Finance news is frightening

The latest cash figures coming out of Roots Hall are frightening to say the least - a real nightmare. There were losses of nearly £1 million for the financial year ending July 1998 and that is projected to double by February 2000.

These figues were given at last week's shareholders' meeting and when you consider Blues are soon due to start paying the club owners around £500,000 a year for renting the ground and training ground it's hard to see those losses being reduced.

Chairman John Main is convinced that the new stadium holds out the only real hope of getting back into the black although he did add: "I do believe we will trade our way out of it".

Exactly what he meant by that is not clear although presumably he feels increased attendances, sponsorship, sales at the club shop et cetera can help turn the club round.

But with a staggering annual wage bill of nearly £1.3 million round their neck it's a near-impossible task for Blues to dig themselves out of a giant hole.

I know Main feels that I am against him and Southend United, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I would love nothing more than for the club to rocket through the divisions and for him to be the man steering the ship into much less troubled waters.

I was delighted when Main took over the helm and looked forward to him dusting away some of the cobwebs which had formed in a stale boardroom.

And there's no doubt he has made tremendous strides, making Roots Hall a friendlier place with his determination to get closer to the fans.

But you have to be a realist at times and accept that unless Blues do get a new home and climb out of the suffocating lower divisions fast then the future looks grim.

There have already been rumblings of discontent from supporters after two miserable home performances - recent comments in Echo-sport underlined that manager Alan Little's honeymoon period is well and truly over.

I honestly believe that Little will bring success to Southend United, but I'm sure he would be the first to agree that one thing soccer fans don't have is patience.

If Blues don't pick up fast and end up with another desperate fight at the bottom end of the table then unhappily people will be voting with their feet and staying away from the ground which can only make the club's desperate plight even worse.

But let's be positive because Southend have the quality in the squad to challenge for at least a play-off place and there are still plenty of games left for them to mount a promotion bid.

The players have underachieved so far and it's up to them to produce the results they are more than capable of achieving. The price of their failure is unthinkable.

Play youngsters in Shield clash

Blues get a golden chance to put their first step on the Wembley Road today when they entertain League new boys Cheltenham in the Auto Windscreen Trophy.

And hopefully the players will give the fans something to cheer about after a dismal run in knock-out Cup competitions over the last few seasons.

Although the early rounds of the Auto Windscreen are notorious for attracting small crowds there's no doubt Southend would find a huge following if they made that Wembley dream come true.

After Saturday's poor performance at Plymouth perhaps boss Alan Little will take the chance to hand first-team shirts to some of his kids - here's hoping the likes of Garry Cross, Danny Kerrigan and Neville Roach are in the starting line-up.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.