Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 3-2 Walsall

[geoffmundo]

Don't know if anyone has said but rep to anyone who can, from my check, tell the last time we came from 2-0 at half time to win.

Not quite an answer to your question,but we came from 3-1 down against Chesterfield in Feb 2006 to win 3-4.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Well, what an afternoon of football, a pretty dire and demoralising first half where little went right for us. You'd have thought the challenge (I am pretty sure it was Wordsworth and not Lenny, RHB?) on the midget Oztumer, might have worked in our favour but no, on comes the Moussssse and he ends up getting two goals. Don't think there was much to criticise in the first but Ted certainly comes in for some criticism for the 2nd.

Set up seemed wrong to me, we've tried and tried the lone striker many times over recent years and it just doesn't suit us. Definitely didn't suit Ranger, who I thought was quite poor in the 1st half, and was actually quite surprised he was nominated on BBC Essex as one of their MOTM candidates. Atkinson worked his socks off first half, as did Lenny but things were happening for Will and I was actually quite surprised to see him subbed. Amos was a bit over enthusiastic for his first few minutes but settled down and did ok, played one excellent cross pitch ball. Inniss always concerns me unfortunately, he's a big unit but always seems to have the potential for red cards. He wasn't having much fun and White was under pressure as a result as much of Walsall's play came down the right. We did have chances and should have scored through Ranger, Woody had a stormer saved by the keeper too.

I think we were all surprised not to see any subs at half time but when they came, there is no doubt they changed the game. Was surprised not to see Cox on at the first opportunity but Theo came on and showed some strength and him and Demetriou brought some genuine width. I think most know I'm not the greatest fan of Demetriou, but there is no doubt that, when there is the opportunity to get forwards, he is a huge threat. We're missing genuine width on the right, so what about putting him at right mid next match, with White behind him at RB?

Getting back to 2-2, the impetus and desire we were showing, was the result ever in doubt? Up steps Cox, and same as Tuesday, we called it - what a moment when it went in!

Smith - 6.5, he'll be unhappy with himself, needs to learn to look to release the ball quicker
White - 7, looked so much more comfortable once Inniss had gone off
Inniss - 6, for such a big bloke he should be more dominant
Ferdinand - 7.5, improved from Tuesday, much more in control. Still has the tendency to pass the ball behind players though
Coker - 8, thought Ben had a good game
Atkinson - 7.5, ran himself ragged in the first half and was genuinely put out and let everyone know after the 2nd goal went in
Leonard - 8.5, would agree with the sponsors' MOTM, was absolutely everywhere, especially once the confines of a 5 man midfield were lifted
Amos - 7, the youngster did ok as already mentioned, unlucky to have to be subbed
Wordsworth - 7.5, on form again, two great shots one of which the keeper made a fantastic sub. Links well with Ranger in particular, and perhaps should have been greedy and taken one of the shots Nile fluffed himself
McLaughlin - 7, he's still not back to full match fitness but is getting there
Ranger - 7, kept drifting out wide when he was the only striker and guilty of a couple of fluffs but at least he's now got the monkey off his back by having scored finally at RH!

Subs:
Robinson for Inniss - 7.5, his pace was a problem for them and he's strong, I hope he gets more chances
Demetriou for Amos - 8, wanted to prove a point and I think he did, made a massive difference
Cox for Atkinson - 7.5, he'll always deliver given the chance - great free kick.

 

[AndyT]

It was definitely Wordsworth that challenged Oztumer.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

As soon as Cox lined up to take the free kick I told my son the ball was going in the back of the net. I also told him that the Walsall fans attendance would be 228. When it was announced as 228, he nearly fell off his chair

 

[Leoblue]

As soon as Cox lined up to take the free kick I told my son the ball was going in the back of the net. I also told him that the Walsall fans attendance would be 228. When it was announced as 228, he nearly fell off his chair

DWB A positive from you, god I'm in shock....... Keep it up mate :thumbsup:

 

[RHB]

As soon as Cox lined up to take the free kick I told my son the ball was going in the back of the net. I also told him that the Walsall fans attendance would be 228. When it was announced as 228, he nearly fell off his chair

You're in the South Upper aren't you Webby? If you let OBL know, she will arrange for his chair to be re-bolted down:smiles:

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Having bigged Amos up for the last few weeks telling everyone how good he was, I was concentrating on him more. I thought he was great. He only gave the ball away once. He won the ball back many times. He was buzzing about everywhere as he never stopped running even when the ball was nowhere near him. A few times he had 2 or 3 Walsall players bearing down on him but he still managed to thread a pass out of trouble. He will only get better. You won't see many youngsters have a better debut than that.

 

[Amwell Blue]

Coxy is sooo clever in the time added on the ballboy ran to get the ball back into play... Cox just gestured to him to be a little slower in returning the ball:winking:


Did I see Donald Trump on the pitch at the end???

 

[AndyT]

PB's post-match interview :-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04x8s0s

Interesting closing comment about picking the right two for future matches.

 

[IloveShrimp]

As I saw it:

Manager’s team selection was dumb founding. The formation for a home game ridiculous, and I thought he had set up the team not to lose rather than win! I couldn’t believe he had White and Innis playing alongside each other whilst Thompson (our player of the season?) was on the bench. Why make two changes for players who haven’t played together all season unnecessarily?

