.. for all the Hessy apologists out there; defend him following yesterdays debacle. The problem is that we are making the same mistakes over and over again. Ooh we need a right-back... now Lawreance didn't do very well there (out of position) against Wimbledon, and I have brought Evans back from loan... what should I do? I know I will play Lawrence there again, that is sure to work this time!! 4-3-3 formation didn't work against Accrington, too many players out of positions and we were torn apart out wide... what should I do now? I know we'll play 4-3-3!! Einstein said: "Insainty is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"
I have lost all faith in Hess now. After spouting in the news that he was going to give the younger lads a chance... He went and bottled it, played the same back line again and only considered changing when it was too late... It's obvious to anyone that Lawrence is too slow even for center back, Richards has no technical skills at all, and Martin/Frampton look as if they've already given up hope. On a positive note I thought Evans and Essem coped well with the limited 2nd half threat of Southend (to be honest they looked happy to sit back after half time). The midfield was infinately better once Jack Payne replaced the god awful Montrose. And Gazza had a steady full league debut. As for Tomlin... can anyone honestly see us holding on to him for next season...? No
I see he's spouting off again on the beeb website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17027673 Sounds familiar to anyone over the last couple of weeks!!?? Maybe he will now stand by his comments...
I've lost every bit of faith in Hess after last night, not because it was horrendous to watch, not because we can't defend, and not even because he is tactically inept. The main thing that annoys me is his outcry after Accrington that people will be dropped etc, im getting conner back etc, then he plays the same terrible back 4 that shipped 8 in 2 games against seriously average teams, utter disgrace. Lawrence was shocking, Frampton slow and Richards is a disgusting excuse for a pro footballer. Coupled with the fact that Curtis and Montrose might as well not have been there in the 1'st half, in fact I'm pretty sure they weren't and you stick Jackman left when he's played centrally most of the time this year, therefore cutting out width and it is a horribly inbalanced side. Oh yea, and lets stick Kuffour up front and get Richards to smash it aimlessly to him for the entire first half. Never before have i even considered walking out during a game in disgust but last night i genuinely thought about it before half-time. Now people will probably slate me, but i'm putting a point across that only the stupid and those blind by loyalty to Hess cannot see. If you were there last night you would have seen that the players have lost all confidence, there was no cohesion or communication, he has without a doubt lost the dressing room and if something isn't done now i guarantee we will finish in the bottom half this season. Utter digrace, Hessy has to go. And before someone asks who would do a better job, I say anyone would, at this moment in time i'd have Stimson back, and i honestly thought i'd never say that in my life.
I've deleted most of your last post - not because I disagree -but to concentrate on the bit that I have left - and point out that Stimson's team isn't doing a lot better. http://www.englishfootball.info/conference/table/ ( they're the ones on minus 36 goals )
There seems to be a lot of support for bringing in "the kids". It does need a reality check here. Putting the kids in would put an end to any promotion ambitions for this season (if any remain!) All of these kids are raw and untested at league level. Give them a go by all means but give them a chance and a bit of time to develop. Expect them to make mistakes and lose matches.
i've said it all already, it's getting painful to watch and hear now. the guy is so clueless from start to finish and his words don't cut it now...losing my backing fast unless he act because season looks over and out! that summed hessy's tact up by giving richards the armband!!! as for hess's shadow...what is he there for...name one improvement he's contributed on??? there are three or four players at the most that want to play for the shirt i.e. payne, jackman, tomlin, gazzaniga showing signs and sometimes kedwell...thats no combination for success and after hess said i will put a team togeather that wants to wear the shirt and fights for 90+mins...sorry hess but you are joking are you not?!
gills79 our season is on the decline and you still question if or not we should keep it safe with only a player or two being sacrificed, when it's plain to see most don't cut it or are only after a wage at best. the young wanting to impress eager batch will do no worse than those so called pro's who offer experience...which is debatable and non existent to say the least ! we have nothing to lose, give them ago and wait to be surprised, plus we build for the future as of now!
