HAVING watched Southend United for 34 years I truly thought I had already endured every emotion possible in football.

But then I attended the Shrimpers’ high court hearing on Wednesday and it conjured up even new depths of despair.

I guess by now we should all be used to HMRC winding up petitions.

As the well-known joke goes, it is Blues’ most faced opponent in recent seasons and given the frequency of these cases the seriousness of them can sometimes be downplayed.

But just because they have eventually been sorted in the past, it does not automatically mean it will happen again in the future.

And for a few seconds in court room 30 I genuinely feared the Shrimpers were about to be wound up.

Those taking interest from afar will have seen the 56 day adjournment for the outstanding £250,000 tax debt to be paid.

But there was some deliberation before that verdict was made.

And, while I may not be an experienced court-goer, my interpretation of events was Judge Mullen really thinking things over especially after remarking that this had been happening on a rolling basis.

His head tilted to the side as he pondered his next move and had it been an episode of the X Factor it would have certainly gone to an advert break.

My heartbeat was arguably 10 times higher than during Blues’ penalty shoot-out success at Wembley back in 2015.

And it only really turned to normal once the adjournment was announced.

But while it is certainly better than it could have been, it is not really cause for celebration because quite simply it should never have come to this and Southend remain in a perilous position.

This is a club which means so much to so many people and every single one of them deserves so much better.

The Shrimpers still have staff waiting to be paid for March and April, the club have been under a transfer embargo since September and continue to stumble from one crisis to the next.

The buck stops with chairman Ron Martin where all of this is concerned and the club cannot move forward until he departs.

After the leaving court and, having made it quite clear he would not be talking to me, Martin spoke for around five minutes with supporter groups and fans in attendance.

His talks with those interested in buying the club are still ongoing but the situation must be sorted soon or there will be no coming back for Blues.

Every day under the current regime is another step in the wrong direction and makes Kevin Maher’s job as head coach even more impossible.

Maher somehow led the Shrimpers to an eighth placed finish last season but already looks to be facing an even bigger uphill challenge next term.

The Blues boss cannot add to his squad and cannot offer any new contracts to his current players either.

Such a scenario could see Southend’s biggest attacking threat, Jack Bridge, moving on and it is impossible to avoid feeling rather drained and despondent right now.

Even out of season, Blues can get you down nowadays but I live in hope a change of ownership happens sooner rather than later and that the fear we felt on Wednesday never ever happens again.