend turned to me and said “well you’re safe now” to which I replied “No, this is where Watford score a quick goal and we have a white knuckle ride for the next 15 minutes”.  As predicted the goal did go in shortly after, but was thankfully disallowed by the assistant referee.

I bumped into the lads manning the “fan cam” after the game and was asked if staying up had changed my mind about the new owner.  My answer was that it is too early to tell and we will have to see what the summer brings.  Riga’s contract was just to the end of the season so we don’t even have a head coach after the Blackpool game as things stand.  Although I was sad to see Chris Powell go I would be happy to see Riga’s services being retained.  He seems to “get Charlton” and I do sense a positive connection between him and the players, especially the academy players coming through.  He couldn’t have made this clearer in his post match speech to the Valley faithful. 

We also have a core of key players that are out of contract including Ben Hamer, Dorian Dervite and Michael Morrison.  Poyet too has not signed a contract yet meaning we will get a paltry fee set by the Elite Player Performance Plan if he were to leave.  With seven former academy players in action it is clear that they will form the back bone of the squad in the new season but we will have to see how the rest of the team shapes up during the summer.

Celebratory drinks were definitely in order and the latest edition to the pumps at Old Loyal Britons in Greenwich, Truefit Brewing’s Caldecote Amber Ale certainly fitted the bill nicely.

Here’s to another year in the Championship!

Quality but not Quantity please

The title of this blog piece is my new years resolution, let me explain.

I've had a storming 2013 in terms of the real ale experience. As well as the Great British Beer Festival I've managed to get along to a few specialist festivals in local and not so local pubs.  I've trawled the taverns of Greenwich and found an excellent new local in the form of RLAs serving cask beers only from London Breweries (see www.ewbrewery.com for more details) as well as explored a few new breweries such as Hopstuff in Woolwich and the Brixton Brewery.  I've even found time to visit specialist cask and keg bars such as the Pelt Trader near Cannon Street, Crown & Anchor in Brixton and the Old Red Cow in Smithfield, all in search of a decent pint. All this comes at a cost as my head has invariably found on a Sunday morning but we all have to suffer a little to help our struggling economy don't we?

However, in my ageing years there is only so much a man can take and I've decided that the order of the day is quality over quantity.  No more rubbish beer, no more squeezing one more in for the road and maybe the occasional half of the 7.4% porter rather than a couple of pints (oh why do you make it so easy to drink?- the guilty culprit knows who they are!).  Luckily when it comes to quality food and wine I'm afraid I am a weak willed individual so I'm not too sure how long this will last.  I'm predicting that resolution will last until around mid February at the latest!

I'm also hoping that it's going to be Chris Powell's new year's resolution too.  With the recent takeover there has been a faint whiff of resources being available to the manager and the temptation is to splash the cash.  At least he only has to keep this one until the closing of the January transfer window.  However, its all too easy for a manager to go on a spending spree, buying supposed star players that happen to be free.  We saw it with Iain Dowie who acted like the proverbial kid in a candy store buying anyone and everyone with little or no thought as to the consequences.  Charlton suffered both in footballing and financial terms as a result.

Chris seems to know his stuff, picking out a solid league one winning side when he had the cash to do so.  More importantly, this collection of individuals quickly gelled into a close knot squad, vital for any successful campaign. He has also been quite shrewd in the loan market with the likes of Cameron Stuart and before him
Danny N'Gussen, Ricardo Fuller and Danny Haynes.  It hasn't all been plain sailing though, he's had his fair share of loan players that have had few minutes on the pitch and the likes of Fuller while undoubtedly a class act have been too expensive in terms of minutes on the pitch with their potential for injuries.

It doesn't sound like the new owner is going to shower Powell with vast amounts for the transfer kitty but it looks like we'll have a small amount to spend but the priority surely is to shore up the current core of the squad whose contracts are going to run out in the summer.  Once that's done I still don't think we need to be too rash in our signings as there are a number of good players that Charlton already know very well that could be available to us.

