Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0-0 Stevenage

[BluBayou]

Just like last Tuesday against Tranmere, this weekend has seen a round of results which are slightly more positive for us than they might appear. A draw against a form side unbeaten in seven. Good. Ok, so we failed to score against a side who hadn't conceded in it's last five games. Once again our goalkeeper is hardly troubled. That's becoming a pattern against a string of recent strong opponents. Pretty impressive.

Meanwhile our five relegation rivals managed one goal between them. And four of them were playing each other!. Apart from Barrow, who many feel were always going to escape, the results of our rivals couldn't have gone better for us.

In our last 13 games we have played at least 10 sides who were hitting good form. Port Vale and Oldham were our only soft games, and we saw how we dominated Oldham. That's all changing now as we start playing a lot of mid table teams. And we will have a few mid week breaks as well. All we need now is James Olayinka and our creativity will go up a gear. I'd be amazed if we never scored another goal. We will score, and when we do our defense will see us get three points. We now have the fixtures to make some ground on our rival. Hopefully this will see us still in the mix when we hit the last four games of the season and then anything can happen.

Our rivals aren't very good. It's still all to play for. UTB.

 

[NZamba Legend]

I wanted Darren Currie to get the job in the summer but now i am 100 per cent behind MM. He is our best manager since Brown. We don't get turned over every week and we are well organised. We are competitive again, even against some of the best sides in the division. We don't find it easy to score goals, understatement, but I do feel we have have finally turned the corner. You know it when you see it. We are not getting worse now under MM. Its not spectacular but we are slowly turning the ship around. After getting beat in the week we reset the clock again today with a draw. We are not in free fall. Teams like Stockport and York, they never stopped the slide, they just kept falling. But yes it might be too late to save this season. The damage was done over the previous 24-36 months. I would stick with MM whatever division we are in next season. I don't expect everyone to agree and I understand the temptation to try anything to save the season. I am tempted. But this time I would resist that.

 

[fleabag1]

I think we are 70/30 to get relagated unless we start scoring goals and mid table in conference if lucky. Defence vastly improved from beginning of season. I don't want to get relagated please pull finger out players

 

[Holy Joe]

We started at the right tempo but yet again its glaring where our problems are and home form will cost us dearly.After the embargo fiasco It's just the Jan transfer that really grates .....we all knew we needed strikers and yet MM seemed more interested in other positions.Again we don't know how heavily Ron was involved with the transfer targets ....was Nile really wanted by MM as an example?
Making a comparison with the last time Ron tried to sink the club ,Luggy knew what this division was like and what was needed to survive and had the contacts and player knowledge.....this time Ron knew better and chose a untried novice in league football.
We are now left with a premier league size backroom staff with the prospect of the best 3 sided stadium in the NL ......great times to be a blues fan.
Could we find another Steve Thompson to perform a miracle at this late stage .Could someone actually motivate and drastically change our system and style of play at this late stage....Time is running out

I don't know how you come to the conclusion that MM was more interested in other positions - I'd conclude that he was more successful in bringing in players in other positions - let's face he it he failed to bring in a striker. But I doubt that was through lack of effort or interest on MM's part. Nile was signed after, or very close to, the closing of the transfer window, he was available before that, that suggests to me he wasn't convinced and hoped to get in a better player. Similar with Holmes.

 

[Jay_SUFC]

I don't know how you come to the conclusion that MM was more interested in other positions - I'd conclude that he was more successful in bringing in players in other positions - let's face he it he failed to bring in a striker. But I doubt that was through lack of effort or interest on MM's part. Nile was signed after, or very close to, the closing of the transfer window, he was available before that, that suggests to me he wasn't convinced and hoped to get in a better player. Similar with Holmes.

Did he go after the wrong forward targets though and maybe should have been a bit more realistic?

I don't know what all the targets were, but we've certainly now been left short up front.

 

[Holy Joe]

Did he go after the wrong forward targets though and maybe should have been a bit more realistic?

I don't know what all the targets were, but we've certainly now been left short up front.

Quite possibly - but maybe 'realistic' targets are no better than what we have. I'm sure we weren't targetting Kane, Messi and Ronaldo though.

 

[blueblueblue]

Got to that stage. I would say sack MM and try the new manager bounce but not sure if it would work with us.....

The love affair for mm on this site seems to be wearing off thank Christ.

 

[fleabag1]

I think nile ranger would have done OK. I feel sorry for him and all Southend fans. I remember Alan mccormack in he's first spell with Southend the effort the tackles and the goals

 

[RHB]

The love affair for mm on this site seems to be wearing off thank Christ.

Why is it a love affair? If a supporter still believes in the manager surely that's the individual's prerogative without it being ridiculed?

 

[Jay_SUFC]

Quite possibly - but maybe 'realistic' targets are no better than what we have. I'm sure we weren't targetting Kane, Messi and Ronaldo though.

I would argue it's not always being better that what we have, it's about competition for places and sometimes that drives better performances.

Besides, I reckon a lot on here will feel you'll struggle to get worse that Acquah and Goodship!!!!

