Thank You Ron Martin! …… Controversial Or Not?

[RHB]

Minority more like.

Opinions eh? They're like arseholes, we all have one, opinions don't make it true though.

 

[Strykr]

He's had success, had massive failure, sought advice on appointments when he'd run out of ideas, tried different types of managers with different ethos.

Im not forgiving, forgetting or praising. Just enjoying the fact he isnt involved with the football anymore and in reality never should have been.

Best for all parties if we can complete the lifetime rollercoaster ride with a new stadium and back in the efl.

Then we can get on with slagging off whoever the new owner/chairman is.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

What about your mate?.... I bet you thought he was a decent appointment.

Nope! And said so at the time.
I was fearful over his appointment - and with good reason.
He reckoned diplomatically, he 'had his hands full.' The maelstrom thrust on him just isn't in his character.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

Powell wasn’t a mistake I don’t think. He started well, he just had terrible luck with injuries. That appointment made sense, him being a club legend and all with a good previous record. Trouble is, the whole structure of the club was wrong. Anyone was almost doomed to fail ‘til that changed (thankfully that’s happening now). Ron just realised about 2 years too late. He put faith in others..others who he really should’ve swerved and sought better advice.

Not sure about that.
As per reply to Rigsby above, although I agree injuries hardly helped.
The seeds of discord were well sown by the time CP arrived.

 

[Tommy2holes]

The best thing he has ever done was let other "fit" proper people run the club in his absence.

This could have all been resolved an age ago but he led us almost to extinction.

The question for me is. Would Ron have taken this path had the fans not revolted and stormed the pitch? I doubt it, but there are still plenty who have criticised that course of action.

The longer he stays away and just waits for fossetts the better for us all.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

The best thing he has ever done was let other "fit" proper people run the club in his absence.

This could have all been resolved an age ago but he led us almost to extinction.

The question for me is. Would Ron have taken this path had the fans not revolted and stormed the pitch? I doubt it, but there are still plenty who have criticised that course of action.

The longer he stays away and just waits for fossetts the better for us all.

Have to agree he was prompted into action.
A 20ft banner saying you're no longer wanted appears to have been a major influence.

 

[Tommy2holes]

Have to agree he was prompted into action.
A 20ft banner saying you're no longer wanted appears to have been a major influence.

And yet there were still plenty of people who did and still think that this was wrong.

The same people who would have sat on their hands and done nothing and allowed Ron to just see us fall further into obscurity.

I'm convinced that public displays on the pitch and off it we're hugely significant in getting us to where we are today.

We have a decent hierarchy at the club now and we are starting to bear fruit.

This would never have happened with Ronald pulling all the strings alone and essentially making all the decisions like a dictatorship.

Not only are we starting to see a more positive club but we are now starting to see more bums on seats. Regular 6k + and beyond can only benefit the coffers.

 

[Strykr]

Have to agree he was prompted into action.
A 20ft banner saying you're no longer wanted appears to have been a major influence.

In combination with age, seeming ailing health, a court case, having run out of energy and steam and being close to his property deal. Its all combined at the right time. 10 years ago i doubt a banner would have had as much impact.

 

[onceknownasrab]

Do I think Ron is blameless? No. Do I think he is the only one to blame? No.

A lot of fans seem to think it is criminal that we are now a non league team. We are precisely where we deserve to be. We earned our relegations.

Most will agree that we have the potential to be a league club again but that does not give us the right.

Last season MM was shackled from the off and most will blame Ron. If we hadn't had the embargo then maybe MM could have brought in enough quality to keep us up. All Ron's fault? No. MM inherited a squad from Sol and it was poor. When Sol first came to the club he watched the team beaten 7-1 by Doncaster. Waddock had succeeded Bond and the sorry story goes on.

Ron has put the money in but, excluding now, when was the last time we saw the budget spent wisely? Yes Ron selected those managers but but he doesn't have a personal line to the oracle. The selections split the fans. Rarely does that not happen. Even the rehiring of PB was welcomed by many.

Embargoes never helped but the money RM has put into players should never have got us to the point of successive relegations. An occasional cup win may have prevented an embargo or two. Many clubs have failed miserably in the time RM has been with us but few of them had injected the cash he has.

Blame, as pointless as that is, needs to be shouldered by so many people. Ultimately it's Ron's responsibility but being responsible for a situation doesn't make you the cause of it. Life is just unfair like that.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Not sure about that.
As per reply to Rigsby above, although I agree injuries hardly helped.
The seeds of discord were well sown by the time CP arrived.

Whether CP himself should’ve entered the chaos he walked into behind the scenes, I’m less sure about. Heart ruled the head clearly.

 

[Maldon Shrimper]

Yes we need to move on.Clearly the club was in a mess from top to bottom,Ron has made some bad mistakes the stand out was not appointing a ceo to properly run the club and as a result the performances on the pitch suffered.Clearly he realised by changing tact and appointing a ceo from Gillingham(look how well they are doing since he left).Its his money he is using which we as supporters get when the club is run by one man.We need to get the club into the new ground and the club controlled by a board of directors rather than one person.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

Whether CP himself should’ve entered the chaos he walked into behind the scenes, I’m less sure about. Heart ruled the head clearly.

