Let's have a little sympathy for our owner. I'm
reliant on others' translation for Charlton-related parts of Roland's latest
attempt to educate the world via Belgian media. But it's still worth watching
the interview without understanding a word, for the way Duchatelet speaks and
his body language, the attitude of the interviewer, and the behaviour of the
invited audience. What he says about Charlton, the protests and Sir Chris is of
course complete drivel. We all know that. What I found illuminating is watching
Duchatelet mumble and squirm through that part of the interview, looking
decidedly shifty. Basically he knows full well that he's talking nonsense,
trying to remember and peddle a line that he really doesn't believe himself and
which nobody is buying; and he's not a very good liar.
Equally revealing, once Duchatelet gets off
football his demeanour changes. His replies are more confident, he talks at
greater length without hesitation, seemingly intent on convincing his young
questioner of the merits of his arguments and the depth of his insight. Only
problem is the interviewer looks like he's only barely suppressing laughter for
much of the time and the members of the audience are quite clearly bored out of
their minds, hoping desperately that this irrelevant old man is shuffled off
the show as soon as is decently possible. I can't comment on what he actually
said on non-footballing matters; what is apparent is that nobody is listening,
which must be tough for any visionary to take.
No doubt Duchatelet will believe that the interview
went well; no doubt that is what the sycophants around him will say. All is
well in the world of Roland. But you can tell it isn't really. His insults are
getting more desperate and will only give fresh impetus to the protests, fresh
ammunition. And there's enough in what he said and the way he said it to infer
that he is closer to giving up the ghost than before. He owned Standard Liege
for four years, soon it will be three years for us and he talks in terms of
legacy, having done a decent enough job etc. He is deluding himself as before, he
was and is an unmitigated disaster for our club. But if that delusion shifts
him towards selling, more power to it.
In the interim, I'd
been putting this together before CARD began its advent calendar. Might as well
get it finished and out anyway, it is that time of year after all:
On the first day of
Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
Yohann Thuram-Ulien.
On the second day of
Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
Pinocchio and Yohann
Thuram-Ulien.
On the third day of
Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
Thomas 'Boy' Driesen,
Pinocchio and Yohann Thuram-Ulien.
On the fourth day of
Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
Loic Nego, Thomas
'Boy' Driesen, Pinocchio and Yohann Thuram-Ulien.
On the fifth day of
Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
Oh, Polish Pete. Loic
Nego, Thomas 'Boy' Driesen, Pinocchio and Yohann Thuram-Ulien.
On the sixth day of
Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
Anil Koc, Oh, Polish
Pete. Loic Nego, Thomas 'Boy' Driesen, Pinocchio and Yohann Thuram-Ulien.
On the seventh day of
Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
Reza the Poser, Anil
Koc, Oh, Polish Pete. Loic Nego, Thomas 'Boy' Driesen, Pinocchio and Yohann
Thuram-Ulien.
On the eighth day of
Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
George Tucudean, Reza
the Poser, Anil Koc, Oh, Polish Pete. Loic Nego, Thomas 'Boy' Driesen, Pinocchio
and Yohann Thuram-Ulien.
On the ninth day of
Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
Karel Fraeye, George
Tucudean, Reza the Poser, Anil Koc, Oh, Polish Pete. Loic Nego, Thomas 'Boy'
Driesen, Pinocchio and Yohann Thuram-Ulien.
On the tenth day of
Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
Relegation, Karel
Fraeye, George Tucudean, Reza the Poser, Anil Koc, Oh, Polish Pete. Loic Nego, Thomas
'Boy' Driesen, Pinocchio and Yohann Thuram-Ulien.
On the eleventh day
of Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
Endless lies and
insults, relegation, Karel Fraeye, George Tucudean, Reza the Poser, Anil Koc, Oh,
Polish Pete. Loic Nego, Thomas 'Boy' Driesen, Pinocchio and Yohann Thuram-Ulien.
