ShrimperZone.Com - Blogs http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/blog.php ShrimperZone: Shrimpers chat forum for Southend United fans en Fri, 18 May 2012 00:48:00 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/images/misc/rss.jpg ShrimperZone.Com - Blogs http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/blog.php Away Day Blues - Play-off special http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?49-Away-Day-Blues-Play-off-special Sun, 13 May 2012 17:30:56 GMT *Crewe Alexandra – Gresty Road* Image: http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1312/38474220.jpg ... Crewe Alexandra – Gresty Road










As I had done a stadium review of Gresty Road after the league game, I decided just to show the imposing Air Products Stand.


After beating already relegated Macclesfield on Saturday, the blues climbed above Torquay to finish fourth in League 2 and were therefore rewarded with the advantage of playing the away leg first in their play-off semi final against seventh placed Crewe. The winner of the tie would take on Cheltenham or Torquay at Wembley for the right to play League 1 football next season.

Being exiled up north, and no longer holding season ticket, I had to wait until Wednesday before attempting to secure my seat via the telephone. I got through to the ticket office fairly quickly, though not without first having to listen to a recorded message urging me to attend a match that was played some three seasons ago. Anyway, with my ticket purchased, and hopefully waiting for me at Gresty Road, it was time to make travel arrangements and to check that the Wilmslow crew would be attending the game, and most importantly, which pub we we would be visiting for our pre match drink. The Royal Hotel was settled on as it is between the railway station and the ground, and they served a decent enough pint in there when we attended the league game earlier in the season. When we got to the pub the main bar was home fans only so we de-camped to the Last Orders for our pre match beers.

After beating Crewe at Roots Hall in February, the blues were sitting pretty at the top of League 2, but some disappointing results and poor form had seen them drop into the play-off places. However, the shrimpers went into this game on the back of four wins and a draw in their last five games, keeping a clean sheet in each of them. The aforementioned defeat proved to be the railwaymen's last of season as they crept into the play-offs winning seven and drawing nine of their remaining 16 games.

Manager Sturrock selected a 4-4-2 formation with promising teenager Ferdinand playing up front with veteran striker Harris. I assumed that Ferdinand would have been instructed to drop into midfield when Crewe had the ball. It is a difficult role to play and he seemed to be caught betwixt and between as the game rather passed him by in the first half. Perhaps a more experienced player would have been better suited to the role.

The railwaymen included their own teenage 'sensation' Nick Powell who is currently being lauded as being the most promising player ever to come of Crewe's famous production line. Powell will have to eclipse the careers of the likes of Murphy, Savage, Platt and Andy Sussex to live up to that tag, but with the ease that he went to ground and his constant whining to the ref suggest he will make a fine Premier League player.

The first half could best be described as cagey and there was little to note other than a couple of badly taken corners and a scuffed shot from Timlin that Phillips dealt with comfortably. As the half drew to a close, a better Hall cross picked out Ferdinand, but he could only put his header over the bar.

The shrimpers started the second half on the attack but it was Crewe that scored the only goal of the game on 49 minutes. Westwood's long free-kick was met by Dugdale beyond the back post and the big number 6 sent his looping header back across goal and over Belford. Although it was impossible to tell from my angle, people around me starting receiving texts suggesting the Sky coverage showed the goal was offside.

On 60 minutes Sturrock replaced the ineffective Ferdinand with Leonard pushing Mohsni up front alongside Harris but the railwaymen again came closest to scoring when Belford produced a stunning acrobatic save to deny Leitch-Smith after he had managed to wriggle clear of the blues' defence.

The shrimpers fashioned their best chance when Mohsni's clever cushioned header fell inviting to Timlin as he broke into the box, but the midfield dynamo shot straight at Phillips.

Sturrock brought on fans' favourite Freddy Eastwood and his presence immediately lifted the blues as they chased a precious equaliser. Mohsni headed over Hall's pinpoint right wing cross, Timlin slipped in the penalty area when he looked as if he was going to manoeuvre himself into a shooting with some neat skills, and Hall's daisy cutter was tipped round the post by Phillips.

The result leaves Crewe in the driving seat for second leg at Roots Hall on Wednesday night. ]]> maninasuitcase http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?49-Away-Day-Blues-Play-off-special Away Day Blues http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?47-Away-Day-Blues Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:58:17 GMT *Oxford United – The Kassam Stadium* Image: http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/6818/12529243.jpg ... Oxford United – The Kassam Stadium





My last visit to the Kassam Stadium was way back in 2003 when we slipped to a disappointing League 2 two nil defeat under the stewardship of the soon to be sacked, and immensely unpopular ex Col U man, Steve Wignall. Warming the Oxford bench that day was Mark Rawle, the shrimpers' former top scorer, who had controversially switched clubs on the eve of the season after promising to sign a new contract at Roots Hall. At the start of the campaign, Oxford may have seemed the better bet to Rawle. But it would be Southend, once Wignall's reign of terror had been ended, that would be playing football in the Championship just three seasons later while the U's were heading for the conference and Rawle, non league obscurity.

Prior to today's game, the blues had already booked their place in the end of season play-offs. However, if Crawley fail to beat relegation threatened Hereford this afternoon, a win here would maintain the shrimpers slim chance of automatic promotion. Oxford need three points in their quest for a play-off place, and like the blues, other results have to go in their favour. Ironically, both teams have an interest in the same fixture with Southend hoping Crewe can beat Torquay and Oxford reliant on the result going the other way.

The U's moved to the 12,500 seater Kassam Stadium from their old Manor Ground in 2001. Unfortunately, due to a lack of finance and the realisation that they weren't going to fill it on a regular basis, they only bothered building three stands rather than the more traditional four. Indeed, I seem to recall a quote from former owner, Firoz Kassam who said, somewhat at odds to Kevin Costner's philosophy in Field of Dreams, 'if they come we will build it' in reference to the missing fourth stand. The South Stand is the most impressive in the stadium, and the only one with two tiers and it also houses the executive boxes and conference suite. Opposite is the North Stand which is shared by both home and away supporters, and behind one goal is the Oxford Mail Stand which is where the U's most vociferous fans congregate. The last time I was at the Kassam the food was particularly unpleasant, so I decided to try the burger van next to the main stand and was rewarded with a decent quarter pounder with real cheese for £3.20.




The South Stand




The North Stand




The Oxford Mail Stand


For today's game Sturrock went with a 4-3-3 formation with Harris, Hall and Mohsni leading the attack and Ferdinand replacing local hero, Freddy Eastwood who dropped to the bench. Oxford started the brighter team and former loaner, Dean Morgan forced Belford in to a decent save with his feet on six minutes. However, the blues produced the perfect riposte to a rather nasty looking challenge on Harris by Duberry, which was rightly punished by a yellow card. Hall curled in the resulting 25 yard free kick for the flying winger to claim his 14th goal of the season on 19 minutes. 12 minutes later the shrimpers doubled their lead when Mohsni glanced home Gilbert's looping left wing cross. And they might have made it three when Harris cleverly clipped the ball over the U's debutant keeper, but Duberry was on hand to make a goal line clearance.

With news filtering through that Crawley were losing, Oxford were again pressing. As the half drew to a close Belford was called on to make a smart save from Whing's drive and Morgan headed over from six yards when perhaps he should have done better.

