Charlie Methven Interview

[steve2707]

[dickybaby]

Thanks for sharing, am happy we have this guy as part of our club.

[steve2707]

Completely off the cuff, and talks soooooo much sense...

[Mundell]

Thanks for sharing. I’ll listen to that. 

[dickybaby]

Very interesting...academy costs about £2m and womens around £1.6m a year. That is far higher than our competitors in league one with similar revenues.

Academy is a no brainer whilst womens team a debate (clearly believes TS made a mistake making professional). As CM says its a football dirty secret that mens football club subsidises the womens game. And less potential future earnings unlike mens football where there is a clear path to earning more because of greater global TV revenues.

[dickybaby]

Cites two interesting priorities - securing Valley and turning academy into national top 5 (have a roadmap to do that). we can all get behind that

[yorkshireaddick]

Aug 28, 2024 9:56:36 GMT dickybaby said:

Very interesting...academy costs about £2m and womens around £1.6m a year. That is far higher than our competitors in league one with similar revenues.

Academy is a no brainer whilst womens team a debate (clearly believes TS made a mistake making professional). As CM says its a football dirty secret that mens football club subsidises the womens game. And less potential future earnings unlike mens football where there is a clear path to earning more because of greater global TV revenues.

He was so desperate for his Mrs to let him on the nest he made the women's team professional to try sway her. Fooking muppet.

What a pointless outlay that is for a league 1 team.

[bexleyboy]

Excellent in sight in to how much football
Costs .. to run Charlton it’s 19 mill a year .. lot of fans need to listen to that instead of moaning about the owners etc etc .. and they want this player and that player

[valleydobson1]

Aug 28, 2024 13:02:45 GMT bexleyboy said:

Excellent in sight in to how much football
Costs .. to run Charlton it’s 19 mill a year .. lot of fans need to listen to that instead of moaning about the owners etc etc .. and they want this player and that player

£19m a year?.

[kings hill addick]

I watched that. I do like Methven. Even if he does say some things for PR purposes he does give the impression that he is doing all the right things for the club - unlike Sandgaard, who was just using the club to boost his brand - Arse!

Well worth watching. I, like others, found his comments about the women's game refreshing. Worrying that over £1m a year is being taken out of the men's team budget to run the women's team. This is especially concerning when the predictions are that the women's game is never going to be able to stand on it's own feet and those running it are demanding parity with what the men earn.

I would say that it is well worth the hour and a quarter it would take to watch it. I am going to look into other videos from that content maker when I have the time.

Thanks for sharing.

[Mundell]

Aug 28, 2024 13:42:26 GMT valleydobson1 said:

Aug 28, 2024 13:02:45 GMT bexleyboy said:

Excellent in sight in to how much football
Costs .. to run Charlton it’s 19 mill a year .. lot of fans need to listen to that instead of moaning about the owners etc etc .. and they want this player and that player

£19m a year?.

Yes. Methven said that it costs around £19 p.a. to run the club. This is entirely consistent with the last two sets of accounts which show administrative expenses of £19.9m and £19.8m for the years ending June ‘23 and June ‘22 respectively. 

[leedsaddick]

@ Steve2707….. thanks for sharing …. A really good and insightfull watch…. CM appears to have a really good overview of the football landscape and the complexity of running a football club… key numbers for me are increasing turnover from £9m to £13m this year….. player wages £5-6m, annual running costs £19m…… a recognition of the need to reunite the trading ground and Valley back to the club

[Mundell]

Aug 28, 2024 14:08:54 GMT kings hill addick said:

I watched that. I do like Methven. Even if he does say some things for PR purposes he does give the impression that he is doing all the right things for the club - unlike Sandgaard, who was just using the club to boost his brand - Arse!

Well worth watching. I, like others, found his comments about the women's game refreshing. Worrying that over £1m a year is being taken out of the men's team budget to run the women's team. This is especially concerning when the predictions are that the women's game is never going to be able to stand on it's own feet and those running it are demanding parity with what the men earn.

