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Ron Martin speaks to Chris Phillips

At a guess, Plan B will be a continuous effort to re-jig the plans, until the Council finally accept.

However, Should that all fail, Ron could either sell the club, as it is (which would require an almighty fee) or he could wind the Club up & try and recoup as much money as possible.

For me the planning application is the only thing that matters at the moment. We can argue about who pays for what, and how much money we owe but in the end that is all short term.

The long term future of the club depends on wiping the slate clean debt-wise and starting afresh in a new stadium. From that perspective the interview is rather worrying:

The retail market has sunk to its lowest level probably ever and therefore part of our plans are to increase the level of residential at Fossets as part of the enabling development. We’ve listened very carefully to what the council have had to say and we’re making modifications to the plans which are ready for submission.

So the council aren't going to be considering the plans any time soon because the new plans haven't been submitted. At some point he needs to put a stake in the ground and stop tinkering with the plans and actually give the council a chance to do their thing.
 
For me the planning application is the only thing that matters at the moment. We can argue about who pays for what, and how much money we owe but in the end that is all short term.

The long term future of the club depends on wiping the slate clean debt-wise and starting afresh in a new stadium. From that perspective the interview is rather worrying:

So the council aren't going to be considering the plans any time soon because the new plans haven't been submitted. At some point he needs to put a stake in the ground and stop tinkering with the plans and actually give the council a chance to do their thing.

Agreed. Although in Martin’s defence, I don’t necessarily think it’s him who keeps tweaking the plans, I believe it’s the Council who keep asking for slight changes. They are the ones who wanted more affordable housing, included in the project, not Ron.

So yeah, whilst it’s vital we get the planning permission as soon as possible, the Council have to take a look at themselves aswell.

For my mind, they’re certainly doing their “due diligence”, and making sure they get exactly what they want out of this project.
 
If only the people of Southend gave more of a s**t about Southend United the stadium would’ve been built, I swear.
 
I wonder who the new CEO is

This point seems to have gone largely unnoticed & it’s one that I find this incredibly strange tbh.

So we’ve had someone lined up for 18-months, but Ron doesn’t want to bring him in, because we’re currently crap?

That doesn’t make any sense at all.

Ron does, IMO, give much clearer indication when he mentions the “moving project”. He doesn’t want to “bring him in”, until we’ve got the planning permission.

I don’t think Ron’s talking about a CEO at all.

I think Ron’s talking about a takeover, and the person being referred to, is intrinsically linked to that.
 
This point seems to have gone largely unnoticed & it’s one that I find this incredibly strange tbh.

So we’ve had someone lined up for 18-months, but Ron doesn’t want to bring him in, because we’re currently crap?

That doesn’t make any sense at all.

Ron does, IMO, give much clearer indication when he mentions the “moving project”. He doesn’t want to “bring him in”, until we’ve got the planning permission.

I don’t think Ron’s talking about a CEO at all.

I think Ron’s talking about a takeover, and the person being referred to, is intrinsically linked to that.
Yep ....
 
Ron has once again managed to convince enough people, that he is wearing a flesh coloured body-stocking, and that the emperor is not in fact, naked.

He’s very craftily taken aim at Brown, Powell, Bond, Harry Redknapp, some players, The Academy, Ben Clarkson, Sol & HMRC.

However, not a single one of those persons/entities sets or manages the budgets within this business. Ron does.

So don’t go worrying about those big, unpaid debts racking up against our club, just focus on blaming our problems on one of those things from the list above.

- £600k minimum payment required? Nevermind that, don’t you know that Chris Powell signed a big, bollockless Frenchman, which is the reason for our downfall.

- Unpaid wages? Yes, but let’s not forget that Phil Brown lost the dressing room a few years ago.

- The club is minus £200k every month on the balance sheets? Forget that, we should have never gotten rid of those unmanageable players.

And to top it off, this has been going on for the the better part of a decade. Same man, same problems. How? Just how is that possible?

How do you sit down in the summer to do your budget forecasts, and see that you’ve got X amount to spend, but actually ignore that figure & simply spend whatever you like. What a load of Bollocks.

Anyone here manage to overbudget themselves on a monthly basis? Every month? For 10 years?

—————————————————————

Now let’s get to the odds parts of that.

- Sol & Larsson were the top two candidates for the job. Lols. Why did Millwall block AB’s move then? If we were never interested in him & Tilly taking the reigns, Millwall wouldn’t have had to block it. Load of cobblers.

- Chris Powell only wanted players he could manage. Wait, that’s a bad thing? The fact that we’re currenty the laughing stock of English Football isn’t because of that man’s recruitment, it’s because we’ve been plagued by those **** unmanageable attitudes since the days of Phil Brown.

- Perhaps Bondy could have departed a game or two before he finally did? Sure, although that would have meant Ron cutting his month-long holiday short. Honestly, just think about that. Your business - as Ron likes to refer to it - is in clear and obvious decline, but you couldn’t possibly drag your pasty backside away from your deckchair long enough, to address the problem. Get ****ed.