On the twelfth day of
Christmas, Duchatelet sent to me:
One decent pitch
(thank you and goodbye), endless lies and insults, relegation, Karel Fraeye, George
Tucudean, Reza the Poser, Anil Koc, Oh, Polish Pete. Loic Nego, Thomas 'Boy'
Driesen, Pinocchio and Yohann Thuram-Ulien.
If you turn up carol singing this at my door, you won't get beyond verse two
ReplyDeleteHappy Christmas from another stupid person
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteLove it BA!
ReplyDeletePembury Addick
I'm stupid and proud too. Any chance the arrogant old git will take The Lone Idiot (a2c) with him when he goes, that'll be perfect.
ReplyDeleteHE SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF, THE OLD TOSSERS NOT FIT TO CLEAN C. POWELL'S BOOTS. Powell had those emails when sacked and didn't leak them in his defence at the time, now that's real integrity. PR company's lol, it's hilarious, much more money than sense I'm afraid. He's not liked in Belgium, throughout the network and not wanted at Charlton F*** off.
Merry Xmas to other stupid supporters out there!
The OCCUPATION won't last for ever, up with the resistance! one day COYR's
I would say I'd swap the sale of all our best young players, Millwall doing the double over us and relegation to see the back of RD. I hate them so much. But that's prob gonna happen anyway and he'll still be here for now.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSlight prob with your grammar a2c, THEY'RE a2c as in THEY'RE getting their, as for the rest of it, well, don't give up your day job son.
ReplyDeleteGuys, I share the pain and the frustration. He said (apparently) in the interview that they like to have a dance at St Trinians. Believe me, there will be a dance at The Valley come the day. For now, he just has to stand as the exception to the rule about a fool and his money. And Anon, sorry, I was a bit slow off the mark deleting another silly comment.
ReplyDeleteHave a great Christmas ...starting with 3 points at The Toolbox
ReplyDeleteStupid
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThree points off the Spanners would indeed be a great way to start the festivities. And yes, you do feel as if 'stupid' could be the next protest theme. 'I'm stupid', 'no, I'm stupid ...', 'hello stupid, that's my name too ...'
ReplyDeleteI wonder ow many managers 2017 will bring us? We must be stupid not to appreciate such generosity. Xmas Doff your cap to your lord and master!
ReplyDeleteSo where are these great players now that were snubbed by Chris Powell - Thuram, Nego et al? Barcelona? Juventus? What I do know is that Dale Stephens has had two exceptional seasons at Brighton, and Yann Kermagent helped Bournmouth to promotion to the Premier League and is part of a Reading squad doing very nicely in the Championship - both deemed not good enough by the Belgium expert fraternity.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly his comments on Jose Riga's success are laughable - yes he did OK in his first stint, then was overlooked by Duchatelet for his troubles. But the only "network stooges" that Jose played in his survival campaign who Reza and Adaravich (probably spelt that wrong) - the two that Chris also selected in his sides.
Still what would Roland know, he's never at the Valley anyway
Behind Enemy Lines
Anon, we were told from the start that we just had to accept how he did things. That wasn't acceptable then and after just on three years of abject failure and blundering, plus lies and insults, all in pursuit of dreadful strategies, it clearly isn't now. All Duchatelet does is remind us that he cannot learn. The regime says it has learnt from its mistakes but doesn't detail what they were (they try to pretend that they were one or two minor issues) while the owner just tries to rewrite history to try to avoid making him look like the fool that he is.
ReplyDeleteBEL, no argument from me, although to be fair Stephens was I think on his way anyway, one of the many out of contract at the end of the season and intent on leaving following the collapse of his proposed transfer to Villa. Let's add that Duchatelet offered Sir Chris a new contract, one which he refused to sign. We know the truth and who to believe.
... and while we're on the subject of sticking to the truth, really Duchatelet should not refer to Sir Chris as a coach/head coach. He was employed by the club as manager and continued with that role, as defined by his contract, after the takeover and until his dismissal. For Duchatelet to pretend now that he was dismissed on the basis of results/points-per-game is just another lie.
ReplyDelete