Question If you had the power to decide Sturrocks future

[DTS]

If you were given the ultimate choice over Sturrocks future what would you do?

Personally whilst I am gutted about last nights exit from the play offs and I feel PS didn't really perform in the 2nd half of the season I feel we improved on last years position and got to avoid points tally.

The line between success and failure was so minimal. One more win would have seen us up and based on that I think he has done a decent job all be it not in the style I wanted to see it done.


Ps can a mod add a "had" to title please.

 

[Richard T]

Still gutted and frustrated about our performances for large parts of both play off matches but I have calmed down enough I hope to provide a balanced opinion.
We got so very close to automatic promotion after being without last seasons leading scorer all season then losing this season’s for the final few month’s .
It is very easy to make knee jerk decisions when disappointed or upset but they do not always improve the situation.
The season is over so now is the time to look at the bigger picture and not just the recent matches where we have not clinched promotion we have though achieved 83
points which in most seasons would have been enough and had the best away record in the league after arriving at a club with barely enough players for a five a side team.
In two seasons that is good progress for me so hopefully he will be around next season to take us up !

 

[MK Shrimper]

Difficult. He obviously got us the 83 points we needed but has made some awful decisions as well, on the transfer front and on the pitch. The play off games against Crewe were (for the most part) tactically wrong.

Jury is out.

 

[Jam_Man]

Difficult. He obviously got us the 83 points we needed but has made some awful decisions as well, on the transfer front and on the pitch. The play off games against Crewe were (for the most part) tactically wrong.

Jury is out.

I dont agree that tactics were wrong for Crewe, we used the tactics away we used to good effect vs Oxford and Torquay, and reverted to 442 at home. He then made good changes in both games to adapt. I had no arguments with them before the game so wont criticise them now.

83 points is a fantastic achievement and would have got us promoted most seasons, so you cant sack a manager for that.

On the negative side I dont want to see 4-5-1 and the style of football we saw most of the season.

We showed in the last part of the season we dont have to play ugly football and I want him to build on that.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

Highest points total for 21 years (including the season we were league one champions)

We missed auto-promotion by not converting one of our narrow defeats to a draw, or not holding on for a win in a couple of games we drew. (Or probably if the Aldershot floodlights had not failed on Boxing Day).

Sturrock has forgotten more about football than I'll ever know, has brilliant experience and is well respected by his fellow managers and those who have played for him.

In my opinion we'd struggle to find anyone better - so definitely keep him as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

As I've said elsewhere imho to turn us round from a squad you could count on one hand to missing out on promotion by a gnat's chuff is a great acheivement in my eyes. But the pressure will be on Sturrock now, my feeling is we'll stick with him until about Oct/Nov and if we're not up to scratch then he'll go.
If he does go then I'd like to see Harris with Paul Clark as his assistant.

 

[Jam_Man]

As I've said elsewhere imho to turn us round from a squad you could count on one hand to missing out on promotion by a gnat's chuff is a great acheivement in my eyes. But the pressure will be on Sturrock now, my feeling is we'll stick with him until about Oct/Nov and if we're not up to scratch then he'll go.
If he does go then I'd like to see Harris with Paul Clark as his assistant.

Indeed, next season the expectations will be higher.

Not only do we need to be challenging again but we need to improve on how we play as well.

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

I think it will be very difficult to top 83 points next season.

 

[Beefy]

I'm not a fan of the style of play and would prefer a way of playing that was easier on the eye.

The trouble is that we've lucked upon two great managerial appointments in a row. That's pretty uncommon and we'd gone through half a dozen dodgy appointments prior to that. We've got a manager currently who is as close to a sure-thing to have us competative as it's possible to get in the lower leagues and I think some have almost taken that for granted.

I'd hate to go back to the days of a revolving door on the managers office at Roots Hall. I think Sturrock will have us at the right end of the table again next year and think it would be a massive call to replace him.

 

[Shrimper2thecore]

Calling for him to go is utter madness, those of you calling for his head are as bad as permier**** fans.

Does nobody recall where we were when he took over? Less than 24 months ago.

The fact he had us challenging to up this year is amazing, we could well be a non-league team by now without him.

Very short memories from many.

 

[Beefy]

Calling for him to go is utter madness, those of you calling for his head are as bad as permier**** fans.

Worse than that. People are sounding like West Ham fans.

 

[Kent Shrimper]

I want him and his experience but not the direct football. Can i have both?

 

[dloman]

I want him and his experience but not the direct football. Can i have both?

Pretty much this. I look at from a Crewe fan point of view, if they had lost they would still be very optimistic about next season i.e style of football, pace and youth and a very bright future, SUFC not so sure.

 

[Calvin Candie]

Sturrock had the 3rd highest budget in the league and failed to get promotion. Before Christmas we were looking at challenging for the title and slowly and slowly we have ended up back to square one again due to poor tactics and constantly using failed systems at home. I would take a punt on lee Bradbury if we can clear out the deadwood and some how keep hall, Phillips and bilel and playing proper football under Bradbury we may have a chance next year.

 

[Jai]

Bournemouth fans will be more than happy to let us have Bradbury. They hate him. Their budget is colossal and he has delivered mid-table obscurity.

People should be careful what they wish for. As has been said, the fine line between success and failure is minimal. Despite the ending, if last season can be considered a failure then that is a sign of how much expectation we have now as fans since the Tilson era.

In my 20 years of supporting Southend, we have challenged for promotion four times and succeeded twice. That's not very many. Sturrock has not finished building his team yet, and teams that chop and change their manager rarely taste success unless they have a shedload of cash, which we do not have.

 

[Beefy]

Sturrock had the 3rd highest budget in the league and failed to get promotion.

If that's true then we've (marginally) underperformed. The suggestion on here a few weeks ago was that we'd actually got the 9th highest budget in the division.

 

[fredheim_holm]

He's done a fantastic job. For me its only the fact we got so close that we are questioning it. If we finished 7th without ever flirting with autos I doubt many would be calling for his head.

For me it comes down to whether he is happy to reshape. In my opinion Moshni has to go, he's not a team player has the mentality of a 4 year old. I've seen toddlers who are more mature than him. Anyone who saw him kick the post in the first half yesterday instead of dropping back in to protect Gilbert will surely agree. I'd release him on a free.

We need to change our style. Yesterday Crewe had so much time on the ball and yet were pressurising us all over the pitch. We found no space and very rarely played triangle football as Crewe did, when we attempted it it would go off for a throw or lose possession yet Crewe did it with ease.

IF we can sign Eastwood (and I'd be surprised), him & Harris up front have shown they can do it, we just need to instill some of the flexibility and support for the man on the ball that Crewe showed yesterday.

If Sturrock is planning on keeping the same ethos for next year then I wouldn't hold out much hope for anything more than another playoff disappointment.

And finally, IF Sturrock went, I'm in support of having Harris as manager (as someone mentioned on twitter).

IF Sturrock is up to the task of reshaping I'm in full support. If he thinks we can just go out and do what we did this season again then we'll finish with at best playoff disappointment again. Something needs to change.

 

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

75% are saying 'stay', that's pretty positive. No need for panic.

 

[Kevin Hogg]

I do not think you can fire the guy after 83 points.

However, as a business I would warn him that revenue is an issue and if he continues to bore customer - there would have to be a re-think.

In all honesty. I do not want PS as manager but do not believe it reasonable to sack him now.

 

[BrettieAngell]

I think it would be mistake to get rid of Sturrock, i'm not particularly a fan of his I have to say but we need stability after what we have been through the last 3/4 years.