Wilkins must stop tinkering

Dean Wilkins should stop tinkering with the tactics and keep things simple.

A second half re-think, combined with an inspired series of substitutions by the manager and tremendous strength of character shown by his players, rescued the Seagulls from the threat of another dismal home defeat.

It also saved Nicky Forster from another afternoon of fruitless torture.

Forster will score his fair share of goals this season if he gets the right kind of service.

Playing him alone up front, especialy at home, is surely not the answer.

Wilkins analyses and plans for every game to an extraordinary extent so there will have been well- intentioned reasons for the way Albion lined up in the first half but it backfired badly.

Returning to Withdean after that long-waited home victory against Northampton a fortnight earlier with two new signings on show, the scene was set for the Seagulls to take the game to Southend and get the fans behind them.

Instead Forster, hopelessly outnumbered, foraged in isolation. George O'Callaghan demonstrated his pedigree in possession but from a position so deep, just in front of the back four, that it did not cause the opposition any concern.

In fact, the initiative was obligingly handed to them on a plate. How often do you go away and have to defend inside your own box just once in the opening 24 minutes?

Perhaps the players failed to carry out instructions. Maybe Alex Revell and Dean Cox were meant to be further forward down the flanks, more of a 4-3-3 than the 4-5-1 or even 4-1-4-1 than it turned out to be in an opening 45 minutes summed up by an exasperated plea from Michel Kuipers.

The crowd were so quiet that the Dutch keeper's shout to "get forward" as he launched a clearance up field was clearly audible.

If the players did, indeed, fail to carry out the tactics it supports my argument against constantly changing the formation, as Wilkins does so frequently from match to match and during matches.

At international level we struggle with systems we are not used to, yet alone in League One. Call me old-fashioned if you like and out-of-touch with modern coaching methods but a straightforward 4-4-2 is surely better suited to the players currently at Wilkins' disposal.

Yes, Bobby Zamora used to lead the line by himself sometimes but it is a case of horses for courses. Zamora, with due respect to Forster, was much better equipped to carry out that task and had more experience around him.

Wilkins, to his credit, recognised the error of his ways and switched to 4-4-2 for the second half after Alan McCormack had given Southend a deserved lead at the interval with a low volley from outside the area which was not struck cleanly but found its way into the net through a ruck of bodies.

With Revell partnering Forster, Albion looked much more purposeful going forward even before the flurry of substitutions which had such a significant bearing on an improbable conclusion.

Jake Robinson and Sam Rents were introduced simultaneously midway through the second half, followed seven minutes later by Bas Savage.

Robinson looked bright as soon as he came on but it was Savage in particular, and Rents, who made a telling difference.

Savage's first contribution of note produced the equaliser, Forster knocking in his header goalwards from Rents' cross from virtually on the line.

Southend quickly regained the lead, captain Kevin Maher picking out his midfielder partner Nicky Bailey's run into the box with a chip which the former Barnet man volleyed past Kuipers.

It was a potentially fatal blow but Albion demonstrated commendable resilience to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Savage's inviting cross for his former Reading team-mate was headed into the roof of the net by Forster with five minutes left and a subdued Dean Hammond, unmarked from Rents' corner, nodded in the winner at the far post in the first minute of stoppage time.

It was a fitting way for the Seagulls to snatch the points, because Wilkins is diligent and innovative with set-pieces.

Albion's best two goalscoring efforts at Tranmere were also from free-kicks. If only they were so productive in open play.

They could be with the cultured O'Callaghan pulling the strings from 20 yards further up the pitch. His arrival is well-timed, with Cox strugging so far to rediscover the creative heights of last season and already just one more booking from a ban after collecting his fourth caution in five matches.

French newcomer David Martot was less of an influence on the right side of midfield but his energetic debut could have included a goal, his Hammond-like advances into the opposition penalty area producing a couple of headers which were not far off the mark.

Matches like the one against Southend are, as Wilkins jokingly observed, not good for the heart, so another 1-0 would do nicely.

Let's be greedy though. The Seagulls have flourished in fits and starts so far. A 90-minute performance, free from the shackles of caution, might just get Withdean rocking again.

ALBION (4-1-4-1): Michel Kuipers (GK); Adam El-Abd (RB), Tommy Elphick (CB), Guy Butters (CB), Joel Lynch (LB); George O'Callaghan (DCM), Alex Revell (RM), David Martot (CM), Dean Hammond (CM), Dean Cox (LM), Nicky Forster (CF). Subs: Bas Savage (for Martot, 73), Jake Robinson (for Cox, 66), Sam Rents (for Butters, 66), Tommy Fraser, John Sullivan.

YELLOW CARDS: Cox (foul, 36), Savage (90) GOALS: Forster (75, 85), Hammond (90).

SOUTHEND (4-4-2): Darryl Flahavan (GK); Kerrea Gilbert (RB), Adam Barrett (CB), Peter Clarke (CB), Che Wilson (LB); Nick Bailey (RM), Kevin Maher (CM), Alan McCormack (CM), Mark Gower (LM); Charlie MacDonald (CF), Matt Harrold (CF). Subs: Tommy Black (for Gower, 85), Eric Odhiambo (for MacDonald, 90), Steve Collis, Franck Moussa, Garry Richards.

YELLOW CARDS: None.

GOALS: McCormack (40), Bailey (78).

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