Two days left and we need a striker.

[sufcintheprem]

I've finally swung towards your side of the 'need to invest in a quality player' RC but I disagree with pie in the sky targets.

You want us to sign a player who can play on the last man and put chances away. I'm adamant there's another 91 professional league clubs in the country who want that with most having more funds available to buy one. Similarly, you're looking for a midfielder to play a killer pass. I don't know where one would fit in the team but to replace either of the middle two, they would need to bring in Maher's ability to control the game or McCormack's energy. Again, I would imagine that most teams are looking for exactly the same.

It's this word proven that we just can't play with. Proven goalscorer? He'll move to a better side than us. Every signing we make is a gamble of some sort. I would say that all of Tilly's signings, last minute or not, have shown at the very least glimpses of the ability they have with maybe the exception of Paynter who's barely had a chance.

All that said, it's clear that we've had more TV coverage, more merchandising and higher gate receipts than we could have ever budgeted so there must be money available. Getting Ricketts off the wage bill along with recent departures has freed up wages and my guess is that we can afford two reasonably well paid players on the wage bill. This is where I completely agree that we should be bringing people in.

We need players but people shouldn't expect every one to be obviously Championship quality with the fees and wages we can offer.

 

[Hooly]

All that said, it's clear that we've had more TV coverage, more merchandising and higher gate receipts than we could have ever budgeted so there must be money available. Getting Ricketts off the wage bill along with recent departures has freed up wages and my guess is that we can afford two reasonably well paid players on the wage bill. This is where I completely agree that we should be bringing people in.

My argument has always been that we shed the big lump of wages going to the big lump Ricketts over 3 months ago. Surely we could have used a portion of that, and it must have been a sizeable wedge, in the previous window if not this one?

This all seems a bit last minute again and without wanting to start a Paynter is God/Devil thread £250k for him as a last minute pre season buy always seemed a rich. At least, despite his iffy start, Clarke had a pedigree with Everton & as Blackpool's best player for 30 years. And no Gav I don't include the view of your mate Port Vale Hib(iwanttohavesexwithbillyp)bert! :) The feeling now is that again we're going to pay over the odds for someone. :confused:

 

[londonblue]

My argument has always been that we shed the big lump of wages going to the big lump Ricketts over 3 months ago. Surely we could have used a portion of that, and it must have been a sizeable wedge, in the previous window if not this one?

Hadn't the last window closed before Ricketts went?

 

[Jam_Man]

This all seems a bit last minute again

Thats your perception working against you.

We have already signed one player this window and we have known for weeks that we have made bids for McDonald and O'Donovan, plus recently links to Hayes and Yeates.

Just because no-one has been signed doesnt mean the club have left it to the last minute, just they havent been successful and are still trying.

 

[Hazey]

Being honest, a lot of teams hold out for as long as possible incase any higher bids are placed late on, so that means we still may get some targets.

 

[Hooly]

Hadn't the last window closed before Ricketts went?

Fair do's possibly, I can't really remember the exact dates, I've tried to expunge the fat man from my memory.

Having said that I suspect the management could've outed him before they did based on reports since by the club before then if they really moved their butts, as it sounds like he was pretty much a waste of space from day 1.

 

[Jam_Man]

The club expect our support, both home and away, each week and are constantly encouraging us to travel half the length of the country every other week to support them, so it is about time they did something in return.

The money the club has made this season with extra TV revenue, cup runs etc is huge compared to recent years and yet that is not being reflected in our transfer policy.

All we seem to get are the same old excuses all the time about how hard it is to sign this and that, and how they want these wages and its all a bit too expensive for us, well sorry, but that is wearing extremely thin right now.

There is quality available, and a lot better than what we currently have, and for some reason we are not signing it.


.

You make it sound so easy :)

It doesnt matter how much money we have made, if the players that would want to join Southend arent for sale what can we do about it ?

Whilst money has been spent and theres more to spend Im not sure what players you think are quality that we could easily go out and buy ?

I cannot for the life of me understand why we have let 4 players (Lawson, Wilson, Cole, Smith) leave and only replaced them with one. Is our squad not small enough as it is for crying out loud?

Our squad is indeed on the low side now, but in fairness of the 4 players you list they havent managed an appearance between them have they ?

If thats the case its not much of a loss.

Even with injuries to the first 11 I wouldnt have seen those players appearing so between them they are probably costing us 10-15k per month for no purpose.

