Pre-Match Thread Southend United v Aldershot Town, Tuesday 18th February, 20:00 (k.o delayed), NL

[Shrimpergonzo]

The final game of three consecutive home fixtures is against Aldershot Town, under the lights at Roots Hall on Tuesday evening.

The Shots, managed by our former assistant manager Tommy Widdington (still based in Southend, I think), are currently in 19th place in the league and just a point ahead of the final team in the relegation zone (Wealdstone). On current form, they've only lost one of their last 6 games - 2-0 at Eastleigh on Saturday, but they've had a lot of draws in there and have actually only had one win in their last 10 league games.



Other than their gaffer, there don’t appear to be any other players or coaches on their staff with links to the Shrimpers. It is worth noting that Widdrington has one of his sons, Theo, in his squad whilst his other son, Kai, is a professional dancer and a regular on Strictly.

Kev now has a few options to think about with the trio of home games in close succession taking their toll on the pitch and potentially also wanting to rotate the squad to introduce fresh legs.

He could stick with Saturday’s starting XI, rotate back to last Tuesday’s (swapping Walker and Coker), or start with some of those who were subbed on last weekend - Leon Chambers-Parillon and Macauley Bonne potentially being top of the list to be on from the beginning of the game.

So who would you choose to face The Shots under the lights, and what do you predict the result will be?

 

[tommy tucker]

This thread is now open for business

leon should be given his first start and bonne along side hooper and walker The rest of the side as was sat .

 

[GBJ]

We shouldn’t take their position in the league too lightly, they’ve managed to take points from FGR, Oldham and Gateshead on their travels this season.

That being said I will go for our customary 2-0 Tuesday night win.

 

[Leeboy]

leon should be given his first start and bonne along side hooper

do you print away shirts?

lol

 

[RHB]

I'd be surprised if Chambers-Parillon starts. The last thing we want to do is help him to pick up a big injury by starting him too early. We employ football professionals to manage our players and they are best placed to decide when he is ready. As for the game itself, I would start Hopper again with Bonne being the impact sub. I'm hoping for 3 points and a decent performance. If we manage that it will be 7 points from 3 games, not too shabby.

 

[Mick]

I'd be surprised if Chambers-Parillon starts. The last thing we want to do is help him to pick up a big injury by starting him too early. We employ football professionals to manage our players and they are best placed to decide when he is ready. As for the game itself, I would start Hopper again with Bonne being the impact sub. I'm hoping for 3 points and a decent performance. If we manage that it will be 7 points from 3 games, not too shabby.

Has he had an injury he's recovering from then?

 

[palexander]

Has he had an injury he's recovering from then?

He's coming up from part time, need to be careful throwing him in I agree.

 

[palexander]

I'm taking this chance we have a decent squad (in terms of numbers) to rest Taylor. He looked oddly off it Saturday and has put in so much effort, would reward him with a bit of a break.

No point suggesting anything other than 352, so...

Hayes
Goodliffe - Golding - Ralph
GSM - Husin - Morton - Bridge
----------- KAF ----------------
Bonne - Kendall

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Surely we're gonna win this one?

 

[LennySUFC]

The move back to a 352 was to negate the way in which Rochdale play and to stop us from being outdone in the middle of the park. Against Aldershot I'd expect us to move back to the 343 to put pressure on their back line in the same way we did against Fylde and Dagenham.

 

[meerkat54]

If true to form, the games we should win, we lose .
So wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t win.

 

[Barry.C]

Weve noted that their left back has curly hair, wears pink boots and has a good shot on him so will start off with a 3 -5-2, concede an early goal and send on Parillion with 10 minutes to go in a desperate attempt to attempt to level things up

 

[Harry Bullocks]

The move back to a 352 was to negate the way in which Rochdale play and to stop us from being outdone in the middle of the park. Against Aldershot I'd expect us to move back to the 343 to put pressure on their back line in the same way we did against Fylde and Dagenham.

I’m liking your thinking

 

[Lincoln Shrimp]

If Kev is true to his word and wants to manage workload and use the squad effectively then Bonne must come in for Hopper.
I expect Kev to go 3-4-3 for this game with Walker starting ahead of Coker.

 

[GBJ]

Surely we're gonna win this one?

Why surely?

Alder**** have earned some impressive results this season, as I mentioned earlier.

York, Gateshead, Altrincham, Oldham & Forest Green have all dropped points against them. We failed to break them down at their place too. Hey, The Shots even managed a decent result against your favourites, Fulham, recently

On the flip side they’ve been beaten by relegation rivals Daggers, Wealdstone & Fylde, so if we’re classed as a Jekyll and Hyde team, **** knows what that makes them.

Nothing is a given in this league & on their respective days, anyone can beat anyone.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

I'm taking this chance we have a decent squad (in terms of numbers) to rest Taylor. He looked oddly off it Saturday and has put in so much effort, would reward him with a bit of a break.

No point suggesting anything other than 352, so...

Hayes
Goodliffe - Golding - Ralph
GSM - Husin - Morton - Bridge
----------- KAF ----------------
Bonne - Kendall

Not a bad shout re: Taylor - normally so reliable but looked a bit out of sorts on Saturday.

I'd go

Hayes

Golding Goodliffe Ralph

GSM Husin Morton Bridge

LCP

Bonne Kendall

Subs: Jaakkola, Wind, Taylor, KAF, Coker, Hopper, Walker​

 

[Holy Joe]

Didnt the 343 v Halifax convert to a 352 relatively quickly with Walker dropping back?

 

[HertfordshireBlue]

The 3-5-2 worked well against Rochdale but we can’t show the same respect to Aldershot and I would love to get after these with 3 up top. They won’t be able to escape the press as easily - they’re no where near as technically competent as Rochdale.

Would love to see 3-4-3 return.

Hayes

Taylor Goodliffe/Golding Ralph

GSM Morton Husin/LCP Bridge

Walker Bonne Kendall

 

[RHB]

Has he had an injury he's recovering from then?

Nope, but I'm sure you knew that any way, there's not much gets past you.

 

[tallboyblue]

I propose that we go with a new formation of 3-1-2-2-1-1, I don’t think that’s been suggested before

9 -1 would be safer,