Alex Dyer tells all
Alex Dyer deserves our thanks, not just because of the work he did whilst assistant to Chris Powell but also as advisor and coach to José Riga. His loyalty to the club will always stay with me.
Now, after leaving Charlton at the end of his contract, without any legal stipulations, Alex is free to talk, and talk he did in today’s SLP.
The interview is here and here, and pretty damning reading it makes too.
Sadly it uncovers everything that I have been worried about and mostly sensed since Roland Duchatelet walked into the club in January, but this is from a very credible source, and not snippets of gossip or hearsay. The article also practically confirms that Riga was also ousted because he refused to take team selection direction from the owner, albeit Riga had the benefit of having Duchatelet’s trust unlike Powell.
I’d be interested to hear how the Duchatelet supporters will counter this, and I still have my doubts that the club would have entered administration under the old regime, if that is the stock answer.
The article affirms for me that Chris Powell can certainly hold his head up high, Alex Dyer too.
Chicago Addick 
I was worried even before Andy Hughes & Alex Dyer spoke out. I think we have every right, even more so, to be worried right now & once again you’ve hit the nail on the head CA.
Not yet read the article here in Maderia but I guess I won’t be shocked or surprised. Worrying times ahead but as always the fans will stick together and see us through to better times . COYA’s
Sent from my Ultrafast Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini on Three
This interview depresses the hell out of me. I have been one of those willing to give the new regime every chance despite the shoddy treatment meted out to CP, JR & now Alex Dyer.
CP himself had said there had been no team interference but this now appears to have been his usual diplomatic self talking & clearly this was not the case. Nevertheless, I think that’s what I wanted to believe & therefore did. Had Riga stayed I would still be prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt.
I’m struggling now to make the case for Duchatalet, his staff & their increasingly dictatorial ways. It is beginning to look like the traditions of this great club & the passion & loyalty of the fans mean nothing to him (he has hinted at his contempt for fans in the past). Having ended last season with a sense of optimism, I now approach this one with a great sense of foreboding; I’m a worried man.
It’s Duchatelet’s club to be fair he can do what he like’s. It’s not as if the players CP was playing were pulling up any tree’s. It was their poor perfomances that cost him his job.Maybe he should have listened to the owner?
Well, he can’t in my book, not unless he wants no customers (as he would call them) or employees. He may be a multi-millionaire but he has a record of being very obstinate in his aproach to business and politics. Bright he maybe but visioniary he is not. You don’t need to be an subject expert to be a successful football owner, but allow those that are to do their job and allow ideas to flow both ways.
What Dyser is saying has been totally denied by Powell who came out in an interview and said the oposite. Not sure who to believe
Yes, but the contracts of many managers contain clauses that stipulate that, in the event of a parting of the ways, they may not criticise publicly the individuals who run the club nor the reasons for their departure; their severance package is tied up with these stipulations.
Given the track record of Duchatalet so far, I’m inclined to believe Alex Dyer.
Exactly. Powell’s contract was ended, whereas Dyer’s expired, hence the abilities of both men to be able to speak out.
Powell naturally will be diplomatic and wants another managerial job. Curbs showed other managers what happens when you bad mouth/sue as he did an owner of a football club.
What CP said, if my memory is correct, is that RD did not directly tell him who to select. What AD is saying does not necessarily contradict that but confirms what most suspected, namely that RD was putting pressure on Powell to play the new (and inadequate) recruits. Riga obviously agreed with both Powell and Dyer’s opinion of the network recruits so it will be interesting to see if the new management team will be prepared to do the owner’s bidding.
Sorry but Dyer sounds unconvincing to me and sour grapes springs to mind , any way when CP finds a new managers job he won’t have to pinch his number 2 from any other club as Dyer is a free agent and they can both keep their impeccable dignity in tact !
I am more intreaged by this Barnsley striker for 1/2 million quid , that will get all the bloggers scratching their heads ??
Yes, Peeters did move quickly there didn’t he?
Fair enough on Dyer, what makes you sound like he was unconvincing in a written interview?
Having read the interview, I’m not convinced this really changes anything. Let’s see what happens when Peeters arrives…
I’ve never understood the quality of blind faith. One should always be able to scrutinise in the interest of decency and honesty. RD has run and continues to run Charlton Athletic like a secret society. This will always raise suspicion – at least amongst the more discerning customers.
I have always believed that championship survival was achieved despite RD rather than because of him. Thanks for this must be heaped upon the integrity of Powell, Riga, Dyer and the training staff. It appears that they have stood up to some hefty intimidation and bullying from above – only to suffer the inevitable consequences.
Does RD have the right to do whatever he wants because he owns the club? I would argue that he must bear responsibility to the staff, the customers and the heritage of that club. If he cannot at least do this he should be looking elsewhere to invest his pennies.
so he’s thinking ” my players are just commodities, if they aren’t doing it in one place, I can move them somewhere their value can soar” that’s what will happen.
That to me sounds unconvincing and utter nonsense plus did the 4 guys in front of computer screens spot this O Grady guy from Barnsley. In managerial terms when appointed CP and AD were nobodies but proved us wrong ?
We can speculate till the cows come home and the chickens roost. We have a new manager, a new coach soon to be appointed a possible frontman who at 28 is a good age (Yann was in his 30’s and injury prone), a new pitch that is costing a fortune. Surely all positive reasons to be hopeful of a good season ahead. Add to this a few players to be offered deals, new signings are inevitable, what’s there to be despondent about. Yes, Dyer has spoken, but the world is full of contracts ending and people feeling bitter about their contrac renewed.
If we have 11 quality players then it doesn’t matter who picks the team, it’ll pick itself…let’s wait n see.
Hi CA I would not say I am a Duchatalet supporter but have been much more willing to give him time and the benefit of the doubt. Dyers interview is indeed disconcerting and dents the “benefit of the doubt” argument as this comes from “the horses mouth” .
Whether we like it or not we do have to wait and see. I still find it unlikely that RD will pick the team, AD did not say he did but put pressure on CP for not picking them. It does seem that from day 1 the two had total distrust of each other.
What does seem to be clear is CP and possibly Riga went because they wanted a say in recruitment, it appears that Peeterson has no such qualms.
It’s going to be an interesting summer and the choices in that first league game if the season will be interesting too.
Kap, I’ve respected your views on RD, as I have everyone except for those blindly led but Dyer’s comments are very disconcerting and for me are not just sour grapes. More worrying is the direction that we seem to be travelling in, not helped by RD’s communication skills which are rivaling Slater & Jimenez! An interesting summer for sure.