Get well soon Richard

I’d like to add my best wishes to Richard Murray on a speedy recovery after suffering a mini stroke. Charlton and The Valley without Richard Murray’s influence and investment these past two decades would be a very different place and not a better one for sure.

Takeover completed

“As the new owners, we are both football fans and businessmen. Today’s acquisition brings much-needed financial stability to the club. Our plan for Charlton is to run the club on a sensible financial footing and develop a commercial plan to ensure we make progress on and off the pitch to meet the expectations of our fans.

What we won’t do is create unrealistic pie in the sky expectations.”

Comments from new Charlton chairman Michael Slater, who is described as co-owner alongside property developer (those two words always worry me) Tony Jimenez, once of Newcastle ‘fame’. There also appears to be an unnamed 3rd party, whom I wondering maybe the money behind the transaction because I don’t think Jimenez or Slater have the funds themselves. Slater did say that Dennis Wise is not in the new owners’ plans.

Good news is that Richard Murray remains a director and Peter Varney is appointed as executive vice chairman, with responsibilites for corporate strategy and planning. Former managing director Stephen Kavanagh becomes chief executive and will continue to be responsible for the day-to-day running of the club.

All a bit too cloak and dagger still for my liking, Slater a lawyer by trade has a lot of business interests including a couple of investment trusts. Jimenez equally has a number of fingers in pies. However I am happier that Murray, Varney and Kavanagh are staying involved with the new company but I am interested to know more about a rumoured Swiss interest. More information will hopefully unravel itself in a few days.

More: Official Site, BBC, Sky Sports, Daily Mail, Slater interview.

3 days to Takeover Day

Another sleepless night. The family are ill, and the little ‘un was up all night so it gave me plenty of time to think about the impending takeover. I mean there are now only 3 shopping days to go before t-day.

So what do we think? I see Charlton Life has had a stab in the dark at potential buyers, but honestly there is not a dickie bird of gossip out there and really it could be anyone couldn’t it?

The club have been busying itself clearing the decks, we know that much. They settled with Iain Dowie before the planned date of a Premier League tribunal hearing. Shame in many ways, because how much fun would we have had finding out about all the Dowie stories?

Peter Varney has indicated that he doesn’t yet know if he will be asked to continue with the new ownership, but one would have thought he would like to. Richard Murray may well have seen his last game as owner, but most of us hope and expect him to still be involved, maybe as chairman.

Despite my late night over-thinking I really don’t expect the takeover to make the major sports wires. No Arabs, No AEG, no American sports team owners, no Russian billionaires.

Perhaps a handful of British business men with an eye on potential, not hugely wealthy but with enough money to clear debts, fund a mini-entrance into the January transfer window and hopefully enough to secure the club’s future, which is really all I’ve asked Santa for.

Is Dennis Wise involved? I wouldn’t be surprised to find that he is. He is connected, maybe not well connected but I do get the impression that he sees himself as the next Niall Quinn. He has been around the club for a while now, and his involvement would worry me, yet equally the alternative may be administration or someone like Peter Risdale.

Whoever it is, buying a football club has notoriously been bad for investors and sadly a lot of these people have more ego than money. Charlton have also been on ‘the market’ for some time, but we can only hope that Varney and Murray pass the Baton onto someone we can trust.

Takeover rollercoaster ride

The rollercoaster ride of being a Charlton Athletic supporter eh? Yesterday morning we awoke to news that serial football club killer Peter Risdale was bidding for the club (later denied), then early this morning BBC journalist know-it-all Dan Roan tweets that an announcement is imminent and then Richard Murray responds via the Official Site stating that nothing is imminent at all!

So what can we make of these latest developments on a saga that has been a constant in our minds for a couple of years now, and who are the key characters involved in these latest rumours.

Firstly it was the BBC’s Dan Roan who while we were up in arms about Parky, tweeted out of the blue on October 18th that news of a Charlton takeover was due soon. For a journo who from what I can see has only ever been interested in the ups and downs of Manchester United, Liverpool and England’s national team it sure was a perplexing outpouring of a maximum of 140 characters. Why us? What is his connection and frankly why does the ex-Setanta presenter give a toss?

Since the original tweet, Roan offered up a couple of more along the lines of ‘I know something you don’t but all will be revealed’ format. Er, thanks for nothing.

What is Richard Murray thinking?

Richard Murray probably doesn’t attend every game but one would think he might make the long trip up to Brunton Park tomorrow, home to many great Addick memories but potentially a graveyard for Phil Parkinson.

The future direction of the club is now Murray’s sole responsibility. Personally I felt the club suffered from having too many directors and divergent opinions previously. That is no longer the case, and in many circles it is acknowledged that Alan Pardew would have gone earlier if he hadn’t cleverly worked the copious amount of decision makers at the club. 

Murray has been a big sponsor of Parky though. He encouraged him to stay when Huddersfield Town came knocking in April 2007 and at that point his inheritence of the top job was pretty much guaranteed. After a disastrous caretaker role, Parky was still appointed as manager and then rewarded with a contract extension on the back of his first run of good results. The play-off failure was considered unlucky and not unworthy.

Murray is a big admirer of Parky, publicy stating his respect for him and even comparing him to Alan Curbishley, the greatest manager the club has had in the modern era.

Murray needs the Parkinson appointment to work out. His luck with managers ran out with Curbs. It’s a long season and an open division and Murray will want to give him more time, perhaps even more money in January. But Murray will be very cognisant of fan power down in SE7 and ultimately it will be us that will decide Parky’s fate.

Ignore those that say we can’t afford to sack Parky. Murray can, he can’t afford not too. Murray will sack Parkinson because every manager get’s sacked eventually. I think Parky will survive a defeat tomorrow but Richard Murray’s long journey home from Carlisle tomorrow night will give him plenty of thinking time.

Shares

If you haven’t done so already, then please read Kings Hill Addick’s excellent summary of proceedings at today’s general meeting which saw Richard Murray officially take 100% control of the club.

I own, at least on paper, a couple thousand shares that have long been worthless. I too didn’t receive a letter inviting me to today’s meeting although the club and the Company’s Registrars do have details of my various movements. It doesn’t surprise me though as the post once it reaches Bermuda tends to do 400 laps around the island on a 25cc moped before, if you are lucky, appearing at the end of your path in an American style mailbox.

Shareholders present approved Richard Murray purchase of shares in both Charlton Athletic Football Company Ltd and Charlton Athletic Holdings Ltd (owners of The Valley and Sparrows Lane) and the transfer of all issued share capital to Murray’s family owned company Baton 2010.

The new football board will entail Murray alongside Richard Hatter, representing his generous father Sir Maurice and previous directors Steve Kavanagh as Executive Director, Stuart Baillie-Gallie and David White.

So whilst we are still skint, Murray had brought the club’s debt and short-term future under control and in my mind it makes the club more attractive and streamlined to potential investors.

Richard Murray did mention today that the club hoped to sign three players this week. A defender, thought to be Jon Fortune, a winger/striker and an out and out forward. That forward is being heavily rumoured tonight to be PP’s number one target Dagenham & Redbridge’s Paul Benson. The fee £230,000!