With the second half starting, Oxford again looked the better side as the blues looked to hang on to what they'd already got. As the shrimpers' rearguard continued to soak up the pressure, the U's became increasingly frustrated with Duberry bawling at the referee every time Belford took a goal kick. With time running out for the U's, sub Montano theatrically threw himself into the box to try to win an undeserved penalty, and he really should have been booked for such a blatant attempt at cheating.

United closed out the final minutes to take the win, and with Crawley losing and Torquay conceding an injury time equaliser, the blues can still snatch automatic promotion next weekend.

For more images of the Kassam Stadium, click here. ]]> maninasuitcase http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?47-Away-Day-Blues Luggyball - part 1 http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?46-Luggyball-part-1 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:14:13 GMT Image: http://i45.tinypic.com/21e3g5x.jpg Only the very sheltered Blues fan will have missed the adverts and awards nominations for the film...

Only the very sheltered Blues fan will have missed the adverts and awards nominations for the film Moneyball. Starring Brad Pitt and written by Aaron Sorkin, Moneyball was nominated for 6 Academy Awards. The film is an excellent adaptation of the Michael Lewis book ‘Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game’. If you have not read this book, then hopefully this blog post will persuade you to dive in. The film is recommended too, although with any book about statistics and economics – the devil is in the detail.

Moneyball is the factual story of Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. The A’s are a small team in a big league, they do not have the financial muscle compared to the Yankees or the Red Sox, but Billy Beane has utilised statistics about his players, and economic concepts regarding trading players. Through this he saw his team defy the odds, break records, and win 4 divisional titles.

The aim of this blog post is not rephrase Moneyball. Dozens of blogs, forums and column inches have been dedicated to this book and its key concepts. Instead, this blog is to think about Moneyball in the context of English football. Football and Baseball may seem a world apart, but there are many similarities. For teams in either sport, success is mainly judged by playoff or cup performance. In football, teams outside the Premier League are vying for promotion, and for those who fall just short of the top spots a postseason playoff is organised to determine the promoted team.

Long seasons allow an accurate picture of a team’s ability to be determined, but a short postseason playoff can determine success or failure. Uncertainty and statistical chance plays a much bigger role because of the smaller sample size. Toss a coin 100 times and you will end up very close to 50 heads and 50 tails. 100 heads has no chance. However in a 3 game playoff series, or tossing a coin 3 times, there is a 12% chance of HHH, and 12% chance of TTT. Form and placement in the league table go out of the window, teams are reasonably evenly balanced in terms of points and win percentage, and so chance plays a significant role in determining the playoff winner.

Billy Beane understood this, the ‘crapshoot’ of the baseball playoffs meant that his team performed well in the season, overachieving massively when compared to the financial might of his rivals, however his team lost in all their postseason playoff appearances. Beane was not oblivious to other factors that affect postseason performances, but he was disturb by how big a role chance is allowed to play in determining entry into the World Series. Huge rewards were based on little more than a coin toss.

Paul “Luggy” Sturrock is little over one week away from taking Southend to the League 2 playoffs. He is not an inexperienced manager, achieving promotion 4 times with 3 different teams – with one promotion from one appearance in the playoffs. This represents a very respectable record for a football manager outside the top league. He is also a highly respected and extremely qualified coach, equally comfortable behind a desk or on the training pitch. However his success is even more impressive when looking at the clubs he has achieved promotion with. Luggy likes a challenge, or to use some economics terms he likes to manage clubs with limited resources, and he looks to maximise the use of these resources. With big or wealthy clubs come heightened expectations and often politics and baggage, Luggy likes to focus on a specific plan to achieve promotion. Outside of the Premier League and Championship there are not many Red Sox or Yankees, most clubs are financially constrained to a large extent. However Sturrock’s success still stands out as an outlier. The Financial Times dedicated a lengthy article to him, including the revelation that Sturrock and ex-CEO Tara Brady appointed a ‘stats guy’ to ‘provide findings’. Luggy may not have read Moneyball, but there is no doubt that both Luggy and Beane share some striking similarities when it comes to managing their teams.

The principles of Moneyball are rather simple, and plenty of books and blogs have looked to apply them theoretically to football/soccer. The excellent ‘Why England Lose’ discusses Moneyball throughout, and hints at Lyon and Arsene Wenger being close disciples. However the fundamental principle of Moneyball, or why Moneyball behaviour is successful, is that Moneyball is not commonly understood or followed. To put it more clearly “Moneyball is about exploiting stupidity and ignorance”.

Economics is not about money or big business per se, but about making the best of limited resources. Economics was traditionally founded on concept that people made rational decisions – that with their salary they spent it wisely, and looked to maximise their wellbeing. Economists look to apply this to decision-making for firms and business – getting the best out of limited resources, or maximising efficiency and profit. The problem is that many people, decision-makers, and economists get it wrong. They are stupid with their money, they manage their businesses inefficiently, and this allows other people to take advantage.

Moneyball is about buying wins, and wins are generated by players out on the pitch. Beane, and his close associate Paul DePodesta, felt that they were unable to fully evaluate the players they wanted to buy and sell. Statistics in baseball (called sabermetrics) were not telling the full story, and so they developed their own statistics to help them understand how much a current player contributes to a win, and more importantly how much a potential signing may contribute. With a limited budget, prices can be attached to current and potential players. You can sell your players to teams who value them more than you, and you can buy players other teams do not value as much as you. It’s a remarkably simple concept, but it is founded on what economists call ‘information asymmetry’. When one person knows more than another, then they can often take personal advantage of that situation. Being able to evaluate player’s performances and potential is key to giving you an edge over your rivals, and can allow you to compete with the big boys. Many teams spend their budgets badly, which is good for a Moneyball club. In particular you might look to particular factors where this information asymmetry often occurs, to give you some rules of thumb.

In subsequent posts we’ll be examining Sturrock’s impact in the last 2 years at Southend, looking at his tactics and transfers to investigate if Southend are a Moneyball club.

Thanks to Drastic for the artwork. ]]> Pubey http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?46-Luggyball-part-1 Away Day Blues http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?44-Away-Day-Blues Sun, 08 Apr 2012 10:27:04 GMT *Bradford City – Valley Parade* Image: http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/1343/85468293.jpg ... Bradford City – Valley Parade









This is by far my nearest away ground as I currently live around three miles from Valley Parade. Also, in a first for me, I watched the action with the home fans from the Main Stand after meeting up with daveb from 606 exiles for some pre-match nosh and refreshment in the McCall Suite. For the princely sum of £20 we got a match ticket, a pint of beer, and a roast beef and onion sandwich with roast potatoes and gravy, which I thought was pretty good value for money. And most importantly, we were allowed to nip out for a fag at half time.


Valley Parade is quite an impressive, if a slightly lop-sided looking stadium. With a capacity of over 25,000 it is the largest in League 2, just beating the Don Valley in to second place by 130 seats or so. I certainly like the way the Main Stand seems to sweep in to the Carlsberg Stand, while the empty seats in the corner between the two is used to commemorate the victims of the Bradford fire. The rather awkwardly punned 'betrescue' and the old fashioned and quaint looking TL Dallas Stands appear quite small in comparison to the giants on either side of them. On my first visit to VP the away fans occupied the double-decker Dallas Stand, but in recent years the home supporters have moved back in to take advantage of the better acoustics. Although I am not in favour of shoving the away fans in to one corner of the ground, you can see, or should I say hear, why they did it as the noise emanating from the Dallas Stand made it sound like there were two or three times the number of supporters in there that actually paid at the turnstile.







