IT’S been another eventful week for Southend United.

Blues remain at the foot of the League Two table without a win to their name this season following a 2-1 defeat against Oldham Athletic at Roots Hall.

But, just hours later, it was revealed chairman Ron Martin had paid off an outstanding debt of close to £500,000 to see off another winding up petition from HMRC.

Echosport spoke to three passionate supporters about a busy few days and their expectations for the future.

Lewis Hobday, 27, fan for 20 years.

“I may surprise a few when I say this but I was not particularly worried on this occasion. The chairman publicly stated a few weeks ago that the debt would be resolved ahead of the court appearance.

"He would not have said this unless he was 100 per cent certain that it would happen. Also, thankfully we have not been showing any other typical warning signs we have seen at other clubs such as non-payment of player wages.

"That combined made me feel like this would not be the end of the road for the club on this occasion.

“My expectation was part payment and another court date in several weeks’ time. Given the financial context we are in, full payment and the chairman stating in a Q&A that the club will continue to be financially supported through this tough period is a big confidence booster.

"From what I read online; the chairman has been a figure of criticism over recent weeks. However, credit where credit is due for settling the debt. I do believe that the chairman wants success on and off the pitch as much as we do.

“Right now, things are not looking great but it only takes a few wins to move out of the relegation zone.”

Perry Rourke, 24, fan for 17 years.

“This season has been grim to say the least. I had a lot of optimism after Molesley’s appointment and the first game against Gills but it’s been rancid in truth and it actually looks like we’ve gone further backwards which I didn’t think was possible.

“I was a bit 50/50 with the HMRC hearing. Considering Macclesfield had their case adjourned 12 times and ours was only adjourned twice I thought that even if we didn’t settle it that it would just be adjourned yet again.

"With the montages that were going around on social media it did make me think that we could be close to the unthinkable.

“I was delighted and relieved if anything as it should be put to bed for a while at least and if it does arise again we should hope to have Premier Legue funding in place to aid us.

"I desperately hope we can kick on, on the pitch now as it’s only natural that staff in any profession will be motivated by job security and overall well-being of their employers. I expect that we’ll probably start picking up more points but I think the bad start has probably set the tone and we’ve still got a lot of the better teams in the division to play.

"With that being said the overall quality of side in this division is the worst I’ve seen in a long time, most of the games I’ve watched we actually haven’t been much worse than the opposition it’s just a lack of experience and nouse to guide us in the right direction which is a cause for optimism I guess.”

Wesley Fitzgerald, 40, fan for 29 years

“Performance wise, we look so far out of our league it already feels like a foregone conclusion that we’ll drop out of the league. The squad has been decimated for about 18-24 months, and the core recruitment has been the promotion of kids and the signing of other teams’ kids (with a couple of exceptions). That’s why it feels like men against boys on the pitch, because largely it is.

“I was fearing the worst this week. The number of times we've been in front of HMRC for not paying bills, or hauled over the coals for not paying players, you’d think we’d be used to it by now. The fact is, with each one you feel like one of these days our luck will run out.

"I was genuinely surprised and then worried. I’m sure players’ wages are due at the end of month and we have a habit of robbing Peter to pay Paul so I’m half expecting rumours to come out now saying the players, staff or both haven’t been paid. I’d like to be wrong, but this club is pretty predictable with the current leadership.

“I appreciate it’s a pretty glum assessment of things so far, but it’s where we’re at, and we’ve see too many near scraps before, but never coupled with performances that seem so far out of their depth like this.

"I’d be genuinely surprised if we’re a League club come the season’s end.”