Bin Martin: Ron issues Bin Laden style video tape

A tape said to be from the bunker of Martin Dawn chairman, Ron Martin, has been aired on www.southendunited.co.uk, a web-site with known links to Martin Dawn.

Directly addressing supporters losing the faith, the tape is seen by analysts as a direct response to rumours that have been circulating for months that the club was as good as dead. In it Martin offers words of hope and vows to continue the struggle.

The authenticity (of his answers) remains unverified.

Martin, whose health has been in question, has seemingly been laying low of late, reportedly hiding from creditors who seek him high and low. It is believed that he is hiding with his head in the sand.

Hiatus Appeal Latest

Most of you will already be aware of the news of the hiatus in wages in January that has shocked the world.

News spread quickly, much of it by modern social networking sites, such as Alan McCormack's facebook account, whilst others will have only found out later by more traditional means such as the Southend Afternoon Echo.

News of this has hit many hard, with many people's belief in Ron Martin in particular badly hit. Whilst people come to terms with the scale of this, we ask you to think of this hardest hit. If you could spare some loose change, you could make a difference in the lives of those less well off than yourself.

What your money could buy:

£7.99 - buys a KFC bargain bucket to feed the malnourished Anthony Grant as he recovers from injury
£1.99 - would get some Werther's Orginals for Dougie Freedman to suck on whilst on the bench (300g pack, so should last for multiple games)
£5 (and upwards)- a proper footballer's haircut for Scott Spencer
£3.50 (approx) - a pint for Alan McCormack at Varsity/Mayhem etc to help ease the pain
Undisclosed (but quite possibly free) - Matthew Paterson 
£1 - a novelty comb for Adam Barrett to remind him of better times

Please give generously.

Donate now by clicking here

Southend 6/1 to pay wages on time this month

It wasn't so much a case of Great Expectations as Bleak House.

Having been told to log onto the official web-site for a "special announcement" from 7am on Friday morning, fans were underwhelmed to discover that the odds of us being able to pay the players' wages this month were 6/1 (available with most bookies, 13/2 if you hunt around).

Still, you've got to give credit to the club for trying - because the banks clearly won't.

That Ron Martin statement in full

A few – not many in truth – have commented that I have “gone quiet” over the past two or three weeks whereas supporters would have expected me to obfuscate “as you always do”.

I do not know whether those sentiments are echoed by the majority but I should not like my devout followers to think that the “drama out of a crisis” surrounding HMRC had, in any way, diminished either my enthusiasm for the Club or determination to deliver the “promised land”!

I said at the time of discharging the payment to the “tax man” (on the day of the Gillingham FA Cup game) that a fuller statement would follow. Some of you may have therefore been surprised when the same statement was repeated - albeit with the words about a "fuller statement would follow" deleted.

Some might have even interpreted my next statement that "this brings the matter to a close" as somehow suggesting that this brought the matter to a close, that I would not - unless events conspired to force me to - comment further on the matter in hand, and that things like a transfer embargo were a thing of the past. Such misunderstandings are to be expected by football fans, who lack the business acumen to fully comprehend such matters.

The transaction to enable the £2m payment to HMRC was part of a larger arrangement which “simply” (understatement!) accelerated its conclusion. Like all legal/banking matters there are often complexities that one can hide behind, which provide time to conjure up a suitably plausible explanation. Obviously I am still working on this. [Marissa - is this 500 words yet?]

The period leading up to making the funds available was an intense three, maybe even four years, and the last couple of weeks have been only a little less so. If the club was caught by surprise by its centenary anniversary, which it had only one hundred years to prepare for, I'm sure you can appreciate that HMRC's unwelcome, devastating and entirely justified action left little time to prepare. Therefore please accept my apologies for not keeping you in the loop which I plan to rectify over the next few day, once I work out suitable excuses to explain it all away.

I shall, next week, or quite possibly the week after, be issuing a series of blogs to cover-up such subjects as:

· HMRC – how precisely did the position arise whereby we did not pay tax for three years

· How was the debt paid like I assured you it would be

· The “consortium” and why selling to the devil you don't know (literally in this case, given the "anonymity" and secrecy they managed to hide behind - in stark contrast to my transparent and open dealings regarding the various winding up and administration orders faced) would be less than desirable and how their offer was completely unacceptable and showed a lack of faith in the future of the club.

· My thoughts about the current squad size being far from ideal and how the manager - who has my full and undivided support - must bear responsibility for the failures of his signings. I shall however wait until certain matters have been resolved so that I can refer to delicate matters such as transfer embargoes in the past tense - a luxury I can not currently indulge in.

