Morale

[surridgecobbler5]

A number of things seemed to have conspired to have reduced morale in the supporter base to new low level.
The cumulative effect of a series of poor ownerships must be the major one, with the decline and lack of success on the pitch.
But recently , the whole CVPM saga did nothing to improve morale and this was compounded by the abject display at Gillingham , the loss at Reading and the Harris inspired surrender versus Cambridge. The latest Pod cast from Charlton Live summed up the mood of gloom and doom.
Now is the point where some inspired leadership is needed to lift heads and renew enthusiasm. One clear thing is the usual excuses for a poor transfer window just won't wash.

[kings hill addick]

I fear that the bigger problem is a lack of interest. Many have given up because the club do not seem to be challenging for anything. We haven't threatened the playoffs since we were relegated in 2020 and we haven't, really looked like going down, either. Despite the third division being below where most fans think our 'rightful' and 'historic' place is it's the boredom of mid-table and having nothing to play for in the second half of the season that has, in my view, discouraged, fans from going to matches.

The 2011/12 season and the 2018/19 seasons were well supported and were among my favourites, but as much as I like watching a football match, if there is little riding on the result it's easy to 'give it a miss' and/or watch it at home for free. This is made harder when it looks like those running the club are constantly telling us they need another two (or more) transfer windows before we will challenge at the top.

At this rate we will be averaging less than 10k fans by the time they have anything to get excited about. My worry is that many of those will never return to going regularly. I don't think I'll ever buy a season ticket again. I can't see the need to. I will be able to get to all the games I want to and, probably, sit in the same seat. Ten games a season will cost me £300 and a season ticket will cost me over £600. I don't think I'll, even, go to ten games this season.

[se7sm]

The only way is to get the wallet out sign half a dozen permanent players and start playing attacking football not across and back all the time .never thought you could play 90 mins and not have a shot at goal .would be nice for once to start keeping clean sheets and put a run together.anything else no that’s it Santa 🧑‍🎄 😂

[aaronaldo]

There's been very few opportunities to build momentum this year. We literally haven't won two league games in a row. We've had a few unbeaten runs but they have been unispiring.

I don't think it will take loads to get people on the hype / promotion train. If we were more concistent and actually went on 3-5 games winning streaks then everyone gets hopeful again.

It's been 1 step forward 2 back, 3 forward, 2 back all season.

[reamsofverse]

The whole culture surrounding how the club has been run over the last 10 years has to change.

Owners are not raising the bar and setting promotion targets that can realistically be achieved. They have to break the mould of the last decade and realise success does not come on the cheap.

Sandgaard thought he was the best thing since sliced bread because he was better than the fake Shiek!

He thought he was Mr Popular and in 'saving us' thought he was indestructable, a man who would hardly have to put his hand in his pocket and still succeed.

SE7 have come in with good intentions but their transfer activity has been no better thus far. Is their vision to be promotion hungry owners who are better than what we have had for years or is the target just to be an improvement on Sandgaard?

From fake Sheik or TS to SE7, it's hardly a benchmark to base success on or to be seen as serious owners who are a huge step up on who they have taken the club over from.

I know SE7's vision, I trust and support them and it will take three windows to see real progress but as I have said before improvement needs to happen in each of those windows and January will give us a better idea of their intentions because August was a poor yardstick despite the mitigation of TS doing his best to see the transfer window shut before he left.

[kings hill addick]

Dec 11, 2023 16:23:09 GMT reamsofverse said:

The whole culture surrounding how the club has been run over the last 10 years has to change.

Owners are not raising the bar and setting promotion targets that can realistically be achieved. Sandgaard thought he was the best thing since sliced bread because he was better than the fake Shiek!

He thought he was Mr Popular and in 'saving us' thought he was indestructable, a man who would hardly have to put his hand in his pocket and still succeed.

SE7 have come in with good intentions but their transfer activity has been no better thus far. Is their goal to be better than what we have had for years or is the target just to do a better job than Sandgaard?

From fake Sheik or TS to SE7, is hardly a benchmark for the latter two, to be better than who they have taken the club over from.

I know SE7's vision and it will take three windows to see real progress but as I have said before improvement needs to happen in each of those windows and January will give us a better idea of their intentions because August was a poor yardstick despite the mitigation of TS doing his best to see the transfer window shut before he left.

When you say three windows. Which window is number one?

January 23;
Summer 23;
January 24; or
Summer 24.

Thanks.

[reamsofverse]

Dec 11, 2023 16:27:13 GMT kings hill addick said:

Dec 11, 2023 16:23:09 GMT reamsofverse said:

The whole culture surrounding how the club has been run over the last 10 years has to change.

