Source: FOOTYMAD
Paul Sturrock: 'I've never heard that kind of negativity from my team's own fans before'
Southend United manager Paul Sturrock was upset to hear sections of the crowd have a go at the players during the home defeat to Cheltenham Town, and wants it to stop when his side face leaders Chesterfield Saturday. Sturrock: 'I know that the team's quality might be another debate'With the league leaders Chesterfield in town Saturday afternoon the game will be tough enough as it is, without sections of the Roots Hall faithful taking out their frustrations on the players that, believe it or not in the fourth tier, are not perfect.Of course it didn't help that back-up keeper Rhys Evans, expect usual No.1 Glenn Morris to return for the weekend clash with the Spireites, made a couple of cock-up's in the first five minutes of a game the Shrimpers ended up losing to Cheltenham 2-1, though that's no excuse.However, bollocking the lads in the last ten minutes when an equaliser was being fought for, was certainly out of order.Sturrock told www.echo-news.co.uk: "As a manager, I have never heard that kind of negativity from my team's own fans before. It's not sour grapes because just one of the players involved was my son, but it's because it really doesn't help the players. We don't want them to be going out to play their game worrying about getting abuse from their supporters. It's only a minority of the crowd and I'm certainly not saying it's to blame for the bad home form, but we really need all the fans right behind us during the game."Not a happy Luggy then and S24 couldn't agree more. We were spoilt for a few years but we're in the League basement again, and thanks to a mixture of Uncle Ron and the recession, very broke.Sturrock is a the best boss we could have in the circumstances and we believe doing a decent job; though Luggs, picking the same team as Oxford, 2-0 win or not, when you had the new boy and Granty fit and sitting on the bench, was an error. Still, wait try and wait until you're in the pub after the game before you have a go; inside the ground it's 100% behind the lads, they didn't ask to be here, and you don't have to.Luggy concluded: "You could never criticise this team for their attitude or work-rate and they deserve to be backed. I know that the team's quality might be another debate, but I would urge the supporters to please keep their frustrations to themselves until after the final whistle."
