How long have you supported Yeovil ?
In a regular committed way since around 1984, but got taken to a lot of the bigger cup games before that.
What is your present squad like?
We're a little better off than last season, mainly because the board have authorised a larger squad. Mind you, given we spent most of last season struggling to fill 16 spaces, they couldn't have made it smaller.
We still at times look a little thin on available substitutions, and there are a lot of very inexperienced players out there. We have five loanees that are our saviours though - three from Spurs, one from
Which youngster has made the biggest impression in your team this season?
Probably one of two loanees, Steven Caulker or Ryan Mason, both of whom are from Tottenham. We've got them for the full season, which is probably longer than we keep some of our permanent signings for.
Caulker is just 17 years old, but you'd never believe it. A third of the way through the season and he's yet to pick up a booking, which for a centre-back who is built like the proverbial outhouse is something else. If he isn't playing in the Premier League in two or three years time I'll be very surprised.
What's your manager like and will he still be there at the end of the season?
Terry Skiverton is I'm sure well known to most Southend fans as a former central defender. He's officially a player-manager, but it seems clear that he has hung up his boots now.
He ought to be still with us at the end of the season, as really keeping us in League One would be an achievement, but odder things have happened with this club.
Are you happy with your chairman/backroom staff?
Bit of a mixed bag. On the plus side, we're in the black with the bank, and so don't face the kind of worries that Southend fans have had this season.
However, there's a feeling that we've stalled as a club, and there's little communication with the fans to persuade people that there's future direction and planning going on. Far too much appears to be reactive rather than proactive.
Favourite ever Glovers player and why?
Probably not the most gifted, but Warren Patmore was always one of my favourites, in part because I got to know him personally as well.
His 140 goals were all scored at non-league level, and his reputation was for being one of those "who ate all the pies" strikers, but his aerial dominance was phenomenal, and it was obvious that he was a player who was having the time of his life playing for Yeovil, and when you see a player playing with a big smile on his face, you can't help but warm to him.
Best ever Yeovil game seen?
A toss-up between a 5-4 win over Doncaster Rovers in the FA Trophy (where we went on to win the competition) in 2001-02, and the 5-2 win (5-4 on aggregate) over
Both games had everything about them - spectacular goals, an improbable comeback from the death and of course both allowed the club to head onwards to greater things - our first major national trophy and our first trip to Wembley.
Probably the
Best place to have a pint before the game?
Not Huish Park! We do have a beer tent, more officially referred to as the Hospitality Marquee (trust me, it's a beer tent) but it's there for convenience, and not there for good beer.
Nearest pubs are The Bell and The Arrow, which are both large pubs suitable for football fans, but both are on the average side. However, they are easily walkable to the ground and have big screens for the live matches.
If you're driving and want somewhere a that looks a little bit more like a Somerset countryside pub, then the Masons Arms in Lower Odcombe is very worthy, particularly for real ale and food. For rail travellers, the Quicksilver Mail, the Pall Tavern and the Armoury are all in the town centre, but be warned that you'll need a taxi or a bus to get you out to the ground.
Which team do you want to beat the most and why?
Bristol
Do we need to explain why we wanted to beat them?
Favourite away ground and why?
To indulge in a spot of brown-nosing, we've always enjoyed our visits to Roots Hall, both in terms of the town and the character of the ground.
Probably my favourite though would be
Your choices for this season's League One Champions, runners-up and the three play-off places and the four relegated teams?
Leeds United look a bit nailed on for the title, and I fancy
At the bottom, we're rather relieved to find that Wycombe and Tranmere look to be drifting badly, and they've already pressed the panic button and changed their managers.
Stockport and
Any opinions on Southend United and particularly on their present financial situation?
Nice club and good manager (more brown-nosing) although the whole HMRC issue appears to have been handled in a bit of a kamikaze manner.
The information coming out of Roots Hall and into the public eye appears to be minimal, and if I was a Southend fan I'd be asking a few more questions of the club's financial position and whether the debt has merely been transferred from HMRC to another company, rather than eliminated.
How do you see the future of the Football League?
As things stand, it's unsustainable. I don't agree with the idea of reintroducing regionalised football which occasionally comes up, but it does seem clear that the majority of clubs are spending money that they haven't got. And of course that leads to pressure upon other clubs to keep up with their divisional rivals and spend more money themselves to compete with each other. Salary caps aren't the answer either.
What I would like to see is the penalties for clubs falling into administration to be increased up to a point where they become a genuine deterrent for clubs so that the repercussions clearly outweigh the benefits of junking debts. At present, the 10 point penalty isn't really a deterrent - a forced relegation may be more of one.
(Thanks Martin, who can be found at www.ciderspace.co.uk)