With the injuries that we have.....we have no choice. Go for it......(and offer Tomlin an extended contract now).
There's no way you can compare Stimson's managerial record there. They were in a similar position to us when he first came here in 2007. Originally when Hess came in I said this was a 5 year plan to build a side of pushing for promotion and maintaining a comfortable position in League 1 (where a club like us should be looking at at this moment in time). But to lose our last 5 games in a row to average teams is shocking. The fact that we're not challenging for the auto spots given the money Hess has spent over the summer is unacceptable already. If we do not finish in the play offs at least then for me Hess has to go. He's had 2 years where no matter what fans' opinions were of him, the standard of football under Stimson was better.
I was reading the Southend boards after they lost on Friday and it looks very similar to the above, 3 days later and they're top of the league. So ok we change manager again as we've done many times since the heady days of the Championship and it all becomes better, only it hasn't worked so far has it. But with all the money Hess has spent on players since the summer we should expect better, only I don't know how much he's spent, I don't know what our rivals have spent, I don't know what the players are earning, and if truth be told I don't suppose most on here know either. So before anyone starts with the personal insults I don't enjoy or like what is happening, I don't try to defend Hess or his decisions, I do know that continually changing manager hasn't worked and if we continue to operate a system of sacking the manager every time there's a hick-up then isn't that doing exactly what we are accusing Hess of (why will this change be different from the others)
gills,oxon4everandaday I wasn't saying not to put the youngsters in. I am saying that if they are put in they will need patience from the supporters and given time to develop without people jumping on their backs. Mistakes will be made and games will be lost at first .
fair enough gills79, read you wrong, though we have nothing to lose now and should blood these rookies and keep faith with them!
Been a busy week so I've missed the inevitable fallout from Monday. I saw the last half hour - I have other commitments on Monday evenings, but my daughter persuaded one of the pubs in the village to put it on - and so actually saw the best part of the match as far as Gills were concerned. Not that even that was particularly brilliant though. Not sure whether we doubled the number of clientele in the pub or whether the rest were driven away. Was greeted with the resume of the first half and brought to mind my comments pre-Burton "Also speculation that Jack Evans might be in at right back - don't know much about him but whilst I think Lawrence is a great centre back I really don't like to see him in wider positions, and so if he is a specialist right back then why not? But would Hess put Evans and Essam in the same back four? Risky methinks, so maybe it's Lawrence in at centre with Richards and Evans on the right. We all (no, make that a lot of us) think that a shake up of the back 4 is required, but it's going to be interesting to see what line up he comes up with. Hopefully more of a shake up than at Accrington, but what odds on 3 substitutions before half time?" OK, not exactly earth shatteringly accurate, but for me, not a bad stab. And what didn't happen on Saturday almost happened on Monday, with the anticipated dpressing result. The time has surely come to question seriously a) whether Hessy actually understands the problem and b) if he does, whether he realises not how something can be done about it, but simply whether something can be done about it. Half a game isn't enought to assess the ability of two young ex-youth squad players, but from the reports I got and what I saw they certainly couldn't do any worse. Consideration must be given to the psychological effect of a young player being brought in to a side and being totally outplayed, but they've got to start somewhere. We've seen promises of defensive shake-ups since the Wimbledon game. So, back 4 v Wimbledon - Lee Richards Lawrence Martin, starting back 4 v Southend - Lawrence Frampton Richards Martin. What was it someone once said about shuffling the deckchairs on the Titanic? A few games ago we were still talking about having a good run in and possibly challenging for an automatic spot. Now we'll have to go some to get into the play-offs. That said if things are turned round and we do get 7th or better then we'll obviously have some decent recent form behind us, which is no bad thing at the end of the season. Personally I think that Scally will give Hess until the end of the season, but if we don't at least reach the play-offs then I think he'll be gone, and possibly even if we reach the play-offs but don't get promoted. I'm assuming here that automatic promotion is an impossibility of course. Tomorrow is another day.
