Adam Barrett at Left Back

[Yorkshire Blue]

This is something Tilson should be thinking about in team selection. By all accounts he got it spot on on Saturday and we picked up 3 points along with the bragging rights, but in other occassions his got it wrong like Crewe and Yeovil at home for example.

Games like those we could put both Francis and Herd in for Sankofa and Barrett (Or maybe one of the other) to give us an attacking threat from the back as we have to force the play at home. JFC is another who is wasted in games like this. His distribution isn't brilliant, and his game is all about breaking up attacking threats from other teams. Yeovil and Crewe offered next to nothing going forward.

We could have a different team at home then we do away, not that it would help alot in consistency with the players around you and building partnerships etc but with a fully fit squad we could go with the following team away from home:

Mildenhall, Sankofa, Dervite, Clarke, Barrett, Grant, JFC, Macca, Moose, Laurent and Robinson.

At home we could go for something like:

Mildenhall, Francis, Dervite, Clarke, Herd/Barrett, Betsy/Scannell, Moose, Macca, Walker, Laurent and Robinson.

First up, Barrett does get forward a fair bit.
Secondly, if you are going to play two attacking full-backs a defensive midfielder becomes even more important.

What Tilson has done in recent games when we've been looking to go more attacking is take off Sankofa and put Francis at right-back.

 

[BoyWonder2]

First up, Barrett does get forward a fair bit.
Secondly, if you are going to play two attacking full-backs a defensive midfielder becomes even more important.

What Tilson has done in recent games when we've been looking to go more attacking is take off Sankofa and put Francis at right-back.

Thats true, that was on of the subs against Crewe last week.

I know what your saying about a defensive midfielder needing to play if we have 2 attacking full backs, but I was using the 2 sides as an example. The first one is a fairly solid, workman like side that could be difficult to break down and the second one with the addition of two wingers (well one and a forward on the left) means we should be more expansive in our game plan.

I just thought JFC was completely wasted against Crewe because he wasn't needed to do his proper job of tackle and intercept, but needed to pass the ball a bit better and quickier and unfortunately, like a few of our midfielders, passing isn't one of his strong suits.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Thats true, that was on of the subs against Crewe last week.

I know what your saying about a defensive midfielder needing to play if we have 2 attacking full backs, but I was using the 2 sides as an example. The first one is a fairly solid, workman like side that could be difficult to break down and the second one with the addition of two wingers (well one and a forward on the left) means we should be more expansive in our game plan.

I just thought JFC was completely wasted against Crewe because he wasn't needed to do his proper job of tackle and intercept, but needed to pass the ball a bit better and quickier and unfortunately, like a few of our midfielders, passing isn't one of his strong suits.

I actually think the problem is less JFC, but who he is partnered with. He needs a much more attack-orientated player playing alongside him.

 

[BoyWonder2]

I actually think the problem is less JFC, but who he is partnered with. He needs a much more attack-orientated player playing alongside him.

Definately, I'm not knocking JFC, I'm actually a big fan of his.

What would help is if Macca could reproduce his form from either his loan spell in League Two, his form in tail end of the Championship or his form of last season.

Would love to see Moussa play in the middle of midfield alongside JFC. Think that could possibly be the best pairing we have avaliable at the moment in there.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Definately, I'm not knocking JFC, I'm actually a big fan of his.

What would help is if Macca could reproduce his form from either his loan spell in League Two, his form in tail end of the Championship or his form of last season.

Would love to see Moussa play in the middle of midfield alongside JFC. Think that could possibly be the best pairing we have avaliable at the moment in there.

I think the Moose's best position is probably the Maher role, but JFC is playing that position, albeit offering almost the complete opposite skillset to Maher. I think our best balanced central midfield would be Moussa and McCormack, but we haven't the wide players. I'd therefore go Moussa and Christophe in the middle and have McCormack nominally wide left and a right winger (Scannell?) wide right.

 

[Beefy]

First up, Barrett does get forward a fair bit.

Indeed. He may have put in a disciplined performance on Saturday but usually he gets forward from left back more than he does at centre-half. He spent half of the Tranmere match up front.

