Ron Martin speaks to Chris Phillips

[Mick]

25% of the clubs in it manage to get out each year.

Yes I am sure Walsall, Scunthorpe and Bradford would currently agree with you

They're not looking like being in that percentage (which just for this year is nearer to 20%) but I doubt they'd disagree with my statement.

League Two is easier to get out of than League One which in turn is easier to get out of than the Championship.

 

[HypoTypo]

He likes a wind up does YB, though he's right that this season only two clubs will be promoted from L2.

Just confused as I never mentioned promotion slots

 

[kentblues]

They're not looking like being in that percentage (which just for this year is nearer to 20%) but I doubt they'd disagree with my statement.

League Two is easier to get out of than League One which in turn is easier to get out of than the Championship.

This is true I think- in reality most years there is only a certain group of clubs realistically in with a chance of promotion, and similar probably a smaller group in danger of relegation in L2. Of course the occasional surprise too.

 

[Mick]

Doing a good job? I think his intentions are good but he has made some bad decisions.

....... he's just a soul whose intentions are good

 

[HypoTypo]

They're not looking like being in that percentage (which just for this year is nearer to 20%) but I doubt they'd disagree with my statement.

League Two is easier to get out of than League One which in turn is easier to get out of than the Championship.

I see your point Mick, but my point was it's not as easy to get back to L1 as some think. It took us 5 years last time.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I don't get your point ? Are you saying it's easier to get out of L2 than I reckon it is ?

L2 is the easiest league to get out of (upwards).

Three automatic promotion places PLUS a play-off space means good teams don't stay there long. The Conference on the other hand is a really difficult league to get out of. Only one automatic promotion place creates a real bottle neck (albeit not as bad as in the days when only one team went up).

It's easier for good teams to be promoted from L2 than from any other division I can think of. The difficulty is in becoming a good team.

 

[southendkid]

He likes a wind up does YB, though he's right that this season only two clubs will be promoted from L2.

That's not right. The reason only 3 clubs are getting relegated this season is so that 4 clubs can still get promoted from League 2. If only 2 clubs got promoted from there then there would only be 22 sides in League One next year!

 

[Mick]

He likes a wind up does YB, though he's right that this season only two clubs will be promoted from L2.

What !!!!! Four go up, three come down, just one relegated to non-league and two promoted to even up the numbers.

 

[Westcliff DGS]

I think this overlooks that with normal debts/bills you get the invoice, you can't pay on time, you get a reminder, then a phone call, then you agree when you can pay. Everyday reality in a lot of businesses. HMRC expect to be paid exactly on time. No second invoice, no discussion, the day after its due they go running off to their free collection agency i.e. the courts which they are able to abuse in a way that is not open to any business. So the first reminder is the winding up order, the chasing phone call is the impending hearing, and then you pay. And it is dismissed. Tiresome but that is what it is and if you physically don't have enough cash on the day its due it a game you have no option but to play.

what you say may be true, but i can tell you a whol heap of clubs do not do this, there are 5 in the same position as us right now bu that have not been issued winding up orders, 3 of which have literally S*** themselvers that we have been hit with an embargo by the HMRC, especially s we paid prior to the hearing in Jan.

It is tiresome, it is annoying, but o so many clubs do it

 

[HypoTypo]

I see your point but I suppose we will find out next season

L2 is the easiest league to get out of (upwards).

Three automatic promotion places PLUS a play-off space means good teams don't stay there long. The Conference on the other hand is a really difficult league to get out of. Only one automatic promotion place creates a real bottle neck (albeit not as bad as in the days when only one team went up).

It's easier for good teams to be promoted from L2 than from any other division I can think of. The difficulty is in becoming a good team.

 

[RHB]

what you say may be true, but i can tell you a whol heap of clubs do not do this, there are 5 in the same position as us right now bu that have not been issued winding up orders, 3 of which have literally S*** themselvers that we have been hit with an embargo by the HMRC, especially s we paid prior to the hearing in Jan.

It is tiresome, it is annoying, but o so many clubs do it

The only organisation that can put an embargo on the Club is the EFL. HMRC don't have the power to do so.

 

[HypoTypo]

The only organisation that can put an embargo on the Club is the EFL. HMRC don't have the power to do so.

I am sooooo confused

 

[GBJ]

I know some of you hate and I mean absolutely hate the idea of Ron actually achieving his dream

Agreed with your post mate, but wanted to pick up on this one point.

I can’t speak for everyone else, but my own personal take on this point, is that I hate - absolutely hate - the idea that Ron is risking our club to achieve his dreams.

We sail close to the wind, year after year. We’re constantly fighting off winding up orders & we struggle to pay our staff on time. It’s not a one off, we’ve been living beyond our means for years.

I’d much prefer he ran the club within our financial restrictions, and left the football club relatively safe, whilst he cracked on with his dreamland plans. If that meant we languished in Lg2 until the whole saga was was finalised, then so be it.

