Echo News Southend United boss Mark Molesley explains putting Shaun Hobson at right-back

[Evening Echo]

SOUTHEND United manager Mark Molesley felt Shaun Hobson was the obvious choice to fill in at right-back against Cheltenham Town.

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[crangoner]

"JD has been a right-back by trade but Shaun has been excellent at right-back
"It’s only really JD and Whitey you could look to play there as Rob Howard has a fracture in his wrist and isn’t available," said Molesley.

There we go, hopefully that'll put the calls on here to play Demetriou at RB to bed once and for all.

 

[mfurok]

"JD has been a right-back by trade but Shaun has been excellent at right-back
"It’s only really JD and Whitey you could look to play there as Rob Howard has a fracture in his wrist and isn’t available," said Molesley.

There we go, hopefully that'll put the calls on here to play Demetriou at RB to bed once and for all.

Like the calls to stop playing tippy tippy crap across our own penalty area, stop playing five at the back and stop being so miserably frightened of attacking?

Doubt it.

 

[kentblues]

"JD has been a right-back by trade but Shaun has been excellent at right-back
"It’s only really JD and Whitey you could look to play there as Rob Howard has a fracture in his wrist and isn’t available," said Molesley.

There we go, hopefully that'll put the calls on here to play Demetriou at RB to bed once and for all.

Yes JD is a right back by trade. And no Hobson is a long way from being an experienced let alone alone an excellent RB. But he isn't going to come out and say he got it wrong anymore than with the 352 debacle. That is absolutely fine and predictable. The good thing is he knows JD is a right back by trade (as I wondered if he didn't) and might actually give it some thought. Meantime better still ideally Elvis can return for Sat?

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

“Shaun has been excellent at right back” .. wouldn’t be surprised if he never plays there again!

 

[Tampa Blue]

MM - really? If you truly believed that then why explain yourself ?

 

[Barling Magna]

“Shaun has been excellent at right back” .. wouldn’t be surprised if he never plays there again!

That's how I interpret it. It's just like receiving a vote of confidence from the chairman....no more right back for you Shaun.

 

[CMRandall92]

Unpopular opinion - Demi if fit has to start in midfield, off the ball he is the best we have in that position. He stops/limits/breaks up opposition play far better than anyone else we have in the middle of the park.

MM is doing a phenomenal job. Sick of reading the expert hindsight amongst our fanbase whether it's on that moronic FB group, Twitter or here.

Just perhaps he (MM) might have a much better knowledge of the fitness of our team than us

 

[CMRandall92]

MM - really? If you truly believed that then why explain yourself ?

Because Chris has felt it necessary to ask the question based on the bollocks our fans spout.

Chris can’t ignore the fans, and MM can’t ignore the question. It’s called professionalism

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Because Chris has felt it necessary to ask the question based on the bollocks our fans spout.

Chris can’t ignore the fans, and MM can’t ignore the question. It’s called professionalism

I agree some of our fans spout a lot of bollocks but playing Hobson at RB was puzzling (though ultimately MM won't give a **** what fans think and nor should he). As said above I doubt he'll play there again but let's see. In my opinion it was a legitimate question.

 

[CMRandall92]

I agree some of our fans spout a lot of bollocks but playing Hobson at RB was puzzling (though ultimately MM won't give a **** what fans think and nor should he)

True, myself included at times...but is it that puzzling?

Say he plays Dimi right back we weaken our midfield see post 8
If he plays White the same people moan about pace, breaking the CB pairing.

His only other options are then Halford, see above for White and Macca, see above. Plus Macca has been ****e recently.

My biggest ? On the 11 against Cheltenham was that Halford got in ahead of both Ferguson and Taylor. But I can understand the reasoning if they’re both needing a rest or tactically Halford is seen as the more physical to defend their main form of attack - long throws

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

True, myself included at times...but is it that puzzling?

Say he plays Dimi right back we weaken our midfield see post 8
If he plays White the same people moan about pace, breaking the CB pairing.

His only other options are then Halford, see above for White and Macca, see above. Plus Macca has been ****e recently.

My biggest ? On the 11 against Cheltenham was that Halford got in ahead of both Ferguson and Taylor. But I can understand the reasoning if they’re both needing a rest or tactically Halford is seen as the more physical to defend their main form of attack - long throws

Yeah Halford was in I think for his height and long throws. I’d have stuck Demi RB, kept Hobson/White at CB and played Ferguson or Macca in front of them (though Macca is a ticking time bomb at times). Ultimately I think we all have our views but MM is the one who makes his decisions and gets praised or crucified. Wouldn’t want to be a manager!

 

[Fairport]

It is better that a manager such as MM praises players rather than throw them under a bus which some managers do including one of our ex gaffers.

 

[Banksy]

If we had put our chances away then Hobbo would not be an elongated topic of conversation !

 

[Barry.C]

Unpopular opinion - Demi if fit has to start in midfield, off the ball he is the best we have in that position. He stops/limits/breaks up opposition play far better than anyone else we have in the middle of the park.

MM is doing a phenomenal job. Sick of reading the expert hindsight amongst our fanbase whether it's on that moronic FB group, Twitter or here.

Just perhaps he (MM) might have a much better knowledge of the fitness of our team than us

Tend to agree although I was not a fan early on when we were playing tippy tappy at the back and Demi was pinging balls backwards all the time. Since then and our big change in dropping the above style, if you can call that rubbish that, Demi has improved considerable in midfield. His knee is better than it was and he is being well managed. He gets about the park more than some realise.
In addition he rates as our best passer, especially in the last 2 games with the number of passes and accuracy, is second only to RHF with crosses and up their on assists, let alone useful if we ever get a penalty
So lets write him off as a midfielder

 

[Holy Joe]

If we had created and then put our chances away then Hobbo would not be an elongated topic of conversation !

Edited for accuracy

 

[crangoner]

Like the calls to stop playing tippy tippy crap across our own penalty area, stop playing five at the back and stop being so miserably frightened of attacking?

Doubt it.

Did MM ever say "playing 5 at the back has been excellent"?

 

[Jay_SUFC]

Did MM ever say "playing 5 at the back has been excellent"?

No, but he defended playing it, and continued with it for about 4/5 games all of which we lost if I recall (we cetainly didn't win any!)

 

[mfurok]

Did MM ever say "playing 5 at the back has been excellent"?

Dunno.

So what if he did?

So what if he didn’t?

 

[flangejackrabbit]

No, but he defended playing it, and continued with it for about 4/5 games all of which we lost if I recall (we cetainly didn't win any!)

We beat Barrow with a wing-back formation, and we should have beaten Cambridge if we had done better with the glut of first half chances we had. Very simplistic to say "X formation bad".