What he doesn't often do is go on the overlap on the outside of the man in front of him which is a shame because with Moussa cutting in we could do with someone doing that.

I still think AB in that position is the best option we have available to us. Herd has come on well but we needed an experienced head there at least until we were sure of avoiding the drop. Once that has happened, hopefully Herd can get a couple of games under his belt with Barrett moving inside in place of either Clarke or Dervitte, neither of whom are likely to be here next season.

 

[BoyWonder2]

I think the Moose's best position is probably the Maher role, but JFC is playing that position, albeit offering almost the complete opposite skillset to Maher. I think our best balanced central midfield would be Moussa and McCormack, but we haven't the wide players. I'd therefore go Moussa and Christophe in the middle and have McCormack nominally wide left and a right winger (Scannell?) wide right.

I don't think Moussa is physically strong enough to play as a defensive midfielder. Look at the size difference between Moussa and JFC. I'd rather have JFC in there as a shield to the back line and allow Moussa to push on and hurt people with his passing ability.

I agree he could become a decent player for the "Maher" role, but I don't think his ready for that at the moment.

 

[BoyWonder2]

Indeed. He may have put in a disciplined performance on Saturday but usually he gets forward from left back more than he does at centre-half. He spent half of the Tranmere match up front.

What he doesn't often do is go on the overlap on the outside of the man in front of him which is a shame because with Moussa cutting in we could do with someone doing that.

I still think AB in that position is the best option we have available to us. Herd has come on well but we needed an experienced head there at least until we were sure of avoiding the drop. Once that has happened, hopefully Herd can get a couple of games under his belt with Barrett moving inside in place of either Clarke or Dervitte, neither of whom are likely to be here next season.

Spot on there Beefy. Despite our good run over the last 4 games we still need to get another 10/12 points to be clear of relegation. It would be nice to pick them up in the next 5/6 games but as soon as its achieved and our League One status is achieved we should then being looking towards next season.

IF Clarkey has no intention of staying at the Club next season then we could move Barrett in to centre half alongside Dervite and slot Herd in at left back. I think Tilson will clear out a few people again in the Summer and we should see a lot more movement coming into the Club fingers crossed with the work that is/has been done during the rest of the season.

 

[Reg Martin]

Spot on there Beefy. Despite our good run over the last 4 games we still need to get another 10/12 points to be clear of relegation. It would be nice to pick them up in the next 5/6 games but as soon as its achieved and our League One status is achieved we should then being looking towards next season.

IF Clarkey has no intention of staying at the Club next season then we could move Barrett in to centre half alongside Dervite and slot Herd in at left back. I think Tilson will clear out a few people again in the Summer and we should see a lot more movement coming into the Club fingers crossed with the work that is/has been done during the rest of the season.

I often agree with a lot of your posts but I'm not sure about this point on clearing out a lot of people during the summer.
I think we have suffered a bit this season from the high turnover last summer. We seem to do better when we add to squad slowly eg after promotion from League 2 we only signed 2 or 3 before start of following season.
I think there are only 5 players out of contract at the end of the season - Clarke, Joyce, Lokando, Ademeno and Furlong.
I wouldn't be surprised if the last 4 were released (unless Ademeno does really well on loan at Salisbury) and Clarke decided to go.
I think that would leave first team squad of 18 and with maybe 1 or 2 promoted from youths then we might get 4 to 6 new faces in.
That said towards end of last season I thought last summer would be relatively quiet on the transfer front!

 

[borientater]

dont think i can recall barrett putting in one decent cross from left back , he does get forward but tends to come inside too much . From an attacking point of view herd is much better and i dont think he is any worse at defending than barrett in fact i think he is better positionally and reads the game really well ,only thing barrett has over him at the moment is his 100% commitment to everything he does in a southend shirt and his experience . Only problem is if we dont start playing herd we may end up losing him ! he will only get experience by playing !!!!!!

 

[* ORM *]

Adam is much stronger defensively

MY ARSE !

