BilbaoFaithful
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Quality mate, hope you get offered a stable job somewhere soon, or bring Southend out of the red.
Winners never quit. Quitters never win
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Time will tell lol. Happy to stay at the club though, and financially things look more promising right now. But it's a long season and anything can happen. Remains to be seen though when I pick up the save later today. I sense stressful times lol
BilbaoFaithful
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Well see how the season plans out for you, will be looking forward to the next update pal.
ThePav
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Just started reading again not looked since i commented at the beginning. Really good job m8. I reckon if you gut it out with southend a better league one team will be available about november/december time. Good luck. KUTGW.
The day before the start of the new season, I was a frustrated figure. We were being offered players from different clubs in England and Scotland, and some were excellent players, that would make a difference to the club big time. And I found myself muttering the same word repeatedly: Reject. It was soul destroying. And some of the players said publically they wanted to come here, because they knew they would be guaranteed a starting place-they were being frozen out at their current teams for whatever reason and wanted to go somewhere, where they would be guaranteed first team football. And they'd be guaranteed that here, that's for sure.
It was exasparating at times. But it was pointless dwelling on it. It would be another unneccessary distraction. I had a match against Charlton Athletic tomorrow to focus on. Thankfully it was a home tie-we'd need a lot of support. If only the fans knew had bad a situation the club was in. I might have been given a bit of leeway from the fans. But things had improved financially for now. And in hindsight, it would have been a cop out to use a financial situation as an excuse for a poor season. Like many other teams, I had to make the best of what I had. And besides, the players I felt were good enough. I was hoping that the very poor showing in the friendlies wouldn't surface though.
The fans were deeply upset, and saw people leaving after 80 minutes. I hated seeing that in football, though deep down, I couldn't blame them I suppose. I also recieved a phone call from the chairman. He and the board were very concerned by the result. So already, the pressure was on. But, it's pressure I had before and look what happened. I took on board what people had said-and disregarded it quickly. I did help the club when a title after all did I not? Bit arrogant, but it was true. They had to be patient. It's pointless kicking off so early in the season.
If I had to make changes to the style of play or whatever, I would. But like I mentioned. It's match 1 of 46. I looked at the footage. And immediately saw the problem. The back four had a lot of trouble coping with the pace of Charltons attacking playes. They were slow-especially Taylor. It was obvious I'd have to deepen the defensive line. How the **** did I miss that? Only problem was, if I dropped the line deeper, there would be a lot more space between the defenders and midfielders for opponents to exploit. We'd be carved open repeatedly. So I'd have to switch to a 4-5-1 and have an DM as anchorman in there, to provide the necessary cover.
I was furious with myself for that mistake. And I greatly hated losing. Hopefully, I wouldn't make too many more mistakes............
It was exasparating at times. But it was pointless dwelling on it. It would be another unneccessary distraction. I had a match against Charlton Athletic tomorrow to focus on. Thankfully it was a home tie-we'd need a lot of support. If only the fans knew had bad a situation the club was in. I might have been given a bit of leeway from the fans. But things had improved financially for now. And in hindsight, it would have been a cop out to use a financial situation as an excuse for a poor season. Like many other teams, I had to make the best of what I had. And besides, the players I felt were good enough. I was hoping that the very poor showing in the friendlies wouldn't surface though.
View attachment 236905 v View attachment 236937
Southend United 0 Charlton Athletic 2
View attachment 236938
View attachment 236943
Danny Haynes scorer of game winner
Terrible. That's the only word I could use to describe our performance today. Absolutely terrible. There were some very good players in there, so there was no reason for such an awful display. 2 shots attempted, 0 on target pretty much summed everything up. I didn't know if it was because the players hadn't totally gelled yet, if it was nerves, or whatever. The gameplan pretty much went down the ******* once we went 1-0 down. Though having Chris Barker injured after only 2 minutes definately didn't help much at all. Though I told the players what I thought of their performance, I didn't go overboard. They already knew they had played badly, and it was only the first game. So it was a case of taking it on the chin. And we were caught out by two counter attacks.Southend United 0 Charlton Athletic 2
View attachment 236938
View attachment 236943
Danny Haynes scorer of game winner
The fans were deeply upset, and saw people leaving after 80 minutes. I hated seeing that in football, though deep down, I couldn't blame them I suppose. I also recieved a phone call from the chairman. He and the board were very concerned by the result. So already, the pressure was on. But, it's pressure I had before and look what happened. I took on board what people had said-and disregarded it quickly. I did help the club when a title after all did I not? Bit arrogant, but it was true. They had to be patient. It's pointless kicking off so early in the season.
