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Firm Foundations
Firm Foundations
Southend United may have faced a rare drama-free conclusion to the campaign last weekend, but according to assistant manager Paul Brush, this could yet prove a definitive season in the club’s modern era.
Victory over relegated Cheltenham wrapped up an eighth-place finish for the Essex outfit; a final berth that seemed a distant prospect in the harsh winter months.
And it seems that torrid time proved the impetus for the Blues’ bosses to fine tune a long-held philosophy.
Renowned for a passion for pass and move, the management team were forced to abandon their favoured flair to grind a way out of the mid-season slump.
Though the flowing football soon returned with bolstered confidence, Brush revealed his determination to build next season’s challenge from those firmer foundations.
“You already have things in mind for next season, little things we’d like to adapt,” explained the second in command, as he applied the finishing touches to ‘08/09.
“We’ve managed to play with a tucked in midfield player a lot of the time away from home, to be harder to play against.
“We’re very conscious that over the years everyone has always said how good our passing football has been, but we’re a much harder side to play against now than we’ve ever been in the time Steve and I have been at the club.
“We’re aggressive and competitive, but now we’ve got to improve our level of consistency and passing in the opponent’s half.
“That’s the major area we want to work on collectively for next season.”
Still there was great satisfaction to be taken from the final three months of a turbulent year, as the Blues re-established their status as a League One contender.
“It’s been a very hard season, but it’s been a fantastic performance from everyone involved that we’ve ended up with a top ten place.
“I think the base we’ve worked from has probably been different from in the past, where a solid back line has been the springboard for us, along with the extra pace up front that stretches teams.
“Teams were finding us too easy to play against and they haven’t found that in the last three months.
“There’s always a time of regret at the end of the season when you look back at games that you could or should have won,” added Brush. “And refereeing decisions – and some of the penalties we’ve had given against us, including the last two, have been horrendous.
“The home games that we’ve not won in the last few months included games against Leicester, Milton Keynes and Millwall, all of whom are in the top six, and we felt we were the better side in those matches.
“That’s an area for consolation because if they’re the best teams, we’re not that far off, but slight regret because obviously one or two wins there could have put us into the play-off position.”
Forced to witness Leicester’s promotion party at Roots Hall, Brush remains convinced the home support can repeat their own joyous scenes a year down the line.
Because having identified the Foxes as the third tier benchmark, the former defender felt his men had more than matched the mightiest contender.
“The major thing was that we could have won that game.
“We realised deep down that we didn’t compete very well up at their place in November, we were too easy to play against then, but we knew that we were that much better three or four months later.
“That’s where the belief comes from, knowing that there is something in the locker that we can draw on.
“We believe that most of the players in our squad are young enough to improve and if they do that and we can get a level of consistency, then we can be a force in this division.”
The deflation at missing out on the post-season is difficult to temper however, both within the squad and beyond, and continues to reflect the growing expectation surrounding Southend United.
“It’s probably higher than it’s ever been,” admitted Brush. “There’s a good atmosphere, a collective spirit about the place and the support – especially away from home – has been fantastic.
“Everyone has had a taste of the Championship, play-off positions and being at the top and everyone wants more of it.
“But it’s not achieved easily and some of the teams we’re up against now and next season have far greater resources both financially, player-wise, historically and in crowds.
“It remains a challenge to get in towards the top six of this division.”
Yet despite the added pressure, Brush is keen to build anticipation amongst the Blues faithful.
“We want to win football matches and that’s never changed from day one of the season and to finish eighth is terrific for us.
“Last pre-season we were still trying to deal with players leaving, players getting injured and it’d be nice not to do that this time around,” he concluded on the off-season in store.
“We’ve known for a while roughly the areas that we need to get players in, we’ve got the players that are on loan and their situations, but we’ve got a little longer because we’re prepared for the summer.
“We’ve just got to keep hold of some players and get the dialogue going with the targets that we’ve gone for.
“We want a settled side, so that loan players would be a bonus rather than a necessity.”