I would say that it is well worth the hour and a quarter it would take to watch it. I am going to look into other videos from that content maker when I have the time.

Thanks for sharing.

Completely agree kings hill addick It’s well worth watching and/or listening to. Methven is very open and in his various interviews he’s told us a great deal how he and GFP see the football industry and how they plan to run the club. I remain confident that this time we’ve got lucky with the ownership of the club. The owners have a vision, the money to fund the club’s losses and a plan for professional management and execution. While some might want more of what they call “ambition”, I’m not sure we can reasonably expect much more than what we’re now getting from GFP. Methven is not simply dismissive of a spend, spend, spend culture, he’s openly hostile to it. 

A few titbits to add to what dickybaby has already posted. 

1. Methven said that when they acquired it the club’s annual revenues were £9.7m (this reconciles with the latest accounts), but that for this season they are expected to be £13.5m. If that £13.5m is a genuinely sustainable annual run rate (rather than the result of one-offs) then that’s a remarkable achievement and very impressive. 

2. Methven said they believe we have the fourth highest wage budget. He also talked about KPIs and how the Board assesses performance. My read is that Nathan Jones is “expected” to produce a top six finish. Methven also implied that the Technical Director will help the Board to reach a measured assessment of Jones’s performance. 

3. He made it clear that the academy is seen as a crucial and valuable asset and said that plans are in place to develop it further. 

4. Methven said something interesting and potentially significant when talking about the funding of structural losses. He implied that when the club receives any windfall, from a sell-on fee for example, that this will result in lower losses or break even for the year in question. It is, of course, possible that if the windfall is significant some of it may be reinvested in a higher wage bill, but while Methven could have said this he did not. He appears to have an almost messianic focus on sustainability. GFP are not going to “buy” success. 

5. That said, the club is clearly loss making (£13.5m - £19m = - £5.5m) and hence requires substantial owner funding. Moreover, it is also clear that promotion to the Championship is absolutely essential. GFP’s investment doesn’t work unless that is achieved. Once in the Championship the valuation of the club will increase many fold compared to the £10m GFP paid for it. I suspect that if Charlton was re established as a Championship club it would be worth upwards of £100m, perhaps even more if UEFA’s SCCR version of FFP is forced on Championship clubs by the EPL. It’s no mystery why GFP swapped ownership of a US sports franchise for a club in the EFL. 

From my perspective it’s all very sensible, professional and encouraging. 

[Mundell]

PS to my post above. Methven said his biggest concern was security of tenure at the Valley and Sparrows Lane. It was a strong statement. He declined to say more on the grounds that “it’s subject to negotiation” and “commercially sensitive”, but his message was that GFP want a solution. For what it’s worth, I suspect they’d be very happy with a long-term rental agreement. That would achieve all of Methven’s objectives while avoiding a significant capital cost. The question, of course, is whether such an agreement can be reached with Roland Duchatelet. 

[valleydobson1]

Aug 28, 2024 15:46:36 GMT Mundell said:

PS to my post above. Methven said his biggest concern was security of tenure at the Valley and Sparrows Lane. It was a strong statement. He declined to say more on the grounds that “it’s subject to negotiation” and “commercially sensitive”, but his message was that GFP want a solution. For what it’s worth, I suspect they’d be very happy with a long-term rental agreement. That would achieve all of Methven’s objectives while avoiding a significant capital cost. The question is, of course, is whether such an agreement can be reached with Roland Duchatelet. 

Maybe Roland will pass it on too his son?.

[valleydobson1]

Interesting revenue up but maybe because the Gallagher money and other sales?.

[valleydobson1]

Weststandfruitloop wrote this

Incoming transfer moneys update:

In addition to £100k from Burstow (sell-on) and £90k from Gallagher (solidarity fee) we can now add:

£125k from Largie Ramazani (solidarity fee of three years aged 13-15 at 0.25% and one year age 16 at 0.5%, based on the reported £10m fee).

