Roots Hall Roar

It’s Friday night and that can only mean one thing in Southend. Boozed up lads and pissed up girls having it large down on the seafront. But I’m more interested in something else. The Blues are playing Charlton tonight and I think it could be our time. I know there can’t be a lot said about fickle football fans screaming furiously at a bunch of donkeys who should be ashamed to wear the shirt one game and the next game claiming this is it, this is the game that will be the turning point for the rest of the season.

But there can be a lot said about the Friday night Roots Hall roar. Friday nights have a somewhat familiar place in the hearts of all Southend fans. Something Charlton will not be used to and this could work in our favour. Teams don’t like coming to Southend on a cold dark Friday night but the fans relish it and it can prove the difference. I don’t know if it is the turning point of the season but this is definitely a game we can win. Our performances have not been that bad to warrant being 20^th in the league.

Let’s hope the team selection will prove more mature than against MK Dons. I didn’t understand how Tilson could go to the MK Stadium and field two loanees in the heart of defence one of whom is an 21 year-old fringe player. I accept injuries to such a small squad has made it difficult to find eleven fully fit first team players, but playing your captain out of position and relying on Baldwin and Mvoto to keep a clean sheet (or at least prevent enough goals so we score more which is I think how you win a football game it’s been so long I can’t remember) is heading for disaster.

Another thing that gives me faith are the players’ attitudes. There seems to be a good morale considering the circumstances and I feel that this will help us. We’ve got the players to stay up this year so out of the relegation battlers we must be favourites. But it is hard to believe ‘Four Four Two’ predicted us to finish second in the league and get promotion this season. I have totally lost confidence in the journalistic skills of the writers of that magazine. Although who am I to judge. Just a quick note to say my next blog will contain some controversial opinions on Steve Tilson. That is just to cover my back so it doesn’t look like I’m the fickle fan, I mentioned earlier, if Southend lose tonight.