Firm Foundations
Firm Foundations
Southend United may have faced a rare drama-free conclusion to the campaign last weekend, but according to assistant manager Paul Brush, this could yet prove a definitive season in the club’s modern era.
Victory over relegated Cheltenham wrapped up an eighth-place finish for the Essex outfit; a final berth that seemed a distant prospect in the harsh winter months.
And it seems that torrid time proved the impetus for the Blues’ bosses to fine tune a long-held philosophy.
Renowned for a passion for pass and move, the management team were forced to abandon their favoured flair to grind a way out of the mid-season slump.
Though the flowing football soon returned with bolstered confidence, Brush revealed his determination to build next season’s challenge from those firmer foundations.
“You already have things in mind for next season, little things we’d like to adapt,” explained the second in command, as he applied the finishing touches to ‘08/09.
“We’ve managed to play with a tucked in midfield player a lot of the time away from home, to be harder to play against.
“We’re very conscious that over the years everyone has always said how good our passing football has been, but we’re a much harder side to play against now than we’ve ever been in the time Steve and I have been at the club.
“We’re aggressive and competitive, but now we’ve got to improve our level of consistency and passing in the opponent’s half.
“That’s the major area we want to work on collectively for next season.”
Still there was great satisfaction to be taken from the final three months of a turbulent year, as the Blues re-established their status as a League One contender.
“It’s been a very hard season, but it’s been a fantastic performance from everyone involved that we’ve ended up with a top ten place.
“I think the base we’ve worked from has probably been different from in the past, where a solid back line has been the springboard for us, along with the extra pace up front that stretches teams.
“Teams were finding us too easy to play against and they haven’t found that in the last three months.
“There’s always a time of regret at the end of the season when you look back at games that you could or should have won,” added Brush. “And refereeing decisions – and some of the penalties we’ve had given against us, including the last two, have been horrendous.
“The home games that we’ve not won in the last few months included games against Leicester, Milton Keynes and Millwall, all of whom are in the top six, and we felt we were the better side in those matches.
“That’s an area for consolation because if they’re the best teams, we’re not that far off, but slight regret because obviously one or two wins there could have put us into the play-off position.”
Forced to witness Leicester’s promotion party at Roots Hall, Brush remains convinced the home support can repeat their own joyous scenes a year down the line.
Because having identified the Foxes as the third tier benchmark, the former defender felt his men had more than matched the mightiest contender.
“The major thing was that we could have won that game.
“We realised deep down that we didn’t compete very well up at their place in November, we were too easy to play against then, but we knew that we were that much better three or four months later.
“That’s where the belief comes from, knowing that there is something in the locker that we can draw on.
“We believe that most of the players in our squad are young enough to improve and if they do that and we can get a level of consistency, then we can be a force in this division.”
The deflation at missing out on the post-season is difficult to temper however, both within the squad and beyond, and continues to reflect the growing expectation surrounding Southend United.
“It’s probably higher than it’s ever been,” admitted Brush. “There’s a good atmosphere, a collective spirit about the place and the support – especially away from home – has been fantastic.
“Everyone has had a taste of the Championship, play-off positions and being at the top and everyone wants more of it.
“But it’s not achieved easily and some of the teams we’re up against now and next season have far greater resources both financially, player-wise, historically and in crowds.
“It remains a challenge to get in towards the top six of this division.”
Yet despite the added pressure, Brush is keen to build anticipation amongst the Blues faithful.
“We want to win football matches and that’s never changed from day one of the season and to finish eighth is terrific for us.
“Last pre-season we were still trying to deal with players leaving, players getting injured and it’d be nice not to do that this time around,” he concluded on the off-season in store.
“We’ve known for a while roughly the areas that we need to get players in, we’ve got the players that are on loan and their situations, but we’ve got a little longer because we’re prepared for the summer.
“We’ve just got to keep hold of some players and get the dialogue going with the targets that we’ve gone for.
“We want a settled side, so that loan players would be a bonus rather than a necessity.”