What or Who is more important? Southend United or Ron Martin?

[Ayrshire Blue]

The very things that may help to keep SUFC afloat. Well done

Only a small percentage of that goes to the club anyway.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Perhaps you will at least accept the abject and irresponsible neglect of the football part of his football club ?

And I haven't... RM's biggest error, for me anyway, is handing disproportionate wages and contract lengths to players that we simply couldn't sustain in an effort to gain promotion. It's a foul error for a club with historical cash flow issues, one compounded by the global banking crisis and, unfortunately, one that's made by football club chairmen up and down the country every week.

You can also point the blame at him for being too arrogant to accept that he couldn't handle the football club and the development simultaenously on his own and failing to bring on another financial partner but, thankfully, that has seemingly been rectified with Sainsburys more and more involved with the club every passing day.

Some awful decisions have been made and some honest individuals have been treated in a disgraceful manner, not least Steve Tilson, but especially in terms of the high earners departing, these were decisions that simply had to be made for us to even stand a chance of surviving another season, let alone competing in the League.

 

[BrettieAngell]

If jack doesn't want to buy programmes or eat in the ground or buy a shirt thats upto him, I'm not doing any of those things not because I'm protesting but because I generally don't!

 

[steveo]

Perhaps you will at least accept the abject and irresponsible neglect of the football part of his football club ?

Thing is though Mick, and you know as well as I do, until the football club is on a firm financial footing, it will never go forward. ESB is right in so much as Ron spent money trying to keep the club in the Championship and suffered the consequences when we went down.
At the time though we were all happy for the club to sign players and try to stay up.

If Ron can square off the forthcoming court problems and get development at FF going then we will be in a lot better shape than many other teams moving into the next decade. He has managed to get into a position where he has the backing of Sainsburys and I dont think they would be throwing money at lost causes.

 

[westie]

We don't know if there is anyone out there that can transform our club but I think it's short sighted to just give up.

Personally I would rather aspire to emulate the likes of Blackpool, Reading and Swansea amongst others, if they can do it we can, they are all as unfashionable as SUFC (Blackpool's heritage acknowledged but they have been a lower league team for decades until recently)

Time to stand up for what we believe in but the question is what do you all really believe in ? because as they say, football fans can be very fickle and we appear to have plenty in that category !

I shall not be attending matches as long as RM remains, I have been coming to RH since 1979 and for the last 22 years that has included a 200 mile round trip for home matches, no more unless RM goes.

Correct. We don't know if there is anyone out there. Nor do we have the power to change things. RM controls finances, albeit badly.

The Members on this Board can protest individually, or collectively if they choose. At best, let's say you get 1,000 fans boycotting Roots Hall. What difference would that make?

I respect your opinion and your own personal protest. Everyone has a choice.

 

[cockles is back]

I have already cancelled mine and my sons season tickets for next year, we were paying DD so only ron will be able to decide if he pays me the first instalment back my advice would be he does, but as he said its his club not our, so why would I want to support something that clearly isnt ours, also I think the man is a **** and daily hope I read he in the press that he has been in an accident!!!

 

[cockles is back]

This is the one phrase that is continually banded around that I never quite understand... How exactly has RM "bled the club dry"? To infer that Ron has been funnelling money out of the club is, at best, a little misguided.

so you are 100% sure that ron hasnt used any money out of SUFC to personally finance property deals?

 

[Norfolkshrimp]

This is the one phrase that is continually banded around that I never quite understand... How exactly has RM "bled the club dry"? To infer that Ron has been funnelling money out of the club is, at best, a little misguided.

Did I say he had done that ? No, I said he'd bled the club dry, whichever way you look at it we are potless regardless of where the money has gone, mismanagement on a massive scale in my opinion, even if the worst he's done is spend it on over inflated contracts it's still incompetent.

The question does remain however, what are the expenses and management / admin fees for exactly in the accounts ?

 

[mattytheshrimper]

at the end of the day its all about Roots Hall -

just everything is about Roots Hall ....

thats exactly right. no one cares about the football on the board. they want the roots hall land to be sold and to get a much money in their greedy scummy pockets. this is the bottom line really.

