Pre-Match Thread Southend United v Walsall FC

[RHB]

And so onto Saturday and the visit of Walsall to Roots Hall. The Saddlers have had a mixed season results wise but they are 9[SUP]th[/SUP] in the table on 53 points and 4 points behind Southend having played one game more. March 17 has seen them beat Chesterfield and Oldham at home and pick up a point away to Charlton before Fleetwood took all three points at the Bescot stadium on Tuesday night. They have scored four and conceded two goals in that run of games

So what will the wily tactician Brown come up with on Saturday as a starting eleven? My guess is this:

Smith
White Ferdinand Inniss Coker
Atkinson Leonard Wordsworth McLaughlin
Ranger Robinson

Which is remarkably similar to last night’s starting eleven. If Thompson and Cox are recovered then maybe they will be back in at the expense of Inniss and Theo, we shall see. Another three points will be very important if we are going to hang onto the shirt tails of the play-off sides and convince ourselves that the play-offs are still a realistic target. Hopefully the style and form we showed against the likes of Scunthorpe and Rochdale will be on offer and if Ranger plays he would be very welcome to open his Roots Hall account. COYB

 

[OldBlueLady]

Cox was only ill so I fully expect him to come back in, probably for Theo. If Thompson is back I would still have him in for Innis in a flash.

My starting line up would be:

Smith
White, Thompson, Ferdinand, Coker
Atkinson, Leonard, Wordsworth, McLaughlin
Cox, Ranger.

 

[Blues4LifeDan]

It will be rather harsh to drop Theo after his pace caused lots of problems and he set up a goal.

 

[OldBlueLady]

It will be rather harsh to drop Theo after his pace caused lots of problems and he set up a goal.

So, you would leave out our top goal scorer?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I do think Wordsworth is an excellent player when on form, but he so clearly isn't - he's had many poor games in a row now. What does he need to do to be dropped / rested? Reports were mixed on Tuesday about him with Clarky saying he worked hard and zone reports disagreeing. I'd be in favour of resting him (to the bench) for this one I think, if Timlin is fit to slot into the centre with Lenny.

p.s. Also, if he plays I'll have to suffer my Dad banging on for 90 minutes about how he's been watching him closely and he's useless :sad:

 

[AndyT]

I do think Wordsworth is an excellent player when on form, but he so clearly isn't - he's had many poor games in a row now. What does he need to do to be dropped / rested? Reports were mixed on Tuesday about him with Clarky saying he worked hard and zone reports disagreeing.

Some 'zone reports, to be fair.

 

[tottenham541]

If we ever needed a win this game is certainly it, I'm going for a 2-1 win.

 

[rigsby]

I went on Tuesday and I would definitely be picking Wordsworth. For the same reason that PB will have to, we don't have anyone who can play the attacking midfield role. I've seen Cox do it and Bridge and we lost both games at home.

All very well saying this player and that should be dropped but you have someone in your squad that will improve things. A couple of crunching Timlin tackles, however entertaining they may be, will not break down the stubborn defences we will see over the next few home games.

Lenny has been great in his positon and the job he does. But the weakest part of his game, by a mile, is his passing/final ball. Wordsworth gives us something back, including set pieces. By the way, on Tuesday he had a free kick in the same positon as the one he scored from at MK Dons. Yet again Mr Coker decides to have ago.....Result scuffed waist high into the wall, as he does with every free-kick. Why PB allows him anywhere near a set piece is beyond me.

 

[AndyT]

Agreed.

This is the muddled thinking England were dogged with for years.

"We can't have Hoddle, Waddle" and so on, in the side, because they're work-rate Isn't up to it.

Football sides need balance. For every Lenny, you need someone who can unlock defences or pop up with a crucial equalizer, even when he's having a bad game and a shocking first half.

Looking at the Coventry highlights, in the very first minute, there's Ranger winning a flick on and McL and Wordy right up there supporting and creating that first chance. More of that, for definite, is needed. Stay on the front foot and kill the games early. We are one of the highest scorers of goals in the first 15 minutes. That's where our run gained momentum. Putting the oppo on the back-foot from the off.

McL is a massive boost for the final 9 games.

'OBL' has the side about spot on, in my view.

Perfectly balanced starting XI.

 

[rigsby]

Agreed.

This is the muddled thinking England were dogged with for years.

"We can't have Hoddle, Waddle" and so on, in the side, because they're work-rate Isn't up to it.

Football sides need balance. For every Lenny, you need someone who can unlock defences or pop up with a crucial equalizer, even when he's having a bad game and a shocking first half.

Looking at the Coventry highlights, in the very first minute, there's Ranger winning a flick on and McL and Wordy right up there supporting and creating that first chance. More of that, for definite, is needed. Stay on the front foot and kill the games early. We are one of the highest scorers of goals in the first 15 minutes. That's where our run gained momentum. Putting the oppo on the back-foot from the off.

McL is a massive boost for the final 9 games.

'OBL' has the side about spot on, in my view.

Perfectly balanced starting XI.

That's exactly what they were working on in training. Getting the ball up to Ranger much quicker and more direct. We have good runners in McL, Will and Wordy. You will definitely see more of the same on Saturday.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

If we ever needed a win this game is certainly it, I'm going for a 2-1 win.

