Patience is a virtue.............

[RHB]

Patience is a virtue, or so they say, and if ever our coaches and squad needed some it's now. After months of rubbish off the field we have a set of new, caring owners, but because of the time it took to sink the rat, all our first choices for newbies had buggered off to other clubs, and nobody could blame them. Then along comes FGR to nab handsome Harry, Kensdale departs under a cloud and Cav Miley cops a long term injury. That has all been said before, but it did kick the heart out of the team. Bit by bit, things are improving with our defence rediscovering their duck's arse water tightness. There still some little leaks there, but it's coming on well. Our middle boys are blowing hot and cold, but again are improving, and Cav is edging nearer to fitness again. Up front is still sometimes ok and sometimes not so good, maybe Danny Waldron will add a bit more edge to the front line when fit.

All of that lot requires patience from supporters and the big question is have we got any? For my part I'm still patient as I believe that, given time, we will blossom into a very decent side. This season? maybe, next season? highly likely. It's so easy to wade into the squad and coaches when things don't go the way you want them to, but if you spend just a little time understanding why we are where we are then patience is not quite so hard to achieve.

I don't expect loads to agree with me, and frankly, I don't give toss whether you do or don't, but I do get ****ed off when folk decide that the reasons we are where we are add up to irrelevant when it comes to demanding improvements. I doubt very much if the players or coaches want us to do well, they prefer to get rinsed on a regular basis.

 

[Linda Loan Shark]

Well said. I think we have a real good chance at getting into the playoffs next season. We will have the summer to try and sign our first choice players on top of what we have already. Then we will finally exerience a Ron free season

 

[Liam AAS]

JuSt ChAnGe ThE mAnAgEr!!

 

[onceknownasrab]

Patience is a virtue, or so they say, and if ever our coaches and squad needed some it's now. After months of rubbish off the field we have a set of new, caring owners, but because of the time it took to sink the rat, all our first choices for newbies had buggered off to other clubs, and nobody could blame them. Then along comes FGR to nab handsome Harry, Kensdale departs under a cloud and Kav Miley cops a long term injury. That has all been said before, but it did kick the heart out of the team. Bit by bit, things are improving with our defence rediscovering their duck's arse water tightness. There still some little leaks there, but it's coming on well. Our middle boys are blowing hot and cold, but again are improving, and Kav is edging nearer to fitness again. Up front is still sometimes ok and sometimes not so good, maybe Danny Waldron will add a bit more edge to the front line when fit.

All of that lot requires patience from supporters and the big question is have we got any? For my part I'm still patient as I believe that, given time, we will blossom into a very decent side. This season? maybe, next season? highly likely. It's so easy to wade into the squad and coaches when things don't go the way you want them to, but if you spend just a little time understanding why we are where we are then patience is not quite so hard to achieve.

I don't expect loads to agree with me, and frankly, I don't give toss whether you do or don't, but I do get ****ed off when folk decide that the reasons we are where we are add up to irrelevant when it comes to demanding improvements. I doubt very much if the players or coaches want us to do well, they prefer to get rinsed on a regular basis.

Patience is something, looking at the crowds, that Kev and co have received for some considerable time. I really want them to succeed but the patience is wearing thin. I am not asking for promotion but I am expecting to see the team set up to do its best. We are sent out with excuse after excuse but the one thing we need to hear is that Kev is prepared to ring the changes.

This style, even when he had his best players, is falling short and will continue to do so. The emphasis is on clean sheets to the point it affects us going forward. We start from too deep, we over pass and we continually commit too few players to the oppo box. It's not that we don't attack, it's we attack with caution in mind. If the players aren't doing what Kev asks, which I don't believe, then he needs to manage better.

If we go on a run now, as in the past, it will be littered with draws.

Patience is a virtue and we have given that. Humility is also a virtue and Kev needs to learn that. I hope he does.

 

[Its Only A Game]

I can fully understand why we are where we are but for me, the style of football we play is just so boring.

The whole "Pep" style of football is fine if you have the players to make it work but most teams at our level don't. I hardly watch a premier league game now as it takes 30 passes to get over the half way line.

I can handle losing and can accept now and again we will get battered......but at least "have a go" now and again.

We hardly ever seem to play a pass in front of our attacking players in the build up meaning most of the time their first touch is a defending/shielding type touch which often results in the ball getting played backwards or sideways again. It does seem to have been drummed into them to try to keep the ball at all costs.

Most defences in the division aren't that great, they don't like being attacked at pace and being turned and running back towards their own goal. Against us, this isn't really a problem. Half the time they could walk back and still be in position by the time we shoot.

Unfortunately when I go to watch a game I'd like a bit of entertainment and I think it's fair to say we haven't had too much of that over the last 5-6 years.

