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.