Cameron Stewart must be close to top of that list and media reports suggest that Charlton are trying hard to keep hold of him but it will have to be an outright purchase.  This is no bad thing.  Secondly, with loanee Marvin Sordell sidelined through a hamstring injury why don't we turn to Jonathan Obika again.  He still appears to be nowhere near joining the Tottenham first team but was still banging in the goals in a friendly on Tuesday against a Charlton under 21 side.  Perhaps Tim Sherwood might have a different opinion on his squad needs to allow us to bring him in again.

Another former loan player that has sunk away from the limelight is Emmanuel Frimpong.  In fact, since returning from his loan at Fulham he has not featured in any of Arsenal's first team games except as an unused substitute in August.  I have to admit I am unsure about his qualities but I do know that many Charlton fans regard him as a talented player.

All this is before we look at the players available in M. Duchatelet's stable of clubs in Europe.

So Mr Powell, if you are listening, if you keep your resolutions then I'll keep mine (at least until the close of the January transfer window!).  Is it a deal?  I won't be at the Barnsley match on Saturday as I have commitments elsewhere which will be revealed in next weeks blog update.

Is it still "Come on You Reds" or have we changed it to "Allez les Rouges"?

A Promising Start as History Repeats itself

The promised takeover seemed to go pretty smoothly and we are now officially in the hands of Belgium millionaire Roland Duchatelet.  However it seemed like only a day went by before certain parties were already knocking the deal, questioning which companies he had actually bought, whether the ground was included or whether other shareholders were still involved. Be under no illusions, Monsieur Duchatelet didn't get where he was without being a canny investor.  He already owns a stable of investments and we can be guaranteed that he has bought lock stock and barrel of the club, so lets put the silly rumours aside please.

 Initial signs look promising. We have a midfielder immediately on loan from Standard Liege in the form of Astrit Ajdarevic and a Premier a league quality pitch cover duly arriving which is currently pumping hot air to dry out the ground. These things don't come cheaply (one of the reasons I suspect why we haven't borrowed the "Super Soaker" from the Oval again) but was set up promptly. It's going to take more than a few days to dry out the water logged turf so the rescheduled game on Wednesday is unlikely to go ahead but whatever day it's held I will be there, if only to see our new loanee and the rest of the squad get a good run out.

I'm sure many Charlton fans will agree with me that the next step is to secure Chris Powell's tenure as manager by renewing his contract as well as that of certain key players. I'm not expecting many approaches during the current transfer window but it would be good to tie down the core of the squad before there is too much uncertainty in players' minds as the end of the season approaches.  Who knows we might even be able to hold on to Cameron Stewart which would be a bonus in my mind.

I'm also pleased that Richard Murray has retained his position on the board. A true Charlton fan and business man I know in my heart that he has the club's best interests at heart and must have had some frustrating times over the last year.  It's good to see him unshackled and willing to talk to the supporters (see the Charlton Supporters Trust website for more details) once a few hurdles have been cleared. I'm sure it will make interesting listening!  I also hope that this marks a resumption of management communication with fans and other stakeholders in the club, something that I think we can all agree was poorly handled by the previous incumbents.  Mr Jimenez has published another blog on the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/tony-jimenez/charlton-athletic-sold-tony-jimenez_b_4536064.html) explaining his reasons for selling the club but again it would have been nice and won him some plaudits if he had communicated this to fans first.  I am sure that Mr Murray will ensure that our new shareholder will take note from this.

Its starting to look like we have our Charlton back again!

In other news we are once more playing Huddersfield again in the FA Cup, provided we beat Oxford of course, both of whom we have met in this season's Capital One cup!  If you have time take a look at the exasperated but amusing tweets between the Charlton and Huddersfield official twitter feeds on the matter.  Its good to see that even official tweets can have a sense of humour and long may it continue!  I wouldn't be surprised if they don't get allocated permanent spaces in the car park, so regular are the visits these days.

COYR

Where there’s muck there’s brass but be careful what you wish for Charlton Fans

Firstly seasons greetings to all Charlton Fans and real ale lovers. While it hasn’t been a great start to the season at the Valley I have made friends this year with some great and passionate fans of both the Addicks and a decent pint.

Secondly, my apologies for not writing for some time. The run up to Christmas saw me working seven days a week for some two months with a brief respite on Saturday afternoons to watch our home matches. So I’m taking the Christmas period to catch up with old friends and resume a bit of light blogging.

