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Southend fans' views (from their forum)


ExSt Peter Saint
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I've seen one copied onto a thread here, but overall, I wouldn't say they all thought we were so great. A lot (probably blinkers on) thought they should have won! However, the general consensus seems to be that we closed it out professionally and they couldn't get through us at all in the 2nd half.

 

"When we equalized we were in heaven, On top of the game and there was only going to be one winner, that was until their second which knocked the stuffing out of us. The third killed us off, and the worrying thing for Tilly must be just how easily Southampton closed the game down in the second half and were content for us to run down blind alleys until we eventually ran out of any ideas. If anything come out of this game, I hope our lot lat least learned a thing or two about holding onto a 2 goal lead, even though it wasn't very pretty to watch."

 

"Second half, our midfield bossed it and continued to pass the ball around at pace, but they piled all their men behind the ball as soon as the whistle went for the start of the second half. They were very negative, and any side are difficult to break down when they play like that."

 

"Saints were no great shakes either, but did what they needed to do by stopping us playing and giving us no space at all."

 

"Southampton weren't exactly a class above and yet they cut through us without having to work at it because we're that static."

 

"we scored the best goal of the night but really created little in the second half, they shut up shop and who can blame them"

 

"Thought Southampton were much quicker in all areas of the pitch and once they were 3-1 up were quite happy to contain us and we had no width or pace to open them up."

 

"Matter of opinions isn't it? I really didn't think we were that bad tonight, we were unfortunate in some poor decisions and that knocked the stuffing out of us a bit. The ref was giving very little our way, and the lino next to nothing.

 

I'm always on the positive side, you know that, and I think we were grossly unfortunate in conceding the first two goals."

 

"Saints fans - 10/10."

 

I'm sure there's at least one of those comments that people will agree with :-), but what about the rest?

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So what has Pardew created so far?

 

1. A team that doesn't usually concede from fixed situations.

 

2. A team which scores freely from open play.

 

3. A team which can defend a lead.

 

Is there anybody out there who thinks that we could do any of that when he arrived?

 

It's amazing really, at how quickly he's fixed us up if you think about it.

 

He saw our weaknesses within a few weeks and had fixed them in a month. At swindon we looked like we were going to conceded with almost every free kick or set peice - but trotman has fixed that. Pard's brought him in to be the 'dominant'' header of the ball - and boy is he that.

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Remember this. They are a half decent team in this league

 

it backs up many views people have on here that we should be winning most weeks.

 

 

It must have been observed before, but if we hadn't started on -10, we would have their league position (roughly) - and that's after a mediocre start. I know that is limited comfort for the time being, but it's plain that a run will see us out of the relegation zone quite quickly, and as the 10 points become a diminishing proportion of the available points, a truer picture of our standing will emerge.

 

Play-offs?

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Guest Dark Sotonic Mills
Not sure the pitch was conducive to fast flowing football.......

The pitch was fast flowing all right. It was like a river down the sidelines.

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So what has Pardew created so far?

 

1. A team that doesn't usually concede from fixed situations.

 

2. A team which scores freely from open play.

 

3. A team which can defend a lead.

 

Is there anybody out there who thinks that we could do any of that when he arrived?

 

We hadn't done that consistently for many years before Pardew arrived. I'm astounded that it took so many managers to see what our problems were - here's hoping they keep it up...

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So what has Pardew created so far?

 

1. A team that doesn't usually concede from fixed situations.

 

2. A team which scores freely from open play.

 

3. A team which can defend a lead.

 

Is there anybody out there who thinks that we could do any of that when he arrived?

 

and can come from behind or at least retake a lost lead!

 

:)

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It's amazing really, at how quickly he's fixed us up if you think about it.

 

He saw our weaknesses within a few weeks and had fixed them in a month. At swindon we looked like we were going to conceded with almost every free kick or set peice - but trotman has fixed that. Pard's brought him in to be the 'dominant'' header of the ball - and boy is he that.

 

Yes it is..........but don't tell the great fans on here, who were calling for his head, I notice they are staying below the parapit!!!

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We hadn't done that consistently for many years before Pardew arrived. I'm astounded that it took so many managers to see what our problems were - here's hoping they keep it up...

 

Part of the solution to the ills was knowledge and decent coaching, but the other one was self belief, or more to the point, the lack of it. You might concede a goal even though you don't think you will, but it's certain that you'll concede you think you will. Every conceded goal confirms what you thought all along. The prophecy of failure comes true.

 

This is the lack of "winning mentality" which I haven't included in my list because I don't think that the nut is quite cracked yet, merely because changing mindsets takes time, just read this forum if you need to be convinced. No technical coaching can overcome that shortcoming. Only positive leadership can.

 

Think back on the bosses you've had if you're old enough. Which ones made you shrink and become prone to make mistakes, and which ones made you grow a couple of inches, made you believe you could and encourage you to do what you hadn't dared to do before. The latter type are rarer by far, and now since we've got one, let's hope and pray that he sees taking us back into the Premiership as his project, because somewhere along the line there will be other and very lucrative demands for his services.

