Question Rebuilding for the NL season

[Wingnut]

That Exeter result from October keeps coming back to haunt me..

and the scunthorpe result

 

[Barling Magna]

and the scunthorpe result

It's the Exeter result for me. The guilty man for our relegation is not Mark Molesley, or Phil Brown, not even Ron Martin. The guilty man is..............

Alex Fisher.

.

 

[rigsby]

My worry is if we keep PB. he'll want to keep the high earners he signed, mainly Oxley and JD. Unless their wages become reasonable for the NL, they shouldn't be kept.


Keep (if possible):

Seaden
Clifford
Hobson
White
Egbri
Phillips
Gard
Walsh
Ferguson (maybe)
ANG (though not likely)
Rush
Akinola
Howard

Try and sign Cordner if possible.

Wasn't Oxley's high wage as a result of him resigning a further contract rather than when PB signed him.

OX will get offers and go
JD not a midfielder but back at RB on NL wages when Elvis goes would be an option.
White is an absolute no brainer and would be great financial value.
Ricky Holmes should be kept on.

That leaves those on contracts some of which need to go and a slim chance of signing sone of the loanees, like Cordner. He might sign if PB is manger.

 

[rigsby]

And the two points thrown away at Scunnie who were down to 10 men

They also gained a point with that goal......It became a costly penalty for us even thought it was a dead cert. The 3 point equaliser was so avoidable with any one of about 6 of our players could have prevented it.

 

[amsemp]

Macauley Bonne isn’t an absolute lump. He’s a 5 foot 11 inch striker with an eye for goal. 23 in Orient’s promotion season.

Josh Koroma isn’t an absolute lump. He’s a 5 foot 10 inch striker with an eye for goal. 11 in Orient’s promotion season.

Rush might be our Koroma - we need to find our Bonne.

Jobi Macanuff ran the show - could Ricky Holmes be our Jobi?

Dean Brill kept goal - we desperately need to find a proper keeper.

There you go.

Hopefully we’ll go a bit deeper than that but get what you’re saying. Need to find what works in that league and recruit accordingly.

But I do think Holmes, Egbri and Rush could all have a big part to play next season.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

That Exeter result from October keeps coming back to haunt me..

The WW away under Bond, winning 2-3 going into extra time and then Bond, the genius, makes his substitutions and BINGO 4-3 and the whole collapse gets really rolling on down to now.

 

[Tampa Blue]

Rebuild from the top down.

Keep RM away from all football matters as he hasn't got a clue. Let him devote 100% of his energy to FF and paying the bills on time.

Employ a CEO who can rebuild the trust of the supporters, and improve the public face and reputation of our club.

Undecided re PB - he doesn't know the NL (along with the rest of us) but has the charisma and public profile to attract the best of the non-league talent and the experience to win more games than he'll lose.

Keep CF and RD as would imagine that CF will eventually move in to the first team managers role.

Let high earning players leave, but try and keep a balance between experience and youth which is why I personally would try and keep JD and JW subject to reasonable wage demands.

Let those that get injured too often leave HL, NR (with the exception of JW who bounces back from injury).

No signings of aged 'stars' on the way down, but look for hard working experienced players.

Finally keep fingers crossed that RM shows some humility and realises that he cannot work on his won and needs experience and help alongside him.

Success for me next season will be still to have a Team and a top 10 finish as based on our current trajectory we are more likely to be battling to avoid the drop again rather be battling for promotion.

Time for change as the current set up is rotten to the core!

 

[bluesfansince1952]

The only way you'll get out of the NL, is to have a team of battlers throughout the team. It is very physical football at non-league level, be prepared for some bruising encounters. My team Doncaster Rovers only got out of the then Conference was scraping in every game, including the play-off final which we won against Dag&Red.

Wasn't Oxley's high wage as a result of him resigning a further contract rather than when PB signed him.

OX will get offers and go
JD not a midfielder but back at RB on NL wages when Elvis goes would be an option.
White is an absolute no brainer and would be great financial value.
Ricky Holmes should be kept on.

That leaves those on contracts some of which need to go and a slim chance of signing sone of the loanees, like Cordner. He might sign if PB is manger.

As already noted by many the National League is physically very demanding and attritional. Signing older players on relatively high wages (JD, Macca, RH & JW) does not seem to make a lot of sense as there will be a high risk of some or all of them being out through injury for a fair part of the season. If we are to sign older players we should at least try to go for those without a history of injury.
In the past two seasons Southend have struggled to beat anyone, league and non league. Yes, we defeated Barrow on Saturday but they have struggled all season. Tellingly, just two weeks ago we met Colchester, another struggling League 2 side in what was our biggest game of the season and sank without trace. We were outclassed by them, and, their position in the league suggests they are not a very good team. The idea that we will bounce back into the Football League with our present crop of players is, I believe, wishful thinking.
I hope I am wrong but unless we bring in completely new management and players we will continue to struggle.

