For all the euphoria that engulfed the Charlton Athletic half of Wembley when Patrick Bauer forced that ball over the Sunderland goal line in the 94th minute of last May's League One play-off final, not even the most ardent Addicks fan would have predicted the sort of start to their return to the Championship their side have since enjoyed.

Named amongst the favourites to suffer a swift relegation back to the third tier of English football by many, Charlton have instead defied their doubters, winning three and drawing two of their opening five league games of the season to sit third in the early Championship standings.

But in spite of a quite remarkable past few months at The Valley, you get the feeling there is still an underlying sense of frustration around the club, with controversial owner Roland Duchatelet still seemingly drawing the ire of many of the club's fans.

In many ways, you can certainly understand why that is.

It was under Duchaletet's ownership that Charlton first plummeted out of the Championship little over three years ago, and with a lack of investment in the squad or clear communication with the fanbase among the big concerns of the Addicks faithful, you can certainly see why that continues to be the case.

On the flip side of that, one man who can seemingly do no wrong at the club right now is manager Lee Bowyer. Having guided them to the League One play-offs in his first few months in charge at The Valley, and then promotion the following season, backing that up with such an impressive start to the current campaign will have only served to enhance his standing amongst those Addicks fans.

It is perhaps with such a strong reputation that he has in mind therefore, that Bowyer has recently said what he has about Duchatelet.

Speaking in the aftermath of the agonising events of the week that saw Bury expelled from the Football League, and Bolton Wanderers narrowly avoid the same fate, Bowyer revealed that in his opinion, Charlton are lucky to have Duchatelet as the club's owner.

Given what has gone on at the club during the entirety of Duchatelet's ownership, you can see why Charlton fans may initially find that hard to agree with, although when you think about it further, you might be able to see the point that Bowyer is making.

Despite the fact that Duchatelet put the club up for sale almost two years ago - amidst the backdrop of fan protest no less - the Belgian - as Bowyer says - continues to pay the players, staff and other bills that allow the club to continue running on a day to day basis.

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Without those funds from Duchatelet, you feel that the club would find itself in a similar situation to the one that has just cost Bury their place in the Football League, and that is not something that any supporter wants to see again.

It is also worth noting that while Bowyer admits he is managing a club with the lowest budget in the Championship, the Charlton boss is satisfied with the backing he received in the summer transfer window, with the club bringing in no less 14 players either permanently or on loan, one way or another.

In fairness to Duchatelet, the fact that he has allowed those signings to be made in spite of the fact that this is a club where neither he nor the fans want him to be, feels to be respectable at the very least, particularly considering the impact some of those new faces have had at the start of the season.

The fact of the matter is however, that Charlton was a part of those fans' lives before it was a part of Bowyer's and Duchatelet's, just as it will be a part of their lives after it is a thing of the past for their current manager and owner.

With that in mind, they have every right to make their respective points about the way their club is run.

But while there may be some owners those fans believe could, and probably would, do a better job of running their club than Duchatelet, you feel it is worth remembering that he is at least running it to the extent that there is still a club for them to support right now.