We do need to bring a couple of players in but its not the end of the world for me and lets see what happens tomorrow.

 

[Hooly]

Thats your perception working against you.

We have already signed one player this window and we have known for weeks that we have made bids for McDonald and O'Donovan, plus recently links to Hayes and Yeates.

Just because no-one has been signed doesnt mean the club have left it to the last minute, just they havent been successful and are still trying.

That's your perception of my perception!

My perception of the McCormack deal is that it happened 5/6 months too late and nope I don't really count that in this window, as we loaned him in the previous one.

Thanks for stating the bleeding obvious in your last paragraph as I thought Tilly, Brush & Saint Ron sat around all day smoking weed. My eyes are now open thanks to you! :flamer:

As for last minute comment. Cast your mind back to the McLeod incident. A player we wanted, but didn't get as it was all a bit too last minute! :rolleyes:

 

[Jam_Man]

I might be stating the obvious but as I percieved your comment about being all last minute again I imagined your perception to be we had left it last minute again, ala the McLeod incident. I think the club have done all they can this transfer window.

Im not sure how McCormack is 5/6 months too late bearing in mind we signed him 3 months into the season. No one knew gutts wouldnt cut the mustard at this level...

 

[Einstein]

My argument has always been that we shed the big lump of wages going to the big lump Ricketts over 3 months ago.

But did it cost us anything to get rid of him?

 

[Hooly]

What I mean is that Tilly has said that Macca was a player they asked about pre season. Therefore IMO, given that and that we also had a player in Smith who we didn't know would be fit enough or (after injury) good enough for this level, I percieve that Macca's signing as a tad later than I would have personally liked. I wasn't talking about Gutts at all.

 

[Richard_Cadette]

You make it sound so easy :)

It doesnt matter how much money we have made, if the players that would want to join Southend arent for sale what can we do about it ?

Whilst money has been spent and theres more to spend Im not sure what players you think are quality that we could easily go out and buy ?



Our squad is indeed on the low side now, but in fairness of the 4 players you list they havent managed an appearance between them have they ?

If thats the case its not much of a loss.

Even with injuries to the first 11 I wouldnt have seen those players appearing so between them they are probably costing us 10-15k per month for no purpose.

We do need to bring a couple of players in but its not the end of the world for me and lets see what happens tomorrow.

You say I make it sound so easy, I think perhaps the accusation that should be levelled at Southend is that they make it seem to bloody hard!!

Of course other teams are looking for the same kind of player that we are, but many other teams are successful and I hate to say it, but it is a trend now with every transfer window that we leave it until the last minute before signing someone, that is a complete waste of time in my opinion as players should have been researched and ready to be bought at the beginning, not at the end, as they could have been included in the team during the whole of January.

You make it sound like signing for a team in the Championship is not an attractive proposition for a player. If it is that difficult for us to attract players to this club then it is down to one of the following:-

* Our scouting is not doing the job it is supposed to.
* Tilly/Brush/Ron are not selling the club the way they should be
* We are not offering players the going rate to play in the Championship
* We are trying to get out of this mess 'on the cheap' in the same way as we got here in the first place.

I suspect the latter may be the truth, and whilst getting out of League 2/1 with a limited budget and squad size may have been possible, and only then with a huge amount of good luck on our part with injuries and suspension, it is not possible to do the same at one level below the best league in the world.

If we get relegated this season, then I am sorry to say it is no more than we deserve for trying to compete in this league on the cheap.

People like Harrold and Hooper bought into the squad to score enough goals to keep us up, and yet all of us here can see that they are not good enough to do that, so why do our scouts/management think they are? We signed Ricketts which didnt work out, ok fine, it was worth a try as he is a quality player, but he hasnt been replaced so how do the management of this club expect that to work then? The forward line now is a pale shadow of the one we had last season so how is it going to be good enough now? It's not like this is a surprise, it has been that way since September and yet nothing has been done to resolve it.

More questions and excuses than answers and now with the departure of Gutts I can only pray we have something up our sleeve because if we dont, then we may as well all go home now!

 

[loz]

You make it sound like signing for a team in the Championship is not an attractive proposition for a player. If it is that difficult for us to attract players to this club then it is down to one of the following:-

* Our scouting is not doing the job it is supposed to.
* Tilly/Brush/Ron are not selling the club the way they should be
* We are not offering players the going rate to play in the Championship
* We are trying to get out of this mess 'on the cheap' in the same way as we got here in the first place.

