The ESI episode was so bizarre but also so worrying that it is difficult to sum it up. Best just to refer back to the court hearing. This account gives a sense of the confusion: https://addicksdiary3.blogspot.com/2020/09/our-day-in-court.html
A legal action has now been brought against Charlton Athletic in respect of an alleged £500,000 owing to Pauil Elliott in relation to this takeover, but as the matter is now sub judice no further comment is permissible.
The Sandgaard period is very fresh in our memories. I think that he was well intentioned but naive, a typical example of a businessman successful in another field thinking he can sort out the much more challenging and uncertain world of football. He under estimated how much getting promoted would cost and, like Roland, involved some unsuitable people in running the club, not least his son. I am more tolerant than some of his egotistical guitar playing antics. If you are going to put millions into a loss making business, you are entitled to a bit of fun.
I find it difficult to work out what the strategy of the fragmented present ownership is. If they want to make money out of Charlton, they should get the club promoted to the Championship and then sell it on as a potential Premier League club. That requires much more investment than has been forthcoming.
Indeed, apart from Alfie May, it's the old story: use Academy players while they are still developing and see what we can pick up at the end of the transfer window on the cheap or as loan signings. We were very fortunate with Rak Sakyi last year.
I am sceptical about Charlie Methven whom I think is a slippery customer. VOTV website editor Rick Everitt has been surprisingly silent on the topic: usually he is first in the queue to denounce a new owner. However, he may be weighed down by his civic duties.
In my view there were two crucial turning points in our history. First, and most crucially, the failure to back Jimmy Seed when he wanted to make Charlton the Arsenal of South London by developing The Valley and making marquee signings. Second, the mess made of the Alan Curbishley succession. He should have been allowed to stay on for a final year while potential successors were researched. Instead we got Dowie and his all purpose PowerPoint.
What future for Charlton?
'Charlton till I die' has more meaning for some of us and as a great-grandfather I am unlikely to see the end of this saga, but it may not be a happy one. Charlton had the third biggest loss in League One in the last accounting period and has one of the biggest debts (£20m). The ground and the training ground are owned by Roland who is said to want an excessive £50m for them.
So here are three scenarios with probabilities attached:
1. Charlton get promoted to the Championship and are bought by a seriously rich individual who is prepared to spend to get the club in the Premier League. These days you have to be a billionaire. 20 per cent.
2. Charlton muddle through as a mid-table League One club (perhaps including one season in League Two). 40 per cent.
3. Charlton fall into the National League, the club is no longer viable or sustainable. Fans form AFC Charlton using a Kent nonleague -ground and entering Step 6 of the non-league pyramid. 20 per cent (and 20 per cent for something I have not anticipated).
The original version recommended reading Dave from Drinking During The Game and some of his posts remain invaluable. Sadly he passed away not long after this essay was written.
The Charlton line in my family has come to an end. My granddaughter lives in Spain with her parents and daughter and follows Real Madrid.
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