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

Id be quite happy with the current back 4 for next season (or a replacement for Dervitte) but only if we can find a genuine wide player as that is the problem with our home performances at the moment. Saturdays formation is perfect for away games but at home I feel next season we would need maybe JFC or Macca with the Moose in the middle and maybe Walker on the left wing and another winger on the right.

 

[BoyWonder2]

I often agree with a lot of your posts but I'm not sure about this point on clearing out a lot of people during the summer.
I think we have suffered a bit this season from the high turnover last summer. We seem to do better when we add to squad slowly eg after promotion from League 2 we only signed 2 or 3 before start of following season.
I think there are only 5 players out of contract at the end of the season - Clarke, Joyce, Lokando, Ademeno and Furlong.
I wouldn't be surprised if the last 4 were released (unless Ademeno does really well on loan at Salisbury) and Clarke decided to go.
I think that would leave first team squad of 18 and with maybe 1 or 2 promoted from youths then we might get 4 to 6 new faces in.
That said towards end of last season I thought last summer would be relatively quiet on the transfer front!

I see what your saying but I image there are a few players on "trial" if you like. People like Betsy and Scannell have flattered to decieve this season, Walker could have left in January, Francis isn't the same Francis as before.

They are the types of players that need to have big seasons from now to guarantee themselves a place at Southend United next season.

Joyce will be off and Masters promoted to number 2 I imagine, Clarkey will more than likely move on, Lokando will probably be off if rumours about Tilson not liking his attitude turn out to be true, Furlong will probably retire and Ademeno has dropped right down the pecking order but like you say if he does well could well be kept.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I don't think Moussa is physically strong enough to play as a defensive midfielder. Look at the size difference between Moussa and JFC. I'd rather have JFC in there as a shield to the back line and allow Moussa to push on and hurt people with his passing ability.

I agree he could become a decent player for the "Maher" role, but I don't think his ready for that at the moment.

Maher wasn't particularly strong. I actually think Moussa is tougher since his loan spell at Wycombe and playing games will help battle harden him. If you aren't going to give him experience in the middle when your season is frittering out, when do you?

Spot on there Beefy. Despite our good run over the last 4 games we still need to get another 10/12 points to be clear of relegation. It would be nice to pick them up in the next 5/6 games but as soon as its achieved and our League One status is achieved we should then being looking towards next season.

IF Clarkey has no intention of staying at the Club next season then we could move Barrett in to centre half alongside Dervite and slot Herd in at left back. I think Tilson will clear out a few people again in the Summer and we should see a lot more movement coming into the Club fingers crossed with the work that is/has been done during the rest of the season.

If someone comes in with an offer to take Clarke on emergency loan and pay his wages, I think it would be wise to take that offer. I don't believe Clarke is part of the future of this club as he'll be off in the summer. I'm not entirely keen about Barrett and Herd as the left-side of the defence as I think they are a little small. I know Herd gets up well for a small guy, but I think this offers real potential for mismatches.

I see what your saying but I image there are a few players on "trial" if you like. People like Betsy and Scannell have flattered to decieve this season, Walker could have left in January, Francis isn't the same Francis as before.

They are the types of players that need to have big seasons from now to guarantee themselves a place at Southend United next season.

Joyce will be off and Masters promoted to number 2 I imagine, Clarkey will more than likely move on, Lokando will probably be off if rumours about Tilson not liking his attitude turn out to be true, Furlong will probably retire and Ademeno has dropped right down the pecking order but like you say if he does well could well be kept.

Betsy won't go as he's got a two year deal IIRC. Walker is still under contract, as is Francis. These players will only go if offers come in and frankly who is going to come in with offers for them?

Well maybe Walker, as I assume he's on cheap wages.

Losing Furlong, Joyce, Ademeno and Lokando doesn't really impact us.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Personally I'm not a fan of Adam's when he's playing at LB.I do like him at CB though I think Clarke is miles better there and as we've all seen enough times Adam/Clarke really don't play well together -hence the recent loan signing.
I suspect that when we've got the magic 50 points or so that we need to escape relegation we're likely to see Herd brought back in for a few more games.
Agree with the poster who said that Clarke would be off in the summer.That's my reading of the situation too. I don't think that we'll be able to pay him what he'd want to stay.

