Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-0 Southport

[fbm]

I agree with that but I think the fans would like to know what the plans are for the stadium ie a timescale. Whether the fan zone will be implemented next season.

It's imperitive to make a return to the EFL but it's a long way for the team to be able to challenge and my worry is that fan numbers will drop off after watching such mediocrity. That will have an adverse effect on finances.

Absolutely. There's no problem with wanting to know the future plans and I'm sure we will... COSU are 80% made up of fans anyway.

But Rome wasn't built in a day and as much as we want to be entertained and do a Wrexham, banging in goals left right and centre whilst winning the league and then taking League 2 by storm, it simply isn't going to happen yet. We have a squad predominantly made up of players coming up from leagues below, some of which were part time, and who played out of their skins last season to achieve what would have been a Play off place if we hadn't been deducted 10 points. Kev said on numerous occasions last season that it was unbelievable what that group of players achieved. I always thought that they were strange comments to make at the time, because it sounded like he was saying they actually aren't as good as the league position suggested. But perhaps that was the case... we haven't been able to sign his primary targets for some time, possibly even ever, and the level of frustration as a coach to try and get the best out of a team when you have been denied the tools to do the job you know needs to be done, and then also to not be paid for months whilst doing it... well, I can only tip my hat to all involved, players, management, staff and say thank you so much for ensuring the club survived. Maher didn't get the freedom of Southend and win NL manager of the year for nothing.

Anyway, to bring this back on topic (sorry Mods!), I'm abroad at the moment but managed to catch the second half of yesterdays game on the radio. Sounded boring and I fell asleep midway through the second half. A mate of mine was at the game and sent me a picture of another one of our mates asleep during the second half in the East blacks. But we're in the last 16, as are Aldershot who won 8-0. I'll take boring if we win the thing at Wembley in May.

 

[WestyReturns]

Really !! You have a very short memory !!

In my opinion yes. Hardly anyone in the team is playing at the level they should at the moment or most of the season. I'd expect at least 4/5 players of any team would be on average at a moment in time. We're getting by recently down to extremely weak opposition. Better opposition will punish us.

 

[Napster]

. The tilly/Eastwood era was the most 'entertaining' period and even then it was often down to one man.

Mark Gower?

 

[fbm]

But football is an entertainment, why would say a family of four spend their dosh at Southend United at the moment, where the food offer is rubbish, the facilities poor and football on the pitch not entertaining?
Many supporters (me included) do not live in Southend so the community aspect is not so important for me/us. Back when we started supporting there was not so many competitors such as indoor play centres, computer/online gaming, indoor ice rinks etc. How does Southend United entice new fans is the question.

The seasons from 2019 to 2023 were the most depressing this club has ever experienced with 2 consecutive relegations, one out of the EFL and a record number of home defeats at Fortress Roots Hall, known as a very difficult place to come to.

Yet here we are with fantastic home attendances and an incredible away following. That's certainly not built on entertainment value.

Attendances may be affected a little bit if we stay in the NL for several seasons, but I don't think we'll ever go back to the dark days of an attendance of 2500 being quite a good one.

I doubt many fans of any club come purely for the entertainment... I mean, what would we moan about? We all hope to win, we hope for an entertaining game... but it's the casual supporter that is likely to not come if it's a bit boring.

It's the hardcore supporters that will carry this club through and we need to make sure the club engage with the kids as much as possible. That's something that RM did very well early on and we have reaped the benefit of that now.

But just to be entertained? Unlikely. Ask yourself why you still come? It's probably for the same reason I do. The club is in your blood... it's like a religion.

Being entertained is a bonus.

 

[Tommy2holes]

The seasons from 2019 to 2023 were the most depressing this club has ever experienced with 2 consecutive relegations, one out of the EFL and a record number of home defeats at Fortress Roots Hall, known as a very difficult place to come to.

Yet here we are with fantastic home attendances and an incredible away following. That's certainly not built on entertainment value.

Attendances may be affected a little bit if we stay in the NL for several seasons, but I don't think we'll ever go back to the dark days of an attendance of 2500 being quite a good one.

I doubt many fans of any club come purely for the entertainment... I mean, what would we moan about? We all hope to win, we hope for an entertaining game... but it's the casual supporter that is likely to not come if it's a bit boring.

It's the hardcore supporters that will carry this club through and we need to make sure the club engage with the kids as much as possible. That's something that RM did very well early on and we have reaped the benefit of that now.

But just to be entertained? Unlikely. Ask yourself why you still come? It's probably for the same reason I do. The club is in your blood... it's like a religion.

Being entertained is a bonus.

I don't think anyone watching National league football expects to be entertained every game. But some games would be nice

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

Totally agree. Kev doesn't know how to get the best out of what he has available.

