Question Blair Sturrock: Please Please Please why......

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

In total agreement with TSNB and GlasgowSUFC on the Blair Sturrock subject. He is a poor player on decent form at the moment.

All this "I dont care how he scores them" is just nonsense. He scored a goal off his shin on that occasion, but what are you going to be saying when the ball cannons off his shin and goes wide next time? It was lucky that the ball ended up in the net on that occasion. 8 out of 10 times that ball would have been skewing off for a goal kick, but fortunately it trickled over the line.

Paul Sturrock has said that he is building a team of LEAGUE ONE players. Even if I were to accept that he was good enough for league two, I certainly do not consider him anywhere near good enough for league one. I pretty much expect the same outcome as TSNB's league placings with the different blends of attackers shown. Why we didnt get our hands on a goalscorer is just beyond me. Akinbiyi, Akinfenwa, McLeod......They all would of been brilliant for us! We would be looking at bouncing straight back up again.

Could be correct here, thing is, Sturrocks 1 on 1 with the keeper against Gills, 8 out of 10 times the keeper mucks it up and goes to ground to early. It's just one of those things.
Don't get me wrong I don't think Blair is our saviour and the best player we have ever seen, I just think he is a good addition to the squad, if he is performing well, he will start, if he's poor PS will drop him, simple as that really. And as Blair hasn't underperformed he sticks especially as poor Pat looked clueless (which he I believe he isn't) Blair and Corr will start on Saturday.
Ofcourse everyone would love a goal scorer, it's a bonus, I happen to think that we don't necessarily need one, I know I keep saying it but the couple of games we've won this season it's worked, we seem to have gelled.
I agree with you OBL, that Corr and Sturrock aren't viable, although, until it goes horribly wrong which it hasn't yet I'd actually keep it with them both up there, because it certainly has worked so far. Especially as it seems that the team are starting to gel, never change a winning lineup and all that.

Up The Blues

 

[Firestorm]

How ironic some of the people who slated Alex 'the Hitman' Revell are now praising certain other individuals for what they 'bring' to a Southend shirt.

Alternatively , there are others who got roundly slated for giving credit to Revell , Harrold , even Paynter who are now getting the same treatment for doing the same for BS.

As I said in a previous post, is he any worse that Drewe ? and in all honesty does anyone feel that if the Manager could get hold of an improvement he would not do it because it would mean dropping his son ?

We have got the players we currently have because, in the past, we have had players who have cost us (wages etc) what we couldn't afford. I am sure that this board would be collectively foaming at the mouth if , come May, we have won the title but gone bust doing so

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I don't see why I am singled out specifically here.
I was at the Stockport game and I gave my honest analysis of what I saw from BS, I don't care one iota whether you're Jose Mourinho or Blind Pugh, this boy will not score the amount of goals a supporting striker needs to. How ironic some of the people who slated Alex 'the Hitman' Revell are now praising certain other individuals for what they 'bring' to a Southend shirt.

Jesus Christ people this is a man who wasn't exactly prolific for Truro City.

I'll yield to those who say he has performed above expectations as, currently, he has. However for other misguided people who are coming at things from a 180 degree perspective to me, yes you're fighting your corner as passionately as those on the other side of the fence, but surely it's time to wake up and smell the coffee, or alternatively put your money where your mouth is and answer The Seventies North Bank's different striking scenarios laid out above...

So your opinion of BS is from 15 mins of the 1st game of the season and nothing else......says it all about you doesn't it. How about you wait till you have seen him play 5, 6 or 7 times brfore making a judgement. I can't believe your constant slagging off of Blair is all down to 15 mins of football!!!

 

[E for B and Billy Best]

It's time to get of Blairs back, he wasn't brought here to be top scorer, however when the ball is played to him it sticks so he's an ideal outlet for both defence and midfield, on top of that when he has the ball he manages to pass to some one in the same colour shirt as he is wearing and that is always a bonus in my book.

 

[Beefy]

Alternatively , there are others who got roundly slated for giving credit to Revell , Harrold , even Paynter who are now getting the same treatment for doing the same for BS.

Amen. I always rated Revs and whilst the Harrold issue was more complicated (in that he had zero confidence in front of goal for us) he brought a lot to a side. I'd say largely that a lot of the same people who stuck up for those people are sticking up for Sturrock too. There's far more to being a forward player than scoring goals. I've not seen enough of Sturrock to form any opinion of him (I saw him against Port Vale when he was as useless as everyone else) but if he's linking the midfield and the strikers together and helping the team to create chances that way then he's fulfilling his role in the side.

I think someone people would rather than a player who finishes off 15 moves a season rather than one who only scores eight but creates eight more for his teammates.

 

[WoodhamShrimper]

well at xmas lets see how he turns out after a few more games. your still going to have this split feeling about him. BS is like marmite either you love him or you hate him, his not going to improve.

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

So your opinion of BS is from 15 mins of the 1st game of the season and nothing else......says it all about you doesn't it. How about you wait till you have seen him play 5, 6 or 7 times brfore making a judgement. I can't believe your constant slagging off of Blair is all down to 15 mins of football!!!

As I said when we signed him, if you ever care to read posts and not just take on board what you want to see (maybe that says a lot about you???) I've seen him play at least 3 games from memory before and he certainly flattered to decieve on those ocassions.

You can also form opinion from statistics and his career record as a forward (he's no striker as even those who're pleased he is here would agree) is shocking for the levels he has played at. As I said earlier, if you can't score at the level that Truro City are at then there's little hope for a goal rush at L2 or (as people are happily quoting the managers target as) L1 level.

Oh & in terms of "constant slagging off" - I haven't started this thread, I've only passed a couple of comments where I see it to be fit or relevant, maybe something a few people around here should contemplate on doing before hitting "post"...

