Is our season effectively ended already?

[Clarky176]

the 'tamworth' goal was 25 odd passes of nothing, then a punt into to Pepple who turned his man superbly and slotted who ever scored in. the last 3 passes were relevant. the previous lot achieved nothing. it wasn't like we had broken thier defence apart.

Man City is the old way. Liverpool , Forest etc is the new way

Some would say you only get into the position to make the last 3 effective passes because you moved the opposition around in the previous 22 to create the right openings.

 

[PIERS]

Some would say you only get into the position to make the last 3 effective passes because you moved the opposition around in the previous 22 to create the right openings.

I think it was more a case of we bored them into submission

 

[leeblue]

On paper, we have a chance, especially with the teams that we are due to play over the next couple of months but I just don't see it in us to beat anyone in the top 10 due to our sideways and stubborn tactics from the management.

Some people seem to think that Husin had a decent game yesterday but I thought he was pretty poor and in the middle is for me where we lack any real attacking substance and will keep us around the mid tale spot come May.

Of the top 10 we have drawn with four of them and beaten two of em. Not a million miles off

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

Of the top 10 we have drawn with four of them and beaten two of em. Not a million miles off

Fair enough, I don't believe we will make the play offs based on what I have seen so far this season and the fact that we are 14th in the table in January tells the proper story.

 

[rlb999]

The fact that we're 14th now doesn't bother me.
We won't make the play offs because our midfield passes the ball like they are playing through concrete - and this means we'll drop far too many points between now and the end of the season. #changeneeded

 

[Fairport]

the 'tamworth' goal was 25 odd passes of nothing, then a punt into to Pepple who turned his man superbly and slotted who ever scored in. the last 3 passes were relevant. the previous lot achieved nothing. it wasn't like we had broken thier defence apart.

Man City is the old way. Liverpool , Forest etc is the new way

Yes, this could be the current trend. Looking at stats it seems that the teams with less possession are winning the most games. Counter attacking with pace seems to be in fashion.

 

[Paddypel]

Simple as this really. The current squad will comfortably achieve a mid table finish. Its time for COSU to decide if they want to attack those 6/7th spots this season and roll the dice this month with a few pick ups or settle for mid table mediocrity and assault the transfer market in the summer.

 

[Guybrush13]

We simply don't score enough goals to go up. Apart from Rochdale most teams in or around the play offs have scored 10 more goals than us to date (not including the big spenders who have considerably more). Our Defence is on par if not better than most teams in this division, if he picks the right midfield we have good players who are better than our position suggests (that's if Kev picks the right midfield) but upfront we're nowhere near good enough. Yes wee have a game or two where we do score, but mostly 1 goals a game is not good enough.

 

[NZamba Legend]

Yes, this could be the current trend. Looking at stats it seems that the teams with less possession are winning the most games. Counter attacking with pace seems to be in fashion.

True, but it's not like Liverpool don't have one of the highest % of possession. What they do is keep possession in a very safe manner and draw other teams towards them, encouraging their press, and then knock it long and wide to Salah and then everyone piles forward and feeds off the defensive panic. If the attack breaks down in the wrong area they are actually quite vulnerable themselves. Liverpool and Tottenham (!) actually have a higher % possession this season than Arsenal, who many see as Man City clones. Forest def buck the trend though with average less than 40% possession, but I would say they are getting a bit lucky right now. Generally the crappest premier league teams still have low possession %. What is always true is that possession allows you to control the game and being able to counter attack at pace is devastating. Ideally you wouldn't choose between them, but it depends what kind of players you have.

 

[rlb999]

Simple as this really. The current squad will comfortably achieve a mid table finish. Its time for COSU to decide if they want to attack those 6/7th spots this season and roll the dice this month with a few pick ups or settle for mid table mediocrity and assault the transfer market in the summer.

Not as simple as that for me. The solution is not to keep signing players. It's to use the ones we have more effectively. We've turned Bonne - who's scored everywhere else he's been - into someone who can't find the net.

 

[Liam AAS]

Fair enough, I don't believe we will make the play offs based on what I have seen so far this season and the fact that we are 14th in the table in January tells the proper story.

It tells half the story.

 

[blues exile]

Fair enough, I don't believe we will make the play offs based on what I have seen so far this season and the fact that we are 14th in the table in January tells the proper story.

