Now The dust has settled from the trust's latest recruitment drive, I think its time to be honest with each other and decide wether the hierarchy of the trust are playing us non members for mugs. Let's be frank. Last nite could have been done in 1 minute. Nothing was achieved. We all knew the proposals wouid be for a better line of communication between club and fans. And we all knew those fans who selfishly would undertake the role would be from the trust. Take your mind back to Slater and Jimi, the trust wanted the same thing and were spinning the same crap- The trust are not satisfied with the Slater board so they come up with lies 'oh we are going into administration" they said, "staff are not being paid" they said, "we are moving to the peninsula" they said. Safeguarding the future of Cafc for generations to come they promise. What absolute toss. The trust only represents the trusts viewpoint, so the question is where do we go? that is the 95% of fans who think the trust are not in it for the greater good of cafc but in it for themselves. It's quite shocking to learn that the trust will go off on a frolic of its own without consultation with the majority of the fan base. The trust will do what the trust think is best for the club, no consultation, no votes no open meeting, nothing. Isn't that lack of communication exactly what they accuse Roly off? Wheels within wheels. I propose that I am made a non paying trust director to safeguard the cub and maintain a better like of communication between the trust and the fans. How about it Barnie? The hypocrisy stinks. The trust would stop at nothing to get their own way - whatever board we had, it won't be good enough for them. Getting stabbed in the back by the directors is one thing you even expect it, but when Murray, Hayes and Everett and the rest of the flying monkeys decree that you have no say unless you join them and then go along with whatever they say, then it really is time to decide if the trust are damaging the club.
I'm sorry but the Club I started supporting in the 70's has gone, killed off by a combination of the triumberate of ' Douche, Witch & that lacky Murray' assisted by the 'so called' and self appointed voice of the fans ..... CAST I said last week that the outcome of last Wednesday's meeting would be ... 1) All supporters 'with Charlton's best interests at heart' should join CAST & 2) CAST should be the sole communicator between the supporters and the Club.. Well blow me!!! That is exactly what happened..... did CAST really need to hire a room (at great cost) to allow a bunch of self appointed 'fans representatives' a stage to vent their anger at being dismissed by the Club? I am sure there are some very good people on the Trust (in fact I know one of them is) who do have Charlton's best interests at heart... the Trust as an Organisation however, I will never support. It seems to me that it is up to fans on an individual level to decide how they feel the Club is being run and it is up to fans on an individual level to decide how they wish to react to Mr Roland's directives..... me ..... I will continue to support the U18's and just be grateful I still have ONE Charlton team to support.
I think you're overestimating their influence. What has done most damage is the dire quality of football. As Alan Sugar would say "It's the product". And the Network has contributed to this by its football decisions. I'd guess that those fans who would normally occupy those thousands of empty seats don't know anything about the trust, what they do know is a decent footballer when they see one, and when a team is busting a gut to win.
It was revealing that CAST's first missive after the meeting was 'we have put on 200 new members this week'. Said it before, will say it again, if you offered me a free night in the sack with Megan Fox in return for joining CAST, I would decline. They are a barnacle on the rotting hulk of CAFC. What happens now? Probably nothing.
You can't turn down a night with the Fox. I'd sign up for a lifetime membership. As much as I don't trust the.. trust - I think Billy is right in that I think saying they are detrimental to the club is an overestimation. I don't think Wednesday would have changed anything in KM or RD's mind.
Agree that the meeting achieved nothing , other than that letting off steam makes people feel better - and it cannot be denied that Rick Everitt and Steve Dixon spoke very rousingly, even if I don't go along with the 'Duchatalet out' line they were peddling and their attacks on the CEO. But I don't blame the Supporters Trust, who contain some very genuine people. And they are to be congratulated for ensuring that the meeting didn't vote for daft boycotts and embarrasing walk-outs that only a handful of ultras are going to follow. If season ticket renewals are down next season it will be due to the quality of football not because a few empty but noisy vessels are calling it a boycott. The vast majority of fans aren't really fussed about who owns the club and who sits on the board and the roles of Murray and Meire.They're more interested in the 11 on the pitch. It will all seem very different if we win tonight at WIgan, and go top-half. That's all most fans want to see - decent football from a competitive side. And if we finish the season in mid-table and network signings like Watt and Bulot continue their good form, most s/t holders will renew.
More musings via La La Land from Charlton's answer to the love child of Janet Street Porter and Owen Jones . "The vast majority of fans aren't really fussed about who owns the club".....I stopped reading at that point
The only people who are fussed about ownership and the identity of the CEO and care who sits on the board are the 50-somethings and 60-somethings like me who attended the meeting and have a nostalgic view of 'little old Charlton' rooted in the years of exile. The demographic of the meeting was extraordinarily narrow. To a younger generation who prefer twitter and facebook to meetings and speeches - my own sons and grandchildren among them - football is about entertainment,pure and simple, not a notion of community spirit and working-class solidarity that they regard as outdated and sentimental. Sad but true. If they feel they are being entertained, they will turn up. If they feel they aren't, then they will stay away. Entertainment entertainment entertainment, as Blair nearly said, (or the lack of it) will determine the size of the crowd next season not anything the Supporters Trust does or says.
To be fair, KA - I've always cared and looked out for who runs the club. I think also a lot of the younger generation also care due to the excitement takeovers bring and hoping for the influx of new players etc.
Rubbish You were obviously not at Watford and Wolves Away. Did you think Syd Cheesewright created the "Roland Out" banners then?
I think fans want to know what owners have in mind for their club. For example the Blackpool fans know that the Oystons aim is to extract every last penny they can, Abramovic wants to make Chelsea a European superpower. We on the other hand don't really know what Roland wants for Charlton, or whether he knows how to achieve whatever that is.
Whatever you say, old chap. But the membership fo the Trust and the audience at the meeting are/were nearly all people my age in white-collar professional jobs and drawn from the narrowest demographic. I asked my two sons to come (both been watching for 30 years at Selhurst/Upton Park/The Valley, veterans of away trips all over the country from Junior Reds days to the present and now in their late-thirties) and they said words to the effect of "you've got to be joking". You yourself decribed it as a "Saga sponsored sob-fest." (Royston Vasey is 87 and three-quarters...lol)
I agree and they are making the Board the villains of the piece but to my mind they are the heroes for taking the Club on, investing and making difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions.
I didn't see many young people there either, perhaps they're just not interested in all the negativity and would prefer to put their efforts and energies into... supporting the players and the team.
what was that???......it was as if 1045 bovril thermos flask were being thrown against the wall and suddenly they went silent. I sense a great disturbance in the trust.
