Thanks Kev - but is a new manager needed?

[Southend Elvis]

I’m hoping better players equals more goals equals more points. I don’t think we’re dull as such just slow in getting it forward and the quality of balls into the box/finishing has been sub standard. Better players *might* improve this.

Fair enough, but this post tells me that you hope we have a good season, and possibly that could be the difference between 500 or so season ticket holders feeling the same, and not renewing.
We all want success, but things definitely seem as if we're not as excited about next season, as we should be. UTB

 

[Supershrimper]

Serious question. Those that are Maher in. What would it take to change your mind?

Loosing the opening 5 games of the next season or averaging less than 2pts per game over the first 10 games

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Fair enough, but this post tells me that you hope we have a good season, and possibly that could be the difference between 500 or so season ticket holders feeling the same, and not renewing.
We all want success, but things definitely seem as if we're not as excited about next season, as we should be. UTB

I’ll renew mine but yep you’re right. Some won’t. As good a job as COSU have done to improve things people will want to see an instant improvement on the pitch. Like you mentioned, consistently better performances.

 

[CanveyCastle]

Fair enough, but this post tells me that you hope we have a good season, and possibly that could be the difference between 500 or so season ticket holders feeling the same, and not renewing.
We all want success, but things definitely seem as if we're not as excited about next season, as we should be. UTB

I will renew mine as I don't know how many years I have left. I am sure you saw in Morrison's coffee shop yesterday I am bloody old, mate.

 

[Southend Elvis]

I will renew mine as I don't know how many years I have left. I am sure you saw in Morrison's coffee shop yesterday I am bloody old, mate.

Plenty years left in you dear boy, but I wonder how many fences sitters are out there who might not. I'm with you will always from now on, but just want to look forward to the football for once...

 

[Strykr]

I will renew mine as I don't know how many years I have left. I am sure you saw in Morrison's coffee shop yesterday I am bloody old, mate.

Plus its sods law the season you dont renew we find freddy eastwood mk2...

Its the hope that gets ya.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

It really didn't take Mystic Meg to come up with this conclusion towards the start of this tedious season.

Quite ,which is preciely why I made my prediction well in advance;last November IIRC:

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Are you thats the only difference?

No Paul Clark was a wonderful player for us .I was never professional standard.

 

[Strykr]

No Paul Clark was a wonderful player for us .I was never professional standard.

Could sure do with another Clarky now. No nonsense, winner.

 

[GBJ]

That’s what I meant yeah! I’m not suggesting we’d go down etc the team and the management are good enough for that obviously. I can see us having another very similar season.

Maher clearly knows how to set a team up not to lose and keep some clean sheets, I have my doubts over his ability to turn those into wins though.

We need to have a similar season to last season. To do that, we need the right players.

Defensively we’ve been quite good under Maher. Sadly we lost the heart of our defence in August & still haven’t replaced it yet. We got very close with Golding, but again bad luck has seen us lose him.

We have been low scorers during his tenure though & that’s one area we must improve. This season has been terrible in that sense. I don’t think people grasp how badly it affected us losing Cardwell. Trying to replace a player of his calibre was never going to happen overnight. We didn’t have the funds to poach from other teams and anyone worth their salt had already been snatched up.

Same could be said for Pepple. Replacing him has proven a tough ask so far.

And I know these are the same old “excuses”, but does anyone believe that if Cardwell or Pep were still with us, we wouldn’t be sitting higher in the table?

The encouraging thing about this season is that we have very rarely been outplayed. We’re very competitive in games, even if it’s quite blunt at times. For that reason, I’m convinced that Maher should be allowed the unimpeded opportunity to sharpen us up.

The wrong recruitment over the summer, along with our better players leaving or becoming disheartened, could impact on far more than one season. KM has brought players in and despite all of the talk about DD, analysis, players being his choice, he has failed to get a decent, consistent tune out of them.

Agreed the recruitment needs to be spot on.

So far under Kev, the recruitment has been ok. We’ve brought in some cracking players with decent potential & of course some not so cracking ones who we’d all like to see shipped out.

