Ron speaks

[LennySUFC]

There is no way on earth Sol would fit into that religion category. This is just another job for him, he doesn't particularly need the money and he's far to busy keeping his Instagram account up to date with his straw hat collection.

The boys on the Custard Splat podcast interviewed Red Card Roy and for me he summed it up. A manager needs to be in the trenches with the lads leading from the front. Does Sol fit that category? He's worth £55m and lives in a Thames Side apartment...

I don't care either way if Sol stays or goes, but I do think he needs to show more commitment and I think for once Ron is on the same page with us fans!

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Ron has said a lot lately and I think he’s actually spoken very well. Does he have someone advising him again? As it’s been very refreshing

But, talk is cheap. This club needs drastic action.

 

[rigsby]

I think we would really miss a brilliant opportunity if we let Sol go.....Don’t get me wrong it won’t work out as a manager or coach but how about CEO.

He has a proven track financial record That all of us should envy..... He arrived about 8 months ago worth about £40m and even whilst struggling with our worst squad in history he has Increased his wealth. Just a while back it was £50m and now during lock down he has made a further £5m

Many businesses will fail completely, others will need governments funded bailouts.... All of which will cost us tax payers for years to come..... Sol is a genius.... So good many of you can’t see it.... Me I follow every little tweet, photo or secret message he sends.... I am blessed because I am one of the enlightened

 

[BARNETBLUE]

If he has stuck by his comments years back we wouldn't be in the mess were in now .Who appointed Bond , who took time out last season on holiday,who then took weeks to appoint Sol ,who then promised the manager and fans new players and then went back on his word.Who then effectively had a fire sale and gave up......Sorry Ron you should be a politician as you could match them for hot air and broken promises

Absolutely spot on, could not have said it better myself...The Man is a disgrace and on course to see us out of the league and no stadium will happen anyway.

 

[Swiss Tony]

A typical Ron Martin effort...A lot of noise and zero content..
[/QUOTE
With lots of season cards to sell.

 

[dannypav]

I think Ron genuinely has feelings for the club , although many can rightly argue that the ‘pot of gold’ is still his only aim.
I actually think it’s both for what it’s worth.
That aside though he has made some massive mistakes in recent managerial appointments, but all appointments are risks and in sure they were not made with the intention of failure ( hindsight and all that ).
My view on recent ones.
Sturrock did a great job when he came in and although people can argue that the football wasn’t great , I always thought we were solid and competitive ( I’ve also not be as entertained since Mohsni left ).
Brown suffered at the start due to the way Sturrock was treated just before Wembley , but that was hardly his fault and I think he did a really good job.
The fans wanted Powell but he wasn’t up to it.
( player power ? ) and both Bond and Waddock did nothing IMO.
Anyway, forgetting my take on the recent managerial history, we get to Sol.
There appears to be many rumours etc going round of how aloof he is and his eccentric postings etc.
I’ve no idea about this and honestly I really don’t care too much.
All I can say is that given how the very young team performed in some games since he arrived , I would like to see that progress.
Whether he wants to do the job , I don’t know , but if he does , let’s see if he can improve them even more.

 

[Tommy2holes]

I think Ron has in a way been saved by the coronavirus. It's given him a lot of time and breathing space to go back to the drawing board. It takes the pressure and limelight of our finances as all clubs are now in the brown stuff.

He has managed to almost completely get rid of all the high earners at the club for a rebuild.

We have no money and haven't done for a while but the massive difference is that the council are about to approve the contract. They even mentioned it in the echo this week when talking about the queens way project.

Once we get the green light for that, Ron knows it opens up lots of revenues to refinance. His son who is also a fan, is leading the British land aspect.

Fossetts will happen this time.

We must have cut the wages by about 30k+ per week since we started culling the high earners.

As negative as the past 2 or 3 seasons have been. The next couple have the potential to be some of the most positive as we finally move home and get some much needed long term stability.