You were responding to a post that said the 4-0 against Ebsfleet was 'abject'.
What did you have in mind, 10-0? I'm willing to bet had it been that, Zoners would have complained it was because the oppo were useless.
How do you deal with a player like Bonne? Even Bridge lost patience with him yesterday.
I get that we're not effective enough in the final third, but one can see promise in Kendall, and Pepple has come on leaps and bounds. Who do you think is responsible for that?
At this level, the one consistent is inconsistency.
Confidence tends to build from what's achieved on the pitch.
I'm pretty sure coaching and mind games is on the management's agenda.
But once they cross that white line, Kev can have little or no impact.

 

[WestyReturns]

Assume you didn’t see any game last season.

Of course Kev done very well last season. I don't think he's doing well this season though. I also don't have confidence that he is the right man to take us forward long term to get us promoted. I genuinely hope I'm wrong.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

You were responding to a post that said the 4-0 against Ebsfleet was 'abject'.
What did you have in mind, 10-0? I'm willing to bet had it been that, Zoners would have complained it was because the oppo were useless.
How do you deal with a player like Bonne? Even Bridge lost patience with him yesterday.
I get that we're not effective enough in the final third, but one can see promise in Kendall, and Pepple has come on leaps and bounds. Who do you think is responsible for that?
At this level, the one consistent is inconsistency.
Confidence tends to build from what's achieved on the pitch.
I'm pretty sure coaching and mind games is on the management's agenda.
But once they cross that white line, Kev can have little or no impact.

Kev does pick the team. It’s just not happened for Bonne, I’m sure there’s reasons he’s had more game time than Waldron. I personally haven’t seen anything terrible Waldron has done. I guess it’s stuff like that that’s hard to understand when we’re struggling for goals. Likewise Bridge starting and Husin starting when they’ve not exactly been firing on all cylinders.

 

[WestyReturns]

You were responding to a post that said the 4-0 against Ebsfleet was 'abject'.
What did you have in mind, 10-0? I'm willing to bet had it been that, Zoners would have complained it was because the oppo were useless.
How do you deal with a player like Bonne? Even Bridge lost patience with him yesterday.
I get that we're not effective enough in the final third, but one can see promise in Kendall, and Pepple has come on leaps and bounds. Who do you think is responsible for that?
At this level, the one consistent is inconsistency.
Confidence tends to build from what's achieved on the pitch.
I'm pretty sure coaching and mind games is on the management's agenda.
But once they cross that white line, Kev can have little or no impact.

Sorry should of specified that I was in agreement only the last 2 games. Ebbsfleet was good and you can't expect anything more despite Ebbsfleet being woeful.

 

[fbm]

I don't think anyone watching National league football expects to be entertained every game. But some games would be nice

And some are. Just not as many as we would like and certainly not as many as last season. Let's see what the second half of the season brings... we may be pleasantly surprised.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

And some are. Just not as many as we would like and certainly not as many as last season. Let's see what the second half of the season brings... we may be pleasantly surprised.

Hopefully it’s just a case of freshening up, bringing in a few more faces and getting some momentum going. A run of wins would really change the whole narrative. We’re just a little behind where most people expected us to be I think, despite everything.

 

[shrimperjon]

No, it doesn’t make sense. Danny Waldron was signed back in the day when we did DD on a player. Watched several times by different people, spoken to people close to the player about his character etc. DW was the leading scorer in the NLN. He showed a determination to succeed by giving up a lucrative job to come and play for us.
Such moves don’t always work out of course, but in the few times I saw him early on, he looked well up for it.
So he sits on the bench, sometimes not even that, and watches Maestro Bonne. MB was not a player signed under the DD ethos . He was without a club, had not been playing and could not have been watched. He was signed on the basis of a reputation for scoring some years back. Bazzashrimper’s “striker” is not the only one who thinks MB is ******* useless.
It won’t happen, but I would really like to know from KM why Waldron is not being given a chance.

Great post

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

Kev does pick the team. It’s just not happened for Bonne, I’m sure there’s reasons he’s had more game time than Waldron. I personally haven’t seen anything terrible Waldron has done. I guess it’s stuff like that that’s hard to understand when we’re struggling for goals. Likewise Bridge starting and Husin starting when they’ve not exactly been firing on all cylinders.

I'm guessing, and it is a guess, that KM sees things during the week the rest of us don't.
Remember, Waldron was absent for a whole chunk earlier, and maybe those training sprints/5-a-sides have found him wanting?
I read here that during the Braintree win, DW spent more time on his phone than watching the game.
I agree, Walker, when fit, should maybe the man to replace Bridge. The former did well in his one attempt out wide.

