Official Match Thread Colchester United v Southend United (The Big Essex Derby)

[Pak Power]

Well I'm glad C and P and Nevereatwhite snow have decided not to come and gloat

 

[Farmer Fossett]

Our form since Xmas was mid table. Had we had the played at the start of the season we wouldn't be having any of these conversations now. Those month's up until the new year have done us and that isn't really MM's fault and you know it

MM is to blame along with the players and Ron. Last season we were s.ite however Sol was starting to make a difference. We should have done better pre Christmas - why were the likes of Phillips ignored? Hi

Not a revisionist. My point is Brown has made no difference whatsoever, if anything we are worse now. So was sacking MM the best thing to do? He would have been in charge in the National League, I very much doubt Brown will.

We know it's RM's fault we didn't get the players in we wanted to strengthen the squad at the start of the season due to the embargo and our rep for not paying players in time. Once the embargo was lifted and we did get some players to strengthen, our form was mid table. You can't lay all that on MM

Sol for all his faults was starting to get the best of a very inexperienced squad. Players such as Phillips were starting to show real promise - I actually felt optimistic at the start of the season.
I wanted MM to succeed and to be fair the transfer embargo, injuries etc made his job difficult. He however was clearly out of his depth. He was tactically poor and didn't seem to have a plan B ignored the promising youth players from last season and was partly responsible for signings that certainly didn't make us stronger.
In hindsight we should have sacked MM in January. We needed a new managers "bounce" leaving it this late unfortunately was never going to work.
I blame MM but not nearly as much as Ron and the players.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Well I'm glad C and P and Nevereatwhite snow have decided not to come and gloat

To be fair they’re both decent posters and have a bit of class. As much as I ****ing hate their stupid club right now.

 

[The Big Dady]

Sorry to be pedantic but it’s 100 exactly. We were non league until 1921, not that it makes much difference but loads of people seem to get this wrong

The newly formed Football League Division 3 which Southend United were founder members started with the 1920-21 season.

Our first ever League match was on Saturday the 28th August 1920. This was at home against Brighton & Hove Albion, Southend won the game 2-0 with Albert Fairclough scoring both goals in front of 10,000 supporters at the The Kursaal Stadium.

 

[harveyoe]

Well I'm glad C and P and Nevereatwhite snow have decided not to come and gloat

They both seem better people than that. We are fellow football fans and they will understand how we are feeling.

 

[Heinz]

White having a mare. We're down

Agent White
Agent Halford
Agent Fagan

 

[Wickford Blue]

Given his record Ron will probably appoint a CEO now.......we have gone nowhere since Kavanagh left and Millwall are in the Championship - please God we get the flats on Roots Hall soon so Ron pi**es off!

 

[Barry.C]

By the way Rigsby was last spotted in Bolivia

 

[sufc4life21]

We was down even before this game. That result colchester got against Walsall was a big blow to sufc and Grimsby for that fact. The performance tonight showed a team who given up the ghost. Not signing 1/2 strikers in January has cost us are league status. We've only scored 24 bloudy goals!

Ultimately ron is to blame for this mess........ lets be honest we need change at this club, and that starts at the top....... We will never move forward as a club until ron has gone!

 

[Shrimper44]

2 shots the whole game, 2 ****ing shots.

and neither on target

 

[in the know]

Not a revisionist. My point is Brown has made no difference whatsoever, if anything we are worse now. So was sacking MM the best thing to do? He would have been in charge in the National League, I very much doubt Brown will.

We know it's RM's fault we didn't get the players in we wanted to strengthen the squad at the start of the season due to the embargo and our rep for not paying players in time. Once the embargo was lifted and we did get some players to strengthen, our form was mid table. You can't lay all that on MM

Plus, there are some players still waiting for their furlough money that wasn't passed on to them. Any performances witnessed in any games has been produced with that behind the scenes. The common denominator of nearly all problems is RM. From financial to recruitment to man management. Each manager ends up discovering the same limited formations with what was available. The experienced pro's mixed in with youngsters who aren't ready for pro football. Playing too often with injuries or at times when they should be rested.
Last night for example one senior players child was taken to hospital screaming in pain just before the game. He should have been rested. Another (not jw) was carrying a shoulder injury and had painkilling injections to play rather than being rested. (Even though the new physio doesn't believe in them - pb does!).
It's astounding we have so few experienced players to rely on and without them we'd be trounced 6-1 each game.
MM used tactics to counteract limitations PB only knows experience and 'hit the channels'. That only works with an experienced team and forwards.
I do feel we had a better chance of staying up with MM. Solely based on being hard to beat as the starting place. We didn't have enough players for PBs bravado approach to be effective. Certainly, young academy produced kids like taylor, ang, etc won't buy into pb's hit and run tactics going forward. And pb won't buy into their silky tippy tappy styles in league 2.
RM is now stuck with a dinosaur manager, injured demoralised players and disrespectful youngsters for 3 games that could see us create worse than last night.
Can't really find any positives at all. Any rays of light Like Hobson will probably find a league club.

 

[harveyoe]

Thanks ITK. That certainly helps to give some context to last nights performance

 

[blues exile]

The full folly of Martin's decision making bore its inevitable conclusion last night. The baleful influence of Redknapp in his ear leading to the appointment of a rookie manager who was totally out of his depth strategically, tactically and experience wise was only ever going to end in disaster. People make excuses for MM but he had no idea of what was needed to even survive in L2, signing loads of rejects, crocks and no hopers and neglecting the obvious requirement of a goal scorer. We saw last night that most of these players are just not up to it. As a professional, whatever your walk of life, when at work you give everything to the cause, no matter what external personal events are affecting your life and football is no different. This squad is just not professional and you can't blame Brown for that, MM assembled this motley crew, most were his choice and no matter how you shuffle the deck, most are jokers not proper playing cards. The National League will be difficult to get out of, some never do and the reverse direction looks more likely unless a clean sweep is made in the summer.

 

[dusterman]

Plus, there are some players still waiting for their furlough money that wasn't passed on to them. Any performances witnessed in any games has been produced with that behind the scenes. The common denominator of nearly all problems is RM. From financial to recruitment to man management. Each manager ends up discovering the same limited formations with what was available. The experienced pro's mixed in with youngsters who aren't ready for pro football. Playing too often with injuries or at times when they should be rested.
Last night for example one senior players child was taken to hospital screaming in pain just before the game. He should have been rested. Another (not jw) was carrying a shoulder injury and had painkilling injections to play rather than being rested. (Even though the new physio doesn't believe in them - pb does!).
It's astounding we have so few experienced players to rely on and without them we'd be trounced 6-1 each game.
MM used tactics to counteract limitations PB only knows experience and 'hit the channels'. That only works with an experienced team and forwards.
I do feel we had a better chance of staying up with MM. Solely based on being hard to beat as the starting place. We didn't have enough players for PBs bravado approach to be effective. Certainly, young academy produced kids like taylor, ang, etc won't buy into pb's hit and run tactics going forward. And pb won't buy into their silky tippy tappy styles in league 2.
RM is now stuck with a dinosaur manager, injured demoralised players and disrespectful youngsters for 3 games that could see us create worse than last night.
Can't really find any positives at all. Any rays of light Like Hobson will probably find a league club.

This is exactly why his decision to sack MM so late in the season really was shocking... beggars belief.