Southend United Club Structure.

[Angell Delight]

1. You don't need "this kind of setup right now"? What kind of set up is that? Coaches to coach players? A recruitment specialist to put a basket of the best players we can get in front of the coach in an incredibly competitive football market? A scouting network to watch players and opposition to give the coach a week to know what's coming? Am I missing something here? We're not creating NASA, we're implementing standard industry practice in 2021.

2. 3-4 years when we're in League 1? Wrexham haven't been in the league for 13 years! York have had 5 seasons in the league in 2 decades. Torquay 7 seasons out of the league. This is an incredibly competitive League, not Sunday park football and we'd all do very well to be humble enough to acknowledge where we are, acknowledge what we've done wrong and implement simple, effective change to fall in line with many other clubs who nearly fell off the cliff edge, with some doing exactly that.

We're not creating a thousand roles or having delusions of grandeur, we're putting people in positions that should have been in place a decade ago!

We want a club based on good judgement not luck!

This. Absolutely this.

 

[overseas shrimper]

This is all fair enough what you say, One thing that strikes me though, not at any point has anyone given a projection of where they see / wish / hope or even believe the club to be in X many years time.

It's ok having this ideological football club set up, but if we're still in the same position in 3 - 5 years time, what's the point? We might have well stayed with the old set up.

Where are the GOALS and aspirations? Where does the club see it's self in the future? I'd like to see a long term plan and projections of the club, not just a structure set up based on nothing.

I will base my views on what's put in front of me and the long term plan of the club, but as yet I'm not seeing that.

Long term projections or ambitions are easy. 5 years time, League One, challenging for promotion. There you go.

This is about changing what has clearly not worked. In fact, spectacularly failed!

This is about putting in a structure for a modern footballing approach to give us the best chance of success in the short, medium and long terms.

This is about the best possible chance of not wasting money on poor recruitment and tearing up contracts.

Nothing is guaranteed, but change is needed and examples are out there to show the changes we are looking at for our club are the right changes.

 

[Gt Yarmouth Shrimper]

Does this all mean that the deluded Messiah Ron Martin will soon be out of Southend United and the club back in the hands of grown up responsible people who show others respect, pay their bills on time and are open and transparent

Only if you've got 40 million+ stuffed behind you're sofa to donate.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I’d like to think this is the type of thing Tom Lawrence is sorting but also that it is something supporters can help with: is there not a fan who’d be willing to do this in exchange for some tickets and advertising?

This has been sorted. They were without hot water for 2 weeks, but I am led to believe that new boilers have been put in place to provide different areas of the training ground with hot waters. As usual with all things SUFC, the old boiler was not able to be repaired, and then there were problems putting new ones in, but all done now.

As to the equipment, the Trust have supported improvements and there should be a news story on this very soon.

 

[KevinJH]

What he said.

I'm not sure what is so hard to grasp here.

Me neither, it's common sense..... To build something sound and permanent you have to have good, solid foundations - that which has been sadly lacking here for years. These foundations are now, finally, being put into place and I for one can't wait to witness our future growth. There's no guarantees of course but then that's life but we here and now will probably never have a better opportunity of witnessing something special happen with our club.

I would also add that this is all primarily down to one man who's had the cajones to stand by us and push for change, for which I am truly grateful.

 

[superblue24]

Wow, and I thought I was the most negative person on this forum!

no one has a crystal ball and can give promises about where we’ll be in 3-5 years. What is important though is that the club has stopped the vicious cycle of running the same process and expecting different results. Football management has changed, and the club has finally acknowledged that thanks almost entirely to Stan. We should be thanking our lucky stars that someone who genuinely cares has come in and given the club a complete overhaul, not picking holes in the transparent and detailed objectives being laid out almost on a daily basis.

or did we want to stay on the same course with Ron hiring someone like Ian Holloway?

There are caveats to the plan, which Ron needs to ensure he takes care of, such as paying staff on time, not being under embargoes etc. If that happens again, then all of these plans will fall flat. I’d like to think Stan has made this point to Ron himself.

 

[Moley]

Look what we’ve tried recently and the mess we are in, have we got anything else to lose than to go against the status quo and become a more professional outfit, with professional people in the right roles?

Since PB went first time, we’ve tried a former legend, an experienced guy with PL experience on the recommendation of a former PL manager, a manager who had done well in a previous job, a young up and coming manager, and then back to former manager who had success with us previously.

As I said, our new “head coach” may not be the guy, or part of the team, that brings us back to the football league, but I’m certain this model will be successful long term for us.

Its a long term vision, an identity, a chance to have OUR Club back, and a return to better days.

We will still have bad results, we might still be part of cup upsets, we might still be in the NL in 3/4 years time, but SC is putting the round pegs in round holes and giving the Club his upmost to be successful again.

Spot on.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

With a few exceptions, most of us on here don't have a clue about football operations around the country. @StanleyVictorCollymore obviously does and we are so fortunate he is sharing that knowledge with us and helping us restructure in a way that will hopefully lead to success on the field, which after all is the only metric that most of us will base our judgement on.

Interestingly, I had a look at a big club to see what their structure is. If I asked you who was in charge of football matters at Manchester United, you'd probably say Ole Gunnar Solskjær - as would I.

And if I mentioned the name John Murtough, you'd probably say "who?" (as would I!). However reading up about him, he's got a significant role behind the scenes knitting everything together and ensuring development pathways and cultural fit. When Ole finally gets the push, I would imagine Murtough will still be there to work with their next Manager. Have a read of this, as it sounds really similar to the direction we are about to move to. https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/who...s-director-football/qlym46ybncsj1nec2y3td7lk7

Oh, and our Head of Football Operations will be a lot more famous than Man United's!