· The future (apologies if this section seems a little short)

So once again, sorry if you think that supporters have been kept in the dark but that was certainly not the intention for you to realise you had been kept in the dark. Some matters must take priority, others are commercially sensitive and there are only so many hours in the day and my home was on the line.

I look forward to opening up the airways however there are one or two items you can be assured of. Recent events did not “creep up” unnoticed - HMRC wrote at least three warning letters - and whilst the inadvertent advertent “use” of HMRC Bank Plc may not have been well received in all quarters the Club’s approach was one of trying to delay payment to the last possible moment and exaggeration of policy promoted by the Football League in discussion with HMRC. In the event, HMRC had the Government coffers to protect and in doing so had no regard for the fact that my home and business was on the line and all the stress that this caused.

If I can paint this as the gods are looking down from Olympus and competing with each other to see who can screw our Club the hardest, and therefore something completely out of my control, and not at all my fault, then all the better. As football supporters we (see - I am one of you!) are all cursed with a genetic propensity for moaning but the tax man’s efforts to make us obey the law and pay tax like any other person or business was beyond the pale. Not just the passion that is created during 90 minutes on a Saturday, or as with today on a Friday night, but the outstanding contribution the Club makes to the community, social inclusion, charities (because I paid Spencer Prior's money to Little Havens), civic pride and the children of our Town. Do not tell me this would not have been unravelled if HMRC had “won”. And I'd hate to see unravelled children.

I know where I am taking this Club and will not be distracted by the detractors.

To be continued…

Official: it is on

After days/hours/minutes of intense speculation, it as been confirmed that this afternoon's big event will be staged in Yeovil as planned. Rumours had been circulated that it might be called off, however officials at Huish Park have confirmed that the Southend United annual panto, Snow White and the Four Dwarves, is still on.

The news will come as a disappointment to panto director Steve Tilson. Tilson would dearly have liked more time to prepare and to find another three dwarves. He already had to abandon attempts to stage Jack and the Beanstalk after his giant, Jean-Yves M'voto had to withdraw through injury and Baron Hardup (Ron Martin) sold the cow to Sainsburys and then handed over the magic beans to HMRC.

Martin is likely to be a central figure, along with Geoff King who is set to once again perform the role of the pantomime baddie with such sketches as:

GK: "I never said anything bad about Revell"
Everyone else: "Oh yes you did"

RM: "Who has the warchest?"
GK: "You've got it"
RM: "Oh no, I haven't"


and

GK: "What's happened to our financial difficulties"
RM: "They are behind us"
Unpaid players: "Oh no they are not"

League in Southend Embargo

The Football League have controversially put on embargo on discussing whether Southend United are subject to a Chelsea-style transfer ban.

Rumours have been circulated on the internet from what have been described as "very reliable sources" [(c) every internet rumour ever] that due to financial reasons Southend will not be allowed to make any signings without League consent.

When pressed about whether these reports were in fact true, the Football League sensationally revealed that they would never confirm nor deny that a club was subject to a transfer embargo.

The rumours follow hot on the heels of Southend signing Roy O'Donovan on loan. Southend manager Steve "Tilly" Tilson turned to Irishman O'Donovan after triallist Prince Rajcomar failed to turn up to yesterday's reserve game after missing his flight.

I'm a Shrimper through and through

Southend bagged their first win of the season last Friday, but Lee Barnard's hat-trick against our local rivals Leyton Orient was overshadowed by far more serious concerns.

I'm talking about the players' body language which suggested extreme concern over the finances at the club, the sort of concerns that might have been provoked by inflammatory pieces in the local newspaper by their intrepid sports reporter and that the club would categorise as irresponsible.

Chairman Ron responded scathingly about both the newspaper and me.

What I will say is that nobody is a bigger fan than me (well actually, that guy in the West Stand who sometimes takes his shirt off and dances is definitely bigger than me). I go to every Southend game home and away, that's how dedicated I am. I even go to the games that Paul Clark doesn't go to, that's why I sometimes do the radio commentary on BBC Essex. That makes me a bigger fan than Paul Clark and he played 300+ times for the club and always gave 100%.

This is my 20-somethingth season following the Shrimpers. I was here before Ron Martin and I'll be here after Ron Martin. Yes, that is a sly dig at Uncle Ron to suggest that I don't think he's here for the long term, whereas I'll be here even after I ditch the notepad - if there's still a club to support.

What is clear is that there are serious questions to be asked about the club's finances. And who could be better qualified to answer those serious questions than an uber-fan? Because if you need someone to guide you through the intricate world of business, finance and planning, someone who can tell if Ron Martin is fobbing you off with a bull**** answer or has a genuine point, you don't need business experience or qualifications, you need passion. I'll tell you this much: Ron Martin wouldn't sack me for a lack of passion in the eyes.

[Original article is here]