What makes me nervous, is the idea that as every season passes, our financial situation gets worse and worse. £300k to keep The Hall up to spec, is a bit of an eye opener.

It’s all well and good for Ron to speak about how much money he puts into the club, but let’s not forget that, that money is all repayable, in one way or another.

The question every Shrimper should be asking is, why is Ron supposedly whacking in £200k of his own money every month, when he could stop that altogether by simply forecasting the budgets better.

What does he gain from doing this?

The potential answers to that, make me nervous.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I appreciate your point and maybe not quite in the same league but SALFORD ffs are steaming up the leagues and now also in a cup, thanks to those very poor 4 lads from Man Utd and one David Beckham joining in, so maybe the odd Billion to play with ?

I get your point, but it's currently 6 former Man U Millionaire players. The club was said to be losing 40K a week, so again, just a play thing to them. I can't see any Millionaire group of ex footballers banding together to buy Southend.

 

[HypoTypo]

That probably sums up my anxiety quite well.
It's the mismanagment of the cash flow worries me and I strongly think it's only a matter of time before his luck runs out.

So he said this in the statement ....


.......So we paid them off in January. To me, paid off means settle a debt, but the following month they are on our case again ??

It really does not add up. He says many things about the in-comings and outgoings, But we only have his word on it.

Agreed with your post mate, but wanted to pick up on this one point.

I can’t speak for everyone else, but my own personal take on this point, is that I hate - absolutely hate - the idea that Ron is risking our club to achieve his dreams.

We sail close to the wind, year after year. We’re constantly fighting off winding up orders & we struggle to pay our staff on time. It’s not a one off, we’ve been living beyond our means for years.

I’d much prefer he ran the club within our financial restrictions, and left the football club relatively safe, whilst he cracked on with his dreamland plans. If that meant we languished in Lg2 until the whole saga was was finalised, then so be it.

What makes me nervous, is the idea that as every season passes, our financial situation gets worse and worse. £300k to keep The Hall up to spec, is a bit of an eye opener.

It’s all well and good for Ron to speak about how much money he puts into the club, but let’s not forget that, that money is all repayable, in one way or another.

The question every Shrimper should be asking is, why is Ron supposedly whacking in £200k of his own money every month, when he could stop that altogether by simply forecasting the budgets better.

What does he gain from doing this?

The potential answers to that, make me nervous.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I see your point but I suppose we will find out next season

We are unlikely to bounce straight back next year but that's not because L2 is notoriously difficult to get out but because we are a hot mess.

L2 is however the ideal division to rebuild in - generally it'll have the lowest points total needed to stay up - last year Bradford finished bottom of L1 with a record would have been good enough to stay up in L2 last year. The only thing is that if you do get relegated again it's a lot harder to get back up.

Last year MK Dons got automatic promoted from L2 with 79 points. To get automatic promotion from L1 you needed 91 points and from both the Championship and Conference you needed 89 points.
Tranmere got promoted via the play-offs with 73 points. They wouldn't have got in the play-offs with their record in L1, the Championship or the Conference.

And we've seen this season how bad MK Dons and Tranmere are - they account for 6 of our 16 points.

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

You can give Ron his £17m loans back, pay the tax man, have no assets as the club does not own RH, pay 500k a year rent, and put in £2m a year to keep the club going.. No, no please...form an orderly queue..

Almost all these problems are caused directly by Ron abysmal financial mismanagement. Ok, maybe we were several £m in debt before but nothing close to what we are now. He is totally responsible for debt creation and change of asset ownership for his own personal benefit. Not the club's. If he cared why not put roots hall and the training ground back into Southend United name!

 

[Westcliff DGS]

The only organisation that can put an embargo on the Club is the EFL. HMRC don't have the power to do so.

Yep i know that very well, we are under one from the EFL but due to a request from the HMRC. I assumed everyone knew that, next time i will be clearer

 

[kentblues]

Almost all these problems are caused directly by Ron abysmal financial mismanagement. Ok, maybe we were several £m in debt before but nothing close to what we are now. He is totally responsible for debt creation and change of asset ownership for his own personal benefit. Not the club's. I'd he cared why not put roots hall and the training ground back into Southend United name!

He might be responsible but it does not change the reality today I guess is the point. The club has the debts it has, the assets (or lack of) it has. No-one would take it on. Ron's ability to put the club back on a stable footing by writing off debt and making it viable is completely and inextricably linked to the success of developing FF and RH. It is today's reality. It is what it is. Nothing that is said on here will change it, nothing that is wished on here will change it. Regrettably perhaps..

 

[kentblues]

Yep i know that very well, we are under one from the EFL but due to a request from the HMRC. I assumed everyone knew that, next time i will be clearer

I think what particularly caught RM out is that having cleared the previous debt he though there would be a window between then and the new winding up order today where he could bring the three players in. The EFL however realised the current winding up order was coming and refused to lift the embargo- no doubt they asked to see evidence the current bill was paid on time and this caught Ron out..