Exclusive: embargo lifted

The embargo preventing Ron Martin from blogging looks finally to have been lifted, the Southend Afternoon Echo can eventually report.

Southend manager Steve "Tilly" Tilson was able to name more than three subs on the bench for the first time in months on Saturday, including reserve goalkeeper/comedy American Ian Joyce. It is believed that Joyce had previously been unable to be named on the bench as part of the terms of the Sean Morrison loan, although the club never actually got round to officially admitting this, much like they never got round to paying their taxes.

A blog from Ron Martin explaining away talk of transfer embargoes in the past tense as a "minor inconvenience" and saying that we should have trusted him all along is expected imminently.

TV appeal for missing man

The hunt for missing man James Walker is set to be boosted by Sky's decision to televise an appeal to find him.

The satellite giant, whose money has largely ruined football, has agreed to schedule a special programme on Monday 8 February 2010 from 7:45pm which is expected to showcase how the 22 year has been missed.

As previously reported, Walker's whereabouts have been uncertain ever since he went missing at Doncaster (from about 6 yards out) one night in May 2008. It is expected that Sky will now try and recreate that fateful night.

Although there were a handful of reports of a sighting on the right-wing Tuesday night
- including a pin-point accurate cross to Jean-François Christophe that the Frenchman somehow contrived not to score from - police remain sceptical. The sighting - and Walker's role in Southend's best moment of the game - appears to have gone by largely unnoticed, whilst police have dismissed a Walker sighting on the right-wing as unlikely, given this was not a known haunt of the 22 year old.

Reports continue to vary considerably as to how dangerous the Hackney-born man is.

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.

Fears intensify over missing man

Police were said to be getting increasingly worried about the safety of missing man James Walker.

The former Charlton man has been on the missing list now for nearly a year since his glorious late equaliser against Orient. Despite reporting sightings in Hereford around September and October - and more recently around the Southend area - there have been no confirmed sightings of the talented front man.

In September we reported on how police were linking his disappearance to that of Essex business man Geoff King.

Suspicions intensified recently when Damien Scannell was used as substitute up front and out of position ahead of Walker against the McDons Franchise and then at Tranmere when the ineffective 86 year old Dougie Freedman was again preferred to start.

However recent developments have led police to conclude that Walker's personal safety is now in serious jeopardy.

Suspicions were first aroused at Yeovil when Ian Joyce was dropped from the bench to make way for loanee Sean Morrison. Subsequent hamstring injuries to untrusted left-back Johnny Herd and "enigmatic" Frenchman Francis Laurent that paved way for the loan signings of Scott Malone and Jabo Ibhere only served to strengthen concern for the well-being of fringe squad members.

Already young midfielder Stuart O'Keefe is under 24 hour police protection and police are now said to be "desperate" to find Walker to ensure his own safety.

Should you know the whereabouts of Walker, Geoff King or the infamous Warchest you are urged to contact crimestoppers immediately.

Southend joins 2018 World Cup bidding

The Southend Afternoon Echo Sportsdesk can exclusively reveal that Southend has made a dramatic late bid to become a 2018 World Cup host city.

The ambitious plan will make use of Southend United's state of the art new stadium at Fossetts Farm, which is due to be completed in 2019.

The bid is seen as the centre-piece in making Southend a modern sports metropolis. It also follows hot on the heels of news that Hadleigh will host the Olympics and Essex County Cricket Club will play their matches at Garons Park whilst the County Ground in Chelmsford is being redeveloped.

To support the bid, the town has rolled out a whole host of former world cup stars with links to the town, such as Efetobore Sodje (Nigeria), Mike Lapper (USA) and Ronnie Whelan (Ireland).

A Southend 2018 official offered an insight into the depth of planning that has gone into the bid: "the plan is to have Ronnie propping up the bar chatting to delegates who like a tipple; Efe will go round grinning and glad-handing; whilst Mike Lapper is to don a pair of plastic tits to neutralise the Gazza effect [Paul Gascoigne is a Newcastle-Gateshead bid ambassador]. We're pretty confident, after all we've got the Olympics and three first class cricket grounds [Garons Park, Southchurch Park and Chalkwell Park] in the town, so a football world cup is the next logical step."

With Hollywood and Southend legend Andy Ansah lending his expertise to the promotional video and thick-lipped, cockney twat and part-time chef, Jamie Oliver, who was born in Southend, promising not to get involved, signs are looking good for the 2018 bid.

Laurent and Christophe to turn on Hockley Xmas lights

Hockley's Christmas lights are set to be turned on with a bit of Gallic Flair this Christmas, with the news that Jean-Francois Christophe and hobbling compatriot Francis Laurent will perform the honours.

Christophe is something of a surprise selection as he hasn't exactly demonstrated a light touch so far this season.

Alan McCormack had been considered for the role, but club officials were keen to prevent him acquiring another unnecessary booking although they stressed it had nothing to do with unproven allegations about him being "lights out" in training.

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…