Tonight, Walsall face Southend United, in a game that could free Walsall from a relegation battle, or see them dragged into one.
To get the lowdown on Southend, I spoke with Chief sports reporter from the Southend Echo, Chris Phillips, and Rylee Doe, who has featured on Vital Walsall many times before.
With the threat of relegation out of the EFL a real concern, have Southend shown enough to stay up?
CP – To be entirely honest, no. It’s been another horrible season for Southend and it has continued the club’s dismal demise. Blues are now seven points from safety and I can’t see any way out sadly. It’s six games without a win now too and only one goal has been scored during that poor run. Southend play not to lose rather than looking to win but fans are becoming frustrated by that lack of attacking intent.
RD – As painful as it is to say, no we haven’t. There’s been glimmers of hope at times and a few games where we’ve gone to the league leaders and outplayed and outclassed them which gives me hope, but at the same time there’s been no consistency. I’ve always said if we stay up, it’ll be because there’s two teams worse than us; not on our own merits.
Transfer embargo’s, youth players, financial issues. Can you shed some light as to what is happening at Southend?
RD – How long have you got? The club gambled on getting promotion back in 2016 and it almost paid off had it been for one extra point. Since then we’ve slowly sleepwalked into an abyss. We lost our CEO, and have failed to replace them. We’ve run out of money, and have failed to secure funding. We lost the key core of players who cared for the club, and replaced them with journeymen and youngsters looking for their next step up the ladder. As painful as it is to say, I think we’re the most poorly run club in the EFL.
CP – I could be here all day talking to you about what has gone wrong and the reasons why it’s happened but it’s been incredibly sad to see. I’m a Southend fan myself and it’s heartbreaking right now. It’s been a slow demise going back years and put simply it hasn’t been good enough on and off the pitch this season. The league table speaks volumes and this is worst it’s ever been for Blues.
How would you rate manager Mark Molesley?
RD – I think we’re extremely lucky to have Mark in charge. Don’t get me wrong, he’s made some questionable decisions and tactical changes which has turned some fans against him, but he’s still a young manager learning his trade. I think the fact he has us even with a chance of staying up is something worth applauding him for. It is a big clash between Southend and Walsall, and not for the right reasons.
CP – I think he took on one of the toughest jobs in football coming to Southend and he’s to be commended for taking on that challenge. He started the season with an idealistic style of football which wasn’t really suited to the squad or League Two and may have taken too long to change where that was concerned. He’s made some strange decisions at times and the biggest criticism among the supporters right now would be the negative tactics.
Is this the biggest game of Southend’s season?
CP – Without sounding like a manager, they’re all big games for Southend now. On Saturday, Blues were 1-0 up at Scunthorpe and the hosts were down to 10 men but still managed to get an equaliser. If I’m being entirely honest and speaking as a fan I saw that as the final nail in the coffin for Southend. Maybe a win on Tuesday might slightly help and we do have to play Colchester as well but it’s going to take an almighty turnaround in form for Southend to being anywhere near surviving, especially when you look at the recent results.
RD – Yes. I’d even go as far as saying one of the biggest games of Southend’s history. We’re a proud club and have had a century of league football under our belt. I don’t want next season to be our first in non league. Walsall is our biggest game, until Saturday when that becomes our biggest game. I’ll keep saying it until we’re either safe, or down.
Who has been the standout player for the Blues this season?
CP – Without being horrible I don’t think there has really been one. Our top goalscorers have three goals and it’s been an awful season. If I did have to pick someone though, I think Shaun Hobson has done well at centre-back. Tom Clifford is a good prospect at left-back too but he hasn’t made the squad for the last couple of games.
RD – It’s been hard to say. James Olayinka, who’s on loan from Arsenal, seems to be the only real creative player we have. He could be set for a return against yourselves which would hopefully fire up the team.
What formation do you tend to play?
RD – We had a brief spell playing 5 at the back but quickly learned it don’t work. We tend to play a 4-5-1 with one of our midfielders playing just off Sim Akinola up top.
CP – It’s mostly been 4-2-3-1 but the shape has changed slightly in recent weeks with Timothee Dieng moving into a more attacking role. Tactically speaking Southend look to make themselves hard to break down and try to stay in games for as long as possible then hope something might break for them in attack. It’s not been pretty to watch but I guess the managerial team would argue it’s needs must at this point.
Has League Two been as you expected this season?
RD – Unfortunately, yes. If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. It’s no coincidence that we had our unbeaten run in the same month we finally got rid of our embargo (in December!). We basically gave the whole league a 16 game head start. You can imagine what that feels like as a fan.
CP – Yes, I think so. I don’t think there have been any surprises for us where that is concerned. I was impressed by Tranmere when we played them recently and Cheltenham looked good too. But I think you know what to expect from League Two in fairness.
Predictions for the game?
CP – 0-0 is normally the best bet where Blues are concerned lately so I’ll go for that. Southend haven’t scored in their last four home games.
RD – Call it hope or call it naivety but I think if we don’t win tonight when will we win? Coming up against the worst form side in the division, you have to capitalise. We’re 7 points from safety and 7 points from our arch rivals. That’s enough motivation for the players. Goals are hard to come by, so I’ll say 1-0 blues.
