Hero or Villain?

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Is everyone else as confused as me?
Ron Martin was my hero during his reign at Southend, then he became a villain over the last couple of months, and now he could become my hero again, as it not only looks like he will pay the 680K or whatever but also the whole debt over 2 Million, a massive bonus with a cherry on the top, and save us from the dreaded administration.
If he pulls it off then we have to give him credit.
How do you view it?

 

[MK Shrimper]

Can't say until the whole thing is resolved one way or the other.

 

[Jam_Man]

The end goal is the stadium.

The fact we had this week to go through is a failing on his part, but as long as the bigger picture works out then he is a hero easily...

 

[BoyWonder2]

The end goal is the stadium.

The fact we had this week to go through is a failing on his part, but as long as the bigger picture works out then he is a hero easily...

Spot on.

This week has been hell, and fingers crossed its going to have a happy ending with a big novelty cheque handed over on Friday.

This will be the 2nd time RM has saved us from administration, he delivered Championship football, and has got us closer to a new stadium than ever before. Once the stadium goes ahead, he will be a hero. He is close to that for me anyways. Just hope he pulls through on Friday.

 

[philtalkin]

iF he was an actual super hero, then he would obviously be called

BOUFFANT MAN

But what would his special powers be? and, more importantly,

what would his trusty sidekick, Geoffrey be called?

 

[Blues 'n twos]

Is everyone else as confused as me?
Ron Martin was my hero during his reign at Southend, then he became a villain over the last couple of months, and now he could become my hero again, as it not only looks like he will pay the 680K or whatever but also the whole debt over 2 Million, a massive bonus with a cherry on the top, and save us from the dreaded administration.
If he pulls it off then we have to give him credit.
How do you view it?

Villain!! no doubts lost all faith in the man to tell anything straight how it is without any of his panesar-esque spin. Would not be suprised if he staged the whole thing, sorry just how i feel.

 

[seany t]

The end goal is the stadium.

The fact we had this week to go through is a failing on his part, but as long as the bigger picture works out then he is a hero easily...

It's not been a fun week, but chances are it's been a whole lot less fun for him...

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

Spot on.

This week has been hell, and fingers crossed its going to have a happy ending with a big novelty cheque handed over on Friday.

This will be the 2nd time RM has saved us from administration, he delivered Championship football, and has got us closer to a new stadium than ever before. Once the stadium goes ahead, he will be a hero. He is close to that for me anyways. Just hope he pulls through on Friday.

I think that was down to Messrs Tilson, Brush, Eastwood etc.

 

[shrimperton]

Sorry, just too many lies and pr spin have come from his mouth, how can anyone trust a chairman who has tried to pull the wool over our eyes too many times??

Maybe when all of this is said and done he might say a big sorry to the fans for his crap and explain to us why he has give us sooooo many stories!!

If he would have come out and said

'look things are very tight we will have a small playing squad this year and delay the stadium untill the economic climate is better to first and foremost secure the clubs future, but stick with us things will come good'

kind of statement, then i would have all the respect for the guy, but all he done was give us crap and when he couldnt think of any he sent his Geoff out to call us all idiots basically..

 

[callan]

Too many lies, dont trust him not to get us into more mess.

 

[Firestorm]

Sorry, just too many lies and pr spin have come from his mouth, how can anyone trust a chairman who has tried to pull the wool over our eyes too many times??

Maybe when all of this is said and done he might say a big sorry to the fans for his crap and explain to us why he has give us sooooo many stories!!

If he would have come out and said

'look things are very tight we will have a small playing squad this year and delay the stadium untill the economic climate is better to first and foremost secure the clubs future, but stick with us things will come good'

kind of statement, then i would have all the respect for the guy, but all he done was give us crap and when he couldnt think of any he sent his Geoff out to call us all idiots basically..

Unfortunately a number of people will slag RM what ever he does, there have even been posts on here in the past weeks citing the lack of money spent in the summer and the fact that we are losing money as two reasons to have a go at him.....
Had he come out with an honest response he would have been slaughtered by some.

He came out several months ago and said that there was no panic and he would sort it. It has been sorted so I suppose he was right.

The less you can do about a situation, the louder the noise you make, on here there was nothing anyone could do so we made a lot of noise. RM could do something about it so he chose to do it and not say a great deal.

 

[canveyshrimper]

I've always tried to be supportive of Ron, and to be fair to him he has bought us closer to getting to a new stadium than anyone, and it's hardly his fault that certain circumstances have conspired against him in perhaps the development not happening sooner.

While I agree that at times he may have been economical with the truth, the reality is that in business and life in general you sometimes have to ben the truth, or tell down right black hearted lies.

Is there anyone here that can say they have never told a lie in their lives?

 

[Blues 'n twos]

Unfortunately a number of people will slag RM what ever he does, there have even been posts on here in the past weeks citing the lack of money spent in the summer and the fact that we are losing money as two reasons to have a go at him.....
Had he come out with an honest response he would have been slaughtered by some.

He came out several months ago and said that there was no panic and he would sort it. It has been sorted so I suppose he was right.

The less you can do about a situation, the louder the noise you make, on here there was nothing anyone could do so we made a lot of noise. RM could do something about it so he chose to do it and not say a great deal.

Please remove those rose tinted glasses now, I know some posters only look for the negative stuff and slag off at the first chance they get, but most of us appreciate a little bit of good old fashioned honesty, something RM does not understand.