As far as my current position goes on the whole bigger picture, I'm happy to take a back seat on things, lets just see how they pan out. There's no point continually getting into constant "ne-er saying" against people who are happy things have turned out this way. People I'm sure by now know my position and feel it right to let that ride.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Amen. I always rated Revs and whilst the Harrold issue was more complicated (in that he had zero confidence in front of goal for us) he brought a lot to a side. I'd say largely that a lot of the same people who stuck up for those people are sticking up for Sturrock too. There's far more to being a forward player than scoring goals. I've not seen enough of Sturrock to form any opinion of him (I saw him against Port Vale when he was as useless as everyone else) but if he's linking the midfield and the strikers together and helping the team to create chances that way then he's fulfilling his role in the side.

I think someone people would rather than a player who finishes off 15 moves a season rather than one who only scores eight but creates eight more for his teammates.

I think Harrold would have been an excellent fit for this current team, particularly now he's a couple of years older, stronger and wiser. Three goals in six games for him, and more importantly his team has won five (including two against teams in league one) and drawn one of them. I fully expect Harrold to be one of the stars of this division, in contrast to those who wrote him off as not good enough for the conference, and to earn a move to a bigger club.

 

[EastStandBlue]

I think Harrold would have been an excellent fit for this current team, particularly now he's a couple of years older, stronger and wiser. Three goals in six games for him, and more importantly his team has won five (including two against teams in league one) and drawn one of them. I fully expect Harrold to be one of the stars of this division, in contrast to those who wrote him off as not good enough for the conference, and to earn a move to a bigger club.

A similar case could also be said for Barry Corr, whose presence as a target-man is great for a 25 year old despite being written off consistently at other clubs. If we can get the likes of Zaaboub, Clohessy and Simpson delivering consistently into the box, with Corr knowing where the ball's going to be dropping once the familiarity is there, he's capable of a few goals and assists.

 

[Mick]

To be honest, I think many people on here are so delighted to actually have a team to support, they are prepared to accept, even fete, players who are not that wonderful. Sturrock jnr falls into that category. He has some attributes, but his career record doesn't lie and he is certainly at best a squad player.

The defence looks stronger now with the three hastily signed centre halves side-lined. If he can make the same improvements to the attack and midfield (if we plan to use it) we might yet have a team worth watching.

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

To be honest, I think many people on here are so delighted to actually have a team to support, they are prepared to accept, even fete, players who are not that wonderful. Sturrock jnr falls into that category. He has some attributes, but his career record doesn't lie and he is certainly at best a squad player.

The defence looks stronger now with the three hastily signed centre halves side-lined. If he can make the same improvements to the attack and midfield (if we plan to use it) we might yet have a team worth watching.

All correct words. We where definitely worth watching against Bristol and Bradford. Lets hope it will continue!

 

[haveaguiness]

I just watched the highlights on BBC, and you have to give it to Blair, he can certainly take a penalty!

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

I just watched the highlights on BBC, and you have to give it to Blair, he can certainly take a penalty!

In his Blues Player interview, he has never ever taken a penalty in his career before and as a fair amount of some strikers goals are penalties this could be why he looks totally hopeless?

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

He's better than Patterson, that's for sure. The only other striker i can think of that looked so lightweight was the guy we signed from Frome Town some years ago.

 

[Napster]

He's better than Patterson, that's for sure. The only other striker i can think of that looked so lightweight was the guy we signed from Frome Town some years ago.

Mark Salter?

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

He's better than Patterson, that's for sure. The only other striker i can think of that looked so lightweight was the guy we signed from Frome Town some years ago.

He is a better all round player than Paterson, but Paterson will get goals.
Someone said earlier that we need about 70 goals for promotion, where do you think these goals will come from?

 

[Beefy]

I think Harrold would have been an excellent fit for this current team, particularly now he's a couple of years older, stronger and wiser. Three goals in six games for him, and more importantly his team has won five (including two against teams in league one) and drawn one of them. I fully expect Harrold to be one of the stars of this division, in contrast to those who wrote him off as not good enough for the conference, and to earn a move to a bigger club.

Matt Harrold wasn't a fit for Southend United. This is not a dig at our fans, as such, but there is an element of our support who will heckle a non-goalscoring striker. We've all seen it. Harrold is going through a decent run of form in front of goal but I wouldn't expect it to last.

I think you need to be a tough personality to play that role for this Club. Harrold let the abuse/heckling get to him and it destroyed his confidence completely. I think Revs is a stronger character and would have been fine had he not be bombed out of the Club for non-Footballing reasons. I guess we'll see how strong Corr and Sturrock are because neither will score the goals to get the fanbase entirely on their side.

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

He is a better all round player than Paterson, but Paterson will get goals.
Someone said earlier that we need about 70 goals for promotion, where do you think these goals will come from?

Grant, Easton, Corr, Patterson and Sturrock have all scored so far.... ;)

 

[Beefy]

Obviously we're better off having a twenty goal striker than not having a twenty goal striker, in the same way that we're better off having a good winger than a bad winger or a good centre half than a bad centre half. I still don't think it's the be all and end all and if our strikers retain posession so we're under less pressure and conceed fewer goals or are setting up chances for the rest of the team then they're doing a job.

 

[Napster]

Obviously we're better off having a twenty goal striker than not having a twenty goal striker, in the same way that we're better off having a good winger than a bad winger or a good centre half than a bad centre half. I still don't think it's the be all and end all and if our strikers retain posession so we're under less pressure and conceed fewer goals or are setting up chances for the rest of the team then they're doing a job.

Spain won the world cup with only 8 goals. They dont need a 20 goal striker.