If I had to make changes to the style of play or whatever, I would. But like I mentioned. It's match 1 of 46. I looked at the footage. And immediately saw the problem. The back four had a lot of trouble coping with the pace of Charltons attacking playes. They were slow-especially Taylor. It was obvious I'd have to deepen the defensive line. How the **** did I miss that? Only problem was, if I dropped the line deeper, there would be a lot more space between the defenders and midfielders for opponents to exploit. We'd be carved open repeatedly. So I'd have to switch to a 4-5-1 and have an DM as anchorman in there, to provide the necessary cover.
I was furious with myself for that mistake. And I greatly hated losing. Hopefully, I wouldn't make too many more mistakes............
Following the loss to Charlton, I decided to go with the 4-5-1 formation, with an anchorman sitting in front of the back four. I also decided to work on a counter attack too. Although the back four lacked pace, the midfield were more than able to cope with it. Our next match was in a few days, and I felt it would be a good time to try it out. It was a League Cup 1st round match at home against Hartlepool. They were still in League 2, and were a lot weaker, quality wise, compared to last season. Bigger clubs had poached their best players. Like us, they needed the money so had no option.
I could not believe what I saw on the pitch. It was absolutely shocking from our players. Terrible passing, missed challenges, poor crossing. Again, we never got going and were punished big time. A good cup run would have helped the club, not only would it have been a distraction from the league, but we needed the money too-no matter how small an amount. It wasn't as if I'd changed everything overnight. I had only changed the formation, and made the defensive line a bit deeper-nothing more than that. Everything else remained the same. Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse:
I was also forced to reinforce the squad with 16-17 year olds. Already players were suffering from fatigue. No surprise really given the size of the squad. It was a real concern. You can only force players to play so many games in a week before there's a real risk of injury. And I didn't want to have to rely on the youngsters too much, without risking burnout, which would affect their development. I didn't want anything to happen to them injury wise-I may have to rely on them further down the line.
And already, unsurprisingly, morale was absolutely terrible. There was a negative atmosphere around training, in the dressing rooms before kick off......even fans were already pessimistic. Morale had briefly improved a little bit a few games back following a pick-me-up team talk but that didn't last long unsurprisingly. It was already apparent to me, that the boards wish to finish mid-table, was unrealistic already-especially when the media tipped us to finish 19th.
It was obvious things would get worse before they got better for the club. The question was could it get much worse?
I could not believe what I saw on the pitch. It was absolutely shocking from our players. Terrible passing, missed challenges, poor crossing. Again, we never got going and were punished big time. A good cup run would have helped the club, not only would it have been a distraction from the league, but we needed the money too-no matter how small an amount. It wasn't as if I'd changed everything overnight. I had only changed the formation, and made the defensive line a bit deeper-nothing more than that. Everything else remained the same. Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse:
Preston North End 0 Southend United 0
Southend United 0 Swindon Town 0
Walsall 1 Soutend United 1
Southend United 2 Gillingham 4 (Johnstone's Paint Trophy S 1st round )
Southend United 1 Portsmouth 2
Yeovil Town 1 Southend United 0
Southend United 0 Leyton Orient 3
Southend United 0 Carlisle United 1
Gillingham 0 Southend United 2
AFC Wimbledon 2 Southend United 0
It was a truly woeful start to the season. We were rooted to the bottom of the division. 10 games played. 6 goals scored. 14 conceded. 1 win. It was simply disastrous. Already, fans were on my back. But the players weren't being blamed. Which surprised me. During a team meeting, they themselves had acknowledged they should be doing much better out there. I had changed things around after all so it would benefit them. But a combination of bad luck, and mainly sub-par performances conspired against us. Though there were a few times though when we had been robbed by poor officiating.Southend United 0 Swindon Town 0
Walsall 1 Soutend United 1
Southend United 2 Gillingham 4 (Johnstone's Paint Trophy S 1st round )
Southend United 1 Portsmouth 2
Yeovil Town 1 Southend United 0
Southend United 0 Leyton Orient 3
Southend United 0 Carlisle United 1
Gillingham 0 Southend United 2
AFC Wimbledon 2 Southend United 0
I was also forced to reinforce the squad with 16-17 year olds. Already players were suffering from fatigue. No surprise really given the size of the squad. It was a real concern. You can only force players to play so many games in a week before there's a real risk of injury. And I didn't want to have to rely on the youngsters too much, without risking burnout, which would affect their development. I didn't want anything to happen to them injury wise-I may have to rely on them further down the line.