 

[Holy Joe]

I would argue it's not always being better that what we have, it's about competition for places and sometimes that drives better performances.

Besides, I reckon a lot on here will feel you'll struggle to get worse that Acquah and Goodship!!!!

I guess the only way to remotely know who was realistic (with hindsight) would be to see what strikers signed for teams in the bottom half of League 2 in the transfer window. Then if they signed for a Northern team, you'd have to speculate if they'd move south, etc

 

[blueblueblue]

Why is it a love affair? If a supporter still believes in the manager surely that's the individual's prerogative without it being ridiculed?

There's a like for a person and wanting that person to succeed because he's a nice guy, but SUFC is bigger than any one person, being nice doesn't make you a good manager. Where does it stop? Keep him, he's a nice guy, 2 - 3 years down the line when we're playing in the NLS, yep keep hime, he's a nice guy. It's got to stop somewhere.

 

[Holy Joe]

I guess the only way to remotely know who was realistic (with hindsight) would be to see what strikers signed for teams in the bottom half of League 2 in the transfer window. Then if they signed for a Northern team, you'd have to speculate if they'd move south, etc

Can see transfers here

League Two - Transfers 20/21

This overview shows all transfers of the League Two in the season 20/21. The clubs are ordered by their final position of the previous season.

www.transfermarkt.co.uk

I'll be honest I've no idea if any of the strikers moving are any good - or were 'realistic', I'd hope we were after one or two of them, but guess some would've decided not to join. As I said , be very surprised if getting a striker in wasn't a priority.

 

[Shrimp and two veg]

We just needed to unlock the game today, Fairchild was the nearly man with those wonderful balls whipped in behind their defence. ANG in central midfield i felt would have carried the ball and commit defenders towards him, instead it was Macca and Demi who held position in there. Sometimes you just need to scramble some brains and mix up play, Gower was a real specialist at this, very direct and always drew the opposition creating holes behind them. We never had any holes to pass into or strikers instinct to create holes, playing off a shoulder for example.
A very solid performance, was great to see support arriving towards the box when we attacked, thats been missing with the one up front thing, but the quality just wasnt there. In the end, a frustrating day as we all know and saw, what is most frustrating is that if we got the goal we could manage the game for a win.
The 2nd half was a big let down, the opposition slowing much of it down, the big launches upfield just concedes posession far too easily. The effort is there, no denying it. We've played some on form teams lately, hopefully pick up 3 points soon, i still think we are very capable of that. Its nòt over yet by a long streak. Up the Blues.

 

[Shrimper]

Barrow fans thought the same. But look at them now with a new manager bounce, 3 wins in their last 5.

This notion that it's MM or the highway and no other manager in the whole wide world couldn't do even marginally better is just boring now.

We will be in the national next year cause we didn't act and we will be thinking "why didn't we gamble for a new manager bounce?"

While Barrow will still be in the football league and thinking how well they done acting quickly. Snooze you lose


*copied this post from another thread I posted*

This is Barrow's third managerof the season. They didn't get a so called "new manager bounce" when they appointed their second one, did they?

 

[SUBBlue]

Why is it a love affair? If a supporter still believes in the manager surely that's the individual's prerogative without it being ridiculed?

Fair comment, then the reverse is also true.

That a supporter has the prerogative to voice his opinion in opposition to the manager without it being ridiculed?

That doesn’t seem to apply in Shrimpet Steve’s case though does it reading some of the comments posted on this site?

 

[Floval Flyer]

If only Ricky Holmes had buried that chance at the end. We’d be having a totally different conversation

Southend 0-0 Stevenage

Highlights of the Sky Bet League Two match between Southend and Stevenage.

www.skysports.com

 

[blueblueblue]

Fair comment, then the reverse is also true.

That a supporter has the prerogative to voice his opinion in opposition to the manager without it being ridiculed?

That doesn’t seem to apply in Shrimpet Steve’s case though does it reading some of the comments posted on this site?

That person seems to be terribly bullied on this site.

Well said and back at you.

 

[rayleigh dan]

That person seems to be terribly bullied on this site.

Well said and back at you.

Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but there’s a difference between a reasoned opinion and blindly shouting MM’s ****, Acquah’s ****, without suggesting reasonable alternatives. Shrimpet Steve does this constantly, and also makes ludicrous suggestions such as playing Mellis on the wing in the most recent pre match thread, hence the ridicule.

I voted MM out on the most recent poll by the way and am very much on the fence right now, so I’m by no means a fanboy, but I can see the progress we‘ve made defensively. I do think Ron’s the main villain in terms of our awful reputation with agents/other teams, hence why we can’t attract half decent players.

 

[NZamba Legend]

That person seems to be terribly bullied on this site.

Sure. You have a point. It can go too far. But that poster has been relentless in criticising one of our young home grown players. Some people here have just been sticking up for 'one of our own', a kid who went to school in the town and made the first team ahead of schedule. If any poster is that uncompromising in their opinions about a player they are going to attract some come back, surely?