Southend United's Paul Sturrock: Football can be a crazy game (From Echo)

Southend United's Paul Sturrock: Football can be a crazy game

1:00pm Friday 26th October 2012 in Sport By Chris Phillips

FOOTBALL can be a crazy game and I think that’s been proved again this week.

At Morecambe we were two minutes away from picking up a point and, against Aldershot during the week, I think we would have won the game if the penalty had gone in.

If that had been the case we would now have another four points and we’d all be waxing lyrical about how well we were doing.

But, as it turned out, we lost both games and were very disappointed to do so.

I actually though the performance against Aldershot was our worst of the season so far and there were players out there who were shying away from getting on the ball.

I’ve had some harsh words with certain members of the team who I thought let the club down and, while some will be given a chance to put things right, others will be coming in to the side with a point to prove.

We will be looking to bounce back against York but they’re flying with a settled side and will be tough opponents.

We will need our fans right behind us again and I thought they were fantastic during the Aldershot game.

The fans in the North Bank made a great noise and we were all very appreciative of that.

I’ve always said if fans are frustrated they should let it be known at half-time and full-time and that’s what happened on Tuesday which is fine.

By the time tomorrow’s game comes around we should have a new face in place which I think everyone would agree is needed in midfield.

It’s not for me to say who it is but everything should hopefully be sorted out today and that’s really good news.

With Michael Timlin still out with the ankle injury he suffered at Morecambe last Saturday we are also lining up further signings.

But I don’t expect there to be more than one new loanee coming in before the York game.

That leads to other players getting an opportunity and I was pleased with how Alex Woodyard played against Aldershot.

He’s coming along nicely and looked very solid out there. He played with a great deal of maturity but he does still have a lot to learn.

The most important thing is for him to be playing regular football and, when we have everyone back fit, that may well result in Alex being sent out on loan to continue his development.

But he will be in the squad again this weekend and hopefully we will have a few more fans there cheering us on.

It’s quid a kid day and I think it’s a fantastic idea.

I’m all for having more people inside the stadium and I’m fully behind this initiative.