No manager will ever get his recruitment 100% right though.

Poor pre-season, embargo, third choice players, yes we have heard the same stale arguments time and again but, the key issue is whether we believe KM has got the best out of the squad he has. For me that's a no. His most loyal supporters prefer to dwell on 'circumstances' beyond his control and his heroic, even epic stand in the face of adversity. He deserves many an accolade for his playing and managing contribution to this club, that is beyond question,but it does not mean he is the right man to take us further.

You’re right, it doesn’t necessarily mean he is the man to take us forward. He may turn out to be Southend’s version of Churchill.

He has earned his chance to operate without obstruction though, to me at least. I appreciate that isn’t a sentiment that is shared with everyone, but it is my opinion. I’m willing to be patient and see what he can do with a clean slate. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. It might mean another season in this division which I can live with.

The vast majority and on this forum, myself included, would absolutely be chuffed if he were to bring us success. I just do not think he will and I believe he has spurned opportunities to do so already, not least this season in particular.

Again, you may be right. But before I blame him there’s 20-odd players who I’d be looking at first for why we aren’t higher in the table.

The amount of chances we have spurned this season has been criminal. I’ll never forget that Tuesday night game against Fylde where we should have been 5-0 up at HT.

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

First 10-15 games next season being like the last couple of games. Front foot football or a lot will turn IMO. If he doesn’t address some of the attacking issues (pace, power, guile, composure) then he’ll be a sitting duck.

If the first few games next season include a 0-0 draw at home to Braintree, a home defeat to Solihull, conceding a last minute equaliser at Sutton and a defeat at Boston I would say he’ll be in trouble (even if we do beat Oldham 1-0 at home again!)

 

[Wingnut]

I think mahers tactics will work with the correct players ,to many times we can’t break down these teams who sit back ,defo need pace and a few big lumps you never know it might work

 

[Liam AAS]

I think mahers tactics will work with the correct players ,to many times we can’t break down these teams who sit back ,defo need pace and a few big lumps you never know it might work

Teams have also worked out that if they defend deep and are well organised then we are vulnerable on the break and at set pieces.

A lot of people seem to forget that other teams are trying to win games too, they do their research and our flaws are very obvious.

 

[shrimperjon]

Teams have also worked out that if they defend deep and are well organised then we are vulnerable on the break and at set pieces.

A lot of people seem to forget that other teams are trying to win games too, they do their research and our flaws are very obvious.

Yet we continue to play the same way. This is where Kev will need to learn for next season. Whether it be new tactics or new players if we don’t improve on both we will just be on repeat again next season. I love Kev and co and want them to be the ones to succeed but this past few weeks in particular have shown that they may not be the ones to take us forward. God help them if we don’t win tomorrow

 

[bluethroughandthrough]

676 votes so far, over 9000 home fans in the stadium yesterday - I think the apathy and inertia ship might already have left port.

At 7.5% of the total group number it's considered statistically relevant

 

[bluethroughandthrough]

If we had wide men who could cross
Strikers who had just a semblance of being able to score we would be top 4 this season.
Let's have an actual non embargoed summer of transfer dealings addressing these positions.
We have plenty of the ball and work it into good areas often bit it's let down 90% of the time but crap play.
Better players would mean better outcomes. Ask Barnet and York.
Also for evidence closer to home. Put a harry carwell or Pepple up top right now and it's a better outcome.

Maher doesn't play with a formation that allows or enables wide players. Even when we have shifted to a back 4 we name 4 central midfielders. Still no width

 

[leeblue]

This is a prime example of why a lot of the Maher out crowd don’t post! Calling people trolls? Why because your hero Maher has been criticized?

You spout on about what a great man he is and maybe in private he is, but as a general fan with no connections to the club I don’t see much of it, you hear the odd story about what he’s done if you read through the zone if they’re all true, but I haven’t personally seen any of these amazing accomplishments ‘as a man’. So what do you really expect?

