danburyshrimper
Manager
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2008
- Messages
- 2,302
I went to Braintree v Lincoln last night & was so impressed with a few things that the Cowleys have set up at the Imps -- simple enough things that Phil Brown + his coaching team seem to be blatantly missing out on.
First of all the intensity of the warm up . The difference between between how Lincoln's pre match preparations + Southend's are leagues apart ..... but not in our favour !!! Our warm ups havent really changed year after year , our players almost look bored + going through the motions. Well , the Lincoln warm up was frenetic , passionate , noisy ( the communication between the players demanding the ball + off the ball information was really excellent ) . The pace of the short sprints , twists turns , little competitions in small groups ensured they were really having fun aswell as totally buzzing ready for the first whistle. And the shooting was something else!!!! Most of our pot shots pre match are smashing the paint off the leather + end up fizzing into the South upper. Well , i would say approx half Lincolns shots were in off the inside off the post. No blasting , all pinging at pace with curve and dip and unerring accurracy. I was so impressed that everything they did before the match started i felt certain they were going to win.
During the match every set piece was a masterpiece of invention + creativity. Maybe a bit Graham Taylor from the 80's but the group "huddle" and then explosion of movement was just like a wasp nest being smashed by a big stick -- the defenders had no idea who to mark , where they were running or anything. Every time chaos ensued and only poor finishing stopped it being a cricket score.
I just wish Brown , Coughlin + Horton were there to watch + learn . Our corners free kicks generally involve a long lazy loopy kick towards a few static players barely challenging the centre backs easy job of heading the ball away.
Anyway , 4 ex Shrimpers were on display. Alex Woodyard totally bossed the midfield , his tackling & energy was always evident in his Southend days but he has added intelligent positioning and slide rule passing qualities to his game. I really hope he has a stormer at Arsenal on Saturday , the lad deserves it.
Braintree's trio of former Blues were less than impressive. I was a huge fan of Sean Clohessey but his lethargic display at right back was very poor . Jack Midson showed a few nice touches but his scruffy traveller look led the Lincoln away following to mock him throughout the game and he faded into obscurity. Lee Barnard did some impressively professional stretches running up and down the touchline hoping he would come on as sub .....for 90 minutes !!! His post match sprints on the pitch whilst the Lincoln fans celebrated showed that Barny still has the passion somewhere deep inside him. Shame he never got the chance to show it.
All in all a thoroughly entertaining game and maybe Brown should have signed Lee Angol aswell as Theo Robinson - Angol was immense + his powerful running into space and at the defence all night was fantastic.
I can see Cowley one day being Southend manager -- if he does, i m sure we'll be in very safe hands !!
First of all the intensity of the warm up . The difference between between how Lincoln's pre match preparations + Southend's are leagues apart ..... but not in our favour !!! Our warm ups havent really changed year after year , our players almost look bored + going through the motions. Well , the Lincoln warm up was frenetic , passionate , noisy ( the communication between the players demanding the ball + off the ball information was really excellent ) . The pace of the short sprints , twists turns , little competitions in small groups ensured they were really having fun aswell as totally buzzing ready for the first whistle. And the shooting was something else!!!! Most of our pot shots pre match are smashing the paint off the leather + end up fizzing into the South upper. Well , i would say approx half Lincolns shots were in off the inside off the post. No blasting , all pinging at pace with curve and dip and unerring accurracy. I was so impressed that everything they did before the match started i felt certain they were going to win.
During the match every set piece was a masterpiece of invention + creativity. Maybe a bit Graham Taylor from the 80's but the group "huddle" and then explosion of movement was just like a wasp nest being smashed by a big stick -- the defenders had no idea who to mark , where they were running or anything. Every time chaos ensued and only poor finishing stopped it being a cricket score.
I just wish Brown , Coughlin + Horton were there to watch + learn . Our corners free kicks generally involve a long lazy loopy kick towards a few static players barely challenging the centre backs easy job of heading the ball away.
Anyway , 4 ex Shrimpers were on display. Alex Woodyard totally bossed the midfield , his tackling & energy was always evident in his Southend days but he has added intelligent positioning and slide rule passing qualities to his game. I really hope he has a stormer at Arsenal on Saturday , the lad deserves it.
Braintree's trio of former Blues were less than impressive. I was a huge fan of Sean Clohessey but his lethargic display at right back was very poor . Jack Midson showed a few nice touches but his scruffy traveller look led the Lincoln away following to mock him throughout the game and he faded into obscurity. Lee Barnard did some impressively professional stretches running up and down the touchline hoping he would come on as sub .....for 90 minutes !!! His post match sprints on the pitch whilst the Lincoln fans celebrated showed that Barny still has the passion somewhere deep inside him. Shame he never got the chance to show it.
All in all a thoroughly entertaining game and maybe Brown should have signed Lee Angol aswell as Theo Robinson - Angol was immense + his powerful running into space and at the defence all night was fantastic.
I can see Cowley one day being Southend manager -- if he does, i m sure we'll be in very safe hands !!