Maher going nowhere says unhappy Ron

[The General]

I think there are some things going on behind-the-scene's which isn't going to be aired and thats the main reason of why this has happened. Im not going to comment on the situation at the Hall but i will wish Kev the best of luck at Gills!

Kev

 

[fredheim_holm]

I'm gutted. Trully am. I feel about as bad as when Eastwood left.

Maher you are a true legend. I hope your career goes from strength to strength and you show what a bad mistake this is by T&B.

That's all I can say.

 

[class]

Exactly Kev, the guard of honour Maher got at the Bournemuff game was a 'goodbye' from the club (at least thats how I interpreted it) and also, did anybody notice Moussa during said presentation??

;) :rolleyes:

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

With Maher going it should free up a hefty chunk of wages for a new player...

:rolleyes:

Yep but not a defender because there is nothing wrong with our defence.

 

[Firestorm]

People here are mentioning Grant a lot, Have I missed something, I thought he was just a loan signing ?

 

[C C Csiders]

I'm gutted. Trully am. I feel about as bad as when Eastwood left.

Maher you are a true legend. I hope your career goes from strength to strength and you show what a bad mistake this is by T&B.

That's all I can say.

Can we now, as a special tribute, look forward to the Kevin Maher mock-up pic. I suggest this as a good starting point:

 

[Upminster Blue]

I'm quite frankly shocked and appalled. I can only imagine this is driven by off the field issues which The General eludes to.

A huge decision by Tilson, especially with McCormack suspended. If it all goes belly up in the next two games because of a lack of midfield it will be season over and Tilly will no doubt be in for a lot of stick.

Best of luck Kev at the Gills, without doubt a true SUFC legend and the passing of an era.

 

[The General]

Exactly Kev, the guard of honour Maher got at the Bournemuff game was a 'goodbye' from the club (at least thats how I interpreted it) and also, did anybody notice Moussa during said presentation??

;) :rolleyes:

You will get a flood of PM's now as u seemingly know too Bill!

:D

 

[sufcintheprem]

He's not been as good this season as last season but at a time where McCormack's form has fallen away, we've got to take a punt on a youngster to fill the role. Good news for Moussa really as Grant seems likely to get suspended more than he plays.

From a team selection point of view, there are better players in his position now.

However, we now have one player in the first team plans who is over thirty and frankly, Tommy Black's influence on games is more akin to a 21 year old's. A team short on experience gets rid of a player with more than anyone else.

On top of that, our captain, wholehearted as he is, seems to do no more now he's captain than before.

I still think that we don't have enough experience to guide us through tough games and in to promotion contention and really don't expect too much from this season now. I hope Moussa is given plenty of pitch time though as a run-in when in contention for the playoffs would be invaluable to any young player.

 

[derek duvall]

i'd be more upset if true blue left the club as previously theatened, he dances better than maher plays football.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

He's not been as good this season as last season but at a time where McCormack's form has fallen away, we've got to take a punt on a youngster to fill the role. Good news for Moussa really as Grant seems likely to get suspended more than he plays.

From a team selection point of view, there are better players in his position now.

However, we now have one player in the first team plans who is over thirty and frankly, Tommy Black's influence on games is more akin to a 21 year old's. A team short on experience gets rid of a player with more than anyone else.

On top of that, our captain, wholehearted as he is, seems to do no more now he's captain than before.

I still think that we don't have enough experience to guide us through tough games and in to promotion contention and really don't expect too much from this season now. I hope Moussa is given plenty of pitch time though as a run-in when in contention for the playoffs would be invaluable to any young player.

A very good point about the lack of experience.

However, I think we lacked experience last season (and we had the experienced Lead Bradbury around then as well) when Maher was still an integral part of the team. How much of Maher's experience does he pass on? He seems to reserve most of his talking for the referee rather than for team-mates.

ps Tommy Black is 28, not 30. He's also started fewer games than Nicky Bailey

 

[mattytheshrimper]

and also, did anybody notice Moussa during said presentation??

;) :rolleyes:

what was he doing? i got to the game late and missed this

 

[londonblue]

My preoccupation is with the first team. Tilly and Brush decided some time ago that our strongest team was one with Bailey and McCormack in. What has changed is that over the last couple of months they have now decided that Grant and/or Moussa offer a better option on the bench. Maher is no longer considered to be in our strongest XVI, not just strongest XI.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but you believed T&B were wrong to play him even when he was playing well? So how come you now believe they are right to a) drop him from the team, and b) drop him from the squad?

OK, Maher was here for a decade, but how long do you pay him to not contribute? He is one of our highest earners. Does he get a month of taking it easy in the reserves for every year of service? We've already offered him a substantial pay-day with the offer of a testimonial.

