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Entertainment Vs. Results


  • Total voters
    84
  • Poll closed .

GBJ

⭐⭐
Staff member
Joined
Nov 2, 2008
Messages
14,470
Location
Sunny Grays
After the thread about booing Sturrock, I've been thinking, what do people prefer, honestly?

I wasn't a massive fan of Sturrock, but had & still have a lot of respect for the man. He worked a minor miracle. But that doesn't take away from the fact, he's brand of football was absolutely dire (IMO of course). Even in Sturrocks second season, when we were winning games, I'd walk out of the ground feeling somewhat happy, but still not really entertained & my joy in truth, was really only half-hearted. I never really felt it was value for money, so it became easier to miss games. But we achieved a position in the table, which in any other year, we'd have been promoted automatically.

Then compare that to Phil Browns reign. I've seen us play some sublime stuff at times this season & lose. The Wycombe game sticks in my mind the most. How we lost that game is beyond me. I remember saying at the time, we were losing, with about 30mins to go & I would have been disappointed to leave with a draw. We'd played some brilliant football. In the end, We lost that game, but I still left Adams Park with a very content feeling of being entertained, & labeled it as a very good, value-for-money, day out. Even though we lost!!

I know that sounds weird, and tbh I'm expecting people to choose results, as that's what it's all about at the end of day. But to me, as a customer of the SUFC product, I expect to leave a game feeling some form of satisfaction in exchange for spending my hard earned money. I feel that's happening atm, and results aside, I hope it long continues.
 
People wont stand for poor results even if you are playing nice football. Its entertaining at moment because we are getting the results.

What we all want is both.

I dont remember there being a lot of satisfied punters after the first 10 games when the results werent coming.
 
Its clearly not entertainment v results. You can be entertaining and get results. Even PS conceded to experiment with more entertaining football and initially was successful, mainly due to Britt and Gav.

PS suggested that better, more entertaining football, is more difficult on the worst winter pitches. He may have a point and some of our play could be adjusted in the near future but somehow I doubt it will revert to the ditchwater we were served up under PS. One dimensional, predictable, inept rubbish is not the way to get promoted.
 
People wont stand for poor results even if you are playing nice football. Its entertaining at moment because we are getting the results.

What we all want is both.

I dont remember there being a lot of satisfied punters after the first 10 games when the results werent coming.

I was very satisfied tbh. Ok results weren't the best, but they wasn't the worst & our performances far outshon any disappointment I felt. As I said, the Wycombe game was a good day out, very entertaining game, ok, the wrong result, But I left Adams Park feeling more entertained/content than when we've nicked a suicide-inducing, bore fest at The Hall, as we have in previous years.

So as much as I'd love both, if push comes to shove, I'd choose the entertaining factor every time
 
Crikey!!! I'd like to attend a game.

So I suppose those of you that attend week in week out I'd say an entertaining game would be preferable.
 
I was very satisfied tbh. Ok results weren't the best, but they wasn't the worst & our performances far outshon any disappointment I felt. As I said, the Wycombe game was a good day out, very entertaining game, ok, the wrong result, But I left Adams Park feeling more entertained/content than when we've nicked a suicide-inducing, bore fest at The Hall, as we have in previous years.

So as much as I'd love both, if push comes to shove, I'd choose the entertaining factor every time


Most werent though, just go back on this forum and there was plenty of disgruntled people, me included.

You cant really make a judgement though this year as we are in promotion contention, Id bet you wouldnt be as entertained if we hadnt picked up after those first 10 games and were 16th.

Does "nicer" football = entertainment beyond results ? Do you leave the Hall entertained and satisfied if you have lost 2-0 ? Most dont, and whilst its possible to come away from a game you lose thinking it was still a good game its harder to do so if its the norm.

I certainly enjoy games far more now than under Sturrock but I dont think you can ignore the fact we are sitting high in the table when measuring that enjoyment.
 
Crikey!!! I'd like to attend a game.

So I suppose those of you that attend week in week out I'd say an entertaining game would be preferable.

See, if I were in your shoes, I'd probably say the complete opposite, that results are obviously the most important thing (and of course, arguably, they are). But you're right, when you go regularly, you want to be entertained. As previously said, it became all too easy, to blow out a game, or money that was earmarked for a game, goes elsewhere, or somethig else is happening on a saturday, so you choose that over the football. some of the stuff played over recent years, despite winning, was awful & in retrospect, a waste of money. I've been pleasantly surprised with the entertainment factor we've had so far under Browny, and I'm hoping it stays this way,( come win, lose or draw) for a long time.
 
Most werent though, just go back on this forum and there was plenty of disgruntled people, me included.

You could argue, that considering Brown was largely disliked, nothing less than winning every game, would have seen the same reactions. The positives were there for all to see, but many people preferred to focus on the negatives, simply because it was more stick to beat Phil Brown with.

You cant really make a judgement though this year as we are in promotion contention, Id bet you wouldnt be as entertained if we hadnt picked up after those first 10 games and were 16th.

