Work behind the scenes

[Kestrel]

nowknownasdrab is entitled to his opinion.

:hilarious:

 

[Jam_Man]

We'd actually play more football if we had a 6 foot 5 forward. The reason you want a target man forward is to hold the ball up which creates the platform needed to play football from. You don't want Mark Phillips (our player of the season) ****ing around with it at the back because he's not very good at that. If you have a good target man you only have one "hoof" (which is actually a long directed pass) and you then play football from there. The problem with our football has been the lack of someone able to get the ball down. A good targetman - and if only our fans hadn't hounded out Matt Harrold, who'd have been ideal - actually gets you playing football.

Bad football comes from not being able to hold the ball up, which means the ball keeps on coming back to be hit long. If the ball sticks, you no longer hit it long. This is why nobody complains about how awful the football was under Dave Webb because Benji was amazing at bringing down the long ball and we played from there. This is why Sir Steve Tilson of Passing Football signed an inordinate number of targetmen - Revell, Harrold, Foran, Goater, Clarke etc etc etc. THE BETTER YOU HOLD THE BALL UP, THE MORE PASSING FOOTBALL YOU PLAY.

Not sure I follow your logic.

So as long as we have someone big to hoof the ball to we will play better passing football ?

No I dont want Prosser having to pass it around, but then again he cant pick out one target man 30 yards away if he cant pass to a midfielder or a full back 5 yards away.

Having a target man you can use as an option is great, having one that is your main avenue of getting the ball forward is not passing football.

Agree that if you have a player up front who can get the ball down then you can indeed get it down and pass it when it gets there, but that should be part of our Arsenal, not the main weapon.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Not sure I follow your logic.

So as long as we have someone big to hoof the ball to we will play better passing football ?

No I dont want Prosser having to pass it around, but then again he cant pick out one target man 30 yards away if he cant pass to a midfielder or a full back 5 yards away.

Having a target man you can use as an option is great, having one that is your main avenue of getting the ball forward is not passing football.

Agree that if you have a player up front who can get the ball down then you can indeed get it down and pass it when it gets there, but that should be part of our Arsenal, not the main weapon.

If the team plays one long ball then 30 pretty passes, that team doesn't get called long ball.
If the team plays one long ball and it comes straight back and gets hit long again, it gets called long ball.

The difference is the first team holds the ball up.

 

[rlb999]

Dear Cluniemore,

This man speaks for all right thinking, decent Southend fans! As a foreign heathen from the frozen North you will nothing of our proud tradition of playing Brazil-like football and attracting galacticos from as far afield as Wakering, Pitsea and even Canvey Island. We don't want to see cautious, defensive rubbish but swash buckling attack at all times. We DEMAND that we are amongst the top two highest scoring sides in the league...er...oh...hang on..I forgot...oh Well what we want is an experienced manager who has a track record of wining promotions from lower leagues ...oh ... damn....it's happened again...er...well anyway WHAT DO WANT? SOMETHING ELSE! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOT SURE.

Excellent summary. I could only add that changing our away tactics is important as we've not picked up many points on the road this year. Also a big target man who can hold it up would be nice as Liam Dickinson is only 5 ft 3.

 

[Jam_Man]

If the team plays one long ball then 30 pretty passes, that team doesn't get called long ball.
If the team plays one long ball and it comes straight back and gets hit long again, it gets called long ball.

The difference is the first team holds the ball up.

Totally agree with that statement.

Which is why after going out of play offs all the hoof ball debate raged again, because it didnt work against Crewe away. There was no mention of hoof ball after Oxford or Torquay.

As an away tactic I can live with one up front but what I dont want to see is it used at home again. We showed we can play decent football after Freddy joined with 2 up front andwithout a target man. If we can play the same and introduce a target man we will have even more options.

My argument isnt that we shouldnt have a target man, its that at home we shouldnt rely on one target man up front. Too one dimensional when things dont go well.

 

[Napster]

Or how about a target man who's good on the deck as well.

Like Drewe. :winking:

 

[jamesmut2000]

If the team plays one long ball then 30 pretty passes, that team doesn't get called long ball.
If the team plays one long ball and it comes straight back and gets hit long again, it gets called long ball.

The difference is the first team holds the ball up.

Which is what Swindon do with paul Benson - if only he hadn't had that career ending illness we might have signed him!:winking:

 

[Medway Blue]

Forgetting about last season now. I still have my reservations about some of PS's work last year but I'm confident he can do it next year and hopeful that he'll prove me wrong!

Staying within the topic of the post, I'm pleased to see he has targets worked out and is grafting away already to get them in. It's nice to see that he is positive and looking forward to rectifying this season's mistakes next season. Hopefully the targets are good ones which will strengthen the swuad around the edges of what will hopefully be a strong spine.

