Are we headed toward mediocrity !

[buffalowolf]

When PB first came to SUFC i was delighted , my first thoughts were that we was heading on the right track ,iask a question now as many ,myself included thought that with his signing we would also be able to bring in some high profile players ( for this division ). But as yet we havent,even though Pb as stated he has tried. I ask a question why havent we , as we are as many have stated supposed to be one of the bigger clubs in this divison ,with one of the highest wage bills.Other clubs smaller than us have managed too so what is it about SUFC that puts these players off ,signing for us,at present i just see SUFC going on a downward spiral,i know i am getting frustrated and i believe many of you there are as well,reading your threads ,so what do we need to do to correct this.:sad:

 

[Southend Pier]

Happy to oblige. Prefably fresh ownership and a new management team. Never thought Brown was the right man, a soccer spin doctor who is not very good at it. yes we all want to well for personal selves but the club needs a manager who actually has a care for the club in him additionally.

 

[Shrimperforlife]

When PB first came to SUFC i was delighted , my first thoughts were that we was heading on the right track ,iask a question now as many ,myself included thought that with his signing we would also be able to bring in some high profile players ( for this division ). But as yet we havent,even though Pb as stated he has tried. I ask a question why havent we , as we are as many have stated supposed to be one of the bigger clubs in this divison ,with one of the highest wage bills.Other clubs smaller than us have managed too so what is it about SUFC that puts these players off ,signing for us,at present i just see SUFC going on a downward spiral,i know i am getting frustrated and i believe many of you there are as well,reading your threads ,so what do we need to do to correct this.:sad:

sorry to say this, but I think we are already way beyond that point

 

[leeblue]

The thing that gets me is what are we actually comparing our current position to....for over 100 years we have spent a massive chunk of our time in the bottom division....why do so many seem to think we have a devine right to go up. Our last successful spell was mainly down to one player. We currently have a squad that is not good enough and heavily over rated by many on here. Phil brown seems to struggle in getting the team to score...nothing new it was the same last year yet Ron is about to reward this with a long term contract????
Im not going to say I have all the answers but I would have a little wheeling and dealing in january....a few out to get a few in....possibly with a new manager if Brown cant get the goals flowing. How can we get the goals flowing? ??? Back to basics with decent service from wide men especially....Hurst for example wtf has happened there. ...is it browns fault or has Kev just lost it. Im no coach but when a player has lost all semblance of form what is the answer??? extra training. ..less training.....sit down and watch old games see where you excelled. Oh and get a really good CB in asap. I think the fitness of deegan ans timlin has screwed us lately too they tired against exeter and deegan looked knackered from kick off v Bury....both had disrupted pre seasons.

 

[leeblue]

Just to add we are not a million miles away from the top teams...3 good signings imo.

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

Trust me it's far far far more frustrating watching the games than just seeing the scores come in.

 

[IloveShrimp]

Trust me it's far far far more frustrating watching the games than just seeing the scores come in.

I agree with this 100%.

Thing is the crowd is diminishing too, people are obviously voting with their feet :'(

 

[Blueronron]

I agree with this 100%.

Thing is the crowd is diminishing too, people are obviously voting with their feet :'(

Like 99 % of lower clubs a losing run will not bring in fair weather fans, a decent draw in FA cup and all of a sudden its sell out time again, its the thing about following an old division 4 team.
Those that have followed Southend have seen dross over the years under many managers and some golden years too, accept it as part of football and you will not feel so bitter or better still get a hobby that doesnot get one's self so knotted up after a lost

UTS

 

[onceknownasrab]

Perhaps mediocrity is gauged by demand. Its been suggested that our attendances are falling after the poor recent showings but our home league games so far average 5,782 and our season average last term was 5,948 which is a difference of 166 and its too early to be sure of any trend.

The bigger factor may come in terms of support v population. Plymouth have a population of 256,400 and managed an average attendance of 7,304 last term. Portsmouth have a population of 205,100 and got 15,461 average attendance. Southend, the smaller of the three with 174,800 got the average attendance of 5,948 even thought hey were more successful than Portsmouth or Plymouth last term.

Only 12 teams bettered our home average in Lg 1 last season.

