Pre-Match Thread Walsall FC vs Southend Utd 19 April 15:00 ko

[blues exile]

Can’t believe Powell signed Lennon before looking into the future and seeing he’d get a broken toe and a broken leg.

His injury record at Charlton should have been enough to put any manager off who had the remotest idea of due diligence. Same as Hyam, few managers would be wiling to take a gamble on a player with his record. Bunn is another foolish gamble, fortunately only a loanee.

 

[RHB]

I know results are bad at the club currently but I'm still surprised that the dividing line between the player picks and the results forecast has managed 23 votes.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I know results are bad at the club currently but I'm still surprised that the dividing line between the player picks and the results forecast has managed 23 votes.

Even luminaries such as OBL have been driven to select the divider

 

[Tampa Blue]

Blame the CEO who will have sanctioned these transfers.

Or blame the Chairman who never replaced the CEO position and therefore sanctioned the deals himself.

 

[effy67]

We need to be realistic if they had no injury concerns then it is unlikely they would be choosing to join us as they would have other options. We tried to sign Lyle Taylor but he went to Charlton and has been banging in the goals for them. We have to take some gambles and unfortunately they haven't paid off this time around.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Blame the CEO who will have sanctioned these transfers.

Or blame the Chairman who never replaced the CEO position and therefore sanctioned the deals himself.

That’s harsh. He has employed respectable folks to take those decisions - they have made the calls and made the case for the signings, often third and fourth choices after we missed out on our real targets (Hopper after we failed to land Taylor; Lennon after we failed to land Bradley).

 

[Tampa Blue]

Not harsh at all - fact, the CEO left and was never replaced.

Who were the respectable folks employed to make those decisions?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Not harsh at all - fact, the CEO left and was never replaced.

Who were the respectable folks employed to make those decisions?

Erm Powell, Keen and the other bloke. CEOs handle money and the operation of the football club including negotiations. They don’t choose who to sign.

 

[LBBlue]

His injury record at Charlton should have been enough to put any manager off who had the remotest idea of due diligence. Same as Hyam, few managers would be wiling to take a gamble on a player with his record. Bunn is another foolish gamble, fortunately only a loanee.

Harry Bunn played in 41 games at Bury last season.

Lennon had been out for over a year with a serious groin problem when he made his comeback against us on Boxing day 2017 and had 6 starts and 6 sub appearances. Broken bones cant be anticipated but since he is latest recovery from his broken leg he does seem to be getting a number of groin strains.

For all we know Hyam could be being paid peanuts and worth the gamble.

As others have said, perhaps their problems are a consequence of our fitness and training regimes rather than inherent.

 

[Ailsa Road Shrimper]

The issue with Lennon and Hyam aside from the injuries is are they actually any good? I haven’t been impressed from what I have seen so far.

 

[LBBlue]

Erm Powell, Keen and the other bloke. CEOs handle money and the operation of the football club including negotiations. They don’t choose who to sign.

I reckon they get the chance to veto - i'm sure Steve Kavanagh did. It's all gone tits up since he left in November 16.

 

[Danshrimper]

His injury record at Charlton should have been enough to put any manager off who had the remotest idea of due diligence. Same as Hyam, few managers would be wiling to take a gamble on a player with his record. Bunn is another foolish gamble, fortunately only a loanee.

We are Southend, an average size club in the 3rd tier, who do you expect us to be signing? If there is a player of Hyam’s quality that isn’t injury prone they aren’t coming to us.

Almost every signing we make is going to come with some sort of a risk. It could be because of a poor injury record, poor form, poor attitude, being past their best or being inexperienced. Say what you want about Powell’s tactics but he can hardly be blamed for the realities of the calibre of player we are able to attract as a club.

