SUFC: The Future Next season

[The General]

This summer is where John Still proves his worth!

 

[Shrimp and two veg]

Thankyou to the whole squad for some fantastic moments, intermixed with some awful dire stuff. One of our worst cup exits in club history and one of our most heroic cup exits in club history. Up and down season, injuries had a huge effect on us, from Miley to Coker to Collin and then the loss of another massive player for us in Golding in the run-in. Chuck in Kensdale, Cardwell and transfer embargo and its been an uphill battle all season. That never give up attitude from the management transmitted to the players and gave us a last hurrah.

It feels horrible to rip that up BUT i dont care, i want league football back. We are weak at the back, that needs strengthening with a couple of big and mobile hard players, i dont want a centre forward having to run back for set pieces in our box. This league is a big tough animal that needs taming.

Midfield must surely one day see KAF and Leon being tight together and feeding off each other in the middle, it has to happen. Then you got Noor, Miley and Coker backing them up. Gus would be excellent with a big central defence to protect him behind.
Ralph or Taylor needs to be squad players, Goodliffe send him back. Bridge brilliant sub to have, look at how he destroyed FGR.
Hayes will have grown from this experience and become that dominant keeper we crave and Collin will run him close for the shirt, they both need those dominant centre backs in front. We do need a left winger type to give Bridge competition and we do need someone who has power in their shots, someone better than Pepple even smacking shots from outside the box.

A fox in the box striker and a powerhouse striker needed, Bonne needs to go and so does Hopper. Wood out the door, Walker out the door.
Painful saying all that, cos i love them all, brilliant squad that Kev has had to rebuild 2/3 times that so nearly delivered. But if i was being ruthless, thats the way i would go. Gubbins i would keep, think he is getting better each game. Crowther gone too. God i hate myself ! I couldnt be a manager having to do all that.
Of course, in reality its probably a lot different, what with contracts adhered to and budgets.

Oh and about 7 loans for most positions, in case we find a star. Gus as captain.
Now go win the league.

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

I think COSU were asked the question and didn't answer it with a number - can't remember if it wasn't that simple or it was hinted that it was larger than the capacity at the time.

Just revisited the CEO Forum from March. Tom Lawrence identified two key complements to breaking even: one was promotion to the EFL, primarily due to a disparity of around £1.3m in television revenue between League 2 and the National League (which he also identified as a key factor in EFL clubs potentially not voting for three up, three down) and the other was redevelopment of the East Stand to enable the club to make money 365 days a year rather than simply 25 matchdays a season.

Essentially, the suggestion was that if the latter happens, we could break even in the National League, as promotion would also mean greater costs in player salaries and recruitment to offset some of the gains. We are also losing £250k-£325k per season in ground maintenance whilst Roots Hall requires investment, so there’s no prospect of operating sustainably even if we sell out every week currently.

 

[SeldomSeenShrimper]

Didn’t Gus sign a new contract a few months ago?

Didn’t he also score 17 goals from defence?

And?

If an offer comes in that's decent, I'd accept it.

He deserves a shot at the higher level, but I do think he'll struggle in league 2 as defensively he's not great and his crossing lets him down at times. I believe he'd be missed as a character, but tactically I think he's replaceable

If he's stays, I'll be more than happy.

As long as he doesn't leave for peanuts

 

[Piledriver]

I see Regan Liney has already joined Carlisle. They're not messing about.

Yes indeed good player, but was he on the white board though? Is there a list of clubs released players anywhere yet.

 

[leeblue]

Splashing the cash is secondary to ditching the sentiment. I applaud the team and their incredible heroics but, we need to thank and say farewell to a few. Some of our players played above and beyond themselves which explains so many individual errors throughout the season. Reaching levels that are a stretch is hard to do consistently. The odd crack will out.
Our players have been magnificent but, I believe we need as many as six better players to feel confident about a tilt at the title and that would mean moving some on. Much less and we will probably, at best, look again at the lottery of the playoffs.
The team did not let us down and surpassed expectation but, when head rules heart, there will be outs as well as ins during this summer break.

Absolutely

 

[Mad Cyril]

This summer is where John Still proves his worth!

Some of our recruitment over the past 18 months hasn’t been great. I get that taking a punt on lower league players carries some risk but there seems to have been more misses than hits.

 

[Mad Cyril]

the other was redevelopment of the East Stand to enable the club to make money 365 days a year rather than simply 25 matchdays a season.

Does this mean the reggae nights are coming back?