Owners are not raising the bar and setting promotion targets that can realistically be achieved. Sandgaard thought he was the best thing since sliced bread because he was better than the fake Shiek!

He thought he was Mr Popular and in 'saving us' thought he was indestructable, a man who would hardly have to put his hand in his pocket and still succeed.

SE7 have come in with good intentions but their transfer activity has been no better thus far. Is their goal to be better than what we have had for years or is the target just to do a better job than Sandgaard?

From fake Sheik or TS to SE7, is hardly a benchmark for the latter two, to be better than who they have taken the club over from.

I know SE7's vision and it will take three windows to see real progress but as I have said before improvement needs to happen in each of those windows and January will give us a better idea of their intentions because August was a poor yardstick despite the mitigation of TS doing his best to see the transfer window shut before he left.

When you say three windows. Which window is number one?

January 23;
Summer 23;
January 24; or
Summer 24.

Thanks.

If we make up for the lost time last August in January, then next Summer I would say is the third window.

What is key though is that will only be the case if players are bought and become part of the rebuild. No more loans please unless they are with a view to buy and be part of the future.

[Occam’s Razor]

Fair comment, but Scott admitted last week that the January 2023 transfer window was his , and that some of the signings hadn’t worked out.

Scott also made the January 2023 window worse by embellishing what he had to spend, and , being polite, telling whoppers about the calibre of dross he then went on to sign.

So the January 2024 transfer window is his third window in charge.

[aaronaldo]

Dec 11, 2023 16:53:11 GMT Occam’s Razor said:

Fair comment, but Scott admitted last week that the January 2023 transfer window was his , and that some of the signings hadn’t worked out.

Scott also made the January 2023 window worse by embellishing what he had to spend, and , being polite, telling whoppers about the calibre of dross he then went on to sign.

So the January 2024 transfer window is his third window in charge.

I do think his hands were massively tied in January 22. He overstated the budget he had as you say.

I still can't believe we signed Bonne or that he scored against us the other week. I'm still not over either of these events.

[clarky]

All new owners come in with good intentions as does a new manager or any new player. Words are so easy but actual actions which prove successful on and off the pitch are far more difficult to achieve.
I can't blame the current regime for my disillusionment because it had gone before they arrived on the scene but, to date, they haven't managed to raise my optimism either. However, what they did do at least for me, was to briefly raise my expectations when a bid was made for Nombe and whilst that did not go through I thought that money would still be spent but no transfer fees were paid with only late loans and freebies coming in. I accept they didn't have a full transfer window but there was enough time for them to spend money and not leave us in the position we now find ourselves in.
January will be the third window they have been involved in and whilst I do expect player improvements that is likely to cone from better loan players coming in to replace those going out. January is not a good window to do a big rebuild but we can start laying the foundations. The window after is the one where they really need to show intent and what and how they spend will be very telling.

[surridgecobbler5]

I'd agree; it will, without a very big chequebook book, be challenging to do an effective rebuild in January. Appleton is expecting an 'exciting' window. 
So let's see!

[reamsofverse]

Dec 11, 2023 16:53:11 GMT Occam’s Razor said:

Fair comment, but Scott admitted last week that the January 2023 transfer window was his , and that some of the signings hadn’t worked out.

Scott also made the January 2023 window worse by embellishing what he had to spend, and , being polite, telling whoppers about the calibre of dross he then went on to sign.

So the January 2024 transfer window is his third window in charge.

Scott led a shambolic transfer window last January but we couldn't spend cash as it wasn't their club at the time so we got rubbish.

We can't include last January as their first window when they didn't buy teh club until the third week in August.

That's just criticising for the sake of it.

[Occam’s Razor]

Dec 11, 2023 19:15:08 GMT reamsofverse said:

Dec 11, 2023 16:53:11 GMT Occam’s Razor said:

Fair comment, but Scott admitted last week that the January 2023 transfer window was his , and that some of the signings hadn’t worked out.

Scott also made the January 2023 window worse by embellishing what he had to spend, and , being polite, telling whoppers about the calibre of dross he then went on to sign.

So the January 2024 transfer window is his third window in charge.

Scott led a shambolic transfer window last January but we couldn't spend cash as it wasn't their club at the time so we got rubbish.

We can't include last January as their first window when they didn't buy teh club until the third week in August.

That's just criticising for the sake of it.

Nope.

Scott was asked on Charlton TV in December 2022 whether he had a competitive budget for the January 2023 transfer window.

His exact words were “I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t”.

He then went on to sign Kane, Penney, Kilkenny, and Bonne as a free agent on deadline day.

None of this is compatible with his public statement about the budget.

