Ron Martin

[davewebbsbrain]

The only way we get through to the other side of this ****storm with a club in existence with no revenue coming in is for the club owner to bail out the club from his own funds. And a lot of funds at that. If he does that there should be a statue of the bloke outside the ground.

I am under the impression that Ron has already done this more than once.

The football association are the ones to blame for this by allowing the Premier league to cream all the money

 

[camden shrimper]

Let's be honest here unless a team is hugely successful then it's a money dump so you have two choices someone who tries to minimise their spend but are still losing money or someone who goes hell for leather and then it's the promised land or bust, or the promised land and then a descent from security.
You add in corona and that house of cards is then built on quicksand on a tightrope, on the wing of a flying bird.
It's no consolation but we will not be the only club who goes close to the wall with the current political and economic situation. We are probably one of the few that have a council proposed involvement that bizarrely nets us a new stadium.
A leopard doesn't change it's spots though RM has been here before and will always play roulette with payments, historically he may have just fancied his chances and now he doesn't have an alternate but the net effect is the same.
On pitch yes we are woefully underprepared, I can't help but think it's a result of sticking plasters other wounds in places but if we had spent money chances are we would be out of business now and therein lies the problem.

 

[camden shrimper]

The difference is that most clubs struggling financially are suffering through Covid related issues. Southend's financial problems are because of decisions and actions of Ron that have been made even worse by Covid

At the risk of being pedantic, covid has highlighted the issue in a lot of instances rather than out and out created it, the probem was there - it was just about being got away with I would argue.

 

[OldBlueLady]

But this isn't a choice we face. I can't remember the last time I heard the Trust, in an official capacity at least, say what it's doing to ensure that our club is being run properly when it engages with those in positions of power at the club. Is there a tacit agreement that the Trust won't be vocal in its criticisms of the club in return for something? I can't see what the Trust has to earn from visibly sitting on its hands and possibly placating fomentation towards the powers that be when all we see is one act of mismanagement after another.

Ok, further to your comment, if you'd like to drop the Chairman an email, he'll happily respond. Paul's not a member on here, but is always available to respond to supporter questions or concerns relating to the Trust - pfitz666@aol.com.

 

[nevereatwhitesnow]

At the risk of being pedantic, covid has highlighted the issue in a lot of instances rather than out and out created it, the probem was there - it was just about being got away with I would argue.

Whilst I see you point in that lots of clubs were being run close to the wire, the vast majority managed to pay their bills on time (tax, wages etc) , some were accruing debt and/or getting cash injections from their board each year. Covid cut off their income and has without question pushed them closer to the cliff edge, Their respective "starting positions" of current financial struggles was Covid, Southends starting point is much harder to define accurately but being in an Embargo for almost 1 year confirms it way pre-dates the vast majority of other clubs.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

But this isn't a choice we face. I can't remember the last time I heard the Trust, in an official capacity at least, say what it's doing to ensure that our club is being run properly when it engages with those in positions of power at the club. Is there a tacit agreement that the Trust won't be vocal in its criticisms of the club in return for something? I can't see what the Trust has to earn from visibly sitting on its hands and possibly placating fomentation towards the powers that be when all we see is one act of mismanagement after another.

I'm not a member of the Trust and never have been. But what I do know, is they have the clubs best interest at heart, but they have a Chairman in Ron Martin that basically doesn't want to engage with them. He only likes answering awkward questions when it suits him, normally when he has some good news announcement to make, and that's not been for ages. They got more change out of Geoff King and the former CEOs. The Trust wants to have a relationship with the club, but has to tread on eggshells where Ron Martin is concerned. He has made it quite clear that he is in charge, and will not bow down to any fan pressure.

 

[camden shrimper]

Not being defensive of RM but I can't help but think we wouldn't be in existence for long should he leave, or am I missing something?

 

[nevereatwhitesnow]

Not being defensive of RM but I can't help but think we wouldn't be in existence for long should he leave, or am I missing something?

Well that would rather depend on how and why any transfer of ownership occurred.

