Att: Ron Martin or club spokesman....

[CocklesShrimps&Whiteweed]

Right, well that story just confirms what I felt before - I am wholeheartedly behind Ron Martin and his stance. People didn't realise it because 'he only came from Barnet', but Bailey was more than likely given a pretty damn decent wage when he joined, meaning that if his agent wanted it more than double, he's probably asking (in my estimation!) for near to 4 grand per week, maybe even a tad more. I'm sorry, but that's not acceptable for this club at the moment. Once we're at Fossetts and in the CCC yes, but not now. It's wages like that which crippled us a decade ago. I don't think that Maher wasn't anywhere near 4 grand p/w, neither was Prior, so what makes Bailey (or his agent!) think he can get it?

Shocking. Well done wrong. Hopefully the players will tell their agents off for almost ruining their positions at the club and come back with more realistic demands.

absolutley spot on in my humble opinion. Ron Martin and Tilly have together dragged this club out from the proverbial. God forbid we ever find ourselves in that position again. If the contract rebels don't want to sign or their greedy agents are holding the club to ransom then they can all sling their hook.

 

[madaboutblues]

Well we learn't this week that a close family friend has less than three months to live as he has lung cancer that has spread to his brain.

Now, this guy is a Spam supporter but takes an interest in our club due to my following. I went to see him tonight and we got chatting about this and that and the subject moved on to football. He asked me what was happening at Southend and I told him the latest news. His respense was this

"Jesus Andy I have not got long left but wouldn't like to be a Southend fan at the moment. But reember mate you can still go and see them next season, one which I will not make"

Football is football and we all support this this club and get angry, happy and all other emotions and yes it does matter. But times move on and we don't want to be putting this club in dire financial problems just because players agents "demand" a certain wage.

Whatever happens we have a club we love and support and lets back the board and the management to do what is right, if they eff it up then you can moan, but no one has gone yet and this club will not be held to ransom by money grabbing agents.

I for one, whatever happens am looking forward to next season, as being a Southend fan is a rollercoaster and one I don't ever want to get off.

Just got back from a week in Spain with no internet - oh my god!!

However, i think Andy has summed it up. His friend will probably not make it to another game. We will all be lucky enough to be back at Roots Hall next season supporting whoever runs out of the tunnel in the blues shirts - and saying ta-ra to those who have gone.

Don't get me wrong, Clarke is one of my favourites and Bailey had a good season but at the end of the day, they weren't good enough when it really counted and there were lots of people, scouts and CC managers included watching them that night who probably thought the same.

If they had got us into the CC then maybe (and that is only a maybe!), they could demand a payrise but they didn't so I find it really hard to understand.

Well done Ron, lets hope he has a good plan A, B and C!!

 

[NZamba Legend]

absolutley spot on in my humble opinion. Ron Martin and Tilly have together dragged this club out from the proverbial. God forbid we ever find ourselves in that position again. If the contract rebels don't want to sign or their greedy agents are holding the club to ransom then they can all sling their hook.

It's easy to say that now whilst everyone is pumped up with indignation but if we're struggling next season having not replaced the spine of our team with players of comparable quality/ experience I bet a lot of fans (not necessarily yourself of course) wont be quite so supportive- and it will be T&B and a young inexperienced team rather than Ron who will bear the brunt of this. Despite what Ron says I'm not convinced that Tilson supports these actions 100% as he's now got three times as much work to do this summer and has to virtually rebuild a whole team and make them competitive at the top of the table from the off therwise he'll get it in the neck from the fans.

It's one thing to support Ron's stance, but people will have to be very patient next season.

 

[WestRoadShrimper]

It's easy to say that now whilst everyone is pumped up with indignation but if we're struggling next season having not replaced the spine of our team with players of comparable quality/ experience I bet a lot of fans (not necessarily yourself of course) wont be quite so supportive

So you'd rather we gave in and had a wage structure that we couldn't afford?

I'd rather watch a mid table team with a long term plan than one that gambles its future giving in to ridiculous wage demands.

 

[Medway Blue]

It's easy to say that now whilst everyone is pumped up with indignation but if we're struggling next season having not replaced the spine of our team with players of comparable quality/ experience I bet a lot of fans (not necessarily yourself of course) wont be quite so supportive- and it will be T&B and a young inexperienced team rather than Ron who will bear the brunt of this. Despite what Ron says I'm not convinced that Tilson supports these actions 100% as he's now got three times as much work to do this summer and has to virtually rebuild a whole team and make them competitive at the top of the table from the off therwise he'll get it in the neck from the fans.

It's one thing to support Ron's stance, but people will have to be very patient next season.

As bad as that will be, I'd prefer that to giving these players huge wages when there is no guarantee that these 'star players' will take us up. The if we don't go up and they are on their fat contracts, we'll start to struggle financially.

Struggling L2 side or no club? I know what I'd choose!

