Post-Match Thread and Ratings Brizzle Rovers 2-0 Southend United

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Lovely bit of positivity on here again. This forums tends to thrive on a defeat and then everyone roles out the "I told you so". Obviously I wasn't at the game nor seen us the last few weeks...BUT...how can can we go from a thread about best team ever to Brownout within a few weeks.

Maybe brown was going to give these players a rest...then during the week they had a rocket up their bum in training and looked on it and focused? Then come game day they let his trust in them down. I'm sure there will be changes Tuesday and having McC. back should give us the width needed?

Problem with woody, he always has a goal/assist in even when playing badly...not many other players have that spark.

Everyone keeps saying that, but he also contributes to goals given away by his mistimed tackles, or giving the ball away at a bad time when our players have pushed forward. The opposition midfield are also bombing past him at the moment because he's so slow and knackered. Amos is a Billy Bremner type that will not give the ball away so much, will win the ball back as he's a great tackler, and be more solid in the middle. He can also thread balls through for assists. Both at their best I would pick Wordsworth, but at the moment it's a no brainer, and I would pick Amos.

 

[Barling Magna]

Some comments from the Bristol Rovers fans forum:

"What a disgusting, horrible, dirty, cheating bunch of b*st*rds Southend are. Utter disgrace."



"That's one of the worst referees I've seen! Two excellent finishes allowed us to sit and soak it up. Why they took Fortune off was an absolute mystery, he was causing problems. Manse played intelligently although having 2 in here without Sincs energy meant they dominated in the middle. Simon Cox is an irritating twerp."



"Southend put us under pressure second half but were woeful in front of goal. They are nothing more than a dirty horrible niggly team that constantly moaned to the ref."


"Cox headbutted Clarke too. Without doubt the dirtiest side I've seen at the Mem in a long time and not in a good way. Normally I can respect a physical team that mix it, but Southend overstepped that line the whole match."

They seemed to warm to us then.

The substitution of Fortune was a big mistake. He was the man who could have turned the game. Would he have missed the simple header into an open goal that Ranger missed? Who knows, but he was our best player in the first half hour.

 

[monkwell]

I'm not the first to say it, but there's definitely dejavu to last season. Feels like we are slipping to inevitable mid table mediocrity. The first half was shocking, particularly the first half hour. Things got better with McLaughlin and Ranger. The most disappointing thing for me was the crowd. It's horrible conceding so early and that Rovers away end is a nasty lump of concrete, but I can hardly remember such a quiet away crowd - we did little to lift the team. I think the game was lost in the midfield - we were not very creative and ended up hoofing to Ranger time and again. They were much more creative. The other point of difference was the keeper. I don't know if we can blame Ted, but getting beaten from distance twice probably shouldn't happen. Their keeper was solid and I'm confident he wouldn't have been beaten. That said I didn't think we were that bad. Just no end product. We were worse against Oxford and won 0-2. Also I think the Wordsworth bashing is becoming routine regardless of how he plays. He was not that bad today and was probably the most creative in the midfield of the starters. No one in the ground could work out why Fortune came off. He was clearly our best player at that point. With 13 corners and more than 10 shots we should have tested their keeper more. Lines should definitely have been sent out. He slapped Cox (I think) in the face and didn't even get a yellow. I couldn't believe it!

Smith 6 - Dealt with most shots adequately and was alert when he needed to come off his line. Should have done better with the first goal.
Coker 7 - A few good crosses, some poor decision making, reasonable defending
Ferdinand 7 - Generally assured but seemed a bit immobile
Thompson 7 - Not his best game, seemed to lose most headers in the first half
Demetriou 5 - Weak link in the defence - he was the route of most of gas creativity
Timlin 6 - Endeavour and industry that led to little
Leonard 7 - Tried hard and did a lot of dirty work in the middle
Wordsworth 7 - Good link up play, played the simple ball well and completed most passes. Looks languid but doesn't deserve the abuse he gets
Atkinson 5 - Can't remember him doing much
Cox 6.5 - They snaffled out his treat too easily
Fortune 7.5 - Best player before he went off. Held up play and beat a few people in the box. They struggled to contain him.