- “We paid off HMRC in January, but they got us embargoed again”. Once again, it’s HMRC’s fault. How many times over the last decade is that now? Don’t get me wrong, I despise the taxman as much as the next person, but us being under an embargo has got **** all to do with them. They’re not biased. They’re not out to get us. We’re just ran terribly.

- Five weeks the Larsson saga dragged on. Five. Anyone still believe it all fell apart because of some coach not wanting the job? The sooner this stadium fiasco is sorted, the better. Only then will we see any kind of change at this club.

So good to read something from somebody on here that doesn’t believe the BS from the Ron/Echo love in!

To those asking what would happen if Ron walked? He won’t, or certainly won’t without getting something for a club whose only assets are our fine collection of youngsters. Other than that, the club own FA!

Ron has too much to lose by the club folding. Look at who he owes. For those who think knows how run a company, look on company’s house and be scared!!
 
Oh, and another point that I missed on the initial read...

I knew that Ron wanted Redknapp at the back end of last season. But It hadn’t occurred to me that there would be legal restrictions, regarding Redknapp’s deal with BetVictor.

Who was really calling the shots back then? Was it solely Bond?

We all found it weird, that Redknapp was attending games & showing up at B&L. Was he really just supporting his friend?
 
To run a football club successful you need a blueprint - it's clear from Ron that he doesn't have one and it's run dependent on the Manager coming in...giving full control to a Manager on who to and not to sign and for how much is a sure fire way to go bust....hopefully he has now (finally!) learnt that lesson (though I think I would have learnt that over 10 years ago!)
We really really need a DoF or COE with experience of running a football club, he alluded to someone though I guess they don't come cheap, but maybe that is offset by a clearer direction and you get that money back!
While I'm on getting money back - the biggest surprise is £1.5M a year on the academy??? Surely that cannot be true, I doubt we are anywhere near getting that back...as controversial as this may be if I was chairman I would have ditched that loss maker 10 years ago...having an academy is a pipe dream up there with one day playing championship football...we just can't afford to be sustainable and think like that (they are mutually exclusive!)
If Ron learns anything its that we are forever a L1 / L2 yo-yo club that must live within it means (though I doubt, like many of our fans, he'll never learn that - which means he'll continue to gamble and if the gamble doesn't work we'll be here in another 10 years!)
 
Personally I still can’t believe that interview , when I first saw it I was convinced someone had managed to write and put up a very good parody and spoof. I was killing myself laughing and thought this is brilliant, until it dawned n me it could be real, although I’m still not sure , As it was that bizarre and ludicrous
 
Does not bode well for next season. Imagine the team will be full of kids again and we could struggle to avoid the drop down to the Conference.
 
Personally I still can’t believe that interview , when I first saw it I was convinced someone had managed to write and put up a very good parody and spoof. I was killing myself laughing and thought this is brilliant, until it dawned n me it could be real, although I’m still not sure , As it was that bizarre and ludicrous

Right?

I’m still missing those parts that other people thought were so open and honest?

Half of that crap was known anyway, and the other half is Ron giving himself a hearty slap on the back for a job well done
 
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Ron has once again managed to convince enough people, that he is wearing a flesh coloured body-stocking, and that the emperor is not in fact, naked.

He’s very craftily taken aim at Brown, Powell, Bond, Harry Redknapp, some players, The Academy, Ben Clarkson, Sol & HMRC.

However, not a single one of those persons/entities sets or manages the budgets within this business. Ron does.

So don’t go worrying about those big, unpaid debts racking up against our club, just focus on blaming our problems on one of those things from the list above.

- £600k minimum payment required? Nevermind that, don’t you know that Chris Powell signed a big, bollockless Frenchman, which is the reason for our downfall.

- Unpaid wages? Yes, but let’s not forget that Phil Brown lost the dressing room a few years ago.

- The club is minus £200k every month on the balance sheets? Forget that, we should have never gotten rid of those unmanageable players.

And to top it off, this has been going on for the the better part of a decade. Same man, same problems. How? Just how is that possible?

How do you sit down in the summer to do your budget forecasts, and see that you’ve got X amount to spend, but actually ignore that figure & simply spend whatever you like. What a load of Bollocks.

Anyone here manage to overbudget themselves on a monthly basis? Every month? For 10 years?

—————————————————————

Now let’s get to the odds parts of that.

- Sol & Larsson were the top two candidates for the job. Lols. Why did Millwall block AB’s move then? If we were never interested in him & Tilly taking the reigns, Millwall wouldn’t have had to block it. Load of cobblers.

- Chris Powell only wanted players he could manage. Wait, that’s a bad thing? The fact that we’re currenty the laughing stock of English Football isn’t because of that man’s recruitment, it’s because we’ve been plagued by those **** unmanageable attitudes since the days of Phil Brown.

- Perhaps Bondy could have departed a game or two before he finally did? Sure, although that would have meant Ron cutting his month-long holiday short. Honestly, just think about that. Your business - as Ron likes to refer to it - is in clear and obvious decline, but you couldn’t possibly drag your pasty backside away from your deckchair long enough, to address the problem. Get ****ed.