I see a bang average manager that massively overachieved last season. He plays unimaginative, slow, boring, predictable football, he has signed a number of players that are questionable at best.
He’s a manager that is constantly screaming and shouting at the 4th official and a manager that turns on fans when he’s not happy.

There seems to be blind loyalty from some fans and whilst loyalty is admirable, for me personally his time has come if we want to move forward. I don’t have any trust he is the correct man to take us into the league above.

What would it take for me to change my mind? I want to watch faster paced football and be entertained when I watch my team! If we’re going to lose or draw, I’d rather do it whilst losing 3-2 or drawing 3-3 than the constant 0-0 and 1-0’s we have this season. As a bonus it would be nice if the respect we’re asked to have for the manager was reciprocated!

Overachieved with a ten point deduction

 

[Liam AAS]

Yet we continue to play the same way. This is where Kev will need to learn for next season. Whether it be new tactics or new players if we don’t improve on both we will just be on repeat again next season. I love Kev and co and want them to be the ones to succeed but this past few weeks in particular have shown that they may not be the ones to take us forward. God help them if we don’t win tomorrow

I agree, it is a failing of management to redress how we play.

We can either rely on individual players or systems to win matches. Both are the responsibility of the management team and we are having success with neither at the moment.

 

[Kris]

This is a prime example of why a lot of the Maher out crowd don’t post! Calling people trolls? Why because your hero Maher has been criticized?

You spout on about what a great man he is and maybe in private he is, but as a general fan with no connections to the club I don’t see much of it, you hear the odd story about what he’s done if you read through the zone if they’re all true, but I haven’t personally seen any of these amazing accomplishments ‘as a man’. So what do you really expect?

I see a bang average manager that massively overachieved last season. He plays unimaginative, slow, boring, predictable football, he has signed a number of players that are questionable at best.
He’s a manager that is constantly screaming and shouting at the 4th official and a manager that turns on fans when he’s not happy.

There seems to be blind loyalty from some fans and whilst loyalty is admirable, for me personally his time has come if we want to move forward. I don’t have any trust he is the correct man to take us into the league above.

What would it take for me to change my mind? I want to watch faster paced football and be entertained when I watch my team! If we’re going to lose or draw, I’d rather do it whilst losing 3-2 or drawing 3-3 than the constant 0-0 and 1-0’s we have this season. As a bonus it would be nice if the respect we’re asked to have for the manager was reciprocated!

In fairness, the poster being quoted has been troll-like and has repeatedly spun facts, even saying that we had regressed last season when we finished 9th, a place down from the season before that even though we would have been 6th without the 10-point deduction.

As for the entertainment comment, we’re a fifth-tier team who haven’t been entertaining since the Tilly era. Trust me, you’d soon get bored of 3-3 draws. Not a dig at you directly because others have said the same but you can bet your life that there would be furious posts about naive defending before long. Tottenham fans aren’t happy with their entertaining team and even the Netherlands with their ultra entertaining team didn’t win anything.

I’m continually baffled by those who dismiss the likes of losing Cardwell and Kensdale in the same week, plus lack of pre-season, as excuses and not facts. Next season is the one where he should be judged authentically.

 

[blues exile]

In fairness, the poster being quoted has been troll-like and has repeatedly spun facts, even saying that we had regressed last season when we finished 9th, a place down from the season before that even though we would have been 6th without the 10-point deduction.

As for the entertainment comment, we’re a fifth-tier team who haven’t been entertaining since the Tilly era. Trust me, you’d soon get bored of 3-3 draws. Not a dig at you directly because others have said the same but you can bet your life that there would be furious posts about naive defending before long. Tottenham fans aren’t happy with their entertaining team and even the Netherlands with their ultra entertaining team didn’t win anything.

I’m continually baffled by those who dismiss the likes of losing Cardwell and Kensdale in the same week, plus lack of pre-season, as excuses and not facts. Next season is the one where he should be judged authentically.

Always next year. I am not a troll but a supporter 0f more than sixty years standing, mostly standing. The endless excuses for the abysmal standard of football served up by a negative and tactically inept mansger sickens me to befrank. He needs to go. Now.