And already, unsurprisingly, morale was absolutely terrible. There was a negative atmosphere around training, in the dressing rooms before kick off......even fans were already pessimistic. Morale had briefly improved a little bit a few games back following a pick-me-up team talk but that didn't last long unsurprisingly. It was already apparent to me, that the boards wish to finish mid-table, was unrealistic already-especially when the media tipped us to finish 19th.
It was obvious things would get worse before they got better for the club. The question was could it get much worse?
Think it's the worst set of results I've had (including friendlies) for such a long time. I have a feeling of impending doom about this season. Soon find out once I start the game again shortly. Not.....looking forward to it lol
AndySams10
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C'mon mate, u can turn it around.
It was safe to say, the start we had made was beyond expectations. It was disastrous to say the least. To make it worse the next match was against fierce rivals Colchester United. And the fans were demanding a win. We had better players on paper, but our form compared to theirs spoke volumes. A win may turn things around. But the way we were performing, it was hard to see where a win was going to come from. But the sooner we got one the better. If we didn't start picking up wins, we would soon be embroiled in a relegation battle.
Unfortunately, the win did not come. Both sides played poorly, and it ended 1-1. And we were still rooted to the bottom of the table. For the first time, fans were starting to question wether or not I was the right person for the job. And the more the games went past, the larger the group of disconent voices became:
Following the Tranmere match-I was summoned to a meeting by the chairman. I literally, had to beg for my job. The chairman and the board were deeply unhappy. I had to explain to them, I was trying every viable option, and I was pushing the players to the limit. But nothing was working. Told them I was changing formations, tactics....everything. But still, they were no where near as convinced, compared to when they first hired me. After 3 hours, they agreed to give me more time. Only one thing, was keeping me in my job-the fact that I had increased the clubs profile in the footballing world. It was, as they put it, "the only saving grace".
Thankfully, a 3-0 win against Rotherham greatly relieved the pressure on my shoulders. But just as importantly, the players shoulders too. But it was to be short lived.
Unfortunately, the win did not come. Both sides played poorly, and it ended 1-1. And we were still rooted to the bottom of the table. For the first time, fans were starting to question wether or not I was the right person for the job. And the more the games went past, the larger the group of disconent voices became:
Notts County 1 Southend United 1
Southend United 1 Oldham Athletic 0
Chesterfield 3 Southend United 4
Southend United 1 Scunthorpe United 1
Doncaster Rovers 1 Southend United 1
Oxford 2 Southend United 1
Southend United 1 Dagenham and Redbridge 2 (FA Cup 1st Round)
Southend United 1 MK Dons 0
Sheffield Wednesday 2 Southend United 1
Southend United 0 Stevenage 0
Bournemouth 0 Southend United 2
Southend United 1 Tranmere Rovers 2
We had moved 2 places of the bottom, but lost a more than winnable FA Cup match. Every match that went, we seemed to play worse. It was obvious the pressure was getting to the players. Every defeat the boos rang around the stadiums-home and away. Radio phone-ins consisted of fans wanting me out. I was also starting to lose the dressing room. No matter what I tried, nothing worked. I used 2 strikers, 3.....no goals or just 1. I was running out of ideas. I couldn't do anything more. Although we had very good defensive players, they simply lacked the pace to be used in a high defensive line.Southend United 1 Oldham Athletic 0
Chesterfield 3 Southend United 4
Southend United 1 Scunthorpe United 1
Doncaster Rovers 1 Southend United 1
Oxford 2 Southend United 1
Southend United 1 Dagenham and Redbridge 2 (FA Cup 1st Round)
Southend United 1 MK Dons 0
Sheffield Wednesday 2 Southend United 1
Southend United 0 Stevenage 0
Bournemouth 0 Southend United 2
Southend United 1 Tranmere Rovers 2
Following the Tranmere match-I was summoned to a meeting by the chairman. I literally, had to beg for my job. The chairman and the board were deeply unhappy. I had to explain to them, I was trying every viable option, and I was pushing the players to the limit. But nothing was working. Told them I was changing formations, tactics....everything. But still, they were no where near as convinced, compared to when they first hired me. After 3 hours, they agreed to give me more time. Only one thing, was keeping me in my job-the fact that I had increased the clubs profile in the footballing world. It was, as they put it, "the only saving grace".
Thankfully, a 3-0 win against Rotherham greatly relieved the pressure on my shoulders. But just as importantly, the players shoulders too. But it was to be short lived.