The Boxing Day game against Brighton was a much needed Christmas cheer for both the team and fans alike. I feel it brought renewed vigour to a number of players who deserved more for their tireless efforts in previous games. A big welcome back for Chris Solly allowed Laurie Wilson more freedom to break forward as he had threatened to do on a number of occasions at right back and he was justly rewarded with two goals. I only hope the North Stand faithful justly rewards him at some stage with a decent chant rather than the awful one they came up with at the game. Some say its only banter but I can’t help feel we should reward his match winning performance with better praise than “he’s doing alright”. The other chant at the game “You must be sh##e, we’re wining at home” is more like the self deprecating British humour that (with the exception of the rude words) is a hall mark of football banter.

While the game against Sheffield Wednesday was not the best by any standards, four points over two games has given us a brief respite from the scrap at the bottom of the table. With a virtually fully fit squad I hope that we’ll start to consolidate games in the New Year and maybe put on a bit of a cup run. That is if the pitch survives which I very much doubt. The ground will not get a respite as the FA Cup game at the weekend is shortly followed by a further home match the following week, so expect more bogged down passes and poorly timed fouls as the quagmire takes its toll.

The current owners have come under a lot of criticism from fans on social media and other outlets for the lack of investment on and off the pitch (my own relatively minor gripe is the disappearance of pies from the kiosks. How can you have a football game without pies?). However, it is the lack of interaction with the fans that is the biggest gripe. If there is one criticism it is the lack of communication coming from the top brass to the fans on the financial situation and various takeover rumours.

It is no wonder that we get upset when Tony Jiminez writes an article on running a football club for the Huffington Post (thanks to valleytalkblog.com for pointing it out) when he has had so little dialogue with his own club’s fans (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/tony-jimenez/football-club-owners_b_4412796.html) While this appears to be part of a regular blog post on their website I believe Jiminez or Slater would have won over a number of fans with these well thought out words on his experience running of the club if he had expressed some of these views to Charlton fans in the match day programme or on other CAFC related media.

We’re not asking for miracles just regular dialogue with the fans, to allow us to understand what the owners’ intentions and how they are running the club. Despite what is written on certain forums most fans are pretty level headed but a stone wall silence leads to silly rumours and people pouncing on the slightest nuance however absurd.

While communication with the fans is not the management’s strongest point they have effectively staved the club from almost certain bankruptcy and we should be grateful for this however much we complain about other matters. We have to remember that they did allow Chris Powell to invest heavily in almost an entire new squad for his first League One season with great success winning the league with a record number of points.

Two years into the Championship we are struggling but despite all the odds in what must be one of the most competitive divisions in the world we are doing remarkably well for the minimal resources available. We are also not the only team in the division that is struggling as past blog posts have explained.

This leads us on to the current takeover talks with Belgium Roland Duchatelet who also owns Standard Liege. It was good to see the management learning from fans’ gripes with a prompt message on the Charlton website acknowledging the discussions.

Many Charlton fans appear to be lapping this up and can’t wait for the old regime to leave without even having glanced at the credentials of the potential new owner. One only has to look at the events at Cardiff and Hull to see the face of the new breed of football club owners and their plans to commercialise their investments into profitable franchises (yes there I said it!) or at least be able to hold their head above water as stand alone investments.

A number of Standard Liege fans have taken to twitter to sympathise with the Addick faithful. They were not happy at the methods employed by him on taking their club over. It appears that this will not be a toy for a rich owner or a benevolent investment (and why should it?). If we are to take his current club as a model we can expect him to sweat the assets to recoup his investment first. At Liege this was done by selling top players and then building up the club from scratch with a relatively unknown manager. The club is currently top of their league but this has not tempered the ire of the Royal Standard fans.

I believe that Charlton is currently running at a deficit of approximately £500,000 a month, so the sale of a few top players from the existing squad is only going to fund the investment for six months at the most and go nowhere near returning the rumoured £14m price tag.

This brings us a previously mooted scheme which on the face of it looks like it might pay for itself but which may require an additional outlay to fund it. This involved the purchase of land on the Greenwich Peninsula where a brand new stadium and assorted retail outlets would be funded through the sale of residential property on the same land. Reports at the time suggested that this might be self funding with the icing on the cake (ie the profit) being the redevelopment of the Valley into further residential homes.

