Know when to hold 'em...

[rabbloke]

I have decided that I am never going to play Tilly at poker(hence title) as he must be one hell of a gambler. The smallest squad in the division, only two signings, one of those an untried league debutant and the other an aging star on the decline that has not played since December and was more inclined to retire than to continue playing. Tilly has either a small brain or above average sized testicles. His record thus far appears to put doubt upon the former and as yet I am not, or wish to be, privy to the contents of his shorts, so the jury is out there. Jay Smith has yet to make the bench, Spinner is sidelined and Cole and Bentley are carrying knocks. Two games in and we are close to not being able to field a fully fit side. I know there are always the loanees to full back on in time of crisis but that can also mean taking second best to plug the gap and that will be punished in this division. The rumour mill is strangley quiet, the official site gives no suggestion of signings and yet all our competitors appear to continually delve into the transfer market. The strong get stronger and the weak.....
I cannot detract from the achievement of Tuesday night but one swallow does not a summer make. I accept Tilly has stated that he will not be rushed into anything but taking your time is one thing, hibernating is another. Curling up into a ball made out of the rejection slips from alleged 'six-figure' strikers and waiting for the January transfer window is suicidal, even if the squirrel does have an incredible cache of nuts. I fear that unless Tilly pulls out the proverbial finger then this may be our 'winter of discontent'. He may not have too many 'slings and arrows' to fret over but the modern 'bullet' is an equally lethal substitute. Steve 'Canute' Tilson had better remember that 'time and tide wait for no man'. The sooner he accepts the flow of the transfer market and dips his toes in, the better.

 

[Guest]

I have so far stoically refused to criticise our lack of action in the transfer market, out of faith that we have not been let down so far. But what you say bears a pang of truth, our squad is woefully small. I remember Tilly saying he wanted 21 players, well we have 19, two fit strikers and a defence which looks a bit short on cover to say the least....

If we get any serious injuries with this squad, we will be straight back down from whence we came. You cannot rely on the loan system, what if no-one wants to loan you any players?  

 

[Kris]

Hmmm, I can't help but feel you're both being a tad melodramatic. As far as I'm concerned, we only need to strengthen in two areas - left-back and up front - and the latter would only really need to be back-up as Goater, Eastwood and Gray are all potent enough strikers, each bringing different qualities to the mix. We do need to give Super Cheese Wilson competition at left-back, though, and provide cover in case he gets injured/suspended.

There are still 18 days left before the transfer window closes and a lot can happen in that time. Have faith, guys, Tilson knows what he's doing and he has admitted himself that he needs to add to the squad so he won't be complacent about it.

 

[Kris]

LOL! Didn't realise that when you type out our left back's name it automatically gets converted to "Super Cheese".

 

[rabbloke]

Quote[/b] (Kris @ Aug. 12 2005,23:08)]Hmmm, I can't help but feel you're both being a tad melodramatic. As far as I'm concerned, we only need to strengthen in two areas - left-back and up front - and the latter would only really need to be back-up as Goater, Eastwood and Gray are all potent enough strikers, each bringing different qualities to the mix. We do need to give Super Cheese Wilson competition at left-back, though, and provide cover in case he gets injured/suspended.

There are still 18 days left before the transfer window closes and a lot can happen in that time. Have faith, guys, Tilson knows what he's doing and he has admitted himself that he needs to add to the squad so he won't be complacent about it.

Ifeel 'melodramatic' is a little 'melodramatic' for concerned. I also feel you are perhaps optimistic on how many positions need reinforcements. Tilly himself has clearly identified the middle of defence as an area that requires attention, not least backed up by his one time interest in Jozic. At the moment the right wing/midfield is woefully weak of natural candidates. I agree with your thought that the left back spot needs competition and that our striker cover is inadequate. Tilly has stated that his first priority this season is to consolidate. I would be glad for any of the stat boys who could tell me the minimum squad size that has achieved promotion and consolidation in consecutive seasons and I would hazard a guess none have been smaller than ours. Its a long season and I do not believe I am far out when I say that we probably need at least five or six new players AND will then still have the occasional loanee. I believe Liverpool won the title some years back using just sixteen players but we ain't Liverpool and do not have their backroom staff and physio facilities. We will get injuries and suspensions and just as importantly we will get loss of form. No cover, no competition, no Lg 1 status.

 

[soul DJ]

Quote[/b] ]I believe Liverpool won the title some years back using just sixteen players

but that was at a time when you only had one substitute.

I feel that we should all trust Tilly, as he has the correct approach regarding players, only sign those that are good enough.

Over the years we have all complained about players that have been signed, who did not cut the mustard, then we are stuck with a player under contract, who is collecting wages, then because of budgets restraints we can't sign replacements.

So it is best to wait

 

[Technician]

I don't disagree with Rabbloke... He has a valid argument!. But, I researched Hartlepool's squad list from last year, since my father supports them - I had a (sort of) vested interest.

They had some 30 players on their books, but a fair few of them were fringe players at best. As we all know, they finished 6th and ONLY bowed out in the playoff final to Sheffield Wednesday, but an interesting point, is that only 19 players played first team football for them last season, which makes me shudder really. How can a small club like them have 10 or 11 players more than they used and afford to pay their wages?

Sure, some of them may have been paid peanuts, or were youth teamers coming through the ranks, but to only use so few players, seems to be quite an achievement. Maybe with the right kind of man management, we COULD do the same thing.

 

[Shrimper2thecore]

We need a 1st team left back, that Che can compete with, apart from that, we are ok for now.

 

[sufcintheprem]

I reckon the squad should be fine as has been pointed out before, they are all players you would be happy with in the first team. Personally, Lawson is the only one I have reservations about but that is largely lack of experience.

If you look through the squad, I wouldn't say we have anyone who is particularly injury prone. Some might say Jay Smith but personally I think it is more a combination of him being very small when he first joined us and being unlucky to be the victim of GBH by Goodhind.

Still, as this point about Smith illustrates, anyone can get injured. Potentially, we could lose Barrett and Eastwood in the same game for a few months and we would really struggle.

Still, I'm delighted with Tilly's transfer policy. You know that everyone who pulls on the Southend shirt will have the right attitude and will give 110%, much the same as Tilly did as a player. If we go down, I honestly think most of the squad would stay barring Freddy who I wouldn't begrudge for moving one bit. Still, if we did go down, I would also fancy us to come back even stronger.