In reality Ron won't sell until

1. A fellow parasite (sorry, property developer) purchased the whole thing with planning permissions in place so that they could make a killing and Ron retires with a decent profit for his pension
2. He literally runs out of money and can't finance the club up until the planning permission is granted (and then can revert to 1) by which time the club is probably already in administration and sliding further down the football pyramid

In the event of 1, one would have to hope that the new owners would be a good custodian of SUFC until they have got what they wanted from the situation and passed it on again, OR that they wanted their property profits to fund (in part) a serious attempt to turn SUFC into a sustainable Championship club to increase the clubs value. There are some good examples of the later over the years, unfortunately more examples of the former and a few of the even worse situation of the club being left to struggle without meaningful financials support to do anything other than just survive.

In the event of 2, then it's really not a great position for anyone concerned (other than circulating vultures looking to pick it up on the cheap and get property developments done on the cheap by using land for smaller stadium element and more housing)

I think SUFC is stuck with Ron until he can exit stage left with a nice pension pot or goes bust, to achieve the former he has to rely on the council to grant permissions on terms acceptable to Ron, the later is a fate that no football fan would wish on any club.

 

[westie]

However, what I will say, from a personal perspective, is that while we have no CEO - and no Geoffrey King involvement for that matter - there is only one man who runs this Club, and he will choose who he discusses things with.

Sums it up perfectly for me. Worrying times for Blues fans because if RM goes down, so will Southend United. ?

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

The clubs on field results actually don't effect Ron Martins future nest egg from housing. In fact the lower the club slides the less money can be spent on the new ground.

This is a dangerous situation to be in as fans...

We have a winner! Not to mention lower league the lower amount he will lose on a regular basis providing the 'loyal' supporters keep coming and accepting defeat.

 

[superblue24]

Here was a statement from Ron back in July. So far he has not delivered. The adjournment is until the 16th, so hopefully we might see some movement this week unless I missed some later articles....

Southend United's winding-up petition adjourned until September 16

A winding-up petition against Southend has been adjourned until September 16.

www.skysports.com

.

 

[Shrimper]

Here was a statement from Ron back in July. So far he has not delivered. The adjournment is until the 16th, so hopefully we might see some movement this week unless I missed some later articles....

Southend United's winding-up petition adjourned until September 16

A winding-up petition against Southend has been adjourned until September 16.

www.skysports.com

.

"When the club settles on a manager, the recruitment of four to five experienced players will be his primary focus."

So that was a lie. We've signed 0!

 

[londonblue]

"When the club settles on a manager, the recruitment of four to five experienced players will be his primary focus."

So that was a lie. We've signed 0!

I thought we'd signed 2. One perm and one loan.

 

[BriggBlue]

I thought we'd signed 2. One perm and one loan.

it would be a hell of a stretch to call them experienced though

 

[GNH]

"When the club settles on a manager, the recruitment of four to five experienced players will be his primary focus."

So that was a lie. We've signed 0!

Well it's not a lie because I'm sure the focus has been on recruiting four to five experienced players.

What he didn't mention however is that because of the situation we are in there was no way that recruitment would actually happen.

 

[Danshrimper]

it would be a hell of a stretch to call them experienced though

Green is 25 and has 100+ appearances in the Football League. He isn’t exactly inexperienced.

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

"When the club settles on a manager, the recruitment of four to five experienced players will be his primary focus."

So that was a lie. We've signed 0!

I cant believe there is any need for argument about Ron's credibility as a chairman or a decent man. He has been making false promises to everyone for years.

The only question is whether his reputation is poorer in property world or in football?

 

[londonblue]

it would be a hell of a stretch to call them experienced though

Fair point. I mis-read it. However, that doesn't mean it hasn't been MM's primary focus. The fact is simple: he can't sign anyone at the moment. He can line them up, but no-one is going to sign until the embargo is lifted because no-one is going to want to risk being in the same situation as the two Macc. lads we had.

 

[SeldomSeenShrimper]

In all seriousness... who do the fans think should replace Ron Martin ?

Realistically?

I know its easy to jump on the "Martin out" band wagon without thinking but it would require a Billionaire to buy Southend and turn us around in a season.

 

[Shrimper]

In all seriousness... who do the fans think should replace Ron Martin ?

Realistically?

I know its easy to jump on the "Martin out" band wagon without thinking but it would require a Billionaire to buy Southend and turn us around in a season.

Well obviously we don't know the people who would be interested but then you don't really know until it's up for sale