Breaking News Board Statement

[Billy Bests boot laces]

My family is, as I've said before, 3rd generation Southend supporters. My grandad was friends of Frank Walton and Frank Gill. I was born with the floodlights of Roots Hall a few streets away. The club has been part of my life for far longer than I care to recall and of course I will be completely gutted if things don't work out tomorrow, let me make that perfectly clear.

Same here old (blue) girl, my grandfather and father used to stand in the same place in the west stand every season (they could'nt afford to sit in the seats!). My great grandmother used to clean for the Trigg household, one of whom was a founder member of the club from a meeting at the Blue Boar (i understand Canvey Shrimper was in there that night having a 'swift half'!)

 

[Cricko]

Same here old (blue) girl, my grandfather and father used to stand in the same place in the west stand every season (they could'nt afford to sit in the seats!). My great grandmother used to clean for the Trigg household, one of whom was a founder member of the club from a meeting at the Blue Boar (i understand Canvey Shrimper was in there that night having a 'swift half'!)

Oliver Trigg was Canvey's Grandson.

 

[canveyshrimper]

Same here old (blue) girl, my grandfather and father used to stand in the same place in the west stand every season (they could'nt afford to sit in the seats!). My great grandmother used to clean for the Trigg household, one of whom was a founder member of the club from a meeting at the Blue Boar (i understand Canvey Shrimper was in there that night having a 'swift half'!)

Cheeky git, I never drink halves.

 

[GodblessArthurRowley]

I think a lot of us are missing the fundamental point here,the trust is broken ..the promises and spin he provided us are seen through..For whatever reasons he has failed to live up to his promises...nobody will ever think the same of him again after this fiasco,even if he pays it tomorrow the damage is done.

Exactly so.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

Cheeky git, I never drink halves.

Come on Harry own up, you were there and caught the tram back to Thundersley, and arrived home 5 hours later!

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

I think a lot of us are missing the fundamental point here,the trust is broken ..the promises and spin he provided us are seen through..For whatever reasons he has failed to live up to his promises...nobody will ever think the same of him again after this fiasco,even if he pays it tomorrow the damage is done.

Totally agree, i believe the atmosphere at our next home game against the 'franchise' will be somewhat different from last fridays.

 

[philtalkin]

Cant disagree but and it's a big but...we didnt pay the taxman before the recession kicked in.

Maye that's true but if the recession hadn't kicked in, we would have been able to borrow the money (or Ron would have through one of his companies) very very easily.

Forget business for a minute, look at people who bought houses in 2008, their property is worth much less and they now have negative equity. Maybe they have lost their jobs and will lose anything. But I bet in the middle of 2008 they were encouraged by the banks and their mates down the pub to get on the property ladder, or move up it.

Nobody expected this and the property market has been hit very hard. That's why Ron is suffering so much.

 

[philtalkin]

thanks - that's an interesting read . . . however there seems to be one fundamental flaw

how, exactly, have the club suffered in the wake of the econimic crisis ?? I could understand it if attendances were well short down on recent years - but the truth is attendances are still high and i'd be very surprised if income this financial year is lower than recent years - then of course there's money from the cup runs, live TV coverage, transfers blah blah blah

i for one am pretty fed up with companies, small and large, using the 'credit crunch' as an excuse to sweep away problems and cut back on headcount

I also hate it when companies use it as an excuse. For my friend it happened so fast he knew that cutting staff woudn't help and even at the last minute really believed the banks would see sense.

The banks are to blame for getting us into this mess and they are the ones (in some, not all cases) to blame for preventing us getting out of it quickly.

The flaw in your argument of course is that a property developer is bankrolling (or not) the club and cannot get his hands on the kind of cash he would have been able to with ease, just over one year ago.

Ron is not a crook, he genuinely believed he will get us out of this mess. Whether he does or not, remains to be seen.

 

[BoyWonder2]

Fingers crossed RM turns up to court tomorrow with a novelty sized cheque ready to hand over.

 

[Sean 2]

Where is this High Court, or is he being tried at the Old Bailey?

 

[Norfolkshrimp]

Ron is not a crook, he genuinely believed he will get us out of this mess. Whether he does or not, remains to be seen.

Would you bet your house on that ?

Not paying the NI and Income Tax under the PAYE scheme or the VAT is actually a crime in itself. We are talking years here not a few months in arrears.

Expect an investigation into the conduct of the directors in the near future !

