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palexander

Life President
Joined
Oct 27, 2003
Messages
8,791
Location
Brightlingsea
I know he is hardly going to beg for relegation, but does anyone else feel that Tilly has developed and learnt again as a manager?

Remember last year when all he would talk about was 50 points and surviving etc, even when we were in the play-off positions?

This year, all the vibes coming from the new players say that whilst consolidation would be great, 'we' all want promotion and thats what 'the gaffer wants' ?

Tilly is getting these players believing we can be in the mix for promotion! I know that all players will talk the club up etc to sound positive, but it just seems that after last year, Tilly is going to use that momentum on the squad to push on.

Brilliant management and as long as he can keep their feet on the ground and not let them get too big-headed, then who knows!
 
I said a few weeks ago that I thought that Tilly had promotion in the back of his mind. But realistically I think thats a medium-term aim, and right now he'd publically and privately settle for consolidation.

If a new stadium really is on the cards then theres nothnig wrong with consolidation, although I maintain that staying in this division for four seasons whilst at Roots Hall will be just as difficult as getting promotion this season would be.
 
I think the truth is that nobody outside of South Essex expects little old Southend United "The Unfashionable Club" to do much this season, despite the fact that we've had a cracking couple of years getting out of first League 2 and then League 1, not to mention a couple of cup finals.

Fair do's... they are welcome to their opinion and I think we are equally within our rights to scoff at these comments. Yes, I would happily settle with 21st place at the end of this season if that is the worse we are going to do, but I feel that Uncle Ron, Tilson & Brush will have their sights set a little higher than that... why?

BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO LOSE!!!

The spirit in the squad is excellent, the players are selected because the don't have their own agendas and just want to do well for Southend United and it all bodes well for the season ahead. Add to this "The twelvth man" (you and me) and you get the right formula for success.

Now I am not talking about going for the Championship, Promotion or the Play-Offs this season because I am a realist, but taking into account the above statement in bold, why shouldn't we believe that we COULD do any of these this season? we are more than capable of this as history shows if you cast your minds back to 01-01-1992 when another special team from our recent history stepped out onto the hallowed turf of Roots Hall on new years day to face one of the (fallen?) giants of English football, Newcastle United.

We sat proudly at the pinnacle of Division 1 for a few hours that day and all our hopes and dreams were being realised... it's what we go to football matches for!!! so it was such a shame that our subsequent fall from that pinnacle was down to the chairman and manager not seeing eye to eye.

This match so happens to have been my first visit to Roots Hall and as an avid Toon fan of the time (and I still am), I was stunned by the gall of this "so-called" little team's display of arrogance in not only defeating my team, but completely destroying them with such aplomb... and from then on in, Southend United became my second team and is now the team closest to my heart.

As I said earlier 21st will be OK, but with the structure we have in place, the great people we have in charge and a team that gets it's fans on their feet, it would not surprise me in the slightest if we are rubbing shoulders with the rich and shameless of this league come the end of the season.

Bring it on...

UP THE SHRIMPERS!!!
 
I've tried to stay calm about this season's prospects for most of the summer but as I'm slightly at a loose-end today I thought I'd look at the strength in depth of our squad. Assuming the fully-fit 1st choice XI now resembles something like this: -

Flavs, Francis, Hammell, Clarke, Barrett or Sodje, JCR, Gutts, Maher, Gower or Cole, Eastwood & Ricketts

And the 2nd XI right now looks like this: -

Collis, Hunt, Wilson, Prior, Sodje or Barrett, Bradbury, Smith, Cole or Gower, Lawson & 2 of the youth team (Moussa & Ademno)

You've got to admire the planning of T&B here, especially if say we could get in O'Callaghan and another striker, even Hooper. Imagine if those 2 were put into that 2nd choice XI, that would be a team probably good enough to hold it's own in L1 so we should have more than adequate cover throughout the squad now.

My only wish was that we'd got slightly stronger cover if anything did happen to Freddy, but then again I guess that's the risk you run of having a star-striker. I mean look at Arsenal without Henry & now Man Utd without RvN, there not exactly the same danger are they?

So to all the doubters on here who've popped up time & time again all summer, chill, we (hopefully) should be fine!
tounge.gif
 
Or squad looks awesome, far better than last yeasr, i dont mean by talent, as that obvious, i mean by balance, looks far more set up for 50-odd games
 
It's strange - I've only seen one pundit predict us to be relegated (Kamara in Zoo - who unsurprisingly predicted Barnsley bottom and Col Ewe second bottom....)

Looking at the squad, we look strong enough to survive, the only real concern is upfront at the mo.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Mr. Benedict @ Aug. 03 2006,14:38)]It's strange - I've only seen one pundit predict us to be relegated (Kamara in Zoo - who unsurprisingly predicted Barnsley bottom and Col Ewe second bottom....)

Looking at the squad, we look strong enough to survive, the only real concern is upfront at the mo.
I hope for consistency he picked West Brom to win it, Birmingham second and Sunderland third (not sure about the first two's relegated order!)

Interestingly on BBC messageboards in a discussion about relegation, we barely got a mention. Even threads that had candidates, maybes and hopefullys didn't include us. Maybe it's not just our optimism getting the better of us.
 
I agree the squad looks all round stronger with cover in most postions - except one . Central midfield . If we lose either Gutts or Maher for a few matches then we could struggle in this area ( would still like to have Bentley !! )
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Aug. 03 2006,14:47)]
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Mr. Benedict @ Aug. 03 2006,14:38)]It's strange - I've only seen one pundit predict us to be relegated (Kamara in Zoo - who unsurprisingly predicted Barnsley bottom and Col Ewe second bottom....)

Looking at the squad, we look strong enough to survive, the only real concern is upfront at the mo.
I hope for consistency he picked West Brom to win it, Birmingham second and Sunderland third (not sure about the first two's relegated order!)

Interestingly on BBC messageboards in a discussion about relegation, we barely got a mention. Even threads that had candidates, maybes and hopefullys didn't include us. Maybe it's not just our optimism getting the better of us.
IIRC he had Brum top and Palarse second....

Still a poorly researched article, though. Nevertheless it's nice to see us finally being taken seriously by other fans...
 
Just a thought that if we as bookies relegation fodder did the impossible again ( twice and counting ) where would we play? Is it not a requirement that you have at least 20k stadium or would we be told unlucky try again once your grounds been done. This is of course is pie in the sky but there are the odd events and timing that the underdog comes good every so often.
Mid table would still be welcome though, anything 20 and above is a result for me.
 
Nope - otherwise they wouldn't have let Fulham in (original capacity: 18,000), nor Southampton (The Dell held 15,000) or Watford (when they were last there Vicarage Road held 18,000).

I believe there's regulations on facilities required but not on capacity.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Mr. Benedict @ Aug. 03 2006,14:38)]It's strange - I've only seen one pundit predict us to be relegated (Kamara in Zoo - who unsurprisingly predicted Barnsley bottom and Col Ewe second bottom....)

Looking at the squad, we look strong enough to survive, the only real concern is upfront at the mo.
Claridge had the same bottom three in the NOTW on sunday.
 
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