Uncle Leo
This cook is an anti-semite
“Can we play you every week” used to be the chant when Southend played Plymouth. During the 1990s, the Shrimpers beat the Pilgrims on seven consecutive occasions, whilst from 1957 to 2001, the Pilgrims were winless at Roots Hall.
That victory for Plymouth – a 1-0 win courtesy of a Micky Evans header – was the last time the Devon outfit visited Southend. They went on to win Division Three comfortably and then secured promotion the following year as well, an achievement that has of course been matched by Southend these last two years.
So, almost exactly five years on, Roots Hall hosts another Southend vs Plymouth clash and once again it’s the men in green who are holding the aces. They currently lie seventh in the Championship table and, despite garnering just two points from their last three games, are still doing better than many expected.
Ian Holloway is now the man in the Home Park hotseat, having taken over from Tony Pulis in the summer. Holloway has enjoyed a good start at Plymouth and his summer signings have certainly been doing the business. Sylvain-Ebanks Blake, a £200,000 buy from Man Utd, has been playing well, whilst Barry Hayles is still capable of scoring plenty despite his best years being behind him.
Some of the old-stagers have been performing well also. Paul Wotton is always dangerous from set pieces – pity any keeper who gets in the way of one of his penalties – whilst Tony Capaldi, David Norris and Mathias Doumbe have been solid first team regulars. Luke McCormick will be between the sticks as Romain Larrieu continues to recover from a serious illness. McCormick has been ever present this season having played just three league games in the previous two campaigns and with Larrieu nearing full fitness, he’ll be needing to stay on top of his game.
In terms of the two teams, there are likely to be three surviving players from the last clash in April 2002: Wotton for the Pilgrims and Darryl Flahavan and Kevin Maher for the Shrimpers. The latter missed out against Preston due to suspension, but either Luke Guttridge or Peter Clarke – most probably the former Blackpool man – will make way for the skipper this weekend.
Elsewhere, Southend will be hoping that Efe Sodje is cleared to play after a minor operation on his finger. Sodje has been immense in the last two games and his availability is key for the Shrimpers on Saturday. The rest of the team should remain unchanged
It’s now been almost three months since a league victory for Southend. The win against Manchester United was of course fantastic and the draw against Preston showed plenty of promise, but wins are now needed. Anything less just won’t be good enough. Plymouth are slight favourites with the bookmakers and we can be sure that they will bring down a fair few fans – the Plymouth Supporter’s Club in London alone is a couple of hundred strong – so once again it’s imperative that we all get behind the team.
Three points here and another three at Layabout Road next weekend and all of a sudden things won’t be looking half as bad.
Up the Shrimpers!
That victory for Plymouth – a 1-0 win courtesy of a Micky Evans header – was the last time the Devon outfit visited Southend. They went on to win Division Three comfortably and then secured promotion the following year as well, an achievement that has of course been matched by Southend these last two years.
So, almost exactly five years on, Roots Hall hosts another Southend vs Plymouth clash and once again it’s the men in green who are holding the aces. They currently lie seventh in the Championship table and, despite garnering just two points from their last three games, are still doing better than many expected.
Ian Holloway is now the man in the Home Park hotseat, having taken over from Tony Pulis in the summer. Holloway has enjoyed a good start at Plymouth and his summer signings have certainly been doing the business. Sylvain-Ebanks Blake, a £200,000 buy from Man Utd, has been playing well, whilst Barry Hayles is still capable of scoring plenty despite his best years being behind him.
Some of the old-stagers have been performing well also. Paul Wotton is always dangerous from set pieces – pity any keeper who gets in the way of one of his penalties – whilst Tony Capaldi, David Norris and Mathias Doumbe have been solid first team regulars. Luke McCormick will be between the sticks as Romain Larrieu continues to recover from a serious illness. McCormick has been ever present this season having played just three league games in the previous two campaigns and with Larrieu nearing full fitness, he’ll be needing to stay on top of his game.
In terms of the two teams, there are likely to be three surviving players from the last clash in April 2002: Wotton for the Pilgrims and Darryl Flahavan and Kevin Maher for the Shrimpers. The latter missed out against Preston due to suspension, but either Luke Guttridge or Peter Clarke – most probably the former Blackpool man – will make way for the skipper this weekend.
Elsewhere, Southend will be hoping that Efe Sodje is cleared to play after a minor operation on his finger. Sodje has been immense in the last two games and his availability is key for the Shrimpers on Saturday. The rest of the team should remain unchanged
It’s now been almost three months since a league victory for Southend. The win against Manchester United was of course fantastic and the draw against Preston showed plenty of promise, but wins are now needed. Anything less just won’t be good enough. Plymouth are slight favourites with the bookmakers and we can be sure that they will bring down a fair few fans – the Plymouth Supporter’s Club in London alone is a couple of hundred strong – so once again it’s imperative that we all get behind the team.
Three points here and another three at Layabout Road next weekend and all of a sudden things won’t be looking half as bad.
Up the Shrimpers!