 

[Cricko]

Where is this High Court, or is he being tried at the Old Blue Bailey?

You can ask her tomorrow.

 

[McNasty]

Where is this High Court, or is he being tried at the Old Bailey?

If it's the Old Bailey and he loses will he be well-hung ?

 

[Jam_Man]

I think a lot of us are missing the fundamental point here,the trust is broken ..the promises and spin he provided us are seen through..For whatever reasons he has failed to live up to his promises...nobody will ever think the same of him again after this fiasco,even if he pays it tomorrow the damage is done.

That is certainly true.

Whilst I completely disagree with some of the extreme views of him being a crook and think there are genuine reasons he couldnt live up to the promises he made (ie the credit crunch) the fact remains we have been brought to the brink of administration.

Even if he has managed to resolve this issue (which I dont think he has) then the fact remains that we arent a solvent business and Ron Martin at present is struggling to keep us afloat financially.

We will now always be wondering when the next financial crisis will arise.

 

[Ron Manager]

I think a lot of us are missing the fundamental point here,the trust is broken ..the promises and spin he provided us are seen through..For whatever reasons he has failed to live up to his promises...nobody will ever think the same of him again after this fiasco,even if he pays it tomorrow the damage is done.

100% right...the tone of the conversation I had with you in the pub before the Southampton game told me a lot John.

Before I went away to Oz you'd always struck me as quite upbeat when it came to the future of the club and in your belief that Ron Martin was doing the right thing....don't know if that's exactly how you felt, but it's the impression you gave. However when we spoke in October you were quite downbeat about the whole affair and resigned to things getting very bleak indeed....that was my first indication of the real situation, getting it first hand in person...subsequent conversations with other people confirmed that.

You're right, the trust has gone and I don't ever think it will come back.

 

[philtalkin]

Would you bet your house on that ?

Not paying the NI and Income Tax under the PAYE scheme or the VAT is actually a crime in itself. We are talking years here not a few months in arrears.

Expect an investigation into the conduct of the directors in the near future !

He is only doing what businesses have been doing for years

 

[bilbyboy]

I also hate it when companies use it as an excuse. For my friend it happened so fast he knew that cutting staff woudn't help and even at the last minute really believed the banks would see sense.

The banks are to blame for getting us into this mess and they are the ones (in some, not all cases) to blame for preventing us getting out of it quickly.

The flaw in your argument of course is that a property developer is bankrolling (or not) the club and cannot get his hands on the kind of cash he would have been able to with ease, just over one year ago.

Ron is not a crook, he genuinely believed he will get us out of this mess. Whether he does or not, remains to be seen.

i for one have never suggested that he is a crook, but he is a proven liar, he has lied to us the fans endlessly. UTB

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

I think a lot of us are missing the fundamental point here,the trust is broken ..the promises and spin he provided us are seen through..For whatever reasons he has failed to live up to his promises...nobody will ever think the same of him again after this fiasco,even if he pays it tomorrow the damage is done.

Actually if we avoid admin, I will think more of him.

 

[Rayleigh Weir]

This is not particularly a rose tinted post more sheer bloody minded, BUT, I think to be perfectly fair, the deadline was always going to be taken right to the wire. If RM does manage to come up with the money at this very late hour, are people going to retract some of the vitriol that's been expounded, today in particular? He has said repeatedly that he WILL pay this money, my personal view is that he has far too much to lose now if he doesn't. His personal finances are far too closely interwoven with the Club now for him to want to do anything OTHER than stay involved.

I refuse to join in the character assassination just yet, the game is not over, the ball is still in play, we may be about to face a penalty shoot out but we're facing it head held high and armed to fight - that's what I believe anyway. I'm nowhere near as cynical as some of you, I refuse to give up on Ron's vision of a promised land just yet.

I'll leave you for now with this thought, this song from The Mamas and the Papas, with the reminder that "the darkest hour is just before dawn"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OrLgsW6YDw

No disagreement with your sentiments, but I'd have used the original version of the song by the Shirelles to sign off your rallying cry rather than the version sung by the man that drugged and raped his daughter...

 

[Firestorm]

No disagreement with your sentiments, but I'd have used the original version of the song by the Shirelles to sign off your rallying cry rather than the version sung by the man that drugged and raped his daughter...

Josef Fritzel made a record ???, Well a soundproofed basement does have more than one use I suppose