Be careful what you wish for.

[DTS]

Lads,

We all support Southend hence why were on here. I feel frustrated about the lack of signings etc as much as anyone.

But I would heed caution to those wanting Ron Martin to walk away. For a start I am under the impression that his company own Roots Hall in effect and lets us play there rent free (or debt never called in) until the new stadium comes in.

Ron has said himself that his fianances and that of SUFC are linked in and i am sure Ron needs this to be a sucess as much as we do.

We have seen in the past a string of poor chairman (Johnson before my time and the Jobson who likened the fans to Hitlers youth movement). and Ron Martin is not one of them. he has come closer to moving this club forward than any other chairman in my 24 years as a Blues fan.

He gave Tilly money in the championship - It didnt work and we are finding it hard now finance wise. name me a club that isnt? name me a person that isnt finding it harder in the credit crisis?

What has changed so much since last week. Almost no-one will really miss either Revell or Betsy lets be honest. Maybe just maybe we have cleared the wages to get a few decent players on loan. We dont know.

King is a prat and has once again said some stupid things but again I repeat you dont know what he brings to the board room. Ron is certainly shrewd and I cannot see him carrying any passengers.

Call for Rons head if you like. Lets be honest we cant stop you but before you do maybe ponder who is going to come in and but us at this stage? Better the devil you know I think.

PS - Yes before a few of you ask I am Geoff King and Ron Martins gay lover / illegitimate son.

 

[sammyboy]

What would be the overall view of people on here if a Arabian/Russia Tycoon/Consortium were to put a bid in for Southend? I like Rm at the moment and think time will tell very soon then judgement can be made and appropriate fan action taken.

 

[BoyWonder2]

I need to spread rep around before I rep you for that. Top post.

The talks of protests are laughable in my opinion because everybody seems to be wanting to protest about different things be it GK, no money, Revell going etc etc.

Nobody really knows what GK brings to the table. He could be the brains behind a few things we don't know about, and could bring an awful lot to the table we just don't have the full facts yet people are saying get him out because of a couple of dodgy statements. I agree, he shouldn't issue any statements about anything because he keeps putting his foot in it but I don't know enough about his role at the Club to say get rid.

What would peoples opinions of him be IF he was to personally take money from his own bank account and pay off the taxman hey?

 

[Angell Delight]

I won't be calling for Ron to go, I do recognise as I'm sure many do that we'd be in a worse situation if he left the club. King however is another matter, speaking as a season card holder in the East Blacks his comments after the Leicester game were an absolute disgrace and for me we should have done more to let the club know we were disgusted at that time. Having to suffer Leicester morons throwing beer over us in the back row whilst making w***er signs was bad enough but to then be blamed by OUR Chief Executive afterwards on the OS was disgraceful. As I and many sais to the stewards at the time those idiots should have been kicked out of the boxes.

And having now read the absolute tripe he has come out with this past week about a hardworking and totally committed player like Alex Revell I consider King an absolute embarrassment to the club and hopefully that will be made clear at tonight's AGM. The best thing Ron could do to ease the burden on himself would be to either get rid of King or at the very least order him to issue a grovelling apology to both Revs and the fans.

What I do think Ron owes us tonight though is an explanation of what is going on financially at the club and that means whether we are in any danger of administration and also whether the new stadium is still going ahead as planned.

As for tomorrow let's not forget we have to GET BEHIND THE PLAYERS/MANAGEMENT! None of this farce is their fault and the silence from Tilly speaks volumes. If this club drops into L2 it would most probably sound the death knell for Southend United, we still (for the moment!) have a good quality side and we need to pick up points asap to ensure we comfortably survive this season....especially if the s**t hits the fan and we are hit with a -10 penalty in the near future!

:'(

 

[Angell Delight]

OK having just read Ron's statement I personally feel somewhat more at ease. Credit to him for posting that riposte (although it was certainly needed before tonight!). Still doesn't change my opinions on King but at least we've had a statement from the top.

FWIW I agree with his pledge to not having anything more to do with the Echo, if Chris Phillips and his bosses knew and fully admitted that information they had was inaccurate but they still went to print they should be shot. Having been at Spinner's benefit match there was no way the game could have raised £40k at those prices anyway with less than 1,000 turning up.

 

[DTS]

Can I also add ths was done before Rons Statement......

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

Well said. Getting rid of Ron isn't the answer. He's a good chairman. I'm sure if we were in danger of going into administration he'd tell us. I think we just need to ride this rocky patch, make sure we stay in the division this season.

 

[HudsonNo1]

I'm not going to lie, i don't like Ron at the moment.. and my opinion of him is going down month after month... but even i cannot deny he has done a good job with us and has overall been successful. Given us stability although things seem a little rocky right now im sure its no different at any other football league club that is not Notts County.

 

[londonblue]

King is a prat and has once again said some stupid things but again I repeat you dont know what he brings to the board room.

By the looks of him, a Maccy D's or two!

 

[fbm]

Lads,


We have seen in the past a string of poor chairman (Johnson before my time and the Jobson who likened the fans to Hitlers youth movement).

Judging by whats going on at the moment I reckon Vic knew what he was talking about... (and that is tongue in cheek before anyone gets offended).

But as I said yesterday this whole thing has been whipped up by the Echo. Hardly a word has been uttered about Heath and White going back or the moving on of Betsy - moreorless ALL of the anger has been directed at Geoff King for his public comments about Revell.

This was a story broken by the Echo and reported in such a way as to sensationalise and drive a wedge between the fans and club. There can be no other purpose and I am glad the Echo will have no further co-operation from the club. I won't be buying it in future either.

Let's just really analyse Kings statement about Revell.

"Alex Revell has failed to live up to expectations," Chief Executive Geoffrey King told southendunited.co.uk. He was signed by the Football Club to deliver which he has not done and that is why he is moving on.


Can someone actually point out what is the bit that actually slags Revell off in there?

Surely he was signed to be a hard working forward that would hopefully recover his best form which was when he was with Brighton and had a goal ratio of 1 in 3 (approx) for league games as opposed to the 1 in 6 he achieved with us? By being hardworking he has only lived up to 50% of the expectations. Writing an online blog with the odd recipe and being a fans favourite doesn't add league points.

I was wondering if the statement had been exactly the same except with the words "Steve Tilson told southendunited.co.uk" would there have been the same outcry?

It seems a fairly factual statement to make to be honest and it is the reporting of it in the Echo that has whipped everyone up on here. Interesting that when Ron Martin says something it is denounced as spin and lies yet Chris Phillips must always speak the truth, obviously!

Personal experience with the media (which is considerable in press, radio and TV, trust me) has always shown me that the media will never let a minor point like the truth get in the way of a good story.

I expect Alex Revell was told he would have to go on loan for financial reasons. That is presumably so that we can get some quality loanees in. We all know that we don't have the money for permanent signings and the Echo has spun this around so that it is purely anti the SUFC owners.

Spin works both ways incidentally.

I wonder if the board will get any apologies from the dissatisfied masses if - and I mean if - we do actually get some decent loanees, finish in a decent league position, avoid administration and start work on the stadium.

I hope that people are man enough to do so.

 

[fbm]

Well said. Getting rid of Ron isn't the answer. He's a good chairman. I'm sure if we were in danger of going into administration he'd tell us. I think we just need to ride this rocky patch, make sure we stay in the division this season.

Actually, I doubt it. There'd be a riot.

If it happens it will happen and he'll explain why it was necessary. There's no way he would (and neither should he) ever let us know it was a possibility. It just unsettles everyone.

 

[BILLERICAY BLUE]

I wonder if the board will get any apologies from the dissatisfied masses if - and I mean if - we do actually get some decent loanees, finish in a decent league position, avoid administration and start work on the stadium.

