Echo News Bournemouth defender Simon Francis: Mark Molesley deserves his shot with Southend United

[Evening Echo]

SIMON Francis feels Mark Molesley fully deserves to be given a chance at Southend United.

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[Rattus Norvegicus]

Nice to hear from Simon Francis - I liked him as a player. Saw him score with his head, left foot and right foot ........... shame about the defending at times though.

“I still keep an eye out for Southend and Matt Harrold came down to see me at the weekend actually” said Francis.

“We always talk about the Southend days and have a laugh."

I wonder quite what they are laughing about though ............... probably the same things that bring most Southend fans close to tears.

 

[GBJ]

I wonder quite what they are laughing about though

“Hey Simon, do you remember when Southend fans used to call you dog**** from the stands, and you went on to Captain a Premier League team?”

“Of course Matty, lols. Do you remember when their fans used to call you dog**** from the stands and you went on to score against them every time you played them? Lols”.

 

[NZamba Legend]

Simon Francis was a very talented young player for Southend who seemed to lack the concentration and mentality to play above L1. He went on to be a premier league player of average skill reputed for his fantastic mentality. Strange huh?

 

[Murkey_Mouse]

Simon Francis was a very talented young player for Southend who seemed to lack the concentration and mentality to play above L1. He went on to be a premier league player of average skill reputed for his fantastic mentality. Strange huh?

It’s was through good coaching by Howe that got him playing higher level.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

“Hey Simon, do you remember when Southend fans used to call you dog**** from the stands, and you went on to Captain a Premier League team?”

“Of course Matty, lols. Do you remember when their fans used to call you dog**** from the stands and you went on to score against them every time you played them? Lols”.

Nothing changes does it?

 

[Ricey]

Nothing changes does it?

Always remember when we played Barnsley in the FA Cup at home. Sat in the South Upper, remember some idiot in front of me giving JCR some **** for Barnsley. Constantly booing everytime his name was read out. I said to my mate “they keep booing him I bet his scores”. And like clockwork he scored an absolute worldy that was the winner and got them a draw against Liverpool. I clapped the goal as it was sensational and I liked JCR. It further enraged said idiot! He didn’t like me clapping it either!

Some of our fans really are idiots! I’ve learnt that some players thrive on boos so it’s best to not give them the satisfaction. I don’t get the hatred towards a player who has left to better themselves. Booing current players is just disgraceful! Booing a performance I can understand but singling out players I just really don’t get.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

It’s was through good coaching by Howe that got him playing higher level.

After some, shall we say loose, seasons with us he had started to turn it around in his final year at Southend and become a player who didn't just rely on his athleticism.

 

[OllieSteph44]

Simon Francis was a very talented young player for Southend who seemed to lack the concentration and mentality to play above L1. He went on to be a premier league player of average skill reputed for his fantastic mentality. Strange huh?

Are you suggesting that many Southend fans couldn’t pick a player from a bucket full of apples? ??

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Always remember when we played Barnsley in the FA Cup at home. Sat in the South Upper, remember some idiot in front of me giving JCR some **** for Barnsley. Constantly booing everytime his name was read out. I said to my mate “they keep booing him I bet his scores”. And like clockwork he scored an absolute worldy that was the winner and got them a draw against Liverpool. I clapped the goal as it was sensational and I liked JCR. It further enraged said idiot! He didn’t like me clapping it either!

Some of our fans really are idiots! I’ve learnt that some players thrive on boos so it’s best to not give them the satisfaction. I don’t get the hatred towards a player who has left to better themselves. Booing current players is just disgraceful! Booing a performance I can understand but singling out players I just really don’t get.

It never usually ends well. The South Lower is particularly bad for it. I’ve never understood it. Opposition players get more determined to beat us and the shouts at our own players are even more cringeworthy.
The look on Lennon’s face when someone yelled “get the **** out of our club Lennon you ****” during the warm up ... that was the game he played LB and was decent, can’t remember who we were playing. On that occasion he was clearly trying to prove people wrong but it could easily have gone the other way. The Burton keeper (O’Hara?) got an offer to fight one of our fans, he declined and stayed quite far off his line after that ..
Wondering how brave those fellas will be if we play Grimsby and Bilel goes up for a corner ...

