LEON Imber is the latest fan to have his say on the Shrimpers.

First up was a trip to St Andrew’s for the Shrimpers and there were some selection headaches for Kevin Bond.

It was clear in pre-season that Bond favoured a 4-3-3 system and hence Blues lined up like that against Coventry.

An impressive performance by Theo Robinson against Millwall saw him get the nod over the ‘masked hero’ and pre-season top scorer Stephen Humphrys.

This came as a shock to Blues fans as Humphrys looks set to be one of the more influential players in the side this term as he provides a great goalscoring threat.

But it is evident from the selected team that Blues suffer a severe lack of depth on the wing. New boy Brandon Goodship marked his return to professional football on the left hand side of the attack, although it is not his natural position, with Stephen McLaughlin lining up on the right side and has suffered a severe dip in form.

Unfortunately, this trio did not provide much of a threat to the Coventry backline.

But, come the 57th minute, Bond made a change of personnel and a change of system. Simon Cox and Humphrys replaced Robinson and Luke Hyam, and ultimately showed Bond and the 1,064 fans that travelled the attacking prowess we had been missing for the first hour of the game.

At the other end, Harry Lennon and Joe Shaughnessy remained tight at the back and the partnership showed much improvement from the defensive woes of the last campaign.

Nathan Ralph and Elvis Bwomono began to show nice forward play from the full-back positions and Isaac Hutchinson and Goodship showed good wing play, linking up with the strikers.

Milligan looked very assured and in the final 33 minutes of the game, Southend looked a side with a good pattern of play, who were well organised and capable of causing problems. The system seemed much better suited to this side.

It is important that Bond discovers his best team and a formation but the opening game contained plenty of positive elements and Blues fans should not feel disheartened for the season ahead.