Nothing from Ian Maatsen (people have suggested on CL we'd get something, but training and solidarity fees both only apply to international moves - London to Birmingham, even though they talk funny there, isn't a foreign move).

That's a total of £315k so far. Hopefully it will be directed towards the incoming transfers pot (if there is one)

[Mundell]

Aug 28, 2024 15:48:26 GMT valleydobson1 said:

Aug 28, 2024 15:46:36 GMT Mundell said:

PS to my post above. Methven said his biggest concern was security of tenure at the Valley and Sparrows Lane. It was a strong statement. He declined to say more on the grounds that “it’s subject to negotiation” and “commercially sensitive”, but his message was that GFP want a solution. For what it’s worth, I suspect they’d be very happy with a long-term rental agreement. That would achieve all of Methven’s objectives while avoiding a significant capital cost. The question is, of course, is whether such an agreement can be reached with Roland Duchatelet. 

Maybe Roland will pass it on too his son?.

He might well do that. Indeed, it would be surprising if Roderick Duchatelet (who was the owner of Ujpest) isn’t already involved. However, the question would remain the same of course. The question for the Duchatelets is how do they maximise value? I’d have thought that there is a rental agreement, perhaps with add ons or rental increases in the event of promotion, or a share in any profit on a sale of the club, that would work much better for them than holding out for a sale or repossession of the assets. Such an arrangement would not be easy to negotiate though, especially since neither party has any time pressure. 

[Mundell]

Aug 28, 2024 15:49:14 GMT valleydobson1 said:

Interesting revenue up but maybe because the Gallagher money and other sales?.

That’s possible, but it would be disingenuous if that’s what Methven was referring to. The club’s accounts make a clear distinction between turnover and any profits on player sales and the comparator Methven used was the former. 

[Mundell]

Aug 28, 2024 15:53:49 GMT valleydobson1 said:

Weststandfruitloop wrote this

Incoming transfer moneys update:

In addition to £100k from Burstow (sell-on) and £90k from Gallagher (solidarity fee) we can now add:

£125k from Largie Ramazani (solidarity fee of three years aged 13-15 at 0.25% and one year age 16 at 0.5%, based on the reported £10m fee).

Nothing from Ian Maatsen (people have suggested on CL we'd get something, but training and solidarity fees both only apply to international moves - London to Birmingham, even though they talk funny there, isn't a foreign move).

That's a total of £315k so far. Hopefully it will be directed towards the incoming transfers pot (if there is one)

As above, Methven very clearly implied in his interview that this would not be the default position. Doesn’t mean a windfall gain here and there won’t be used to increase budgets of course, but it suggests it’s not a gimme. 

[reamsofverse]

Every word that comes out of Charlie's mouth sends another anti running for cover.

You don't hear Sunderland getting mentioned much these days do you?

[seriouslyred]

Aug 28, 2024 15:38:41 GMT Mundell said:

Aug 28, 2024 14:08:54 GMT kings hill addick said:

I watched that. I do like Methven. Even if he does say some things for PR purposes he does give the impression that he is doing all the right things for the club - unlike Sandgaard, who was just using the club to boost his brand - Arse!

Well worth watching. I, like others, found his comments about the women's game refreshing. Worrying that over £1m a year is being taken out of the men's team budget to run the women's team. This is especially concerning when the predictions are that the women's game is never going to be able to stand on it's own feet and those running it are demanding parity with what the men earn.

I would say that it is well worth the hour and a quarter it would take to watch it. I am going to look into other videos from that content maker when I have the time.

Thanks for sharing.

Completely agree kings hill addick It’s well worth watching and/or listening to. Methven is very open and in his various interviews he’s told us a great deal how he and GFP see the football industry and how they plan to run the club. I remain confident that this time we’ve got lucky with the ownership of the club. The owners have a vision, the money to fund the club’s losses and a plan for professional management and execution. While some might want more of what they call “ambition”, I’m not sure we can reasonably expect much more than what we’re now getting from GFP. Methven is not simply dismissive of a spend, spend, spend culture, he’s openly hostile to it. 