Subs
McLaughlin 7.5 - Lively - not quite sharp but encouraging signs and linked up well wit Coker
Ranger 7 - Missed an absolute sitter (6 yard header) but held up the ball well and good link up play
Robinson 7.5 - Fast and creative - feels like he'd start scoring if he had 90 mins.

Brown 5 - Fortune off!!!
TBV - 1 Limp

 

[AndyT]

Good lord 'Monkwell'. What's all this balanced and thoughtful input.

Go away and have a think about what you've said! :winking:

 

[wally4pm]

My first visit to the Memorial Stadium yesterday and probably my last. What an odd ground. Didn't enjoy the experience at all.

We conceded a goal after about a minute because no one shut the player down as he was about to shoot. It was obvious what was going to happen. I was screaming for him to be shut down to prevent the shot. If I could see it why couldn't our defence?

The second goal was a similar type shot from just outside the box which went in via the base of the post.

Our midfield was lazy and was being constantly over run. MAF was causing them problems so PB took him off and replaced him with Ranger in the first half.

We did put more pressure on them in the second half but our tempo and imagination were poor. Ranger headed over from about 3 yards when it seemed certain that he would score.

All in all, we were simply so poor in the first half that the game was over as a contest by half time.

If anyone thinks that our side will win promotion this season they are deluded. We are simply not good enough.

Having driven 350 miles return trip to see this performance, it was very very disappointing.

 

[Barry.C]

I can perfectly understand not changing the side after we won ugly and this often provides more confidence for the next match, even though there were signs of us going off the boil. Our lack of effort, energy and creativity at Gillingham was plain to see and if ever a flag was raised to freshen things up, make a few changes, use the bench, shake up a few, this was it.
This Brown failed to do, despite many of us havent a clue supporters spotting the obvious. We then continued from bad to worse. As soon as the same line up was announced for this you could easily sniff defeat. No width as well on a big pitch. Amos was overdue 3 weeks ago and a potential steadying from White.
Phil is an an exceptional Manager but does have an Achilles heel, as we all do, in not making the right changes when they are blatantly needed. He then blames the team thoroughly, whilst accepting little responsibility, another less than brilliant trait

 

[Zeuss]

Extremely disappointing.Ron has stumped up the money to bring in a lot of very good players at this level,but all too often Brown seems incapable of using them effectively.
Things improved once Ranger and McL came on well before ht,so why on earth didn't he start with them?Fortune' had done quite well fashioning a couple of chances for himself,but even in his prime at the Albion,he was never a good finisher and Atkinson was Atkinson-totally ineffective.Why not give Amos a runout?
Wordsworth was certainly no worse than the others and he's always a source of goals.

 

[blueveined]

I'm not the first to say it, but there's definitely dejavu to last season. Feels like we are slipping to inevitable mid table mediocrity. The first half was shocking, particularly the first half an hour.

And it was only a couple of weeks ago that PB said we wouldn't do the same as last season and fall away as we have a much stronger squad this year so no wonder he's a bit fed up at the moment with performances hence his rant after the game yesterday. I know a lot of people aren't happy about what he said but I think all those that were there would actually agree with some of the things he said if they were being honest.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

Wasn't there, but the two Rovers goals? Wordsworth is easily shrugged off for the first, and Smith would have seen the ball coming from a distance for the second.
OK, Brown can do nothing about the latter, but agree with previous posters; Woody needs a rest.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

And it was only a couple of weeks ago that PB said we wouldn't do the same as last season and fall away as we have a much stronger squad this year so no wonder he's a bit fed up at the moment with performances hence his rant after the game yesterday. I know a lot of people aren't happy about what he said but I think all those that were there would actually agree with some of the things he said if they were being honest.

I agree with some of the things he said, but don't agree with his picking of the first team at the moment. Some of the players are way off form. Some have played nearly every match this season and need a rest. He said earlier that to maintain a promotion push he will have to keep things fresh and use the full squad. He said it's the best squad he's ever had here. He hasn't done that, he's actually done the opposite and kept more or less the same team. He needs to look at his own contribution to this bad run. If he can't see certain players need dropping or a game's rest, he's not doing his job.

