Recruitment

[Barling Magna]

I agreed as I played for an non league team in the past, when I was surrounded with players that are not fit & not good enough, it’s can be demoralising. That what happen with SUFC right now, I bet the like of Hobson, Ralph, Murphy, Bridge, Brunt & Dalby want the rubbish to be cleared off and get better players in alongside them!

I agree, but I was one of those rubbish players in my team and I was quite embarrassed most if the time but they kept asking me to play so I did, even when I said I'd rather not they pleaded with me and then gave me an earful when I was c r a p ......this is many years ago of course when shin pads were like cricket pads.

Remember Akinola pleaded to come off but was forced to stay on....

 

[Jai]

We may find that one or two improvements in key areas that will help the shape and balance of the team might be enough. There is absolutely no doubt there are at least a couple of players out there who are playing below their best due to playing in unfamiliar roles or alongside players who don't bring the best out in them.

Shifting a load out and bringing a load in, is not only improbably given our financial position, but may not even be necessary.

A rising tide lifts all boats. Ryan Leonard for example made an awful lot of players around him look better than they actually were. We got lucky for a few months with a fully fit Yearwood, but once he got injured and lost form etc we fell fast. Find the right player in a key role like that, and you might find the likes of Ogogo, Dunne, Demetriou etc suddenly look a lot more accomplished.

The constant squad churn with new managers is part of the reason we're in this mess.

 

[OldBlueLady]

We may find that one or two improvements in key areas that will help the shape and balance of the team might be enough. There is absolutely no doubt there are at least a couple of players out there who are playing below their best due to playing in unfamiliar roles or alongside players who don't bring the best out in them.

Shifting a load out and bringing a load in, is not only improbably given our financial position, but may not even be necessary.

A rising tide lifts all boats. Ryan Leonard for example made an awful lot of players around him look better than they actually were. We got lucky for a few months with a fully fit Yearwood, but once he got injured and lost form etc we fell fast. Find the right player in a key role like that, and you might find the likes of Ogogo, Dunne, Demetriou etc suddenly look a lot more accomplished.

The constant squad churn with new managers is part of the reason we're in this mess.

An attacking CM is key and has been since Woody and Lenny left. It's been the biggest hole to fill and we've not done it since.

 

[kentblues]

An attacking CM is key and has been since Woody and Lenny left. It's been the biggest hole to fill and we've not done it since.

Lenny was a box to box MF- he was as much a defensive midfielder coming back as an attacking one going forward. Combination of great pace and engine. Together with Tims he was able to make 442 work. Can't carry anyone in a two man MF.

 

[CMRandall92]

Can't carry anyone in a two man MF.

This is our biggest issue imo. We don't have a good midfield pairing.

Maybe 5-3-2 isn't the answer, but with the personnel at our disposal it's our best option.

Any two of our lot in CM will be over run by most/all of this league IMO.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

Whilst Anton Robinson is still here, recruitment should just completely stop. He is part a huge problem at the club and led to having dross player after dross player for years now. There's simply no point him recruiting anyone because it'll just be a waste of time and money.

 

[NZamba Legend]

This is our biggest issue imo. We don't have a good midfield pairing.

Maybe 5-3-2 isn't the answer, but with the personnel at our disposal it's our best option.

Any two of our lot in CM will be over run by most/all of this league IMO.

Good point about CM and also what Jai said above. We might want seven new signings but actually (and more realistically) two new players in the right positions can lead to gains / improvements all over the pitch.

You can't build a decent squad in the middle of the season. This year we just need to win enough games to stay up. We accepted relegation too early in the previous two seasons because of RM messing everything up behind the scenes (delays in appointing managers, embargoes etc). This season we have to stay up.

 

[Jai]

This is our biggest issue imo. We don't have a good midfield pairing.

Maybe 5-3-2 isn't the answer, but with the personnel at our disposal it's our best option.

Any two of our lot in CM will be over run by most/all of this league IMO.

Spot on. It's why I get so frustrated with people who keep demanding 4-4-2.

If people want 4 at the back with the squad we have, they have to be prepared to drop Dalby or Murphy.

 

[Shrimpet steve]

I agreed as I played for an non league team in the past, when I was surrounded with players that are not fit & not good enough, it’s can be demoralising. That what happen with SUFC right now, I bet the like of Hobson, Ralph, Murphy, Bridge, Brunt & Dalby want the rubbish to be cleared off and get better players in alongside them!

I think Hobson is one of those that should be gone! Utter useless and I've never seen a pro who cannot control the ball.

 

[Pak66]

Spot on. It's why I get so frustrated with people who keep demanding 4-4-2.

If people want 4 at the back with the squad we have, they have to be prepared to drop Dalby or Murphy.

Sorry? but your greater knowledge has lost me ? Can you expand on your logic process please.

 

[Ricey]

Whilst Anton Robinson is still here, recruitment should just completely stop. He is part a huge problem at the club and led to having dross player after dross player for years now. There's simply no point him recruiting anyone because it'll just be a waste of time and money.

Surely he has to send the reports to Stan to run his eyes over before a decision is made. Rather than managers taking his word as previously the case.

Plus I’d like to think he has been told what direction we want to go and given an opportunity to prove his worth or he’s given the chop.

 

[Shrimpet steve]

O

Good point about CM and also what Jai said above. We might want seven new signings but actually (and more realistically) two new players in the right positions can lead to gains / improvements all over the pitch.