A few titbits to add to what dickybaby has already posted. 

1. Methven said that when they acquired it the club’s annual revenues were £9.7m (this reconciles with the latest accounts), but that for this season they are expected to be £13.5m. If that £13.5m is a genuinely sustainable annual run rate (rather than the result of one-offs) then that’s a remarkable achievement and very impressive. 

2. Methven said they believe we have the fourth highest wage budget. He also talked about KPIs and how the Board assesses performance. My read is that Nathan Jones is “expected” to produce a top six finish. Methven also implied that the Technical Director will help the Board to reach a measured assessment of Jones’s performance. 

3. He made it clear that the academy is seen as a crucial and valuable asset and said that plans are in place to develop it further. 

4. Methven said something interesting and potentially significant when talking about the funding of structural losses. He implied that when the club receives any windfall, from a sell-on fee for example, that this will result in lower losses or break even for the year in question. It is, of course, possible that if the windfall is significant some of it may be reinvested in a higher wage bill, but while Methven could have said this he did not. He appears to have an almost messianic focus on sustainability. GFP are not going to “buy” success. 

5. That said, the club is clearly loss making (£13.5m - £19m = - £5.5m) and hence requires substantial owner funding. Moreover, it is also clear that promotion to the Championship is absolutely essential. GFP’s investment doesn’t work unless that is achieved. Once in the Championship the valuation of the club will increase many fold compared to the £10m GFP paid for it. I suspect that if Charlton was re established as a Championship club it would be worth upwards of £100m, perhaps even more if UEFA’s SCCR version of FFP is forced on Championship clubs by the EPL. It’s no mystery why GFP swapped ownership of a US sports franchise for a club in the EFL. 

From my perspective it’s all very sensible, professional and encouraging. 

Very good summary and allow me to add:
1. The rise in revenues whilst staying in League One is really quite spectacular. I'm not sure we're talking like for like - the core revenues were indeed £9.8M in the last set of accounts but he does make mention of Academy grants and player sales. These two might take total receipts to £10.5M but a £3M increase is still spectacular after just 13 months in charge.

2. We've always had a top six budget so every manager should be expected to compete for the play-offs. The money wasted under Sandgaard and a downwards shift to mid-table was a spectacular fail. The interview was a couple of weeks ago so who knows what he might say about NJ's first seven months in charge. On that note it was good to hear how good a fit is as well as some coded reasons as to why Appleton failed.

3. The Academy is crucial although with Leaburn injured and others replaced by new arrivals, the irony is that we are seeing less minutes from Academy players this season

4 & 5. Whereas it's clear that GFP are not seeking to accelerate success through the acquisition of many older journeymen, they've certainly set a competitive budget. Just that 2025 has seen a more judicious use of funds plus Jones has reached out to certain ex-Luton players so as to improve our infamous midfield. What was interesting was the absolute telephone numbers being talked about EPL clubs' enterprise value. And that Championship clubs values are going up fast because of the propspects of promotion, more TV monies as well as potential cost controls.

This really matters to CAFC because it makes us eminently investible. Not for dividends but the massive increase in value should we secure promotion AND climb above mid table in the Championship. We're talking up to £100M as you say which means that a rational investor will add to their initial outlay so as to improve infrastructure and playing talent.

It's not entirely clear what Labour's version of the Football Bill will say and do but Parliament opens soon enough. In the meantime let us hope that Methven can reach an agreement with Duchatelet to extend the lease or some other arrangement so as to secure our future.

And finally some elsewhere have deliberately conflated Methven's statements about near breakeven in the Championship with our P&L in League One. The clear inference is that the football bills will have to be cut! Nothing is further from the truth as we finally start to see our club perform to budget.

