A spat between present CEO, Katrien Meire, and a former incumbent, Peter Varney, broke out after the press conference to unveil Russell Slade at The Valley on Tuesday morning.
Responding to a question about Slade’s appointment being the last throw of the dice before selling the club, Meire said:
“As we said in the past the club is not for sale. He (Duchatelet) had several approaches from alleged buyers before, including the one from Mr Varney.
“But a proposal like that includes a move away from The Valley and Roland Duchatelet knows how important it is for fans that Charlton play at the Valley.”
Varney was incensed by the remarks and said this in reply:
“Any proposed move is total nonsense. I’ve attempted to meet the owner on a number of occasions – but he has refused to do so.
“I have no problem if the club do not wish to sell – but it is inappropriate to discredit people wishing to have a meaningful dialogue with the owner. I would say to her to provide any evidence to support the statement she has made to the media.”
Russell Slade was upbeat about the task ahead, and said the play-offs are the minimum requirement when asked what the objective for the forthcoming season. He has already spoken to chief scout, Steve Head, about new recruits, and has already spoken to players, agents and fellow managers to assess availability. He has also Slade hinted in a separate interview with the club’s website that arrivals could be imminent. He said this at the press conference :
“I will have huge influence over the comings and goings at the football club but it will be open kind of discussion as well – that’s why we’ve brought Steve (Head) in with his experience of the scouting network he is going to set up and the contacts he has got, and we will talk together to identify those targets.
” But even yesterday we got to work on some targets. There were a few on there I said ‘no I’m not interested in that one, I don’t think that one will improve us’, I know the league quite well.
“We’ve crossed them off and we’ve moved on. We’ve got our shortlist and we’re looking at certain areas of the pitch where we feel we need to improve and need a bit more experience,” said the new boss.
Slade said that the club would not be selling any of its assets on the cheap. The policy was quickly reiterated when it emerged that the Addicks had rejected a bid from Burnley for keeper, Nick Pope. The Clarets are likely to return with an improved offer to test Charlton’s resolve.
Pope is keen to play, and he would be Tom Heaton’s deputy at Turf Moor. The formerIpswich trainee is likely to be offered new deal at The Valley in the summer and will probably be the club’s number one next season. The opportunity of regular game time will be a real attraction for Pope.