How often have you walked out of Roots Hall this year (whatever the result) and thought, yeah, that was a decent game?

 

[LennySUFC]

I can fully understand why we are where we are but for me, the style of football we play is just so boring.

The whole "Pep" style of football is fine if you have the players to make it work but most teams at our level don't. I hardly watch a premier league game now as it takes 30 passes to get over the half way line.

I can handle losing and can accept now and again we will get battered......but at least "have a go" now and again.

We hardly ever seem to play a pass in front of our attacking players in the build up meaning most of the time their first touch is a defending/shielding type touch which often results in the ball getting played backwards or sideways again. It does seem to have been drummed into them to try to keep the ball at all costs.

Most defences in the division aren't that great, they don't like being attacked at pace and being turned and running back towards their own goal. Against us, this isn't really a problem. Half the time they could walk back and still be in position by the time we shoot.

Unfortunately when I go to watch a game I'd like a bit of entertainment and I think it's fair to say we haven't had too much of that over the last 5-6 years.

How often have you walked out of Roots Hall this year (whatever the result) and thought, yeah, that was a decent game?

Eastleigh - we absolutely played them off the park. It shows that the Maher way of playing can be really effective when we press high up the pitch and play with confidence but for whatever reason we've not really replicated that since.

 

[Sunnyshrimper]

I can fully understand why we are where we are but for me, the style of football we play is just so boring.

The whole "Pep" style of football is fine if you have the players to make it work but most teams at our level don't. I hardly watch a premier league game now as it takes 30 passes to get over the half way line.

I can handle losing and can accept now and again we will get battered......but at least "have a go" now and again.

We hardly ever seem to play a pass in front of our attacking players in the build up meaning most of the time their first touch is a defending/shielding type touch which often results in the ball getting played backwards or sideways again. It does seem to have been drummed into them to try to keep the ball at all costs.

Most defences in the division aren't that great, they don't like being attacked at pace and being turned and running back towards their own goal. Against us, this isn't really a problem. Half the time they could walk back and still be in position by the time we shoot.

Unfortunately when I go to watch a game I'd like a bit of entertainment and I think it's fair to say we haven't had too much of that over the last 5-6 years.

How often have you walked out of Roots Hall this year (whatever the result) and thought, yeah, that was a decent game?

I agree, it appears clear the players are being instructed to retain possession, Starting from the keeper playing out. Of course you want possession to dictate tempo. My belief is there must be more risk/reward in the final third. Too often wide players have the opportunity to run at a full back but turn back inside and play the safe, easy ball and it goes sideways without penetration. Opposition get back into shape and it becomes harder to breakdown. I can’t recall many times a wide player picks up the ball and takes a man on the outside get to the byline and pulls a cross back for an arriving player, include underlapping / overlapping players in this. If nothing else I would like to see us try and fail early, putting it in a defenders mind that they may face going either way, not knowing to show them inside and they will every time. Oh for a JCR, Ryan Hall, Mark Gower type.. Or a central player running at defenders, trying a 1-2, we play into striker who draws defender and spins in behind / others run in behind. On another topic set pieces are dreadful, I’d have them in practising corner, attacking free kick deliveries and movement in box. It’s criminal at moment

 

[Hawkwell Blue]

Drives me mad that almost overnight all teams decided that the method of play employed over the previous 100+ years of football was wrong. Suddenly, against conceived wisdom, teams had to use 20 passes when previously one would have sufficed.

Just because top flight teams adopt this method does mean other teams have to. The amount of goals conceded by losing possession on the edge of the box should surely tell teams this isn’t working.

Find it all a bit arrogant really.

 

[Lincoln Shrimp]

I can fully understand why we are where we are but for me, the style of football we play is just so boring.

The whole "Pep" style of football is fine if you have the players to make it work but most teams at our level don't. I hardly watch a premier league game now as it takes 30 passes to get over the half way line.

I can handle losing and can accept now and again we will get battered......but at least "have a go" now and again.

We hardly ever seem to play a pass in front of our attacking players in the build up meaning most of the time their first touch is a defending/shielding type touch which often results in the ball getting played backwards or sideways again. It does seem to have been drummed into them to try to keep the ball at all costs.

Most defences in the division aren't that great, they don't like being attacked at pace and being turned and running back towards their own goal. Against us, this isn't really a problem. Half the time they could walk back and still be in position by the time we shoot.

Unfortunately when I go to watch a game I'd like a bit of entertainment and I think it's fair to say we haven't had too much of that over the last 5-6 years.

How often have you walked out of Roots Hall this year (whatever the result) and thought, yeah, that was a decent game?

