2005/2006 Season Preview - Southend United

Southend on Sea: Essex Home: Roots Hall Nickname: The Shrimpers Hate: Colchester, Leyton Orient, West Ham Last Meeting: 4th Feb 2005 L2 Southend United H D 1-1 For 90 minutes on the 7th of May 2005 I hated Southend, I wanted them crushed and destroyed by Grimsby Town. They were the enemy. They were the devil incarnate. I hated their long pier and their jellied eels. I prayed to God to smite them down with righteous fury, I willed their total destruction, I insisted on none being left alive. TOTAL ANNIHILATION. Then the final whistle went in Grimsby, the 1-1 scoreline confirming our promotion and I liked them again - good old Shrimpers, always liked 'em, wish 'em the best in the play-offs, Tilson deserves all the success he can get, lovely clu… After just missing out on an automatic promotion place they looked certain to gain for much of the second half of the season, the club entered the dreaded play-offs. Beating Northampton in the play-off semi-finals paved the way for a final at the Millennium Stadium against hoofball specialists Lincoln City. Despite a disappointing following from Essex, Southend clinched a deserved victory with goals from Jupp and Eastwood to book their place alongside Swansea, Yeovil and Scunthorpe in League 1. One of the 11 heroes for the Swans in that promotion clinching game at Bury was ickle Leon Britton. Interestingly, the Shrimpers had Leon on loan from West Ham before he came to the Vetch, but the coaching set-up at the time saw nothing of note in the young man and didn't even see fit to try him out in the first team during his stay at Roots Hall. He was, however, considered for the position of Sammy The Shrimp, the club mascot, due to his size, low centre of gravity and affinity with children, but turned down the offer to pursue his football career elsewhere. Games between the two clubs have gotten a little fruity on occasions, with Alvin Martin, now a pundit on radio station Talksport, manning the Vetch dug-out during a game in September 1998 that saw the Swans win 3-1 and Southend reduced to 8 men. Southend players Hall and Gooding were sent off in normal time for rash tackles, but the best red card award went to Maher, who got sent off at the final whistle for scrapping with our angelic Ritchie Appleby during a mass confrontation of players and staff of both sides. The fixture at the Vetch during the 2003/2004 season saw a more disciplined approach from Southend, managing to keep the player count as high as 9 this time. The added steel and discipline in their play paid off and they embarrassed the home side by winning 3-2. Readers may remember the occasional Southend and Cardiff fan gently reminding us of the number of players Southend needed in order to beat us that day… The close season has seen pretty quiet at Roots Hall. Manager Steve Tilson has been unable to add any of his major summer targets and has mainly had to spend his time fending off stories about the possible transfer of star man Freddy Eastwood. The club have tried and failed to recruit alleged Swans target Shaun Goater, and have also been linked with the man who has been shuffled around 85 clubs by his agent before going back to Oldham - Luke Beckett. Echoing the thoughts of our own manager, Tilson is eager to add to his squad, but will not be making any panic buys…yet: "We will keep plodding along and try to bring the right person in. I could go and get two centre-forwards in this second but there is no point. I've got to bring in people that are going to strengthen the side - there is no point in me signing people just for the sake of it. I have only got 17 players at this moment in time but I am not going to panic. We will bide our time and hopefully the right one will come along." Tilson has eventually made his first signing of the summer, with the signing of midfielder Mitchell Cole from Grays Athletic. Cole was part of the all-conquering Grays team that Freddy Eastwood played for, and like Eastwood is a former West Ham trainee. Cole is currently dating the sister of Chelsea man Joe Cole, so at least she won't have to change her name if they get hitched. Heading in the other direction, tricky left-winger winger Nicky Nicolau has left to join Swindon after failing to agree to a new contract offer. Southend's star player will surely be prolific striker Freddy Eastwood providing he remains with the club. Signed from Grays Athletic last summer, the former West Ham man had an outstanding season last year, scoring 24 goals, and marked his league debut with a hat-trick against us at Roots Hall, his first coming after only 7.7 seconds, before Garry Monk had even tied his shoelaces up. Prediction? Southend were certainly one of the best teams I saw last season, (much better than us) looked very well -organised, pacey and were excellent at set-pieces. Whether their small squad will cope with the step up is open to question, and the strength in depth of other teams (not us) could cause problems when injuries and suspensions kick in. They Will Finish: In the bottom 8

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