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Ron...The worst gambler in town.... Success or failure?

Joined
Aug 9, 2010
Messages
1,975
Now don't get me wrong as I believe Ron now does genuinely have a love for the club and football.
However decisions made (jan transfer window included)due to his whole financial survival depending on Fossetts have again created a situation where barring a miracle we are heading back to the basement and maybe beyond.
People with memories will remember the relegations caused by player non payment ,and a judgement made on purely a financial basis with the sale of Lee Barnard.
As a club we have been badly let down by a local council who clearly don't support and want a successful club.From a position which could have seen us leading the way in the new ground era under Jobson, we are now so far behind with clubs like Brentford ,Wimbledon and Luton jumping far ahead,and to think our plans were approved at the same time as Brighton.
My point is without Fossetts, has Ron's tenure been a big failure apart from a few moments of glory ...we find ourselves heading into a black hole of horrible football ,reduced finances and a lower league than when I started watching over 50 years ago.
Depressing times...Why couldn't I have been born within a few miles of a successful club or 250 miles from Manchester United!
 
Not sure what else Ron could have done; personally if Fossetts doesn't happen, I just can't see the club surviving.
 
As a club we have been badly let down by a local council who clearly don't support and want a successful club.From a position which could have seen us leading the way in the new ground era under Jobson, we are now so far behind with clubs like Brentford ,Wimbledon and Luton jumping far ahead,and to think our plans were approved at the same time as Brighton.
My point is without Fossetts, has Ron's tenure been a big failure apart from a few moments of glory ...we find ourselves heading into a black hole of horrible football ,reduced finances and a lower league than when I started watching over 50 years ago.

We have been treated atrociously by the local Council in my opinion. Other Councils see the benefit that football can bring to their towns, but our lot fail to, time and time again.

I don't think Ron's tenure has been a failure, we're a lower league team facing lower league problems, many of which have to do with revenue.

I still believe Fossetts will happen, and wonder if Harry Redknapp is the latest to have that dream dangled in front of him.
 
Maybe it's the council that doesn't like Martin,there could be more chance if he would try to sell.
what worries me is Roots Hall ain't getting any younger. Health and Safety may come calling in the near future.
 
Maybe it's the council that doesn't like Martin,there could be more chance if he would try to sell.
what worries me is Roots Hall ain't getting any younger. Health and Safety may come calling in the near future.

Whether he wanted to sell or not, who would exactly buy our club?

IMO it shouldn't matter whether the council like Ron or not, that shouldn't even come into it.
 
Maybe it's the council that doesn't like Martin,there could be more chance if he would try to sell.
what worries me is Roots Hall ain't getting any younger. Health and Safety may come calling in the near future.

Who exactly do you think would buy it?
 
Sadly I think (like most clubs) we're treading water. Football can't go on like this.
 
There is huge money in football, but it is all at the top of the game, and it absolutely doesn't filter down, which us the biggest issue of all.

Teams like Sunderland and Coventry have benefited handsomely from years in the top flight and the championship, make a pigs ear of things then get rewarded with huge balloon payments to soften the blow in league one - so you have huge disparity between teams competing for the players and therefore the holy grail of promotions! Teams like us, who have flirted with the championship occasionally, are the losers, as we don't have the draw of the big sides, and we don't really have the means to compete, or we half bankrupt ourselves trying!

The reality is that until the flow of money through the 4 divisions really starts to happen fairly, many clubs like ours will continue to be on the brink. This is why Fossetts is so important to us, and why we need the new stadium as soon as, or a new owner who has the means to really invest in the club and in the town. Like it or not, I suspect the council isn't a Ron fan, as his plans are what are best for Ron Martin, not necessarily what is best for the whole town. The longstanding issue of the ground does pre-date Ron, I seem to remember back in the 90's, before Ron took charge that we were thinking about a move to Basildon... and that was under another chairman who had his own interests placed as a higher priority than the town's!

I suspect that if Ron, as the clubs owner, was genuinely interested in working for the good of the community and investing in the town's infrastructure, a way forward with the council could be found. That is what happened in Colchester, Robbie Cowling put a lot of effort into the community and helped with social issues etc, then the council built the carbuncle for the club! Same in many other small towns, the new ground was part of a wider regeneration with full support of local authority priorities. Not that we want a carbuncle particularly, but there are lessons that Ron (or any future owners) could learn from. No owner can create an island, and that is what Ron has tried to do, the council know this, and don't support that approach!
 
Football is a now a business requiring a sustainable structure, clear strategy and the investment to grow and stay competitive. Our ground & training ground are a hindrance affecting revenues and our ability to attract and retain better talent. The investment is to a degree there in theory with Fossetts Farm proposal (agree Southend Borough Council have shown themselves time after time to be clueless & unsupportive compared with others) and we have the 5th highest player wage bill. The problem is that is being misspent - let's say Kightly, Cox & Kiernan are all on £5k a week - that alone is a near £1mil cost to Southend Utd per year once you consider everything and proves a terrible return on investment. I fear relegation with such current structure, contracted players on an inflated wage bill and lower revenue i.e. gate receipts may cripple us.
 
