Two days left and we need a striker.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Can I make it absolutely clear to everyone that phrases like 'you are a ****', 'you ******' etc whatever the words behind those asterisks are, are against the rules of the board.

Occasionally, very occasionally, these are meant in a light-hearted way. If that is the case it needs to be abundantly clear - this is what smileys are for.

This is a public messageboard open to all age groups and we do not want profanities on here - those are the rules, they are not negotiable.

Please respect those rules, or like the case of CS J, action will be taken.

If you cant make a point without resorting to abuse, please dont make one!

Quote (cant remember who, possibly the playwright Sheridan): swearing is the last refuge of a limited imagination. Similarly, from Samuel Johnson: violence is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Thanks

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

I thought it was patriotism that was the last refuge of a scoundrel

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I thought it was patriotism that was the last refuge of a scoundrel

So did Samuel Johnson.

 

[Flinty]

double post

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Please refrain from using personal abuse on this board :mad:

Does plank, count as abuse?

 

[Bielzibubz]

Understood. Won't happen again :)

 

[Ricey]

Lets try and get back on subject!

 

[Flinty]

Can I make it absolutely clear to everyone that phrases like 'you are a ****', 'you ******' etc whatever the words behind those asterisks are, are against the rules of the board.

****er....:D

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I thought it was patriotism that was the last refuge of a scoundrel

Thats true - someone else adapted it to violence, its a much adapted phrase :D

 

[RobM]

Maybe Cole should have been retained as cover for Gower then?

I think most activity will be last tghing tomorrow as everyone wants the best deal. A bit like e-bay - why bid with 3 days to go? I'm sure the situaion is like a swan - peaceful and serene above the surface but everything going like 'the clappers' out of sight!

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Maybe Cole should have been retained as cover for Gower then?

I think most activity will be last tghing tomorrow as everyone wants the best deal. A bit like e-bay - why bid with 3 days to go? I'm sure the situaion is like a swan - peaceful and serene above the surface but everything going like 'the clappers' out of sight!

Again, it depends on what transpires today and tomorrow. I've a feeling Hayes is the intended upgrade from Cole, and I wouldnt be surprised if we were still in for O'Donovan either.

If we get those two we can look on the transfer window as having been broadly successful.

 

[Richard_Cadette]

Getting back on topic regarding the transfer activity at Roots Hall, or rather lack of it, I have to say that whilst not unexpected, it is all the same a pretty hard pill to swallow.

It is abundantly clear to everyone that we do not possess enough quality within our current squad to survive, yes we have been on an improved run of late, but dont expect that to still be the case after the two games this week, which could potentially mean we will be on a run of 3 consecutive defeats in the league (pessamistic perhaps, but all the same, highly likely).

We need more quality in our squad, simple as that. We need options, we dont have options right now. We dont score enough goals and we dont create enough chances.

We need someone in midfield who is capable of putting there foot on the ball and making that killer pass, and we need strikers who are capable of putting that killer pass in the back of the net. At present, we barely have either.

We have had 30 days to sign someone and yet again, with just over 24 hours left of the window, we have nothing. That is not good enough, full stop.

All that says to me is we are not serious about staying up, and if that is the case, then we may as well just all stop playing now.

I am sorry, I know there has been a lot to be positive about recently, with the new stadium, the cup runs, and the improved form, but we cannot lose sight of the fact we are in a perilous position and only an injection of new players is going to give us any chance of survival.

The club expect our support, both home and away, each week and are constantly encouraging us to travel half the length of the country every other week to support them, so it is about time they did something in return.

The money the club has made this season with extra TV revenue, cup runs etc is huge compared to recent years and yet that is not being reflected in our transfer policy.

All we seem to get are the same old excuses all the time about how hard it is to sign this and that, and how they want these wages and its all a bit too expensive for us, well sorry, but that is wearing extremely thin right now.

There is quality available, and a lot better than what we currently have, and for some reason we are not signing it. Tilly often says there is no point in buying players who are not better than what we already have, well I would have thought it would be pretty difficult to find someone that ISNT better than our current crop of less than mediocre strikers. How can we not afford better than Hooper and Harrold? That is simply a blatant lie.

And whilst were on the subject of strikers, where on earth is Billy Paynter? He cannot even find his way to the bench these days, so we either play him and give him a chance or sell him, because at the moment, he is a complete waste of our apparently so precious resources.

I cannot for the life of me understand why we have let 4 players (Lawson, Wilson, Cole, Smith) leave and only replaced them with one. Is our squad not small enough as it is for crying out loud?

RM is constantly talking about ambition and what his ambitions are for the club, well its about time these were refected in the playing squad and pretty darn sharpish. The new ground is wonderful, no denying that, but it is equally important what happens on the pitch and we cannot simply just sit around and let all the hard work of the last 2 years go to waste without a fight.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

we cannot simply just sit around and let all the hard work of the last 2 years go to waste without a fight.

It took us a lot longer than two years to get out of the spiral of debt caused by gambling on being able to survive against the odds in the second tier.

 

[Richard_Cadette]

It took us a lot longer than two years to get out of the spiral of debt caused by gambling on being able to survive against the odds in the second tier.

I dont see that as a valid argument in all honesty. If the figures are correct in so far as how much money we made out of our cup runs then go and spend half a million in wages on loan players between now and the end of the season, and if it doesnt work, then you have lost nothing long term.

The financial implications of getting relegated are probably a lot worse than that!

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I dont see that as a valid argument in all honesty. If the figures are correct in so far as how much money we made out of our cup runs then go and spend half a million in wages on loan players between now and the end of the season, and if it doesnt work, then you have lost nothing long term.

The financial implications of getting relegated are probably a lot worse than that!

If we have been sensibly managed by Ron, the financial implications of getting relegated shouldn't be too bad. Its only if we go and chase the dream with unsustainable spending that being relegated becomes a financial issue.

We need to keep to our wage structure and not make panic signings.

I'm not a fan of making loan signings, unless they are to cover for injured players, or with a view to a permanent move. If you have a problem which needs to be fixed this season, a loan signing will mean you still have the same problem next season when they have returned back to their club.

 

[Richard_Cadette]

If we have been sensibly managed by Ron, the financial implications of getting relegated shouldn't be too bad. Its only if we go and chase the dream with unsustainable spending that being relegated becomes a financial issue.

We need to keep to our wage structure and not make panic signings.

I'm not a fan of making loan signings, unless they are to cover for injured players, or with a view to a permanent move. If you have a problem which needs to be fixed this season, a loan signing will mean you still have the same problem next season when they have returned back to their club.

Thats the whole point though, our wage structure isnt good enough.

We are in a higher league, and so they have to pay higher wages, now im not talking about killing themselves, but it has to change otherwise it wont work.

You talk about not being a fan of loan signings and they are just papering over the cracks, but maybe thats what we need to do now and then hope we can build again in the summer. What have we got to lose? Answer, nothing!

You talk about rushing into panic buys, well we have enough of them already. Lee Bradbury, Matt Harrold, Efe Sodje, Billy Paynter, the list goes on. Now OK, Efe worked out to be a cracking signing, and Bradders is doing OK, but the other two were blatant panic buys and have been a complete waste of money and resources.

You know some deal will be done at the last minute to sign yet another mediocre player, but what is the point of that?

Just look at the teams who have taken a punt on loan signings this season and look how well they have done, Birmingham and Stoke being the prime examples. Stoke were awful before they brought in some players on loan and now they have a genuine chance of making the play offs this season, how can that be a bad thing?

 

[Cliff Pavilion]

You talk about rushing into panic buys, well we have enough of them already. Lee Bradbury, Matt Harrold, Efe Sodje, Billy Paynter, the list goes on. Now OK, Efe worked out to be a cracking signing, and Bradders is doing OK, but the other two were blatant panic buys and have been a complete waste of money and resources.

Agree with a lot of what you've said RC but this is a little harsh. Harrold (and to a lesser degree Paynter) could become decent players for us over time so shouldn't be dismissed entirely as a waste of resources. I agree though, they are nowhere near capable of getting us out of this current hole.

What is a shame is a seeming inability to bring in anyone capable of making an immediate impact in this window. A really shrewd Goater-type signing. But maybe we'll be proved wrong by the end of tomorrow...

UTB

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

How can you call Harrold a panic buy?

Tilly had been tracking him for ages!

I wouldn't class Sodje or Bradbury as panic buys either. We didn't need to sign either but they were better than we already had, so Tilly signed them.

There's more to signing players than just checking to see if they are a good player. The financial deal has to be right and the player needs to be a good fit personality wise for the squad.

If you sign someone on a massive wage, particularly if they don't pull their weight, it can cause big resentment in the squad. See Ricketts as one example.

To attract players to Southend we need to either offer them a huge pay packet or we offer them a chance to better themselves. I much rather prefer the second approach. I don't want my club overrun with mercenaries, I want players to come to Southend to better themselves, not better their bank balance.

 

[Beefy]

I don't get or buy this "Eastwood has lost form" idea that people have. It's a team game and he can't always be expected to create something out of nothing. This is a much tougher league with much better defenders. As a team we are not getting behind defenses and we are not given space and time on the ball. We simply don't pull players out of position and create space for others because we are too pedestrian.

Exactly. Freddy Eastwood isn't the problem - its the other nine outfield players!

 

[Beefy]

Just look at the teams who have taken a punt on loan signings this season and look how well they have done, Birmingham and Stoke being the prime examples. Stoke were awful before they brought in some players on loan and now they have a genuine chance of making the play offs this season, how can that be a bad thing?

We were never going to be able to bring in players like Diao & Hendrie because they're on ten times the wages of the rest of our squad! That would have shattered an already poor team morale just as it did when Ronnie Whelan brought Mark Patterson in the last time we played at this level.