Charlton apathetic
ROSS KEAN reflects on the first year of the Roland Duchatelet era at the Addicks – and comes up with a surprising conclusion
One year under the new regime
IN THE year since Roland Duchatelet arrived as the owner of Charlton Athletic, both everything and nothing has changed.
His takeover in January 2014 was met by fans with a mixed response but general optimism following the departure of Michael Slater and Tony Jimenez; however, following a difficult start there was a forming consensus that his arrival may in fact be bad news.
Charlton, at the time on the verge of a relegation struggle, saw a number of loanees brought to The Valley from other clubs within Duchatelet’s ‘network’ (the Belgian billionaire owns shares in six clubs across Europe, most notably Standard Liege).
Talismanic striker and fan favourite Yann Kermorgant was controversially sold to Championship rivals Bournemouth and creative midfielder Dale Stephens to Brighton.
The new additions failed to inspire (they were, by and large, woeful, in fact) and by the end of the month Charlton were embroiled in a relegation scrap.
Popular manager and Valley icon Chris Powell was soon sacked after a poor run culminating in an embarrassing FA Cup quarterfinal exit to Sheffield United.
Rumours of a falling out between Powell and Duchatelet over team selection quickly followed.
A curious and interesting year has since followed; the unknown Belgian Jose Riga took over from Powell and steered Charlton to safety, playing good football in the process and inspiring players and fans alike.
Riga was replaced by the former Millwall striker Bob Peeters in the close season and the squad was again added to in depth.
Charlton fans eagerly reserved judgement – Riga’s success in keeping Charlton up had afforded the new regime an opportunity to impress – and they were pleasantly surprised at the undeniably fantastic start made by Peeters’ side, which saw the club in play-off contention by November.
A run of 13 games without a win followed as Charlton suffered a long, cold winter. Peeters, relatively well liked by fans, was sacked a day after Charlton chief executive Katrien Meire had publicly said he wouldn’t be.
The fallout of Peeters’ dismissal caused a degree of supporter unrest which has been slowly reported on in the football press.
The appointment of Guy Luzon as head coach left a hugely sour taste given that Luzon, an Israeli coach, had been sacked as Standard Liege head coach in October 2014 by Duchatelet.
The subsequent appointment of Jose Riga as Standard Liege head coach seemed to reinforce a growing opinion that Charlton is a feeder club within the network, or at the very least second choice to Standard Liege.
The January transfer of former Celtic striker Tony Watt to Charlton (guess where from?) on a permanent deal did little to appease fans, and in February the Charlton Athletic Supporters’ Trust (CAST) announced an open supporters’ meeting to discuss Duchatelet’s business plan and future aims for Charlton Athletic.