'Protests'

[palexander]

I must admit to being slightly embarrassed watching the feature on us on Late Kick Off and seeing the 'baying mob'.

Anyone else?

I've got much respect for True Blue in going with what he believes in and rallying such an event, but:

"WHAT DO WE WANT? MARTIN OUT! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW!"

Really?

I wasnt surprised to see the 'mob' was mostly made up of younger fans who are rightly passionate, but perhaps not thinking the bigger picture through.

If taken literally and Ron walked tomorrow, would we be any better off? I'd suggest if he took his debt out of the club then we'd be pretty much up **** street and finished as a football club.

I'd suggest in reality:

"WHAT DO WE WANT? ANSWERS! WHEN DO WE WANT THEM? NOW!"

Because in truth, the path Ron has us on is probably the best course of action. Short term, its seat of our pants stuff, but the long term vision is one I'm sure most fans would want and he is well on the way to delivering that.

If Ron can deliver the stadium and set SUFC on a path to a better future, then he will be hailed a hero, no matter what has gone before.

So may I suggest a little bit of cooling off time? By all means protest - alot of what is going on at the club is terrible at the moment - but be careful what you wish for!

This isnt a Pro-Ron post - I dont particularly like the guy from what I know of him (which I am sure he is devestated with!?) and his lies and spin are absolutely frustrating and diabolical at times, but we have enjoyed the best spell of recent history under his leadership and when you step back, achieved a hell of a lot of good on AND off the pitch over the last 10 years or so.

I felt a bit sorry for him in that piece - I've got total respect for him coming out to face the mob and the response he got was pretty rough. I'm sure if he had come out and taken 3-5 of the protestors aside and spoke it through rationally they wouldnt have been screaming "C*NT!" and "W*NKER!" to his face - the power of the mob eh? Not really the way to go about it in my opinion.

 

[SUFCFANS]

best post if seen on here regarding Ron.. If nothing else he probably gives more time to fans at our club than any other chairman does at other clubs.

Things aren't great, but I still believe he will deliver 0 and if he does that something many before him have failed to do!

 

[BrettieAngell]

I thought it was supposed to be a peaceful protest.

 

[EastStandBlue]

I said as much this time last week when the protest was proposed. Without a clear idea of what people are protesting about it ran the risk of descending into a lynch mob which is exactly what happened.

I've no problem with protesting as long as people have a clear idea of what's both wanted and needed. By calling RM a C-Unit and a ******, it's counter productive and embarassing, made even worse because the press picked up on it and sent cameras galore down to catch their indignation on film.

If anything, RM has come out of this better than the protesters.

 

[bilbyboy]

I herald everything said here so far, i truly believed that the object of the protest was to get more clarity and honesty, not to get Martin out. I am a Martin hater, i do not agree with the lies and the spin, but i feel the only way out is sticking with Ron. Full marks to him for coming out and facing the 'mob', sadly he clearly was not given a chance to speak. Any further protests should be better organised and better planned, with of course, clear objectives. UTB.

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

I agree, the protest was embarrassing, and I do feel sorry for Ron. It's just the typical thing that happens. The protesting doesn't actually show the actual problem, the reports don't show the actual problem, the national reports are just copy and pasting the half negative reports and changing it into doubly negative reports! It's just Ron's apparent 'lies and spin' being turned into the papers 'lies and spin' Adding to the horrendous problem. We don't want Ron out, whatever anyone says! As was said above, we want answers not for him to leave. The ideal thing we want is Ron to be on board with the 'consortium' He's showing he cares.

People may say, 'How the hell is he going to be able to pay this 80 million pound off for the ground' Obviously this will be loaned money. But Ron must have looked at every Avenue. Even though how 'too long sighted' it may seem. He's doing the right thing.

I just hope we get some real answers about this whole conundrum.

Now let's believe we can get out this position we've done it before.
UTB

 

[Welly7]

Personally, I think Ron's got off with an awful lot in terms of abuse, protests, etc when you consider all thats been going on. A mini protest isn't going to change anything, but I don't see anything wrong in voicing your opinions to our Chairman. Swearing and calling him names, obviously isn't constructive, but passions run high and Ron's been leading us a merry old dance for too long now. As the original post says, it's answers and the truth that fans want and hopefully Ron will realise that by giving us some straight answers.
As for Martin facing the crowd, whatever you think of him, the man has some balls!!

