How many of our players are league one standard

[OldBlueLady]

A centre back who is aggressive and can organise the back line to be brave and not retreat every time there is an attack

You just described John White there!

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Hopper. That’s it

 

[Harry Bullocks]

Brandon ****shot should be sent back to Weymouth , thats his standard ,Hyam,Milligan and a few others should be sent out to pasture along with a few other donkeys, i think Sol better off giving some youth players some time now , forget these people trying to pass themselves off as professional footballers
Seriously the only ones i would keep apart from the youths are ,Bishop,Elvis,Hutchinson,Dieng,Humphreys,Hopper,Kelman, Acquah,Rush, Golly Gee i find it hard going through the squad to really name many senior players i would keep, makes you realise what a job Sol and his team have got on their hands , i truly wish them well
.

Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion on a Forum....however, it should be recognised how many times he has been played as either a midfielder...or a winger …..way to build someone's confidence in your scoring abilities.......not !

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

I can’t believe anyone would want to keep Kiernan or Lennon. I’ve tried to be patient with them but they’re one of the main reasons in my mind we’ve struggled. If only we’d retained Turner and Coker and I can’t believe I’m saying that to be honest. The other massive failure over summer was failing to bring in a midfield enforcer and a wide player so we had another option alongside Macca. I’d love to know if Bond had targets he was unable to get. Perhaps he tried? Who knows, but the crocks we did manage to bring in are sending us to league 2.

 

[wildheart]

I can’t believe anyone would want to keep Kiernan or Lennon. I’ve tried to be patient with them but they’re one of the main reasons in my mind we’ve struggled. If only we’d retained Turner and Coker and I can’t believe I’m saying that to be honest. The other massive failure over summer was failing to bring in a midfield enforcer and a wide player so we had another option alongside Macca. I’d love to know if Bond had targets he was unable to get. Perhaps he tried? Who knows, but the crocks we did manage to bring in are sending us to league 2.

We were told by Charlton supporters what to expect with Lennon. Turner and Coker had served their purpose but they were all washed up when Brown was in charge.
Timlin should never have been let go and probably Wordsworth should have been kept on. Losing Yearwood was a killer.
Unfortunately we paid peanuts and bought monkeys! At the end of the day its all down to Ron he controls the spending!

 

[thenobster]

So, we’re down.. we all kinda think this to different degrees. It seems most of the squad are not good enough, militant, beyond their best, awol, or children.
Cut our losses at Xmas and shift as many ‘senior’ players on and let our young players blood themselves for the remainder of the season, they have nothing to lose as there’s not much too lose. Hopefully this would bond a nucleus ready for the future learning from the experience. It’ll free up some wages too.
Would it be detrimental to their development or strengthen their mentality. No fear in trying, no shame in losing as long as they give it a go.

 

[Chairman Trigg]

I would say at least half this squad don't want to be here,and it clearly shows .There is a nucleus who do show effort and you can see the players who hurt in defeat.Blooding too many youngsters when being beaten every week isn't the solution and could damage development and confidence. A financial clear out will follow unfortunately not based on keeping the best players.....Dru's sale is a perfect example of what not to do just to balance the books

 

[SheldonW65]

Losing Kavanagh and not replacing him was a massive error, Ron Martin hang your head in shame.

 

[manor15]

Currently good enough for League One: Tom Hopper, Simon Cox.

Good enough for League One if they put a shift in, which they haven't this season: Jason Demetriou, Rob Kiernan, Stephen Humphrys (perhaps up for debate, on his day he's a L1 player, but they aren't often enough yet thought that's more due to his age than his work rate).

Used to be good enough for League One, but not now: Mark Oxley, Harry Lennon, Liam Ridgewell, Sam Mantom, Stephen McLaughlin, Luke Hyam, Mark Milligan.

Will one day be good enough for League One, but not yet: Nathan Bishop, Elvis Bwomono, Harry Kyprianou, Ethan Hamilton, Isaac Hutchinson, Charlie Kelman, Layton Ndukwu.

Never been good enough for League One and never will be: John White, Nathan Ralph, Joe Shaughnessy, Tim Dieng, Brandon Goodship.

Says a lot that of those who I'd say aren't good enough, never have been and never will be, three of them joined this summer and the other two permanent signings are past it.

