Comments for Nick Bennett

Comment on Celeb-Pity by Phil

Phil — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 10:58:56 +0000

Ditto! I feel the same. It has become standard practise to work to the lowest common denominator. Use small words, short sentences, add a bit of schadenfreude and pics of celebs at their worst and you have a magazine.

The media would say that “we give people what they want”. Then people don’t know better. I remember asking a woman I used to work with why she watched Eastenders so religiously, she said “cos, it makes me feel better about my life.” Good grief.

Stop this insidious methodology, intstead of teaching people to look down on others, help them to look up at their own possibilities.

Comment on England: The Solution by Phil

Phil — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 19:44:23 +0000

Well said Nick. Excellent points and agree totally, something has got to be done. Forget blaming the manager he’s only as good as the tools his been given.

Comment on National Disgrace by Chris

Chris — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:53:12 +0000

The problem comes from greed and it runs throughout everything today. Companies, councils, government all do the same.

Contractors.

The company hiring the contractors get a guaranteed pay day with no effort. Contractors then have a captivated audience to squeeze every last penny out of while keeping costs to a total minimum.

Who’s going to miss the FA Cup final when their team gets there?
You have no choice but to pay your income tax or council tax. As far as Wembley, Southend Council or the UK government is concerned – job done.

Get a grip all – take some responsibility. Put realistic service level agreements in contractor contracts AND ENFORCE THEM.

Bring back real customer service.

Rant over.

Comment on National Disgrace by wheeler

wheeler — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:07:42 +0000

The Quo are fucking immense you massive tool.

Comment on DePRESSing by Phil R

Phil R — Thu, 20 May 2010 08:14:56 +0000

Unfortunately conflict is the basis of drama, and drama sells. Otherwise people wouldn’t watch TV, or read fiction. Facts tend to be completely irrelevant if they get in the way of a good story.

Comment on DePRESSing by Chris Mahon

Chris Mahon — Thu, 20 May 2010 07:22:32 +0000

Totally agree Nick, I have no idea why these muppets are such pricks. With the Terry thing, I think it was probably justified that it came out but they dragged that story on for way too long.

The press are so damn quick to jump on the back of any sportsmen who does even a slight wrong. If you can give the Sunday Supplement on Sky Sports 1 (10am or something) a watch as it has the editors of all these papers and funny to see how they justify some of the things they print.

I have to say working from home means I no longer buy a paper, so I’m doing my bit.

Comment on Out with a shrimper! by admin

admin — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:59:19 +0000

No these are all great points..I don’t recall there being a lot to cheer about in my initial blog Gotta keep the faith!

Comment on Out with a shrimper! by Chris

Chris — Mon, 10 May 2010 20:39:57 +0000

An enjoyable read and good to hear you had a good time at Southampton.
Personally, I have a more negative point of view than yourself and find very little positive to look forward to in the coming season. I believe the problems are greater than just a few players and some money problems. A few things to consider:
1) We can’t score goals. While I agree that you can’t just rely on one person to score your goals as we were with Barnard, when you do have one person scoring goals and no one else is, don’t sell him.
2) While on the subject of Barnard, there is no way he would have downed tools should Southend have refused to sell him mid season. Had he done that, no one would have signed him at the end of the season. I’m not calling Ron a liar but…
3) The reluctance to play youth players. We had two rank average strikers on loan. Rank average is as generous as I’m going to get. We had a youth team striker on the bench. When the situation was so dire at the end of the season and we weren’t scoring goals, why not give Crawford a go? Finally he started a game, oh and scored! The reason couldn’t have been anything to do with loanee’s wages because Ron said so. I’m not calling Ron a liar but…
4) Tactical ineptness. I’m not taking anything away from Tilson’s record over the past seven years as they are some of the most successful in the history of the club. I do wonder about some basic decisions. Home games towards the end of the season versus Wycombe, Tranmere, Exeter, Brentford and Brighton. All very poor sides. I don’t recall seeing three or four up front at any point. I don’t recall seeing a big lump stuck up front and hitting big balls. I don’t recall seeing any imagination in trying to avoid relegation.
5) Discipline. Ron – “Steve doesn’t believe in fining players for discipline reasons. I don’t like it but he runs the team”. Sorry Ron but if I (Moussa, Christophe, MCcormack) screw up badly losing my company (club) lots of money (relegation) and my boss (Tilson) does nothing about, I’m pretty sure his boss (that’s you Ron!) would start making him do something about it. Moussa’s behaviour and naivety at Bristol was pretty much the final nail in our season’s coffin. Iâ€™m disgusted to think he didnâ€™t get fined for that.
6) The refreshment card. You East Standers may not know about this. I canâ€™t be bothered to explain my annoyance with this but if you want to know more, find articles on the Southend website. Five quid for a tea anyone?
7) We canâ€™t score goals â€“ again! This wonâ€™t change next season. We wonâ€™t sign anyone.
The (rather lengthy) points Iâ€™m trying make is that things are bad. Really bad. Theyâ€™re not going to get better next season. Our football league position is our priority next season.
Am I being unduly negative?