It's judgement day for Ryan Hall in Basildon this morning
To say Shrimpers winger Ryan Hall has been influential in the club's recent fine form that has taken them to the edge of the play-offs would be understating the importance the former Crystal Palace youth had had on the team and it's results, especially in the absense of Kane Ferdinand and Bilel Mohsni.
Obviously Blues boss Paul Sturrock hopes that the judgement passed as Ryan returns to Basildon Crown Court this morning is a positive one for the 23-year-old.
Sturrock told www.echo-news.co.uk: "I hope for the sake of laddy, his family and, selfishly, the football club as well that the decision goes his way today. I think most people thought the original verdict was quite harsh and fingers crossed the appeal will be successful."
Though Ryan was below par in the defeat at Morecambe last weekend after spending Thursday evening in Chelmsford prison, he showed his true worth in a stunning performance against Gillingham two nights ago scoring two marvellous goals as the Shrimpers were held 2-1 at Roots Hall.
Sturrock said: "Ryan showed his importance to the team on Tuesday and just why we would miss him if he wasn't available to us. He did something wrong but we hope to have him available for our remaining games and that would give our play off chances a huge lift. He's now showing everyone the talent I saw when we first got him on trial in the summer and he's showed fantastic character to play so well when he's had all this hanging over him."
Obviously we await the verdict with baited breath and will pass it on as soon as we hear something.
The text message to Luggy:
www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/
all_hail_hall_fingers_crossed_that_everything_goes_well_for_him_thursday_
655551/index.shtml
And on our S24 it was a 50/50 split on whether losing Ryab would affect our paly-off push, if it hadn't closed I wonder how Tuesday might have affected that result?:
www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/interactive/voting_polls.asp