Ron Martin - A disgrace!

[Thundersley Blue]

Ron isn't blameless by any means. I just feel he lost sight of what we really are.We will not reach the Championship and have any chance of staying there until the Stadium comes to fruition. Therefore, I fail to see the benefit of many, if any of the recent signings. Unless you have millions to spend , it is very hard to buy success, especially when you are shopping in the basement.

Ron's priority is to see the slide into oblivion halted. He needs to stop managers signing over paid, over the hill footballers and totally reinvigorate the squad with players, who are striving to better themselves. May not get us promoted for a season or two, but so what, we will still exist.

The Club has to become self sufficent. That will take time, but we can't rely on Ron's handouts for ever. I agree, if Ron leaves tomorrow, then the Club ceases to exist and that is a real weakness to be so reliant on one man.

Should the club not get the strategy right, then we will be fighting a relegation battle again next year. We wouldn't need a 20,000 seat stadium in the National League.

 

[onceknownasrab]

Nobody wants to have negative publicity or not pay wages. Ron least of all. Sadly it is a fact of life and far from uncommon in lower league football. It does have, to a degree, a detrimental effect. However, as history has proven, there will be plenty of players still prepared to take the risk and join us. I was surprised by Paul Clarke's comments. I think he is an excellent co-commentator but I don't know why he thinks the current situation will seriously jeopardise recruitment. We have had a number of embargoes and pay delays and subsequently signed players. Clubs, and players alike, have long been aware of our difficulties and I dare say it fails to even raise an eyebrow.

 

[Ricky Otto]

Ron isn't blameless by any means. I just feel he lost sight of what we really are.We will not reach the Championship and have any chance of staying there until the Stadium comes to fruition. Therefore, I fail to see the benefit of many, if any of the recent signings. Unless you have millions to spend , it is very hard to buy success, especially when you are shopping in the basement.

Ron's priority is to see the slide into oblivion halted. He needs to stop managers signing over paid, over the hill footballers and totally reinvigorate the squad with players, who are striving to better themselves. May not get us promoted for a season or two, but so what, we will still exist.

The Club has to become self sufficent. That will take time, but we can't rely on Ron's handouts for ever. I agree, if Ron leaves tomorrow, then the Club ceases to exist and that is a real weakness to be so reliant on one man.

Should the club not get the strategy right, then we will be fighting a relegation battle again next year. We wouldn't need a 20,000 seat stadium in the National League.

Ron isn't blameless like you say but I do have some sympathy as I think I would have made some of the same mistakes he did. I think our geography attracts players that would not be interested in a club of our size or league standing ordinarily. I can think of a few signings that many were surprised we pulled off Cox, Ferdinand and Kightly off the top of my head. I remember there being reported championship interest for both Cox and Kightly when we signed them so they wouldn't have been cheap but when quality like that comes up there must be massive temptation to sign them. I think I'd have signed all 3 of them.

Cox was a successful signing, I think he delivered as expected for the wage he was on. I also think extending the contract at a lower wage is something most fans would have done at the time. I don't know if there were signs he was a divisive character then, maybe? But I don't think it was clear cut. I don't think signing Cox was a mistake but the extension of contract may have been, it is a mistake I would have made as well.

Kightly had just spend the tail end of the season on loan the championship scoring 10 goals IRC for Burton saving them from relegation. Burton desperately wanted him back and we got the opportunity to sign him in league one where the general consensus on here was he would tear it up. I expected him to be a star week in week out. He was expensive and the contract was longer than I'd have liked but that was what was necessary to land him. It looked like a gamble that was weighted in our favour, he took up a big chunk of the playing budget but on paper he might have been the best player in the league. I think I'd have made this mistake too and this IMO was a massive mistake!

Ferdinand I had reservations about at first but a one year contract was not great risk and we badly needed someone new in defence, so yeah I'd have made this signing too. Great signing, Anton turned us around and had a blinding season. He was slow as anything but seemed to read the game to such a standard that it wasn't important so when we signed him for another 2 years I thought it was a good move and again one I would have made. Most on here were in favour of extending his contract and most on here also didn't think his performances were up to scratch after that 1st season. FWIW I think he was overplayed and if his schedule had been managed better we might have seen the Anton we saw in his 1st season.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

Even though Westy (who apparently knows everything) has stated everyone has been paid, they clearly haven't. People I know personally have been paid however I have heard a few others haven't and judging by Chris Phillips retweet last night, it looks like he supports what I'm saying here.

 

[wakes123]

Doesn't there come a time when "can't pay and won't pay" has been used as an excuse too many times in the past and shouldn't be tolerated again?

The problem we now have is what does that part in bold mean in practice? The things I can think of (boycotting matches, driving Ron out of the club etc.) all lead to the club almost certainly folding in the short-term.

Whether we like or not, we need Ron to survive as a club currently. No one in their right mind would buy our club in the state it's currently in.

