Questions for Tara/Ron

[Homer]

Difference is your chippy goes bust you find a new one, I don't want to find a new team and I appreciate I can't influence or change things but maybe get things in the open may help!!!

Are we ever going to get the full facts re this clubs finaces in the open forum sadly i dont think we will but i applaud you for trying

 

[rlb999]

I love my local chippy and would be very unhappy if it was to close or change owners. The quality of the cod is excellent and the ribs are the best in Southend.
I do not however go in asking them questions about their management of the fiancés and if they can afford that new fryer. I assume that as a business they are running it how they feel fit. As long as the chips/cod etc. doesn’t become too overpriced I will carry on using them. This particular chippy has been on that corner of southchurch for a good few years and I would be very surprised if it ever shut.
I believe SUFC has been around since 1906 and is still operating through thick and thin. We are currently buying/loaning players and in general everything looks ok. If we sold a lot of top players and had no investment I would start to worry, but that’s not the case.
I know I will be shot down in flames for this but honestly, just mind your own business and let them get on with it.
I am sure you all have other things in your own lives you can worry about and let business people run their own businesses as they see fit.

Shoot you down in flames I will! Without wishing to be rude, either you care about your football club at the same level as you care about your chippy, or you are being massively naive. If your attitude is to let them get on with it, you've clearly forgotten what they were up to less than 2 years ago.

The issue is that SUFC is on the one hand a football club, and on the other a business. The two don't sit well together. If your chippy closes, you'll find another one. If your football club closes, you can always pop up the road to Col U, but I'm guessing most of us would prefer not to. For that reason if your chippy starts doubling the wage bill and doing large cod and chips for a quid, you don't overly bother. However when your football club starts being run in a way that defies basic maths, it's understandable that a fan should ask why.

My questions would be:

1. what was the monthly wage bill in Oct 2010.
2. what was the monthly wage bill in Oct 2011.
3. what is the monthly wage bill as of Feb 2012.
4. (assuming the wage bill is on the up) what's changed at the club to make this possible?

If the answer is that Sainsbury's have given us money and we're slowly spunking it, this should be followed up with questions regarding whether this is a good idea, and what the masterplan is when the money runs out.

If they give the general impression that the new stadium will solve everything, I'd ask them to consider Darlington, Rushden, etc. Whilst I'm sure the new stadium will enable them and their co-directors to get their money back out, and get a return on their investment, how will it ensure our club can balance the books for the next 20 years? Or is the plan to get the stadium, get their money out, and leave someone else to pick up the pieces and balance the books?

I'm delighted with the signings, delighted with our position in the league, and think we have one of the best managers at this level of the game. I just don't understand how it's all possible given where we were at the end of the Tilson era.

 

[rlb999]

Are we ever going to get the full facts re this clubs finaces in the open forum sadly i dont think we will but i applaud you for trying

I don't think we will, but equally it's probably not in their interests to divulge this. Assuming that the finances aren't healthy, if they point out the fact in detail, it won't really assist with any chance they have of attracting future investment.

 

[Homer]

I don't think we will, but equally it's probably not in their interests to divulge this. Assuming that the finances aren't healthy, if they point out the fact in detail, it won't really assist with any chance they have of attracting future investment.

totally agree with you on that

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

This being the pertinent difference, nobody who has looked objectively at the last few years, and the risks in the next few years, would be surprised at all if the club had to enter administration.

While I fully agree with you here,as you're one of those supporters,who I believe, currently boycotts matches at Roots Hall,I wonder if you could explain how your actions might be helping to avoid or even prevent the club going into administration, in the future? I'm sure Tara would like to know.:winking:

 

[canveyshrimper]

Are we ever going to get the full facts re this clubs finaces in the open forum sadly i dont think we will but i applaud you for trying

The answer to this is yes, but eventually. The club are duty bound to hold an Annual General Meeting where the accounts should be presented and ratified. However RM delayed and delayed the last AGM and the next one will only confirm the accounts for 2010/11, we won't know the result of 2011/12 until sometime inAutumn 2013.

Therefore it's important to keep asking the questions and hopefully Brady will turn up to the next meeting and give us more clarity.

 

[Homer]

The answer to this is yes, but eventually. The club are duty bound to hold an Annual General Meeting where the accounts should be presented and ratified. However RM delayed and delayed the last AGM and the next one will only confirm the accounts for 2010/11, we won't know the result of 2011/12 until sometime inAutumn 2013.

Therefore it's important to keep asking the questions and hopefully Brady will turn up to the next meeting and give us more clarity.

It would be nice for him to respond to the questions that ken mentioned on Wend night that where being sent to TB

 

[southchurch]

I see a lot of concern regarding finances at the club. I do however think these questions are skewed by an underlying mistrust of our management and the way they operate.

I don't agree that the new stadium would mean that directors automatically recoup the money invested. You only have to glance back through southends history to see they have struggled with debt virtually through out there existence as a club.
The club may be gambling that they get promotion this season and then may gamble again and try for the championship. The thinking would be that a 20 000 capacity stadium is a mill stone round your neck if your not in a division that can justify it.

We could play it safe and kick about around the bottom of division 2 being happy to finish mid table. I would rather we did take the gamble and if it all goes wrong we will end up in administration. But we will survive one way or the other.

If on the other hand the gamble pays off , we could once and for all be a club to be proud of who play at a high level and bring the football we've all dreamed of for all these years.

 

[Jam_Man]

Two questions Id like to know

1) If we are losing 100k a month, whats the medium/long term plan to keep the club going ?
2) Is the ground going to be 3 sided and if so what guarantee will there be a 4th stand because it very much looks like we will end up with a joke of a stadium for some years.