The Carlsberg Stand







The betrescue Stand







The TL Dallas Stand




After the infamous brawl with creepy Crawley the bantams were without their suspended first choice goalkeeper and centre back pairing. The blues were missing three first teamers through injury as Sturrock paired the returning hero, Freddy Eastwood up front with Mohsni and Prosser continued in central defence in an unchanged line-up from last week's defeat of Cheltenham.


Bradford started the brighter team and the lively Jones forced Belford into a save from a long range effort on eight minutes. With the shrimpers playing too many long balls there were only glimpses of the kind of free flowing football that the blues are capable of playing. With the bantams on top they should have taken the lead on the half hour mark when Wells' neat turn got him free on the edge of the area. Fortunately for united, his swerving shot hit Belford and rebounded to safety. With the shrimpers finally playing some football, a sweeping move saw Hills' left wing cross screwed horribly high over the bar by Eastwood.


City opened the scoring on 38 minutes when a Fagan free kick found its way to Flynn and his inviting right wing cross was emphatically headed home by Hanson at the back post. With Bradford pressing for a second only some brave defending in a goal-mouth scramble prevented the blues going in to half-time two nil down.


With the Chesterfield boss John Sheridan settling into his seat a few rows behind us, the bantams started the second half the better side again so it was no surprise that they scored a second. The blues greatly contributed to their own downfall when a mis-placed pass from Mohsni found its way to Wells via Fagan. With Clohessy trying desperately to get back goal side, he clipped the Bradford forward's heels in the process. The ref had no hesitation in pointing to the spot but rather harshly showed the Irish full back a straight red card before Fagan slammed home the resulting penalty.


The 10 men blues went down to nine when, on the advice of the linesman, substitute Benyon was red carded on 70 minutes after he and Kozluk challenged for a high ball. The bantams around me were just as bemused as I was as the forward trudged off towards the tunnel, though a caller to a local radio after the game suggested it was for a stamp. After making all three of their permitted substitutions, united played out the last 10 minutes or so with just seven outfield players on the pitch when Barker went off injured.


This disappointing defeat means the shrimpers will probably need to win their final five matches to have a chance of an automatic promotion place while the three points picked up by Bradford almost guarantees their participation in League 2 next season.


Away Day Blues will return when the mighty shrimpers travel to the Kassam Stadium. ]]> maninasuitcase http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?44-Away-Day-Blues Away Day Blues http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?43-Away-Day-Blues Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:16:07 GMT *Burton Albion - The Pirelli Stadium* Image: http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/5311/mstand.jpg ... Burton Albion - The Pirelli Stadium





After last week's round the houses trip to Morecambe I had a straightforward journey to Burton with just one change at Leeds. Furthermore, the train arrived bang on time at 13.37 and I met Mashtun, from the 606exiles website, at the station who took me to The Anglesey Arms for a pre match pint or two of Burton Bridge's Bridge Bitter.

Mashtun asked for a couple of team pointers for the match and I suggested he watch out for Dickinson and Hall unaware that both had been dropped along with promising youngster Kane Ferdinand for disciplinary reasons after an incident before the Morecambe match. In addition, keeper Morris was out injured, as was JP Kalala as Manager Sturrock made six changes from the team that lined up against the shrimps.

With barely three minutes played Albion should have taken the lead when Yussuf latched on to a lucky rebound. Fortunately, the striker's heavy first touch saw the ball roll harmlessly to the shrimpers' on loan keeper. The next 30 minutes or so saw little goal mouth action until the blues began to exert some pressure on the Burton rearguard and Harris forced a decent save out of Atkins from a cross from the recalled Sawyer. Timlin almost broke the deadlock, but his close range shot went agonisingly wide on 42 minutes. With the half drawing to a close, the dangerous looking Yussuf again managed to wriggle clear of a couple of defenders, but this time he shot straight at the grateful Belford.

Southend came out for the second half with all guns blazing putting the Albion defence under continued pressure. Harris missed a couple of presentable chances before a quick free kick from Martin caught out the brewers keeper to put the blues one up on the hour. The shrimpers pressed for a second and decisive goal with Harris again missing a very presentable chance. What proved to be the winner duly arrived when the brewers custodian couldn't hold a fierce Grant drive and Harris calmly slotted in the rebound on 75 minutes. Led by the goalscorer Harris himself, the whole team headed for touchline to celebrate with Sturrock, in what I guess was a show of support for the manager and his handling of the club's recent well publicised off field problems.

With the game effectively won, the blues played out the remainder of the game fairly comfortably. Belford did have to make a decent one handed save low down to his left in the dying minutes in order to keep a clean sheet on his debut.

After the game I headed to the Derby Inn for a celebratory pint or two and a debrief with a few brewers and quick check of the other scores suggested most went our way leaving the blues in third place.

The Pirelli Stadium was opened in 2005 and holds just under 7,000 supporters. Both ends behind the goals are standing, although Burton do provide seats for away supporters in the Main Stand. At £14.00 to stand it is the second cheapest I have paid for an away league match this season. The food is pretty good value as well with a cheese burger and tea costing £3.80 combined. As well as the usual array of pies and burgers, faggots are also on the menu, but not my favourite sausage rolls.

The view from the away end is pretty good, but I would advise taking a cap as you are looking towards the sun over the Main Stand for most of the match. Overall it is a nice stadium that fits the size of the club perfectly in its current league two status.




The Main Stand




The West Stand




The Popular Terrace




Shrimpers in the West Stand


Away Day Blues will return for the short trip to Valley Parade.

For more images of The Pirelli Stadium click here. ]]> maninasuitcase http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?43-Away-Day-Blues Away Day Blues http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?41-Away-Day-Blues Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:25:06 GMT *Morecambe FC - The Globe Arena* Image: http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/1508/36001134.jpg ... Morecambe FC - The Globe Arena









I have to admit that the Globe arena is not one of my favourite grounds to visit. Although I can get a train direct to Morecambe from Shipley, the only one arriving before 3pm leaves at 10.30 and arrives at around 12.30. In addition, for some reason the train waits at Carnforth for 10 minutes and it is also held for a similar time at Lancaster while they change the crew, even though Morecambe is just two further stops away and the end of the line. I did notice that the Yorkshire Shrimpers joined the train at some point so there would be at least five of us in the away end. The journey back is just as arduous as the first train out of Morecambe leaves at 17.20, and for me requires changes at Lancaster, Manchester and Leeds before arriving back at Shipley just after 20.30.

With plenty of time to kill before the game I had intended to get a drink in the Regent Caravan Park which is located just before the ground. Unfortunately the bar was closed as they were on their winter break so I tried the Supporters Club in the ground. With a pretty even mix of shrimps and shrimpers, I had a pleasant couple of pints of Cross Bay's Sunset Blonde Bitter before heading in to the ground.

The Globe Arena was opened in 2010 at a cost of £12m, and unlike most grounds, fans of both teams can mingle freely together especially around the tea bar at the corner of the Peter McGuigan main stand. Last season the terracing behind the goal was closed to away supporters, although they did open it half time, but this time you could choose to stand behind the goal. The Globe Arena is quite nice looking apart from the North Terrace which has an unfinished look about it. Apparently, it is very similar to the old Car Wash Terrace at Christie Park and in my opinion, it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the architecture.