We haven't offered him a testimonial. After 10 years with the same club he has the right to one.

Thurgood was released years ago. He was released despite not being given nearly as much time as Maher was to come good. He isn't relevant to this discussion.

Maher didn't need time to "come good". He was always good. He was by far and away the best player in what was an appalling team.

It is now a question of whether Maher is better than Bailey, McCormack, Moussa and Grant. I think most of us were agreed that he wasn't better than Bailey and McCormack. Moussa certainly offers more for the future than an aged Maher, and Grant is an unknown quantity.

Speak for yourself, but I still believe Maher is better than Macca. Macca has a bit of the Thurgood's about him, i.e. he runs around like a headless chicken at times waiting to put in a "challenge". As I pointed out after the last home game, it was Macca that completely lost his man for Bournemouth's goal. I don't remember Maher ever doing that.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

nice of the club to actually announce something so we know whats going on. still nothing on OS

 

[bishmania]

we now have one player in the first team plans who is over thirty and frankly, Tommy Black's influence on games is more akin to a 21 year old's.

Tommy is only 28(!)

Plus, our oldest players are now only 29 (Flavs and Gower)

There's some statting for you(!) :flamer:

 

[SUFC Forever]

Still nothing on the official site at almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Disgraceful.

A sad way for Kev's career to (seemingly) finish at Southend but the time is undoubtedly right for him to move on now I feel.

Does anybody truly know the truth of these off the field shananighans that have allegedly led to this decision being taken?

 

[Boreham Shrimper]

nice of the club to actually announce something so we know whats going on. still nothing on OS

Part of me makes me think that maybe the club are thinking that this is a good week to bury bad news and that maybe they were hoping for this move to be announced at the same time as (or soon after) the stadium decision. However, if that was the case, now that it has come out in the Echo, surely it's time to announce it officially on the club website?

 

[RootsHallRush2]

If you think of Foran/Gower you are on the right track!

 

[BoyWonder2]

I'm absolutely gutted about this, but it has been on the cards for a while, if you are to believe what some people have been saying about him.

Maher has been a fantastic servant to the club, and has turned down a couple of offers in the past (Orient, Hull & apparently Sheff Wed) to stay at the Club. I doubt we will see that sort of loyalty ever again at our Club. For example, I reckon if we don't go up Bailey may well end up at a Championship club, as opposed to sticking with us and try to get the Club up. This isn't having ago at Bailey, but his probably the only one that could get offers if we don't go up.

For a long time, if Maher played well, the team played well. This stopped when we originally got Macca in on loan when Maher was suspended for two games and we won them both 3-0. Maher has been the heartbeat of the team for a long, long time, and I think the reason we have struggled at time this season is because of the team getting used to Macca and Bailey instead of Maher plus one.

His range of passing is the best I've seen at the club, he has assisted many goals as well as scoring some important ones. His led the Club through our most successful period, and was one of the few who could hold his head high from last season.

I will be there at Mahers' testimonial, hopefully at the new ground, to show my thanks to a Southend United LEGEND.

All the best in the future Kev, I will certainly miss you!

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Thurgood was released years ago. He was released despite not being given nearly as much time as Maher was to come good. He isn't relevant to this discussion.

He was only relevant given that he will be Maher's partner at Gillingham, and that you alluded to the fact that Thurgood "could do Maher's running for him". Thurgood can run until the cows come home, but he'll never be in Maher's class.

How long would you expect an employer to give you if you weren't performing? Would you really expect to be retained if you didn't contribute at all in two months?

No comment!

:finger:

* * * *

I'm just intrigued at the fact that:

(a) despite Maher being one of our classiest performers in the Championship last season, you (and indeed Tilly) have deemed him surplus to requirements.

(b) everyone must go to training sessions at B&L, since you're all completely up to date about how Kev is playing now.

(c) you in particular, YB, are always at pains to point out how entries in the club's history books and the club's traditions are paramount. I recall, for instance, how in 2005-06, you were insistent that you would far prefer for us to win the League One title and get relegated the following season than "do a Col Ewe", by finishing second, but staying up for an extra year - on the basis that they could never take the L1 Title away from us. Dare I suggest that there's a touch of sentimentality there? After all, which club is going to have the more lucrative season this year, thereby helping to secure its long-term future (if we were to take a ruthlessly pragmatic view of football).

Yet, when it comes to a player who has been a lynchpin of the club for a decade, we can chuck him out with yesterday's newspapers the minute he becomes surplus to requirements....?

Football and sentimentality go hand in glove. Why then are we not permitted to be a bit shocked about the departure of one of this club's most dedicated servants in recent years - especially without the benefit of having said goodbye to him properly, after a competitive fixture (rather than a testimonial)?

:confused:

Matt