Lewis Hobday is the latest fan to have his say on all things Southend United.

There is no better feeling than walking into Roots Hall on a Saturday afternoon.

Although our ‘Essex Theatre of Dreams’ has not seen too many wins in recent times, that unforgettable Sunderland game was still fresh in the memory ahead of the Blackpool tie.

Following a mixed opening game against Coventry, with great potential shown in our second half performance, I felt positive going into the game.

Unfortunately, this lasted barely 10-minutes as some sub-standard defending and a clinical through ball left us 2-0 down.

It also left me thinking I had gone back in time to last season.

A further defensive mistake led to a shocking 3-0 score line at half-time.

This was slightly flattering but probably deserved by a Blackpool side who were clinical, physical and pacey.

Kevin Bond is clearly still experimenting with formations and personnel.

The 5-3-2 formation did not prove effective on this occasion, but that’s not say it won’t work against other sides.

Our style of play was particularly puzzling though.

During pre-season and at Coventry, we were keen to play out from the back.

However, we attempted to play long-balls to our relatively small strikers and against a tall Blackpool side.

Following a Blackpool red-card for an awful challenge, we began to play it around and produce some chances; albeit against 10-men.

A consolation goal was a small positive in a result which we needed to put behind us quickly.

Following on from the weekend’s disappointment, a long, overdue cup win against League Two Stevenage was a great response.

Bond’s commitment to a largely unchanged side showed both a desire to continue to embed his preferred style of play and the importance of the cup tie.

Regrettably, when I saw Stevenage had gone 1-0 up, I began to think the worst.

However, what followed was a much-improved performance and two well taken goals from yet another young and talented member of our squad.

My hope is that the team savour this winning feeling and take the momentum into this weekend against an undefeated and confident Lincoln City side.

My take-away from the opening three games is that we need to give the vastly experienced Bond and the team some time.

We have a relatively new management team, a new style of play and several new players; all within an increasingly competitive league.

We cannot expect results immediately.

In the opening six League games of our recent three promotion seasons, we only managed to achieve under half of the points available.

Hardly an impressive start.

Now what I am not suggesting is that we are currently displaying promotion form.

The point is that we should not assess our season after six games, let alone only two games.

Last season showed how important League One status is to our club and how hard it is to keep it.

Avoiding relegation and producing performances which show desire and passion must be a top priority.

Anything beyond this is a very welcome bonus.

To this end, it is vital that we all get behind Bond, the players and the club.

Hopefully together we can all get what we desire – clean sheets, goals and most importantly points. (A few more celebrations like Simon Cox’s from the Portsmouth game last season would be great as well!)