 

[TBV_Dan]

When he gained the planning permission to build Fossetts Farm, he became a hero for me, but the money situation and the last two weeks has turned me against him, he needs to be 100% truthful with the fans - we pay to watch Southend play, and we deserve to know what's really going on with the club, not lies to keep us happy. Even when and if the debt is payed off in full by Friday, I'll be relieved, but he will be hailed a hero for saving Southend Utd, which I think, he wants to happen. The facts are, he got us into this situation in the first place, he lied about the amount owed being 690k. He has promised the money to HMRC by Friday, and Southend Utd will be saved from going into administration. But Ron Martin isn't the hero, he got us here in the first place, so what he is meerly doing, is giving the HMRC the money owed to them. Until the money has been payed, and things are looking up, and we are getting more money in to the club, getting a few transfers in, and the building of the new stadium is started, he wont be a hero for me.

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

Sorry, just too many lies and pr spin have come from his mouth, how can anyone trust a chairman who has tried to pull the wool over our eyes too many times??

Maybe when all of this is said and done he might say a big sorry to the fans for his crap and explain to us why he has give us sooooo many stories!!

If he would have come out and said

'look things are very tight we will have a small playing squad this year and delay the stadium untill the economic climate is better to first and foremost secure the clubs future, but stick with us things will come good'

kind of statement, then i would have all the respect for the guy, but all he done was give us crap and when he couldnt think of any he sent his Geoff out to call us all idiots basically..

If you were 20 years older you could have endured The Rubins, Anton Johnson (Who stole £70,000 in cash that belonged to the fans) and Vic Jobson .. i think then you will see RM aint all that bad really

This very same debate is going on at EVERY single football club in the country and in 20 years time we will be having this same debate about the incumbant at that time,

 

[canveyshrimper]

Please remove those rose tinted glasses now, I know some posters only look for the negative stuff and slag off at the first chance they get, but most of us appreciate a little bit of good old fashioned honesty, something RM does not understand.

I've known Firestorm for over 30 years and as far as things SUFC are concerned he has ever sported rose tinted specs. The reality is that in business (as I have posted earlier), you cannot always get by with the truth, and nothing but the truth. Cash flow problems in a company however "paper" rich it may be can be a killer, if suppliers here of problems, they'll start demanding payment up front to ensure they aren't stuck with bad debts. I am not defending Ron's actions but stating this out of both realism and practical experience.

And by the way you'll need ****ing good eyesight to see out of FS's specs.

 

[TTS]

I think we need to look at everything here to judge.

How is Ron any different to any other chairman, most chairman are either not liked nor trusted by football fans. Look at Liverpool, Newcastle, Man Utd. Football chairman are normally business first, football second !!

Secondly the world economic crisis is hardly his fault and this has, without a doubt affected our current financial standing. I would also go as far as saying that football itself is on the verge of bankruptcy, not just southend.

Granted FF is not yet built, however we are closer than ever to a new stadium, regardless of the CURRENT situation !!

We never had money when he arrived and we havent any money now, yet in between we have enjoyed some excellent times, granted Tilly and Brush were the managers over this period, however, as I have said in the past, I believe that Tilly, Brush and Ron have all added to the mix.

How many times on this forum have we seen prats saying why cant we sign this player and that player, we should be paying large wages to get these, can you how bad we would have been if this had been the case !!! We are a small clab, with small attendences, yet we have HUGE expectation.

I am not saying that I am of course not upset and frustrated with the current situation, however, unless I myself was prepared to pay and buy EVERYTHING from Ron, including SEL etc, then I have no real say. I also think that the consortium 'bid' was a bit of a joke, do you really think that Ron would sell for a pound (would you ?? - forget the debts etc). Also , if it was serious, why involve the Echo when the 'bid' is being delievered. If this consortium was serious, I personally would gone about it a different way, working with Ron to get us out of this trouble, not jumping on a PR opportunity , with a local paper that for some reason always seems to work against Southend regardless of the chairman.

I love Southend and have been a season ticket holder for 20 years , but I dont see it is a question of 'trusting' Ron, I have faith in the Club standing the test of the time, if this includes 10 points in the troubled times we are in, so beit .

Football fans are football fans first and foremost, as I said above, chairman are not !!

UTB's and lets continue to believe in these troubled times !!

 

[seany t]

Glad we've added a poll now.

Hero or villain?
Yes or no?
Black or white?
Cake or biscuit?

I'm saying 'No'.

 

[Suffolk Blue]

I voted Yes - he's probably a Hero or a Villain; most of us are!

In all seriousness though I can't believe some of the ranting and raging on this board about Ron lying to us.

Here's a fact for you. Everyone lies, including Ron.

Business men lie, football chairmen lie, politicians lie... teachers lie, kids lie, parents lie.

Popes and priests lie, actors and actresses lie, even the Queen lies.

So why get on our high horses here. Ron Martin has a number of objectives one of which might, or might not be to build our club into a bigger, more successful one. If he needs to tell porkies now and then to persuade people to buy from him, sell to him, loan money to him, or to hang on for money he owes to them, then lie your heart out Ron. I'll make up my mind what to believe and what to dismiss, just like I do with everybody else I deal with in my life.

By the way, I lie too; all the time. Trust me, it's the truth!

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

I voted Yes - he's probably a Hero or a Villain; most of us are!

In all seriousness though I can't believe some of the ranting and raging on this board about Ron lying to us.

Here's a fact for you. Everyone lies, including Ron.

Business men lie, football chairmen lie, politicians lie... teachers lie, kids lie, parents lie.

Popes and priests lie, actors and actresses lie, even the Queen lies.

So why get on our high horses here. Ron Martin has a number of objectives one of which might, or might not be to build our club into a bigger, more successful one. If he needs to tell porkies now and then to persuade people to buy from him, sell to him, loan money to him, or to hang on for money he owes to them, then lie your heart out Ron. I'll make up my mind what to believe and what to dismiss, just like I do with everybody else I deal with in my life.

By the way, I lie too; all the time. Trust me, it's the truth!

You liar !!