 

[DonnyLes]

For whatever reason Maher doesn’t seem to rate Collin. Has dropped him numerous times for inferior players eg Jeacock and most damningly of all Blondie



Hard to find much wrong with this analysis although I think too much store is placed on “proven” goalscorers. Concentrate instead on getting forwards approaching their prime. Put good ascending players in good situations and they become goalscorers.



What’s he like on the ball? Can he play out from the back? What’s his range of passing?



Golding’s loan as well.

I presume Ralph will re-sign as that makes sense for both sides.

So if we keep the same wage structure we have room for two new defenders: one ball-playing and one aerially dominant. I don’t want to overreact to the last few games but we conceded eight goals in three games during the playoffs and almost every time we conceded it seemed Goodliffe got beaten: Rodney turned him for Rochdale’s first, he got beaten in the air for Dale’s second; Inniss beat him for Forest Green’s first; he conceded the penalty for Oldham’s first; he got beaten in the air for their second; and seemed to score an own goal for their third. Think he got beaten by Fondop for that chance he out just wide as well. Now I’m not saying he’s solely at fault but we need someone who can deal with the physical players and he couldn’t deal with Fondop or Norwell (or Inniss).

Two new forwards: use Bonne’s wages on a goal scorer as that’s not Bonne and Waldron’s wage on a back-up.

Wood’s salary goes on a young attacking player, probably a LWB.

That doesn’t seem too far off. Maybe we look to move on Miley and Crowther as well?

Regarding Joe Oluwa he is an outstanding player, he is of L1 quality. He is physical and can play it out of the back and can make passes that can set up attacking players. If Southend can show that they are ambitious. He would be your captain to build a team around.

 

[The General]

Some of our recruitment over the past 18 months hasn’t been great. I get that taking a punt on lower league players carries some risk but there seems to have been more misses than hits.

Indeed. I know last summer we missed out on the names at the top of the whiteboard due to the takeover going on and on but this year there is no excuse. I did feel like this season the consortium held back a bit but let’s hope that isn’t the case this summer. Obviously it’s not a case of paying big wages for the sake of it but it’s aboiur bringing the right players in and getting the balance right.

 

[Wingnut]

I would go for loans than permanent signings it never done Oldham no harm

 

[Roger The Alien]

Why must it be the minimum?

I don't understand why people are claiming a top 2 finish / a title challenge are musts, when we know that we don't have a top 2 budget, and that actually, the top 2 or 3 budgets in the division are some way ahead of us.

That isn't how you set and measure realistic targets.

We will likely have a 5th-7th largest budget again, and then aim to make upnthe shortfall with quality of recruitment, quality of coaching, quality of environment and club culture.


Yes, Murky......that would be because they had one of the two or three biggest budgets in the division.

They spend loads two season ago and they struggled big time.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Some of our recruitment over the past 18 months hasn’t been great. I get that taking a punt on lower league players carries some risk but there seems to have been more misses than hits.

It’s not the non-league players who were the flops.

The big flops this season were Moncur, Bonne, Walker, Gubbins and, if you’re talking about the final, Goodliffe. Lots don’t rate Hopper either. They all dropped down from playing L1 and L2.

The likes of Parillon and Gus from NLS were huge successes. Only really Waldron was a flop from the lower levels and his age meant that was always a long shot.

 

[manor15]

Is that directed at me? I'm really not interested in engagement on this forum, - @Cricko won't pay me for all the traffic I bring to SZ with my white hot takes.

Resting on your laurels after overachieving in the playoffs won't work. in 2021, the Montreal Canadiens rode luck and some miraculous goaltending to reach the Stanley Cup Final. They only made the playoffs thanks to realignment of the divisions due to COVID travel restrictions. There was an illusion that this was a great team who had underachieved in the regular season, but that wasn't the case. They were an average team with a poor coach who got hot at the right time. The next year, they were the worst team in the NHL. This got them the number one draft pick - if that situation was replicated here, all we would get are trips to Chelmsford.

If you look at the table for the second half of the season, we would’ve finished 3rd with 41 points from 23 games. Only Barnet had a better defensive record and only Barnet and Woking (who drew 13 of the last 23) lost fewer games. Bit different, no?