The Peter McGuigan Main Stand







The West Terrace







The North Terrace







The Bay Radio Stand




For a change, I decided to try one of Morecambe's famous pies, tucking into a delicious Chicken, Ham and Leek variety whilst dodging balls from the blues pre match shooting routine. Fortunately I didn't get hit, though a young lady sitting to my right was not so lucky, catching one right in the face at the end of the session. After being taken away by stewards, she returned to the terrace a few minutes after the game had started looking none the worse for wear.

After a bit of a drop in form and the defeat at Aldershot, Paul Sturrock promised changes. He selected a 4-3-3 line up with Dickinson up front alongside Mohsni and on-loan teenage striker Sampson. For me, the formation didn't really work as the Shrimpers were forced on to the back foot by the shrimps for much of the first half. The forwards were unable to keep hold of the ball and the three man midfield seemed over run. The blues were further disrupted when holding midfielder Kalala was carried off injured, but I have to say that his replacement, Anthony Grant did put in a much better performance than his rather indifferent display at Shrewsbury a couple of weeks ago.

United certainly played better after the half time break, but were still second best in most departments. Mohsni almost scored when his looping header beat the shrimps keeper but bounced off the bar to safety. Prossers' long throws were causing the their defence some problems and I thought that this was the likeliest route to a goal.

On 75 minutes Morecambe took the lead when Burrow bundled in Lewis Alessandra's long left-wing free-kick. A free-kick I might add that was given for what looked a perfectly fair tackle to take the ball. Two minutes later Mohsni was substituted as the blues reverted to a 4-4-2 formation, again I thought this was an odd decision as he looked the player most likely to hit the back of the net. However, I later learned that the influential Frenchman had asked to come off and had travelled home on the train alone. Grant fired wide in injury time as the blues slipped to their second successive defeat but stay third in the league.

A better performance is required next weekend at Burton. ]]> maninasuitcase http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?41-Away-Day-Blues Southend United v Cheltenham http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?40-Southend-United-v-Cheltenham Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:34:34 GMT ---Quote (Originally by Bluepen)--- Timlin in the middle or on the left can anyone tell me when they last thought he had a good game but appears...
Quote Originally Posted by Bluepen View Post
Timlin in the middle or on the left can anyone tell me when they last thought he had a good game
but appears to be first name on the team sheet regardless ,so can we afford to keep playing him
every game cos we have seen him play well earlier in the season(but not lately) ...its now that counts, Martin ,Sawyer
Grant, Ferdinand even Hall in an out but never Timlin and its not that i dont like him but he is not undroppable is he?
]]> Bluepen http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?40-Southend-United-v-Cheltenham Away Day Blues http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?38-Away-Day-Blues Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:29:41 GMT *Shrewsbury Town – The New Meadow* Image: http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/9250/frontzje.jpg Another early start, well early for... Shrewsbury Town – The New Meadow








Another early start, well early for me anyway, as I caught the 10.44 from Shipley to Leeds for the start of my three legged journey down to Shrewsbury via Manchester. However, the long journey to the south west gave my an opportunity to reflect on our season so far and how we have improved as team in the 18 months or so since Paul Sturrock took over the managerial reigns at Roots Hall. For example, last season we went behind to the shrews and although we got back on level terms via a Grant equaliser, we seemed content to play for a draw even though we were the better side in the second half. It was a similar story at Chesterfield, where once again we fell behind and equalised, but on that occasion we lost the game after a clearance, if I remember correctly, went in off someone's backside, This term, whether it be down to mental strength and resilience and a desire to win, additions to the squad like Dickinson or Timlin, or just plain good luck, united seem to have a very welcome ability to win away games. Even though the blues went behind at Wimbledon and Northampton, and were pegged back by Dagenham, Crewe and Accrington, the shrimpers went on to take the full three points on offer from those matches, often scoring in the last few minutes. If, say Southend had drawn those five games, they'd be 10 points worse off and perhaps just battling for a play-off place instead of fighting for the League 2 title and automatic promotion. Still, this is just conjecture on my part and I'm sure others will have their own views.


Shrewsbury's ground is officially called the somewhat clumsily spelt 'Greenhous Meadow' but it is known locally, and maybe more pleasingly, as the New Meadow. The stadium is located a good 30 minutes plus hike from the town centre and I have to admit that last season I got a bit lost on the way, taking a more circuitous route than was absolutely necessary. However, with the train arriving well over an hour before kick-off, there was plenty of time for to trek south to the ground and meet some friends in the Brooklands Hotel for a swift half. The New Meadow was opened in 2007 and has capacity of just under 10,000 in the four single tiered stands. There are plans to increase the number of seats to around 12,000 by filling in the corners, but like Sixfields, these designs are apparently on the back burner. Three of the four stands are named after the cardinal points of the compass. The away fans get the North Stand behind one goal, while the more boisterous home supporters congregate in the northern corner of the West so they can hurl insults at their visiting counterparts, and certainly today there was some lively banter being traded back and forth for most of the match. Behind the other goal is the South, and the remaining home supporters are housed in the Roland Wycherley Stand, named after Shrewsbury's obviously publicity shy Chairman.


Under the North Stand is the visiting supporters tea bar. The food on offer was reasonably priced compared with some grounds. My half time sausage roll was tasty enough and at less than £2.00, was reasonably good value for money. The only gripe, albeit a small one, is a lack a plasma screens to catch the latest scores.







The Roland Wycherley Stand







The South Stand







The West Stand







Shrimpers in the North Stand






After last week's comprehensive 5 – 2 win at Northampton, manager Paul Sturrock chose to strangely drop mercurial winger Ryan Hall to the bench in favour of the more combative Anthony Grant. I suspect this was to nullify the threat of shrews' winger Mark Wright who had a fine game against the blues here last season. Unfortunately, it also had the effect blunting the shrimpers own attacking impetus as Grant looked a shadow of the player he was for much of last season. However, united did have the first shot on target inside the first 20 seconds when Dave Martins' drive was gathered at the second attempt by keeper Chris Neal.


Both sides had efforts on goal, with a Grant shot being deflected on to the crossbar and Jon Taylor fizzing one wide for the shrews shortly before what should have been a game defining moment. On 28 minutes the shrews were reduced to 10 men when Marvin Morgan's late and high lunge on JP Kalala resulted in a straight red for the burly striker. That should have been the signal for the blues to take the game by the scruff of the neck, but they continued to labour for the remainder of the half although Benyon did force Neal into a smart save as the first 45 minutes drew to a close. Dickinson may well have been sent off himself when he seemed to needlessly barge into a Shrews defender off the ball, but with the home fans chanting for a red card, the referee showed the blues top scorer some leniency with just a yellow.


United started the second period brightly, but it was the shrews that took the lead on 52 minutes when Gilbert rather rashly challenged James Collins in the box going away from goal. Although I thought the decision was a bit soft, Collins sent keeper Morris the wrong as he effortlessly rolled the penalty into the opposite corner.


Manager Sturrork responded by substituting the disappointing Grant with Ryan Hall and it was he that drew the sides level on 66 minutes. Dickinson teed up the winger, and he knocked the ball home from 14 yards or so despite Neal managing to get a hand to it.


Dickinson was involved in another incident which left Candsell-Sherriff needing extensive treatment before being stretched off. I thought it was simply just a clash of heads and that the ref made the right decision, much to the annoyance of the home supporters, to take no further action,. However, their frustration quickly turned to joy just a few minutes later when Grandison rose unchallenged in the area to emphatically head home Richard's corner on 82 minutes.