Charlton 1 Southend United 1
Swindon Town 2 Southend United 0
Southend United 1 Walsall 1
Southend United 1 Preston North End 1
Portsmouth 3 Southend United 0
Southend United 0 Yeovil Town 0
Leyton Orient 2 Southend United 1
We were now officially embroiled in a relegation battle.....................Swindon Town 2 Southend United 0
Southend United 1 Walsall 1
Southend United 1 Preston North End 1
Portsmouth 3 Southend United 0
Southend United 0 Yeovil Town 0
Leyton Orient 2 Southend United 1
Not the coaching staff-they're pretty good for League 1. It's just a case of nothing coming together at all. Makes for interesting reading though lol
After the Leyton Orient result, we all realised it was going to be a battle for survival. I appealed to the fans for patience. I had to make them realise I was doing the best I could to turn the clubs fortunes around. And to be fair to the players-they were too. It's not that they weren't trying to win games, because they were. But for whatever reason, that we collectively could not understand, it just wasn't coming together. They were as frustrated as me, the fans, and the board. Before the season kicked off, before the friendlies, were convinced we could have a good season. There wasn't a reason why we couldn't do well-it was a small squad, but had very good talent within it.
Thankfully, the players pulled it together, and earned a 1-0 victory against Gillingham. And they worked dam hard, and the fans recognised it. But even with that victory, there was still an air of pessimism. We all knew, we still hard to work extremely hard to ensure the clubs survival in the division. If only the fans knew how badly I wanted this team to do well in the division. I desperatley wanted them to suceed. The plan was, to ensure survival first time, then make a push for the Championship in the second term. We were more than capable.
But alas, the extremely erratic form continued. Back to back losses followed. 2-0 to Carlisle, then an absolute gubbing of 5-1 to Colchester United. Which left everyone absolutely furious. They were furious we lost so heavily to our fierce rivals. And the message from the board was clear. The entire situation was now totally unacceptable. I sat back in my seat in the my office. My hair was turning white. I was now extremely stressed out. But not as stressed as the players. They're livelihoods were at stake here. My job was at stake. But I feared more for the players.
A 1-0 win against AFC Wimbledon was a more than welcome win. They were on a good run of form lately, and were climbing back up the table. It also took us out of the relegation zone. Yes it was to 19th-but still, it was out the relegation zone. And it felt good. While it lasted anyway. A 2-0 loss against Notts County sent us back down into the zone again, but then we were out following a 1-0 loss against Oldham. Then we were humiliated by Chesterfield 5-0. Back down to 19th. Then something entered my mind for the first time.
Maybe I should resign? Maybe, I wasn't cut out for management. If I left now, then perhaps there was still time for someone else to take over that could save the club. I sat in the office, and buried my head in my hands. When things go so wrong, it can feel like the loneliest place. You doubt yourself. Fans doubt you. The board doubt you. The press. The players. Everything can unravel so quick, your head is spinning. But I left now, I would see it as a sign of cowardice and not accepting responsibility. This was my fault. I do the tactics, I got the players in, I make the decisions. Basically, the buck stopped with me. And I HAD to sort this whole mess out. If I didn't....god knows what would happen.
Thankfully, the players pulled it together, and earned a 1-0 victory against Gillingham. And they worked dam hard, and the fans recognised it. But even with that victory, there was still an air of pessimism. We all knew, we still hard to work extremely hard to ensure the clubs survival in the division. If only the fans knew how badly I wanted this team to do well in the division. I desperatley wanted them to suceed. The plan was, to ensure survival first time, then make a push for the Championship in the second term. We were more than capable.
But alas, the extremely erratic form continued. Back to back losses followed. 2-0 to Carlisle, then an absolute gubbing of 5-1 to Colchester United. Which left everyone absolutely furious. They were furious we lost so heavily to our fierce rivals. And the message from the board was clear. The entire situation was now totally unacceptable. I sat back in my seat in the my office. My hair was turning white. I was now extremely stressed out. But not as stressed as the players. They're livelihoods were at stake here. My job was at stake. But I feared more for the players.
A 1-0 win against AFC Wimbledon was a more than welcome win. They were on a good run of form lately, and were climbing back up the table. It also took us out of the relegation zone. Yes it was to 19th-but still, it was out the relegation zone. And it felt good. While it lasted anyway. A 2-0 loss against Notts County sent us back down into the zone again, but then we were out following a 1-0 loss against Oldham. Then we were humiliated by Chesterfield 5-0. Back down to 19th. Then something entered my mind for the first time.
Maybe I should resign? Maybe, I wasn't cut out for management. If I left now, then perhaps there was still time for someone else to take over that could save the club. I sat in the office, and buried my head in my hands. When things go so wrong, it can feel like the loneliest place. You doubt yourself. Fans doubt you. The board doubt you. The press. The players. Everything can unravel so quick, your head is spinning. But I left now, I would see it as a sign of cowardice and not accepting responsibility. This was my fault. I do the tactics, I got the players in, I make the decisions. Basically, the buck stopped with me. And I HAD to sort this whole mess out. If I didn't....god knows what would happen.