Indeed it did.
Like Stan, CP has great affection for the club, but the timing was all wrong when he returned.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

Do I think Ron is blameless? No. Do I think he is the only one to blame? No.

A lot of fans seem to think it is criminal that we are now a non league team. We are precisely where we deserve to be. We earned our relegations.

Most will agree that we have the potential to be a league club again but that does not give us the right.

Last season MM was shackled from the off and most will blame Ron. If we hadn't had the embargo then maybe MM could have brought in enough quality to keep us up. All Ron's fault? No. MM inherited a squad from Sol and it was poor. When Sol first came to the club he watched the team beaten 7-1 by Doncaster. Waddock had succeeded Bond and the sorry story goes on.

Ron has put the money in but, excluding now, when was the last time we saw the budget spent wisely? Yes Ron selected those managers but but he doesn't have a personal line to the oracle. The selections split the fans. Rarely does that not happen. Even the rehiring of PB was welcomed by many.

Embargoes never helped but the money RM has put into players should never have got us to the point of successive relegations. An occasional cup win may have prevented an embargo or two. Many clubs have failed miserably in the time RM has been with us but few of them had injected the cash he has.

Blame, as pointless as that is, needs to be shouldered by so many people. Ultimately it's Ron's responsibility but being responsible for a situation doesn't make you the cause of it. Life is just unfair like that.

Sorry, but that penultimate sentence is contradictory.

"Ultimately it's Ron's responsibility but being responsible for a situation doesn't make you the cause of it" - logically, it does.

If you are responsible for poor appointments, and either unwilling or unable to see why that happened time and time again - its your fault.

Sadly, that 'personal line' wasn't to the oracle, it was to a jumped-up spiv I wouldn't trust from post to penalty spot.

Ten minutes of due diligence would have told Ron that.
Verdict: Ron is culpable.

 

[rigsby]

BREAKING: Football fans want club to spend money

Always more money than they make. Then they demand someone else bails them out. They don't care who, or how.... just as long as they do.

Even if they do, its inevitable that you will eventually fall below your long term average slot. In our case top of L2.

Without the extra income of a new stadium we can't compete with teams who's average gate is 20% less than ours.

So why do so many grizzle and whinge when the laws of football and economics are there for all to see. We came close to going bust 11 years ago and we only got Ron because we were bust 23 years ago.

 

[bluesfansince1952]

There has to be a potential conflict of interest when a property developer takes over a football club.
Not least because running a football club seldom returns a profit but instead generates all kind of headaches and pressures.
Some make a fortune out of property but it is almost impossible to make a fortune from football.
Thus with a developer owner at some stage there is always a temptation to abandon the football and make money out of the property. It is simpler and the money generated is usually a tidy sum.
The time to protest against Ron was when he took over. The signs then were that it would not end well. I said so at the time but now have to acknowledge that I was wrong. I never saw Ron sticking around for as long as he has and propping up the club the way that he has for over twenty years. I thought he would cut and run within five years. I, if no one else, will give him credit for sticking around much longer than I ever thought possible.
At the moment things are not good; far from it. But we exist still.
Even when it comes success in football is cyclical, and, to some clubs it never comes at all. When did Arsenal last have (by their standards at least) a successful season? Football is such weird business that even a lot of money and financial stability cannot secure success.
Ron has no doubt made many many mistakes during his time as owner, as have all of his managerial appointments. It is fair game to call out Ron for mismanaging affairs to such an extent that we now find ourselves in the National League. Should people want to he can also be held responsible for the many mistakes made by our many (seventeen is it?) managers.
Where I would disagree with many is the assumption that we would necessarily be either better off, or, even in existence had Ron never come near Southend. How can anyone say things must have gone better had he not become involved. It is unknowable.
When Ron took over there was already a lot of debt and our only asset was mortgaged up to the hilt. I do not know how one presumes a happy ending from those circumstances.
In writing the above I am not thanking Ron but making the point had some one other than him taken over the club in 2000 things might not have turned out any better.
We were a mess at the time, and, who knows what would have happened.
But it would not have taken much for us to be driven out of business.

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

I thought he would cut and run within five years. I, if no one else, will give him credit for sticking around much longer than I ever thought possible.

Fair point, but i'm not sure he's been sticking around for the sake of the club. It's just taken that long to get the stadium built...and it still hasn't been

 

[40yearsafan]

I'll forgive Ron once we are back the league, disintangled from his group of companies and owning our ground and training facilities. Until then he can whistle for my thanks.

 

[bluesfansince1952]

no doubt....but he is still there...almost against all odds i would suggest!

 

[thenobster]

too soon!!! (joke)

 

[Chrisb]

Whilst it is great that things are improving on the field, reading on here that ticket office staff wages are late - how is that right ? Forgive Ron just because we have won a few National Leagues games ? as a supporter of over 55 years, the answer is absolutely not.