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That is a very fair point. AP will be much sought after once we are back in the CCC and still climbing. Like you I would hope that the dream would keep him here. He could become a bigger legend than big Lawrie if he succeeds. I am also confident that our owners will do their best to keep him here if he is doing the business.

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"Matter of opinions isn't it? I really didn't think we were that bad tonight, we were unfortunate in some poor decisions and that knocked the stuffing out of us a bit. The ref was giving very little our way, and the lino next to nothing."

 

According to Merrington, they ought to have had Laurent sent off, had the referee awarded him a yellow card for each of the wicked tackles he put in, mostly on Harding. The blind gits also failed to notice the clear punch on James, I think it was. They also penalised Schneiderlin for a dive when in the opinion of Merrington it was quite easy for him to have stayed on his feet and scored. Still, it's nice to hear rival fans complaining about the refereeing too. As somebody else said elsewhere, I hope that Pardew complains about him to the FL and they examine the tape, as this bloke was truly incompetent.

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"Matter of opinions isn't it? I really didn't think we were that bad tonight, we were unfortunate in some poor decisions and that knocked the stuffing out of us a bit. The ref was giving very little our way, and the lino next to nothing."

 

According to Merrington, they ought to have had Laurent sent off, had the referee awarded him a yellow card for each of the wicked tackles he put in, mostly on Harding. The blind gits also failed to notice the clear punch on James, I think it was. They also penalised Schneiderlin for a dive when in the opinion of Merrington it was quite easy for him to have stayed on his feet and scored. Still, it's nice to hear rival fans complaining about the refereeing too. As somebody else said elsewhere, I hope that Pardew complains about him to the FL and they examine the tape, as this bloke was truly incompetent.

 

I think they are a bit more used to this league and the standard of refere's so just concentrate on what could have happened had they put away there chances and not made mistakes.

 

They seem a bit more one sided by not noticing they should have been at least 1 player down but the ramblings of those few on an internet message board cant always be taken as the thoughts of all fans. ;)

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I think they are a bit more used to this league and the standard of refere's so just concentrate on what could have happened had they put away there chances and not made mistakes.

 

They seem a bit more one sided by not noticing they should have been at least 1 player down but the ramblings of those few on an internet message board cant always be taken as the thoughts of all fans. ;)

Ssssh, don't tell anyone on here that - you'll ruin our self esteem ;-)

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So what has Pardew created so far?

 

1. A team that doesn't usually concede from fixed situations.

 

2. A team which scores freely from open play.

 

3. A team which can defend a lead.

 

Is there anybody out there who thinks that we could do any of that when he arrived?

 

Really? Our team has scored the first goal in 9 of the 12 league games this season and only Yeovil have failed to equalize.

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Our games & goals performances exactly matches Millwall, if admin penalty is ignored. Southend are just one point below Millwall so on paper there should have been nothing between the teams and certainly we did not dominate them even taking the Radio Solent commentary bias into account. It sounded as if Saints were better all-round whereas Southend seemed to have a fairly lively attack. Pardew's crew are founded on defence.

 

In most conflicts of history defence inevitably proved the more successful strategy.

Wellington 'Won Ugly' as they say allowing wave after wave of Gallic thrusting to collapse against the British back line. The lessons of history are there for us to comprehend and mis-use as the mood takes us.

 

No offense meant Morgan you were magical!

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Our games & goals performances exactly matches Millwall, if admin penalty is ignored. Southend are just one point below Millwall so on paper there should have been nothing between the teams and certainly we did not dominate them even taking the Radio Solent commentary bias into account. It sounded as if Saints were better all-round whereas Southend seemed to have a fairly lively attack. Pardew's crew are founded on defence.

 

In most conflicts of history defence inevitably proved the more successful strategy.

Wellington 'Won Ugly' as they say allowing wave after wave of Gallic thrusting to collapse against the British back line. The lessons of history are there for us to comprehend and mis-use as the mood takes us.

 

No offense meant Morgan you were magical!

 

just to continue this military theme you also need three times more people to attack that to defend........ I'll get me coat!

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Really? Our team has scored the first goal in 9 of the 12 league games this season and only Yeovil have failed to equalize.

 

Maybe I should have expressed myself a bit clearer. It was at the point of going 3-1 up at Southend that we very successfully shut up shop. In any previous managerial situation, probably going back to Chris Nicholl, but with the exception of Strachan, we would have gone to pieces and defended like schoolboys, which is why most of us feel the end of any game arriving with dread and trepidation.

 

Of course I don't expect us to defend a 1-0 lead, although Arsenal did it for ages with great success. It also lead to the acclamations of "boring, boring Arsenal", and being boring is not within the traditions of this club.

 

The football produced over some of the later games is, and Pardew is starting to combine that flair and attacking football with the sense which says: 'Two goals up in the second half means a change of tactics which will win the game.'

 

Let's not be unreasonable here, total calamities will still happen occasionally, but not every time, and not several times every season. They will be the exception, and Bristol Rovers will mark the end of a long and inglorious period for this club in that respect.

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The way I see it, people aren't going on about what an amazing footballing side we are and the best in the league etc, but we are getting respect for being efficient and doing a job. I'd much prefer that tbh, as you can play lovely passing football and still end up losing every week, as we all know too well.

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