 

[BoyWonder2]

Maher wasn't particularly strong. I actually think Moussa is tougher since his loan spell at Wycombe and playing games will help battle harden him. If you aren't going to give him experience in the middle when your season is frittering out, when do you?



If someone comes in with an offer to take Clarke on emergency loan and pay his wages, I think it would be wise to take that offer. I don't believe Clarke is part of the future of this club as he'll be off in the summer. I'm not entirely keen about Barrett and Herd as the left-side of the defence as I think they are a little small. I know Herd gets up well for a small guy, but I think this offers real potential for mismatches.



Betsy won't go as he's got a two year deal IIRC. Walker is still under contract, as is Francis. These players will only go if offers come in and frankly who is going to come in with offers for them?

Well maybe Walker, as I assume he's on cheap wages.

Losing Furlong, Joyce, Ademeno and Lokando doesn't really impact us.

I agree with you about giving Moussa a run of games in the middle but I imagine that will come once safety is assured and Walker returns to fitness to play on the left hand side.

I agree about Clarkey. We can't keep hanging on for him. He needs to make his mind up whether his staying or going. If he wishes to leave at the end of the season, then it will allow Tilly maximum time to look at alternatives etc. If Clarkey decides he wants out, then we could bring in Borrowdale for example at left back and push Barrett to centre half with Dervite.

Betsy does have a two year deal, but unless his form improves then I can imagine Tilly and Brush looking to get him out. His an experienced pro in a young side, he could play a vital role until the end of the season but needs to find some form of form. Yeovil was very interested in Walker in January, and I imagine if Revell didn't pick up his injury and Walker not score in the same game he could well have gone. Francis was linked with Huddersfield, albeit on here, in January and maybe if its true they could come sniffing again come summer time.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Barrett at left-back - updated because I forgot that he went left-back when Garry Richards was here

2005/06

Yeovil (A) W 2-0
Tranmere (A) D 0-0
Brentford (H) W 4-1
Oldham (A) D 0-0
Brentford (A) L 0-2

2006/07

QPR (H) W 5-0

2007/08

Gillingham (H) W 3-0
Oldham (A) W 1-0
Doncaster (H) W 3-2
Port Vale (A) W 2-1
Bristol Rovers (A) D 1-1
Tranmere (H) L 1-2

2008/09

Bristol Rovers W 1-0
Tranmere (H) W 2-1
Crewe (H) L 0-1
Col Ewe (A) W 1-0
Scunthorpe (H) W 2-0
Peterborough (A) W 2-1
Millwall (H) L 0-1
Walsall (H) W 2-0
Brighton (A) W 3-1

Pl 21 W 14 D 3 L 4 F 35 A 14

 

[Southend Neil]

Barrett at left-back - updated because I forgot that he went left-back when Garry Richards was here

2005/06

Yeovil (A) W 2-0
Tranmere (A) D 0-0
Brentford (H) W 4-1
Oldham (A) D 0-0
Brentford (A) L 0-2

2006/07

QPR (H) W 5-0

2007/08

Gillingham (H) W 3-0
Oldham (A) W 1-0
Doncaster (H) W 3-2
Port Vale (A) W 2-1
Bristol Rovers (A) D 1-1
Tranmere (H) L 1-2

2008/09

Bristol Rovers W 1-0
Tranmere (H) W 2-1
Crewe (H) L 0-1
Col Ewe (A) W 1-0
Scunthorpe (H) W 2-0
Peterborough (A) W 2-1
Millwall (H) L 1-0
Walsall (H) W 2-0
Brighton (A) W 3-1

Pl 21 W 14 D 3 L 4 F 36 A 13

And there you have it. AB at left back is evidently the key to success!!!!

 

[sufcmark]

Been saying for a few seasons that maybe Barrett should move to LB. He's doing a decent job there at the mo.

His throw ins are dangerously close to being foul throws tho!!

 

[Southend Neil]

Actually the reason why we probably win so many games with him there is the fact that he isn't playing centre half, rather than him being the new Maldini