I'm excited! Thanks again Stan.

 

[Angell Delight]

If it takes us ten years to get back to League One any Shrimpers fan should still snap your hand off for that. The National League is a graveyard for ex-League clubs, while some others have completely fallen into the abyss. What's important is to turn this club around by doing the right things - things that should have been done a long time ago. It'll be a slow process and people need to accept that, but it's a process that could very well get this club back to where it should be. Re-established in the EFL and (hopefully) in a new stadium to boot. For the first time in a few years the future is looking brighter with this new approach. Thank you Stan, if we'd carried on as we were Southend United was heading into oblivion....

 

[Pak66]

With Mr Martin is at the helm all this is irrelevant. He still holds all the shots and until he is gone we are still in the same turmoil. Mr Martin has just created another scapegoat to cover for his absolutely hopeless, inept and incompetent way to run a football club. He is totally in it for himself, he owns everything the club, the training ground, the fixtures and fittings and all Southend United have been reduced to is a tenant of one of Mr Martins many companies. SUFC own nothing.

 

[Clarky176]

With Mr Martin is at the helm all this is irrelevant. He still holds all the shots and until he is gone we are still in the same turmoil. Mr Martin has just created another scapegoat to cover for his absolutely hopeless, inept and incompetent way to run a football club. He is totally in it for himself, he owns everything the club, the training ground, the fixtures and fittings and all Southend United have been reduced to is a tenant of one of Mr Martins many companies. SUFC own nothing.

If he is inept at running a football club, is it not an improvement to have other people now taking these roles away?

 

[Chapperz]

With Mr Martin is at the helm all this is irrelevant. He still holds all the shots and until he is gone we are still in the same turmoil. Mr Martin has just created another scapegoat to cover for his absolutely hopeless, inept and incompetent way to run a football club. He is totally in it for himself, he owns everything the club, the training ground, the fixtures and fittings and all Southend United have been reduced to is a tenant of one of Mr Martins many companies. SUFC own nothing.

Isn't the whole point of this structure (CEO, Head of Football Operations, and Head of Recruitment) to take away the day-to-day running and decision makings of the club away from Martin and into more experienced and competent people?

 

[Pak66]

If he is inept at running a football club, is it not an improvement to have other people now taking these roles away?

You miss the point Ron Martin is still running the show. Has it really taken him 22 years to work out to run a football club??

 

[Pak66]

Isn't the whole point of this structure (CEO, Head of Football Operations, and Head of Recruitment) to take away the day-to-day running and decision makings of the club away from Martin and into more experienced and competent people?

22 years to work out how to run a football club?
Mr Martin has asset stripped the club whilst taking a nice fat £300,000 consultancy fee per year. Mr Martin has to go. Until then everything else is just a smoke screen

 

[JB Shrimper]

22 years to work out how to run a football club?
Mr Martin has asset stripped the club whilst taking a nice fat £300,000 consultancy fee per year. Mr Martin has to go. Until then everything else is just a smoke screen

Noticed you banging on, on another thread too. I am guessing you don't like him then?

 

[Clarky176]

You miss the point Ron Martin is still running the show. Has it really taken him 22 years to work out to run a football club??

Ron will have the final say, he does own the club so can't expect anything different. The best we can hope for is well-informed, competent people to be advising him how to improve the club, something we haven't had for a while/if ever. You argue it has taken 22 years because its really only gone seriously downhill in the last 3 years or so.

Nobody moaned about the club structure when we were pushing for play-offs in L1.

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

Isn't the whole point of this structure (CEO, Head of Football Operations, and Head of Recruitment) to take away the day-to-day running and decision makings of the club away from Martin and into more experienced and competent people?

Do you think just PB and the new CEO were negotiating transfer fees, wages for new players this season, with RM solely concentrating on the stadium ? I would wager that RM still had full control over this and still will do, whatever management structure we produce. I just wish Stan well and hope he can prove me wrong !

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

Isn't the whole point of this structure (CEO, Head of Football Operations, and Head of Recruitment) to take away the day-to-day running and decision makings of the club away from Martin and into more experienced and competent people?

Isn't that what the new CEO (experienced at Gillingham), RD (knows the youth setup and club well) and PB (highly experienced manager) were supposed to be doing ?

 

[Pak66]

Ron will have the final say, he does own the club so can't expect anything different. The best we can hope for is well-informed, competent people to be advising him how to improve the club, something we haven't had for a while/if ever. You argue it has taken 22 years because its really only gone seriously downhill in the last 3 years or so.

Nobody moaned about the club structure when we were pushing for play-offs in L1.

I did from day one! Having first met Mr Martin in 1974 I have formed my opinion of him over many years.

 

[Chapperz]

Do you think just PB and the new CEO were negotiating transfer fees, wages for new players this season, with RM solely concentrating on the stadium ? I would wager that RM still had full control over this and still will do, whatever structure management structure we produce. I just wish Stan well and hope he can prove me wrong !

Why does Ron have to have full control or zero control? I've got no inside knowledge or experience, but I'd have a guess that the CEO and Ron talked about player budgets before pre-season. It was then down to those responsible for selecting and negotiating with transfer targets to get the best deal possible.

Ron said in the past he has supported managers a lot with player signings, which suggests that he gives most (if not all signings) the go ahead.

Isn't that what the new CEO (experienced at Gillingham), RD (knows the youth setup and club well) and PB (highly experienced manager) were supposed to be doing ?

Who says they weren't doing that? Most of Brown's signings are classic signings of his. Wouldn't surprise me if Bridge was down to Ricky Duncan. The new CEO knows the player budget. Ricky Duncan said when he took the job that he was already negotiating with agents for first team players anyway, so it will probably go above him to the CEO to sign off on the deal if it fits within the budget.