Source: FOOTYMAD
Sturrock gambles on Hall: 'The lad has just been through the most traumatic few days of his life'
Gillingham: Morecambe 2 Southend United 1:Ryan Hall will Gillingham but not Lincoln City. Ryan Hall: Will play against the Gills then he's in the hands of the judge!No one can imagine what's going through the mind of the Shrimpers 23-year-old midfielder Ryan Hall as he prepares for Tuesday evening's game against Gillingham at Roots Hall aware that 48 hours later he could be returning to prison. He had already spent 24 hours at her Majesty's Pleasure in Chelmsford jail when the shock news came out that his second attempt at a bail application against the severity of his custodial sentence, 10 weeks inside and 10 weeks out on license, had been approved and he was able to play in the 2-1 defeat at Morecambe.A game where the Blues boss Paul Sturrock agreed Ryan, not surprisingly, was at his best, especially in a poor first haf showing for his side. Sturrock told www.echo-news.co.uk: "The lad has just been through the most traumatic few days of his life and I think that showed to be honest. He was a passenger in the first half but that was also because we couldn't get the ball out to him." Even so Luggy felt it was the right thing to make the effort to get the former Crystal Palce youth up to Lancashire and feature in the starting line-up.Sturrock continued: "I think any manager would have done the same with how Ryan has been playing for us in the last few weeks. I hoped getting out on bail would also give him a boost and that would be reflected in his performance, but it didn't really happen. He can also play against Gillingham tomorrow night and hopefully we can see him back to his best in that." Not sure Luggy can understand what it is to spend just a night inside and then be expected to perform at the level the team and the supporters have come to expect.So now everything is focused on the Gills of course but on Thursday Ryan will return to court to see if the sentence can be reduced, or if finally the faithful have to accept that the talented wideboy who has done so much to turn Southend's season around will not be appearing in a Shrimpers shirt again this season.
