Firstly, a reminder that TLG will be experiencing downtime from today, Wednesday 28th July 2004, for a period possibly stretching to 72 hours. Both myself and Mark Wallis apologise unreservedly for this inconvenience, but this is a matter completely out of our control, and undoubtedly footyMAD’s relocation will be of benefit to both ourselves and, more importantly, to you, our readers. We will attempt to bring some sort of coverage from tonight’s fixture, as well as a preview for Saturday afternoon’s game at Grays Athletic, plus a full report from Blues’ Youths clash with Billericay Town on Friday afternoon.
The on-off saga surrounding Prior’s new deal has finally all-but come to an end, and the former Norwich City, Leicester City and Cardiff City central defender will be at Roots Hall tomorrow afternoon to put pen to paper on a two-year deal. The 33-year-old trained with Colchester United before their opening pre-season friendly at Braintree Town, but soon linked up with Blues after the north Essex side allowed him to leave.
Prior featured in the Seasiders first pre-season encounter – a 7-0 victory over East Thurrock United at Rookery Hill – before also being involved against Canvey Island at Roots Hall two days later in a 2-1 win. However, he was ruled out of the matches against Millwall (home; lost 2-0), Dagenham & Redbridge (away; drew 3-3) and Billericay Town (away; drew 1-1) with insurance difficulties. He then delayed telling Steve Tilson his decision from Sunday evening until today.
But the tale has finally got a happy ending barring a repeat of Mark Rawle’s mercenary departure to Oxford United, with the six-foot two-inch defender dismissing rumoured approaches from Peterborough United and Brentford of League One to join the League Two outfit. Both Prior and Tilson spoke to the club’s official website, www.southendunited.co.uk, about the switch.
The ex-(and soon to be current) Southend defender said, “I want to be part of something big down here again. I have achieved what I wanted and I want the players here to taste that same achievement. I want to help get the club out of the division it is in and get to the division it deserves to be”. Prior, of course, was involved in the double promotion years of 1989/90 and 1990/1 when Blues rose from the basement division to the second level of English football within twenty-four months.
Former team-mate Tilson added, “This is a massive coup for Southend United. Spencer is a fantastic player and he will be a valuable addition to the side. It’s just a case of him coming in and signing [the contract]; which will happen tomorrow before he goes straight into the side to face Brighton & Hove Albion that evening”.
The competition for central defensive places will start in earnest on August 7th when Cheltenham Town are the visitors for the Shrimpers Trust-sponsored Blues Family Bonanza Day, but for now the central defensive quartet of Prior, Andy Edwards, Adam Barrett and Lewis Hunt will have to be content to battle it out amongst themselves against the Seagulls in United’s last home pre-season clash.
Edwards and Barrett appeared favourites to start the campaign before Prior’s imminent arrival, with Edwards another former favourite and Barrett a local lad from Rayleigh. Hunt, though, has arguably been the most impressive in the friendly matches thus far, and as a result is pushing Tilson hard for a starting space in ten days time, especially given his credentials as a former Derby County player.
Stuart Williams played the entire ninety minutes at right-back against Billericay Town, and appeared to be the most effective player in the side, but Duncan Jupp warmed up before that clash, and he may be back in contention for a starting place this evening. Nicky Nicolau has been gently eased into the left-back role, but with Tilson likely to pick his best eleven, he should complete a full game ahead of the claims of Che Wilson and Ben Price, the youth team captain given a 25-minute run-out against Billericay.
As far as competition for places is concerned, there is little more hard-fought area on the field than the goalkeeping jersey. Early indications suggested that both Bart Griemink and Darryl Flahavan were bringing the best out of each other, but the rivalry has intensified as the new season approaches, and first Griemink conceded a poor set-piece orientated goal at Dagenham before Flahavan retorted with a flap at David McSweeney’s header for Billericay on Monday. Both should be handed 45 minutes again.
Another man who will hope to complete a half of football is Mark Bentley. The former Dagenham & Redbridge midfielder missed the friendly set up as part of his move to Roots Hall with an ankle injury sustained at East Thurrock some seven days earlier, but his comeback was always anticipated to be against Albion, and he is in line to partner club captain in the centre of midfield ahead again of the unfortunate Wilson.
Jimmy Corbett has been used across the whole midfield, but he may be another to miss out on this game as Michael Husbands becomes another man set to return from a slight injury as he comes back from a thigh twinge. With Mark Gower operating on the left-hand side of midfield, that also leaves no space for the third-year scholar Michael Kightly. Jay Smith (late September) and Carl Pettefer (early August) remain on the sidelines.
Up front, Drewe Broughton will be hoping to recover from a knock after he collided with Billericay shotstopper David McCarthy two days ago, having opened the scoring for the Shrimpers. Broughton has not played even a half of football since the East Thurrock encounter, and will be hoping to impress Tilson and head coach Paul Brush ahead of the season.
Tesfaye Bramble, Wayne Gray and Lawrie Dudfield will all vie for the remaining starting positions up front. All three have a history of niggling injuries, with Dudfield one of those coming back steadily from a knee knock. Gray appears to hurt himself in almost every game whilst Bramble’s antics are the type of legend, but the trio will all be endeavouring to win a place in the first League game of the campaign.
Only Grays away at the Recreation Ground is left after this evening’s clash, and prices for tonight’s game at Roots Hall are as follows: £12 for adults and £6 for concessions. It is also set to be the first time that the first team will have lined up in the brand new Betterview Windows and Conservatories-sponsored Nike-produced kit, with the trip also rumoured to go on sale in the club shop tomorrow.
Southend United squad (from): Bart Griemink, Darryl Flahavan; Duncan Jupp, Stuart Williams, Spencer Prior, Lewis Hunt, Andy Edwards, Adam Barrett, Che Wilson, Nicky Nicolau; Mark Gower, Michael Husbands, Michael Kightly, Mark Bentley, Jimmy Corbett, Kevin Maher; Lawrie Dudfield, Tesfaye Bramble, Wayne Gray, Drewe Broughton.
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com