 

[Rob1920]

I can't be bothered to type a huge post (much to everyone's relief). In summary I don't think RM is a con-man, I don't think he deliberately allowed staff to be paid late. I think circumstances conspired against him on this occasion and he got caught out. He's continually pumping money into the club to try and keep us competitive, and is probably more aggrieved than the rest of us about how its going, considering its his money. He could have just budgeted for us to lounge around mid-table L2 until his goose finally lays its golden stadium, but he hasn't. I actually think we've got a decent chairman/owner all things considered, and I wouldn't support any anti-Ron protests or chants etc.

 

[gazza]

Ron isn't blameless by any means. I just feel he lost sight of what we really are.We will not reach the Championship and have any chance of staying there until the Stadium comes to fruition. Therefore, I fail to see the benefit of many, if any of the recent signings. Unless you have millions to spend , it is very hard to buy success, especially when you are shopping in the basement.

Ron's priority is to see the slide into oblivion halted. He needs to stop managers signing over paid, over the hill footballers and totally reinvigorate the squad with players, who are striving to better themselves. May not get us promoted for a season or two, but so what, we will still exist.

The Club has to become self sufficent. That will take time, but we can't rely on Ron's handouts for ever. I agree, if Ron leaves tomorrow, then the Club ceases to exist and that is a real weakness to be so reliant on one man.

Should the club not get the strategy right, then we will be fighting a relegation battle again next year. We wouldn't need a 20,000 seat stadium in the National League.

Couldn’t have said it better myself, totally agree.

 

[fbm]

Ron isn't blameless like you say but I do have some sympathy as I think I would have made some of the same mistakes he did.

Absolutely this and it's a great post.

There was a thread a few weeks back about learning from mistakes; well aside from the ones you list, there were others, some going back a while.

Mistakes -

1) Getting rid of Brown - was that a mistake? With hindsight some will say yes, but it was clear he had lost the plot to some degree and there were huge divisions in the squad. At the time even a lot of the Brown supporters reluctantly thought it was probably the right thing to do. The fans were at each others throats, there were punch ups in the stands and the appointment of Powell 100% united the fans and the rest of our season was awesome, title winning form.
2) Getting rid of Powell - was that a mistake? He had the worst luck injury wise but you could see the man was beaten. He didn't know what to do next. As much as I was a SCP fan, if he had stayed we would have dropped down a league.
3) Appointing Bond as a caretaker - oddest decision ever but it was all about Harry. Turned out to be a masterstroke and we stayed up.
4) Appointing Bond permanently - this is - in my opinion - one that I think most of us wouldn't have made and possibly can be categorised as a mistake. But to be fair, if we'd appointed someone else and still been down here, we'd all be saying "Ron should have kept Bond". It's very easy, this hindsight game...
5) The signings of Milligan, Shaughnessy, Goodship and Ralph - were they mistakes AT THE TIME? Absolutely not and there wasn't one dissenting voice on here, possibly caution over Goodship but generally we couldn't believe we had signed them, especially Shaughnessy after his performance in the Millwall friendly.
6) Not getting rid of Bond sooner - this, I do think, was a mistake that could have been avoided. I know Ron was away but I'm sure he could have had a spokesperson deal with matters.
7) Taking so long to appoint a successor - probably another mistake but by the same token, it wasn't going to be a rush to get anyone in because we had to get the right man. We had already experienced that the "Anybody except Bond" option wasn't going to work after Waddock stepped in.

So that's that. I'm pretty sure 99% of us - given the circumstances being the same - would have done the same as RM.

 

[Mick]

I can't be bothered to type a huge post (much to everyone's relief). In summary I don't think RM is a con-man, I don't think he deliberately allowed staff to be paid late. I think circumstances conspired against him on this occasion and he got caught out.

......... "on this occasion" and on so many others over the last 20 years.

 

[RHB]

Do I think Ron is a disgrace? Well, no I don't.
Do I think he has made mistakes chasing the holy grail of the Championship or building a new ground? Well, yes I do.
Is there anyone currently ready to ride in on white horse and invest? Most probably not.
Has he kept the club going (often by the skin of his teeth)? well, yes he has.
Does he care for the club? Well, yes I think he does (now).
Does his choice of shirts each season leave much to desired? Well, yes it does.
Does he care if the bogs in the West Stand are below acceptable standards? Probably not.
Does he care if the rain pours through the entrance roof to the West Stand when the lights are on? Well, no I don't think he does?
Will I renew my S/T with him in charge? Well, yes I will.
Will he still be at the club next season? Well, yes I think he will.
Will he keep us in the Football League? Well, yes I think he will.
Will he continue to add colour to his hair? Almost certainly yes.
Will Fossetts Farm happen with him in charge? Probably yes.
Will I see it happen? I'd like to think so, but whether I will see it is a bit more uncertain.
Is it likely that there will be more threads on Ron and his failings? Without a doubt.
Is this the longest list of bollocks I have posted since the last time? Well, quite probably yes.
Am I drifting off-topic and is Strictly come Dancing great? Absolutely, but they're both fashionable.
Is it time to stop? Most certainly.