Of course Portsmouth has had a more successful history than us and has retained its following and Plymouth has no local big fish to compete with, unlike us and London, but we still had the fifth best attendance last season and it looks likely we may be there or there abouts again this season.

As for mediocrity, its a subjective perception. For me there is nothing mediocre about Southend United and never will be! UTB

 

[Chairman Trigg]

The population is far greater than 174,000,thats just Southend borough add in Rochford and castle point areas,more like 300,000 plus.Our major trouble is lack of success followed by access to London.This will bite even further when Wet Spams gift by the taxpayer kicks in .

Perhaps mediocrity is gauged by demand. Its been suggested that our attendances are falling after the poor recent showings but our home league games so far average 5,782 and our season average last term was 5,948 which is a difference of 166 and its too early to be sure of any trend.

The bigger factor may come in terms of support v population. Plymouth have a population of 256,400 and managed an average attendance of 7,304 last term. Portsmouth have a population of 205,100 and got 15,461 average attendance. Southend, the smaller of the three with 174,800 got the average attendance of 5,948 even thought hey were more successful than Portsmouth or Plymouth last term.

Only 12 teams bettered our home average in Lg 1 last season.

Of course Portsmouth has had a more successful history than us and has retained its following and Plymouth has no local big fish to compete with, unlike us and London, but we still had the fifth best attendance last season and it looks likely we may be there or there abouts again this season.

As for mediocrity, its a subjective perception. For me there is nothing mediocre about Southend United and never will be! UTB

 

[Firestorm]

The thing that gets me is what are we actually comparing our current position to....for over 100 years we have spent a massive chunk of our time in the bottom division....why do so many seem to think we have a devine right to go up. Our last successful spell was mainly down to one player. We currently have a squad that is not good enough and heavily over rated by many on here. Phil brown seems to struggle in getting the team to score...nothing new it was the same last year yet Ron is about to reward this with a long term contract????
Im not going to say I have all the answers but I would have a little wheeling and dealing in january....a few out to get a few in....possibly with a new manager if Brown cant get the goals flowing. How can we get the goals flowing? ??? Back to basics with decent service from wide men especially....Hurst for example wtf has happened there. ...is it browns fault or has Kev just lost it. Im no coach but when a player has lost all semblance of form what is the answer??? extra training. ..less training.....sit down and watch old games see where you excelled. Oh and get a really good CB in asap. I think the fitness of deegan ans timlin has screwed us lately too they tired against exeter and deegan looked knackered from kick off v Bury....both had disrupted pre seasons.

In the 57 years since the league was reorganised to 4 tiers we have spent 24 years in tier 4 26 in tier 3 and 7 in tier 2

The 36 years before were spent in the bottom tier ( 1 season in 3 the remainder in 3 S)
The previous 16 years were non league.

We are currently in our third longest spell in this division
It took us 6 seasons to get out when we first come down and 7 seasons from Alvin taking us down and Tilly getting us up. the other 4 occasions have been 3 years 2 years and 1 year (Twice).

Personally, I cant see us getting out for a few years yet . We were very fortunate to pick up 3 or for cheap players who gelled well and performed magnificently and they got us out last time, I cant see that happening again....

 

[stickyboy]

I think we have already reached it!

We have Mansfield who have at least 8 players out injured, then non league Chester - a big chance to get on track. With regards to fans everyone I have spoke to has zero positivity about the blues

 

[onceknownasrab]

The population is far greater than 174,000,thats just Southend borough add in Rochford and castle point areas,more like 300,000 plus.Our major trouble is lack of success followed by access to London.This will bite even further when Wet Spams gift by the taxpayer kicks in .

You are quite right the 174,000 is related to the borough and the figure you cite of 300,000+ is catchment area. Equally I quoted borough figures for Portsmouth and Plymouth and their catchment areas will also add to their population figures.

As for your comment about the effect london has on us, I believe that depends largely on what we are doing ourselves. A promotion or two would serve us well in the battle for attendances but I fear, a prolonged stay in Lg 2 and at RH, will cost us dearly.

