Clarke must be dropped now

[Jam_Man]

Barnsley with two whole points more than us ?

Colu who lost their first four and just started to put a run together ?

 

[Xàbia Shrimper]

Col Ewe 13th Barnsley 18th Southend 22nd - five points between Col Ewe and us ... hardly substantive evidence that we're not coping as well ...

 

[The Fitter]

Not going to get involved in the drop him play him game but i would say that worry is the one thing we should be doing. If you don't score goals then you can't win games (obviously) and the way we are conceding at the moment then drawing seems out of the question. I shall worry all I like.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Last year we used to play teams at the wrong end of the league and it was easy to beat them. This year, every team comes with a well drilled game plan and you have to earn your victories.

I have no doubt in my mind that the standard in this league is vastly better than League One last season.

 

[Bielzibubz]

So with Paynter and JCR not playing today I think it's safe to assume Clarke is this weeks whipping boy huh?

This is going to put Wiggy's post count through the roof

 

[The Big Shrimp]

Sodje would improve things at the back a little. He would win a few headers for starters. Barrett at 5'11" is a short-@rse in central defender terms & has barely won a header all season. Where Sodje & Barrett were so good last season, is they played as a unit. Sodje won the headers & Barrett swept up on the occasions he didn't. If he didn't win them he usually did more than enough to make it easier for Barrett to win. Both Barrett & Clarke can play the same role with Sodje.

Our main problem is in midfield. Maher has had to do everything, but acts like the school bully. Its his ball & I will let you have it if I feel like it. Maybe thats because the rest of the midfield hasn't been upto the job. JCR should be used late on when players are knackered & his pace will be most useful. Gutts has a problem that nobody knows about, because he ain't the same player of last season, even allowing for the step up in standard. Gower has been one of the most improved players from last season, but still fails to deliver the killer ball. This is a problem he shares with the rest of the Midfielders.

The word we are all searching for is CREATIVITY!!! This is something we need quickly. Tilly should have invested in this instead of spending the money on Paynter. I'm not picking on him as a scapegoat, just the £200K we could have spent elsewhere! Tilly should be on the phone to a few Premiership managers looking for a midfielder on loan, before its too late.

Win as a team, lose as a team! Remember that folks!

 

[Southendsleeper]

Quote[/b] (D62SUBOY @ Sep. 30 2006,17:22)]So with Paynter and JCR not playing today I think it's safe to assume Clarke is this weeks whipping boy huh?

This is going to put Wiggy's post count through the roof

Wiggy - Chairman'

has a nice ring to it

 

[Scamps]

I would bring back Sodje, simply because the bloke is awesome in the air, which i think clarke struggles at.

 

[Southend Elvis]

We must shuffell our pack or get new faces in, how else can we improve. Sometimes players have off days but some of our players are having alot of off days all at once. I'm very depressed at the moment, and whilst not having a pop at the players that have done so well for us in the past, I can't help blaming the players who haven't.
Losing isn't nice..

 

[Angell Delight]

Our big problem is in defence, if we can stop leaking stupid goals we can compete in this division (certainly well enough to stay in it) with the midfield and forwards we have. I hear via Draft Shrimper that Ricketts again looked good when he came on today which is great, he needs to get himself fitter and hopefully we and Freddy will see the benefits.

But that's useless if we don't sort the problems in defence. Barrett hasn't formed a partnership with Clarke and we know he and Efe were EXTREMELY solid together last season. Obviously we've stepped up a level and that makes a big difference but I don't think anyone would argue that Efe in for Clarke would definitely help. He needs a few games to get back to form and get that sharpness back but the best way we can help him do that quickly is to give him games in the first team. Even an Efe lacking match sharpness would be better than keeping Clarke in at this time - he'd also help arrest the alarming goals we're giving away at set-pieces, our aerial problems are blatantly obvious to anyone with half a brain.

The other significant factors here are the full-backs. Now individually I think everyone would agree that they're decent players (far from perfect but they're young and will improve) and are vast improvements on Jupp and Che from last season. However I think we'll be more solid once they have all settled in, remember it must be difficult for the back line at the moment as bar Barrett it's an entirely new back 4 and this must be especially difficult for both Barrett AND Flahavan. Being such an important position though if I were Tilly I'd drop Clarke and bring Efe in, tried and tested from last season and not only would it help the defence as a whole it would probably help Flavs and Adam as they have more of an idea of what Efe's all about and at this stage after a poor run of results I think that's all-important.

 

[Angell Delight]

Quote[/b] (Xàbia Shrimper @ Sep. 30 2006,17:07)]

Quote[/b] (Southend Elvis @ Sep. 30 2006,18:00)]Col u seem to be coping, this division isn't that much better than the one we left. I think our team was better last year than this. So we should just give up and go down a division

You ARE joking, I hope. The gap between Championship and League One is huge ... and getting bigger each year. Last year we won a very weak league; this year we are certainly going to know whether we were actually that good. Still, I knew we were going to struggle this season and therefore I am not too concerned at the moment. If we're in the same position in 12 weeks time, then I'll worry ...

I think if we could just tighten up the defence I'd be extremely confident of surviving relegation (I think we'd then be comfortable somewhere between 14th-18th) but we need to sort it out bloody soon as if we get cut adrift it's gonna be a long and extremely hard battle against the drop. We've just gotta put our faith in Tilly to sort it out, he's not blind he surely knows where the main problem lies.

