fbm
Blue tinted optimistā
This isn't intended as a rose tinted post and I am certainly not seeing all things as sunshine and flowers as someone suggested on another thread.
But at times like this it is very easy to be swept along on a bandwagon of fear and despair, with an awful lot of statements being made that are really without foundation. Assumptions are made and people add 2 and 2 together and come up with 5.
So before there are any mass protests, full page ads etc, lets look at some hard facts. These are NOT opinions - they are facts.
1) Are we in administration? No. I was tempted to put not yet, but then none of us have access to the bank accounts and finances so none of us know how close that is. We may go into administration or we may not. But we aren't there yet.
2) Are we struggling on the pitch? No. The performances have been good but results have not gone our way. We have been unlucky in some games and mugged by the ref in another. One way of looking at it is that we have not won for 5 matches. Another is to say we have only lost 1 in 5. Things certainly have been more encouraging that many thought.
3) Are we in danger of dropping out of the football league? No. We are a division above that scenario.
4) Are we under a transfer embargo? No. No sign of one either.
5) Do we have a dwindling support? No. Decent crowds so far, good advance season ticket sales.
6) Have we ever had points deducted? No.
Now just those 6 points put us in a better position than over half of the entire football league.
In addition we have the added benefit (although some may not see it as such) of having the club run as a proper business. Ron has had a wage structure in place and has refused to break it as well as keeping a tight rein on the pursestrings.
So what exactly is it that we are so worried about?
Well, we have a small squad that became smaller yesterday. A small, tight knit squad induces team spirit and Tilly has always wanted a small squad so that isn't of Ron's making. Granted, I don't think Tilly wanted it to be THIS small but we currently have 18 players of which 2 are loanees. Before the three subs rule came in it was quite normal for teams to only have that many in the squad anyway and some of the best teams in history have played an entire season and won the league using only 17 players. It's only the 7 subs on the bench rule that highlights this shortage and whilst there is little to no strength in depth it could easily be worse.
What we do have is a local paper that for some reason seems to be keen on stirring things up to such a degree that everyone is now in a state of near panic.
I do not know Geoff King and have never spoken to him but certainly it seems as though he could have handled certain matters better. People I know who HAVE met him indicate he didn't graduate from charm school but then to be a good CE you aren't aiming to be popular. Sometimes decisions need to be made that are unpopular and all good business men have to have that ruthless streak and not let the heart rule the head. This is incredibly difficult to do with a football club as it is such an emotive sport.
Personally, if the club ARE in difficulties, I am relieved that action is being taken to address that by cutting the wage bill. If SUFC were a quoted company on the FTSE yesterdays announcements would have had a positive effect on the share price.
Interesting that Chris Phillips is attacking Ron Martin and the board over supposed financial issues yet he was one who, all last season and so far this season has been calling for the club to spend money and sign someone on a permanent basis! In Spinners interview he quotes Spinner as questioning where the Freddy Eastwood sale money has gone. Well, the club is still alive, the stadium is apparently still on the horizon and the accounts are public so there really wasn't any need to print that as it makes Spinner look thick and Chris look vindictive. Maybe he is; it could be that he was royally cheesed off with RM for criticising him last season over some mis-reportings that were blazoned across the Echo.
There is one quote in Geoff Kings article that however says it all for me and we would all do well to remember it. It was in response to a direct question about fears that the club may go into administration and his answer was
"No. It seems some people don't have anything better to do than start these rumours.
It's all well and good moaning from the outside but these people want to be in our seats and then they would realise how hard it is to run a football club."
That last highlighted sentence is the biggest fact of the lot.
Finally, to those who say the club should have been more up front and honest, consider this; lets say we got drawn away at a biggish London club in round 2 of the Carling Cup and won in front of a decent crowd, then got a plum draw again which was picked as a TV game.
There would have been no need for anything to be said at all yet.
If Ron is guilty of anything it is being too open about certain things and giving too much information to people who have no idea how to correctly process it.
It may well be that all the prophets of doom are proved correct. However, it may well also be that we run a very tight ship, scarpe through the next season or two and then emerge stronger in a more favourable economic climate with a new ground, new facilities and a better future.
But either way, none of us know FOR CERTAIN what is going on and it seems unlikely that we ever will know. Just be grateful we aren't supporters of any of the 90-odd clubs that have gone into administration since the mid 1980's, the 8 teams that have had or still have transfer embargoes, the 11 former league teams that are now in the conference, the 9 teams that currently occupy the relegation places in the FL, the 24 teams in L2 (all of which stand a chance of dropping out of the league), the God knows how many teams who have had points deductions in the past for one reason or another or in fact any side that isn't Southend United who, as we all know, are by far the greatest team the world has ever seen.
