This was the moment when the patience of the majority snapped. We have always had boo boys, ready to vent their worthless spleen at any misplaced pass or any defeat. This was not what happened here. Like at Reading (then of similar status to Southend, now of the Premier League) nine years ago, the majority decided they just didn’t want to watch many of the players on the pitch ever again. Reading is always seen as a real “low point” – but that was a team that had miraculously got promoted then only just gone down with 40 Premiership points (that is 120% of the points in our last two Premiership seasons combined). If that was “low” where the hell are we now?
Quinny had tried shuffling whatever pack he thinks he has. But if you have seen one of the previous three games, you needn’t read on because you will know what it was like. Southend started anxiously, “knowing” they were playing a big club with many players who a year ago, when they were in League 1, were in the Premiership. But as it started dawning on them how crap we were you could almost visibly see their backs straighten, their shoulders push back and their chins go up. Still it didn’t mean much in a first half devoid of real chances. As the announcement came on for one minute added on time, our players mentally moved into the dressing room. A ball was punted aimlessly forward and Eastwood (whose full name is “The Highly Rated Eastwood”) chased it down the inside left channel towards the bye line. Cunningham went with him. Well, I say “went with him” in that in Grandaddy Kenny’s mind he saw the player and thought “when I was a young ‘un I used to chase balls like that and get a tackle in – sometimes gave a corner away mind – but always got a tackle in. Mind you it was all fields round here in those days”. Cunningham did not interfere in any way whatsoever with Eastwood getting a first time cross in. Alnwick stayed routed to his line while the ball into the six yard box was met by their centre half (WTF was he doing there?) with Neil Collins alongside him only marginally interfering with play more than Cunningham by at least physically having his body in contact with the opposition player – not that it made any difference to his ability to get in a clean header to score.
Second half you have to report that we improved – but it seems an inappropriate word to use for a moderately different grade of crap. Anyway the putative improvement ended when they got a very similar goal down the other end. A cross in from a free kick on the right headed back from an identical position to where Eastwood had crossed for the same Southend centre half to head in again from the very same spot he had scored his first. Who could have expected him to be there?
And that was it for most of the SAFC following. Various anti-team chants occupied the majority of the 2.000 strong away end, most notably the “You’re not fit to wear the shirt”. Personally in 42 years of SAFC supporting I have never (despite many opportunities) joined in such chants, however I have felt mentally, and never will. It is a personal thing and you can sod off if you think I should. However, today I couldn’t possibly disagree with anyone who did join in. In an appalling team performance it is invidious to single out poor players so let’s do so. Cunningham is a waste of space and must go. Neil Collins is not as much a piece of despicable shirtswapping human shit as Danny Collins – but he is no better a footballer. We have seen that Whitehead has ability but his performances this season have been chronic. Why he is captain when his head is the first to drop is anybody’s guess. Stead might have had his “Andy Gray” moment. You remember that match at the SoL (can’t remember who against) where Gray was playing his normal useless game and a ball came within a yard of him in the box and he didn’t move for it? McCarthy took him off a few minutes later just before half-time and that realistically was the end of his SAFC career. Stead (who had an awful game overall upfront) had a similar ball in the box and just stood there rigid. No-one has been shown more tolerance and support than Stead – but I think that is now over. Stephen Elliott had another poor game (all be it on the right wing where he has never played well). How long do we keep playing him hoping he gets back to being the player he was two seasons ago? The really worrying thing was that the two players who had had a positive start to the season, Murphy and Leadbitter, both had poor games. While we need an influx of fresh, positive blood some of these players will be part of the future – we don’t want to destroy them at the same time.
If you want a positive (and it needs to be kept in context so as not to destroy him with unrealistic expectations) Arnau looked canny when he came on (and we have a good song for him, which is always a plus).
After the match we drove back to Kings Cross to pick up our son who was on his way back down from Edinburgh. Our lass and me went to an Ethiopian restaurant just round the corner from the station. It is “Addis” on Caledonian Road. Excellent restaurant and excellent food. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who has some time to kill before catching a train back to god’s country. We had a really nice meal and enjoyed ourselves (although the Ethiopian waitress wouldn’t let me have the spicy minced beef dish as it would be “too hot” for me – I felt my manhood was being insulted). Generally I shouldn’t be able to do this. SAFC results are meant to dictate my mood for the whole week-end. If we lose, I am meant to mope around and not want to do owt. If we win, I am meant to be desperate to get back out on the Guiness. More than the depression over sitting pointless at the bottom of the Championship I resent the players who have turned me into someone who has had to become neutral about results so that an hour and a half after a crushing defeat I can sit in a restaurant enjoying myself. I want this to stop and I want it to stop now.