 

[Ricey]

It never usually ends well. The South Lower is particularly bad for it. I’ve never understood it. Opposition players get more determined to beat us and the shouts at our own players are even more cringeworthy.
The look on Lennon’s face when someone yelled “get the **** out of our club Lennon you ****” during the warm up ... that was the game he played LB and was decent, can’t remember who we were playing. On that occasion he was clearly trying to prove people wrong but it could easily have gone the other way. The Burton keeper (O’Hara?) got an offer to fight one of our fans, he declined and stayed quite far off his line after that ..
Wondering how brave those fellas will be if we play Grimsby and Bilel goes up for a corner ...

Anyone that gives Bilel **** is not a Southend fan and has a death wish!

 

[Will Dance For Chocolate]

It’s was through good coaching by Howe that got him playing higher level.

There is definitely something in that although, to be fair to your fans who saw him before he came to us, he's admitted he made mistakes earlier in his career, by which I don't mean on-field ones but no doubt those happened as well. He realised when he stepped down to us he was in danger of throwing it away. Charlton fans laughed at us when we signed him and said he was the worst player they've ever had at their club.

Having said that, the difference in his fitness in him between when Howe started managing him partway through a season and when he started the next season was immense. The new found dedication and commitment from him combined with the direction from Howe and the coaching staff turned him around entirely.

 

[Strykr]

Always liked Francis, He was superb going forward and crossing, but did always feel that a clanger was round the corner. Looking back perhaps it always wasnt his fault though. If he was told to bomb forward, take on his man and cross, someone should have immediately dropped back to cover his position.

I thought he had a lot of skill, but i would never have thought he'd be a prem regular.

 

[Hazey]

He saw very young when he was with us, and despite the lapses in concentration it was clear he was a talented footballer. When you think back to that squad in the championship year, a lot of them went on to have very good careers.

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

He saw very young when he was with us, and despite the lapses in concentration it was clear he was a talented footballer. When you think back to that squad in the championship year, a lot of them went on to have very good careers.

We had an excellent management team who identified some great players for the budget they had.

 

[rigsby]

History is repeating itself with people slagging off Nathan Ralph. He was really playing well before his injury and unlike Ben Coker, he has a good level of end product when he gets forward.

Could also step up to LM if required.

 

[gazza]

History is repeating itself with people slagging off Nathan Ralph. He was really playing well before his injury and unlike Ben Coker, he has a good level of end product when he gets forward.

Could also step up to LM if required.

To be fair I haven’t seen many people have a go at him. All players need a clean slate. We saw in the latter stages that some players performances improved. I think most people on here are willing to give all the players in the squad a chance as hopefully MM can get good performances out of them.

 

[GBJ]

History is repeating itself with people slagging off Nathan Ralph. He was really playing well before his injury and unlike Ben Coker, he has a good level of end product when he gets forward.

Could also step up to LM if required.

Clifford showed some excellent promise in the few games he had last year, but Ralph is currently the better player IMO

The LB position is probably the only position in the squad that we have strength in depth.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

He saw very young when he was with us, and despite the lapses in concentration it was clear he was a talented footballer. When you think back to that squad in the championship year, a lot of them went on to have very good careers.

Certainly Francis went onto have an excellent career as did Gary Hooper. Gower's career also continued to flourish but I'm struggling to think of any others who went onto establish themselves in the Championship or above. Maybe Moussa at a push?

Sodje, Prior, Bradbury, Ricketts were all winding down their careers. Flahavan, Hammell, Peter Clarke, Barrett, Maher, McCormack, Guttridge, Harrold, Foran, Paynter, JCR etc - I don't think any of them went onto establish themselves as Championship players after that season. Even Freddy failed to.

 

[Hazey]

Certainly Francis went onto have an excellent career as did Gary Hooper. Gower's career also continued to flourish but I'm struggling to think of any others who went onto establish themselves in the Championship or above. Maybe Moussa at a push?

Sodje, Prior, Bradbury, Ricketts were all winding down their careers. Flahavan, Hammell, Peter Clarke, Barrett, Maher, McCormack, Guttridge, Harrold, Foran, Paynter, JCR etc - I don't think any of them went onto establish themselves as Championship players after that season. Even Freddy failed to.

I know not many flourished at the highest level, but within 4 years most were still playing at a higher level than we were. Peter Clarke continued in the Championship for a while a few years later, as did Alan McCormack with Brentford. Even Paynter had at least a few more seasons in the Championship later in his career. My point was more that in my opinion I think our squad that season should probably have had enough quality to stay up, but I also recall we played a fair few games with Peter Clarke playing in centre midfield during that season. Selling Wayne Gray was also probably a mistake, as he would have been a good option from the bench. Was still an enjoyable season with lots of great days out. Preston away will live long in the memory.