southend4ever
I used to play a little.
It is a shame to now log onto this website and see at least 5 new threads a day that are shaped towards the same issues. Tilson out, Martin out, Finances. The once positive Shrimpers Chit-Chat is a mere needle in a haystack to what it once was.
Talk of relegation coincides with a team going through a poor run of form, not scoring goals and a team that have not had back-to-back wins all season.
So, is there anything positive we can talk about?
Well, we are not relegated. Great start. Looking at the fixtures our home form is going to be absolutely vital to us staying in the league this year. However, my stone cold sober belief is that we need a guarantee of goals. We unfortunately sold that in Barnard and with our next top scorer I think having scored 3 goals we now rely on the unproven Paterson and Spencer. Now interestingly with the thread about Stuart O'Keefe it could be that it is the unproven talent on lower wages (I don't know about Paterson) keep us up. They are the players whose morale will be higher, who will want to prove themselves more than the others in terms of everyday in training trying to gain a first team spot. I don't expect bags of goals and victories but right now a few points would be most welcome and survival in League One would be very well received. Are we in despair? No.
Steve Tilson very much builds his team on an impressive morale and camaraderie. Often participating in team building days the squad are close knit. I often see posts about tactics. These tend to be whenever we lose. With hindsight. That is easy to do. Anyone can say this that or the other would have worked better. Most football fans forget the wonders of a team and its manager if the team go through a bad patch. That is what I am witnessing on this website at the moment. Do you really think for one minute if Tilson walks or is sacked that Martin could replace him with a better managerial record than Tilly in the lower leagues. Why would a club in our financial position attract anyone with the completely limited resources that we have. The philosophy at the moment appears to be 'sell before we buy but when we buy make sure it is someone no where near as proven on lower wages'. Now unfortunately our financial situation has already dictated to our on the field game. No doubt affecting team confidence and the playing staff available to Tilly. With a small squad we will not be able to play 4-5-1, 4-4-2, 3-6-1, 3-5-2, 5-5-0, 7-2-1 and all the other formations that you have asked for. Look at all the teams in professional football. They do not chop and change their formations. At best they switch between just the 2. Normally the manager using the same formation but changing personnel to set a more attacking/defensive feel to the team.
We have to believe in the leader we have at our club, Adam Barrett. He now has a great deal of experience at this level and knows the team inside out. Reading his columns in the Echo he still has a belief and I think with a few results he can help string something together for the blues. What everyone has to realise is that by the 'forced' sale of Lee Barnard we are a lot lighter now in the goalscoring department and the team is significantly weaker. We do not have the footings at our club to go on and be a force at championship level. We have a small ground, bad finances but at times throughout the last 3/4 seasons a spirited team that pull together to play some very good football for League 1 standard and a manager that really encourages and supports the players. We haven't put together a run this season and for the first time we are looking down as opposed to up. The successes under Tilly can easily lull us into a false sense of security but personally and speaking to others right now survival in the league and as a club is paramount.
Get behind the team and try to find some positives. We all have a big passion in Southend but is there really a need for the posts of manager, assistant, chairman out. Will we be bought out by a billionaire? No. Our team are no doubt unsettled enough changes in the above I do not envisage as being positive. Every football fan enjoys success and if your team plays the best they have all season but loses 1-0 you still go home disappointed. This is about the long term future of Southend not just the immediate future on the basis that there is no answer to a quick fix solution.
Let's rally and support the team. Do not be disillusioned with the situation. With a bit of luck and a few wins our league position can change and going forward if we are still in league one we can look at playing our youngsters and slowly steadying the ship at the club. After all I think it is far more important that we are supporting a team in 5 years rather than bring in some overpaid players that will get us in line for a chance of promotion but then inadvertedly we end of getting wound up! For all that the management committee have done in the last 4/5 years and the success and happiness they have given us I think we deserve to stand by them 100%. I could draw comparisons to some other managers that have stuck by their manager and turned things around but even without them I fully believe we have a manager who is doing a sterling job with what is available to him.