 

[LBBlue]

Any chance we could prise Kabongo Tshimanga from Boreham Wood? Will be a sad state of affairs if we can’t match what they pay him.

 

[rigsby]

As already noted by many the National League is physically very demanding and attritional. Signing older players on relatively high wages (JD, Macca, RH & JW) does not seem to make a lot of sense as there will be a high risk of some or all of them being out through injury for a fair part of the season. If we are to sign older players we should at least try to go for those without a history of injury.
In the past two seasons Southend have struggled to beat anyone, league and non league. Yes, we defeated Barrow on Saturday but they have struggled all season. Tellingly, just two weeks ago we met Colchester, another struggling League 2 side in what was our biggest game of the season and sank without trace. We were outclassed by them, and, their position in the league suggests they are not a very good team. The idea that we will bounce back into the Football League with our present crop of players is, I believe, wishful thinking.
I hope I am wrong but unless we bring in completely new management and players we will continue to struggle.

I don't know anyone who wants to keep all the "older" players but equally getting shot of all the players would be stupid.

The idea that JW or Ricky H couldn't handle the the NL. Or wouldn't be an asset to the squad, makes no sense. PB is big on leaders and winners within the group, if he stays they will be the sort of people he will keep and look to sign.

 

[geoffmundo]

Any chance we could prise Kabongo Tshimanga from Boreham Wood? Will be a sad state of affairs if we can’t match what they pay him.

There's a winger scoring goals for fun at maidenhead (another one today) think thats 13 for the season....Sam Barratt.

 

[LBBlue]

There's a winger scoring goals for fun at maidenhead (another one today) think thats 13 for the season....Sam Barratt.

He’s got a mate Danilo Orsi-Dadamo who has a few goals as well.

 

[bluesfansince1952]

I don't know anyone who wants to keep all the "older" players but equally getting shot of all the players would be stupid.

The idea that JW or Ricky H couldn't handle the the NL. Or wouldn't be an asset to the squad, makes no sense. PB is big on leaders and winners within the group, if he stays they will be the sort of people he will keep and look to sign.

Unfortunately, I think you are right, and, he will be looking to sign them (and I suspect Macca also). I respect all of these players as tough, hard working and model professionals. My concern is their best days are behind them as well as their potential for injury proneness and age related decline.
For those reasons I would be wincing if more than one was signed for our National League squad.

 

[Shrimper]

Any chance we could prise Kabongo Tshimanga from Boreham Wood? Will be a sad state of affairs if we can’t match what they pay him.

Out of contract in the summer. Worth a shot

 

[amsemp]

Any chance we could prise Kabongo Tshimanga from Boreham Wood? Will be a sad state of affairs if we can’t match what they pay him.

Would definitely be an exciting signing and might tempt some bums back on seats if we showed some intent

 

[Murkey_Mouse]

Any chance we could prise Kabongo Tshimanga from Boreham Wood? Will be a sad state of affairs if we can’t match what they pay him.

Boreham is looking to cut wages and will get rid of their players, if we come in for Tshimanga, he would come to us, all conference players love to play in front of big crowds and in front of massive away fans, which we are capable of bringing to like of Woking, Boreham, Bromley etc.

 

[kentblues]

Unfortunately, I think you are right, and, he will be looking to sign them (and I suspect Macca also). I respect all of these players as tough, hard working and model professionals. My concern is their best days are behind them as well as their potential for injury proneness and age related decline.
For those reasons I would be wincing if more than one was signed for our National League squad.

I think only one experienced professional of the ilk of JW, RH, Macca and JD would be well under what we need. We need a balanced squad, and if the NL is as described then these are exactly the type of players who will lead by example and not take a step backward. Probably Macca is the one most at risk because age/regular injury seems to have caught up with him. As much as he is great character to have around. Has he done any of his coaching badges- player/u23 coaching role might work somehow.

 

[kentblues]

Would definitely be an exciting signing and might tempt some bums back on seats if we showed some intent

Does it in NL struggled at EFL. There again we signed a slightly upgraded version in Akinola who we know can perform at NL level and is a similar sort of player?

Correction: TBF left MK Dons at 19 so to say struggled may be a bit premature

 

[Danshrimper]

Boreham is looking to cut wages and will get rid of their players, if we come in for Tshimanga, he would come to us, all conference players love to play in front of big crowds and in front of massive away fans, which we are capable of bringing to like of Woking, Boreham, Bromley etc.

Would he come to us though? Only 23 and has a good goalscoring record at NL level. Surely an EFL side would take a punt on him.

 

[kentblues]

Would he come to us though? Only 23 and has a good goalscoring record at NL level. Surely an EFL side would take a punt on him.

You would think think so- yet he is out of contract end of this season so you would have thought if a league club came in BW would be keen to sell- particularly given Covid et al?
On a free he is going to be looking to pick up a good contract- might have an agent telling to sit tight and go on a free. Might have been, and still be, a few EFL clubs interested..