1) would seem surprising as we've clearly identified multiple targets throughout the season (Lupoli, Bendtner, Robinson, Yeates, Hayes, Macdonald, Donovan, plus doubtless others we don't know about, plus the players we've signed, plus some i'v probably forgotten)

2) that's not what Hammell, Francis and others said- although it's probably harder to sell the club now we're rock bottom of the Championship.

3) Maybe- but without a firmer grasp of the club's finances and plans and current wage structure, can anybody on here say whether or not we can afford it? what's certain is that in terms of gate receipts, TV money etc, we have one of the lowest incomes in the Championship.

4) we've spent over half a million on players in transfer fees this season, IIRC. is that less than a lot of our rivals? yes. is it a hell of a lot more than we've spent in the past few seasons? again, yes. Ron has openly stated that we're operating close to our financial limit this season, and God knows I trust him more to run the club more than your average SZ poster, wonderful people though you all are.

now let's just pray some miracles can be worked tomorrow...

 

[Beefy]

The other thing is that people keep saying that we should be spending Ricketts' wages again, but no one knows how much we were paying him anyway. I know for a fact that Leeds still pay him thousands a week and I'm fairly certain that Middlesbrough are too, at least until the end of this season.

I suspect that Southend United paid him a fairly low wage and that we had to pay up a fair chunk of what we did pay him when we released him.

 

[Suffolk Shrimper In Dorset]

Picture this:

Fred gets transferred out in a last minute 'can't refuse it' type offer, us having signed no one.

Bradbury's arthritus then fully sets in and retires, leaving us with Harrold, Hooper & Paynter

Harrold then gets sent off v Stoke and gets a three match ban.

We finally find Paynter under the pier and put him in alongside Hooper v QPR. He has another mare of a performance and retreats back under the pier until May when he starts seliing deck chairs.

Hooper gets injured v Sunderland, out for rest of season

We then have no one up front v Palace but Spinner comes back to do an emergency lone striker role, gets knackered after 20 mins and is out for the season. Maher gets sent off and is out for three games.

Harrold is back for the next match v Sheff Weds to sit alone on the bench as all other 11 squad members are on the pitch.

Ho hum.

:hilarious:

 

[loz]

Picture this:

Fred gets transferred out in a last minute 'can't refuse it' type offer, us having signed no one.

Bradbury's arthritus then fully sets in and retires, leaving us with Harrold, Hooper & Paynter

Harrold then gets sent off v Stoke and gets a three match ban.

We finally find Paynter under the pier and put him in alongside Hooper v QPR. He has another mare of a performance and retreats back under the pier until May when he starts seliing deck chairs.

Hooper gets injured v Sunderland, out for rest of season

We then have no one up front v Palace but Spinner comes back to do an emergency lone striker role, gets knackered after 20 mins and is out for the season. Maher gets sent off and is out for three games.

Harrold is back for the next match v Sheff Weds to sit alone on the bench as all other 11 squad members are on the pitch.

Ho hum.

:hilarious:

hang on- if Harrold is on the bench, who's up front? :rolleyes:

 

[shooter mcgavin]

And no Gav I don't include the view of your mate Port Vale Hib(iwanttohavesexwithbillyp)bert! :)


The fat man has himself a new girlfriend - his love for Billy Paynter is on the slide Hooly!!

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Moneypit is spot on. The team create nothing for Freddy.

They don't give him the ball in the areas he wants it, they don't drag defenders out of position. The only possession he gets he normally does well to just control. People expect him to control a ball fired waist high at him, and for him to then beat 3 or 4 men and then score past the keeper from 25 yards. Freddy is capable of doing that on occasions, but not every game. If he tries to do that he gets accused of being greedy when it doesn't work or if spots a player unmarked and in a good position he's accused of being lazy and disinterested because he hasn't scored.

Leave him one on one with a championship defender and space to work and I'll back Freddy to create something, not every time but at least on occasions. That's not something you could say about any other player at the club. Freddy scored against Spurs and created our best chance (excellent cross to an unmarked Gower who scuffed his shot) and yet no-one gave him more than 6 out of ten. If anyone else had done that they'd have been given an 8 out of ten because they'd have exceeded expectations.

I stand by that post. Give the boy service and he will produce.