Up the Blues.
Talk of relegation coincides with a team going through a poor run of form, not scoring goals and a team that have not had back-to-back wins all season.
So, is there anything positive we can talk about?
Well, we are not relegated. Great start. Looking at the fixtures our home form is going to be absolutely vital to us staying in the league this year. However, my stone cold sober belief is that we need a guarantee of goals. We unfortunately sold that in Barnard and with our next top scorer I think having scored 3 goals we now rely on the unproven Paterson and Spencer. Now interestingly with the thread about Stuart O'Keefe it could be that it is the unproven talent on lower wages (I don't know about Paterson) keep us up. They are the players whose morale will be higher, who will want to prove themselves more than the others in terms of everyday in training trying to gain a first team spot. I don't expect bags of goals and victories but right now a few points would be most welcome and survival in League One would be very well received. Are we in despair? No.
Steve Tilson very much builds his team on an impressive morale and camaraderie. Often participating in team building days the squad are close knit. I often see posts about tactics. These tend to be whenever we lose. With hindsight. That is easy to do. Anyone can say this that or the other would have worked better. Most football fans forget the wonders of a team and its manager if the team go through a bad patch. That is what I am witnessing on this website at the moment. Do you really think for one minute if Tilson walks or is sacked that Martin could replace him with a better managerial record than Tilly in the lower leagues. Why would a club in our financial position attract anyone with the completely limited resources that we have. The philosophy at the moment appears to be 'sell before we buy but when we buy make sure it is someone no where near as proven on lower wages'. Now unfortunately our financial situation has already dictated to our on the field game. No doubt affecting team confidence and the playing staff available to Tilly. With a small squad we will not be able to play 4-5-1, 4-4-2, 3-6-1, 3-5-2, 5-5-0, 7-2-1 and all the other formations that you have asked for. Look at all the teams in professional football. They do not chop and change their formations. At best they switch between just the 2. Normally the manager using the same formation but changing personnel to set a more attacking/defensive feel to the team.
We have to believe in the leader we have at our club, Adam Barrett. He now has a great deal of experience at this level and knows the team inside out. Reading his columns in the Echo he still has a belief and I think with a few results he can help string something together for the blues. What everyone has to realise is that by the 'forced' sale of Lee Barnard we are a lot lighter now in the goalscoring department and the team is significantly weaker. We do not have the footings at our club to go on and be a force at championship level. We have a small ground, bad finances but at times throughout the last 3/4 seasons a spirited team that pull together to play some very good football for League 1 standard and a manager that really encourages and supports the players. We haven't put together a run this season and for the first time we are looking down as opposed to up. The successes under Tilly can easily lull us into a false sense of security but personally and speaking to others right now survival in the league and as a club is paramount.
Get behind the team and try to find some positives. We all have a big passion in Southend but is there really a need for the posts of manager, assistant, chairman out. Will we be bought out by a billionaire? No. Our team are no doubt unsettled enough changes in the above I do not envisage as being positive. Every football fan enjoys success and if your team plays the best they have all season but loses 1-0 you still go home disappointed. This is about the long term future of Southend not just the immediate future on the basis that there is no answer to a quick fix solution.
Let's rally and support the team. Do not be disillusioned with the situation. With a bit of luck and a few wins our league position can change and going forward if we are still in league one we can look at playing our youngsters and slowly steadying the ship at the club. After all I think it is far more important that we are supporting a team in 5 years rather than bring in some overpaid players that will get us in line for a chance of promotion but then inadvertedly we end of getting wound up! For all that the management committee have done in the last 4/5 years and the success and happiness they have given us I think we deserve to stand by them 100%. I could draw comparisons to some other managers that have stuck by their manager and turned things around but even without them I fully believe we have a manager who is doing a sterling job with what is available to him.
Up the Blues.