It's an interesting debate, that's for sure.

There's no doubt we've been guilty of overplaying at times and the tempo when we reach the final third is often too slow and predictable. I find myself getting incredibly frustrated by the overall reluctance of our players to shoot when finding themselves with half a yard of space on the edge of the area.
For all our pressure and possession I often come away thinking that the opposition keeper has had a fairly comfortable afternoon.
The numerous crosses we get in the box, either don't beat the first man or they take too long to come in which allows the opposition time to get organised and deal comfortably with whatever eventually comes into the penalty area.

It's a fine line though. Under Sturrock, I would watch with envy at how teams we came up against would have so much possession and found our style of football pretty boring to watch despite the fact that we'd score 70 plus goals a season.

I struggle to watch Man City these days as I find their reluctance to cross the ball from wide areas so frustrating.....especially when you've got possibly the best target man in the world waiting to get his head on the ball in the middle. Haaland sometimes goes 15 minutes without touching the ball. God knows how many he would score if was supplied with an old fashioned cross!

I think we suffer a bit from the lack of pace in wide areas (Gus and Bridge). Rarely do they have the speed to get to the byline and pull the ball back to an oncoming forward/ midfield player. That said we don't get enough bodies in the box when attacking so I don't think we'd fully capitalise on those type of situations currently.

 

[Napster]

It's an interesting debate, that's for sure.

There's no doubt we've been guilty of overplaying at times and the tempo when we reach the final third is often too slow and predictable. I find myself getting incredibly frustrated by the overall reluctance of our players to shoot when finding themselves with half a yard of space on the edge of the area.
For all our pressure and possession I often come away thinking that the opposition keeper has had a fairly comfortable afternoon.
The numerous crosses we get in the box, either don't beat the first man or they take too long to come in which allows the opposition time to get organised and deal comfortably with whatever eventually comes into the penalty area.

It's a fine line though. Under Sturrock, I would watch with envy at how teams we came up against would have so much possession and found our style of football pretty boring to watch despite the fact that we'd score 70 plus goals a season.

I struggle to watch Man City these days as I find their reluctance to cross the ball from wide areas so frustrating.....especially when you've got possibly the best target man in the world waiting to get his head on the ball in the middle. Haaland sometimes goes 15 minutes without touching the ball. God knows how many he would score if was supplied with an old fashioned cross!

I think we suffer a bit from the lack of pace in wide areas (Gus and Bridge). Rarely do they have the speed to get to the byline and pull the ball back to an oncoming forward/ midfield player. That said we don't get enough bodies in the box when attacking so I don't think we'd fully capitalise on those type of situations currently.

BTW Haaland had two headers saved last night. Both from crosses.

Crosses from out wide are easy to defend IMO. You have to beat the centre back/defender and get a header on target, and beat the keeper. It's not as easy to defend an attack from the centre.

 

[dusterman]

I’d like to see some good games of football this season. Bit of blood and guts and no laying down attitude. That’s all for this season and that’ll take us a long way. Patience is/was thin in West against Maidenhead though and the atmosphere was appallingly flat. If we do our bit of the terraces I think it’ll make things better and drown out the impatient cries.

 

[Lincoln Shrimp]

BTW Haaland had two headers saved last night. Both from crosses.

Crosses from out wide are easy to defend IMO. You have to beat the centre back/defender and get a header on target, and beat the keeper. It's not as easy to defend an attack from the centre.

Sounds like I might need to end my self imposed ban on watching Man City if crosses are finally coming in!

Re your second point....it all depends on what weapons the attacking side has in the box to get on the end of those crosses. Nothing is easy to defend if you've got a reliable crosser of the ball and an absolute beast like Haaland in the middle.

 

[gatecrasher]

I think we are massively underachieving with the squad we have, even with the loss of players to other teams, being a wrong un, injury.

I noticed it the last couple of seasons, other than the back to wall job last year when the whole attitude of the team changed when down to 12 men in a squad, and we started playing with a bit of fire, that we play incredibly docile, safe football. It will never result in us getting promoted.

Did Harrogate, Barrow, Bromley, Sutton and Stockport get out of this division playing side to side, one formation only, zero deviation football and have massive budgets - no, our management team have decided that's how we should play and our resultant position in the league is because of that.

Look at our squad, is it poor? absolutely not, with a change in directive and formation or reacting during an in game situation could we be doing better? absolutely. Kev is a Southend legend, he always be, but I don't think he will be the manager who gets us out of this division. He's the sort of manager you have if your a Aldershot and happy to sit in mid table, never really be threatened by relegation, maybe the odd flirt with the outside of the play offs - keeps you safe in the league for 20 years.