It will be interesting to see how the club narrative develops as we approach the January 2025 window. And responses from critics. We may know more about commercial developments as well as attempts to attract Greenwich and SE London newcomers? And we'll certainly know more about the football side. Methven appears to have assembled a decent set of investors AND a management team with some experience. Let's see where we are in four months time at the halfway mark.

[steve2707]

One of the major increases in revenue MUST be in sponsorship. If you look on the CAFC website, barely a day goes by without them announcing a new sponsor. The latest being a law office. Or extending existing sponsors involvement, like the cocktail operator in the fans bar...

The commercial team seem to be working their socks off!

[bingaddick]

Wow! This is the first time I have really listened intently to Charlie.

I am stunned by his honesty intelligence and nous.

The club has someone with enormous capability in charge.

I remember thinking when he/they took over that the set up was Arsenalesque. Boy was I right.

Amazing.

When I think back to the spivs, to Roland, to the other charlatans we had in charge including the fucking rock star owner - Charlie is a massive step change in professionalism.👏👏👏

[bingaddick]

I would add that this was the best football finance interview I have ever seen.

It was almost too much to take in.

The stuff about the strategic direction of mens football and the American investment coming into the game was pretty insightful.

His description of the multiple business channels that make up a club like Charlton, made huge sense.

The granular detail of the impact of our top ten academy and the plan to get it to top five, the gene pool, the number of people who live in our catchment area, the challenges of London in driving up our regular fan base, the potential of all of that was immensely interesting.

The challenge of securing The Valley for the long term was honest and straightforward.

All in all this was hugely impressive. I shall watch it again - so much to take in.

[valleyfaithful]

Aug 29, 2024 9:55:57 GMT bingaddick said:

I would add that this was the best football finance interview I have ever seen.

It was almost too much to take in.

The stuff about the strategic direction of mens football and the American investment coming into the game was pretty insightful.

His description of the multiple business channels that make up a club like Charlton, made huge sense.

The granular detail of the impact of our top ten academy and the plan to get it to top five, the gene pool, the number of people who live in our catchment area, the challenges of London in driving up our regular fan base, the potential of all of that was immensely interesting.

The challenge of securing The Valley for the long term was honest and straightforward.

All in all this was hugely impressive. I shall watch it again - so much to take in.

Agreed, I personally liked the way he clearly analyses supporting trends and can speak confidently to them. 

I can't say I fully understand the gamification of social media in football but it clearly pays dividends when we're trying to attract 'cage footballers' as our core demo, whilst potentially nabbing a portion of the South American market as they divert away from MLS football.

[kings hill addick]

Aug 29, 2024 10:35:47 GMT valleyfaithful said:

Aug 29, 2024 9:55:57 GMT bingaddick said:

I would add that this was the best football finance interview I have ever seen.

It was almost too much to take in.

The stuff about the strategic direction of mens football and the American investment coming into the game was pretty insightful.

His description of the multiple business channels that make up a club like Charlton, made huge sense.

The granular detail of the impact of our top ten academy and the plan to get it to top five, the gene pool, the number of people who live in our catchment area, the challenges of London in driving up our regular fan base, the potential of all of that was immensely interesting.

The challenge of securing The Valley for the long term was honest and straightforward.

All in all this was hugely impressive. I shall watch it again - so much to take in.

Agreed, I personally liked the way he clearly analyses supporting trends and can speak confidently to them. 

I can't say I fully understand the gamification of social media in football but it clearly pays dividends when we're trying to attract 'cage footballers' as our core demo, whilst potentially nabbing a portion of the South American market as they divert away from MLS football.

I agree. I also think that anything that helps the club achieve it's objectives is worth considering. Just because approach might not being the desired objective doesn't mean it shouldn't be tried.

In fact one of the major characteristics of good governance is being able to identify when something isn't working and be willing to change course. Sticking to what we've always done will not, very often, produce a different/better outcome.