Bowyer is absolutely right. Back in 2016 I was saying that the Luzon/Fraeye/Riga relegation would likely kill Charlton, because of the appalling way the Club was being run. I'm still totally convinced that without the string of chance circumstances (not master plan) that led to Lee Bowyer becoming Charlton Manager, CAFC would still be withering on the vine in the 3rd or 4th tier, strangled by unending cost cutting. Relegation this season will kill Charlton Athletic. PS: I think Bowyer's notion of rolling back the season to halfway and voiding all games since then is an interesting one. But I cannot see it being adopted as a basis for promotions / relegtions. Any team who was in the bottom 3 after 23 games but is outside it now would go ballistic. I still think AHLL's notion of calling the season finished where it stands, and awarding promotions but no relegations is the best way out. Or the least worst way out anyway.
Playing the season to the end in empty stadiums would be the closest thing to the proper way the season was supposed to end, but I think the problems preventing that in the Championship now are 100 times greater than the problems the PL is facing. And of course the PL has 100 times the resources and leverage to bulldoze through its problems - but I still think Project Restart will never work. I think we are only days away now from an announcement that the 2019-20 Championship season will not be completed. I'm amazed we haven't already heard such an announcement regarding Leagues 1 & 2 yet. Many EFL players are out of contract in just 50 days (7 weeks). I should think a lot of EFL players will be as scared of catching COVID19 playing each other as many PL players are reported to be. It would only take one or two from each squad to refuse, and the integrity of the competition is gone. Would we be happy going into fixtures without Tom Lockyer, or Naby Sarr, or Josh Cullen (for example) because one or more of them might refuse to play? And of course will Club doctors and physios cooperate unless protected from legal action if any player of his family gets the virus? Never mind the possibility that such players would sue the Club itself. Even if full training resumed in the EFL today, when could a round of fixtures be played? Saturday 30th May? Unless the EFL decides the rest of the fixtures can be 15 minutes-each-way 7-a-side (or some other daft thing like that) there is simply not enough time left. And if they were going to decide the Championship using training ground mini-matches they might as well decide it using table football or by computer games. Or Subbuteo
It's a real bugger. We only entered the relegation spots on the last round of matches played, although to be honest, our form was going that way before then, and accelerated under the new regime. There is the addition that we have a new level of stagnation now - two directors squabbling over the decrepit remains of club they purchased for a quid, and which neither of them seem to have the funds to keep afloat. Where the hell we would be in june when the players contracts run out is anybodies guess - the pre takeover days of hoping we could offer Lyle Taylor a contract he would sign seem as likely as Charlton being chosen for next season's Champions league, and the reality is we can only see the club fielding yuth players next season if the current shambles continues. I'm happy not to have to choose how to finih the season. Any sort of solution is going to annoy some clubs, and Lardi's one of awarding some promotions, and no relegations, seems the happiest médium, though te big Boys in the prem will no doubt be incensed about having an extra four league games foisted on them next year. But sadly, Charlto n are in a pit of misery quite apart from that. Until the ownership is sorted, with money to get a squad together, everything else is simply blue skies - imagine us being part of a 26 club Championship next season with the three or four players not about to go out of contract, plus whatever odds and ends agree to play for us for pretty much zilch! We would be way worse off than Bolton were at the start of the season, and possibly with a points deduction added. Plus our ground is now in the hands of a disgruntled ex owner - excellent negotiation skills by the current owners there. We are probably worth a lot less tan te pound Southall shelled out for us back in november as of now. Anyone see Nimer and Southall selling the club for less tan a couple of million? And anyone equally fuc kwitted as them prepared to shell out? Ending the season correctly is a valid discussion, but it may be academic to Charlton.
Even if CAFC survives until next season begins and can actually field 11 players for each game (both less than likely right now) our chances of avoiding relegation are almost zero. Either through a points deduction, or just having a squad weaker than Bolton or Macclesfield this season, we will be going down. From the Championship to League 1, or maybe from L1 to L2. And that's assuming the EFL don't expel us from the league completely. It's like trying to play Snakes & Ladders on a board with 62 snakes and 2 ladders; One ladder being Southall f*cks off quickly and Nimer turns out to have money to invest after all, and doesn't sell us to Bassini (unlikely). The other ladder being the whole ESI take-over gets thrown out and we're given back to Duchatelet. Which isn't really a ladder at all, just not as bad as most other scenarios right now. Either way, it looks 100% nailed on that Charlton will be tenants at the Valley next season, if we still exist. What a disgrace. And what a mess.
If the Championship season re-starts on 13th June (and assuming players agree to risk infection by playing, and agree to extend their contracts) the 2019-20 season may be completed after all. If it is, and Charlton finish in the bottom 3, there won't be much room for excuses. We will have been relegated fair and square. The team has been in relegation form since about October. There has actually been a slight improvement in form since ESI took over (compared to the 12 weeks beforehand). But the improvement is not enough to avoid the drop. A bigger upturn in form will be needed. And of course I am assuming the EFL don't deduct points or kick us out of the league.
