Ivan Vukomanovic joins the chorus

In my last post, I looked at the press conference where Jose Riga was unveiled as the new head coach of Standard Liege. The elephant in the room at that conference was Ivan Vukomanovic, clearly unhappy at his treatment. Since then, he's unsurprisingly refused the offer to stay on as a coach and now he's spoken out, joining the chorus of managers sacked by Roland Duchatelet. I can't see the whole interview, because it's behind a Belgian paywall, but here is what's relatively easily available from RTL Sport.

I was surprised when the management told me of their decision. I thought it was a joke. Even today, it sticks in my craw. If it had come after a series of defeats, if they had said I wasn't up to it ... but I'd got 13 points out of 15.

The Standard management had justified their decision by his lack of experience. He says

I had the experience of a well-travelled professional footballer, who'd won 5 titles and 3 cups. I have less experience as a coach but the management knew that when they gave me a contract for the rest of the season. Two questions: what experience do Bruno Venanzi [Vice-chairman] and Axel Lawarée [Sporting adviser] have in their roles?

The players, he said, "blew a gasket" when they heard about his dismissal.

They didn't understand the decision. We had worked well together. They did all they could to convince me to stay, but it just wasn't possible.

He talks about the offer to remain as a coach in the organisation.

The offer ... was purely made out of political correctness, to appease the players and the supporters. I could have been a hypocrite and accepted. Could have gone along with Jose Riga and done nothing but I'm not like that. I am someone who's straight and honest. So I decided to leave Standard.

Form your own opinion, of course, but I'll go with the only comment on the RTL site, which says that while Duchatelet is a good businessman, he's "un ignorant pathétique du football", which really doesn't need to be translated.

Jose Riga appointed head coach at Standard

Following the rather surprising news that Jose Riga has been appointed as head coach, Standard of Liege has put online a video of the press conference. It could hardly be more awkward.

The first thing you may notice about it is the absolute lack of excitement, and that Riga hardly speaks in the first part of the conference. What's really surprising is that the former head coach, Ivan Vukomanović, is there, and really doesn't look happy. Duchatelet, of course, is not there.

Axel Lawarée, who's listed on the Standard website as the "Sports Adviser" begins by explaining that Riga has been brought in, not because results have been bad, but because they might get worse, and the club wants to avoid that. The club wants to keep Vukomanović on as a coach, because he has a lot of potential. Vukomanović, as far as I can see, is uncertain about this, and says he'll need to consider his position. This has obviously come as a shock to him.

Finally, at about 7:20, Riga speaks. He says he was approached very recently (yesterday evening), and understood that the club wanted his help, because it's all about results (sadly Vukomanović is out of shot at this point). Riga says he's had a discussion with Vukomanović and made it clear that his help will be useful.

About his relationship with Duchatelet he says "He is just a chairman looking for a coach, full stop. [...] Just like when he first gave me a job with Standard, or the job with Charlton." He also mentions that had been out of work for a few months.

So, there you go. Still baffling. Look at the video even if you don't understand a word of French: the facial expressions and body language are fascinating. And if your French is better than mine and you hear something I've missed, please let us know in the comments below.

Charlton 1 Rotherham 1

You know things are bad at Charlton when you hear that Stuart Pearce has been sacked by Forest and replaced by Dougie Freedman and you think, even for just a moment, that he, either of them, might not be a bad option.

But just look at what we have got. A new manager coming into the job with no goodwill at all. If he doesn't start getting wins instantly, he'll completely lose any support he has. He won't get any leeway, or any time to settle into the job.

In fact he got 60 minutes. The usual limp attacking display had been provoking chants for Tony Watt to come on (which Watt himself did nothing to discourage), but the withdrawal of Vetokele (who Watt replaced) when Watt came on gave some sign of how Watt was going to be used, why Watt wasn't already on, and where Watt would be playing.