 

[Sherif H]

The thing that gets me is what are we actually comparing our current position to....for over 100 years we have spent a massive chunk of our time in the bottom division....why do so many seem to think we have a devine right to go up. Our last successful spell was mainly down to one player. We currently have a squad that is not good enough and heavily over rated by many on here. Phil brown seems to struggle in getting the team to score...nothing new it was the same last year yet Ron is about to reward this with a long term contract????
Im not going to say I have all the answers but I would have a little wheeling and dealing in january....a few out to get a few in....possibly with a new manager if Brown cant get the goals flowing. How can we get the goals flowing? ??? Back to basics with decent service from wide men especially....Hurst for example wtf has happened there. ...is it browns fault or has Kev just lost it. Im no coach but when a player has lost all semblance of form what is the answer??? extra training. ..less training.....sit down and watch old games see where you excelled. Oh and get a really good CB in asap. I think the fitness of deegan ans timlin has screwed us lately too they tired against exeter and deegan looked knackered from kick off v Bury....both had disrupted pre seasons.

Nobody is saying that we have a divine right to be in a higher division, but what on Earth is wrong with having higher expectations than League 2? We have a sufficient enough catchment and distance from London to emulate the success of a Club such as Reading. In the 20 years I have supported Southend, we have spent the majority of our time yo-yo'ing between the 2nd and 4th tiers, but why should we succumb to the British disease of accepting mediocrity and placing ourselves at a level?

 

[TrueBlue]

The population is far greater than 174,000,thats just Southend borough add in Rochford and castle point areas,more like 300,000 plus.Our major trouble is lack of success followed by access to London.This will bite even further when Wet Spams gift by the taxpayer kicks in .

Not forgetting too we have a few followers who live in wickford and basildon

 

[TrueBlue]

Nobody is saying that we have a divine right to be in a higher division, but what on Earth is wrong with having higher expectations than League 2? We have a sufficient enough catchment and distance from London to emulate the success of a Club such as Reading. In the 20 years I have supported Southend, we have spent the majority of our time yo-yo'ing between the 2nd and 4th tiers, but why should we succumb to the British disease of accepting mediocrity and placing ourselves at a level?

Hull, Swansea, Brighton and Cardiff 4 teams there who played in the bottom division with us 10 years ago or so look where they are now! And funny enough they all have new stadiums

 

[Swiss Tony]

Not forgetting too we have a few followers who live in wickford and basildon

Don't forget Thurrocks Shrimper legion.

 

[TrueBlue]

Don't forget Thurrocks Shrimper legion.

How could one forget

 

[Pak Power]

When PB first came to SUFC i was delighted , my first thoughts were that we was heading on the right track ,iask a question now as many ,myself included thought that with his signing we would also be able to bring in some high profile players ( for this division ). But as yet we havent,even though Pb as stated he has tried. I ask a question why havent we , as we are as many have stated supposed to be one of the bigger clubs in this divison ,with one of the highest wage bills.Other clubs smaller than us have managed too so what is it about SUFC that puts these players off ,signing for us,at present i just see SUFC going on a downward spiral,i know i am getting frustrated and i believe many of you there are as well,reading your threads ,so what do we need to do to correct this.:sad:

Could be something to do with our 'history' regarding payments to players

 

[leeblue]

Nobody is saying that we have a divine right to be in a higher division, but what on Earth is wrong with having higher expectations than League 2? We have a sufficient enough catchment and distance from London to emulate the success of a Club such as Reading. In the 20 years I have supported Southend, we have spent the majority of our time yo-yo'ing between the 2nd and 4th tiers, but why should we succumb to the British disease of accepting mediocrity and placing ourselves at a level?

Dont get me wrong im not for one minute saying we should accept mediocrity but I have to be able to distinguish between what I wish to happen and what my expectations are....I hope we can go up and get the buzz going round town again....gates increase...league one etc etc...but for me to expect this to happen needs certain foundations. ......first and foremost a manager that inspires the team as well as the support....a team that is winning football matches....a sound financial footing and a chairman at the helm that is taking the club in the right direction....and dare I say a new stadium.....do we have any od these things in place right now...I would say no...so therefore my expectations are not that high....my wishes however see us in the prem in five years.