So applaud the takeover as much as you like but please don’t get too attached to the Valley. Happy New Year?

Controversy as Charlton Fan has a Moan

I’m in a foul mood but not quite for the reasons you might expect. Yes, like all Charlton fans I’m still hurting from our drubbing at the hands of Burnley yesterday and nothing but time and good results will take that away. My head is already starting to throb as I write this so I really feel for the brave souls that trekked all the way north on Saturday. However, what makes it worse is that it doesn’t end there.

In the past, if your team lost, you’d have a moan to your fellow supporters as you left the ground, then you’d sound off to your mates down the pub or go and stew at home as you listened to the results on the radio. On Sunday you’d be reminded about the appalling game in the newspapers and you’d prepare for the stick your work colleagues were going to give you on a Monday morning but that was about it, onwards and upwards to the next game.

Now with the advent of the internet I also get to endure a torrent of abuse every time I turn to my favourite social media. From mindless comments from people I don’t know on twitter to the facebook trolls you’re not helping to ease the pain of defeat for me. The dedicated Charlton bloggers on the whole are pretty rational but some of the fan forums seem to attract the worst in people that would put off any one wishing to follow us. I sometimes wonder whether they have shares in pharmaceutical companies as my use of headache pills almost always goes up following a few hours on the net after games.

However, when the club has to issue a warning on facebook about foul and abusive language you know that’s a step too far. We know it’s not just a Charlton issue, the same thing happens at clubs up and down the country. It’s unfortunately going to continue until the day when like rugby fans (and at today’s NFL game at Wembley) opposing fans can all sit together and enjoy a pint while watching the game. It’s a nice idea but I can’t see it happening and to be honest I’m not sure I want it to happen as it would lose some of the rivalry.

Of course we should be able to criticise our team, it was a poor result after all, and I would defend anyone’s right to do so but please leave out the abuse. Some people seem to think that they are immune hiding behind their electronic devices but I’m sure in most cases it’s just a case of people letting off steam and not thinking. Remember post in haste, repent at your leisure. One well known Charlton follower has a good rule of thumb for twitter (apart from not posting when drunk) which is to ask yourself whether you would say your tweet to the person it was directed at if they were standing in front of you right now. It’s a great guide to abide by and I’d encourage you to try it.

“Chris Powell out” I heard some fans cry yesterday, you’ve got to be joking. The Championship has a history of rash sackings and Nigel Clough’s departure yesterday is just the latest in a long line. The quote from the BBC yesterday was as follows:- "The decision by the club will come as a surprise to some, but supporters have become increasingly frustrated by poor performances at home - despite some encouraging displays away.” This sounds familiarly like the situation we were in last season. Imagine sacrificing that late run of form that saw us finish 9th last year? While the Derby situation is a little different what makes us think that another manager. Remember, there is no budget for a new coach to change around the squad, let alone the money to even bring in a new coaching squad. Now Powell does suffer from a bit of tactical naivety but he’s learning fast and in all fairness the spate of injuries has left him having to experiment with previously untried formations out of a limited squad. Incidentally, Clough’s sacking puts Powell up to 11th in the league of longest serving English league managers (www.leaguemanagers.com/managers/longest-current.html).

Others were calling for Jimenez to leave too. Well go figure that one out Charlton fans. With many clubs struggling we were lucky to have them in the first place. While I have to acknowledge that we don’t make comfortable bed fellows with the current owners or their front men we are stuck with each other and the fact is that Charlton would have long gone to the wall without them. Yes, we’d all like a sugar daddy, including the board, the only difference is that we didn’t stump up the cash in the first place so they have a right set the asking price even if according to some the bar is currently been set too high. We as fans need to ensure that we do our bit by joining the Supporters Trust and getting behind the petition to turn the Valley into an Asset of Community Value so that we at least have some say in the future of the club. If you don’t do this one small thing then we all lose out and the ability to have our voice heard will be severely blunted.

