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Matt Harrold - Why all the slating?

Once people have formed an opinion about a player it takes an awful lot to change their mind - THAT'S human nature. Harrold was being ridiculed, and I use the advisedly, before he had even signed. And it only takes the vocal few to make a lot of noise and sound like more than there is. When there was a poll about Harrold on SZ, the majority didn't think him a good player - but it was a very slim majority, certainly not the overwhelming view of him that you imagine.

http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/showthread.php?t=32567&highlight=Harrold

Further more, just because a majority of fans hold an opinion doesn't automatically make them correct. The statistics this season suggest that having Matt in the team improves our results and numbers of goals scored - but this is always ignored because it doesn't suit people to consider the facts in emotive arguements. That's human nature too.

More to the point, let's look at Adam Barrett. He can do no wrong in most peoples' eyes, and yet he was at fault for Oldham's goal, and was again at fault for Dagenham's second yesterday, regardless of whether or not it was a foul.
 
Originally Posted by fbm
There was an incident in the first half where Macdonald chased a lost cause down into the North East corner. He won the ball, held off the defenders and put over a cross. Harrold was still 5 yards outside the penalty area and had made no attempt to get into the box. That was very poor.

I remember that. However, what you're ignoring is that it started from us defending a set piece in our own area. Harrold was in our six yard box and Charlie Mac was on the half way line. It's not really a surprise MacDonald had to hold the ball up. More to the point, Harrold was the first player to get within touching distance of Charlie, so give him some credit for being the only player to make an effort.

Well said London. Dont matter what Harrold does, he will always be blamed whenever something goes wrong by these fans who are always looking for a scapegoat.

Leon missed an OPEN goal against Oldham which may have given us a point. No one seemed to care. Hooper had a chance from 6 yards against Bristol R which he hit straight at the keeper, but he didnt get slated. Peter Clarke reguarlarly puts us into trouble when he completely mis judges balls coming into the box, and even more regularly gives away possession with his pointless fouls, but he is hero worshipped by some.
Harrold should leave for his own benefit as he is judged by too many fans on "he's a striker who hasnt scored again" theory. Blimey, if these people applied the same rules to defenders conceding goals, our back four would have been sacked weeks ago.
 
Harrold hasnt been treated fairly overall and I agree with many comments above that he gets slated for things others get away with.

Saying that I really dont think he had a good game Saturday, didnt get hold of the ball enough and didnt get in good enough positions.

He isnt as bad as many make him but if Fallon signs I cant see him staying to be honest.
 
Harrold is decent enough at holding the ball up. He is not an out and out striker. Face it.

Exactly. He's very strong, holds the ball up well, and brings others into the game. What he lacks is any scoring instinct. He's by no means the finished article, but he's a damn sight better than some people make out.
 
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Exactly. He's very strong, holds the ball up well, and brings others into the game. What he lacks in any scoring instinct. He's by no means the finished article, but he's a damn sight better than some people make out.

People are moaning about him not scoring goals. If he had played against Rovers we may have won. Dont like him as a scorer but he a tall player who can flick the ball on and we need someone like that for us. Its a great double act that has been tried and tested and works for most teams.

Eg Hesky Owen, Harrold McD
 
was it a coincidence that harrold comes back and we score five, I not his biggest fan but he does do some good for the team, he occasionaly holds the ball up well and brings others into the game, and one corner we were defending in the first half he deffo stopped them scoring from, as mentioned by others on here other players like Peter Clarke who in my opinion the worst player we have is just a feckin liability, even sir adam barrett is well out of sorts at the mo yet no one seems too bothered by this.
 
I think the hard done by act some people are doing on behalf of Harrold is a little too much IMO. Yes, he has had some negative comments from the fans, but not nearly as many as a striker with his scoring record and limited ability may expect from other fans - certainly, his treatment is nowhere near as bas as what Paynter's was!!

I agree with everything Biffo has said on this post, I think to say that people on here, or generally at Roots Hall do not understand his role in the team is a bit patronising, and I don't think there is any room for football snobbery on here.

I am, as are most, entirely aware of his role in the team. He is a so called 'target man', who is in the side to hold the ball up, bring in other players, help create either space or chances for other's and to SCORE GOALS!!

Be it target man or out and out poacher, he is still a centre forward, and the role of any centre forward is to score goals, no matter what sub title you choose to give him.

To be honest with you, I am not even sure we signed him for the alleged target man role, I think that term is now almost used as an excuse for a striker who cannot find the back of the net. There was no mention by Tilly of signing him as a target man, but as a striker.

I don't hold with this theory that he will get abuse no matter what he does either, players receive vocal criticism for something they are not doing right, and on the whole, this applies to every player. I do not believe that our fan base decided upon some kind of witch hunt to hound Matt Harrold out of the club - that is simply too far fetched. He has been given EVERY chance by the management to prove himself, and as I said before, I genuinely think the fans have been patient with him, but IMO he is still not producing the goods.