But at times like this it is very easy to be swept along on a bandwagon of fear and despair, with an awful lot of statements being made that are really without foundation. Assumptions are made and people add 2 and 2 together and come up with 5.
So before there are any mass protests, full page ads etc, lets look at some hard facts. These are NOT opinions - they are facts.
1) Are we in administration? No. I was tempted to put not yet, but then none of us have access to the bank accounts and finances so none of us know how close that is. We may go into administration or we may not. But we aren't there yet.
2) Are we struggling on the pitch? No. The performances have been good but results have not gone our way. We have been unlucky in some games and mugged by the ref in another. One way of looking at it is that we have not won for 5 matches. Another is to say we have only lost 1 in 5. Things certainly have been more encouraging that many thought.
3) Are we in danger of dropping out of the football league? No. We are a division above that scenario.
4) Are we under a transfer embargo? No. No sign of one either.
5) Do we have a dwindling support? No. Decent crowds so far, good advance season ticket sales.
6) Have we ever had points deducted? No.
Now just those 6 points put us in a better position than over half of the entire football league.
In addition we have the added benefit (although some may not see it as such) of having the club run as a proper business. Ron has had a wage structure in place and has refused to break it as well as keeping a tight rein on the pursestrings.
So what exactly is it that we are so worried about?
Well, we have a small squad that became smaller yesterday. A small, tight knit squad induces team spirit and Tilly has always wanted a small squad so that isn't of Ron's making. Granted, I don't think Tilly wanted it to be THIS small but we currently have 18 players of which 2 are loanees. Before the three subs rule came in it was quite normal for teams to only have that many in the squad anyway and some of the best teams in history have played an entire season and won the league using only 17 players. It's only the 7 subs on the bench rule that highlights this shortage and whilst there is little to no strength in depth it could easily be worse.
What we do have is a local paper that for some reason seems to be keen on stirring things up to such a degree that everyone is now in a state of near panic.
I do not know Geoff King and have never spoken to him but certainly it seems as though he could have handled certain matters better. People I know who HAVE met him indicate he didn't graduate from charm school but then to be a good CE you aren't aiming to be popular. Sometimes decisions need to be made that are unpopular and all good business men have to have that ruthless streak and not let the heart rule the head. This is incredibly difficult to do with a football club as it is such an emotive sport.
Personally, if the club ARE in difficulties, I am relieved that action is being taken to address that by cutting the wage bill. If SUFC were a quoted company on the FTSE yesterdays announcements would have had a positive effect on the share price.
Interesting that Chris Phillips is attacking Ron Martin and the board over supposed financial issues yet he was one who, all last season and so far this season has been calling for the club to spend money and sign someone on a permanent basis! In Spinners interview he quotes Spinner as questioning where the Freddy Eastwood sale money has gone. Well, the club is still alive, the stadium is apparently still on the horizon and the accounts are public so there really wasn't any need to print that as it makes Spinner look thick and Chris look vindictive. Maybe he is; it could be that he was royally cheesed off with RM for criticising him last season over some mis-reportings that were blazoned across the Echo.
There is one quote in Geoff Kings article that however says it all for me and we would all do well to remember it. It was in response to a direct question about fears that the club may go into administration and his answer was
"No. It seems some people don't have anything better to do than start these rumours.
It's all well and good moaning from the outside but these people want to be in our seats and then they would realise how hard it is to run a football club."
That last highlighted sentence is the biggest fact of the lot.
Finally, to those who say the club should have been more up front and honest, consider this; lets say we got drawn away at a biggish London club in round 2 of the Carling Cup and won in front of a decent crowd, then got a plum draw again which was picked as a TV game.
There would have been no need for anything to be said at all yet.
If Ron is guilty of anything it is being too open about certain things and giving too much information to people who have no idea how to correctly process it.
It may well be that all the prophets of doom are proved correct. However, it may well also be that we run a very tight ship, scarpe through the next season or two and then emerge stronger in a more favourable economic climate with a new ground, new facilities and a better future.
But either way, none of us know FOR CERTAIN what is going on and it seems unlikely that we ever will know. Just be grateful we aren't supporters of any of the 90-odd clubs that have gone into administration since the mid 1980's, the 8 teams that have had or still have transfer embargoes, the 11 former league teams that are now in the conference, the 9 teams that currently occupy the relegation places in the FL, the 24 teams in L2 (all of which stand a chance of dropping out of the league), the God knows how many teams who have had points deductions in the past for one reason or another or in fact any side that isn't Southend United who, as we all know, are by far the greatest team the world has ever seen.