 

[rigsby]

Good old Shrimperzone.......Dozens of posts about non league rough diamonds. Then when we sign Goodship and he scores a few in a totally failing side.....People queue up to slag him. He was never going to go from non league freebie to the mythical 25 goal a season striker that we rarely see.

If you want slag people start with the players who are taking the p*** out of us all........The likes Mantom, Demetriou and those that don't want to be here like Kiernan

 

[Angell Delight]

Hopper. That's it.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

I think we should keep Goodship and give him a decent run towards the end of the season as he could be a 20 goal a season striker in League 2 .

When we brought Eastwood in we were fairly high on confidence and had players who could play a killer ball in Maher , Gower , Gray , Jay Smith, Gutteridge and Mitchel Cole .

Our current strikers are feeding off scraps , no balls into the box , no midfield runners running beyond creating chaos and pulling defenders out of their positions .

Its really hard to judge Goodship at the moment , i noticed a stat on Ifollow last night that Pompey had 0 headed clearances which shows we are not putting balls into danger areas to even force any pressure, mistakes or second balls - i think we had 16 IIRC

 

[OldBlueLady]

Never been good enough for League One and never will be: John White, Nathan Ralph, Joe Shaughnessy, Tim Dieng, Brandon Goodship.

Really, Sam, do you honestly think that? Funny how both Brown and Powell became so reliant on him.

 

[Special Blue]

Really, Sam, do you honestly think that? Funny how both Brown and Powell became so reliant on him.

John white would be first on my team sheet at the moment with two broken arms and handcuffs!

 

[Chrisb]

John white would be first on my team sheet at the moment with two broken arms and handcuffs!

Anyone know how much longer he is likely to be out injured ? A while yet I would assume.

 

[Willis]

No sure why were talking about L1, were going down this season. So, in no particular order and ignoring the long term injured, the only players I’d retain in the summer (assuming they want to stay) are Hutchinson, Milligan, Hopper, Bishop, Elvis, Kelman, Dieng (as CB). I just fear it’s too much of an overhaul and will take too long for the wholesale changes to settle

 

[fleabag1]

John white should be in this team he is in the same mould as timlin the warrior .I would say its the worst team I can ever remember watching div 1 standard not many but probably got a few conference south

 

[fbm]

Currently good enough for League One: Tom Hopper, Simon Cox.

Good enough for League One if they put a shift in, which they haven't this season: Jason Demetriou, Rob Kiernan, Stephen Humphrys (perhaps up for debate, on his day he's a L1 player, but they aren't often enough yet thought that's more due to his age than his work rate).

Used to be good enough for League One, but not now: Mark Oxley, Harry Lennon, Liam Ridgewell, Sam Mantom, Stephen McLaughlin, Luke Hyam, Mark Milligan.

Will one day be good enough for League One, but not yet: Nathan Bishop, Elvis Bwomono, Harry Kyprianou, Ethan Hamilton, Isaac Hutchinson, Charlie Kelman, Layton Ndukwu.

Never been good enough for League One and never will be: John White, Nathan Ralph, Joe Shaughnessy, Tim Dieng, Brandon Goodship.

Says a lot that of those who I'd say aren't good enough, never have been and never will be, three of them joined this summer and the other two permanent signings are past it.

Ok... I've said this before and I'll say it again. You can't be a pro footballer and be ****. There are too many selection processes to go through.

You can however play ****.

The vast majority of our players are more than capable of playing and being good players in L1. The only ones I have doubts about are Bishop, Elvis, Hutchinson, Kelman, Rush, Taylor, Barrett, Egbri, Ridgewell, White, Demitriou and Goodship.

Ridgewell is past it and John White, stalwart that he is, is probably only good enough for the odd game now. Demi is an international captain but his legs are shot. He can't train properly, never will be able to train properly and is not going to get to the level of fitness require by the new regime. If I were him I'd consider retirement. Goodship is a fantastic finisher but whether he can make the step up or not is as yet an unanswered question. We haven't seen enough of Barrett, Rush, Egbri or Taylor to form an opinion. And the other kids are all decent or potentially decent, but whether they are good enough for L1, who knows? None of them should be the first name on the teamsheet and they should be being eased into the team, 20 mins at a time.

However, the fact that we have been let down so badly by the senior players mean that they ARE the first names on the teamsheet. Elvis - probably our POTY so far - is actually not a brilliant full back... yet. His effort and passion are amazing and he looks decent on the ball but very often gets caught before putting the ball into the box and doesn't actually stop too many crosses. He is far from the finished article.