- “We paid off HMRC in January, but they got us embargoed again”. Once again, it’s HMRC’s fault. How many times over the last decade is that now? Don’t get me wrong, I despise the taxman as much as the next person, but us being under an embargo has got **** all to do with them. They’re not biased. They’re not out to get us. We’re just ran terribly.

- Five weeks the Larsson saga dragged on. Five. Anyone still believe it all fell apart because of some coach not wanting the job? The sooner this stadium fiasco is sorted, the better. Only then will we see any kind of change at this club.

Great post!
 
To run a football club successful you need a blueprint - it's clear from Ron that he doesn't have one and it's run dependent on the Manager coming in...giving full control to a Manager on who to and not to sign and for how much is a sure fire way to go bust....hopefully he has now (finally!) learnt that lesson (though I think I would have learnt that over 10 years ago!)
We really really need a DoF or COE with experience of running a football club, he alluded to someone though I guess they don't come cheap, but maybe that is offset by a clearer direction and you get that money back!
While I'm on getting money back - the biggest surprise is £1.5M a year on the academy??? Surely that cannot be true, I doubt we are anywhere near getting that back...as controversial as this may be if I was chairman I would have ditched that loss maker 10 years ago...having an academy is a pipe dream up there with one day playing championship football...we just can't afford to be sustainable and think like that (they are mutually exclusive!)
If Ron learns anything its that we are forever a L1 / L2 yo-yo club that must live within it means (though I doubt, like many of our fans, he'll never learn that - which means he'll continue to gamble and if the gamble doesn't work we'll be here in another 10 years!)

I think statement needs a further look. They do have income from training kids etc, the ones who aren't in the main team.

A couple of years back Ron said the club had to fund the academy with an extra £400,000.......So does the academy actually cost the club £1.5m?
 
This point seems to have gone largely unnoticed & it’s one that I find this incredibly strange tbh.

So we’ve had someone lined up for 18-months, but Ron doesn’t want to bring him in, because we’re currently crap?

That doesn’t make any sense at all.

Ron does, IMO, give much clearer indication when he mentions the “moving project”. He doesn’t want to “bring him in”, until we’ve got the planning permission.

I don’t think Ron’s talking about a CEO at all.

I think Ron’s talking about a takeover
, and the person being referred to, is intrinsically linked to that.

Let's hope so. Without it, the club will be teetering on the brink every month.

Someone like Tara Brady returning would be super IMO. Just the sort of guy this club needs to get back on track and then push on. No nonsense, knowledgeable, successful businessman and loves his football. Plus a very down to earth bloke, happy to chat (Honestly - which is key for me) and have a beer with the fans.
 
If only the people of Southend gave more of a s**t about Southend United the stadium would’ve been built, I swear.

And there lies the problem LS,how many fans are from Southend area,less than half I reckon
They locals would prefer the council to build greener spaces for kids to play,rather than a possible white elephant in the middle of nowhere

We supporters have high hopes to move,but the majority of Southend could not care less,similar would you be chomping at the bit,if its was Southend Rugby club trying to the closed shop Rugby premiership

We have small crowds that may get smaller as the years go on,one day the dream may be real,but at the moment its not in our hands unless you wnat to invest a few million,knowing little or no return unless you like writing stories to the Echo once in a while,saying without me the club is doomed
 
Doubt results will pick up, some money will be paid next week as 600k is the tip of the iceburg and next season could be an even worse nightmare as L2 is notoriously difficult to get out of and survive in.

Eh? League Two has 4 promotion spots.


To run a football club successful you need a blueprint - it's clear from Ron that he doesn't have one and it's run dependent on the Manager coming in...giving full control to a Manager on who to and not to sign and for how much is a sure fire way to go bust....hopefully he has now (finally!) learnt that lesson (though I think I would have learnt that over 10 years ago!)
We really really need a DoF or COE with experience of running a football club, he alluded to someone though I guess they don't come cheap, but maybe that is offset by a clearer direction and you get that money back!
While I'm on getting money back - the biggest surprise is £1.5M a year on the academy??? Surely that cannot be true, I doubt we are anywhere near getting that back...as controversial as this may be if I was chairman I would have ditched that loss maker 10 years ago...having an academy is a pipe dream up there with one day playing championship football...we just can't afford to be sustainable and think like that (they are mutually exclusive!)
If Ron learns anything its that we are forever a L1 / L2 yo-yo club that must live within it means (though I doubt, like many of our fans, he'll never learn that - which means he'll continue to gamble and if the gamble doesn't work we'll be here in another 10 years!)

The Academy is partially funded by grants. I think these may work on a matched spending basis.
 
For me the planning application is the only thing that matters at the moment. We can argue about who pays for what, and how much money we owe but in the end that is all short term.

The long term future of the club depends on wiping the slate clean debt-wise and starting afresh in a new stadium. From that perspective the interview is rather worrying:



So the council aren't going to be considering the plans any time soon because the new plans haven't been submitted. At some point he needs to put a stake in the ground and stop tinkering with the plans and actually give the council a chance to do their thing.

You make the assumption that the tinkering is not with the council's input and involvement? All along he has said he wants agreement before submission as far as possible rather than just put them in and have a bun fight
 
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