 

[Piledriver]

I think you are closer than you believe. We had 3 years to get it done, and you've entered the room in a big way. Next season is going to be one of genuine hope for all Shrimpers..... Recruitment MUST be bang on during the next Window..... The foundations are 100 percent in place... Step by Step

You may well be right but it seems to me that Brennan was very decisive and ruthless when making those signings and releases after last year's playoffs, I just can't see kevs recruitment being any different ie a bit hit and miss and also hopeful , ps good luck next season

 

[The Original Tribal Chief]

If you look at the table for the second half of the season, we would’ve finished 3rd with 41 points from 23 games. Only Barnet had a better defensive record and only Barnet and Woking (who drew 13 of the last 23) lost fewer games. Bit different, no?

Not really, no. We finished seventh in non-league. That's not good enough. A few cherrypicked statistics don't change that.

 

[fredheim_holm]

Not really, no. We finished seventh in non-league. That's not good enough. A few cherrypicked statistics don't change that.

Starting the season under an embargo, missing out on key targets like Pearce due to that, losing Cardwell due to a release clause we had to put in in order to not lose him for free, losing a young EFL quality defender in Kensdale for free out of the blue having done all the hard work in developing him, picking out a striker with a rubbish scoring record who somehow clicks here then gets recalled, all whilst having a roughly 7th in the league wage bill, to finish 7th after the 3rd best run of form in the second half of the season, to then beat two teams away with far higher wage bills and come 10 minutes off from doing it again in the final.

Yeah, I think I'm with you that we should've done far better this season.

We're all aware we're too big for this division and are ****ed off we're in this situation, sadly there are no magic buttons.

Do let us know if you've got any practical suggestions though.

 

[blewbie]

Very unfair.

Don’t think so. He’s inconsistent and aggressive. But I’ll give you he’s not had time to recover from injury. His sloppy tackles give me as much anxiety as Colin’s distribution.

 

[blewbie]

And?

If an offer comes in that's decent, I'd accept it.

He deserves a shot at the higher level, but I do think he'll struggle in league 2 as defensively he's not great and his crossing lets him down at times. I believe he'd be missed as a character, but tactically I think he's replaceable

If he's stays, I'll be more than happy.

As long as he doesn't leave for peanuts

I think he will stay. I don’t think it would work for him to leave. He plays with his heart on his sleeve if he didn’t believe in his club I don’t think he would play like he does here. But absolutely want a big sale and for him to be happy and shine.

 

[blewbie]

Thankyou to the whole squad for some fantastic moments, intermixed with some awful dire stuff. One of our worst cup exits in club history and one of our most heroic cup exits in club history. Up and down season, injuries had a huge effect on us, from Miley to Coker to Collin and then the loss of another massive player for us in Golding in the run-in. Chuck in Kensdale, Cardwell and transfer embargo and its been an uphill battle all season. That never give up attitude from the management transmitted to the players and gave us a last hurrah.

It feels horrible to rip that up BUT i dont care, i want league football back. We are weak at the back, that needs strengthening with a couple of big and mobile hard players, i dont want a centre forward having to run back for set pieces in our box. This league is a big tough animal that needs taming.

Midfield must surely one day see KAF and Leon being tight together and feeding off each other in the middle, it has to happen. Then you got Noor, Miley and Coker backing them up. Gus would be excellent with a big central defence to protect him behind.
Ralph or Taylor needs to be squad players, Goodliffe send him back. Bridge brilliant sub to have, look at how he destroyed FGR.
Hayes will have grown from this experience and become that dominant keeper we crave and Collin will run him close for the shirt, they both need those dominant centre backs in front. We do need a left winger type to give Bridge competition and we do need someone who has power in their shots, someone better than Pepple even smacking shots from outside the box.

A fox in the box striker and a powerhouse striker needed, Bonne needs to go and so does Hopper. Wood out the door, Walker out the door.
Painful saying all that, cos i love them all, brilliant squad that Kev has had to rebuild 2/3 times that so nearly delivered. But if i was being ruthless, thats the way i would go. Gubbins i would keep, think he is getting better each game. Crowther gone too. God i hate myself ! I couldnt be a manager having to do all that.
Of course, in reality its probably a lot different, what with contracts adhered to and budgets.

Oh and about 7 loans for most positions, in case we find a star. Gus as captain.
Now go win the league.

I think Bonne could stay as a winger. Not a 9. I don’t want to lose him I think his issues are psychological and he needs to be backed to shine. We can do that for him. Hopper can go. Walker is inconsistent but not terrible. Gubbins is the reason we have Bonne isn’t he? He’s been terrible at times and others he has surprised me. Crowther can absolutely go he has been last man and made critical judgment errors.

Taylor as captain. Not Gus. Not Ralph.