In terms of the gap between L1 and the CCC I fully agree Mike the difference is MASSIVE. If anyone thought it would be like from L2 to L1 they've had a very rude awakening!! Those who'd seen us in this division before will have known what to expect, those who didn't will most probably be extremely surprised by the HUGE step up in quality

 

[Bielzibubz]

As has been said before. Last season Efe & Adam worked up a good understanding of the others game. Whist Efe is superior in the air, Barret has IMO a better understanding of the game and of those around him and will clean up any lose balls that get through.

And to quote TITSUP, 'When Sodje heads a ball, it stays headed'. Something that can't be said of either Barret or especially Clarke.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Again I'm inclined to agree with pretty much all of that. Obviously I didn't go today but it didn't sound like we were too different to how we've been of late.

I've always thought in football that it's easy to score goals when you're confident in your defence to defend them and it's easy to defend when you're confident that your attackers are going to reward your hard work.

Right now, I don't have confidence in us to score a goal if the defence holds firm (e.g. Sheff Weds) or to defend a lead when we get one (e.g. Norwich). I would imagine that the players are well aware of this and perhaps this is contributing to our performances.

I definitely agree with what AD has said on this page. If we can go a few games without conceding several sloppy goals then the whole team will start to believe that if they go in front, they will win games. I also agree that bringing in Sodje would at least make our defence look solid rather than the fairly fragile look it has right now.

If you look at the teams that have stayed up on a budget recently, they've pretty much all been solid at the back first and foremost. You only need to look at Leicester to see a team who keep every game tight for ninety minutes and earn points that they probably don't deserve. For example, they stifled us for 90 minutes and took 3 points from a drab game. Those three points could potentially be massive come the end of the season.

I think player for player we are better than more than three teams in this division. If we can organise at the back and start picking up cheap points, we should be fine. If we carry on as we have been, it's going to be very hard indeed.

 

[maldonblue]

Quote[/b] (Angell Delight @ Sep. 30 2006,19:26)]Those who'd seen us in this division before will have known what to expect, those who didn't will most probably be extremely surprised by the HUGE step up in quality

Probably about 60-70% of the people that go now are people that didnt see us in this division before!

 

[Angell Delight]

Quote[/b] (sufcintheprem @ Sep. 30 2006,19:46)]If you look at the teams that have stayed up on a budget recently, they've pretty much all been solid at the back first and foremost.  

Spot on. I don't think Clarke should be in the side at this moment in time but I do also feel that we've suffered a bit by changing 3 of the back 4. Francis and Hammell are good players and definitely deserve to be in the side but with the drastic changes that have taken place it takes a bit of time for the new boys to all gel in the back 4. We were very solid as a unit at the back last season. Efe was a big part of that and his understanding with Barrett in the centre was great so hopefully we'll throw him back in. If you look at the full-backs they're better than what we had last season, the difference is Jupp and Wilson were settled in that back 4 and had played far more games than Francis and Hammell have right now so the back 5 (including Flavs) should look a lot stronger in a month or two's time once they've got to know each other's game's better. All we can do is put Efe back in and work hard at eradicating the mistakes we're making cos if we ride it out I'm sure the defence will settle reasonably well.

 

[ozzy-shrimper]

Lets just give Sodje a try out and see how he fairs. At the moment, change is good.

 

[Southend Elvis]

I'm still not convinced that this league is that much better, sure the top teams are alot better, but there's enough dross to survive. If we played like we did last year we would be doing alot better. Our form is the problem not the better standard so much.

 

[wiggy]

Quote[/b] (ozzy-shrimper @ Oct. 01 2006,00:37)]Lets just give Sodje a try out and see how he fairs. At the moment, change is good.

Tilson hates change and trying anything new. How he can watch Clarke and Gutts not take part every week is beyond me. Smith and Sodge should replace these weak links immediately!

 

[Bielzibubz]

Quote[/b] (wiggy @ Oct. 01 2006,08:26)]Tilson hates change and trying anything new. How he can watch Clarke and Gutts not take part every week is beyond me. Smith and Sodge should replace these weak links immediately!

Wiggy, Hooper for Paynter, Hunt for JCR, surely these are what you call changes.

I agree to some extent that Clarke and Gutts are playing way below par recently but your comments about them both not being, and never have been, good enough for this level is, IMO, completely OTT.

Gutts, on his day and playing as we know he can is more than capable of holding his own at this level. The same I feel can be said of Clarke.

Smith has'nt played a competitive game at this level yet. What makes you think he'll cope any better?

A dip in form does not a crap player make.

Are you so arrogant that you really believe you know better than Tilly & co when it comes to spotting potential players and picking them for the team?

 

[Maldon Blues]

I think we all agree there is definitely a problem in defence.

At the end of last season we all generally agreed that our defence would struggle with the step up, but they served us excelently last season and maybe should have been given a chance.

Most of our problems yesterday came down our right. Unfortunately i haven't seen eought evidence to suggest that Simon Francis is an improvement on Duncan Jupp. Francis squanders possession too much and just seems easily beaten and weak in the tackle.

Doubly, Peter Clarke is certainly striggling not only with the step-up but settling intoi a side who play a different game to that he would have been involved in at Blackpool.

Clarke is off-form too, his headers are weak and his reading of the game poor at the moment. Even if he gets the ball at his feet he'll fall over it!

Hammell is beginning to play a bit better, but why not bring in Efe for Clarke with either Che or Hunt at right-back? I think it would make us less suseptible on that side.