Scunthorpe 1 Southend United 0
Southend United 0 Doncaster Rovers 2
7 matches left until the end of the season. The battle for survival was now on. Resignation was also now on my mind.............Southend United 0 Doncaster Rovers 2
AndySams10
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U can't resign, think of the title of your story! U can come through this, survive relegation and u are a winner.
All shall be revealed later on today. Match by match progress report. Even I don't know what's going to happen. But the board aren't happy, fans aren't happy,player morale abysmal for every single one.......Debt nearing £1.5 million again. Can miracles happen? Even I don't know lol
AndySams10
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Jeez, I hope there is a miracle. U got me worried on my forest green game now, as I'm 300k in the red!! Look forward to reading what happens next.
Think you should be okay-I'm stuck with a board who have unrealistic aspirations compared to what the media think is more realistic, and I left the assistant manager in charge of contract renewals and....let's just say it's gone a bit askew lol. But with 6 points between the 23rd and 20th....well, be interesting lol. But in all the saves I've had, I've never been relegated.
AndySams10
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I hope u are right and I will be ok!! Good luck mate, hope u pull it off.
Poppa_ChesterCityFC
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Really enjoying this story, hope you can keep Southend up and maybe get a better job in the summer.
7 matches remained to save our season. Or be relegated. It's an awful feeling when the threat becomes a possibility. Everyone becomes stressed, worried......every concievable negative emotion courses through you like a virus. No-one is immune to it. We basically needed to win 4 at least to stay safe. And it was going to be incredibly difficult to achieve. And it was proving a near impossible task trying to lift the players. All we could do was pull together, and put in a mammoth effort to ensure we staved off relegation.
I now had a decision to make about my future at the club. As did the chairman.....................
Southend United 0 Oxford 0
A far from ideal result. We remained in 20th position, however the gap had closed. Gillingham, who were directly below us had picked up 3 points. It was now becoming incredibly nervy, which clearly affected performances on the pitch. Fans were biting their nails, and the chairman sat in the stands, looking at the ground grim faced.
Southend United 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0
A massively overdue win. The looks of pure relief was etched on everyone's faces. It wasn't the prettiest of performances, but we weren't in a position to be picky on the style of play. We were going to have to grind out results if we had to. It was going to have to be like the old Evertons Dogs of War style. Backs to the wall fighting. And we did just that in that match. Now we would have to play like this in the remaining 5 matches.
MK Dons 4 Southend United 0
The word I had used many times this season summed this fixture up-disastrous. We were outplayed in every department. We pretty much went into self destruct mode once we conceded the first goal. Worringly, Gillingham had closed the gap to 3 points. It was looking ominous:
Stevenage 1 Southend United 1
Another point. But 2 points dropped. Terrible finishing has cost us dearly. It remained to be seen wether or not those 2 dropped points would cost us division status. Though on the plus side-we remained 20th outside the relegation zone. Every single match was getting too much for some fans. Each time we conceded a goal-it literally knocked the wind out of our sales.
Southend United 0 Bournemouth 1
We were now in a relegation spot. The dreaded position we fought so long against acquiring was now ours. It was utterly deflating. And the pressure was now getting unbearable. The players were trying their absolute hardest to get a precious win, but it simply wasn't happening. It was as if the gods were against us.
Tranmere Rovers 4 Southend United 0
It was to go to the last game of the season. We simply had to win our last match of the season against Rotherham United, and basically needed other results to go in our favour. It would be exciting for the neutral, but it was an absolute ****. I wouldn't wish it on anybody-there was a lot at stake on the last match. A **** of a lot. Even a win wouldn't guarantee us safety. It got to the point where I just wishe the season would end and just be done with it. At least we had the advantage of playing at home.
Southend United 0 Rotherham United 3
The players slumped to their knees, hands in faces. We were officially relegated. The expressions on everybody in the ground told the story. Despair, heartbreak, bewilderment. Young fans wept. It was the most sickening feeling in the world to be relegated. I felt physically sick. I had let everyone done. Fans, players, board.... I looked at the stand and saw the chairman with head in hands. I went every single player and did my best to console them, but it was futile and decided to leave them alone. I hoped to never have to experience this ever again. I was supposed to have helped the club move on, to stay clear of this situation.....but I had been an abject failure.
I now had a decision to make about my future at the club. As did the chairman.....................