Purple Reign

Steve Tilson: “I just wanna get a result, however it comes. Whether it’s scrappy whether we play well. I don’t give a monkey’s.”

Adam Barrett: “We’d take an awful performance. You know [even if we’re] not in the game we’d take a scruffy one nil. Or anything.”

Franck Moussa: “If we can show the same spirit we showed from coming back from two nil down [against Carlisle]. But do it against Walsall straight from the kick off then it will definitely be an interesting game.”

Well we certainly showed the same spirit against Walsall. And it certainly wasn’t a scrappy one nil performance. Three nil was the perfect way to change some attitudes and turn a corner for the end of the season. Judging by our recent performances a win was inevitable, but what was it that set those performances apart from this one?

That man Moussa for one. The way he played was brilliant and the way he took his goals was nothing short of superb. I’ve watched Franck Moussa from when he was in the youth team and he has always been a player that has impressed me. I honestly think he’s got a bright future ahead of him, hopefully with Southend for some of it. He is fortunate enough to be born a Belgian therefore he will have no trouble getting into the squad let’s just hope they can make it to a major tournament.

But maybe there was something else at work on that cool Tuesday evening in an ever-growingly disgruntled Roots Hall. The players were wearing what was akin to a Cadbury’s wrapper. But didn’t they look good, helped by no small part that they were playing the best football of 2010. The purple shirt was worn to publicise Rotary International’s fight to end polio.

I would like to put a motion to the Blue Hoody faithful. Let’s keep the purple shirts. Let’s keep those shirts with ‘End polio now’ embroiled on them. They symbolise not only that message but also a winning mentality and a purple revolution that could see us stay in League One. Let’s rule the relegation battle.

C'mon You Blues

Sing when we’re losing, we only sing when we’re losing

It’s the middle of March, we’re staring relegation in the face and our last game of the season is away to Southampton. Ring any bells? The only difference is that when we were in the Championship, for the 06/07 season, it didn’t feel like a relegation season. This does. There are many fingers you could point to many different people. Why hasn’t Tilson made more permanent signings and just let players go for cheap or free? Going so close to administration hasn’t helped on field performances and whose fault is that? Where is the money?

But I want to take a leaf out of my new friend Spoons’ book. Let’s think positively. We can be proud that we have the best fans in the land. My fellow football fans think I’m bias and by God I probably am but I don’t care. Just look at some of the admiration we get from other football fans. I wasn’t there but I watched on tele as Doncaster fans applauded our fans after we lost 5-1 in the 2008 play-off semi-final. We could have won that game and gone to Wembley for the first time but instead we were played out the park. Did our fans stop cheering? Did they nelly. We absolutely got behind the team and it brought a tear to my eye. It’s alright singing when you’re winning, or even singing when you’re losing to Chelsea a team that are expected to beat you. But singing when you’re losing 5-1, after drawing 0-0 in the first leg, in a game that you could potentially win to take you to Wembley, then that is heart-warming.

Come the last game of the season I hope to replicate a few things from 2007. The atmosphere we created last time we were at St Mary’s. Once again a very memorable game and once again receiving the appreciation our fans deserve. We were top of the relegation zone and ready to go down, but we wanted to cause one more upset before we said bon voyage to the Championship until next time. However, Southampton had the promise land in their sights. Losing 4-1 was not the way we wanted to go, but leaving an impression amongst the home support of the Saints was. They stormed the pitch as they booked the last play-off spot. After mobbing their players, the jubilant fans turned to the away end, walked over and applauded us just as passionately as our players had done. I was there in that away end and I will never forget that moment of mutual respect between fans brought together by football.

There’s a lot to be proud of supporting Southend United, let’s not forget that. I wouldn’t like to see us go the way Cardiff City fans went at the weekend. Making t-shirts against the chairman instead of getting behind the team. And they’re in the play-offs of the championship. So let’s show our counterparts that we are the Blues fans that were applauded for losing so graciously.

