Subbing Sawyer off?? Bad decision!!

[SUFC.Scotty.B]

i agree he was probably one of our best players, if not our best player saturday, but tilson needed to sure up the defence after the red card...
christophe is a holding midfielder and in that case he would be like an extra defender at times...

revell looked impressive and his work rate was superb and he actually has some speed .
Lee Barnard...he worked himself into the ground again he chases every ball and gives 100% each match...and his work rate is normally rewarded with a goal

UTB

 

[The General]

Dave,

See post 12 on this thread ...

 

[haveaguiness]

ive come to terms with the fact sawyer was subbed now although i still think it was the wrong choice, but i just want to know what everyone thought his midfield replacement gave us instead of sawyer. don't get me wrong i'm a big fan of macca, but to bring him on in those circumstances was strange to say the least. he is still off the pace and to bring him on against a passing team, he just looked completely non existent. then to give away a ridiculous free kick on the edge of the area with seconds to go and get booked for dissent doesn't seem like an inspired substitution to me.

and before you all start trying to pick away at the facts i know macca didnt come on for sawyer but he did take his position in the middle of the park.

personally i would have taken barney off and used revell to hold the ball up for the supporting sawyer. that way every time the ball was cleared it wouldn't just have kept coming back like it did. not only is sawyer the best passer in the team but probably one of the best runners with the ball, exactly the type of player you need on the pitch when you are trying to keep the ball.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Macca can play a defensive type midfield role, but just don't think Sawyer can, simple as that really.

 

[Jam_Man]

don't get me wrong i'm a big fan of macca, but to bring him on in those circumstances was strange to say the least. .

Not in the slightest.

He is our most aggressive players and when you are down to 10 men thats exactly what you want in the middle of the pitch.

 

[londonblue]

I would have even put Sawyer up front with Barnard, and brought Macca on for Revell. Then Macca could have dropped back to help out when needed.

I think the fact that you have an American Football helmet as your avatar shows what you know about proper football!

I think that statement just re-inforced it...

 

[David Icke]

Sankofa had to come on as we were a defender down.

Just felt that having seen Sankofa in the reserves a few times there was no way he was going to do a job for us in that situation, with that amount of time to go. In fact it was obvious and Tilly should have known this. In fact it reflects a whole deeper and more worrying aspect of the team in that after many many months we are no closer whtsoever to resolving any kind of half way decent cover for the back four and if it is not sorted quickly then we will not be challeging for the play off spots. We could be if management would sort the problem and therfore we are being let down. Barrett could have moved left and revell could have moved into the centre with macca close.

 

[haveaguiness]

Not in the slightest.

He is our most aggressive players and when you are down to 10 men thats exactly what you want in the middle of the pitch.

if you read the rest of the post you would have seen why i said it. so what if he's aggressive the point was that because he is not match fit he was just a by stander in the middle, and the closest he got to them was giving a free kick away on the edge of our penalty area. i also dont agree that you need aggressive players when you are down to 10 men, what you need is players that can work and cover every blade of grass, but can also keep the ball, which was why such displeasure was shown when our best player at all 3 of those points gets taken off.

 

[Beefy]

Just felt that having seen Sankofa in the reserves a few times there was no way he was going to do a job for us in that situation, with that amount of time to go. In fact it was obvious and Tilly should have known this. In fact it reflects a whole deeper and more worrying aspect of the team in that after many many months we are no closer whtsoever to resolving any kind of half way decent cover for the back four and if it is not sorted quickly then we will not be challeging for the play off spots. We could be if management would sort the problem and therfore we are being let down. Barrett could have moved left and revell could have moved into the centre with macca close.

You're saying that there's no way that he could do a job in that situation but he DID do a job in that situation and he did it well.

I agree that we're shockingly light in terms of defensive options and I don't happen to think that Sankofa is the answer at all, but he did everything asked of him on saturday when he came on and, frankly, looked a much safer bet than our right-back did.

 

[Blue Streak]

