Prosser's Contract Extended

Norwichshrimper said:

This is about right.....and I have changed my opinion on him..I used to think he was useless. Now I think he's average. I'm happy enough keeping him in the squad, but if he left he could be easily replaced by any number of players on the unattached list.

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Maybe he could, but lets not forget that a major contributing factor to promotion was the team spirit. If it wasn't obvious to people before Saturday it is surely obvious now that he is a contributing factor to that team spirit- even if he isn't playing. That is certainly not a given with any players that come in.

Delighted, a truly lovely bloke and as already mentioned, his euphoria Saturday was infectious despite not having played. Between him and Barrett, that's the left side of CB sorted!

OldBlueLady said:

Delighted, a truly lovely bloke and as already mentioned, his euphoria Saturday was infectious despite not having played. Between him and Barrett, that's the left side of CB sorted!

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It's not though is it? Prosser is cover, but the jury is out as to whether he'll ever be L1 class. Barrett is out of contract and the jury is out as to whether he's got the legs for another season. I'd be looking at a quality defender to go alongside Bolger. As mentioned in another thread, Alfie Mawson would be a brilliant signing, and exactly the type of talent we should be bringing in.

Pubey said:

It's not though is it? Prosser is cover, but the jury is out as to whether he'll ever be L1 class. Barrett is out of contract and the jury is out as to whether he's got the legs for another season. I'd be looking at a quality defender to go alongside Bolger. As mentioned in another thread, Alfie Mawson would be a brilliant signing, and exactly the type of talent we should be bringing in.

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That all depends. Prosser was good enough to be first choice most of last season and for a good part of this. If he hadn't have got injured and we happened to find Adam ready and willing to come back, then he probably would still have been first choice.

OldBlueLady said:

That all depends. Prosser was good enough to be first choice most of last season and for a good part of this. If he hadn't have got injured and we happened to find Adam ready and willing to come back, then he probably would still have been first choice.

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But we're now in a higher division.

Pleased with this, he is selfless and a leader on the pitch and a popular figure amongst the squad. He has improved year after year and has been very unlucky with his injuries over the last to run ins where the incoming defenders have performed exceptionally. You can tell he has a first class attitude and I would welcome him to remain as a squad player which is a role he would probably accept, I would not want our defence built around him but for ten-twelve starts a season he is more than equipped to do a job in league one. He is a brave no nonsense defender (as mentioned above) who is one of our longest serving players along with Corr, I feel that this contract is warranted. Well done Pross

No denying we have a great team spirit but you can’t keep someone based on them being a good lad to have around the dressing room. I don’t have any concern that players brought in might disrupt team spirit either. I don’t recall any player during the Brown era that has been outted as a bad egg and I am aware that Phil does his due diligence when looking at potential signings character.
Luke is a great lad from what I understand but as DTS mentioned in a previous thread, it is no coincidence that we went on end of season runs that put us in the playoffs the last 2 seasons when he was replaced in the back 4. He has shown great character to go from the worst player I have seen in a Southend shirt to a solid league 2 defender and I am grateful to him for his contribution, he should be considered a back up option now though

Good player to have in squad. Hope the others mentioned in article sign also but the worry is we'll be out bid for some of them and might lose out to bigger clubs in league one.

No. Sorry. I know he is a good chap. I know he does his best and gives his all. Fine - so would I if given a shirt and the nod by a Southend manager. All in all, I would replace Prosser with another signing. If his contract has been extended then Prosser will get my full support.

Interestingly we will be playing Port Vale again next season - the club that let Luke go ..... and the club he scored against a few seasons ago.

kingSHRIMPER said:

No denying we have a great team spirit but you can’t keep someone based on them being a good lad to have around the dressing room. I don’t have any concern that players brought in might disrupt team spirit either. I don’t recall any player during the Brown era that has been outted as a bad egg and I am aware that Phil does his due diligence when looking at potential signings character.
Luke is a great lad from what I understand but as DTS mentioned in a previous thread, it is no coincidence that we went on end of season runs that put us in the playoffs the last 2 seasons when he was replaced in the back 4. He has shown great character to go from the worst player I have seen in a Southend shirt to a solid league 2 defender and I am grateful to him for his contribution, he should be considered a back up option now though

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I get your point, but we will never know if we would still have had those runs with him playing? Lets not forget that that we only actually lost 1 our of the 6 games where he and Thomson played together prior to Prossers concussion (where he may have won us a point- can't recall if the ball looked like going in ) . We lost the two matches before that when he didn't play - so you can show anything by picking certain games (a la Mrs Blue stats :winking:) - didn't someone prove with Stats that Worral was our most ineffective player.And lets not forget that our center back partnership failed to turn up for the 2014 play offs. No point in getting there and then playing poorly on the big stage. Prosser was exactly the man for the job when he last had to come on vs Luton where he fitted straight in and produced a match saving tackle block at the end to make sure we got the points . No one seems to remember this - probably because it was Prosser getting in the tackle and not Coker or Barrett !

ps- re the team morale, I don't mean 'bad eggs' what I mean is that another player coming in might be 'average' for morale and therefore would fit OK . Prosser offers more than OK re team spirit-- of course this is not a defining reason for keeping someone, but it is part of the package.

