Southend United's fit again forward Neil Harris is fired up for first team return

[Evening Echo]

SOUTHEND United striker Neil Harris is back in full training after recovering from the knee injury which has kept him sidelined since mid-September.

More...

 

[Beefy]

I like Neil but surely he'd be needing a hell of a lot of injuries to occur to the other strikers in the squad for him to even get a look in.

 

[onceknownasrab]

I expect the only criteria involved is which category he comes under in the PS like/dislike book.

 

[Jam_Man]

I think the criteria whether he is better than Britt and Tomlin will be far more important.

Then its down to Corr/Eastwood and as Corr gets the nod for bringing a direct option Id expect him to be in front of Harris as well.

Personally cant see Harris being anything other than about 5th choice now.

 

[Pubey]

I think the criteria whether he is better than Britt and Tomlin will be far more important.

Then its down to Corr/Eastwood and as Corr gets the nod for bringing a direct option Id expect him to be in front of Harris as well.

Personally cant see Harris being anything other than about 5th choice now.

Any idea where Benyon has been the past few weeks?

 

[leeblue]

just to throw in a talking point, we have gone a couple of games without hitting the net, whatever people say about neil he does put the ball in the net

 

[southend4ever]

It's good news for Neil but as per the other comments how does he come back and get in ahead of what we have? He seems a likeable chap based on his column in the Echo so hopefully his return will be a boost for the players. We daren't forget the rough patch we went through after our last 10+ game unbeaten run! Psychological as much as anything!

 

[Gremlin]

It was only a couple of weeks ago that some Zoners had retired Harris off.

 

[Jam_Man]

Any idea where Benyon has been the past few weeks?

Surely lined up for a move ?

 

[Pubey]

Surely lined up for a move ?

My guess as well. I hadn't heard that he was injured and the fact that we had 6 subs at Burton seemed to suggest that he's off.

 

[Davros]

Harris nearing return? I imagine linesmen up and down the country are getting ready to raise that offside flag.

It is an odd scenario that see's probably the two players on the best contracts at the club as 4th and 5th choice strikers

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

An expensive mistake.

 

[hockleyeast1964]

An expensive mistake.

I bet he was instrumental in getting maka in from millwall,He still has a lot of contacts at millwall.That alone was worth 15 points .

 

[united we stand]

He was brillant in the last couple of home games last season, if he can play like that I would be delighted to have him in the side - or as a sub that ges good game time if things are not going to plan

 

[superblue24]

My guess as well. I hadn't heard that he was injured and the fact that we had 6 subs at Burton seemed to suggest that he's off.

We live in hope.

 

[Jai]

To be fair, I haven't seen much from Corr and Eastwood recently that show Harris has a lot to do. Granted Eastwood hasn't had many minutes, but when he did start against Bury he was way off and that shot when he came on against Gills was just embarrassing. Corr did nothing at Burton and missed two sitters on Tuesday.

I've always been one of a minority that likes Harris, his movement off the ball and intelligence is superior to anything we have, which creates space for his strike partner. Eastwood looked decent when playing alongside him last season, and that partnership almost took us up in the end.

 

[Beefy]

I think most people like Harris. That's always the impression I've got. It's just that a fair few of us questioned the wisdom of giving him a three year contract.

 

[onceknownasrab]

Harris has a far greater pedigree than most in our team but of course he is a lot older now and I am sure he accepts his best days are behind him. Having said that its not inconceivable that he can do some sort of job in lg2 still. Probably not for ninety minutes, the same as Corr and Eastwood. That leaves two full game men in Britt and Gav. You could say Benyon too but he appears to have less chance of playing than I would have fitting into my wedding suit after all these years.

My main concern is that we have been well ahead in games this season and instead of using the subs earlier to give them match time PS so often gives them little more than cameo appearances.

Corr has had most time and not been the answer so why not bring Eastwood on earlier and see how that goes? If not FE then Harris or Benyon. None of them will stake a claim with just a handful of minutes here and there.

Britt is first hoice but he is also young and unlikely to be consistent. He has struggled in a number of recent games to be at his best so start him by all means but pull him a little earlier and use the options. The stiffs have next to no games to play in so substitutions need to be shrewder.

We can debate all we like about Corr, Eastwood, Harris and Benyon but its difficult to evaluate a player that is on the pitch for so little time that if a chance does come his way he is not even up to game speed. Strikers are notoriously confidence players and they get precious little of that warming a bench.