 

[BARNETBLUE]

I think Ron genuinely has feelings for the club , although many can rightly argue that the ‘pot of gold’ is still his only aim.
I actually think it’s both for what it’s worth.
That aside though he has made some massive mistakes in recent managerial appointments, but all appointments are risks and in sure they were not made with the intention of failure ( hindsight and all that ).
My view on recent ones.
Sturrock did a great job when he came in and although people can argue that the football wasn’t great , I always thought we were solid and competitive ( I’ve also not be as entertained since Mohsni left ).
Brown suffered at the start due to the way Sturrock was treated just before Wembley , but that was hardly his fault and I think he did a really good job.
The fans wanted Powell but he wasn’t up to it.
( player power ? ) and both Bond and Waddock did nothing IMO.
Anyway, forgetting my take on the recent managerial history, we get to Sol.
There appears to be many rumours etc going round of how aloof he is and his eccentric postings etc.
I’ve no idea about this and honestly I really don’t care too much.
All I can say is that given how the very young team performed in some games since he arrived , I would like to see that progress.
Whether he wants to do the job , I don’t know , but if he does , let’s see if he can improve them even more.

With due respect, you have been sucked in by the charlatan RONNIEBOY that he is...He cares nowt for the football club and will be out soon whern the stadium plan inevitably fails, with us likely in the conference.

 

[Tommy2holes]

With due respect, you have been sucked in by the charlatan RONNIEBOY that he is...He cares nowt for the football club and will be out soon whern the stadium plan inevitably fails, with us likely in the conference.

The plans won't fail. They are pre approved by the council and are being finalised as we speak

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

If he has stuck by his comments years back we wouldn't be in the mess were in now .Who appointed Bond , who took time out last season on holiday,who then took weeks to appoint Sol ,who then promised the manager and fans new players and then went back on his word.Who then effectively had a fire sale and gave up......Sorry Ron you should be a politician as you could match them for hot air and broken promises

Ron has a lot to answer for, but the timing of his holiday is not one of them. We went into the off-season last year without a manager appointed. That was not the time for a holiday. The time for a holiday was September, after the new manager was in place and had had time to settle in, after the transfer window had concluded. Similarly we want Ron working now through this off-season so that our new signings (and budget!) are in place for pre-season.

The problem with his holiday was that he had appointed the wrong manager. But he was not alone in that. Well over 50% of Shrimperzone said Bond should be made permanent manager.

So instead I would concentrate the criticism of Ron on his financial misplanning - and the firesale does not constitute misplanning. What constitutes misplanning is the fact that we were operating at a big loss again - even before Bond's ineptitude had it's effect on attendance. The fact that Ron was late paying players three times, that we have been under a transfer embargo for at least 6 months. The overpaid signings from the Brown era that we've had to pay off - Kightly, Kiernan, Ferdinand, Cox even before we get to Bond's bad signings. The fact that we enter into next season with a points penalty hanging over our heads. There's plenty we can legitimately pin at Ron's door.

 

[BriggBlue]

Ron has a lot to answer for, but the timing of his holiday is not one of them. We went into the off-season last year without a manager appointed. That was not the time for a holiday. The time for a holiday was September, after the new manager was in place and had had time to settle in, after the transfer window had concluded. Similarly we want Ron working now through this off-season so that our new signings (and budget!) are in place for pre-season.

The problem with his holiday was that he had appointed the wrong manager. But he was not alone in that. Well over 50% of Shrimperzone said Bond should be made permanent manager.

So instead I would concentrate the criticism of Ron on his financial misplanning - and the firesale does not constitute misplanning. What constitutes misplanning is the fact that we were operating at a big loss again - even before Bond's ineptitude had it's effect on attendance. The fact that Ron was late paying players three times, that we have been under a transfer embargo for at least 6 months. The overpaid signings from the Brown era that we've had to pay off - Kightly, Kiernan, Ferdinand, Cox even before we get to Bond's bad signings. The fact that we enter into next season with a points penalty hanging over our heads. There's plenty we can legitimately pin at Ron's door.

If we'd have got into the playoffs or even gone up automatically because those players had performed anywhere as near as well as they could have we would all have been singing Rons praises. let's nto forget that it's not his job to pick the players simply to back his manager with funding and he has done that time and again, unfortunately last season was one poor return too many yet somehow the club survives thanks to and in spite of Ron

 

[GIBBO]

I love Ron.... the football world's answer to David Brent!

 

[dannypav]

With due respect, you have been sucked in by the charlatan RONNIEBOY that he is...He cares nowt for the football club and will be out soon whern the stadium plan inevitably fails, with us likely in the conference.

Your ‘due respect’ all noted and appreciated - thank you

 

[BARNETBLUE]

I love Ron.... the football world's answer to David Brent!

Quite...an incompetent narcissist and beyond dodgy!...Thats our Ron!