Sturrock pushed the talismanic Mohsni, who was on for the injured Phillips, up front with Benyon and Dickinson, but the shrimpers couldn't quite fashion a chance to salvage a point in the nine minutes of added time. With the shrews playing a full hour with 10 men, they deservedly won the game 2 -1 and it is easy to see why the haven't lost at the New Meadow in almost a year. Indeed, they dominated much of the game and looked to be team with the man advantage over an disappointingly out of sorts Southend side.


As I headed for the exit and the two mile slog back to the station, the only positive I could garner from the afternoon was that the shrimpers remain top of League 2 after creepy Crawley drew and Cheltenham lost. Meanwhile, Shrewsbury strengthen their position in the chasing pack, and I suspect they will remain difficult opponents at home for the rest of the season.


Away Day Blues will return in a few weeks.


For more images of New Meadow, click here ]]> maninasuitcase http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?38-Away-Day-Blues Away Day Blues http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?37-Away-Day-Blues Sun, 15 Jan 2012 08:22:20 GMT *Northampton Town – Sixfields Stadium* Image: http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/1609/overviewb.jpg ... Northampton Town – Sixfields Stadium









After seeing Southend defeated three times in a week just before Christmas, at Cheltenham and Oldham, and at home against Bradford, the blues have picked up seven points out of possible nine since then. Indeed, but for the floodlight débâcle at Aldershot, where the lights went out, and the game abandoned at half time with the shrimpers a goal and a player to the good, we would probably be back at the top of League 2 going into this fixture rather than trailing 'creepy' Crawley by a point. So on Saturday morning I jumped in my car, tuned into Fighting Talk and headed south down the M1 to junction 16 to watch the blues take on the cobblers at Sixfields.


I would guess that I have visited Sixfields more than any other away ground, but this was my first trip there since United beat Northampton in the League 2 play-off semi final back in 2005. Although Sixfields is fairly new, it replaced the old County Ground in 1994, I have to declare it is not one of my favourite stadiums to visit. The ground was built in a bowl which seems to have had the unfortunate effect of making the inside a couple of degrees colder than the surrounding area. Also, Sixfields is not particularly striking, there is no ground breaking architecture here, just a cheap as chips, no thrills little stadium that holds just under 8,000 people. There are, of course, plans to almost double the capacity of the ground to around 15,000 seats, and to build a hotel and shopping complex behind the South Stand. Apparently, it will take 5 years to redevelop the ground and this will involve rebuilding three of the four stands. No doubt there are designs gathering dust in an architect's office somewhere waiting either for the economic climate to improve, or for the club to be playing their football in the Championship.


The most impressive part of the ground is the single tier West Stand. With 4,000 seats it can hold more supporters than the other three stands put together. The West Stand also accommodates the supporters bar as well as the club shop and executive suite. Opposite is the 1,700 seater Alwyn Hargrave Stand. It was named after a local councillor who greatly helped the club turn its plans for Sixfields into a reality. Also, this stand acts as an overflow for away supporters if their own stand is sold out.


Behind the goals are the identical 800 seater Dave Bowen (North) Stand and the rather awkwardly named Paul Cox Panel & Paint (South) Stand, the latter being reserved for away supporters. Although I complained earlier about Sixfields being a little bit chilly, and it is by no stretch of the imagination, the most aesthetically pleasing ground I have ever been to, there is nothing wrong with the view of the pitch from the South Stand.








The West Stand








The Dave Bowen Stand








The Alwyn Hargrave Stand








Shrimpers in the Paul Cox Panel & Paint Stand


The last time I visit Sixfields, the food on offer was particularly poor. Plain burgers with no onions, cheese or even ketchup was the best they could muster if I remember correctly, I suppose with the various fast-food outlets located just a few hundred yards away, the club has assumed they can't compete with the likes of KFC and McDonalds. I did visit the tea bar at half time but they had run out of my now customary sausage rolls so I had to make do with a giant 12 fl oz cup of tea for £2.00.


Since the Bradford loss and the opening of the transfer window, manager Paul Sturrock has freshened up the squad by bringing in four new players. Striker Elliott Benyon and winger Dave Martin were signed for undisclosed fees from Swindon and Derby respectively. Bolton's teenage forward Jack Sampson has joined on a month's loan, and on Friday, former Bohemians front man Anto Flood put pen to paper after a successful trial. And perhaps most importantly, midfield maestro Michael Timlin has made his loan move from Swindon permanent as the shrimpers seek to maintain their lofty position near the top of League 2.


Sturrock selected two of the new boys to start the match with Benyon partnering Dickinson up front and Martin on the left wing in a 4-4-2 formation. The seasiders began the game the brighter team but went behind against the run of the play on 10 minutes when a long throw somehow found its way to Clohessy. Facing his own goal on the six yard line with the ball at his feet, the full back dithered over his clearance allowing John Johnson was to stab the ball home.


The shrimpers did get the ball in the net 10 minutes later but Martin's effort was ruled out after the ref adjudged he had kicked the ball out of clarets keeper Freddy Hall's hands. Undeterred, the blues continued to press for an equaliser and it duly arrived on 41 minutes when the ball broke to Martin on the left hand side of the box. The former Derby winger showed some neat skills to make himself a yard of space and he then lashed the ball in to the bottom right corner of the net in some style. Unfortunately, united couldn't keep the match on level terms until the break as once again the cobblers took the lead just two minutes later. A speculative long ball forward seem to catch the blues defence on their heels, and despite Berahino looking three yards sides offside, the lino waved play on as the clarets striker coolly stroked the ball under the advancing Morris for an unexpected 2 – 1 half time lead.


Whatever Sturrock said to the lads during the break seemed to have worked as the shrimpers carved out chance after chance in the second half. Keeper Hall made a tremendous triple save, pushing away Dickinson's goal bound effort then twice denying Benyon as he tried to bundle in the rebound. Gilbert saw a glancing header go just wide and Phillips managed to head the ball over the crossbar after meeting Hall's free kick unmarked about eight yards out from the goal. When Martin's low drilled cross missed everybody I began to think that the shrimpers were never going to score. But on 65 minutes the clarets keeper clattered Dickinson in the box and the tall striker dusted himself down to confidently blast home his 10th goal of the season from the resulting penalty.


With the shrimpers seeming to take a breather, the cobblers sought to take the lead for a third time. Morris had to make a smart save to keep out a Jacobs' free kick. And the same player saw another free kick rebound off the inside of the post with Morris well beaten.


On 75 minutes Sturrock brought Mohsni into the action in place of Martin, the player many thought would never pull on a united shirt again after his reckless sending off against Oldham in the FA Cup third round replay. However in this week of comebacks, the Frenchman went from villain to hero inside 10 minutes. Bursting into the area from the left wing, he stooped down to superbly head in Hall's cross to put the blues in front for the first time in the game. Then his quick throw-in to fellow substitute Sampson caught the clarets defence napping and the young striker's pull back was nonchalantly sided footed home by Dickinson for his second of the afternoon.


With the home fans pouring out of Sixfields as if the fire alarms had just gone off, and with the blue army chanting for five, Mohsni duly obliged by out muscling his defender to nod home Hall's corner. The ensuing celebrations by the players and fans alike seemed to indicate that the exuberant centre back's previous indiscretions may not have been forgotten, but they have been forgiven.


As I headed back up the M1 to Yorkshire, I was more than pleased to hear that the blues had returned to the top of League 2 at the expense of Crawley who could only draw today.


Away Day Blues will (hopefully) return next weekend when the mighty shrimpers travel to Shrewsbury.




