It's official; Captain Adam's off, if someone will cough up the dosh
It started with the following statement from SUFC: 'Southend United disappointingly confirmed that Club Captain Adam Barrett is on the transfer list.'
And it went down from there!
Seeing as he's been on the official PFA Transfer List for a couple of days now this is not exactly breaking news, and there's no mention of Steve Mildenhall in name though he is on the same list as Adam, but it's good for the club to accept we're still out here and give us some confirmation, however bad.
Accepting Captain Adam's wish to not want to visit Accrington on a cold Tuesday night in November and maybe visit Hillsborough next season they will listen to offers, (oh well, that's 150k if we're lucky), and that the club: 'will not stand in the way of any of it's senior players, several of whom are still on Championship level salaries', who also want to leave the sinking ship.
Good point though, in these tough times there may not be a lot of clubs wanting to pay around 3k a week to a 30-year old legend slowing down after a few injuries, and not the tallest centre back out there.
Might have a squad after all!
As the statement says: 'The decision to garant Barrett and other senior players transfer requests has to be balanced against the wage constraints that Southend United and all clubs will operate under in League Two, which is subject to a Football League salary cap.'
Don't ask for that pay rise Johnny, but expect Tilly to be scouting around the Blue Square, or even the Essex Senior League, as we write.
So just when S24 is prepared to give the club a break for a change out comes: 'It is not correct for certian sections of the media to suggest that all of our players were still unpaid for May. 95% of our players and staff have been paid for May with the remaining staff due to be paid in the near future.'
Pity the 5% as it's the 12th of June, that Bank Holiday weekend has gone on for a while, unless they were part of the 10% that have been sacked.
In the most overwhelming vote in any S24 poll in eleven years over 90% of readers fear for the future of their beloved club while chairman Ron Martin stays in charge.
If you're soon to go on holiday, keep checking in, somehow you feel there's even more crap to come.
The full statement from Southend United Football Club here:
www.southendunited.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10444~2069291,00.html
The original article from S24 that revealed Adam's wish to leave with photos:
www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/
adam_barrett_seeks_transfer_from_shrimpers_531527/index.shtml
The results of the S24 poll, where we find 9% who are confident of Uncle Ron remaining in charge: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/polls/voting_polls.asp