This Is A Fight.

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

Negative comments being heard in the stands doesn't explain or legislate for why we concede from a free header almost every week...

Again, I didn’t say that.

 

[Jai]

That i will accept but then again boils down to recruitment , and due diligence of our signings and the decision to release players who were proven , Never thought I would say it , I miss Woody , I miss Tims , and I hate the fact we have not recruited anywhere near the type of caliber of player such as Ryan Leonard
CP will not get away from this seasons performance blaming injuries , He's culpable in this situation.

I miss them too, but you could argue that there were very few people saying Mantom wasn't an upgrade on Wordsworth back in the autumn. He's going through a terrible time of it but there is a good player in there. Also, our league position vastly improved after Leonard left, largely thanks to Powell's impact and not least his careful nurturing of Yearwood. Timlin is 33 and was originally offered a deal before Ron waded in with his budget cutting. Powell is nowhere near finished reshaping our squad, which was too old, too rich and in decline.

However, I'm not looking for an argument. I fully understand and accept your points even if I don't necessarily agree.

 

[Welly7]

That i will accept but then again boils down to recruitment , and due diligence of our signings and the decision to release players who were proven

Recruitment was poor in the summer. My biggest issue over the dealings was the departure of Woody & his replacements. I'm not saying he should have been retained as his injury record offered enough reason to move him on, but the fact Powell replaced a midfielder who ran forwards, breaking the lines and offered a goal threat with more conservative midfielders puzzled me even then.

The balance of midfield hasn't been right all season. No creativity for the forwards and no protection for a defence that has been left exposed time after time.

 

[EnzoBlue]

You make fair points @ Jai
Think the desperate nature of the situation could easily get supports on each others back , We should always acknowledge another persons view and respect it , no arguments here buddy.

 

[Jai]

Yearwood was supposed to be that midfielder.

 

[rigsby]

That i will accept but then again boils down to recruitment , and due diligence of our signings and the decision to release players who were proven , Never thought I would say it , I miss Woody , I miss Tims , and I hate the fact we have not recruited anywhere near the type of caliber of player such as Ryan Leonard
CP will not get away from this seasons performance blaming injuries , He's culpable in this situation.

I wonder why that is?

 

[Supershrimper]

Cox must be an absolute shoe-in for PotY this season. I can't think of one other player who deserves consideration. In fact I'd probably stick Hopper down for runner-up and that speaks volumes given he's been out since October!

EDIT: Forgot Taylor Moore, he's had a good season. But he's not even ours....

Grim times.

Simon Cox should win PotY and also come 2nd and 3rd if there is any justice. How he has scored in this team i'll never know.

 

[rigsby]

Negative comments being heard in the stands doesn't explain or legislate for why we concede from a free header almost every week...

We could do with someone who can organiser and read the game still to international level.....someone in the mould of say Anton Ferdinand...Oh I forgot he wasn't good enough for us and was routinely abused from the stands even though he was our captain and had sent 2 hours on the treatment table on a Saturday morning just so he could play.

 

[Welly7]

Yearwood was supposed to be that midfielder.

To replace Wordsworth? Doesn't share the same attributes going forwards.

 

[Sherif H]

Again, I didn’t say that.

Not literally no, but the intimation in your posts is that negative vibes transfer to the players, which holds some water, but can't be used as a scapegoat.
The point is that regardless of what vitriol is being dished up on the sidelines, the glaring errors, tactical oversights and inability to learn from one's mistakes and remedy them which lose us games week in, week out, do not change whether they are playing in front of a supportive partisan crowd, or a wholly negative crowd booing and hurling abuse.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Recruitment was poor in the summer. My biggest issue over the dealings was the departure of Woody & his replacements. I'm not saying he should have been retained as his injury record offered enough reason to move him on, but the fact Powell replaced a midfielder who ran forwards, breaking the lines and offered a goal threat with more conservative midfielders puzzled me even then.

The balance of midfield hasn't been right all season. No creativity for the forwards and no protection for a defence that has been left exposed time after time.

FUN FACT: Mantom has twice as many league goals this season as Wordsworth.

 

[GBJ]

Come on now davewebbsbrain, you know full well that you can only be passionate if you rant and rave along a touchline for 90 minutes. You can't possibly be passionate any other way.

I witnessed a spot of road rage this morning.

One of the parties was intent on venting his spleen.

I drove off thinking to myself, what a passionate driver.

 

[southchurch]

Got to say I enjoy the booing and slagging off of our players almost as much as a win.
Its quite a good release of every day frustrations. It does not make any difference to the players one way or the other in my opinion. Once you've played professional football for a few years it water off a ducks back.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Got to say I enjoy the booing and slagging off of our players almost as much as a win.
Its quite a good release of every day frustrations. It does not make any difference to the players one way or the other in my opinion. Once you've played professional football for a few years it water off a ducks back.

What about the other half of our team?

 

[Grapevine]

I witnessed a spot of road rage this morning.

One of the parties was intent on venting his spleen.

I drove off thinking to myself, what a passionate driver.

?????????

 

[Welly7]

FUN FACT: Mantom has twice as many league goals this season as Wordsworth.

He has played more games as well. My point is that the current midfield do not offer enough of a goal threat. If you think they have this season, then that's your prerogative, but I disagree.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

He has played more games as well. My point is that the current midfield do not offer enough of a goal threat. If you think they have this season, then that's your prerogative, but I disagree.

It's not just Mantom scoring twice as many as league goals as Wordsworth this season as Dieng has scored twice as many as Timlin this season, who is playing a division lower.

Mantom and Dieng have already matched the league and cup goals than our central midfield quarter of Leonard, Wordsworth, Wright and Timlin combined for last year.

Where we haven't scored enough goals from is out wide. After 37 matches Kightly has 1 league goal this season (he obviously hasn't played all 37). He scored 3 for Powell in 10 starts last season. McLaughlin scored 4 in 17 for Powell last season (with 7 assists). This season he has 1 goal and no assists.

The plan this season was, as it was last season, to have two wide players who ran forwards, breaking the lines and offered a goal threat and they would provide service to a mobile target man.

This is the game plan we started the season with. Unfortunately Kightly - our highest paid player? - either can't be arsed or his legs have gone. McLaughlin's form has evaporated.

Obviously it would be stupid to go into the season relying on just two players, particularly an ageing Kightly. But Powell wasn't that stupid. He signed Barratt who had an impressive 25 minutes cameo to start his Southend career but then tragically did his ACL. So we then signed Harry Bunn - who's scored the same many league goals as Wordsworth this year in almost half as many starts. However like Wordsworth he's proved to be unreliable fitness wise.

That necessitated a move to 5-3-2/3-5-2. I agree that I don't think we've got the right balance in midfield for three central midfielders but I think with Bunn and McLaughlin on the wings and Barratt and Hutchinson off the bench there's enough goals and forward runs from midfield in a 4-4-2 if we can ever get them fit.

 

[Grapevine]

Great post....and another perception base myth busted by some good honest rationale ??

 

[LBBlue]

Dieng has scored 10 times in nearly 200 first team appearances and Hyam 3 times in nearly 170 appearances. Mantom 28 in just over 250 games and Dru has yet to score.

 

[bigmolt]

Dieng has scored 10 times in nearly 200 first team appearances and Hyam 3 times in nearly 170 appearances. Mantom 28 in just over 250 games and Dru has yet to score.

What's that average? Around one goal between them every seventeen games!!!!