I remember another "must win" game against Warsaw when we were facing relegation to Division 4. :sad:

 

[Barry.C]

I went on Tuesday and I would definitely be picking Wordsworth. For the same reason that PB will have to, we don't have anyone who can play the attacking midfield role. I've seen Cox do it and Bridge and we lost both games at home.

All very well saying this player and that should be dropped but you have someone in your squad that will improve things. A couple of crunching Timlin tackles, however entertaining they may be, will not break down the stubborn defences we will see over the next few home games.

Lenny has been great in his positon and the job he does. But the weakest part of his game, by a mile, is his passing/final ball. Wordsworth gives us something back, including set pieces. By the way, on Tuesday he had a free kick in the same positon as the one he scored from at MK Dons. Yet again Mr Coker decides to have ago.....Result scuffed waist high into the wall, as he does with every free-kick. Why PB allows him anywhere near a set piece is beyond me.

I do get what you are saying there and also agree about the benefits of a waddle/hoddle in your side. On form Woody should always be there. However having watched him recently, turning over the shiny face of this Woody coin presents another picture. Over the past 7 games he has been poor. He did at least put in a shift against Coventry but this was sadly lacking previously. Whilst he does have a languid skill capable of generating that rare pass and indeed goal, he equally puts us in dreadful positions recently where we are under huge pressure and concede. You could argue for every goal poached one is conceded.
In addition we have had a plethora of free kicks, corners and set pieces, many not just down to Coker. Most of these Woody has been very poor on, equally not getting the ball above knee height, His passing at times has also been woeful and deserted him.I have never seen such a carp performance as at Gillingham. Fine to have in the side when on form or we are leading, otherwise currently a liability

 

[danburyshrimper]

Shoot me down if you dare but i would hazard a guess that Wordsworth covered more ground than any other Shrimper at Coventry. If Phil Brown wanted to stop fans moaning at Wordy he should publish the Optima stats coz i reckon he even out ran Will "Forrest Gump" Atkinson !!! Similar to Burnleys George Boyd - who looks "lazy" but regularly tops the league for ground covered every game. Because he's got long limbs he does look "lazy" ... but he did indeed support Ranger far more than recently... Probably because he knew that Big Nile would actually win the ball rather than in the previous few weeks when the oppo's CB would almost certainly win the header , therefore making any midfield sprints pointless.
I cant deny i have been less than impressed by Wordsworths overall contributions over the previous 8 or 9 games , but theres no doubting he is pure quality so im happy for him to start on Saturday in the attacking midfield role of tuesday night.

 

[danburyshrimper]

.........................smith........................
white.....thompson....ferdinand......coker
atkinson....leonard.....wordsworth...mclaughlin
................ranger...cox.............................

throbinson, mcglashan, demetriou, timlin, amos, fortune, bishop

Robinson was excellent at Coventry so to start if Coxy is till not 100% , But feel for home matches Coxys extra guile + cunning is essential in opening up a stubborn defence. Away from home Theo's pace gives him the edge for me.

If Thommo is not fit then i d rather go for Demetriou or ONeill and switch White to CB instead of bringing in Inniss .

Walsall play fancy dan tippy tappy footy so would not hesitate to bed Amos in this game if Lennys hammys tighten. All the football Amos has played is U21 tippy tappy stuff so he will feel well at home.

Get Ranger firing like he was on Tuesday + he will torment the Saddlers back line. Get Woody up there supporting him + keep giving the ball to McLaughlin + let him weave his magic.

Southend to win 2-1

 

[AndyT]

Erhun Oztumer is their guy to watch. Scoring loads of quality goals from midfield.

If Lenny can do a job, like he did on Josh Morris the other week, then I think we can over-run them.

 

[Harry Bullocks]

If Walsall are a "fancy dan" team, dilemma for PB , play speed with guile = Demetriou, or, wise old sage = White.
Innis or Thompson in the CB pairing for me, with Ferdinand.

 

[AndyT]

Be interesting to see whether Demi plays on Saturday, being his old club and that.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

I didn't go to Coventry and therefore didn't see Robinson excel .......... but I'm going to put my toe in the water and say that I have yet to be won over by him. I did see Robinson at Bristol Rovers and my view was that he wasn't great (although many have said differently) but then Robinson was being asked to play out wide - surely that is not his strength. Playing Robinson as part of a two man strike force may be different.

Anyway, the long and short of it is that I would go with the team suggested by Old Blue Rinse Woman - that is, to put Cox back into the starting XI.

 

[Zeuss]

Play a 5-3-2 formation and field 10 of our 11 best players (Oxley is injured):

Smith
Demetriou Thompson Innis Ferdinand Coker
Wordsworth Leonard McLaughlin
Ranger Cox

subs:Bishop,White,O'Neill,Amos,Fortune',Robinson and Mooney/McGlashan*
*depending on Cox's fitness.
Incredibly adding to my * we'd still have 6 more decent subs to make up another bench:
Bexon,Matsuzurka,Kyprianu,Atkinson,Bridge,Nouble

 

[Zeuss]

And I forgot Hines!I didn't forget Jason Williams!
If Brown can't fashion a decent team out of so many,some extremely good players.....