ANOTHER Southend United supporter has his say.

IT'S hard to comprehend that the future of Southend United hangs so precariously in the balance right now.

The atmosphere at the game on Saturday felt like many of us fans are all still in denial about the severity of the situation we are facing.

There were some chants about Ron Martin during the game at the weekend, but most of the focus of the crowd was on the team performance, and how poor the referee was.

But matters on the pitch are completely irrelevant right now when compared to the impending closure of our club.

The finances at the club appear to be incredibly complicated, and the shortfall needed to pay HMRC (reported in the media) are way beyond the realms that most of us can comprehend.

Even if fans try and raise funds independently, we still won't get anywhere near the sums needed (although I have to say that if all the season ticket holders paid for next year's season ticket now, this would generate close to £1m in revenue straight away, and surely this would be sufficient to keep the club alive until funds are released in the spring).

This may seem like a crazy suggestion, and many will dismiss it, but these are very desperate and unprecedented times.

What the club needs is leadership and clear public statements about the precise size of the problem that we are facing.

We can only look for suitable solutions when we know the depth and breadth of the problem.

Plus, we need clarity on the progress being made on the bridging finance.

But so far, we are getting a growing wall of silence, interrupted by chairman statements that are vacuous and lack detail in every possible respect.

And so, I am left to ponder what else can be done?

The situation feels utterly desperate.

The amounts of money involved are way out of reach of nearly all fans.

So, unless there is another Brad Galinson (Gillingham), or Ryan Reynolds (Wrexham) out there who want to spend big money on a football team, and who also just happens to enjoy a day trip to the seaside, our fate is left precariously in the hands of Ron Martin.

And that makes me feel more than nervous.

More than queasy.

Ron is driving a runaway train that he can no longer control, the handbrakes don't work, and the buffers are rapidly approaching.

It's a sickening feeling to think that a football club can die, any football club, let alone our club.

A club is not a business, it's the representation of a community.

In an increasingly individualistic and intersectional world, football clubs are one of the few things that local communities can still unite around irrespective of background or personal characteristics.

A football club is where our young people learn about loyalty.

It's where many of us first experience love (love of the game, adoration of a player); it's where we learn to laugh, and to cry.

Clubs are the embodiment of our civic pride.

We all stand to lose so much more than a football club.

I have never felt so worried, nor so helpless in equal measure.

It feels like there is nothing that we can do but doing nothing is not an option.

And so, I implore all fans to mobilise, to stick together, and to be prepared to go further than they have ever done so before in the coming weeks to get news of our predicament as far and as wide as possible.

We must protest as loudly as we can, before, during, and after games - these are desperate times.

We need to get the world's attention, and hope that someone with a love of football or our community, and who has very deep pockets, tunes in to our desperation.

Right now, it feels as though we only have hope left.

But, as long as we have hope, we still have something.

ROBERT SPINDLOE