Watt's body language was encouraging: he obviously wants to play and thinks he can make a difference. He didn't, but that's probably not his fault. Because once again we had a collection of individuals on the pitch, not a team. Some of them, the ones you'd expect it from, were playing for personal pride: stranded in this shambles they want to maintain their dignity. Others, you know who I mean, couldn't be arsed.

So the result, another sodding draw spitting itself out of the jaws of victory, was almost irrelevant.

While I was drowsing through this terrible game, my mind on Penelope Cruz and the question of whether Inma Cuesta, star of Spanish TV's Aguila Roja, is a suitable replacement for her in my increasingly worrying fantasy life, others were watching Guy Luzon's touchline performance. Lots of impassioned if slightly batty gestures, it seems, but no-one in the team paying any attention to them or him. How can they possibly have any respect for him? Those who know him hate him. Those who don't know him know that he got the job purely through a kind of notional nepotism. He's like the idiot son Roland Duchatelet never had.

Sorry, that's a terrible thing to say. For all I know, Roland has lots of idiot sons scattered all over Europe like abandoned VW tourers full of grey, antipodean underwear.

And yes, actually, she is.

Luzon my religion

So I was wrong. The same office that won't give a visa for people to attend the funeral of their granddaughter is perfectly happy to give one to Guy Luzon.

But maybe that's fair enough. There's clearly a shortage of qualified, experienced managers in the UK. Why, just the other day Katrien Meire interviewed 20 of them. None of them any good.

But after a thorough interview Guy Luzon convinced the sceptical panel. Based on the triumphant press conference, I'd imagine it went something like this:

Katrien: So, Guy, tell us what you know about the English championship.
Guy: Errm. Football. Manchester City? Errm, winning good, losing bad.
Katrien: I think that's all we need to know. Richard, darling, tell the others they can leave now. Watch out for that Italian bloke though, Paolo something. He looks a little temperamental. You have got a work permit, Guy, I assume?
Guy: Liverpool?
Katrien: Great. You start tomorrow. (Gives him a sheet of paper). Here's the team you'll be fielding on Saturday.

Of course, if Luzon turns out to be an inspired, brilliant choice, I'll be the first to eat my ever-so-tasty words. Maybe he can rescue broken, demoralised teams, in the same way that maybe I can play Ravel's notoriously difficult piano-piece Gaspard de la Nuit. I've never tried, so I don't know.

What really rankles is the cheapskate, dishonest way the appointment has been made. Roland Duchatelet has never enjoyed the whole-hearted confidence of the fans. From now on, it's hard to see how he ever will. And the worst thing of all is, he couldn't give a toss.

Will Guy Luzon actually get a work permit?

My friendly local barrister tells me that immigration lawyers in the UK are mainly lazy, opportunistic charlatans. Surprisingly, then, I am not one, and so you should probably not pay attention to the rest of this blog, in which I will try to understand what's gone on behind the farcical situation that's been revealed today and what the outcome may be.

Charlton are disappointed to announce that Guy Luzon will not be able to take charge of the team at Watford on Saturday due to issues with his UK work permit.
Following his appointment on Tuesday evening, the club had expected the required paperwork to be finalised in time for the Head Coach to take his place in the dugout at Vicarage Road.
However, his work permit was not processed before the required deadline. 

Because Luzon is an Israeli citizen, not an EU national, he has to get a work visa (also known as a work permit) before he can take employment. The fact that he hasn't got one seems to mean that Charlton have broken the law in employing him.

When I first read the news, and after I'd stopped laughing somewhat hysterically, my initial thought was that the famously inefficient Home Office had messed up, or that Charlton had not realised that a work visa was needed (perhaps forgetting that Luzon isn't an EU national), or that they had not submitted the application in time.

But, from what I've read it might be more fundamental than that.

Here are the qualifications you need to get a Tier 2 (Sportsperson) visa, which I think is what Luzon would need.

you’re an elite sportsperson or qualified coach recognised by your sport’s governing body as internationally established at the highest level

your sport’s governing body is endorsing your application

your employment will develop your sport in the UK at the highest level

you’re from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland 

you meet the other eligibility requirements

You need to meet all of them. I think it would be hard to argue that Luzon's record as a coach makes him "internationally established at the highest level" or that his employment would "develop [football] in the UK at the highest level".

