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Charlton's ambitious new owner

Charlton's new owner Thomas Sandgaard had a 40 minute interview with Jim White and Simon Jordan on Talksport today starting at about 12.20 pm. 

Sandgaard said that he has put about £11m of working capital into Charlton.  He spends five hours a day on the club.

He was asked about the various individuals who claim to be the real owners of Charlton.  He dismissed this as 'entertainment', noting that Roland Duchatelet would not have granted him a fifteen year lease if he was not in control.   Roland had a 'big legal team' who would have spotted anything awry.   He said, 'Nobody is messing with Charlton any more.'

Over the fifteen year period he did not rule out moving to a new stadium if that was what was needed, but bearing in mind the example of West Ham, he was aware of the need to take the fans with him.

He had taken a serious interest in Wigan and also looked at Coventry and Sunderland, but decided that the problems at Wigan were too great and they could have ended up in League Two.

He was now 'living the dream'.   In some ways relegation from the Championship had done him as a favour, giving him a breathing space to build up the club.  Otherwise he would have faced strong Championship teams coming out of the gate.

Charlton would get to the Premier League, but not as an 'elevator' club.  It would be a case of building everything up.   The top six or seven could become a top eight.

The Talksport link is here: https://talksport.com/football/efl/804708/thomas-sandgaard-interested-wigan-sunderland-coventry-charlton/

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