Go back two seasons and a Charlton match night promised two things - disappointment on the field, and hundreds of barbs, insults and death threats flying around on Charlton Twitter. And I mean 100s. I am following the same 300 or so Charlton fans, and last night we often went 10 mins without a Charlton Tweet from any of them. In total there was no more than a couple of dozen throughout the night. Looking thru some Twitter accounts, many previously hardcore Charlton fans haven’t Tweeted about Charlton all season. FFs. We should all be worried. Two of the ex-posters on 606 used to be active on Charlton Twitter - again, nothing. The apathy is not confined to Twitter. The post match thread on Charlton Life used to regularly get over 200 comments on a midweek game - last night it had 50. I suppose it’s up to all of us diehard Charlton fans to hang on in there and keep fanning the flickering flame, but you don’t have to be Nostrandamus or even Nigel Williamson to realise we have lost a lot of supporters because of these two Belgian idiots.
I’ve even taken off my Twitter profile that I support then. Rarely tweet about it; think I done some tweets about the shockingly bad transfer business, that was it. Now it’s just a series of altruistic drunken narcissistic rambles. Same with a lot of people that I know.
I wouldn't be surprised if this is what Duchatelet wants. He does not want passionate fans who demand effort and excellence, and don't hold back when they are not happy. He wants customers, who'll behave as if they are going to the cinema or a restaurant.
If I have a meal out at restaurant, I expect it to be delicious! And in good company. I got neither of them at the Valley. The range of food was terrible. Crappy burgers and chips.
I have to say that I turned over from SkySports news last night to watch a drab 0-0 draw between England U17's and Japan... England then scored all 5 of their pens to go through.... couldn't be bothered waiting for updates from Kassam
It's been a slow, almost imperceptible process. I've stopped paying for Valley Pass or whatever they've renamed it, which used to mean I was glued to the commentary of the away games. And it's gradually getting worse, despite an upturn in results, and a probable play-off place. On Saturday the pre-match started with the tannoy blaring out crowd noise, and it ended with the manager doing a massive tunnel jump. The Upper North with the drummer did well to keep the support going, but the rest of the Valley was like a library. Civil war is breaking out on ITTV, while we amuse ourselves with non-Charlton stuff just to keep things going. The protests have ended. Boycotters are finding other ways of spending Saturdays, while it seems crowds have levelled out at about 50% of what they were. I wait for Roland to sell, while there is the fear at the back of my mind "Supposing he doesn't?"
I would liken the current state of Charlton to a patient in intensive care, wired up to a life support machine. The patient is still breathing, but all of the indicators show that he is slowly dying. We really must ignore the laughably unrepresentative few on ITTV, led by the pompous windbag Mundell and the mentally deficient BexleyBoy. Not only are the home crowds struggling to reach 8,000, all of the off field signs are terrible as well.
The fan base has made up their minds about Duchatelet & not even promotion will change it. 15-20% will always support him regardless because “they just want to watch the football” and “we have always been a selling club” The stats show that the other 80% - at least 20,000 Charlton fans - won’t have him at any price. I know which camp I am in. Let’s juat hope something resembling a football club is left on the day the arsehole finally sells up.
100% Your final comment is very worrying, the Oystons have stayed and the situation up there is very worrying. The same can easily happen to us, the Belgians may think they have rode the storm. I can see myself eventually going back to doing the aways but I am f***** if I am setting foot in The Valley ever again until this cancer have gone. Would you go for a drink with a geezer that has just shagged your wife?
