Official Match Thread Cheltenham V Southend United

[Smiffy]

Should of signed Yannick Boli when we had the chance, said it then and say it now that could be a big mistake for our season. Time will tell.

Who says we wont sign him?...

 

[Bluepen]

Cheltenham was probably a yardstick to measure ourselves against and they had to prove themselves as well
which they accomplished
Now dropped 6pts off automatic promotion rivals so we have to do well now against the chasing pack and to be honest
none of them have found any form so we are still well positioned .
Bit concerned as to the manner in which we lost tho seemed to lack in ideas with to many M/fielders with same sort of defensive style and the only real creative player Sawyer not even on the bench(????) to at least give an option to change things in games exactly like this one .
Maybe other managers are looking to see how to stop us by stopping Hall getting on the ball and fighting harder for the second ball when played up which would be effective to cancel us out so if we keep doing the same thing and not mix it up
we will find it increasingly harder as the season goes on.
Seemed to be a lack of passion on the pitch as well and not sure PS will be pleased with that either

 

[OldBlueLady]

Midfield has been an issue for a while. We keep playing "defenders" in midfield - 3 of them up to and including today - plus a defensive midfielder in Kalala so where the heck do we expect a creative pass to come from? We need to take a step back and get some creativity in midfield especially as most of the others in the division seem to have worked Hall out. Kalala and Ferdinand should NEVER play together in the middle, let's get back to proper wing attacking football. which in turn provides service to our strikers.

 

[Bluepen]

Midfield has been an issue for a while. We keep playing "defenders" in midfield - 3 of them up to and including today - plus a defensive midfielder in Kalala so where the heck do we expect a creative pass to come from? We need to take a step back and get some creativity in midfield especially as most of the others in the division seem to have worked Hall out. Kalala and Ferdinand should NEVER play together in the middle, let's get back to proper wing attacking football. which in turn provides service to our strikers.

Go on i dare you to say it maybe give Sawyer a chance to prove himself even:winking:

 

[Cricko]

Midfield has been an issue for a while. We keep playing "defenders" in midfield - 3 of them up to and including today - plus a defensive midfielder in Kalala so where the heck do we expect a creative pass to come from? We need to take a step back and get some creativity in midfield especially as most of the others in the division seem to have worked Hall out. Kalala and Ferdinand should NEVER play together in the middle, let's get back to proper wing attacking football. which in turn provides service to our strikers.

Where are we hiding them then?

 

[jimmyshrimp]

Who says we wont sign him?...

A striker with pace and a trick is clearly missing in our squad. I think we missed our chance before the window closed, unless you know otherwise?

 

[OldBlueLady]

Go on i dare you to say it maybe give Sawyer a chance to prove himself even:winking:

I really don't have anything against him, but I've seen nothing this season to give me any hope barring one good game. We can't afford to be carrying players, and for me, Sawyer hasn't done a great deal to justify his being here. It's up to him to prove me (and Sturrock I'd hazard a guess) wrong. He's been ill or injured more often than he's been available and we've not got the luxury of being able to carry people like that.

 

[BaileytheQuitter]

Yes it's frustrating but we need to have a sense of perspective. We're a league 2 side, we can't expect our team to play to the high standards we've set every week. We will have a blip, maybe we'll have a few but we've been on a great run and things have to end.

While some opinions are correct that tactics could be/should be different we need to remember that they have served us well over the last 17/19 games.

Put this game behind us and moan if this little blip turns into something more substantial.

 

[Shrimpers are Magic]

Yes it's frustrating but we need to have a sense of perspective. We're a league 2 side, we can't expect our team to play to the high standards we've set every week. We will have a blip, maybe we'll have a few but we've been on a great run and things have to end.

While some opinions are correct that tactics could be/should be different we need to remember that they have served us well over the last 17/19 games.

Put this game behind us and moan if this little blip turns into something more substantial.

Quite right. I think PS always feared a little run like this - he's mentioned on numerous occasions about how tired some of the players are etc. Maybe our squad isn't as strong as some first thought. Still think we're going to pis* this league mind

 

[Semi-Spanish Shrimper]

Who says we wont sign him?...

Do you know something? I was always excited about signing him, where is he atm?