Bishop is a year or 2 away from being a very good keeper but is he a decent L1 keeper yet? Not in my opinion. He will be, of that I'm sure and maybe even higher... but just not yet.

Hutchinson for the last three games has been the only one with any quality or class; always wants the ball, takes the free kicks and corners, really puts himself in there... massive credit to him. But the majority of his free kicks and corners are not great, he isn't strong enough, gets caught in possession, doesn't want to head the ball and doesn't track back enough. He will be good, but it's too early for him.

Kelman has shown the odd flash. I think we were all guilty of being swept away by his goal of the season last year and he has scored ALL the goals in the only 2 games we have won this season. But he's injured and whilst I think he will have a great future in the game, again, it's too early in his career for him to be taking L1 by storm. These players are at least 1, 2, maybe 3 years away from decent careers in this league and possibly even the Championship, but I can't at this stage see any of them playing higher. Look at Jack Payne and Dru... are they L1 standard at the moment? Jack probably is but only because of the team he is playing in. Dru isn't even in the first team squad at Brentford.

Would they be L1 standard if they were back here? Probably not in this team. The blend is awful.

Every single senior player is absolutely good enough for L1. They would probably do very well at other L1 clubs. But for some reason, it isn't happening here. Dieng is the only one playing anywhere near his capability and has been almost a star performer in an appalling defence. Lennon is a decent player and still quite young but was in the Championship. Oxley was fantastic 2 years ago and at his age, keepers get better, not worse.

Kiernan clearly doesn't want to be here. What was last weeks excuse? A Migraine? Oh, ok Rob, if you say so. If it was a migraine, take some strong painkillers, sleep it off whilst travelling and see if it passes. If not, cry off at that point, not before the team has even left for the trip, practically 2 days before the game. Who cries off a Saturday game on a Thursday with a headache? That's poor if you ask me. And yes, I've had migraines and yes, I know there are different types and intensities. But really? Are we buying that, because I'm not.

Milligan was the mainstay at Hibs who finished 5th in the SPL and is an international captain. Shaughnessy is only 27, was St Johnstone's captain last season, has 4 U21 ROI caps and they finished 7th in the SPL last season. Ralph was Dundee's POTY last season, even though they were relegated. Oh, and I know Scottish football is not of a great standard, but we would be comfortably relegated if we were in it. It's better than we are.

Hyam and Mantom individually are ok - maybe not earth shattering, but ok. Why Mantom got the captaincy is beyond me and this has destroyed his confidence. He has become a shrinking violet and I bet that if someone offered him a way out of the club, he'd snap their arm off for it. Hyam cannot play more than 2 or 3 games before going injured and neither of them are strong enough to be the mainstay of a midfield. Kyprianou has shown that he is decent enough, especially when playing alongside Ferdinand.

McLaughlin has actually put in better performances since Bond left and was doing ok... Hamilton played in L1 with Rochdale all last season and is with Man Utd for God's sake.

There isn't a lot wrong with our strike force of Humphrys, Cox and Hopper. The problem is the service they get - or don't get, to be more accurate.

Of course they are good enough for L1.

In theory.

Collectively they are the worst Southend team I have seen in 50 years, they've set some very unwanted records and are on course for more. It is appalling... but it's not down to their individual ability in my opinion. It's the blend. It ain't working and something massively needs to change.

 

[Tombstone Blues]

As long and as detailed as that post is (which I commend you for) it is ridiculous and full of some of the worst observations I’ve ever read on here. The only thing saving it from being torn apart is the length of time it would take for me to do it!!

 

[fbm]

As long and as detailed as that post is (which I commend you for) it is ridiculous and full of some of the worst observations I’ve ever read on here. The only thing saving it from being torn apart is the length of time it would take for me to do it!!

Well it's all about opinions. Please feel free to tear it apart. I value reading contrary viewpoints that differ to mine and am happy to have my views challenged. It's what a discussion board is for.

That's why I put the effort into the post... to try and challenge others opinions, to give reasoning behind my views.

So what bit(s) is or are ridiculous? Why? I don't think there's any facts that are incorrect in my post. What are the worst observations? Why do you think they are the worst observations and what make them differ to yours? In fact, what are your observations or can't you be bothered to share?