In my last blog I said we had a tough ten days ahead with Burnley, Forest and Blackpool in quick succession and our 3-0 drubbing yesterday proved at least part of it right. Buckle up Charlton fans because it’s not going to get any easier from here on in. If you’re one of those fair weather glory hunting fans I would have pointed you to join a Manchester team or maybe even Chelsea….oh hang on they didn’t have a great weekend either did they? It looks like the Premier League is catching a dose of Championship fever which is great news for us neutrals but not so good for the betting slips of a few Charlton fans judging by some comments on twitter yesterday!

There was a glimmer of hope for us in yesterday’s game, where we seemed to have the upper hand for the majority of the first half. Possession and shots on goal were pretty even with Burnley and I think Chris Powell has now worked out his midfield, even with injuries. We still have a game in hand too if that is any consolation. I don’t expect a great crowd on Tuesday nights visit by Forest but am expecting a larger crowd for the Blackpool game as the club appear to have been handing out free tickets to Greenwich University students so let’s make sure we as fans at least, introduce them to the loud passionate Charlton family we want them to see.

Anyway, that’s my little rant over. Its one way of allowing me to work the stress of losing out of my system with out resorting to alcohol or therapy, it’s a lot cheaper too, you should try it some time.

Yann puts the smile back on Charlton Fans' Faces

The bright sunny afternoon was in sharp contrast to last week’s washout against Doncaster and it was good to see a full ninety minutes of football.

The day started with tracking down Joe Hall who was responsible for putting together the Valley Talk fanzine to get my copy. I put together a short piece on football club finances and I hope you enjoyed it. As you can tell from my amateurish efforts, I blog for my own amusement and its good practice at putting together short pieces in a quick time frame, Joe on the other hand is a professional and there are also some excellent pieces from a number of bloggers and writers that you might recognise. I particularly enjoyed his interview with Shaun Bartlett and the Chris Powell quote on the back cover, which sums us up perfectly. I hope you managed to grab a copy but if you didn’t then you can pick up a copy from valleytalk.bigcartel.com

Before the game I commented on twitter at the positive vibes and messages of support coming from Charlton fans to get behind the squad, not to boo the board and above all be patient. So it was timely and appropriate that Daniel Webster (@ramblingaddick) had a good piece on the subject in Valley Talk

With the exception of the 3-5-2 formation it was a typical Charlton game with the boy’s taking the lead through a scrappy build up to Morrison’s headed goal (they all count!) to take the lead, Yann’s usual goal against his old team, then holding on for dear life to cling on to the three points despite the Foxes being down to ten men. Even Christ Powell was cringing at times with his hands against his face. I was surprised to see that we had 58% of the possession as Leicester seemed to keep the ball for long periods in midfield without making any impact.

Wiggins and Morrison both had much better games which will be good confidence boosters for them. Personally, I think that Evina is the better player in this formation but Wiggins was looking much more comfortable in this role during the second half as he created a number of opportunistic crosses for the team. It goes without saying that Kermorgant needed no motivation for the game and made the most of it. He’s a real bogey man for the Leicester crowd and as Chris Powell said he’s going to tell Yann that there are 23 other teams called Leicester!

Again, Church worked hard and deserves his place, although he was getting frustrated towards the end but continued to track back when necessary. Stephens has skill but still seems to be a little nonchalant and spatially unaware as the ball comes to him for the first touch. Pigott and Cousins took their chances when they came on, settling down quickly unfazed by the crowds and certainly making an impact during their short stint as substitutes.

While the second yellow for Leicester number 8, James’ inappropriate protests was a stupid one to concede, I feel a little sorry for Leicester as the officials made a number of errors in the second half including a clear goal kick when Church headed off the post. I have a feeling that the assistant on the East stand touchline was struggling with the sunlight and this will only get worse as the sun sinks lower coming into autumn. This can easily be rectified if the assistants swap sides but I am sure that there is a rule that prevents this common sense solution.

Overall, three points thoroughly deserved and having chased down the Foxes all afternoon it only seemed appropriate to finish of the day with a small bottle of Tally-ho from Adnams. I’d not seen it before and thought it was a stout but at 7.2% it’s more akin to a barley wine. One was enough to help savour the much needed victory.

Charlton: Pizza the action or pie’ning for a change ?

First many thanks to Charlton Casualty and fellow Charlton fans that read my Charlton to Greenwich pub crawl article and gave me a few more places to visit on my trek back from the Valley.  I’ve been sworn to secrecy on the actual venues but can confirm that the ones I have visited so far have been excellent and look forward to visiting the others over the next few weeks.