 

[Norfolkshrimp]

thats exactly right. no one cares about the football on the board. they want the roots hall land to be sold and to get a much money in their greedy scummy pockets. this is the bottom line really.

yep spot on, I don't think there's any doubt that RH would have been sold at some point regardless of who owns it, had it not been RM that bought it someone else would, but they may not have acted in the same way and may have been a lot more careful with the financial management

 

[blueveined]

If Ron can square off the forthcoming court problems and get development at FF going then we will be in a lot better shape than many other teams moving into the next decade. He has managed to get into a position where he has the backing of Sainsburys and I dont think they would be throwing money at lost causes.

I wouldn't be so sure about that if I was you.

 

[Jack The Flag]

Well some people i know are going to stop going all together at Roots Hall, I will not do this because the team need the support and i would like to give the club some income, but i refuse to pay £40 for a shirt, £3 for a programme which has hardly anything in it, and £4-5 for a burger, drink and a packet of crisps (And no Onions!) :)

 

[Shrimper]

Well some people i know are going to stop going all together at Roots Hall, I will not do this because the team need the support and i would like to give the club some income, but i refuse to pay £40 for a shirt, £3 for a programme which has hardly anything in it, and £4-5 for a burger, drink and a packet of crisps (And no Onions!) :)

The Derby and Friendly programmes are always light-weight. Also, you should've taken up the chance of having the porgrammes to every home game sent to you.

 

[Jack The Flag]

The Derby and Friendly programmes are always light-weight. Also, you should've taken up the chance of having the porgrammes to every home game sent to you.

I am talking about the official match day programme for the season mate

 

[Lavender Blue]

I have already cancelled mine and my sons season tickets for next year, we were paying DD so only ron will be able to decide if he pays me the first instalment back my advice would be he does, but as he said its his club not our, so why would I want to support something that clearly isnt ours, also I think the man is a **** and daily hope I read he in the press that he has been in an accident!!!

These are just words, 'his club, your club, our club'
Its Southend united FC and we are its fans, a club is only as good as its fans.
Everybody is entitled to their opinions and that is what this forum is based on.
Its your right to cancel your season ticket, will it make any difference, I doubt it, Will you get your first installment back, I doubt it, you have chosen to cancel.
But to wish someone harm is wrong.

 

[lombard]

Why do many people on here look for excuses for Ron Martin and his dopey sidekick Geoffrey King.He did not rescue the club.There were other people that would have been interested at the time.There were debts,but the club owned the ground.Monies have been taken over the course of RM's stewardship for consultancy fees,planning applications,office space and other expensesThe ground was not paid its value.There will only be one winner out of this situation,and that is not SUFC.The sooner the "ferret" goes the better.Although now an impossibility,staying at Roots Hall would have been preferable.How can we trust someone that treats his staff with such disdain.

 

[Lavender Blue]

I don't think anyone on here is making excuses, we all know what the situation is at the moment, what we don't know is what is going to happen in the future, lets get to 2nd August and see what happens then, if we still have a club, lets see what the season holds.
Glass half empty or half full, we all just have to ride it out or walk away, because seriously we have no control over the outcome whatsoever.

 

[A Century United]

Why do many people on here look for excuses for Ron Martin and his dopey sidekick Geoffrey King.He did not rescue the club.There were other people that would have been interested at the time.There were debts,but the club owned the ground.Monies have been taken over the course of RM's stewardship for consultancy fees,planning applications,office space and other expensesThe ground was not paid its value.There will only be one winner out of this situation,and that is not SUFC.The sooner the "ferret" goes the better.Although now an impossibility,staying at Roots Hall would have been preferable.How can we trust someone that treats his staff with such disdain.

Staying at Roots Hall ceased to be an option when Vic flogged the South Bank to see us through a previous cash flow crisis.

 

[Mick]

And I haven't... RM's biggest error, for me anyway, is handing disproportionate wages and contract lengths to players that we simply couldn't sustain in an effort to gain promotion. It's a foul error for a club with historical cash flow issues, one compounded by the global banking crisis and, unfortunately, one that's made by football club chairmen up and down the country every week.

Strange, I don't read weekly accounts of other clubs' players going unpaid.

Not quite that sure why the effects of the global banking crisis are hitting us harder than the other clubs. It's not as if the football club is building a new ground or anything.

 

[Mick]

so you are 100% sure that ron hasnt used any money out of SUFC to personally finance property deals?

100% ? ...... I'm not even 10% sure !