Slow starters

[Jai]

There's been a lot of criticism over our start to the season but it's really nothing unusual for us to struggle in August. Here's our record under Brown in the first month of the season (EFL Trophy matches not included).

YEAR P W D L F A
2013 6 3 0 3 6 5
2014 6 2 1 3 5 6
2015 6 0 3 3 3 7
2016 6 1 1 4 6 11
2017 5 1 2 2 6 12

So apart from the goals conceded column looking particularly grim, this is a pretty normal August for us under Phil. Our pre-season preparation probably needs to be examined. With all these injuries, it could be a pretty lean September too...

 

[danburyshrimper]

Exactly . Stats like this dont lie and need to be addressed.

* Pre season Jolly up in Spain --- not exactly been a winning formula , so change it.
*Pre season friendlies ... Never understood why the club over the past few years play games on successive days playing every player 45 minutes in each . This cant be good for recovery etc .
*Manage players better. For example playing Wordsworth through his injury back end of last season has since cost him several months. Playing Anton last night instead of say , Matsuzaka. - At least Brown has ( so far ) not been tempted to rush Ranger back too early.
* Training ? What are we doing thats causing all these injuries ? You could point to the infamous Boots + Laces match every friday , where Brown basically plays the 11 playing tomorrow vs the 11 who are not. Obviously there are bad tackles + injuries.
* The pitch . The Roots Hall pitch is a joke + we should never have played the pre season QPR match on it + should never have let it get that bad. All the players told us it saps energy + has almost certainly contributed to hammy tweaks.
* Do our players do any pilates or yoga ? I know this was all the rage a few years back but our injury list is crazy + something needs to be done.
* Why does Coughlin still "cuff" every player aggressively round the back of the neck after every game coming off the pitch. Im surprised whiplash isnt rife is our depleted squad.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

This is absolutely right Jai, I've been saying the same for ages now. What I can't understand is why Phil can't seem to see this and do something about it. Clearly his whole pre-season plan needs detailed analysis as, while it may not be totally gash, there are persistent problems in the planning and delivery that need to be addressed. It is bad enough - consistently - to be THE major Achilles heel to our success. I don't think it's about signings (who or when) as if that was the problem we'd be **** all year but we aren't so I think it owes more to fitness, motivation and conditioning at the start of the campaign.

 

[RobM]

So that's P29 W7 D7 L15 F26 A41 PTS28
Average P4 W1 D1 L2 F7 A10 PTS4 (Just to get it to whole numbers) on a regular basis. I think I'll buy a half-seaso' next year!

 

[Barling Magna]

So only in 2013 did we have more points than we do now? I'm feeling better already.

However, how does September compare over 2013-2016? How many points should we be aiming to exceed by end of next month.....?

 

[Jai]

So only in 2013 did we have more points than we do now? I'm feeling better already.

However, how does September compare over 2013-2016? How many points should we be aiming to exceed by end of next month.....?

I'll leave that for someone else, probably ought to do some work now.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

There's been a lot of criticism over our start to the season but it's really nothing unusual for us to struggle in August. Here's our record under Brown in the first month of the season (EFL Trophy matches not included).

YEAR P W D L F A
2013 6 3 0 3 6 5
2014 6 2 1 3 5 6
2015 6 0 3 3 3 7
2016 6 1 1 4 6 11
2017 5 1 2 2 6 12

So apart from the goals conceded column looking particularly grim, this is a pretty normal August for us under Phil. Our pre-season preparation probably needs to be examined. With all these injuries, it could be a pretty lean September too...

Barring the season we scraped promotion by the skin of our teeth, having a lean August has meant we have missed out on promotion more than once. We leave it late to sign players, we sign oldies and crocks. Maybe if we signed players earlier, and players that weren't crocked and couldn't play for a month, we would have a good team ready to go come August, we would have a decent start to the season and have more chance of promotion

 

[rigsby]

Barring the season we scraped promotion by the skin of our teeth, having a lean August has meant we have missed out on promotion more than once. We leave it late to sign players, we sign oldies and crocks. Maybe if we signed players earlier, and players that weren't crocked and couldn't play for a month, we would have a good team ready to go come August, we would have a decent start to the season and have more chance of promotion

When was that then ?

