So it's the battle of the end' on Saturday as Paul Sturrock's table toppers arrive at Deepdale for a first round tie thatdoesn't make the pulses race. North End will still be without Mellor, Hume and Procter. This is a tough one for the Whites against an in form side. Hopefully the Giant German will have a quiet day. But which end will progress?
So it ended goalless and the dissenters were booing at the end, what did they expect, our strike force was sat in the stands. A game we should have won comfortably but we are still in the cup and hopefully by the time we get to Roots Hall, Mellor and Hume will be back. Should have been 2 or 3 up by the break but decent goalkeeping by Daniels kept the home side out. Coutts twice, Nicholson and Tsoumou being denied. Apart from one header Southend offered little. Just before half time North End were awarded a penalty possibly the only thing Mr Miller gave us all afternoon. Nicholson's kicked landed in Broughton 5 miles away. The 2nd half was pretty average for 20 minutes until Coutts again forced Daniels into a side. Then Southend actually had a shot on target which was going in until Stuckmann made a fine one handed save. Southend shaded the play however they looked as likely to score as the Germans are likely to bail out Italy and Greece. North End upped the pressure at the end but couldn't beat the excellent Daniels. Finally Zibika came on for his home debut and at 16 years of age makes me feel very old
A fair summary maclad. When your strikers are in the stand and you have to rely on untried standins, including one at 16, then you are unlikely to run riot. The positives from yesterday were a more solid defensive performance and a goalkeeper in command of his area and able to use the ball well. Listened to Alan Smart on radio Lancashire. He was dismayed by the reaction of the fans on the ground and bemused by the calls for a change of manager mailed to the radio station. As he said, the manager , whoever he might be he would be faced with the same problems, lack of strength and no investment. Without it the club is becalmed and unable to plug the obvious gaps. The obvious remedy is for the current owners to loosen the purse strings and that, as we well know, is unlikely to happen. So we will have accept the facts and get on with it. PS Poor FA cup draw, albeit at home. Doesn't set the pulse racing.
Have to agree with what Smart said was absolutely spot on. Have to say my theory on unhappy fans is that they are mostly fans who started watching the Whites round the Moyes era and are unused to us struggling
