When will the takeover go through? The Waiting Game...

[JD]

THE former leader of Southend Council has been accused of “keeping vital details secret” as a war of words breaks out over the deal for 1,300 homes at Fossetts Farms.
Worried Blues fans fear the deal over the homes, which will allow the club’s sale from Ron Martin to a consortium led by Justin Rees, is facing further delays after a statement from leader Daniel Cowan on Thursday.
Now, Mr Cowan has claimed the new Labour-led administration has been “disadvantaged” by former Tory council leader Tony Cox

Mr Cox has insisted there were “no red flags” during the DD process over the homes deal while he was leader of the council.
Mr Cowan said: “It is sad that councillor Cox is seeking to politicise the issue and sow discord with the supporters who are already anxious enough.
“We have inherited this deal, completely unamended from his time in office, and any outcome from the DD would be based entirely on the deal he personally negotiated and progressed during his time.

“This administration has been disadvantaged by the previous leader who kept vital information secret from fellow councillors, but we have worked hard to get across the detail in a short space.

“We have committed to being transparent and our three updates in our first 11 days of office demonstrates this.
“We will continue to be open, as promised.”
Southend Council met with Citizen Housing - fronted by Jack Martin, son of Ron Martin - and financial advisors on Thursday to progress the deal for 1,300 Fossetts Farm homes. Another meeting is set to take place tomorrow and the consortium has said it will not be issuing any statement until after the next update.
Mr Cox said: “The statement on Thursday wasn’t a statement. I thought it was bizarre. I appreciate there is a balancing act but that said nothing. It just creates more confusion. It seemed to suggest to me that all things weren’t quite right.

“It was shambolic and confusing. Before I left office, there weren’t no red flags, and there weren’t expected be any red flags. I am not saying there weren’t going to be discussions points as there always is with DD.
“If there are any red flags, they would have only come from the administration.”

Oh dear.
This is not a good sign.

 

[Blues4LifeDan]

THE former leader of Southend Council has been accused of “keeping vital details secret” as a war of words breaks out over the deal for 1,300 homes at Fossetts Farms.
Worried Blues fans fear the deal over the homes, which will allow the club’s sale from Ron Martin to a consortium led by Justin Rees, is facing further delays after a statement from leader Daniel Cowan on Thursday.
Now, Mr Cowan has claimed the new Labour-led administration has been “disadvantaged” by former Tory council leader Tony Cox

Mr Cox has insisted there were “no red flags” during the DD process over the homes deal while he was leader of the council.
Mr Cowan said: “It is sad that councillor Cox is seeking to politicise the issue and sow discord with the supporters who are already anxious enough.
“We have inherited this deal, completely unamended from his time in office, and any outcome from the DD would be based entirely on the deal he personally negotiated and progressed during his time.

“This administration has been disadvantaged by the previous leader who kept vital information secret from fellow councillors, but we have worked hard to get across the detail in a short space.

“We have committed to being transparent and our three updates in our first 11 days of office demonstrates this.
“We will continue to be open, as promised.”
Southend Council met with Citizen Housing - fronted by Jack Martin, son of Ron Martin - and financial advisors on Thursday to progress the deal for 1,300 Fossetts Farm homes. Another meeting is set to take place tomorrow and the consortium has said it will not be issuing any statement until after the next update.
Mr Cox said: “The statement on Thursday wasn’t a statement. I thought it was bizarre. I appreciate there is a balancing act but that said nothing. It just creates more confusion. It seemed to suggest to me that all things weren’t quite right.

“It was shambolic and confusing. Before I left office, there weren’t no red flags, and there weren’t expected be any red flags. I am not saying there weren’t going to be discussions points as there always is with DD.
“If there are any red flags, they would have only come from the administration.”

Political slagging. That's all we need when we require urgency. I'm sure we all have our own opinions when it comes to what we believe was/is prioritised by each of those administrations, but whatever way you fall, it doesn't help our current plight.

I think the most unbelievable thing about this is, it's an unbelievably complex deal and one that should take hours of thorough cross-examination. However, it's going through all the rigorous checks and we have to wait an eternity just to stay at a crumbling wreck. Normally deals like this come with a shiny, new end product. We are going through all of this to get exactly what we started with. I'm not knocking staying at Roots Hall, as I love the place. It's just mad that a deal that means we stay exactly where we are is taking much longer than any deal would take for a new stadium.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Not a good sign. It usually foreshadows bad news when they start apportioning blame.

Cox’s rant about the statements was bizarre. I suppose he’s defensive as he wasn’t as transparent about the process during his stint in charge. The statements are a welcome addition IMO and not at all confusing.

 

[kentblues]

THE former leader of Southend Council has been accused of “keeping vital details secret” as a war of words breaks out over the deal for 1,300 homes at Fossetts Farms.
Worried Blues fans fear the deal over the homes, which will allow the club’s sale from Ron Martin to a consortium led by Justin Rees, is facing further delays after a statement from leader Daniel Cowan on Thursday.
Now, Mr Cowan has claimed the new Labour-led administration has been “disadvantaged” by former Tory council leader Tony Cox

Mr Cox has insisted there were “no red flags” during the DD process over the homes deal while he was leader of the council.
Mr Cowan said: “It is sad that councillor Cox is seeking to politicise the issue and sow discord with the supporters who are already anxious enough.
“We have inherited this deal, completely unamended from his time in office, and any outcome from the DD would be based entirely on the deal he personally negotiated and progressed during his time.

“This administration has been disadvantaged by the previous leader who kept vital information secret from fellow councillors, but we have worked hard to get across the detail in a short space.