 

[GrumpyBlue]

Poor first half....as soon as we saw the line up we were worried...surely the players think it too. Wordsworth awful.
Fortune playing well....then hooked early
Demetriou awful.
2nd half ok. Ranger played well.

Yes would agree with that.

My first, nearest, and only away game this season - I also thought that both full backs crossing was atrocious particularly when we had a man in Ranger who was dominating in the air.

Also thought that the ref was particularly poor as well

 

[secondalibi]

We were pathetic in the first half yesterday and it could have easily been 4-0 or 5-0 at half time. We were better in the second half, but I guess we couldn't have been any worse. One thing summed up the second half for me though. Ranger missed an absolute sitter on 50 minutes, still can't stop thinking about it. If that goes in 2-1 with 40 minutes left it's game on, but it didn't and it summed up our afternoon.

 

[Barry.C]

slight exaggeration but 97 corners in the second half and not looking like scoring any of em , needs some attention?

 

[Fitz]

First visit to the Memorial and my last. walked back to city after match and what a dump Bristol is, walked through a hippy commune and then drug infested wastelands....

Such a poor start no intensity out of the blocks, by the time we got going it was all too late.

Demetriou, Wordsworth, Cox all need dropping for Cov and would also drop Smith if we had a number 2

Got to be time to give Amos a go and a White has done nothing wrong for me whenever he plays.....

 

[AndyT]

Used to enjoy going to Bristol, back in the day.

A few beers in King Street with it's wonderful 17th century taverns and then a stop in Bath for a few more on the way home! :thumbsup:

 

[mfurok]

Observations.

The defending for both goals was s**t and neither were Ted's fault.

Rovers could have scored rather more than two.

The substitution of Fortune was mystifying and wrong.

Atkinson has learnt nothing from Millwall and if Marriner had been refereeing he would have been off again so in that context his substitution was sensible.

Yesterday is not the problem

Man management remains the problem. They all tried but the defending was absolutely woeful.

Rovers all defended like Adam Barrett.

Demitriou showed why he should be playing in midfield against stronger teams. He cannot defend against decent attackers and had a nightmare defensively.

We attacked well for the last 55 minutes but without guile or luck.

Ranger missed an open goal even easier than the one at Bradford.

The first 12 games of nonsensical, defensive one up front football are the problem.

If we can keep the same squad and manager (wiser) next season we should continue to improve,

Apart from the woeful defending I actually enjoyed the game.

The elephant is still in the room.

 

[IloveShrimp]

[h=2]

[/h]

Line up for Coventry

Smith
White Thomson ferdinand Coker
Demetriou timlin lenny macca
..........ranger theo​

 

[Taunton_Shrimper]

First 25 minutes, nobody gets above a 3. Tactics all wrong, you would question if Bristol Rovers had been watched as all they played was back to front long ball stuff and nothing else, we just sat off them and let the back 4 ping long balls up to that ginger fella up front and they played from there.

After the tactical change we pressed a bit higher and stopped their back 4 hitting those passes and it was a different game, plenty of huff & puff and no lack of effort but the damage was already done. Ranger probably the pick although had a free header after about 65min from 4yards which he should have scored....2-1 with half hour to go and who knows what could happen but wasnt to be. For all our crosses, corners & general pressure their keeper didnt really have too many saves to make all afternoon.

 

[LennySUFC]

The worst performance I have seen from a Southend side all season, including the poor start. We were woeful, we have no cutting edge we just run down the wing and cross is blind! Corners are a joke we never even look like threatening from one! Ranger looks a shadow of what he was, should've had two.

Anyone else think Wordsworth is burnt out? Let's face it he hasn't played a full season for a long time. Could do with resting him tomorrow night.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

The worst performance I have seen from a Southend side all season, including the poor start. We were woeful, we have no cutting edge we just run down the wing and cross is blind! Corners are a joke we never even look like threatening from one! Ranger looks a shadow of what he was, should've had two.

Anyone else think Wordsworth is burnt out? Let's face it he hasn't played a full season for a long time. Could do with resting him tomorrow night.

Nothing could be worse than Rochdale away, that was possibly the most inept we have been for a decade.