Well for once I can’t moan about the quality of the play on the field against Huddersfield in the Capital One Cup.  Chris Powell took the plunge and switched to his 5-3-2 formation with marauding wing backs that worked so well in pre-season and it looks like we were unlucky not to come away with something.  From various accounts Joe Pigott again played in an unselfish manner and set up Marvin Sordell to allow him to get off the mark.  I hope the game has provided the manager with some food for thought for Saturday's tough encounter against Leicester.  While I expect to see Kermorgant and Church return up front, I wouldn't be surprised to see some changes further back in the field.  However today  I have a different gripe to raise.

I see that Charlton fans have the chance to vote on how we get a half price pizza from the League’s official pizza sponsor.  Personally I’m more concerned about the pies at the Valley.  Rumours abound that our very own Breton, Yann Kermorgant has been tucking in and carrying a bit more weight around him than he should but if it’s true I don’t think the pies are to blame.  I’m not sure what the fayre is like at the John Smith's stadium (I suspect the names says it all and Al Gordon's excellent blog piece on the match sums it up perfectly for me algordoncafc.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/the-capital-one-at-john-smiths.html) but the Valley appears to actually be abandoning our pies in favour of what I understand is called a slice!  Sorry guys but we want a pie with proper walls of pastry and a deep filling.  I’m assuming that this is one of those ploys where the price stays the same and the contents shrink.

There’s nothing wrong with the food and drink at Charlton.  It’s just that with the advent of real street food and the explosion of news London breweries offering craft beer, the staple offering of slices together with Fosters and John Smith's Smooth really doesn’t cut the mustard any more.  Having seen the fast food offerings at Truck Stop London and the Real Street Food Festival, London has a lot to offer by way of quality local food and drink and I think we should be taking advantage of it.

To make matters worse, Crystal Palace have jumped on the band wagon and revamped their range of pies and now get to enjoy our local Goddard’s Pies in with steak and ale pie using beer from the first commercial brewery in Croydon, The Cronx.  For once I am extremely jealous of the Nigels.  Many of us enjoy a decent pie and mash from Goddards in Greenwich (www.pieshop.co.uk), and when combined with locally produced real ale this must be heaven in a pastry shell!

Leyton Orient have had their skin in the game for even longer with a fantastic bar in the Matchroom Stadium that has won numerous CAMRA awards for their fine real ale offering.  Their latest line up includes local ales from East London Brewery and Hackney Brewery.

So what can we at Charlton do to up the game and provide some decent locally produced food to its fans?

On the beer front, many of you will know that I have written about various local breweries including the Kernel in Bermondsey and Meantime Brewery in the Greenwich area.  As mainly kegged craft beers these should keep longer than some of the real ale offerings.  There is also the Brick Brewery a new micro brewery in Peckham Rye, which I have to admit I have only recently discovered and know very little about.

However, the Kernel is too near our other South London rivals and appear to be targeting a premium market, although Bromley football club appear to be well stocked up on a good selection from their range according to an article on their website*

Meantime would be a good commercial partner for Charlton.  The brand is well known over London and they have a good range so there is something for everyone.  Without getting too esoteric, I’d personally recommend their London Lager and Pale Ale as standard replacements for the current big brewery offerings at the Valley.

However, there is a new player in town in the form of Woolwich’s first and only brewery.  James at Hop Stuff Brewery has been extremely busy over the last few months promoting the company and recently raised £58,000 on crowd funding site Crowdcube.  He’s also appeared in the Greenwich Visitor and made a presentation to South East London CAMRA on his efforts (hopstuffbrewery.wordpress.com)

Full scale production is a little way off with full scale production kicking off in the autumn but they have ambitious plans and having this local producer at the Valley would be a coup and there would be plenty of scope for a special Charlton own label (thinking caps on please chaps but keep it clean and positive).

In terms of food one is pushed to find a more authentic product than Goddard's pies but if I was to compile a wish list of goodies I would like to see Heaps in Greenwich produce a decent sausage roll for match days with one of their award winning recipes.