“We have committed to being transparent and our three updates in our first 11 days of office demonstrates this.
“We will continue to be open, as promised.”
Southend Council met with Citizen Housing - fronted by Jack Martin, son of Ron Martin - and financial advisors on Thursday to progress the deal for 1,300 Fossetts Farm homes. Another meeting is set to take place tomorrow and the consortium has said it will not be issuing any statement until after the next update.
Mr Cox said: “The statement on Thursday wasn’t a statement. I thought it was bizarre. I appreciate there is a balancing act but that said nothing. It just creates more confusion. It seemed to suggest to me that all things weren’t quite right.

“It was shambolic and confusing. Before I left office, there weren’t no red flags, and there weren’t expected be any red flags. I am not saying there weren’t going to be discussions points as there always is with DD.
“If there are any red flags, they would have only come from the administration.”

Absolutely shameful drivel from Captain Gibberish. The idea that the independent DD results would in some way be different if he was still in charge is for the birds. Sour grapes I suspect. And for him to criticise either the frequency or content of updates given his performance in that area is bizarre…

 

[NZamba Legend]

Oh dear.
This is not a good sign.

Dysfunctional council + dysfunctional football club owners = ?

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

All the latest from Southend United ahead of crunch week for club

SOUTHEND United are facing a crunch week amid ongoing concerns for the club's future.

www.echo-news.co.uk

Crunch week for SUFC.

 

[tommy tucker]

STOP all the back biting and just just got on with it .So far it seems everything is good to go .But it only takes one thing to go slightly wrong for all the hard work to put a spanner in the works .Lets all hope this does not happen .

 

[Firestorm]

Sounds like Cox knew his days were numbered , so tried to win votes by looking like he was saving the club .
Then the new administration discovers the deal is unworkable and the club fails on someone else's watch. Expect wholesale political point scoring should the club fold.

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

I'm actually encouraged by the fact that the DD is so thorough as it removes much of the politics out of the final decision. It will either be a good deal or not within the parameters set. That view coming from experts in a very complex field and not by here today gone tomorrow politicians. When you ask for an expert view and one is given it's very difficult to argue against it.

 

[CC51DAS]

Sounds like Cox knew his days were numbered , so tried to win votes by looking like he was saving the club .
Then the new administration discovers the deal is unworkable and the club fails on someone else's watch. Expect wholesale political point scoring should the club fold.

Think you've hit the nail on the head there Gary. Personally, I thought it was all a bit too cosy while Cox was at the helm. For a start he was referring to the Rat as 'Ron'

 

[Shrimper]

Sounds like Cox knew his days were numbered , so tried to win votes by looking like he was saving the club .
Then the new administration discovers the deal is unworkable and the club fails on someone else's watch. Expect wholesale political point scoring should the club fold.

Nail. Hammer. Point

 

[southendkid]

Sounds like Cox knew his days were numbered , so tried to win votes by looking like he was saving the club .
Then the new administration discovers the deal is unworkable and the club fails on someone else's watch. Expect wholesale political point scoring should the club fold.

This is my worry, given how open Cowen has been it raises the question of why Cox was keeping us in the dark. Him knowing the deal was bad all along is the obvious explanation.

 

[Green Wizard]

I wouldn't take any notice of what politicians say they are as bad as each other.
Still think it will turn out fine in the end, nobody including Ron Martin wants it to fail in the end. He might be fanning about but even he wouldn't want the hassle and condemnation that would come his way if it failed to go through.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Great, our club is now being used as a political football as well as a financial one. Going from bad to worse now.

 

[NZamba Legend]

I wouldn't take any notice of what politicians say they are as bad as each other.
Still think it will turn out fine in the end, nobody including Ron Martin wants it to fail in the end. He might be fanning about but even he wouldn't want the hassle and condemnation that would come his way if it failed to go through.

I'm not sure they are 'as bad as each other'.

 

[Paddypel]

Hope i'm wrong but it feels like the writing is on the wall now. Political point scoring screams of the two councillors getting their ducks in a row for if/when the clubs goes under. The only two things that are keeping my hopes alive are the fact that the RAT needs the deal to go through otherwise he'll be borderline bankrupt and he owes half of south essex business owners money, therefore will have to surely accept whatever amendments the council recommend as a result of the DD & external audit otherwise he's toast. Secondly the sum of money COSU have put in now exceeds 3.5M, that's approx 400k of each of their money gone in 6 months. Although these guys are typically more wealthy than the average fan, they will not want to have nothing to show for that kind of money unless they know it's an absolute dead duck. Furthermore they wouldn't have been successful people by walking away whenever the going has got tough in the past, although I appreciate they are dealing with a different kind of species with this transaction . I honestly don't believe they would've parted with this cash unless there was a realistic chance of the deal going through but like all good businessman, they have to be prepared to walk away when they know enough is enough.

 

[Snowy]

Are this thread and the one with the latest Echo update talking about the same thing?

Certainly differing perspectives at the moment on both.

 

[SeldomSeenShrimper]

Are this thread and the one with the latest Echo update talking about the same thing?

Certainly differing perspectives at the moment on both.

Well it's certainly not positive news ...

 

[kentblues]

Its neither positive or negative- could be just as well suggesting it was all done before Captain Gibberish got kicked out, there were no red flags, hence no credit fot getting it done it's just taking longer because he is not in charge... you can spin it all ways....I would just ignore

 

[tommy tucker]

So how many parts of this DD was there Ithought there was 4 independance parts if so part 3 comes in this week we have been lead to beleve So what is the final part .And how so will that be known ????