Varsity

I want to apologise for the lack of posts recently. You can appreciate I have been busy, in the world of sport in fact. Some deluded bugger put me in charge of the TV coverage for my University’s Varsity. It was a very successful day culminating in the biggest logistical operation I’ve ever been responsible for. Organising camera operators and presenters for the grand finale football match was hard work but a joy and definitely an eye opener. If I can find a career in it I would be a very happy man. In fact check out my work below. Cheers for now, I’ll see you next week when I’ll hopefully be celebrating a win. Up the blues.

Answer Me This

Well what a difference a week makes. And at the end of it all the Chairman Ron Martin decides to call a Q and A session. In my eyes, and these are eyes that haven’t been critical of the chairman, board or manager (until last week), he’s got a lot to answer for. Losing three nil to fellow relegation battlers Hartlepool United wasn’t a good start. We now need six wins from twelve games according to Tilson. This is achievable and it’s important that the next five games are against teams who are in and around the relegation zone. It would have helped getting some sort of result against the Monkey Hangers, as we would have overtaken them. An important game against Exeter City tomorrow is a must win. Exeter are one place above us in the league and these are the games we should be and need to be winning.

Macca hasn’t helped us again with another match ban after receiving a red card last week, Jeff’s still out after his red card against Charlton. We’ve got the players to fill in though even if Granty is coming back earlier than he should be from injury. I think him and Moose are a capable and skilful midfield. Sometimes Grant can be lazy but he’s learnt the defensive skills he needed to adopt to his game with a few central defensive roles earlier this season. Even if he did score an own goal every time he was playing there. Moose bleeds for the team and he is by far the most skilful player on the pitch I think he is very under-rated; I’ve liked him since he was a youth team player. They are an inexperienced midfield pairing but with the ever-improving Damien Scannell and Francis Laurent, whom I would expect is going to start on the opposite wing, having regular first team starts then it is an exciting attacking midfield.

They say football is unpredictable and who’d have said at the start of the season assistant manager Paul Brush would have been sacked and replaced with the notorious David Webb. We’ve been here before with Webby and it hasn’t always turned out roses, but I wonder whether this is strategic and thoughtful planning from Ron Martin, or whether it’s resorting to ‘what we know best’ tactics. It will be interesting to see what comes of it but it is definitely a surprise and may be the change I was alluding to in my last post, even if it isn’t as drastic. But answer me this Ron Martin, when are we going to see long term contracts signed by players and transfer fees from the ones we move on? Without this the club has an unstable future.

On Your Bike Tilson

Everyone’s allowed to be hypocritical sometimes and I’m a self-confessed hypocrit so that’s alright. I have often said that if a team wants to succeed then stability is the key. And that’s why when a football club’s first response to a bad run of games is to sack the manager I get angry, and you won’t like me when I’m angry. However, when it comes to Southend United and our bad run this season (not winning a game in 2010 and picking up only three points from our last nine games) I become hypocritical. I think Steve Tilson should get on his bike and go home.

It’s nothing-personal Steve I just feel that your time is up. He’s had a good stint as the Blues’ most successful manager and I’m proud to have the fourth longest serving manager in the football league. But sometimes you jut have to know when to say adios, goodnight and god bless. My feelings on this matter were confirmed when inside sources told me he applied for the Brighton and Hove Albion job back in November 2009 and got through to the last stages of the interview process. I mean that doesn’t sound like a manager who is dedicated to the long-term cause. It sounds like a manager who is fed up and wants to go. It is obviously rubbing off on the team. So let him go I say. Let him go and good luck to him.

I have always been a fan of his and it will be upsetting to see him leave. It would be best for both parties in the end and that’s what we have to concentrate on, the future. Who would replace him is another matter and a difficult one at that. Steve Coppell, Paul Jewell, Alan Curbishley to name but a few. These are all managers who I would love to see at Roots Hall and they’ve got some things in common. They’re ambitious and have all achieved exceptional things with small clubs. Obviously whether they want to come to the South Essex coast that’s another thing.

Tilson you’ve done a wonderful job and I’m sure you’re sincere when you say you are up for the challenge of keeping us up this season. And I believe you will, but after that can you then move on please?

Next week I will be upping the ante and providing you lovely people with two lovely posts a week, previewing and then reviewing the weekend’s action.