Pre-season optimism

[Yorkshire Blue]

I think it's a little unfair to point fingers at Theo and ask why he's coming on, his record throughout his career is roughly a goal every 4 and that's where he's at this season. Tbh he is a proven goal scorer at this level and causes defences problems.

There may also be something in training that makes CP bring him on first, maybe Mcgoalsky is lacking something

Since he became Southend manager nobody has scored more goals for Chris Powell than Theo.

Under Chris Powell

Goal - Mins played - Mins per goal
Robinson 7 - 776 - 111
McCoulsky 4 - 225 - 56
Hopper 4 - 615 - 154
Cox 4 - 1854 - 464
Fortune 2 - 888 - 444


Personally I'd start Hopper and McCoulsky but I can see why Theo has earnt his playing opportunities with those goals.

 

[RobM]

56 minutes per goal - that's the stat' that appeals to me!

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

56 minutes per goal - that's the stat' that appeals to me!

If you give that League Cup goal back to Theo it becomes 97 min a goal to Theo and 75 min to McCoulsky.

 

[rigsby]

If you give that League Cup goal back to Theo it becomes 97 min a goal to Theo and 75 min to McCoulsky.

Not having ago at McCoulsky as I'm sure we will see plenty of him but 2 goals v Cambridge reserves is not as good as the winner away at Bristol Rovers in the league.

 

[WickfordShrimper]

a little disappointed we not in the top half, but a little to early in the season if we honest here

Next few couple months will be telling IMHO

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Not having ago at McCoulsky as I'm sure we will see plenty of him but 2 goals v Cambridge reserves is not as good as the winner away at Bristol Rovers in the league.

Yep, I nearly omitted the stats for that game as it's a reserve team competition but thought everyone would moan!

 

[Shrimpers are Magic]

That would be a start!

The third round is a realistic and achievable target and then it comes down to the draw.

I'll be bitterly disappointed if we get knocked out by a team like Yeovil or Chester again.

Yeah I agree, cup runs are fab and we’ve come up short far too often recently. Don’t see the point in playing in the league cup anymore!

 

[Jai]

I'm still quietly optimistic for a FA Cup run and top 10 finish.

I think we're in a false position to an extent. I know all clubs have to deal with spells of injuries and bad luck but I don't think we are too far away from being a side who can compete for the playoffs.

Defensively there are clearly issues that need to be ironed out, but we have had to shoehorn players in positions they are not familiar with, and contend with players playing through pain etc. We've also been on top in a lot of games, only for silly mistakes at the back to cost us.

Daft things like the closing ten minutes of the Charlton games have obviously heaped problems on us, and it cost us against Peterborough. September is a vital month. Not just in that we have some games we realistically can take points in, but we don't have any midweek games. Vital recovery time for the likes of Dieng, Dru and Mantom. Lennon also hopefully will be back soon.

The joke is everyone seems to be moaning about us not playing McCoulsky - we have an embarrassment of riches in attack and I for one am not really fussed about which 2 of our 4 strikers we play as they are all capable of causing problems.

We'll be fine. Hoping for top 10 and still confident we will get there. And if not, well that is football. There are 23 other clubs trying to finish as high as they can, fine margins decide things in the end.

SCP has had to consciously lower the average age of our team which last year was full of geriatrics. He's had the new manager honeymoon and now it gets tough, but he is going about things the right way. Keep the faith.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Did a bit of stat looking the other day and we have conceded 11 goals from 21 shots on target (league only). Also we have had 103 shots on goal compared to 49 against. From memory I think we have scored 9 from 41 on target.

Our on target ratio is about the same for and against, but we are scoring 1 in 4 and conceding over 1 in 2.

That sort of anomaly can’t carry on surely?

To have double the amount of chances than your opposition over 7 games you should be in the top 3.

Hopefully things will start to turn round, but another 4 or 5 games like we have had and things may have to change.

 

[LBBlue]

Did a bit of stat looking the other day and we have conceded 11 goals from 21 shots on target (league only). Also we have had 103 shots on goal compared to 49 against. From memory I think we have scored 9 from 41 on target.

Our on target ratio is about the same for and against, but we are scoring 1 in 4 and conceding over 1 in 2.

That sort of anomaly can’t carry on surely?

To have double the amount of chances than your opposition over 7 games you should be in the taaop 3.

Hopefully things will start to turn round, but another 4 or 5 games like we have had and things may have to change.

Far too many of our shots are from outside of the penalty box - not really chances but speculative efforts. I think the opposition work their way into our box have less attempts on goal, but much better chances . Most of our goals have actually come from when we have got in behind and crossed the ball into the six yard box- Coker/Kightly/Cox/Bunn have combined well down the left -there's been naff all from the right hand side though.

We also need to score the first goal - the only point we have got after going behind was at bottom of the table Plymouth.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Did a bit of stat looking the other day and we have conceded 11 goals from 21 shots on target (league only). Also we have had 103 shots on goal compared to 49 against. From memory I think we have scored 9 from 41 on target.

Our on target ratio is about the same for and against, but we are scoring 1 in 4 and conceding over 1 in 2.

That sort of anomaly can’t carry on surely?

To have double the amount of chances than your opposition over 7 games you should be in the top 3.

Hopefully things will start to turn round, but another 4 or 5 games like we have had and things may have to change.

The thing that will have to change is player availability

Last match we were without the following

Oxley
Demetriou Lennon Kiernan Kyprianou
Kightly Yearwood Hyam Barratt

Other than the forwards (and remember we seem to be scoring enough goals) that's an XI that should be able to hold it's own in this division.

And we're still 17th in the division with all that lot missing.

In 4 or 5 matches time we should have six of that lot match fit plus Mantom and Dieng, neither of whom was fully fit last match.

Performances have generally been good. A few more tweaks are needed but we're on the right track. Don't panic.