 

[WightShrimper]

And all I would like to add at this point is 'thank you Cluniemore' for making your posts on here. Never will you get everyone on here to agree with what is happening on and off the pitch and there will always be people who know they could make a better job of it, but at least we get the chance to hear things from the horse's mouth (no, not King Freddie's) which I am sure very few other supporter's forums get.

Here's to an even better season. UTB

 

[Pubey]

Seeing as Sturrock is always quick off the mark, and pro-active, I wouldn't be surprised if some deals are agreed very soon.

 

[shallowshrimper]

Just glad that cluniemore is back giving us inside info, obviously we all have our opinions but it would be a shame if ps felt it wasnt woth posting due to the grief he gets. On the same note its a shame that since Brady left no other directors seem to be as easily contacted or make arrangements to meet with fans.

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

Heskey and Harris up front next season then?

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

We'd actually play more football if we had a 6 foot 5 forward. The reason you want a target man forward is to hold the ball up which creates the platform needed to play football from. You don't want Mark Phillips (our player of the season) ****ing around with it at the back because he's not very good at that. If you have a good target man you only have one "hoof" (which is actually a long directed pass) and you then play football from there. The problem with our football has been the lack of someone able to get the ball down. A good targetman - and if only our fans hadn't hounded out Matt Harrold, who'd have been ideal - actually gets you playing football.

Bad football comes from not being able to hold the ball up, which means the ball keeps on coming back to be hit long. If the ball sticks, you no longer hit it long. This is why nobody complains about how awful the football was under Dave Webb because Benji was amazing at bringing down the long ball and we played from there. This is why Sir Steve Tilson of Passing Football signed an inordinate number of targetmen - Revell, Harrold, Foran, Goater, Clarke etc etc etc. THE BETTER YOU HOLD THE BALL UP, THE MORE PASSING FOOTBALL YOU PLAY.

Agree with this to certain extent, a good target man is essential to the way we play especially away from home.

A midfielder who is comfortable facing the defence and coming short to pick up short simple balls from the defence and then spread the play (Maher in his prime etc) would be very usefull as none of ours at the moment seem to have that quality.

Every time this season we have come up against a team with a good center back we struggle to hold the ball up as they have won more than their fair share of direct balls forward. Its logical.

We need to be able to mix our style of play when one style doesnt work, especially at home where teams come to Roots Hall to keep it tight at the back.

ps As for Harold we signed him in the Championship and he got a go in League 1 which has seemed above him even now he has matured his level is League 2. That moment in time we were looking for better. Sturrock has a good eye for a target man and playing to their strengths which Tilson didnt.

 

[onceknownasrab]

nowknownasdrab is entitled to his opinion.

Oh how droll. What a wit your friends must think you are. How silly of me to think a post on a forum was open to reply. I realise now if Cluniemore writes anything I must in future merely absorb the wisdom and not be so arrogant as to have an opinion of my own or deem it necessary to share it. Dream on.

 

[Jam_Man]

Oh how droll. What a wit your friends must think you are. How silly of me to think a post on a forum was open to reply. I realise now if Cluniemore writes anything I must in future merely absorb the wisdom and not be so arrogant as to have an opinion of my own or deem it necessary to share it. Dream on.

Mcnasty was actually saying you have the right to post your opinion despite the hilarious take on your name....

 

[Roots Hall Flare]

Excellent summary. I could only add that changing our away tactics is important as we've not picked up many points on the road this year. Also a big target man who can hold it up would be nice as Liam Dickinson is only 5 ft 3.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that we actually had the best away record in the league.

 

[Jam_Man]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that we actually had the best away record in the league.

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh.

When you read it put a sarcastic voice on in your head, it might make more sense.

Dickinson for example is not actually 5ft 3.

 

[Reg Martin]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that we actually had the best away record in the league.

Correct me if i'm wrong but I think Liam dickinson is taller than 5ft 3in:unsure:

 

[onceknownasrab]

Correct me if i'm wrong but I think Liam dickinson is taller than 5ft 3in:unsure:

Not when he jumps.:smile:

 

[Reg Martin]

Dear Cluniemore,

This man speaks for all right thinking, decent Southend fans! As a foreign heathen from the frozen North you will nothing of our proud tradition of playing Brazil-like football and attracting galacticos from as far afield as Wakering, Pitsea and even Canvey Island. We don't want to see cautious, defensive rubbish but swash buckling attack at all times. We DEMAND that we are amongst the top two highest scoring sides in the league...er...oh...hang on..I forgot...oh Well what we want is an experienced manager who has a track record of wining promotions from lower leagues ...oh ... damn....it's happened again...er...well anyway WHAT DO WANT? SOMETHING ELSE! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOT SURE.

I think I speak on behalf of most Southend fans when I say that all we really want is a good moan...all the time... about everything...Steve Tilson, Paul Sturrock, the next poor sap who gets the job, we'll moan about them too...