For more images of Sixfields, click here ]]> maninasuitcase http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?37-Away-Day-Blues Away Day Blues, FA Cup Special http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?34-Away-Day-Blues-FA-Cup-Special Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:49:30 GMT *Oldham Athletic – Boundary Park* Image: http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/7471/wearelatics.jpg Oldham Athletic – Boundary Park









After Southend held their higher league opponents to a commendable draw in the FA Cup round 2 tie at Roots Hall the Saturday before last, I made the short trip west along the M62 to Oldham for the Tuesday night replay. The winners have the added incentive of taking on Liverpool at Anfield in round 3 in January. I'm sure both clubs' chairmen would have been rubbing their hands in glee at the thought of the much needed extra cash a plum tie with the five times European Champions will bring in when ball number 62 was drawn from the velvet bag.


My two previous visits to Boundary Park were not particularly happy affairs. The first was the blues last away game of the 2008/09 season. It was a rather drab draw which confirmed that we wouldn't be extending our season in to the play-offs. Only the travelling shrimpers in fancy dress doing the conga brightened up and otherwise dreary game. The second, the following season was even worse, as the 2 - 2 draw condemned the blues to relegation back to league 2. It effectively brought the curtain down on the Tilson era at Roots Hall, a period that had seen back to back promotions, three trips to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and a famous victory over Manchester United live on Sky. Unfortunately, with the club mired in financial difficulties, Tilson was unable halt the downward spiral in form that led to the shrimpers winning just one game after New Year's Day.


Since my first visit to BP the local train stations have been closed in preparation for an extension of the Manchester tram system. As this won't reach Oldham until 2014, I had no option other than to drive there straight after work in Huddersfield, parking at the Clayton Green pub for a reasonable £5.00. The cost of parking is redeemable in the bar so my couple of pints cost 20 pence. I remembered to pack plenty of warm clothes as Boundary Park is considered just about the coldest place in England to watch football. It is one of the highest league grounds above sea level in the country, and with the Pennines stretching out to the north and east, a biting wind tends to blow across the ground. Indeed, Boundary Park is 'affectionately' nicknamed Ice Station Zebra after the John Sturges directed cold war thriller set at the North Pole.


Currently, only three side of Boundary Park are in use after the old Broadway Stand was demolished a few years ago. This was to make way for a new 5,000 seater main stand, but these plans are currently on the back burner. Behind the home goal is the Chaddy End, from the supporting pillars I'd guess that this was built some time ago. The Main Stand is yet another of those that straddles the halfway line but doesn't stretch to the entire length of the pitch, with either end being filled with a hotchpotch of open terracing. Home and away fans share the Rochdale Road End, with approximately a third of the seats given over to the travelling supporters. The facilities are in the away end are okay, I had a stodgy cheese and potato pie, but it was just what was needed on a freezing cold night like tonight,







The Main Stand







The Chaddy End







The unused Broadway Stand side




Since the original draw, Southend have lost their last two matches, crashing out of the Johnson Paint Trophy at the area semi-final stage, and then losing rather meekly at Cheltenham in the league allowing creepy Crawley to regain top spot. So I was hoping to see the blues returning to winning ways in tonight's fixture. With this in mind Manager Paul Sturrock freshened up his line-up bringing in Leonard and Grant in midfield and Harris and Sturrock up front. With the first 15 minutes being fairly even, the blues began to get on top of their league 1 opponents. The latics keeper was called into making three decent saves in quick succession, the first tipping over a Mohsni 30 yard effort, then he denied Harris twice keeping out a long range shot and acrobatically palming away a header from Leonard's flicked on long throw.


With Mohsni picking up a booking on 22 minutes, I was wondering whether Sturrock would replace the fiery winger at half-time. Unfortunately, the blues boss didn't get the opportunity to make the change as Mohsni picked up a second yellow, and an early bath, for a mistimed tackle on Furman seven minutes before the break.


Unsurprisingly, the latics took control of the second half making the most of their numerical advantage with some slick passing and movement. Only an offside flag kept the scores level when Lee prodded home a simple chance after Daniels failed to hold a Taylor cross. Unfortunately, for the blues, this was only a temporary reprieve, as Taylor half volleyed the winner from Shefki Kuqi's cross and Wesolowski's intelligent chest-down.


Sturrock brought on Hall and Ferdinand for one last throw of the dice, but the 10 men couldn't fashion a chance to take the tie into extra time, leaving the shrimpers to concentrate on the league.


Away Day Blues will return in the new year.




For more images of Ice Station Zebra, click here ]]> maninasuitcase http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?34-Away-Day-Blues-FA-Cup-Special Away Day Blues http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?33-Away-Day-Blues Sun, 11 Dec 2011 13:14:20 GMT *Cheltenham Town – Whaddon Road* Image: http://img542.imageshack.us/img542/7421/entrancesign.jpg ... Cheltenham Town – Whaddon Road









This was only my second visit to Whaddon Road, the first being way back in October 1999. Although I remember the trip and the ground quite well, I can't recall anything about the match itself, which we lost 2 – 1. Sweden were playing Poland in the Euro 2000 qualifies that afternoon, so we travelled down early to watch the game in the pub. The reason we wanted to see the match was that a win for the Scandinavians would mean England would qualify for the Euro 2000 play-offs as the group runners up at the expense of the Poles. Sweden duly won the game and we headed off to the ground only to come to a grinding halt in the heavy A40 traffic almost immediately after leaving the pub car park. Fortunately, I had a Cheltenham road atlas with me and we were able to take a legal short cut through a local park, passing some rather bemused looking dog walkers in the process. For today's trip, I relied on the train to beat the traffic, arriving about 10 minutes late just after 2pm for the two mile hike to Whaddon Road. Although the journey from Yorkshire is about four hours each way, I only had to change at Leeds, so there was plenty of time on the return journey to write up this blog and sort out the pictures.


Cheltenham's ground has undergone some radical changes since I was last there 12 years ago. Two new stands have been built, and it is now officially called the Abbey Business Stadium, though I suspect most fans still refer to it as Whaddon Road. The In2Print Stand was opened during the 2001/02 season and has room for 2000 plus home supporters. At one end it meets the new Hazlewoods Stand which holds around 1000 away fans. This was opened in 2004 and it is quite a change from the old away end. I seem to recall it was previously an open terrace with maybe eight to 12 steps at the most for fans to stand on. It also had a wooden shed on the left hand side where 20 or so supporters could shelter from the Cotswolds' winter weather. The Main Stand is another one of those that straddles the halfway line, but doesn't extend to the entire length of the pitch. The areas either side are open for standing. The remaining home fans gather in the Speedy Skips Stand behind the other goal.


The facilities for the away fans are pretty good. The new stand is very close to the pitch and you get a very good view. The selection of food on offer seemed better then average with four types of burger to choose from, plus bacon rolls and pies. I plumped for a piping hot jumbo sausage roll and a cup of tea. In addition, the stewards open the main gates at half time to allow us smokers to nip outside for a quick Harry Wragg, which I think is always a nice touch and well appreciated.







The Main Stand







The Speedy Skips Stand







The In2Print Stand




As I settled into my seat in the warm winter sun, I was hoping to see the blues continue their impressive away form which has seen them notch 5 consecutive wins on the road. Sturrock's team selection had United playing in an unusual 4-2-3-1 formation which didn't really work. Cheltenham were by far the better side in the first half as they passed the ball round and through the Southend midfield with ease. The shrimpers by contrast were hitting it long to Dickinson up front, or Mohsni out on the right, hoping the ball would stick and building from there.