We've seen cases before where foreign players haven't been able to get a work visa, basically because they aren't considered exceptional enough. On his record, Luzon is only exceptional in Roland Duchatelet's head. From my reading of the guidance, there's a very real chance Luzon will not be given a work visa.

If anyone reading this is a genuine expert in immigration law, I'd be very grateful for your comments.

Charlton 0 Brighton 1

It was better than last week. Still terrible, of course, but there was a little attempt at playing football, not that it came to anything. The dispiritedness is spreading, and even Bob Peeters is looking depressed: no longer spending the game in the technical area waving his enormous arms in passionate, incomprehensible gestures, he spent large periods sitting in the dugout. Couldn't see his face; imagine it wasn't hard to tell the difference between it and a ray of sunshine.

A burnt-out shell

Poor Lawrie Wilson typified the team. He had an awful game, caught between trying too hard and overcomplicating simple situations, and backing out of any chancy decisions or opportunities. It was symptomatic of the loss of confidence that's spreading throughout the squad. Only Chris Solly's late crossbar strike roused any kind of appreciation, and it was almost immediately followed by Brighton's goal. An unnecessary foul by Bikey gave away the kind of set-piece Charlton's fans have learned to fear, and Brighton took a lead, and the 3 points, that possibly neither side deserved.

But, yes, Charlton deserved them less. Brighton weren't great, but didn't have to be. As every team is finding out these days, when you're playing Charlton all you have to be is organised, patient and willing.

There's no remedy in sight. Tony Watt looked refreshingly lively when he came on, but it's asking a lot for him to turn around the mood of the whole squad. Reading between the lines of Peeters' statements and Katrien Meire's column in the programme, there's no intention to spend significantly in the transfer window.

The only hope is that there may be three worse teams in the Championship. So, we're relying on the incompetence of Holloway, Mackay and Clark.

Hmm.

We'll be fine.

Charlton 1 Blackburn 2

For the last 20 minutes of this game, after Yoni Buyens had been sent off, Charlton's already low level of interest in the game dropped to zero, as Blackburn played the ball around with humiliating ease. There was nothing left in Charlton's game: no organisation, no drive, no commitment. They played as if there was absolutely no chance of getting back a goal, and exhibiting no wish to do so. Like the crowd, I suspect, they wouldn't have minded much if Blackburn had scored a third to end the pretence that a match was taking place.

A few minutes earlier it seemed that things might change. Gudmundsson had scored with a superb free kick - which looked the only way Charlton would score - and the chance was on. But almost immediately Blackburn sliced easily through the defence, and everything fell apart. Charlton had been poor up to that moment. After it they were abject.

I feel I'm repeating myself, but feel I need to, to make it clear how awful this performance was. Even after you've made allowances - the injuries, the youth of the squad, the lack of a competent, confident striker - there was no excuse for it. It was a broken team, pretending to play football until the clock ran down, but looking like a blindfolded kabaddi team.

One of the many football cliches is "he's lost the dressing room", and I heard it quite a lot as disgruntled fans left after the game. It's hard to disagree. The team presumably knew they were going to get a bollicking after the match, but didn't care. In November Bob Peeters said he hadn't spoken to the team after the game against Ipswich. That didn't seem like a brilliant action at the time, and now I wonder if it was evidence or cause of a fundamental breakdown in trust and respect. Whatever, he's got a huge job ahead of him in restoring this squad to a functioning team, with or without arrivals in the window.

And just to cheer everybody up, two facts. Roland Duchatelet was at the game today, I think: a car with reg no RDC 33 was in the car park before the game (he'd left the lights on, by the way, ready for a quick getaway perhaps). And someone told me Tim Sherwood was at the match. Go on, then, rumourmongers: I've given you two and two, put them together!