 

[philtalkin]

It's easy to say that now whilst everyone is pumped up with indignation but if we're struggling next season having not replaced the spine of our team with players of comparable quality/ experience I bet a lot of fans (not necessarily yourself of course) wont be quite so supportive- and it will be T&B and a young inexperienced team rather than Ron who will bear the brunt of this. Despite what Ron says I'm not convinced that Tilson supports these actions 100% as he's now got three times as much work to do this summer and has to virtually rebuild a whole team and make them competitive at the top of the table from the off therwise he'll get it in the neck from the fans.

It's one thing to support Ron's stance, but people will have to be very patient next season.

Well we did get into the play offs with an inexperienced / young team..... Bailey, Leon Clarke, Barnard, Walker, Black, Mulgrew, Robson Kanu. All of these players were new on the scene and contributed (some more than others). They are all relatively young and / or inexperienced in first team league football.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Very good statement from Ron. He's tried to be reasonable and he's left the door open for the players. Well done sir.

Perhaps that is why the club keeps getting burgled?

 

[Mick]

As bad as that will be, I'd prefer that to giving these players huge wages when there is no guarantee that these 'star players' will take us up. The if we don't go up and they are on their fat contracts, we'll start to struggle financially.

Struggling L2 side or no club? I know what I'd choose!

Absolutely; if I were to gamble the club's financial stability on a bunch of players, it wouldn't be the ones I saw at Doncaster.

 

[Hooly]

Im sorry but don't agree with this at all. Im pretty sure that Bailey was already earning a good wage here. To more than double his wages is madness. Who the hell does his agent think he is?! How would some of the other players react if they knew Bailey had his wages doubled. He is lucky to have come from Barnet then a year later be doing well at a club and getting offered another upgraded contract. What an ungrateful sh*t.

Personally I'm not sure if this isn't the clubs own fault. I've had it confirmed by an impeccable source (& I usually post my opinions not the "I know something you don't" threads as I don't often know anyone/thing for a fact) who has regular dealings with the club at a high level that Foran is/was the club's highest earner at around the £3k mark & I certainly believe him.

Now many of us thought Foran was a panic buy at the time, & don't forget we we panicking in the CCC, so it's not suprising that he's on too much money, but FFS £3000 for a journeyman pro is ludicrous. So if you're Bailey's agent & you hear from another agent, as these figures must be easy to get for them as we're touting Foran around, that Foran is on £3k and say NB is on £1500 to £1750 then I'm sorry I'd want my guy to be on more than him. Why? Because he's a better player & a crucial cog in last seasons team as opposed to a squad makeweight at best. I really do think that that's probably the reason many of our highly rated players are saying pay me more, as they are really saying pay me more than Foran! To be honest I can't blame them & I think the club has dug it's own hole to fall into there.

What I'd be interested in knowing is how much players know about what the others are on, so perhaps those of you who ACTUALLY KNOW a player at any club could ask them whether generally they are aware of the money some of the other guys are on?

I don't advocate meeting demands that are above our means but I don't believe these players or their agents are necessarily the bad boys in all this. SUFC made a mistake with Foran & now it's coming home to roost.

 

[South Bank Hank]

What I'd be interested in knowing is how much players know about what the others are on, so perhaps those of you who ACTUALLY KNOW a player at any club could ask them whether generally they are aware of the money some of the other guys are on?

Interesting post, Hooly. In my experience, much as you might try, it's almost impossible to stop employees finding out how much other employees are earning. In a professional football club, when you add agents into the mix, I'd say it's almost 100% certain that players will know who earns what.

If Foran's on that much, there'll be no surprise that Bailey is after similar.

Given RM's stance, I suspect though, that the ginger-Gerrard is probably after more. If we could afford to pay Foran that amount, I can't realistically see us holding out on Bailey to the extent that we have.

 

[Hooly]

As you say SBH it’s usually fairly well know in commercial circles, even if on a rough basis what range/grading other employees are on and, presumably, through other agents etc I would expect agents to know how much certain players are on when they are being touted on the market.

These agents probably also benefit from the likes of NB getting more money and as I would stake quite a lot of gherkins on the around £3k for Foran being right, as I trust the guy I got it from, I can totally see why some players would want more than him.

 

[McNasty]

Perhaps by getting rid of Foran Bailey can have his wages.

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

Perhaps by getting rid of Foran Bailey can have his wages.

Perhaps ... but would that then cause unrest amongst the others still ??

 

[Mick]

As you say SBH it’s usually fairly well know in commercial circles, even if on a rough basis what range/grading other employees are on and, presumably, through other agents etc I would expect agents to know how much certain players are on when they are being touted on the market.

These agents probably also benefit from the likes of NB getting more money and as I would stake quite a lot of gherkins on the around £3k for Foran being right, as I trust the guy I got it from, I can totally see why some players would want more than him.

Okay, Foran was a mistake and I'm sure his team-mates realise that as much as we do. You can't use a single flawed contract as the yardstick going forwards.