One thing I do agree with is that I do not want to see him as the 'senior' in any pairing . Although as a team we did ok with him and Thomson I wasn't filled with confidence and that pairing I grant may nbot be enough in league 1 (but again that depends on how players improve- or don't improve )

Pubey said:

It's not though is it? Prosser is cover, but the jury is out as to whether he'll ever be L1 class. Barrett is out of contract and the jury is out as to whether he's got the legs for another season. I'd be looking at a quality defender to go alongside Bolger. As mentioned in another thread, Alfie Mawson would be a brilliant signing, and exactly the type of talent we should be bringing in.

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Not sure Barrett is in Brown's plans for next season. I'm only reading between the lines but that's the vibe I picked up reading the linked article. League one standard players demand league one money and that is where the issues for me are.

Very pleased about this. If he can improve like he has been doing , and L1 will ask that, then there is no reason why he won't do as well as any CB.

A couple of posters have mentioned our run ins after Prosser was 'replaced' in the last two seasons.
Point of order , but he wasn't 'replaced' , he was injured.
And both times he was injured , he had been in great form.

Shrimpers are Magic said:

Not sure Barrett is in Brown's plans for next season. I'm only reading between the lines but that's the vibe I picked up reading the linked article. League one standard players demand league one money and that is where the issues for me are.

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This is a valid point about Barrett....I'm certainly not in the Barrett Love Club, but I do understand what he has brought to the club and if he has the desire and fitness to play another season then I have no problem with him doing so. However if we are looking long term at staying more than one season on League 1 we need to have a longer term plan....if 1 or 2 decent younger defenders became available I'd sign them and it would be "Sorry Adam & Luke, thanks for the memories"

As an example (and this is purely hypothetical) if we could get Mawson from Wycombe, a younger player with scope to improve further...would we really say no thanks in order to give Barrett another season.

If we aren't able to sign any new defenders (for budget or other reasons) then sure, we need to keep AB and LP and support them all the way

Rattus Norvegicus said:

No. Sorry. I know he is a good chap. I know he does his best and gives his all. Fine - so would I if given a shirt and the nod by a Southend manager. All in all, I would replace Prosser with another signing. If his contract has been extended then Prosser will get my full support.

Interestingly we will be playing Port Vale again next season - the club that let Luke go ..... and the club he scored against a few seasons ago.

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And the club who gave him so much stick on his first game against them for us that he was subbed at half time.

Prosser has improved dramatically in his time here , from utterly woeful to an average squad player.
Ok with him in the team in an emergency but I don't think I would be very keen on seeing too much of him in league 1

mcnasty said:

If he had scored goals with headers from corners people would look at him in a different light.

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If he could pass more than five yards, didnt panic all the time and had an ounce of attacking threat from corners I might look at him in a different light.

Assuming Tommo and Bolger are still here then if Barrett stays we have four centre backs and that to me means were not getting a new centre back which is a shame as think we need a classy centre back.

DTS said:

If he could pass more than five yards, didnt panic all the time and had an ounce of attacking threat from corners I might look at him in a different light.

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Thought that was the one thing he didn't do actually.

DTS said:

If he could pass more than five yards, didnt panic all the time and had an ounce of attacking threat from corners I might look at him in a different light.

Assuming Tommo and Bolger are still here then if Barrett stays we have four centre backs and that to me means were not getting a new centre back which is a shame as think we need a classy centre back.

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Seem to recall him thumping home a last minute headed winner against York.

As many have said Luke is a nice bloke and a real friendly chap; he has made steady improvements.
I don't think he was as poor as some seemed to think when he first started playing for us & nor do I think he has improved sufficiently to be a Div 1 starter or replacement.
He has had several good years and earned the respect he is being given.
And the truth is he is NOT of the standard of Adam or Egan (both who came in for him) and more is needed from a centre back in being able to bring the ball forward/composure than Luke has displayed.
His skills are in last ditch tackles and blocks - better reading of situations and awareness ( remember the JPT v Daggers) is unlikely to be areas Luke can develop at 27 & 100+ league games experience if he hasn't got it yet.
He is a smart lad and if he gets offered a 2 yr contract elsewhere then I will wish him well; and if he plays for us I will cheer him on as i have since his first game.

I really rate him...heart and soul in for the team...and a more than able "buddy" for Mr Bolger..youth and experience as a team,one to bring the other on :happy: