Posters on this forum such as mcnasty & pboreham have questioned what a protest against ron will achieve & questioned the commitment of those participating, whilst also taking enjoyment from lampooning poor jack in the process. I don't claim to have the right view, but so far within those threads i don't feel anyone has sufficiently put in words what can be achieved and why they are taking such action. Ultimately i have detested ron's presence from day 1,it was apparent that he had asset stripped the club & paid next to nothing acquire a controlling stake in the club that meant he held all the cards. With him being a property developer it was very quick to see that southend would not remain on the rich residential Roots Hall site for long........and so in my mind Ron's priorities were set. His behaviour was further questionable when it took a fans & echo campaign to get tilly installed and ron give up his fantasy over stan (chasing the limelight rather than the fans wishes). Around the same time was when he also began (his now ever familiar to most shrimpers) end of match pitch tour after a battling away 0-0 draw with mansfield which left me thinking "what is this moron doing? We're applauding the players not Ron the Messiah". There are 92 league clubs and only between 5-10% of those clubs can achieve "success" within any given season,which means there's going to be alot of fans alot of the time watching unsuccessful teams.for that reason i do not hand my money over at the gate just wanting to watch my team win,no,a football club is about the fans and the town.so whilst i want to see the lads giving 100% i also attend to sing them on,sing about my town,the history of the team & socialise with my fellow essex boys & girls-there is no place for a profiteering, megalomaniac in something that should belong to the fans.like most on this forum i would follow southend regardless,so would gladly see the club go into admin and play in the senior league if it meant that it was run in the interests of the fans and not one man's pocket.i have no desire for a new souless plastic shell of a new stadium,miles from town,no decent transport links,void of any real pubs or atmosphere and to saddle the club with masses of debt it cannot maintain.Some small improvements at the Hall would freshen the place up but the most pressing priority should be the return of the fans to their natural home-the North Bank, which would cost a damn sight less.The whole tilson & brush debacle still sickens me...those two gave us arguably the best years we have seen and yet suddenly they are not good enough and are disgarded as people suddenly rush to eulogise about sturrock,even apologising for him signing his son?!!!! I think we all know how that one will turn out...most comments have pointed to players who 'want to play for the club'-I'm sorry but how can this bunch of mercenaries, who are all sturrocks ex players and want to play for HIM and not Southend, ever be compared or held above Barrett or McCormack? To question their loyalty and commitment to this club is blaspheme, Ron should be charged with high treason not acknowledged at a decision well made over their departure.
Writing letter's, or becoming a shareholder are naive alternative suggestions at best...plenty of letters have been written: to the club, the echo, the YA and to club individuals, with no result. "Become a shareholder" is just laughable, the shares are not a liquid stock easily purchased, and I think one may forget that Ron and his myriad of companies control own over 76% of the club's shares, rendering anyone else's holding useless when it came to a vote on anything. Unless the club go and issue shares tomorrow Ron cannot be budged, but he's not going to make a serious rights issue that would jeopardise his throttle on the club is he?....come on now, please.
Direct action is the only tool and card left for the fans to play. To deny that paying for Monday's match (in hard cash ONLY can one believe) is doing anything other than propping up the ailing dictator is either delirious, ignorance, or plain apathy. There seem to be numerous posters on this forum that have to wash sand out of the hair, ears and eyes on a daily basis?!
If no-one turned up to the next home match then Ron would be completely screwed and would have a completely insolvent business venture, sorry, club that he would have no choice but to bail. If that meant the club going under, then so be it, if Ron goes. Do AFC Wimbledon and FC United fans not have the great saturday afternoon's and are still going strong? of course they are....if southend went under and re-appeared say at a groundshare with southend manor in the senior league, we'd all be there in a flash.
The SUSCT hold the potential to be a catalyst to lead a movement for fan ownership of the club and have huge influence and leverage to mount a boycott and subsequent campaign. I have put the point to the very honourable mr.fitzgerald on a number of occassions. To worry about offending Ron for fear of losing the prospect (and it's only just that) of a seat on Ron's board (not southend's) is ludicrous. For the reasons given above re share holdings the seat would be meaningless and another class stroke in Ron keeping his enemies close.
Not to mention the fact that the SUSCT have the power to now bring him to heel thanks to the 60k loan......by using option 5 in the members vote (to sue Ron as personal guarantor) it would not even necessarily bring the club down - just Ron might have to part with his own cash for a change and live up to his promises for a change. On top of a boycott this would send him the clearest message to get the hell out of our club and town.
Every fan has the power, and that power is that cash you hand over to Ron fortnightly. So those who say it is pointless should really stop and think what could actually be achieved by a boycott and not the narrow retorts posted on other threads but the positives that could come from such events.
There you go, you have you answers as to what people feel can be achieved and why from a boycott or protest. I shall not now engage in tittle tattle exchanges of character assassination or pointless snipes about grammar or spelling.
All I will say is that I will never set foot in Roots Hall as long as Ron has his greedy hands on the club, and I will certainly be at Aldershot cheering the boys on for 90 minutes. A concept that is alien to those who claim the protesters are not real fans, as in fact they are generally the most vocal support at southend and really understand the term "backing your team".