I hope that people are man enough to do so.

I wouldn't hold your breath......

 

[Jonny_Stokes]

Spin works both ways incidentally.

I wish someone would tell England's bowlers that....

 

[Lester Bangs]

I wonder if the board will get any apologies from the dissatisfied masses if - and I mean if - we do actually get some decent loanees, finish in a decent league position, avoid administration and start work on the stadium.

I hope that people are man enough to do so.

Blimey thats a lot of ifs and buts, however, if it happens and the financial plight of the club is on sound footing then it will all be good.

From what I've read lately I'm not convinced everything will be so rosey though. Are we able to pay our creditors in a timely manner?

We had a winding up order issued against us by the HMRC (I dont even know if we're out of the woods there) but yet very few seem to consider this to be an issue. I've worked for an insolvancy practice and these sort of orders are not issued willynilly on a whim.

I just wish people would look at the warning signs instead of being blaise regarding the clubs cashflow position.

 

[Chaz SUFC]

But I would heed caution to those wanting Ron Martin to walk away. For a start I am under the impression that his company own Roots Hall in effect and lets us play there rent free (or debt never called in) until the new stadium comes in.

Not sure how true it is but I've heard from a few people we've already sold roots hall to sainsbury's as party of the planning development for the new stadium. Although it may just be a rumour, It's quite disturbing especially since we havn't even begun development yet.

 

[Andy_S]

If Ron left it'd be far more of a disaster than Mr Tilson leaving..........

 

[Sean 2]

If Ron left it'd be far more of a disaster than Mr Tilson leaving..........

Sorry Andy S i read that wrong!

I think it's me who's had the tough day.

 

[Andy_S]

*Edited thanks to Mr Veg's blindness*


:p

 

[fbm]

Not sure how true it is but I've heard from a few people we've already sold roots hall to sainsbury's as party of the planning development for the new stadium. Although it may just be a rumour, It's quite disturbing especially since we havn't even begun development yet.

It's quite disturbing if you make the usual SZ member assumptions that this news automatically means that RM and King are lying treacherous barstewards who have nothing better to do than rape and pillage our club and that the purchase was a complete surprise to the owners that no one saw coming and then wondering whether or not the bulldozers are going to demolish part of the East Stand before Friday nights match and organising a sit in protest in the car park just in case.

On the other hand if you actually think about it then it's probably quite encouraging because we have assurances that we will never be made homeless so if we HAVE sold RH (which I think is the case, certainly contractually) then it means that the new ground WILL be going ahead at some point in the future. If you then consider that RM and his people are party to the contract and will have consented to this deal this is doubly encouraging because it means that the owners may be considered to actually have a clue and when you factor in that RM lives locally and probably won't fancy the idea of a few thousand people laying siege to his home if it goes belly up you can get the feeling that he actually isn't going to screw anything up for the club because if he delivers to us what he promises he will be a very wealthy man indeed.

And by Christ he will have earned it.

 

[TBV_Dan]

You know what I think the worst thing us supporters could do right now, that is protest. I know that we are all annoyed at King's statement, and personally after reading the interview with King in the echo last night, I am shocked by it, but what will protesting do to change that?Infact, I think that it will affect the morale of the players, and that is the absalute last thing we need right now, coming up to two big games in the space of 7 days. We all know that we are struggling financially, who isnt? I have had and will always have faith in Ron Martin, he is a great Chairman, he loves the club, and he is the right man to pull us out of this fiancial mess imo. I am quite fed up of the negativity on this site, all the threads that I have been reading the last few days have been all about King, what he said, and about our money situation, well I for one really hope that this negativity DOESNT carry into our match tomorrow, thats the worst thing we could do imo. Lets put all of this behind us for the Orient game tomorrow, and lets support the Shrimpers 100% without exception.
UTB!

SS1