Does "nicer" football = entertainment beyond results ? Do you leave the Hall entertained and satisfied if you have lost 2-0 ? Most dont, and whilst its possible to come away from a game you lose thinking it was still a good game its harder to do so if its the norm.

I certainly enjoy games far more now than under Sturrock but I dont think you can ignore the fact we are sitting high in the table when measuring that enjoyment.

You make a good point. I suppose in the long run, then the results factor becomes greater & greater. But in the short term, i.e. a game-by-game basis, (which was my original thinking & discussion point,) I'd rather walk out of an all action game, that we've lost 4-3, than a soul destroying 1-0

Of course the good form & high position help, and probably affect my current judgement, but that's just the way it is.
 
I picked entertainment and I'll explain in a long (and potentially boring) reply.

2 games I will compare. The lose against Wycombe this season and the 1-0 win against Crewe in that play-off season. When we lost against Wycombe, I honestly thought we should have won and agree that even a draw wouldn't have been enough judging by how we played. After that match I wanted to go and see another game and quickly. After seeing us beat Crewe thanks to a scrapy goal, I didn't even think about the next game or when I wanted to see us play next.

When you are playing well and have a nice passing game, results will come eventually. When playing poorly and results are going your way, there is no need to change the style and as we've seen the results will at times slip away. Then you are watching crap football with a disappointing result.

If I only cared about the result, then I could just sit at home and look on the BBC Sport website at 4:50.
 
Results every time, always walk away happy when we've won, regardless of how we play, hacked off big time when we lose, never walk away saying, 'never mind we lost 3 points but played well'
 
Good question. I have a lot of respect for Sturrock and what he achieved for the club in difficult circumstances (particularly the first season). His brand of football did though mean you needed to be winning games to make it enjoyable. Winning is always great but there were not many times I came away feeling really enthused.

We are definately, in my opinion, playing more attractive football and not only have I enjoyed the experience more I look forward to games more than I did last season. There is no guarantee of course that any of this will result in promotion. On that basis I have voted for entertainment.
 
Some of the away games under Sturrock were superbly entertaining. 4-0 v Torquay, 4-1 and 4-0 vs Wimbledon, 3-2 v Daggers, the 5-2 at Northampton.

I have to say going away from home when Paul Sturrock was in charge was a delight, and to be fair to Brown it's not bad at the moment either.

It was the home games where Sturrock's sides fell down. I too remember a time in the autumn of 2011 when we were doing well and winning games, but I wasn't really ever convinced by the performances.
 
I prefer to see a winning team rather than one that loses regularly but plays good football. Just as important to me is knowing that the whole team put in a shift. This wasn't always the case under Sturrock. From the first match this season the work-rate was noticeably higher and together with a well organised set up tactically is the reason for the success so far.
 
Some of the away games under Sturrock were superbly entertaining. 4-0 v Torquay, 4-1 and 4-0 vs Wimbledon, 3-2 v Daggers, the 5-2 at Northampton.

I have to say going away from home when Paul Sturrock was in charge was a delight, and to be fair to Brown it's not bad at the moment either.

It was the home games where Sturrock's sides fell down. I too remember a time in the autumn of 2011 when we were doing well and winning games, but I wasn't really ever convinced by the performances.

7 goals over two away matches at Rotherham was pretty nice too. As someone who goes largely to away matches rather than home I was happy watching PS sides
 
Like it's been said before when Southend win that's entertainment for me so a vote for good results for me.
 
You could argue, that considering Brown was largely disliked, nothing less than winning every game, would have seen the same reactions. The positives were there for all to see, but many people preferred to focus on the negatives, simply because it was more stick to beat Phil Brown with.

Us fans are a fickle lot, win every game at the start and people would have warmed to him, just like they have since.


You make a good point. I suppose in the long run, then the results factor becomes greater & greater. But in the short term, i.e. a game-by-game basis, (which was my original thinking & discussion point,) I'd rather walk out of an all action game, that we've lost 4-3, than a soul destroying 1-0

Of course the good form & high position help, and probably affect my current judgement, but that's just the way it is.

Everyone would rather be entertained of course, even in Sturrocks best period, the 17 game or so unbeaten run we still had people complaining about the football.

If you went 17 games without a win though playing attractive football you'd have far more complaining though :smile:

I think its too intertwined to actually vote on this one, entertainment comes with winning, its even greater when you play well.

If you were to ask would you rather get promoted playing hoof ball or finish 16th playing attractive football I cant imagine many choosing the latter.
 
I would go for entertainment every time. If I go to the cinema or theatre I want to be entertained, if I'm not, I don't go again. I don't apply exactly the same criteria for Southend United as it is more an addiction with them after 40 plus years of watching, but if you get consistent entertainment from the team then I believe that success will eventually follow. By entertainment, I mean the way the side plays rather than some of the nonsense that goes on behind the scenes.
 
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