It really came as no surprise when the robins took the lead on 20 minutes after a jinking run by Penn set up Spencer to side foot the ball coolly past Daniels. Cheltenham continued to look dangerous throughout the remainder of the half, whilst the blues struggled to get a foot hold in the match. With the robins' right back, Jombatti having a excellent game containing Ryan Hall, the shrimpers lacked any attacking impetus. Sturrock tried switching Mohsni on to the left, but despite the Tunisian's height advantage over the Cheltenham number 22, the blues were still only able to make the occasional foray into the opposition half as they continued hitting the ball long.


In the second half the blues reverted to a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation with Mohsni moving up front alongside Dickinson. Unfortunately their task of getting the shrimpers back into the match was made that that much more difficult when the robins doubled their lead on 52 minutes. With the ball pinging around the Southend six yard box, and despite Gilbert making a brave goal line clearance, the shrimpers' rear guard just couldn't clear their lines and Penn eventually scored from close range.


With blues pouring forward in numbers to try and salvage something from the game, a breakaway goal seemed almost inevitable. It duly arrived on 80 minutes when the shrimpers lost the ball close to the Cheltenham penalty box and the robins swept down field for Pack to score the third from a Butterfield cross.


To give the blues some credit, they did continue to press Cheltenham right to the final whistle, but depressingly I can only remember their keeper having to make just two saves all game. The first, a deflected shot straight into his midriff, the second to claw away a Mohsni effort low down to his left. As the game drew to a close, Ferdinand wasted the shrimpers' best chance of the afternoon. A neat drag-back and turn in the box left him with the goal at his mercy, but the youngster could only slice his shot horridly wide when it seemed easier to score.


To be totally honest, Southend weren't in the races today and Cheltenham won at a canter. The defeat drops the blues to second, with the robins now just a point behind in third, while creepy Crawley's win over Burton Albion takes them back to the top of League 2 with a three point cushion.


Next up for united is the FA Cup second round replay at Boundary Park on Tuesday night. Weather permitting, Away Day Blues will make the short trip along the M62 hoping to witness a far better performance from the mighty shrimpers.




For more views of Whaddon Road, click here. ]]> maninasuitcase http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?33-Away-Day-Blues Algorfa Shrimper, Costa Blanca, Spain. http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?32-Algorfa-Shrimper-Costa-Blanca-Spain Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:31:43 GMT Supported Blues since 1948. Great run at present and long may it continue. Win the league and JPT at Wembley. In my opinion Blues forwards that... Supported Blues since 1948. Great run at present and long may it continue. Win the league and JPT at Wembley. In my opinion Blues forwards that have given me the most entertainment and excitement are John McKinven, Peter Corthine, Bill Garner, Chico Hamilton, Freddy Eastwood, Stan Collymore, Errol Crossan, and Billy Best. Great players but for pure excitement it has to be Stan the Man. Wish I was at Roots Hall for todays game. UP THE BLUES!!!!!! ]]> algorfa shrimper http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?32-Algorfa-Shrimper-Costa-Blanca-Spain Montenegro Away http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?31-Montenegro-Away Mon, 21 Nov 2011 01:09:10 GMT A bit late with this report but hope you all enjoy. While seeing double in the pub one evening after a home game I vaguely overheard my name being... A bit late with this report but hope you all enjoy.

While seeing double in the pub one evening after a home game I vaguely overheard my name being called and with a effort managed to face in the general direction of where the voice was coming from. It seemed that another trip in the name of Eng-er-land was being arranged and would I be attending. As with most of my excusions abroad, I smiled, hic-cupped and mumbled yes without the slightest idea of where I had signed up for. I should really pay more attention.

A couple of days later an e-mail arrived from our very own travel guru outlining the basics and suggesting we stay in Belgrade before heading to Montenegro and going through the usual performance of trying to get tickets. The previous saturday came flooding back and I realised I was off to Eastern Europe again. This time there was four of us and a couple of maybe's and I also asked a mate from work who I thought would fit into our bunch of merry men. As is usual for these trips, a couple of chaps dropped out before any money had changed hands and in the end five were confirmed.

Our travel guru who prefers not to be named has been to touching 60 different countries and has kept contact with many of the people he has crossed paths with so set about sorting out the flights, hotels and evening entertainment in Belgrade plus the internal flight and accomadation in Podgorica. As with most things in Eastern Europe our inquiries were met with the standard reply of 'Is no problem, not worry eh' which normally makes me worry but I was assured that all was well and leave it all to them.

As the time fast approached I noticed that we had paid for all our flights and hotel in Belgrade but our travel guru hadn't been chasing us for payment for the couple of apartments we were getting in Podgorica. About a month before departure I mentioned about our beds for the three nights and was told our friends in Belgrade were sorting it but the chap in Podgorica was being a little slack and things might be stalling a smidge. The last time we had a smidge of a problem was flying to Moscow via Heathrow and returning via City Airport, guess who's car was at Heathrow.

No matter, it was all part of the fun. The day of departure arrived and in typical R&R style me and Matt from work got stitched up and ended working up to midnight just six hours before our flights from Luton. Lucky for us we had our bags with us and made the best of it at work. Matt getting changed while leaning against a forklift and me having a shave using a blunt bic and a lorry wing mirror. After mopping the blood up we dived into the oldest Discovery still on the road and headed off for Luton.

We arrived at the airport and found that bugger all was open other than a coffee shop and WH Smiths both trying to out do each other in the charging a fortune stakes. We finally found a couple of seats and attempted to get our heads down for a while, I had been on the go since 7am the previous morning and Matt since 6am so we were both lagging a bit. No sooner than I had shut my eyes and the sodding tannor burst into life so getting some shut eye went for a burden. In the end our other two travellers arrived (one had dropped out at the last minute) and after having a last smoke made our way to passport control. As ever, I managed to set the alarms off and also got singled out for a random bag search. Once through that lot I also got stopped by Football Intelligence and gave the standard answers to the usual boring questions.

'Who do you support'
'Where are you going'
'Have you got a ticket'
'Are you known to Football Intelligence'

Standard reply is always

Southend
Where ever
No
No
Big sickly smile.

Once we all met up on the other side we headed for some breakfast while keeping an eye on the flight information. After the smallest and most expensive full english I have ever had we made our way to the gate and boarded our flight to Belgrade. Matt and I tucked into a few beers straight after take-off and got seriously into holiday mode. Two and one half hour later and several beers we arrived in sunny Serbia. Once through customs and passport control we came out into brilliant warm sunshine and all was good with the world. Our transport dropped us off at the hotel bang in the centre of Belgrade. We had been led to believe that the Hotel Royal wasn't very royal at all and to expect very bland ex-communist decor and hospitality. I was pleasantly surprised due to the fact that the whole place was undergoing a re-fit and was really quite nice. After a quick shower and top change we headed for the bar and had a few beers.