Interestingly Sawyer was replaced by Macca at the Orient game and both got a standing ovation and nobody boo'd or barracked Tilly on that occassion. That could have happened on Saturday too.
OK so we had just taken a 3-0 lead against Orient and the game was in the bag but I think the fickle booing could have been prevented on saturday IF tilly had made exactly that same like-for-like substitution on saturday instead of a Midfielder off and a Defender on. At that point in the game Stockport had started to carve ways through our midfield and to weaken it, albeit temporary, by reducing our midfield was naive. The first substitution should have clearly been a defender on for a forward, thus showing the fans what Tilly wanted to achieve from the outset. Avoid conceding a goal.
I too think Tilly got it strategically and tactically correct in the end but the hesitant way he got to that solution was naive and risky in itself. If we freeze the action after the first substitution then what do we have ? 4-3-2. What did we need ? 4-4-1. Up against an improving Stockport that wasnt the formation we needed to adopt. Fickle Fans, indeed no fans, at that point have any idea what Tilly is, or isnt, going to do next so some boo (perhaps subconsciously trying to force Tilly into doing something else). 3 minutes later Tilly corrects this by replacing the gap in Midfield by taking off a forward. (My, my, how powerful fans can be). However that had given the fans 3 minutes to vent their built up frustration (following the sending off) at..... the bench. Needless to say that these fans probably denied that they were the ones booing when Tilly had redeemed himself later.
Obviously another solution to avoiding this behaviour from the fans would have been to make a double substitution, all at once. Fans dont know whether to cheer or boo when that happens. It confuses the fickle booing fans especially. (I knew that Psychology degree would come in useful one day) ;)
I agree that Sawyer was the man to come off. He does seem to fade in the last 15 minutes and we were being forced onto our back foot where a more defensive midfield was needed.
In hindsight, we held on to a very valuable point in a very tight part of the League Table. But had the second substitution not been made and we had lost the game, then perhaps the boo boys would have gone home feeling vindicated.

 

[Sean 2]

Blue Streak,all well put except for one important factor in that Macca hadn't got changed quick enough at that point and Osei had which is why Macca came on for Red Rum.

As i was trying my best to point out at the time to the idiots around me who within Tilly's earshot were caning him!

Let's just say it was an emotional time at that point in the game eh!

 

[South Bank Hank]

From the official site: TILSON EXPLAINS DECISION

Blues chief Steve Tilson has revealed why he took Lee Sawyer off in the closing stages against Stockport County on Saturday.

The United boss substituted the young midfielder and brought on Osei Sankofa following Dan Harding's dismissal in a bid to tighten Southend up.

And, although the decision was greeted with boos by the home supporters, Tilson knows it was the right decision.

"We were down to 10 men and for me it was a no-brainer," said Steve.

"Tactically it was the right thing to do because we wanted to make sure we held on to what we had. We wanted to be nice and solid in there and go to a 4-4-1 formation.

"We needed Osei on at left back and it was actually Alan McCormack who replaced Lee Sawyer, it was just that Macca wasn't ready to come on at the same time.

"The fans are entitled to their own opinions but we got a good point from the game and I think I made the right decision."

 

[JoshC]

Cristophe seems to miss every tackle that he went in for, Sawyer gets goals and is a creative force in the midfield. Him and Macca together would be one of the best central midfields in the league. Didn't think the descision was a right one but Tilly is the boss and its his descision to make.

 

[DEVILS ADVOCATE]

Cristophe seems to miss every tackle that he went in for, Sawyer gets goals and is a creative force in the midfield. Him and Macca together would be one of the best central midfields in the league. Didn't think the descision was a right one but Tilly is the boss and its his descision to make.

Not so sure. Most sucessful teams have a a 'holding midfielder' who sits if front of the defence and an attcking m/f with licence to roam. Whilst Tillys decision was right in the circumstances I just love the way Sawyer seeks to turn every possesion he has into attack and feel it very unlikely him and Macca could work together unless we are desperatly chasing the game.

 

[Jam_Man]

Cristophe seems to miss every tackle that he went in for, Sawyer gets goals and is a creative force in the midfield. Him and Macca together would be one of the best central midfields in the league. Didn't think the descision was a right one but Tilly is the boss and its his descision to make.

You are basing that on us having 11 players.

When down to 10 men I would rather have Christophe (who wins a lot of tackles when Ive seen him) and McCormack.

We wanted to tighten up not be creative and attacking....

 

[Southend_Lady]

How badly does Francis have to play before he is replaced ?

Ha - best post of the whole thread. I echo this. Francis has had a couple of shockers lately.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Blues chief Steve Tilson has revealed why he took Lee Sawyer off in the closing stages against Stockport County on Saturday.

The United boss substituted the young midfielder and brought on Osei Sankofa following Dan Harding's dismissal in a bid to tighten Southend up.

And, although the decision was greeted with boos by the home supporters, Tilson knows it was the right decision.

"We were down to 10 men and for me it was a no-brainer," said Steve.

"Tactically it was the right thing to do because we wanted to make sure we held on to what we had. We wanted to be nice and solid in there and go to a 4-4-1 formation.

"We needed Osei on at left back and it was actually Alan McCormack who replaced Lee Sawyer, it was just that Macca wasn't ready to come on at the same time.

"The fans are entitled to their own opinions but we got a good point from the game and I think I made the right decision."

Yeah whatever Tilson. Don't try to kid on that you're a better football manager than TonyTheKray.

 

[canveyshrimper]

Yeah whatever Tilson. Don't try to kid on that you're a better football manager than TonyTheKray.

Or racing tipster for that matter.