Views from the Sieve

Crowd:
Great effort by Southend in terms of numbers on a wet, Tuesday night in January but I’ve had more passionate bouts of diahorrea than the 1300 Shrimpers could muster up!
I may also be short-sighted, deluded, or just plain wrong but I cannot believe for a single split second there were only 1318 home supporters in that ground last night. The Carling Stand was packed to the rafters, say another 70-100 behind the goal and the sieve was also very busy, taking into consideration the small number of Shrimpers also in the far corner.

Team selection:
Yet another change between the centre back pairing. They did ok in fairness though on this occasion.
Medy gets yet another automatic start in the team.
Was glad to see the front 2 combo of Norris & Murphy.
No other qualms with team selection.

1st Half:
Worrying that not for the 1st time we have played more long ball football than we ever did under Still. For a manager that professes “it’s a ball, not a bomb” – the utter urgency in which we thumped / lumped & humped the ball aimlessly forward was quite something. Thought Southend probably shaded the half with neither keeper really being tested>
2nd Half:
Unlucky to go behind as I was 10000000% convinced the corner they won / were gifted should never have been. It looked as though their man clearly headed the ball wide without any deflection.
From falling behind however the response was superb. Played much more football, got the ball down, ran at and took on the Southend players and created enough chances to have won a couple of games. A lovely hit from Norris (took a slight deflection though) and rightly won his MOM award in my opinion. There seems to be something about the rain and us upping our game. Long may the foul weather continue!!

Overall:
Thought we would lose the game before Kick Off and considering we fell 1-0 behind am satisfied with the point.
I know some of the management (Currie/Hackett) read this so PLEASE can you inform the fans what the hell Sean Shields has to do to get a poxy run in the team. You started him against what you all, yourself classed as the best team in the division, namely Chesterfield. Despite a good hour, he wasn’t to be seen again until coming on late against Scunthorpe (league leaders) and had a big impact upon the game. Surprise, surprise – he is dropped for the very next game. If I was him and unable to get in the team infront of an almost regularly lacklustre Medy I would have serious concerns about whether I was at the wrong club. Meanwhile – you will continue picking said Medy and keep saying interview after interview he “wasn’t good enough”.

Anyway, that’s all for now :ugeek:

Did you not think that Medy played well last night?

shoreyda2nd wrote:Did you not think that Medy played well last night?

That's all I was going to say aswell. Can't remember a recent interview saying Medy wasn't good enough..

Not particularly, no.

Wayne answered numerous times in reply to questions such as "why was he taken off", "why did he not start" - "HE WASNT GOOD ENOUGH", "DIDNT DO WELL ENOUGH"

Go back through the interviews if you should feel so inclined.

I like Medy a lot but he and Zavon do have bouts of lacklustre-ness.Shields must get at least half a game a week surely.That being said I felt Medy had a good game last night and Zav,though not at his best did ok.Either one of them could have gone off for the last 25 mins and allowed Shields on,we wouldn't have complained.

dagger4eva wrote:Not particularly, no.

Wayne answered numerous times in reply to questions such as "why was he taken off", "why did he not start" - "HE WASNT GOOD ENOUGH", "DIDNT DO WELL ENOUGH"

Go back through the interviews if you should feel so inclined.

Like I said, I can't remember a RECENT interview where they've said it about him.

shoreyda2nd wrote:Did you not think that Medy played well last night?

He was at best mediocre (no pun intended). Surely he must be one of the next out the door? Norris looks a gem, and please can we have him for the rest of the season? Great news about Lawsons extended loan. I am (like others) very surprised that Shields cannot get more game time. Very entertaining match, and I am not surprised on that showing that Southend are challenging at the top. Cannot believe the official attendance, especially as there were a few of Southends supporters in the home quarters!

I thought Medy was better than Zav last night. Zav had one moment in the 2nd half where the defender slipped and he got in behind and crossed for Murphy but the goal was ruled offside. He's having one of them spells at the minute where everything he tries seems to result in the ball hitting the opposing player where as earlier in the season he was skipping past players. He'll come good again.

Medy is frustrating but used as a scapegoat way too often. He was often our best source of attack in the first half and got Murphy in behind on an occasion as well. I didn't think Norris did enough first half to justify the extra striker when most second balls were getting picked up in the middle of the pitch but he was much improved 2nd half.

Still, I do agree that Shields deserves a chance based on two showings but perhaps the management don't think he's quite ready yet. Graeme Montgomery became a better player through not playing with us along with the odd little substitute appearance. ;) I'm willing to bet that Wayne and co think Shields is talented and are giving him tasters in the first team, perhaps with the intention of hoping it inspires him to kick on.