My point is, with the squad we have we should be doing a lot better, with players pushing forward at pace, attacking the centre now and again, switching up play when its not working, I believe the lads we have could challenge in the playoffs. Unless Kev changes his stubborn ways we stay in this division and at some point he goes.

 

[overseas shrimper]

Drives me mad that almost overnight all teams decided that the method of play employed over the previous 100+ years of football was wrong. Suddenly, against conceived wisdom, teams had to use 20 passes when previously one would have sufficed.

Just because top flight teams adopt this method does mean other teams have to. The amount of goals conceded by losing possession on the edge of the box should surely tell teams this isn’t working.

Find it all a bit arrogant really.

Football has always evolved and adapted, it didn't remain unchanged for 100+ years.

 

[onceknownasrab]

Drives me mad that almost overnight all teams decided that the method of play employed over the previous 100+ years of football was wrong. Suddenly, against conceived wisdom, teams had to use 20 passes when previously one would have sufficed.

Just because top flight teams adopt this method does mean other teams have to. The amount of goals conceded by losing possession on the edge of the box should surely tell teams this isn’t working.

Find it all a bit arrogant really.

Argentina won the world cup playing 4-4-2 but that's a bit tinpot

 

[shrimperjon]

Patience is a virtue, or so they say, and if ever our coaches and squad needed some it's now. After months of rubbish off the field we have a set of new, caring owners, but because of the time it took to sink the rat, all our first choices for newbies had buggered off to other clubs, and nobody could blame them. Then along comes FGR to nab handsome Harry, Kensdale departs under a cloud and Kav Miley cops a long term injury. That has all been said before, but it did kick the heart out of the team. Bit by bit, things are improving with our defence rediscovering their duck's arse water tightness. There still some little leaks there, but it's coming on well. Our middle boys are blowing hot and cold, but again are improving, and Kav is edging nearer to fitness again. Up front is still sometimes ok and sometimes not so good, maybe Danny Waldron will add a bit more edge to the front line when fit.

All of that lot requires patience from supporters and the big question is have we got any? For my part I'm still patient as I believe that, given time, we will blossom into a very decent side. This season? maybe, next season? highly likely. It's so easy to wade into the squad and coaches when things don't go the way you want them to, but if you spend just a little time understanding why we are where we are then patience is not quite so hard to achieve.

I don't expect loads to agree with me, and frankly, I don't give toss whether you do or don't, but I do get ****ed off when folk decide that the reasons we are where we are add up to irrelevant when it comes to demanding improvements. I doubt very much if the players or coaches want us to do well, they prefer to get rinsed on a regular basis.

well said mate

 

[Clarky176]

I think we are massively underachieving with the squad we have, even with the loss of players to other teams, being a wrong un, injury.

I noticed it the last couple of seasons, other than the back to wall job last year when the whole attitude of the team changed when down to 12 men in a squad, and we started playing with a bit of fire, that we play incredibly docile, safe football. It will never result in us getting promoted.

Did Harrogate, Barrow, Bromley, Sutton and Stockport get out of this division playing side to side, one formation only, zero deviation football and have massive budgets - no, our management team have decided that's how we should play and our resultant position in the league is because of that.

Look at our squad, is it poor? absolutely not, with a change in directive and formation or reacting during an in game situation could we be doing better? absolutely. Kev is a Southend legend, he always be, but I don't think he will be the manager who gets us out of this division. He's the sort of manager you have if your a Aldershot and happy to sit in mid table, never really be threatened by relegation, maybe the odd flirt with the outside of the play offs - keeps you safe in the league for 20 years.

My point is, with the squad we have we should be doing a lot better, with players pushing forward at pace, attacking the centre now and again, switching up play when its not working, I believe the lads we have could challenge in the playoffs. Unless Kev changes his stubborn ways we stay in this division and at some point he goes.

Stockport had a very big budget yes, Bromley we all know how they play, long ball while sitting back with a solid defence.

Fans wouldn’t be happy with that I’m sure.

 

[JWShrimper]

It's clear that no-one wants to be in 15th place as things stand but we're coming off the back of 3 away trips with 2 wins & a draw. It's obvious that our home form needs to improve, starting on Saturday (hopefully!) but we're 6 points off the play-off places & the sides in 5th, 6th and 7th, we've beaten away, drawn with away & could've won (if we had a bit more depth in the squad at that time) and also beaten away.

 

[gatecrasher]

Stockport had a very big budget yes, Bromley we all know how they play, long ball while sitting back with a solid defence.

Fans wouldn’t be happy with that I’m sure.

And they are happy with the current guff on display?

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

We need a signing to galvanise the team on the pitch. Its been a while since we have signed a player that has made a real difference to the team.