The table doesn't lie. Midtable mediocrity will not achieve 'sustainability' either. Radical shake up needed unless COSU are content to languish in this purgatory. I hope they are not but actions speak louder than PR speak.

 

[Blues4LifeDan]

Not as simple as that for me. The solution is not to keep signing players. It's to use the ones we have more effectively. We've turned Bonne - who's scored everywhere else he's been - into someone who can't find the net.

His two previous clubs he got 5 goals in 41 games. He's not scored consistently for a long time now.

Let's be honest with ourselves, a player who was once bought for £2m and is only 29 years old would never be at Southend if it wasn't because he's on a decline. We signed him because no one else had. He was in the free agents pot for a reason. We took a gamble because we were late in the market for reasons we are all aware of. I really don't think we have turned him into anything.

 

[Danshrimper]

I wouldn't say Oldham are in the top 5 so there's at least 3 play places up for grabs imo. We're 8 points off with 22 games to play. LFG.

Oldham are 10 points ahead of us with 3 games in hand. I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say that place is up for grabs.

 

[Danshrimper]

Not as simple as that for me. The solution is not to keep signing players. It's to use the ones we have more effectively. We've turned Bonne - who's scored everywhere else he's been - into someone who can't find the net.

Has he? This is his record at his last 3 clubs:

1 in 16 at Cambridge
4 in 25 at Gillingham
2 in 16 at Charlton

He had a decent scoring 3+ years ago. But as you can see from his record over the last couple of years, he had already turned into someone who struggled to find the net, we didn’t do that.

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

It tells half the story.

No, it tells the full story of where we are now having played all of the teams on the league whilst sitting in 14th position.

Anything now is just a guess, including my own prediction but its based on what I have watched so far this season as a season ticket holder, but one who tells it how it is.

 

[SuperRonnieP]

The table doesn't lie. Midtable mediocrity will not achieve 'sustainability' either. Radical shake up needed unless COSU are content to languish in this purgatory. I hope they are not but actions speak louder than PR speak.

Sustainability isn't solely dependant on bums on seats though, it's more about maximizing income from club assets. At the moment Roots Hall is a giant money pit. Other clubs who've got out of this league, without a deep pocketed sugar daddy or bankrupting themselves, earn serious cash from non football related use of their stadium.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

Sustainability isn't solely dependant on bums on seats though, it's more about maximizing income from club assets. At the moment Roots Hall is a giant money pit. Other clubs who've got out of this league, without a deep pocketed sugar daddy or bankrupting themselves, earn serious cash from non football related use of their stadium.

I think you have hit the nail on the head with a hammer - we (Southend United) need other income streams other than the 20+ days when there is a game on at Roots Hall.

From the other posts on here, I think having a plastic training pitch (or two) for hire would provide for income all year round & would be very beneficial.

 

[blues exile]

I think you have hit the nail on the head with a hammer - we (Southend United) need other income streams other than the 20+ days when there is a game on at Roots Hall.

From the other posts on here, I think having a plastic training pitch (or two) for hire would provide for income all year roung & would be very beneficial.

I don't think anyone would deny that we need to maximise income from extra curricular events at Roots Hall, that is only sensible. However, success on the field is even more important to increase or at least maintain existing support and I just cannot see that happening under the present coaching regime who continually demnstrate how limited and rigid their vision is.

 

[ColinMorrisWalksOnWater]

Oldham are 10 points ahead of us with 3 games in hand. I think it’s a bit of a stretch to say that place is up for grabs.

We would have to be in almost champions form to catch Oldham with their games in hand, if they pick up points at the rate they did in the first half of the season. Same goes for Rochdale, as they have three games in hands too. (I realise I used the word if). In Oldham's case they are certainly looking to strengthen too.

The team we have to keep tabs on currently in the top seven is Solihull. Same games and eight points ahead of us. We can pick up eight points in half a season. However, the six clubs ahead of us and also outside the play offs, will be looking at those top seven places too.

All we can do is win as many games as possible. Interestingly though the three clubs currently in the play off places mentioned above all have to come to us. If we can get some momentum at home, then we'd be in with a chance.

FWIW I think we will definitely finish top ten. Why? we have the majority of the team fit, with only Walker now looking like a lengthy absence at time of writing. We have the ability to take part in the transfer market at this key time for the first time in a couple of seasons at least. As @Paddypel said, COSU have a decision to make as to whether they want to go for it and strengthen for a play challenge this season, or wait for next season.

It'll all play out over the next five months.