 

[jarvisyeh]

5) The signings of Milligan, Shaughnessy, Goodship and Ralph - were they mistakes AT THE TIME? Absolutely not and there wasn't one dissenting voice on here, possibly caution over Goodship but generally we couldn't believe we had signed them, especially Shaughnessy after his performance in the Millwall friendly.

I always thought the mistake wasn't signing these players but that we didn't sign players that balanced the ones we already had.

An example being that we didn't sign a winger which left us with an out of form Stephen McLaughlin as the only wide option. (The same mistake we made in the previous window as well.)

 

[Clarky176]

I always thought the mistake wasn't signing these players but that we didn't sign players that balanced the ones we already had.

An example being that we didn't sign a winger which left us with an out of form Stephen McLaughlin as the only wide option. (The same mistake we made in the previous window as well.)

Plus we replaced the high energy Dru Yearwood with Ethan Hamilton, someone with far less pace and energy, even if he has similar technical talent (debatable anyway). This is, for me, one of the main issues with the midfield atm, Milligan and Mantom have no pace or energy, just long distance endurance.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

2) Getting rid of Powell - was that a mistake? He had the worst luck injury wise but you could see the man was beaten.

Sorry to just pick this statement out but this sentence winds me up every time I see it. How was he unlucky with injuries? So many of the players he signed had horrendous injury records, Lennon & Hyam just to name a few.

I just don't understand how that's unlucky, I personally see it as either a silly risk for a league 1 club or just stupid personally,

I love Powell but most of his signings were shocking and is ONE of the reasons we'll be going down this season and only just avoided last season.

He also let go a lot of big characters which also has cost us.

 

[HypoTypo]

Sorry to just pick this statement out but this sentence winds me up every time I see it. How was he unlucky with injuries? So many of the players he signed had horrendous injury records, Lennon & Hyam just to name a few.

I just don't understand how that's unlucky, I personally see it as either a silly risk for a league 1 club or just stupid personally,

I love Powell but most of his signings were shocking and is ONE of the reasons we'll be going down this season and only just avoided last season.

He also let go a lot of big characters which also has cost us.

AND .... We didn't have a performance/fitness person in place to deal with those injuries (Colbert type person).

 

[fbm]

Sorry to just pick this statement out but this sentence winds me up every time I see it. How was he unlucky with injuries? So many of the players he signed had horrendous injury records, Lennon & Hyam just to name a few.

I just don't understand how that's unlucky, I personally see it as either a silly risk for a league 1 club or just stupid personally,

I love Powell but most of his signings were shocking and is ONE of the reasons we'll be going down this season and only just avoided last season.

He also let go a lot of big characters which also has cost us.

Hyam I'll give you. But the injuries we were getting weren't down to injury prone players with recurring injuries like hamstrings, calf and groin strain, that sort of thing, but these -

Lennon - 2 broken bones in one season.
Coker - double ligament injury
Hopper - ACL
Gard - Horrendous injury I think involving hamstrings
Barratt - ACL
Smith - Hyper extension of elbow
Oxley - Disc and back (I think)
Kyprianou - ACL
Demitriou - ACL
Yearwood - out for most of the season with thigh and hamstring injuries
Humphrys - Smashed face

That actually gave us a stronger team injured than on the pitch. Consider this side -

Oxley
Demitriou
Lennon
Kyprianou
Coker
Barratt
Hyam
Gard
Yearwood
Hopper
Humphrys

Smith as sub keeper

That's arguably a stronger team than we've put out this season! No one, but no one can tell me that all those injuries to happen at once is not unlucky.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

The HMRC thing is harder , but that seems to be behind us now, lets hope so and we can move forward.

Until next time.....??

 

[fbm]

I always thought the mistake wasn't signing these players but that we didn't sign players that balanced the ones we already had.

An example being that we didn't sign a winger which left us with an out of form Stephen McLaughlin as the only wide option. (The same mistake we made in the previous window as well.)

This is a really good point and I have been critical of SCP's signings in centre midfield. However, re the winger, we did have Sam Barratt who was injured in the second match. There's only so much in the budget; we had basically blown it on the players we brought in.

 

[jarvisyeh]

This is a really good point and I have been critical of SCP's signings in centre midfield. However, re the winger, we did have Sam Barratt who was injured in the second match. There's only so much in the budget; we had basically blown it on the players we brought in.

The window I was talking about was January, when Powell desperately needed to bring in a striker to cover Hopper (we got Humphrys) left back to cover Coker (we got Hart) and a winger to cover Barratt, which we didn't (or couldn't?) do.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Tweets are the new wages

https://twitter.com/x/status/1216730390095855616

 

[rigsby]

I always thought the mistake wasn't signing these players but that we didn't sign players that balanced the ones we already had.

An example being that we didn't sign a winger which left us with an out of form Stephen McLaughlin as the only wide option. (The same mistake we made in the previous window as well.)

We had Bunn on loan and Kightly was always picking up injuries and his red card.