A FRUSTRATED Southend United fan has his say.

I've been a Southend United supporter since 1995 and have been a regular at Roots Hall since the Rob Newman days.

I've seen many ups and many downs over the years I've been a Shrimper but nothing prepared me for relegation down to the National League.

I thought I had come to accept the fact that we were indeed non-league bound but when the final whistle went on Saturday following a 2-1 win away at Barrow it hit me like a ton of bricks.

As soon as that R appeared against the Southend United name and the realisation that after 101 years in the Football League we were no longer to be, hit head-on.

It's not like the warning signs haven't been there for nearly four seasons or more because they have.

Players well past their prime and no longer good enough for league football, the fiasco of Liam Ridgewell, Nile Ranger, Harry Lennon to name but a few, managers with little or no league experience in management.

Need I go on?

Who's to blame for all of this? One name and it's Ron Martin!

A complete lack of investment in coaching, playing staff, and the club's reputation as a community family club have all gone down the pan along with any reputation the club had.

When you mess players and managers around and fail to pay them or back them with a transfer budget it doesn't take long for word to get around that Southend United is a club to avoid and that is exactly the position we are in now.

Please do us a favour Ron and hand over the football side of your business to a CEO who has a positive reputation and knows what he/she is doing and you can get on with the new stadium and houses.

I'm pretty sure not many supporters give a hoot about this dream of this new stadium and just want THEIR club back.

DAVID SMITH

via e-mail