Yeah, I put it down to having a lot to deal with here, but lately I follow the Charlton matches on CL but can no longer be bothered to comment beyond the occasional 'yay' if we score or win. I'll be back for work at the start of november and may arrive in time for the Truro match. If I get there in time I'll happily go, but when I am not there in the flesh, a certain apathy has crept in. The problem is that after a few seasons of the same old scene, there is a feeling that at some point the problems everyone can see will kick in hard - lack of strikers and an unbalanced squad. From that point, we know where the season will go - it happens every year now. The same with defeat. I was gutted watching the Plymouth game, but all the rage some of the fans showed bypassed me completely as with an RD created Charlton, you know there are problems ahead and that we'll struggle at some point. Last night was the same - we concided which previously would have affected me, but deep down, I was expecting it. We have acrued half a great squad - Holmes, Kashi, Bauer, Pearson, DaSilva and surprisingly Sarr and Fosu. The manager has question marks over his inflexibility but seems to be trying his level best with what he has. But the richest owner in the history of the club gave him a zero pounds Budget and logically we are in the mix with the also rans again. And after several seasons of this, is it a surprise that people are tired of being told one thing while seeing with their own eyes the reality?
Gore Vidal once remarked “every time one of my friends enjoys success, a small part of me dies” I feel that “every extra day Duchatelet stays at Charlton, a small part of my Charlton enthusiasm dies”
According to VOTV, about 1300 S/T holders did not renew, and there were about the same number of new S/T holders. I suppose the new ones are attracted by the low price of Lower North seats. Maybe, not having been to the Valley for a while, the change in atmosphere will be more noticeable to you Ken.
Fewer season tickets sold than Millwall, and lower home attendance too, in a stadium with a third more capacity. Crowd noises over the tannoy before a game? That's a new one to me (I usually get in just as the teams are coming onto the pitch) but sadly I am willing to believe it is true. Our manager whipped into a frenzy by a 1-0 home win over Doncaster Rovers in front of 18,000 empty seats. Our Club is slowly fading away.
You have got that badly wrong Lardiman. Millwall's capacity is 20146. Our capacity is 27111. I am enjoying my visits to the Valley this Season. The football is better and we are winning more. Yes we are in the third division, which we shouldn't be and yes I still want Duchatelet gone. But I can't accept all the carping criticism of Robinson as I feel he is doing a good job with the situation of very little money spent in the transfer window. Our Club is not dying. It is just lying dormant, until the time the Belgians leave. I am finding this forum overly negative as I find ITTV overly positive. My feelings are somewhere in the middle.
Fair play @DickPlumb - but honestly, what is there currently to be positive about? We are haemorrhaging support.
I feel we are in no mans land and just tredding water until this lot go. Under their policy of doing things on the cheap and letting things operate on the bare minimum there is only one way we can go. Down.
I wonder if Roland is kept in touch with the progress of our saleable assets (known to you and I as players). If so he will know that after Konsa goes the cupboard is bare, which would mean that it would make sense for him to sell this summer. However he appears to be the type of person who surrounds himself with yes-persons, who may well tell him that his masterplan is working. Against that, work at Sparrows Lane appears to be progressing at a snail's pace, which suggests that he has no intention of spending the necessary cash, and he is planning his exit. The Oystons are still at Blackpool, but they are local people, and attend matches, Roland has no interest in Charlton. He does attend St Truiden, which he has emasculated to his own wishes, but may have no intention of doing the same to Charlton. A hard one to fathom out.
Yes, I underestimated the capacity of the Den by about 9,000 seats. Sorry about that. As for being overly negative - I actually think most Charlton fans on this forum are showing admirable restraint, considering the circumstances which led to our third division status and the resultant halving of home attendance. Duchatelet has already killed Charlton Athletic. All that's left is a mocking parody of what it used to be; nothing more than a collection of sound bites and gimmicks, being sold back to supporters like me who still continue to attend because it's less painful than walking away. The whole edifice is fake, from top to bottom. For me there is no glory anymore in anything the Club achieves. CAFC no longer exists to bring pride and a sense of belonging to the local community around it, the families who have supported it loyally for three or four generations. The sense of belonging was the very first thing to go. CAFC exists and functions now to balance some numbers on a spreadsheet somewhere in Roland Duchatelet's business portfolio. And as a career opportunity for his muse. If RD does not sell up in the next couple of seasons surely a group of folks will be looking into the creation of AFC Charlton. The way I feel at the moment, I would be inclined to join them.