We tried to sign Lee Novak very early last season but he signed for a bigger club who pay a lot more money. That's what happens when there's 12 teams in your division paying higher wages

Without signing the likes of Anton, Ranger, Cox, MAF and Robinson we would have been looking at relegation rather than playoffs last May.

Remember Bury were 2nd at the end of September and Sheffield U were bottom this time last year. The medals are given out in May

 

[davewebbsbrain]

When was that then ?

We tried to sign Lee Novak very early last season but he signed for a bigger club who pay a lot more money. That's what happens when there's 12 teams in your division paying higher wages

Without signing the likes of Anton, Ranger, Cox, MAF and Robinson we would have been looking at relegation rather than playoffs last May.

Remember Bury were 2nd at the end of September and Sheffield U were bottom this time last year. The medals are given out in May

We don't seem to get a medal very often though. Still as long as we are improving our position every season, having finished 7th last season, the latest we have to wait for promotion is the 2020/21 season :smile:

 

[TrevorFitzpatrickHattrick]

Barring the season we scraped promotion by the skin of our teeth, having a lean August has meant we have missed out on promotion more than once. We leave it late to sign players, we sign oldies and crocks. Maybe if we signed players earlier, and players that weren't crocked and couldn't play for a month, we would have a good team ready to go come August, we would have a decent start to the season and have more chance of promotion

Agree with this. One thing that arguably works against us is our geographic location. The average property price in Southend is £294k and arguably would be higher if you included some of the towns/villages in the immediate vicinity. In Bury it's £180k, Pompey's £230k and Plymouth's £200k, so the wage a player earns doesn't go as far in the Essex Riviera as it might do elsewhere. This is also the case in the rental market as well, so I'd imagine it would be a sticking point for some negotiations.

 

[Jai]

Agree with this. One thing that arguably works against us is our geographic location. The average property price in Southend is £294k and arguably would be higher if you included some of the towns/villages in the immediate vicinity. In Bury it's £180k, Pompey's £230k and Plymouth's £200k, so the wage a player earns doesn't go as far in the Essex Riviera as it might do elsewhere. This is also the case in the rental market as well, so I'd imagine it would be a sticking point for some negotiations.

Your logic is flawed as I believe you are speaking about houses whereas Phil's normal transfer targets will be requiring bungalows or sheltered accommodation.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

I was saying exactly the same thing after the Brighton friendly. The players looked slow, unfit, unprepared and totally lacking in sharpness, compared to Brighton (who were a week behind in terms of their first fixture).

I also said that to do the same thing as last season would be unforgivable, but sadly I think this season has been worse, in terms of the injuries.

I didn't realise that it always seems to be an issue for PB. I thought we came back too late from the summer break considereing it was so long, the friendlies we arrange do not test us at all. This cost us the play-offs last season, and could do the same this year, as I fear that the sluggish start will continue a bit longer until the players are both fit, and also match fit, which could be the end of September.

 

[Firestorm]

We don't seem to get a medal very often though. Still as long as we are improving our position every season, having finished 7th last season, the latest we have to wait for promotion is the 2020/21 season :smile:

If winning the playoffs counts as a medal, we have only had 4 since 1906 (two Champions and two playoffs) , and all of them have been in the past 37 years.

Strikes me that we are in a better part of our history .......

 

[Napster]

If winning the playoffs counts as a medal, we have only had 4 since 1906 (two Champions and two playoffs) , and all of them have been in the past 37 years.

Strikes me that we are in a better part of our history .......

pfft what about the 4 times we won the ESC.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Barring the season we scraped promotion by the skin of our teeth,

I think you'll find that was us just stringing poor Wycombe along.

 

[Uncle Leo]

pfft what about the 4 times we won the ESC.

And Family Club of the Year.

 

[MK Shrimper]

And Family Club of the Year.

Millwall won that, showing that it means as much as North Korea winning the top holiday destination of 2017.

 

[SARF]

We missed the playoffs last season as we fell apart at the death.. millwall gave us every opportunity

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

We missed the playoffs last season as we fell apart at the death.. millwall gave us every opportunity

If we hadn't started so poorly we would have been home and hosed by then

 

[Firestorm]

pfft what about the 4 times we won the ESC.

Or the two Southern league wins.....