 

[shrimperton]

From the picture i saw in the echo, it looked that everyone was about 12yrs old and protesting to their mum about a pocket money rise!!

 

[Rusty Lee]

I hear a lot of people mentioning how the protested should of been better organised but i don't see anyone willing to stand up and provide that leadership. I agree we need handouts to the protesters with the general message and what the group are aiming to achieve. A protest by its very nature is most likely to be anarchic.

On another point, Ron Martin, has raped the club of almost every asset, the ground, sold the catering facilities to a 3rd party, sold the bars to the breweries. Then has no business plan for us to survive as a legitimate business, based on the remaining revenue streams. Anyone would think it is in he's interest for the football club not to continue.

 

[palexander]

I hear a lot of people mentioning how the protested should of been better organised but i don't see anyone willing to stand up and provide that leadership. I agree we need handouts to the protesters with the general message and what the group are aiming to achieve. A protest by its very nature is most likely to be anarchic.

On another point,no Ron Martin, has raped the club of almost every asset, the ground, sold the catering facilities to a 3rd party, sold the bars to the breweries. Then has no business plan for us to survive as a legitimate business, based on the remaining revenue streams. Anyone would think it is in he's interest for the football club not to continue.

My point initially is do we need a protest in such a fashion?

My personal feeling is I did not support the idea of the protest - all it achieves is bad feeling and we are in enough **** as a club now, so lets all stick together, get behind Ron (for better or worse), Tilson and the players and try to survive this season not only in Lg1, but in our very existance.

Grouping together a mob and screaming abuse is not the answer.

 

[SUFCFANS]

No one with good leadership skills has stepped forward because those type of people realise or are of the opinion that protests aren't the way forward.

Ron's in charge - he owns the club - no one can sack him apart from himself. He has a clear vision re the stadium - we're have suffered on the pitch - BUT still very much higher up the league than we were when he took over. Planning permission is all sorted - no easy task! We may go down - so be it! We know he's working VERY hard to get things sorted - he knows what he's doing. In all honesty I'd prefer Ron in charge vs the consortium to whom SUFC would probably be just an expensive hobby.

Let Ron do his thing, after all he bought the club!!

 

[palexander]

No one with good leadership skills has stepped forward because those type of people realise or are of the opinion that protests aren't the way forward.

Ron's in charge - he owns the club - no one can sack him apart from himself. He has a clear vision re the stadium - we're have suffered on the pitch - BUT still very much higher up the league than we were when he took over. Planning permission is all sorted - no easy task! We may go down - so be it! We know he's working VERY hard to get things sorted - he knows what he's doing. In all honesty I'd prefer Ron in charge vs the consortium to whom SUFC would probably be just an expensive hobby.

Let Ron do his thing, after all he bought the club!!

Very much a case of 'better the devil you know' :)

 

[Rusty Lee]

No one with good leadership skills has stepped forward because those type of people realise or are of the opinion that protests aren't the way forward.

Ron's in charge - he owns the club - no one can sack him apart from himself. He has a clear vision re the stadium - we're have suffered on the pitch - BUT still very much higher up the league than we were when he took over. Planning permission is all sorted - no easy task! We may go down - so be it! We know he's working VERY hard to get things sorted - he knows what he's doing. In all honesty I'd prefer Ron in charge vs the consortium to whom SUFC would probably be just an expensive hobby.

Let Ron do his thing, after all he bought the club!!

He bought the real estate, and I agree he is working very hard to make sure he doesn't loose the lucrative deal on the fossets farm, which without the name of Southend United he would of never got permission to build on. Mr Martin is trying to make money for himself, which I understand, but you dont risk a football club which has over 100 years history in doing so.

 

[SUFCFANS]

yes, but if the football club folds he can't build on FF!

