Reaction after Charlton Athletic finally surrender to relegation

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Charlton’s long awaited relegation to League One was confirmed following a 0-0 draw with already relegated Bolton at the Macron last week.

It was the final nail in the coffin for all the fans who had all seen this coming since January, due to performances slipping in the months building up to the transfer window.

Followingwhat has been a poor season for everyone involved at the club, the fans are still rightly furious at the owners, Katrien Meire and Roland Duchatelet, who said their aims were 20,000 fans and fighting for promotion. It has been obvious that the steps the business couple have taken have not been congruent with their goals.

The players are partly to blame for sure, but I’m going to prove why this seasons failure is purely down to lack of knowledge and common sense on behalf of Duchatelet and Meire.

Firstly, the statement that Katrien Meire released a couple of hours after the result at Bolton has infuriated fans. Not because they don’t agree with what she’s saying, but because of the fact we think she won’t deliver.

If she had delivered on her promises then right now the club still wouldn’t be dealing with the sorrow of relegation.

She says as follows; “This is not the time for excuses. We apologise for our mistakes and now need to learn from them so that we can put firm foundations in place for the future that ensure the long-term stability of the club.”

This is an apology that didn’t feel very sincere and C.A.R.D (Coalition against Roland Duchatelet) reject Meire’s statement completely. Especially the point where Katrien says, “This is no time for excuses.” That’s because there are no excuses.

Katrine had promised that she would keep in contact with fans, but she’s been hiding and this relegation statement is the first the fans have heard of her in a good six weeks. Even the statement is about 200 words, which can’t even begin to sum up how badly the board have cost Charlton dearly this season.

C.A.R.D agree saying, “They are the reason the club has been relegated.” They are referring to Meire and Duchatelet.

As for her apologies for their mistakes C.A.R.D responds, “She and the owner Roland Duchatelet have made mistake after mistake since they came to the club in January 2014, and despite numerous promises to the contrary, they have never learned from them”.

It is far too late for the Belgian power couple to turn it around with the fans now.

As for players, only Johnnie Jackson has apologised for the players performances this season, especially those two winless streaks of 12 games, which is arguably the point at which relegation became a reality.

None of the other players, who all lacked the required level of performance, have bothered to come out to apologise for these run of bad games.

In his interview Jackson said, “We deserve this as players because we haven’t been good enough but we can’t question the support that we have received and the effort that they have put in”.

He agrees the players haven’t put in enough effort to come close to deserving championship status and where with some of the players its their own commitment that has let them down, for others it is the fact they tried their best, but just weren’t good enough for the situation.

This problem again lies at the feet of the owners and their scouting network, not at those players themselves.

So for Charlton players and board this season is pretty much over, with only two games remaining. However, the second of these is at home, versus Burnley, which means for C.A.R.D that’s two more chances to protest – fans are still going to make use for these last few otherwise pointless games for the men in red.

It is fair to say fans are willing to throw the kitchen sink at trying to get Roland, Katrien and Richard Murray out of the club they all hold dearly to their hearts.

Johnny Jackson also holds the club close and revealed in the same interview that: “None of us want to be there. I want to get this club back to where it belongs, it certainly doesn’t belong in League One, and I’m just gutted that it has come to this”.

Until next season, though, expect fans to see this one out to huge effect.

Featured image: All rights reserved by thurston_adam