Besides, just because a player has suffered with injuries previously doesn’t mean they definitely will with us. Mantom cane to us with the ‘injury prone’ label and has been consistently available the whole time he’s been here.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

His injury record at Charlton should have been enough to put any manager off who had the remotest idea of due diligence. Same as Hyam, few managers would be wiling to take a gamble on a player with his record. Bunn is another foolish gamble, fortunately only a loanee.

I don't have an issue on us gambling on a few players providing we aren't throwing all our eggs into that basket and there is upside.

Centre-half wasn't even considered a big need by most over the summer. Lennon is young enough and with enough upside that he can still go onto have a substantial Southend career. I'm not ready to write him off yet by a long stretch. Sometimes young players need to grow into their bodies. I remember Ryan Leonard having a few issues but he/Clarkson sorted himself out and he grew into a fine player. I hope we can do the same with Lennon.

I'm not surprised by Hyam's injuries but the issue is less his injuries and more Dru's injuries and Mantom's form. He was the 4th central midfielder. The 4th central midfielder should only be playing a dozen games a season. If Dru and Mantom (or even Dieng) had been playing well all season nobody would be batting an eyelid about Hyam's injuries. So yes it was a questionable signingwith his injury record but the bigger issue is the failure of those in front of him in the pecking order.

 

[Tampa Blue]

, I think your post answers your Statement Spaceman Spiff.

Who is responsible for the negotiations? Certainly not the Team Management - normally this would be a CEO - but we don’t have one.

Penny wise, pound foolish imho.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Even luminaries such as OBL have been driven to select the divider

Which idiot put a vote next to the dividing line?!!!

Lennon is young enough and with enough upside that he can still go onto have a substantial Southend career. I'm not ready to write him off yet by a long stretch. Sometimes young players need to grow into their bodies. I remember Ryan Leonard having a few issues but he/Clarkson sorted himself out and he grew into a fine player. I hope we can do the same with Lennon.

Didn't Lenny have one leg longer than the other so his hips were out of alignment?

Having seen Oxley yesterday, I now expect Nathan to start.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

, I think your post answers your Statement Spaceman Spiff.

Who is responsible for the negotiations? Certainly not the Team Management - normally this would be a CEO - but we don’t have one.

Penny wise, pound foolish imho.

I agree, my post does set things out nicely

Negotiating contracts does not include deciding who we should offer a contract to. A CEO would not have made a jot of difference to who we signed, unless they had really gone balls out to pay the wages Bradley and Taylor wanted (a la John Main and we know how that turned out!).

 

[Chrisb]

We are Southend, an average size club in the 3rd tier, who do you expect us to be signing? If there is a player of Hyam’s quality that isn’t injury prone they aren’t coming to us.

Besides, just because a player has suffered with injuries previously doesn’t mean they definitely will with us. Mantom cane to us with the ‘injury prone’ label and has been consistently available the whole time he’s been here.

That hasn't worked out too well though has it.

 

[Danshrimper]

That hasn't worked out too well though has it.

Wasn’t really my point though was it. The point was that a player having injuries before doesn’t automatically mean they are going to come here and always be injured. A bad injury record can be down to bad luck rather than underlying medical issues so it’s often a risk worth taking with signings.

Up until a couple of months ago, Mantom hasn’t even been that bad anyway.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Up until a couple of months ago, Mantom hasn’t even been that bad anyway.

This is very true. Should we, against all our expectations, nick a win at Walsall, some confidence will hopefully return to some of the players. If he is one of them, he could be part of the solution in midfield to help drag us out of this mess (if that’s even still possible).

 

[Tampa Blue]

e, my post does set things out nicely

Negotiating contracts does not include deciding who we should offer a contract to. A CEO would not have made a jot of difference to who we signed, unless they had really gone balls out to pay the wages Bradley and Taylor wanted (a la John Main and we know how that turned out!).

Sorry, but i disagree.

Look at the role of most CEOs and they actually authorise who to sign AND handle the negotiations.

We have an owner who has taken on that role himself and generally since then the quality of signings has been poor, and the length of contracts offered been ridiculously long.