 

[mattytheshrimper]

Personally, I think Ron's got off with an awful lot in terms of abuse, protests, etc when you consider all thats been going on. A mini protest isn't going to change anything, but I don't see anything wrong in voicing your opinions to our Chairman

i couldnt agree with you more there. he's got away with murder and i thinkn we have been very understanding tbh.

you hear prem champ and even league 1 teams boooing even their near the top and they draw or lose yet we've watched frankly crap all season pretty much and barely a peep out of us.

the final straw was used up last week and really martin must of expected it.

even now with the state we are on people still want to defend him. each to there own but i find it quite hard to believe sometimes.

as fans being called embarassing makes you sound even more stupid.

too many people are prepared to sit back and let our club be raped.

 

[palexander]

i couldnt agree with you more there. he's got away with murder and i thinkn we have been very understanding tbh.

you hear prem champ and even league 1 teams boooing even their near the top and they draw or lose yet we've watched frankly crap all season pretty much and barely a peep out of us.

the final straw was used up last week and really martin must of expected it.

even now with the state we are on people still want to defend him. each to there own but i find it quite hard to believe sometimes.

as fans being called embarassing makes you sound even more stupid.

too many people are prepared to sit back and let our club be raped.

What or who do you suggest as an alternative to Ron Martin right now?

 

[SUFCFANS]

i couldnt agree with you more there. he's got away with murder and i thinkn we have been very understanding tbh.

you hear prem champ and even league 1 teams boooing even their near the top and they draw or lose yet we've watched frankly crap all season pretty much and barely a peep out of us.

the final straw was used up last week and really martin must of expected it.

even now with the state we are on people still want to defend him. each to there own but i find it quite hard to believe sometimes.

as fans being called embarassing makes you sound even more stupid.

too many people are prepared to sit back and let our club be raped.

What has he got away with? The club/team are higher up the league when he took over. He has secured planning permission for 22k seater stadium. We've had some of the best times as supporters of SUFC in the last 5 years. There is a cash flow issue and we may go down to league 2 - as did MK Dons/Swansea during the development of their new stadiums etc..

Anyone who's tried to get mortgage in the last two years will tell you things are tight for everyone, for every type of business and people need to be creative. People who want to protest should have a think about things..

 

[Thorpe Groyney]

Frankly I find it unbelievable that people can be so snobbish and patronising towards a faction of their own supporters.

So some people aren't as literate or articulate as others. So some are easily led by a very few. So some people use raw emotion, arising from pent up frustration of not being able to do a thing about the off-pitch shambles and the fear of the club going under.

These people have as much right to make their feelings known as a few clever clogs writing witticisms or critiques on a message board.

And yes, the brave Ron Martin, facing a 'lynch mob', with ony half a dozen security stewards and a few policemen standing around him. If is entirely his fault that he had to go out there, that there had to be a protest, in the first place.

For a few of them, it was the only way they could make their feelings known. I wouldn't, and didn't, join in with name calling or the chanting, but I saw people that care about their club. If people are embarrassed by that, it's their problem.

 

[Rusty Lee]

Frankly I find it unbelievable that people can be so snobbish and patronising towards a faction of their own supporters.

So some people aren't as literate or articulate as others. So some are easily led by a very few. So some people use raw emotion, arising from pent up frustration of not being able to do a thing about the off-pitch shambles and the fear of the club going under.

These people have as much right to make their feelings known as a few clever clogs writing witticisms or critiques on a message board.

And yes, the brave Ron Martin, facing a 'lynch mob', with ony half a dozen security stewards and a few policemen standing around him. If is entirely his fault that he had to go out there, that there had to be a protest, in the first place.

For a few of them, it was the only way they could make their feelings known. I wouldn't, and didn't, join in with name calling or the chanting, but I saw people that care about their club. If people are embarrassed by that, it's their problem.

Well put, this issue will raise tensions, but when your club is as close to going out of business as we are then that will be the case.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

What has he got away with? The club/team are higher up the league when he took over. He has secured planning permission for 22k seater stadium. We've had some of the best times as supporters of SUFC in the last 5 years. QUOTE]

great memories but sadly all in the past. need to move on.