Well, what a difference a couple of days makes! Suddenly the mood on the zone has shifted from disappointment and despair to one of hope following the 4-1 spanking of Dover Athletic on Tuesday evening.
Undoubtedly it is not just the win that has contributed to this, but also the addition and contributions of two excellent loan signings who have since been given clearance to be cup-tied to Southend this season. It will be interesting to see whether any Blades fans decide to make the short trip to Chesterfield to check out the progress of two of their promising young players.
We travel to the home of the Spireites for the round that we have traditionally exited the competition in recent years, and it's less than a month since we played them in the league. That day was possibly the low point (I hope!) for this season and saw Phil Brown pay the price with his job, and set a new record of being the first manager to be sacked from jobs in each of the top 5 divisions of English football. It also saw protests on the pitch of course and a call to BBC Essex from @StanleyVictorCollymore after the game calling for change, which seems to be bearing fruit at last.
Given the performance on Tuesday night, surely there must be more confidence in the camp and, barring injuries, it is possible that no changes will be made to the starting line up. However there is potentially the option of including Nathan Ralph and/or Jason Demetriou again, but at who's expense? Ogogo is still suspended for this game and it sounds like neither Simeon Akinola nor Tom Clifford will be fit enough to be involved.
Let's hope for a more competitive game than when the Spireites visited Roots Hall in October, but how would you set the team up, who makes the starting XI and what do you predict will be the result?
Undoubtedly it is not just the win that has contributed to this, but also the addition and contributions of two excellent loan signings who have since been given clearance to be cup-tied to Southend this season. It will be interesting to see whether any Blades fans decide to make the short trip to Chesterfield to check out the progress of two of their promising young players.
We travel to the home of the Spireites for the round that we have traditionally exited the competition in recent years, and it's less than a month since we played them in the league. That day was possibly the low point (I hope!) for this season and saw Phil Brown pay the price with his job, and set a new record of being the first manager to be sacked from jobs in each of the top 5 divisions of English football. It also saw protests on the pitch of course and a call to BBC Essex from @StanleyVictorCollymore after the game calling for change, which seems to be bearing fruit at last.
Given the performance on Tuesday night, surely there must be more confidence in the camp and, barring injuries, it is possible that no changes will be made to the starting line up. However there is potentially the option of including Nathan Ralph and/or Jason Demetriou again, but at who's expense? Ogogo is still suspended for this game and it sounds like neither Simeon Akinola nor Tom Clifford will be fit enough to be involved.
Let's hope for a more competitive game than when the Spireites visited Roots Hall in October, but how would you set the team up, who makes the starting XI and what do you predict will be the result?
