 |
|
| Southen United
Betting Odds from
Ladbrokes and Coral
Rangers
face Southend on Saturday August 12th at Loftus Road and we made the trip to Southend
on Saturday February 10th. Below is the guide to Southend with my opinion on how they will fare this season as well as the view of a Southend fan. I also have a brief guide to Roots Hall as well as previous results and match reports from recent encounters between the two sides. Southend United Squad
Last Season Southend made it back to back promotions last season with a stunning effort in league one. Tipped by most to struggle they carried on where they had left off in League two playing attacking football and scoring goals. Most of them came from Freddie Eastwood the jewel in Southend's crown who began to attract attention from bigger clubs. Eastwood stayed put though and his pace, power and expert finishing made him far too good for League One defences to cope with. Shaun Goater was also a potent force in league one bagging several goals whilst Bentley and Gower were also important to their promotion chance. Southend eventually went up with a 2-2 draw at Swansea and the party went on long into the night as after a ten year gap they were back in the Championship. How Will they fare? After back-to-back promotions what are the chances of Southend completing the hat trick? Well slim to none if we're honest and Southend will be looking to just stay in the division this year and look to build on a couple of great years for the club. Steve Tilson is realistic about his side's chances and with very little money to spend it's going to be tough. Tilson though has kept hold of his key players though especially Freddie Eastwood who is a quality striker who will look to quickly settle at a higher level. Much will depend on how Eastwood does this year, if he settles quickly and scores goals then Southend will surprise a few teams. Much like Luton last year they are not expected to do much this year but they are well organised and on the back of two great seasons so the momentum of promotion will stand them in good stead. They don't have the best side in the division but I fancy them to cause a few upsets and if they can add another striker I think they'll just about do enough o stay up. PREDICTION: 19th Southend United Fans View I asked fans on the Rivals message board for views on the new season and here's what they had to say. How do you think Southend will fare this season?
As long as Tilson and Eastwood stay then we'll stay up Super
Freddie Eastwood Absolutely Birmingham,
West Brom, Preston Colchester, Barnsley,
Sheffield Wednesday I think you'll struggle but you shoudl stay up. What's The Ground Like Away fans are housed in the North Stand, which is now all seated. Around 2,000 away fans can be accommodated and the strand is an old terrace so the seats have been bolted down to the terrace. The stadium is easy to find and walkable from the local train station and I expect many QPR fans will make a day of it and find one of two pubs for a pre match drink. The view from the away end is not great to be honest, I found we were a little too low and it was difficult to see the other end. To be fair though we lost 4-0 on my only visit after I missed the first half due to train problems and then we didn't attack the far end more than once in the second half. The facilities are very second division and will be a bit of a culture shock after the shiny new stadiums but what more do you need other than a toilet and a burger van? The toilets are bad though, expect Brentford like floodings if it's a big crowd. Previous Results Rangers only recent meeting against Southend came in the LDV Semi final in 2004. With fans hoping for a chance to get to the Millennium Stadium the then struggling Southend thrashed us 4-0 and we went home feeling rather embarrassed and pretended we didn't care. The last league meeting was in
the 96/97 season, our first out of the Premiership. Rangers won 4-0 at Loftus
Road as John Spencer ran riot and the return game was a 1-0 win with Trevor Sinclair
getting the goal.
Click Here to go back to the Season Preview Page
|  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
