In a new online Voice of The Valley article, Rick Everitt offers an intriguing comparison of Charlton's current situation with the grim days of March 1984 when the club was in the High Court facing a winding up order.
In a nutshell, Everitt concludes that Duchatelet still holds the fate of Charlton Athletic within his power.
It is hard to compare and contrast across a 36 year gulf as the world is a very different place now. As Everitt outlines, a London football club now, given the stature and profile of the game, is a much more attractive proposition than in 1984. But will we get mired in a web of complex and lengthy legal wrangling which will take the shine off that attraction, especially against the backdrop of a world struggling to recalibrate its normality amid the corona virus pandemic?
We are concerned that the likely timescale for the hearing and resolution of any legal challenge from the ex-directors, in which Everitt puts a lot of store in rewinding the sale, will be even lengthier than normal – think one or two years, not months.
Then there’s the EFL. Despite facing all sorts of pressures due to Covid-19, they seem determined to press on with an urgent investigation into the Charlton takeover. The implication from Dan Kilpatrick’s piece in the Evening Standard...
...is that they have lost all patience with the club. If their investigation results in the club, rather than the individuals, being found guilty of misconduct, the punishments open to the enquiry are broad – from points deductions to expulsion. In 1984 Leeds United went for Charlton's jugular. The executive officers of the EFL answer to their members - the clubs. How many allies do we have among the other 71 clubs these days? Will the outcome of this enquiry void the sale? We do not believe that is within the power of the EFL, as it is a matter of company law.
Everitt describes Nimer and Southall as "children squabbling on national radio", and suggests that there are grown-up buyers waiting in the wings. We are aware of rumours to that effect and are encouraged by them. But the kids currently running amok in the playground of our football club have shown scant evidence so far of obediently packing themselves off to bed. They may even have "parents" lurking in the shadows, for all we know, to add further to this very murky scene.