 

[Wickford Blue]

I don't disagree with your sentiment, but I think some people don't understand that football is part of the entertainment industry. It is also not cheap to attend, both in money and time! It takes me a complete half day to attend RH. If people don't like what they see, they will either not come again or go elsewhere. How many people ask how good a film or show is before going to it themselves? I honestly can't say I would recommend the entertainment value at Roots Hall currently.
I have supported Southend United for over 5 decades and even I am getting fed up, never mind the prospective life long supporters who may not come back after witnessing us for the first time.
Some on here quote 'be patient, it'll take a few years to get over RM' bla bla bla, BUT I can tell you that many long term supporters like me (and many of those who sit around me) may not have many years left to wait! Have they thought of that!

Mate, trust me I am no spring chicken either but I am a realist and whilst I would love us to be playing free flowing football and scoring 8 goals every week I just think that losing Cardwell completely cocked up the plan for the season and didn't give us enough time to replace him as anyone who was decent had probably gone from the Market.
If we are still in the same position and playing the same this time next year after a proper pre-season and recruitment then I will be asking questions as well!

 

[LBBlue]

As a relatively long distance traveler I chose to witness this fixture from home in the warmth listening to Warren and Paul Clark. The last game I attended (my December game) was Hartlepool. My wife asked me after that if I had a nice day. I replied " I'm glad I went but wish I hadn't".
Being very controversial I'm going to stick up for poor old victimised Macauley. He is the most intelligent footballer that we have. He's done it at a much higher level than this. It's a shame he has not managed to score but he is in a lot of company that really sums up our style or lack of it.

Who else has not scored from open play this season? - Jack Bridge, Noor Husin, James Morton, Moncur and Cav has just 1 against mighty Brentwood. Playing in front of that lot must be soul destroying.

So most of our goals have come from the young and innocent Bim and Oli and the very young at heart Gus ( wasn't his pre match interview at Braintree great). And young Appiah-Forson has had a couple of goals from not many starts.

Paul Clark gets so frustrated with Jack Bridge every commentary. I prefer his explanation of Bonne not getting on the end of Bridge's cross in the first half - the cross was hit and hope and not played into Bonne. No one knows when Bridge is going to cross it so they can't anticipate and make the run they need

He is also hyper critical of the accuracy of our passing. Far too often not played quickly enough or into the right area. Players don't make runs into space and on the rare occasions they do no one is good enough to pass to them. Gus makes runs - he doesn't get picked up and scores, Coker makes runs and gets into goal scoring positions and Bim runs with the ball. Most others will just stand and watch. Bridge never comes in to meet anything from the right.

The highlight yesterday was Kev's ( as others have mentioned) tetchy post match interview. No Kev - we weren't in total control - they could easily have got a lucky equaliser (should have been squared to Proctor in stead of blasted wide).

Fact is we have a lot of bang average non league players and that's what we churn out every week now.

Nice little headline to an article in The Sunday Times today

‘We play winning football at Bromley – 500 passes don’t earn an extra point’​

Saw some clips of them stuffing the Gills 3-0 - getting 6 plus players in to the box when attacking in open play .........

 

[Maroon Blue]

A very dour Southport, typical Jim Bentley team like Morecambe came to spoil. Wily veterans like Nathaniel Knight-Percival, who must be nearing 40, blunted our attack. We had the midfield three I have been wanting and all performed well especially Morton who was my MOTM. His calmness in possession and range of passing was impressive. It was his accurate pick out of KAF who had made a run beyond the strikers which got us the goal and win. If only our midfield would try that more often in games. But having said that the midfield were okay how come we did not create more opportunities? Bim had an off day and was not his usual sharp self and Macauley Bonne did what Macauley Bonne always does, Plenty of endeavour but no end product. I thought Gubbins did well in the central defensive role and Noor looked classy in his short cameo.

Jeacock 7
Taylor 7
Gubbins 7.5
Ralph 7
Wind 6.5
KAF 7.5
Morton 8 MOTM
Coker 7
Bridge 6.5
Pepple 6
Bonne 6

Kendall 6
Husin 6.5
Waldron 5
Miley 5.5

Important outcome, we are in the hat, did not fancy penalties. Hope for a kind draw Monday and a full week to get the illness out of the squad. Need Gus & Golding (if loan extended) back for a Halifax team that have hardly played over the Holiday period. UTB

 

[Shrimp and two veg]

Totally agree about the lack of movement LBblue, very little overlapping or triangles. Mark Gower would never have just "stood" there after making a pass, he'd be progressing further forward to get it back and even made that old crab Maher look like a centre mid Messi
This is how you start pulling defenders around, they dont like shuffling from their positions.
If your only option (if you are Bim for eg) is to try and roll the defender or shoot, or pass the ball to a marked team mate, the defender who is marking Bim is gonna be ALL over him. Pulling shirts and reaching in with legs and pushing backs and shoulders. Now, if there is a runner thats not picked up running towards Bim and demanding the ball, Bim's defender has a decision to make, dive in or stand up.
More give and go please Southend.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