Of course, I am writing this as a foodie that likes his real ale and I have no concept of the commercial realities of catering at a major sporting event but it would be good to see a nod to local produce with a bit of thought into the ingredients.  Now, does anyone in South East London produce an alternative to Mars Bars?

Article reference

*http://www.bromleyfc.tv/season1011/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1880:bromley-v-cray-wanderers&catid=42:news&Itemid=309

Financial Fair Play - What Football's Finance Directors think

As some of you will be aware, Financial Fair Play (FFP) has been a favourite topic of mine this year and now even the big boys are getting interested about its impact on the beautiful game.  The accountants BDO have produced their annual survey of football club finance directors called "A New Dawn for Fair Play?", with the emphasis this year very much on FFP.

You can read the report on the following link:-

fcbusiness.co.uk/cms/thesite/public/uploads/uploadsbank/1376383081_229.pdf

One of the firm's partners involved in the survey is Trevor Birch who readers may recognise as being currently involved in the Hearts administration and formerly that of Portsmouth so  he has a pretty good idea of the real issues affecting clubs.  Much of the previous comment on FFP's impact has been from outside observers making informed guesses based on public information and hearsay.  The importance of this survey is that it comes from the people that actually hold the purse strings inside the football clubs themselves and so the results, while pooled and anonymous can be taken as fact.

First the good news, its pleasing to see that some 85% of clubs are expecting to comply with FFP rules this season within their current business models.  While others expect to as a result of radical changes to their finances only 5% expect not being able to comply.

However, to me the results of the survey show there is a lot more pressure on Championship clubs than those in other divisions.  The results of the survey show that they are more reliant on their principle shareholders to fund losses and expect to be less likely to make a profit before player trading and amortisations than clubs in other leagues.  The outlook for revenue streams in the Championship also looks less optimistic when compared to other divisions.

The impact of FFP is seen most clearly in the answers on payroll costs which are the main outlay of any football club.  The increase in payroll budget in the Premier League by 42% of clubs largely reflects the funding from the huge increase from the new television deal.  The Championship and SPL are particularly affected with 78% and 80% respectively expecting to reduce payroll costs.  I suspect that the small number of clubs expecting to increase payroll in the other leagues is a reflection on the higher revenue received by newly promoted clubs or those that have recently been taken over.

However, the survey then goes on to show that the decision to reduce payroll has not been driven by FFP in the two lower English and the Scottish Leagues, showing the financial pressures and general lack of available investment means that clubs are having to balance the books in order to just survive anyway.

It is interesting to note that contrary to what many of us thought, the ability to reduce player's wages following relegation is pretty much a standard contract clause with 94% of clubs in the Championship and League Two using them and 75% of clubs in the Premier League.  League One stands out as a slight anomaly with only 71%.  Scotland is slowly catching up with 60% but I suspect that this may be a result of revenues being pretty flat across the lower leagues.

Even the tax man is getting in on the act.  25% of clubs are concerned about larger PAYE bills as a result of HMRC's aggressive stance on tax mitigation schemes.  However, in the long run FFP must be a positive for tax revenues to the economy if clubs have to break even under its rules.

While not directly related to FFP, the survey highlights the use of paid independent non-executive directors.  For those not familiar with the role they are not involved in the day to day running of the club but are appointed to the board to give an independent and therefore objective criticism and advice on the running of the company. Given the high level of public scrutiny of any football club in England and Scotland one might be surprised at the relatively low numbers of non-executives but the question comes in two parts (i) independent, and (ii) paid.  I believe that this reflects in part the family run nature of many clubs by local business men or the fact that many non-executives do it for the love rather than the money.  For example I'm sure Charlton's own Michael Grade provides valuable experience to the running of the club as well as social and media, and is paid little if anything for the role.  The relatively high figure of 25% in the EPL is down to the publicly traded nature of a number of the top clubs that have to abide with corporate rules and codes of conduct on governance to satisfy their institutional shareholders. 

So with a third of Championship and League One owners considering selling up it may look like gloomy outlook for football clubs but the fact is that they are dealing with reality head on.  As fans, we may be disappointed in the lack of transfers or the ability to strengthen our team but reality is settling in with both football boards and fans.  In the long run it means, hopefully, we're unlikely to see Mr Birch take over at our clubs in his unenviable role any time soon.