“Overpromised, underdelivered” – Charlton Athletic fan pundit issues Thomas Sandgaard verdict amid £10m takeover talk | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Charlton Athletic look set to have new owners very soon, as a group led by former Sunderland shareholder Charlie Methven are closing in on a purchase.

According to The Athletic, it is a deal that is worth around £10 million and will not come as a surprise to Charlton fans, as recent appointments at the club have previous with Methven.

Thomas Sandgaard started his tenure at Charlton in a very promising way, but as the ownership has gone further down the line, it has now become evident that he is not willing to put the investment into the club to help make a go at returning to the Championship.

It is now clear that Sandgaard is open to letting the club go, and Charlton fans will be hoping that if Methven is the next in, he can build on the current foundations that are already at the club.

It is a development that does look likely to happen, so here at FLW we asked FLW’s Charlton Athletic fan pundit Ben Fleming for his views on Thomas Sandgaard’s time as owner.

He told FLW: “Thomas Sandgaard’s reign, I think his time as owner when you look back on it, it’ll be a classic case of over promising and under delivering. I think he came in and I think it’s so easy to come in when the club is on its knees and act like the saviour and say the right things and do the right things initially.

“But as time transpired, I think it’s quite clear that he didn’t have the money that he said he did, and he didn’t have the expertise and he didn’t look to put in place the expertise that required. Ultimately I think it was quite clear he saw a financial opportunity and not a footballing opportunity and as I said it’s easy to talk and say oh you know always wanted to own a club and all that all this. But he’s come in without any real expertise, put his son in charge of scouting and not really invested in the squad in a great extent and is now looking to sell.

“So yeah, overpromised underdelivered, didn’t bring any expertise and it’s a bit disappointing, a disappointing ownership and hopefully one that will be over sooner rather than later.”

Quiz: Are these 20 Charlton Athletic facts real or fake?

1 of 20

Real or fake: The club was founded over 125 years ago!

The Verdict

This seems the right time for Sandgaard to be leaving Charlton and new ownership coming into the club.

There will always be concerns from fans when a new owner takes over, but many Addicks will be glad to see the back of the Dane, as Ben said he was full of promises and didn’t deliver on any of them.

His ownership was definitely full of disappointment and frustration, and the Charlton fans will be hoping this takeover can be the next step the club needs in terms of getting back into England’s second division.