Sadly I think (like most clubs) we're treading water. Football can't go on like this.

unfortunately Uefa's FFP rules have pretty much ensured that the gap between the haves and have nots is only going to widen, there is now very little chance of a billionaire buying a club (outside the top 6 in the prem) and bankrolling them to success.

we might as well face it our club has a ceiling as to how high it can go and L1 seems to be it at the moment.
 
Those nice Italians who used to own Orient
Well if the option for someone else to have a go is not on,we can stick with Martin and let the Hall rot,sounds like a plan unless he addresses the stadium we have already the clocks ticking riggers.
may I add others found ways to get a new stadium or a revamp Morecambe,Mansfield,Northampton,Bristol rovers(soon) Doncaster,Shrewsbury to name a few,i'm not on this thread to argue just to say maybe just maybe there is another way. UTB
 
Ron has trusted his managers far too much. This has gone tits up since Steve Kavanagh left. Brown was allowed to sign ageing crocks on long contracts and in a way Powell did the same.

I don't think Ron would let the club go bust - a bit of over ambition has killed us again.
 
Well if the option for someone else to have a go is not on,we can stick with Martin and let the Hall rot,sounds like a plan unless he addresses the stadium we have already the clocks ticking riggers.
may I add others found ways to get a new stadium or a revamp Morecambe,Mansfield,Northampton,Bristol rovers(soon) Doncaster,Shrewsbury to name a few,i'm not on this thread to argue just to say maybe just maybe there is another way. UTB

There often is another way but that does not mean it is better. Ron has his limitations but has still tried hard for the club and I for one appreciate his level of commitment. Very few would want the constant struggle and continual disappointment that he must go through. He must look at the players on the field and think about how they pick up the cash he has struggled to put together and they can't justify a penny of it.

A new owner, with pots of cash, might be helpful but they could possibly be all about the development and nothing about the club.

So many seem keen to see Ron go but, if he should leave, I hope he gets a good return on his efforts and investment. To do that, the new owner, would need deep pockets to buy him out and I don't think, currently, our club is that appealing. I certainly won't be breaking into my piggy bank to try and buy the club.
 
Is it actually the stadium that the council has an issue with or the rest of the stuff Ron wants to build? The roads around Fossetts Farm are already pretty bad for traffic, so Fossetts could make traffic be gridlocked on a consistent basis.

If it was just a football stadium there would be ways around this (like enforcing a no parking zone for non residents on match days) but given that Ron also wants to build a hotel, 848 homes, a cinema, shops and restaurants on site then that's going to cause a lot of extra traffic on the roads every single day, and the roads aren't equipped to deal with such a large increase in traffic at all. Unless building new roads are included in Ron's plans to deal with this problem I can see why the council favour the Seaways plan, which already has all the infrastructure in place to deal with traffic.
 
Is it actually the stadium that the council has an issue with or the rest of the stuff Ron wants to build? The roads around Fossetts Farm are already pretty bad for traffic, so Fossetts could make traffic be gridlocked on a consistent basis.

If it was just a football stadium there would be ways around this (like enforcing a no parking zone for non residents on match days) but given that Ron also wants to build a hotel, 848 homes, a cinema, shops and restaurants on site then that's going to cause a lot of extra traffic on the roads every single day, and the roads aren't equipped to deal with such a large increase in traffic at all. Unless building new roads are included in Ron's plans to deal with this problem I can see why the council favour the Seaways plan, which already has all the infrastructure in place to deal with traffic.

Good points but, whatever way you look at it, the town needs growth in both business and housing. Substantial development will cause traffic issues wherever it is put. The traffic problems are something that a council needs to address and resolve in order for future growth to take place and benefit the town. Does FF cause problems? Of course it does. There is no such thing as stagnation. It is growth or decline and, unless the council proactively assists growth, it will preside over decline.
 
The council approved plans for a new a ground years ago it was Ron who didn't then build it.
Ron hasn't even submitted new planning permissions for review since then. Just keeps changing the proposed plans every 6 months to keep us happy.
 
The council approved plans for a new a ground years ago it was Ron who didn't then build it.
Ron hasn't even submitted new planning permissions for review since then. Just keeps changing the proposed plans every 6 months to keep us happy.

This is incorrect. The Council, and others, keep requesting fresh reports on things that have already been submitted every time there is a change in personnel in the relevant department. Ecological, historical and geographical reports have all been submitted numerous times, but every time someone new comes in they want to have the evidence re-submitted.
 
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