Pack up your kilt and **** Off Sturrock

[mattytheshrimper]

Freddie was MOM. Held the ball up well. Good intelligent passes and always a threat.

Can't believe I am reading this. Not one player played well especially not Freddy. He had one chance and that was a free kick, I actually fine it so hard to believe that there are so many people on here saying such things.

I love Freddy of old but Freddy of new is useless.

 

[onceknownasrab]

Well there seems to be a lot of emotion spewing out into posts after last nights debacle. I am of the opinion that PS needs to leave but will acknowledge the effort he put in, particularly when he first arrived. Yes he did put together a squad when left with just four professionals before the start of his first season and yes the last three seasons have seen us have half a chance of promotion and nowhere near relegation. That for me is where the adulation stops. Thank you PS for your contribution but at the end of the day you have been unable to take us that step further and we now need to give the challenge to someone new.

This season started well and with as close to champagne football as we have seen for a long time. Injuries and suspensions forced a change to the side but for me it opened the door to poor selection choices and with it poor tactics. Britt and Tomlin together tore a few new apertures into the rear end of the opposition. When that pairing ceased we had Corr. He produced a few goals and fair performances, largely in the cup, but with him there was a noticeable change of tactics that just do not cut the mustard anymore, even in league 2.

Then there was the return of Mohsni, who I still believe should not be allowed to pull on a Blues shirt after his antics, and the gamble to bring him back became futile. We could not have done any worse as far as results go if PS had played instead of Mohsni so why bother?

Early on when games were going well, PS refused to bring players off, even at 3-0 up, so the subs got beggar all of a look in and the team on the pitch played and played. No wonder they tired and got injured.

Then there is the FE argument. Who knows who is right? One thing quite clear though is that FE has not weakened the side and so could have been given a few chances earlier on and may have had time to find some form.

We saw it in previous seasons. The gaffer has his clique of players and others were frozen out despite the performances crying out for change.

Go now PS and give the mantle to someone/anyone else who can have the chance to turn our fortunes. Whoever comes in cant do any worse than what is being done right now and may just surprise us with improvement.

Thank you PS and goodbye.

 

[Fish]

Personally, I just can't sympathise with the Luggy out brigade. the extent to which the man has had his hands tied behind his back means that his achievements with the team has been nothing short of extraordinary.

If you look at the pattern of this season so far, which has been disappointing, there's a match between the time at which Sturrock's planned for, settled side was all available and fit and playing, and our best run of the season.

To blame Sturrock for injuries and suspensions is ludicrous. Yes, players get injured and suspended and in an ideal world you have to plan for that. However, the financial world at Southend is a lot of things but ideal it certainly isn't. He has worked miracles with the loan market, but whenever you bring new players in, it's not just them that needs to settle into the team, but the team needs to settle around them too. Bring in 3 or 4 newbies in one go (as we have had to do) and it's practically like starting a new season with a new team. Small wonder there's been a jolt in form, even without having to play players massively out of position in addition.

The biggest question mark is over Bil. Did we have to bring him back? Well, in a payroll sense he never left, so, rather than a possible lengthy and costly legal case over whether we should pay Bil if he's not training/playing, creditors would choose to use him over paying someone else to play in his stead. If we've been as close to administration as rumours seem to suggest in recent weeks, playing Bil is actually a financial no-brainer. It's a shame he was such a liability last night.

Sturrock going would be a huge blow, because with our budget and reputation, I strongly doubt we'd be able to get someone with his experience and contacts in to replace him.

 

[chapperzUK]

Whoever comes in cant do any worse than what is being done right now and may just surprise us with improvement.

Firstly, I agree with the majority of what you said and that it is time for change but wanted to point this out. What you are saying is that anyone who comes in isn't expected to make an improvement, but at the same time can't do worse? If we are just going to get rid of Sturrock and bring someone in with the view that we aren't expecting any improvement then what is the point in making the change?

 

[onceknownasrab]

Firstly, I agree with the majority of what you said and that it is time for change but wanted to point this out. What you are saying is that anyone who comes in isn't expected to make an improvement, but at the same time can't do worse? If we are just going to get rid of Sturrock and bring someone in with the view that we aren't expecting any improvement then what is the point in making the change?

Anyone brought in is a risk and an unknown quantity. We do know that what we have is not quite good enough and we know that taking the risk and bringing someone else in is unlikely to make things worse. We would hope for improvement and new blood has more chance of that in my opinion but nothing is guaranteed. All we can say is we lose nothing by changing and may gain much.