At present the current situation to me loooks like RM is tied to SUFC due to the debts he has built up in getting FF off the ground. He cant leave till he gets his return so will hang on until it is done.

Then however he has no reason to be here and I think will want out. The ground will be finished (according to the plan) aso Sainsburys will build their store.

At that point we have a stadium thats no bigger than roots Hall, and awful to play in due to 3 sides, with no one to pump money into it as to build the 4th stand will not give the same return than redeveloping Roots Hall would.

 

[united we stand]

We all know that there is stuff that Tara can not tell us as it is commercially sensitive, and I understand that and therefore if he can not answe the first three questions fair enought.


I have four questions that I would have liked to have asked last week.

• From a supporters view it 'appears' that financially there have been great steps forwards. Tara said a few months ago that the monthly loss has dropped from £100,000 to £60,000 iirc (Please correct me if I am wrong) . There are no rumors of us have unpaid bills (players /suppliers/HMRC), or indeed examples of this . We are signing players , added to that the chairman’s offer re the floodlight fiasco was very generous (even if the actual cost is minimal vs the goodwill). What has changed ?

· Related to the above , at the beginning of the season we were told that Paul’s budget would be closely linked to attendances. You have also stated that attendances were disappointing . Adding to this we have not have good cup runs. However Paul has still been able to increase and improve the quality of the squad which I am delighted by(assuming it isn’t a massive gamble that we cannot afford to lose), what has changed?

· We have all seen the new Stadium news on the Southend Council website, and we have our own opinions on whether it is good news or bad news. Can Tara give us an overview of where we are, any big changes that we may be unaware of , the next steps and any timeframes that we are working to

• Did Tara receive any direct feedback on his comments on attendances? The comment on home support levels did not go down well with supporters on this board. This would be fine if it resulted in more bums on seats, but it didn't. Maybe a better approach would be a passionate plea to supporters to come back and watch and to judge for themselves, and for those that attend regularly to bring a friend, and to restate the difference the crowd can make. May be its the right time for another interview in the Echo stating just how far the club has come in the last year ?

 

[Blue_Wes]

How are we more stable than 18 months ago?

If its a continued bail out then who is currently bank rolling us?

How many and which inidivuals or company's have injected money to keep the club afloat to date? And do they all have a peice of the golden egg which is FF.

How much have we been lent against FF?

For all the investment what happens to the club if FF never happens?

When/if the stadium is built how will SUFC be self sufficient?

The latest Council meeting would suggest we are just as far away from seeing FF as we ever have been, why and realistically how long are we going to wait?

How much is our Wage cap budget?

Are we gambling finances on promotion?

Your not happy with attendances, do you really not understand just how badly RM damaged the relationship between club and fans? Also in austerity £22 to roll up on the day is difficult for family's. What is the current break even attendance?

At the Q&A with Paul Sturrcock, Gary Lockett said it was about 7,000.

 

[undercovershrimper]

What happened to the Ricky Otto and Chris Powell monies?

 

[TrueBlue]

What happened to the Ricky Otto and Chris Powell monies?

Paid for Vic Jobsons funeral

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I love my local chippy and would be very unhappy if it was to close or change owners. The quality of the cod is excellent and the ribs are the best in Southend.
I do not however go in asking them questions about their management of the fiancés and if they can afford that new fryer. I assume that as a business they are running it how they feel fit. As long as the chips/cod etc. doesn’t become too overpriced I will carry on using them. This particular chippy has been on that corner of southchurch for a good few years and I would be very surprised if it ever shut.
I believe SUFC has been around since 1906 and is still operating through thick and thin. We are currently buying/loaning players and in general everything looks ok. If we sold a lot of top players and had no investment I would start to worry, but that’s not the case.
I know I will be shot down in flames for this but honestly, just mind your own business and let them get on with it.
I am sure you all have other things in your own lives you can worry about and let business people run their own businesses as they see fit.

Would you buy a car on the basis that it's got 50,000 miles on the clock so it must work?

 

[Fairport]

As usual on this type of thread there are some really well thought and pertinent questions. At the end of the day though Martin and Brady will not give a clear picture of the club's financial situation. The only way most clubs seem to operate successfully is if they have a benefactor or group of people with deep pockets or they go into administration, wipe out their debts and start again.
Martin doesn't want to sell and he also wants to avoid administration so we are where we are!

 

[Smiffy]

I have a question for Ron...

What are the current outstanding loan amounts due to current/ex directors?

And on what terms are these loans taken and due?

Also, what are the re-percussions if these re-payments are not met?

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I have a question for Ron...

What are the current outstanding loan amounts due to current/ex directors?

And on what terms are these loans taken and due?

Also, what are the re-percussions if these re-payments are not met?

Normally the Directors are big supporters of their club. Apart from them and Ron, who knows when they are due their money. Directors are normally back of the queue, and would only really push for their money if they felt the club was going under or the club comes into a windfall.

 

[Cricko]

Normally the Directors are big supporters of their club. Apart from them and Ron, who knows when they are due their money. Directors are normally back of the queue, and would only really push for their money if they felt the club was going under or the club comes into a windfall.

I would think it depends on the terms of the loan and if those terms were adhered to.

 

[Ex-SouthendUnitedEmployee]

My questions would be:

1. what was the monthly wage bill in Oct 2010.
2. what was the monthly wage bill in Oct 2011.
3. what is the monthly wage bill as of Feb 2012.
4. (assuming the wage bill is on the up) what's changed at the club to make this possible?

Are you Steve Evans?

 

[rlb999]

Are you Steve Evans?

No. He's a ****. I kind of like this club and don't see why others aren't as bothered as I am. We've got some great new signings, but Luggy also wanted to move some on, and it seems that's not been possible.