This 'football is entertainment' narrative is such dross. Such a modern football thing.
1982 is the first season I remember, if entertainment was anywhere near my criteria for support then I'm not sure I would have made it past 1985. People moaning about style of play as if they are some sort of pundit, when they actually sound like some entitled brat.....win! not like that! Whaaaaaaa whaaaa entertain me.
Community, coming together, representing my home town, the people you see week in week out, the people you then don't see , there's a game going on and yes it's nice to win, it is rare that in my 40 odd years you get truly entertaining football, even the Webb era of back to back promotions wasn't always entertaining a.lot of target man ball off of Benji and Brett. The tilly/Eastwood era was the most 'entertaining' period and even then it was often down to one man.
Don't let 90 minutes of football ruin a good day out x
Also patience is a virtue....let's be honest we've all shown a ton of that....a little more fellow shrimpers.
Ooh Honorable mention to judas Fry....that was an entertaining team.

Good post.

Last season we scored 70 league goals. The last time we scored more than that was 2011-12. The following season fans helped force out the manager as it was too dull because we were too direct and didn’t pass it around at the back enough. Now the complaint is that we’re not direct enough and pass it about too much. In both cases the manager has been the victim of raised expectations when those expectations were raised by….. their own success.

People need to enjoy the rollercoaster and the contrasts it provides. There have been games I’ve really enjoyed this season (Ebbsfleet, Solihull, Boston, Charlton, Eastleigh, Forest Green) and games I haven’t enjoyed (Hartlepool, Sutton). There have been results I’ve enjoyed (Eastleigh in the FA Cup) moments I’ve enjoyed (a last minute equaliser at Wealdstone) and away trips I’ve enjoyed (York despite the game) and things that make me laugh (the Southport guy falling over). There are some on here who seem to be permanently unhappy. We’ve won three in a row and are three games from Wembley and some still can’t find any enjoyment in that. This is the lot of a Southend fan. It won’t all be wins and it won’t all be sparkling football but it will be variable and there will be ups and downs and hopes of better times ahead. Me, I can’t imagine anything worse than being a Man U, Liverpool or Man City or Chelsea fan. Well other than being a W*** H** fan. Just let the downs make you appreciate the ups. You’ll be happier in the long run. The beauty of football is that whilst it means everything it also means nothing.

Que sera sera…

 

[dannypav]

Just a list of facts and/or observations.

We won 1-0 against a very poor side.
Gubbins stood out.
As previous poster said, we pass and stand still.
No instinct to attack.
Bonne makes some decent runs and the ball is rarely played.

I've kept out of the Maher debate totally as I want him to succeed but if we ignore his status as an ex player and that he managed us through a traumatic takeover period , I don't see many positives.
Yes we need better players but I would have expected improvement in this squad too and I don't see it.

 

[Shrimp and two veg]

Good post.

Last season we scored 70 league goals. The last time we scored more than that was 2011-12. The following season fans helped force out the manager as it was too dull because we were too direct and didn’t pass it around at the back enough. Now the complaint is that we’re not direct enough and pass it about too much. In both cases the manager has been the victim of raised expectations when those expectations were raised by….. their own success.

People need to enjoy the rollercoaster and the contrasts it provides. There have been games I’ve really enjoyed this season (Ebbsfleet, Solihull, Boston, Charlton, Eastleigh, Forest Green) and games I haven’t enjoyed (Hartlepool, Sutton). There have been results I’ve enjoyed (Eastleigh in the FA Cup) moments I’ve enjoyed (a last minute equaliser at Wealdstone) and away trips I’ve enjoyed (York despite the game) and things that make me laugh (the Southport guy falling over). There are some on here who seem to be permanently unhappy. We’ve won three in a row and are three games from Wembley and some still can’t find any enjoyment in that. This is the lot of a Southend fan. It won’t all be wins and it won’t all be sparkling football but it will be variable and there will be ups and downs and hopes of better times ahead. Me, I can’t imagine anything worse than being a Man U, Liverpool or Man City or Chelsea fan. Well other than being a W*** H** fan. Just let the downs make you appreciate the ups. You’ll be happier in the long run. The beauty of football is that whilst it means everything it also means nothing.

Que sera sera…

Excellent post ! I always recite an old passage from a good friend of mine that resides in the East stand... "its never boring being a Shrimper" he came out with that back in 2005.
Youre right there's no drama being a Spurs fan or similar, or West Ham fans wishing for a season's best of 7th place or similar. Enjoy your football, as much as i moan about certain tactics, certain players, i realise that all of them are better than i was lol