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Yes it's frustrating but we need to have a sense of perspective. We're a league 2 side, we can't expect our team to play to the high standards we've set every week. We will have a blip, maybe we'll have a few but we've been on a great run and things have to end.

While some opinions are correct that tactics could be/should be different we need to remember that they have served us well over the last 17/19 games.

Put this game behind us and moan if this little blip turns into something more substantial.

Totally this ^^^^

We aren't Man Utd so we shouldn't ever get used to winning every week. We can never ever expect a 17 game unbeaten run and we have been very lucky with it, but something must be right, we can't have got lucky 17 games in a row.

We are still a few points in hand over 4th, and if we get promoted as champs, second or third I really don't care.

 

[Csboy]

Some good sensible posts on here. The last week or so hasn't been good but it is something you have to expect in a long season. Just hope we dont have a 3rd set back on Tuesday. We really need a confidence boost of a trip to Anfield to keep us going over Xmas.
We have to be realistic we are over achieveing here, at the start of the season I think most of us would have been more than happy with a play off place but an automatic promotion spot is there for the taking. Sadly and as much as we all hate them Crawley with all their strength in depth will likely win the League but I see noone else other than them better than us.

 

[wiggy]

Sometimes you have well reasoned arguments for your points, no matter how much they go against others opinions. However this time you are talking total ****. Second best goal difference in the division even after today. I usually enjoy reading your opinions as an alternative point of view but at the moment you're just on a wind up, at least use a bit of sense when you go fishing.

I am not on a wind up or fishing expedition. I am convinced that Sturrock goes on the defensive when we score a goal despite our reasonable goals tally. As i keep saying Ryan Halls thunderbolts can't keep getting us out of trouble especially now they are all doing there homework. Halls goals and hoof ball has done us amazingly well up to now but i'ts looking like there isn't a plan b and Luggy clearly is not a fan of people that create goals!

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

Lets be honest, we haven't really been playing that well all season so I don't really see the Swindon game as the reason we're losing 3-0 today.

Maybe this is the kick up the arse the boys need so they know they can't keep being average to get a result.

Be surprised if anyone disagrees with this factual comment.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

Quite right. I think PS always feared a little run like this - he's mentioned on numerous occasions about how tired some of the players are etc.

But why are some of the players tired?. They hav'nt played any more games than Swindon for example, and they did'nt look tired on tuesday.
The 'heavy pitches' have yet to take their toll throughout the winter months, and we are not halfway through the season yet.
Wonder what the comments (excuses) will be come March?

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

had this down as a 3-0 defeat anyway so no really surprise for me

Hope you put at least £25 on this score at the bookies!

 

[Tommy2holes]

Some good sensible posts on here. The last week or so hasn't been good but it is something you have to expect in a long season. Just hope we dont have a 3rd set back on Tuesday. We really need a confidence boost of a trip to Anfield to keep us going over Xmas.
We have to be realistic we are over achieveing here, at the start of the season I think most of us would have been more than happy with a play off place but an automatic promotion spot is there for the taking. Sadly and as much as we all hate them Crawley with all their strength in depth will likely win the League but I see noone else other than them better than us.

Sadly i have to dissagree. Cheltenham were by far the best side we have faced and have just shown us what is required at the top. Sadly our style is one of score and defend and theres was just the best form of attack is defense.

Could have been 6 or 7 it was that one sided

 

[Sleaford Shrimper]

Most of us would have settled for a point from the Cheltenham game before the match, so we have dropped just one point against that expectation. Even in our best seasons in the past we have 'won ugly' and gone through bad patches. Some posters on here seem to see the same gloom and doom now for Southend that TV pundits and many Arsenal supporters saw after their first few games this season, and look where Arsenal are now.

The fact is that an average of 2 points per game over the entire season will almost guarantee an automatic promotion spot and we are still marginally better than that. If we win only half of our remaining 26 games and lose the other half, we end up with 81 points which would almost certainly get us into the play-offs and maybe, still, automatic promotion. Be patient - we'll come good again.

 

[Smiffy]

Do you know something? I was always excited about signing him, where is he atm?

Training with QPR at the moment...

 

[bigmolt]

Maybe we do need Christian Dailly!

Christian Daily, Jewish Cronical and Islam To-Day altogether could'nt improve us if we keep playing this hoofball game