Our travel guru decided to take us on a little wander of the sights and we ended up at a fortress which had loads of communist era hardware and one awesome view of the city. Once the cultrual bit was done we headed for another beer. After a while the hunger pangs kicked in so we sauntered off to a nice little resturant for some grub. Did I mention that Serbia is a meat lovers paradise and is dirt cheap for food, beer and fags, I was in hog heaven. During our meal one of our Red Star friends arrived and after handshakes and another round of drinks informed us that due to work (he is a journalist) he wouldn't be able to meet us until later and would be ok. We assured him we would survive but he insisted on us meeting him later at a Red Star friendly bar were a few others would introduce themselves. We decided to do the local thing and find a nice little street bar and enjoy the weather and local beverages. Our night was going swimmingly only interupted by some gypo shoving a baby under our noses trying to beg money so we done what the locals did and told her to bugger off.

Around 10pm we made a move to the Red Star bar and met up with some of the lads who insisted on looking after us. Trust me when I say these lads were great company and really looked after us. I almost forgot, every woman under 40 was a goddess with a perfect bum and looks that could get you into serious trouble. I fell in love roughly about 20 times and proposed about the same amount. It must have been touching 1pm when things started to go wrong for me. I'm strickly a beer man, I can't get on with spirits or shots apart from the odd G&T so when the shots started to arrive I got a bit shy. But of course, true to form I drank them anyway. After that it gets a bit hazey. I vaguely remember one of the Red Star lads mentioning that gays were not welcome in the bar and the gay scene was mostly underground but Matt managed to be invited to a gay party and I was picked up by one as I slid passed him while trying to get to the toilets. Fantastic, while in a country that doesn't do gays, my pal gets chatted up by one and I get scooped off the floor by one.

I headed outside and collasped onto a bench. Matt came out and told me to wait while he got the others but as those who know me will know, I have a habit of wandering off on my own. Up I get and waddle off in search of our hotel in a strange city, rotton as a pear and with no idea in what direction to head in. By the grace of god or sheer fluke I must has gone in right direction but took a right turning too early because I ended up at a taxi rank where after sliding down the first one dribbling and saying Hotel Royal in a thick drunken english accent, one of the drivers took pity on me and slung me in the front seat. I remember nothing after that apart from waking up in bed and having a thick head and a empty wallet. Thing is I don't think he robbed me or ripped me off. I must of offered him something which he obviously took but my euros and uk money was still intact as was my cards but I was out of Serbian money bar a couple of quid. I reckon I gave him a large donomination note and he thought christmas had come early.

I awoke but didn't feel too bad considering I had drank a cities worth of beer and been up for around 42 hours. We grabbed a bit of breakfast then headed for the strip known as Silicon Valley where the beautiful people gathered at the bars and cafes looking good and feeling fine. We plotted up and ordered coffee and settled in to watch the world go by.

To be continued................... ]]> Genial Harry Grout http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?31-Montenegro-Away Wanted -tickets ---daggers away http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?30-Wanted-tickets-daggers-away Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:23:44 GMT A real long shot here but need to try and get hold of 2 adult tickets for this saturday, any ideas who may have 2 going or ways to get this issue... A real long shot here but need to try and get hold of 2 adult tickets for this saturday, any ideas who may have 2 going or ways to get this issue resolved ?

thanks guys ]]> dannyboy25 http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?30-Wanted-tickets-daggers-away Away Day Blues, FA Cup Special http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/entry.php?29-Away-Day-Blues-FA-Cup-Special Sat, 12 Nov 2011 22:48:27 GMT Preston North End – Deepdale









With the shrimpers drawing Preston away in the FA Cup, I got the unexpected opportunity of visiting Deepdale for the first time this afternoon, ticking off my 66th ground in the process. Also, it was the 40th anniversary of my first Southend game, a one nil FA Cup win over Aston Villa in November 1971. This was a bit of a giant killing as Villa were in the league above us. However, I was rather spoiled for my first match as further giant killings have been rather few and far between in the intervening time. Indeed, I am reliably informed that we have only beaten one team from a higher division in the FA Cup in the forty years since then and that was Chesterfield in a replay at Roots Hall in 2002. As I headed to Shipley station with this in mind, and despite our recent excellent league form, I was not overly confident that we would still be in the cup come 5 o'clock this afternoon.


Another great incentive was the ticket price of just £5.00 if bought in advance by season card holders. Although I relinquished my card a couple of years ago when moving up north, I was at the Oxford win and able to pick up an advance ticket via a mate. Even if I had bought my ticket on the day for £10.00, that is still pretty good value for money.


I had two choices of getting to Deepdale, a direct train via Bradford Interchange, catching the same service that took me Accrington earlier in the season, or going via Leeds and Manchester. I chose the former arriving in Preston at around 1.30pm and headed straight for the pub. According to the online football ground guide, travelling fans are not that welcome in the town centre before a game, so I decided to get my pre-match pint at the Old Vic just outside the station before taking the 25 minute or so walk to the ground.


Deepdale is fairly easy to find, you walk up to the High Street, turn right and follow the road round to just before the prison. Here you turn left into Church Street and left again into Deepdale Road/Sir Tom Finney Way and about a mile later the floodlights of the impressive stadium will eventually hove into view.


Preston have completely re-built Deepdale in recent years with the Invincibles Pavilion Stand being the last to be completed in 2008 bringing the ground's capacity up to just over 23,000. The other three stands are named after famous ex-players whose likeness have also been reproduced in the seats, which is a nice and different touch to the normal team name or initials. Away fans share the Billy Shankley Kop with home supporters behind one goal. Opposite, behind the other goal, is the Alan Kelly Stand, appropriately named after the legendary Lilywhite keeper. The final stand takes its name from PNE and England great Sir Tom Finney. A statue of Sir Tom, entitled The Splash, also stands outside of the National Football Museum. The sculpture was inspired by the 1956 Sports Photograph of the Year which features Finney beating two defenders at a waterlogged Stamford Bridge.







The Splash







The Invincibles Pavilion







The Alan Kelly Stand







The Tom Finney Stand




Facilities in the away end are pretty good. The terracing is quite steep meaning that despite choosing to sit near to the back of the stand, you are still fairly close to the action. The food was reasonable enough, with the usual selection of burgers and pies. In addition, bottled cider was available as well as a potato and butter pie, which I'd never seen before. It must be a local delicacy.


Manager Paul Sturrock selected winger Ryan Hall to start up front with Liam Dickinson in a 4-4-2 formation. Unfortunately, the blues were on the back foot right from the start with Preston's 4-5-1 formation giving them an extra body in midfield. They took full advantage of this with some slick passing and movement, ably supported by the hard-working Juvhel Tsoumou in the lone striker role. Indeed the blues had much to thank on-loan keeper Luke Daniels for as he made a string of fine saves to keep the score level. However, the Lilywhites wasted their best chance of the half when Barry Nicholson blazed a penalty wildly over the bar after Michael Timlin had needlessly tripped Paul Coutts in the area.


With the Shrimpers switching to 4-5-1 for the remainder of the half, and buoyed by the penalty miss, the blues began to get a foothold in the match. Sturrock made a further change just after half time, with fans favourite Mohsni joining the action on the right wing to beef up the midfield. With the shrimpers matching their league 1 opponents formation, the second half was a much more even affair with the live-wire Hall forcing Struckman into a fine save on 78 minutes. Despite some confusion in a Preston defence that had leaked 20 odd goals in the last five matches, the blues were unable to get the all important strike to win the game. Once more they had to thank keeper Daniels for a double save late on that ensured the shrimpers would take the Lilywhites back to Roots Hall for a replay in 10 days time.


As I left the ground, the shrimpers would indeed be in the hat for the FA Cup second round draw on Sunday afternoon, but I have to admit, we are very lucky to still be in it.







Sunset over Deepdale




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