[valley]

Dec 11, 2023 19:45:43 GMT Occam’s Razor said:

Dec 11, 2023 19:15:08 GMT reamsofverse said:

Scott led a shambolic transfer window last January but we couldn't spend cash as it wasn't their club at the time so we got rubbish.

We can't include last January as their first window when they didn't buy teh club until the third week in August.

That's just criticising for the sake of it.

Nope.

Scott was asked on Charlton TV in December 2022 whether he had a competitive budget for the January 2023 transfer window.

His exact words were “I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t”.

He then went on to sign Kane, Penney, Kilkenny, and Bonne as a free agent on deadline day.

None of this is compatible with his public statement about the budget.

Do you believe Se7 consortium have any real backing?.

[reamsofverse]

Dec 11, 2023 20:16:38 GMT valley said:

Dec 11, 2023 19:45:43 GMT Occam’s Razor said:

Nope.

Scott was asked on Charlton TV in December 2022 whether he had a competitive budget for the January 2023 transfer window.

His exact words were “I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t”.

He then went on to sign Kane, Penney, Kilkenny, and Bonne as a free agent on deadline day.

None of this is compatible with his public statement about the budget.

Do you believe Se7 consortium have any real backing?.

Friedman was at a home game recently. He didn't come over for a holiday.

[roburwash]

But realistically, are there good players out there who 1. are with clubs who will be willing to let them go and 2. want to come to a mid-table club with issues (I'm sure that the chat among players would have indicated that things aren't great here)?

[seriouslyred]

Dec 11, 2023 16:45:27 GMT reamsofverse said:

Dec 11, 2023 16:27:13 GMT kings hill addick said:

When you say three windows. Which window is number one?

January 23;
Summer 23;
January 24; or
Summer 24.

Thanks.

If we make up for the lost time last August in January, then next Summer I would say is the third window.

What is key though is that will only be the case if players are bought and become part of the rebuild. No more loans please unless they are with a view to buy and be part of the future.

💯
I've lined up 2024 as the time for an uplift for several reasons:
- SE7 are 100% accountable to fans and investors for getting us back into the top six
- plenty of players can be released next June
- they've had 100% control for five months now and can adjust approach (and budgets) having walked the miles... very different to PowerPoint, excel and Football Manager!
- the prize of promotion back to the Championship in say 2025 is massive for investors, SMT and fans alike.

[revilo]

Dec 11, 2023 20:21:10 GMT reamsofverse said:

Dec 11, 2023 20:16:38 GMT valley said:

Do you believe Se7 consortium have any real backing?.

Friedman was at a home game recently. He didn't come over for a holiday.

He came over for the bovril

[995632]

Dec 11, 2023 19:45:43 GMT Occam’s Razor said:

Dec 11, 2023 19:15:08 GMT reamsofverse said:

Scott led a shambolic transfer window last January but we couldn't spend cash as it wasn't their club at the time so we got rubbish.

We can't include last January as their first window when they didn't buy teh club until the third week in August.

That's just criticising for the sake of it.

Nope.

Scott was asked on Charlton TV in December 2022 whether he had a competitive budget for the January 2023 transfer window.

His exact words were “I wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t”.

He then went on to sign Kane, Penney, Kilkenny, and Bonne as a free agent on deadline day.

None of this is compatible with his public statement about the budget.

What's he supposed to say exactly?

"The club hasn't got any money, the Danish bloke hasn't got a pot to P in. And legally, as the lot I'm associated with don't actually own anything we can't actually give any money either. So, can't even say you're all up the Creek without a paddle, coz old Lurpak can't even afford one of them."

[essexaddick]

Dec 11, 2023 12:39:43 GMT kings hill addick said:

I fear that the bigger problem is a lack of interest. Many have given up because the club do not seem to be challenging for anything. We haven't threatened the playoffs since we were relegated in 2020 and we haven't, really looked like going down, either. Despite the third division being below where most fans think our 'rightful' and 'historic' place is it's the boredom of mid-table and having nothing to play for in the second half of the season that has, in my view, discouraged, fans from going to matches.

The 2011/12 season and the 2018/19 seasons were well supported and were among my favourites, but as much as I like watching a football match, if there is little riding on the result it's easy to 'give it a miss' and/or watch it at home for free. This is made harder when it looks like those running the club are constantly telling us they need another two (or more) transfer windows before we will challenge at the top.

At this rate we will be averaging less than 10k fans by the time they have anything to get excited about. My worry is that many of those will never return to going regularly. I don't think I'll ever buy a season ticket again. I can't see the need to. I will be able to get to all the games I want to and, probably, sit in the same seat. Ten games a season will cost me £300 and a season ticket will cost me over £600. I don't think I'll, even, go to ten games this season.

I don't think I will be going to any. Didn't last season either and can't say I have missed it.