From where I am, the disharmony stems purely from a footballing point of view - No one has ever suggested he doesn't care, or that he doesn't show enough effort, and I am sure he is a perfectly decent human being, I just expect to be seeing better players in my team for the money I am paying to watch - simple as that. You could argue that it has nothing to do with Harrold, but it is down to Tilly for playing him, and so perhaps the level of criticism should be aimed at him?

There have been statistics banded around showing that he is our top provider, and no doubt, there will be something saying we score a high ratio of goals when he is in the team - but the old saying lies, damn lies and statistics is a valuid one. There are a lot of factors which statistics do not take into consideration, e.g. level of opposition, current form of the team etc, etc, and so as Biffo said, I will stick to the tried and trusted measure of basing my view on what I see in front of me each week.

Another point someone raised was the level of unhappiness on here when it was announced he would be signing for us. I think everyone on here and at Roots Hall gave him a fair crack of the whip, despite our reservations. The problem was, he was just as limited in footballing ability as a lot of people pointed out he would be before he signed.

The final point I would like to make is about majority opinion not always being right. That is certainly true on occasion, but the majority of Southend United fans do not rate him, and would rather see other players playing in his position - we havent suddenly all got together and thought lets pick on him, it is based on weeks and weeks of witnessing performances, just as the Yeovil fans did. Now football is a game of opinion, but if the majority of the Southend fans don't rate him, AND the majority of the Yeovil fans don't rate him, is it at all possible that perhaps he isn't as effective as the minority think he is?
 
When we lost Goater, we lost such a great player at holding the ball up , making space ,bringing in other players , scoring goals , winning headers , defending set pieces and having the fear factor he put in teams when his name was on the score sheet .

Tilly has to take massive credit for getting him at the hall, but then to replace him with a Rookie like Harrold was only gonna end in one scenario , and it definatly was the wrong choice.
Harrold is actually a fairly good player but he simply is no where near the mark that Goater set , and our fans have taken it out on him , rightly or wrongly and i feel that he would be best to move on to another club as he will always be remembered as a bit of a donkey because of it .

I feel sorry for the lad but i honestly can't see him winning our crowd over and for the sake of his career he should start afresh somewhere else where the expectation level was not as high as ours.
 
I don't hold with this theory that he will get abuse no matter what he does either, players receive vocal criticism for something they are not doing right, and on the whole, this applies to every player. I do not believe that our fan base decided upon some kind of witch hunt to hound Matt Harrold out of the club - that is simply too far fetched. He has been given EVERY chance by the management to prove himself, and as I said before, I genuinely think the fans have been patient with him, but IMO he is still not producing the goods.

You must be kidding - I've barely seen so much skepticism towards a new signing

Harrold looking set to move
 
I know Shrewsbury were mentioned on here as being interested, well, apparently according to the Sky Transfer Centre, they've been knocked back by another striker they were after from Accrington. They'd bid £75k for him, so maybe, just maybe, they might be coming calling for Harrold after all.
 
is it at all possible that perhaps he isn't as effective as the minority think he is?
Quite probably but with the players we have at the moment perhaps the minority think he is currently the best option to partner McDonald.
Have you a better one? please dont say Hooper.
 
When we lost Goater, we lost such a great player at holding the ball up , making space ,bringing in other players , scoring goals , winning headers , defending set pieces and having the fear factor he put in teams when his name was on the score sheet .

Tilly has to take massive credit for getting him at the hall, but then to replace him with a Rookie like Harrold was only gonna end in one scenario , and it definatly was the wrong choice.
Harrold is actually a fairly good player but he simply is no where near the mark that Goater set , and our fans have taken it out on him , rightly or wrongly and i feel that he would be best to move on to another club as he will always be remembered as a bit of a donkey because of it .

I feel sorry for the lad but i honestly can't see him winning our crowd over and for the sake of his career he should start afresh somewhere else where the expectation level was not as high as ours.

But Goater took a huge amount of stick during his season here, both on this board and at matches. And it all happened in his middle months at the club when he stopped scoring goals and suddenly became a lazy old ******* who should have retired years ago and was milking the club for thousands of pounds every week. All the threads are still here.

Richard_Cadette raises some interesting points and it's hard to argue with some of what he says. Matt Harrold doesn't score enough goals, which is probably why Tilly has shunted him into the targetman position when last year he was mainly used as an impact sub to get in the box and try to get on the end of things. I'd happily see a better player than him in that position but we've all seen this season that we hoof the ball forward a lot now and Matt Harrold is the best player we've got at deadling with that sort of ball and when he's not there we've either had to strangle the natural game of our best striker at the time (Leon Clarke) or ask a midget striker (Charlie MacDonald) to flick the ball on or hold it up which he isn't physically capable of doing.

It's a question of both tactics and team selection and both of those responsibilities lie with Steve Tilson and not with Matt Harrold.
 
are you 'in the know' then?

If you pop down to Kingswood gym where he reguarly trains you can ask him your self. Also I might like to say about his commitment for the club. On Sunday morning on his day off, after playing on Saturday he was working out in the gym with Steve Collis, putting in the extra effor that some others dont.
 

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