You can't build a decent squad in the middle of the season. This year we just need to win enough games to stay up. We accepted relegation too early in the previous two seasons because of RM messing everything up behind the scenes (delays in appointing managers, embargoes etc). This season we have to stay up.

We either build a new squad or we are down!

 

[OldBlueLady]

Surely he has to send the reports to Stan to run his eyes over before a decision is made. Rather than managers taking his word as previously the case.

Plus I’d like to think he has been told what direction we want to go and given an opportunity to prove his worth or he’s given the chop.

I think both Kev and Tom spoke about Anton last night, they don't seem to have a problem, which would suggest that the recruitment issues were elsewhere.

 

[Jai]

Sorry? but your greater knowledge has lost me ? Can you expand on your logic process please.

Certainly. We do not have the midfielders capable of playing in a central midfield two. Firstly, most teams play with three in the middle these days, so we're already at a disadvantage. Secondly, we lack players with the energy and physicality to be able to match most opponents. Playing two in the centre of a 4-4-2 would leave us horrendously exposed. Also you'd have to drop Brunt, he is an attacking midfielder and we don't have someone who could adequately cover him enough for him to be an effective force.

We could try and counter it by playing a 'tucked in' winger on one side, but in reality we don't have anyone who can play that role effectively either and it's a difficult role to play. Carl Pettefer did it with some success but we also had Mark Bentley alongside him and that obviously helped. Also a lot more teams played with two central midfielders rather than three back then.

So, we're left with essentially having to play three central midfielders just to compete. So that means either 4-5-1, or 3-5-2 if you absolutely insist on two strikers. Neither of which are acceptable to supporters because 4-4-2 is what most people grew up on and are comfortable with. However, it's being phased out of the modern game.

The issue is we don't look great in a 3-5-2 either, although it is the formation that probably suits the personnel we have best at this moment in time.

It's why the issue of a dominant central midfielder is so important. It would allow us to break free to try new systems.

 

[rigsby]

Surely he has to send the reports to Stan to run his eyes over before a decision is made. Rather than managers taking his word as previously the case.

Plus I’d like to think he has been told what direction we want to go and given an opportunity to prove his worth or he’s given the chop.

Most fans see the word scout and assume he looks at potential players to sign.

He may just be there to watch the opposition. Every time we play we have scouts from next weeks opposition looking at us..... Well possibly not every team now we are in the NL.

 

[fredheim_holm]

It's why the issue of a dominant central midfielder is so important. It would allow us to break free to try new systems.

The talk of a dominant central midfielder, that should be Ogogo when fit right? I went to the Kings Lynn match but not since, have people written him off or are we still waiting to see once fit?

 

[Pak66]

Certainly. We do not have the midfielders capable of playing in a central midfield two. Firstly, most teams play with three in the middle these days, so we're already at a disadvantage. Secondly, we lack players with the energy and physicality to be able to match most opponents. Playing two in the centre of a 4-4-2 would leave us horrendously exposed. Also you'd have to drop Brunt, he is an attacking midfielder and we don't have someone who could adequately cover him enough for him to be an effective force.

We could try and counter it by playing a 'tucked in' winger on one side, but in reality we don't have anyone who can play that role effectively either and it's a difficult role to play. Carl Pettefer did it with some success but we also had Mark Bentley alongside him and that obviously helped. Also a lot more teams played with two central midfielders rather than three back then.

So, we're left with essentially having to play three central midfielders just to compete. So that means either 4-5-1, or 3-5-2 if you absolutely insist on two strikers. Neither of which are acceptable to supporters because 4-4-2 is what most people grew up on and are comfortable with. However, it's being phased out of the modern game.

The issue is we don't look great in a 3-5-2 either, although it is the formation that probably suits the personnel we have best at this moment in time.

It's why the issue of a dominant central midfielder is so important. It would allow us to break free to try new systems.

And there was me thinking football is a simple game!

 

[hlane17]

The talk of a dominant central midfielder, that should be Ogogo when fit right? I went to the Kings Lynn match but not since, have people written him off or are we still waiting to see once fit?

All I've seen of Ogogo is that he's ill-disciplined, injury prone and lacking the pace to take the game from one end of the pitch to the other. All in all another shocking signing from Brown.

 

[NZamba Legend]

We can't play four at the back because we don't have decent or fit full backs.

We can't play four in midfield because we don't have a strong CM pairing (despite PB giving this areas loads of attention in the summer), plus our wingers are crap and this would mean dropping Brunt (AMC), who may be our best player.

We struggle playing five in midfield because we don't have a fit left sided CB and don't possess any wing-backs, meaning the opposition can just play the ball into wide areas causing our back three to lose shape. Bridge does an okay job as WB, but he's not got the intensity or pace to play as a WB long term (and he would struggle too as a CM too leaving you again with the problem of where do you play one of our 'best ' players).

We have big problems right now. None of our formations are anywhere near convincing.

 

[bluesfansince1952]

Whilst Anton Robinson is still here, recruitment should just completely stop. He is part a huge problem at the club and led to having dross player after dross player for years now. There's simply no point him recruiting anyone because it'll just be a waste of time and money.

Do we know if he has recommended other players that, for whatever reason, have not signed for us?
I have no idea of how good (or bad) he might be but it is quite possible that he has recommended to the club some absolute gems but they were unwilling to sign for us, or, the manager at the time decided not to pursue them.
It may be that so called 'good' players might not be that hard to find. The difficulty might lie in whether we can afford them. or, if they have any interest in playing for Southend.