 

[rigsby]

The likes of Ferdinand and Cox were resigned after their initial contracts..., No one was complaining then but CP didn’t get on with Anton so he had to go.

Cox lost interest after his 3 goals v Pompey and clearly wanted out. Despite Kiernan looking like the CM leader we needed v Sunderland he also had other plans. Kightly did the decent thing after toO many injuries.

The lesson learnt was don’t keep senior players against their will..... It worked for 1 year with Bentley because he was young, ambitious and remained professional. So credit to him.
The likes of Cox and Kiernan were a disgrace and weren’t even decent enough to talk to our young lads during a game.....Perhaps it was thought that Kiernan owed our cub big time which of course he did but sadly he treated us all with utter contempt.

You might want to blame Ron or Bond and Waddock but the fault lies with the players.... including those that followed or used it as an excuse.

That’s what Ron means when he says a religion. It doesn’t need to be at extremist levels, just to where we were 5 years ago....On less than half the budget we had last season but at least we had some believers.

 

[nevereatwhitesnow]

I think we would really miss a brilliant opportunity if we let Sol go.....Don’t get me wrong it won’t work out as a manager or coach but how about CEO.

He has a proven track financial record That all of us should envy..... He arrived about 8 months ago worth about £40m and even whilst struggling with our worst squad in history he has Increased his wealth. Just a while back it was £50m and now during lock down he has made a further £5m

Many businesses will fail completely, others will need governments funded bailouts.... All of which will cost us tax payers for years to come..... Sol is a genius.... So good many of you can’t see it.... Me I follow every little tweet, photo or secret message he sends.... I am blessed because I am one of the enlightened

how odd that you don’t comment so insightfully about Mr Martins financial greatness?

 

[amsemp]

There is no way on earth Sol would fit into that religion category. This is just another job for him, he doesn't particularly need the money and he's far to busy keeping his Instagram account up to date with his straw hat collection.

The boys on the Custard Splat podcast interviewed Red Card Roy and for me he summed it up. A manager needs to be in the trenches with the lads leading from the front. Does Sol fit that category? He's worth £55m and lives in a Thames Side apartment...

I don't care either way if Sol stays or goes, but I do think he needs to show more commitment and I think for once Ron is on the same page with us fans!

Completely agree with this. You just get this feeling with Sol that he thinks he’s far better than us and that he’s just shovelling the **** on his way to the top where he clearly feels he belongs.

We as fans need a manager we can get behind, who leads from the front and drags us along for the ride, good or bad. I don’t see that from Sol. I find his Instagram posts cringeworthy and he doesn’t seem remotely interested.

Not only has he alienated a lot of fans, he seems to have alienated a lot of players too. I can’t bear a season in League Two watching Sol strop his way through it. Yes he’s been dealt a crap hand, but I’m sure there are managers who would be fighting tooth and nail to make a success of this.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

As always, Ron's statements are a baffling thing to unpick, but he gives us plenty of words to try to read between the lines.

The phrases I would pick out that seem interesting are the following:

"lockdown has given us all time to reflect.....We have already made some changes, further changes will follow"

"Relegation always sees players depart.....others feel they should be playing in a higher league.Whatever the reason as chairman of your club I ONLY want players here who will give their ALL for the club."

"Your club will demand commitment from every player and every employee. Whether playing, coaching or managing … working at the Blues needs to be a religion. Lockdown has been beneficial in that way as it has given me some time, away from Roots Hall, to think about the more immediate future, following relegation, of our club."

"Most importantly making sure the players we are recruiting will ‘run through a brick wall for the Manager’.

Talent is one thing … mindset and commitment is something entirely different. Talent alone will not deliver success.

Commitment starts at the top."

My conclusion is that he thinks Sol is talented but not committed, Southend is not (to also quote Ron) his religion, his mindset and commitment is wrong. He also refers to "the Manager" (incorrect capitalisation is Ron's, not mine!) rather than "Sol".

Reading between the lines, I think Campbell and co. will be gone before the start of the new season.

I think Shaughnessy will be off and probably also Humphrys (if the deal is alright with both of them).

 

[Lincoln Shrimp]

Is it just me or is anyone else constantly checking SUFC news sources today in anticipation of a further announcement by Ron on Sol's future?!

 

[Westcliff DGS]

Is it just me or is anyone else constantly checking SUFC news sources today in anticipation of a further announcement by Ron on Sol's future?!

I will be honest and say I’m not