Brown said that he made the changes because he thought Innis would get sent off, why couldn’t he just have admitted that he got the selection and tactics wrong rather than making excuses again? The performances after changes proved that PB got it wrong.

White proved to me once again that he is not the right back that he used to be, he now lacks pace and always sits off his player and lets the cross be made, he is a much CB in my opinion.

Once again Ted looked a boy in a mans game.

The performance was superb and all the players should be proud to have won that game. Their fighting spirit and determination could not be questioned, makes you proud to be a Shrimper. I think PB should take the shackles off and trust them more.

Smith – 5 Does not inpire any confidence for the defence imo he should have done better with 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] goal. Kicking not very good. Not ready yet.
White – 5 when at right back, 6.5 as CB, thought he was a fault in the lead up to second goal
Inniss - 5, just does not look the real deal at the moment, but then again Thompson was very much like him when he first arrived at blues but without the hot headedness
Ferdinand - 7.5 Has class when it comes to positioning and wasn’t really troubled some of his passing behind players not so good though
Coker – 7.5, thought he was a bit quiet actually, not sure the system suited him first half
Atkinson - 7.0, ran himself ragged once again, but I don’t think he protects the right back well enough
Leonard - 8.5, Once again the workhorse and cramped up at the end of the game 100% commitment
Amos – 6.5, I think he did ok
Wordsworth - 7.5, I am usually quite critical of Wordsworth and he is not my favourite player, however credit where credit is due and I thought he had a good game today
McLaughlin – 6.5, you could tell that he is not back to full match fitness and was knackered second half
Ranger – 8.5 What a horrible player to play against, glad he is with us and not any of our opposition. Mom

Subs:
Robinson for Inniss - 7.5, his pace was a problem for them and he's strong too
Demetriou for Amos – 8 Proved to PB what a mistake he made in leaving him out. Better all round than John White IMO
Cox for Atkinson – 8 The man is class, was giving the subs a team talk at half time!
PB 6 dire team selection and played his get out of jail free card today. Credit to the players for digging him out of a hole.
Ref 9 best ref I have seen in recent history at RH. Same must be said for all the other officials too.

Edit: just seen the video highlights, JW beaten for both goals and proves my point above.

 

[Lord Football]

Despite being 2 down at the half, we were the better side. Woody had forced a top drawer save from their keeper and Ranger missed two regulation headers. Yet their two shots went in, both almost identical, both down to poor defending. Some were moaning at the change of formation, but in reality the set up looked ok, but you can't mitigate for poor defending. That said, why change from what has been so successful for most of the season?

Second half was drab with a lot of huff and puff - oh, and couple of subs.... until the 63rd minute.

And then it turned into one of those day we'll talk about for years to come. Finally Ranger got his home goal, after a frustrating afternoon of being impossible to handle yet unable to find the net. That gave us that bit of confidence we needed, and from then on we looked as good as we have all season. Everyone of them. At the point the kitchen sink was in full thrown mode, Cox came on to give us three up front. Ferdinand immediately made 2-2. And then came the glorious moment went Cox dinked the keeper from a free kick to send the Hall nuts.

Fantastic afternoon.

Some points

1. Don't tinker with the formation. One up front doesn't work
2. Our bench was so strong
3. Don't get on PB's back. He got it wrong and then got it massively right
4. Inniss I am afraid isn't as good as what we've good, and Adam Thompson has to start next week
5. Best ref we've seen in a long, long time.

 

[colonelnutter]

Yep, he did. Definitely!

But then got it right with the change in tactics and substitutions, didn't he?

 

[flangejackrabbit]

Main questions coming up are who starts at Wimbledon? We have 3 strikers all of whom it would be hard to drop.

 

[AndyT]

But then got it right with the change in tactics and substitutions, didn't he?

Yep, but anyone with half a brain could call those changes.

 

[colonelnutter]

I do not get the Amos love in. Looked light weight and average to me, did little creatively. Better than the other experienced central midfielders we have? Not to me. Seems that because he is Spurs people are according him more respect than he has earned.
I also think folks are being over kind to Innis. He looks like a wannabe thug to me, bad positioning, badly timed tackling and over aggressive. A red card waiting and teams will have spotted this, he is a liability in my opinion.

 

[OldBlueLady]

White proved to me once again that he is not the right back that he used to be, he now lacks pace and always sits off his player and lets the cross be made, he is a much CB in my opinion.

Edit: just seen the video highlights, JW beaten for both goals and proves my point above.

White was forced into that for the 2nd goal by Smith's poor kick out. He had to recover and get back as he was forced to change from being in an attacking position to suddenly defending when we shouldn't have given the ball away. You can't criticise him for that.

He was under pressure because of Inniss, and also because he took a nasty knock that left him hobbling when he had to make a challenge to stop another attack.

 

[LBBlue]

PB's post-match interview :-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04x8s0s

Interesting closing comment about picking the right two for future matches.

if it's the same one as on BBC ESSEX we're going to start with Nouble and Mooney up front before the end of the season?

In his pre match interview when he announced the team he said Wordsworth was going up front with Ranger.

He is just taking the **** now - I see little point in the media talking to him - it's all fake news as Mr Trump would say.

 

[AndyT]

I think the point he was trying to make was that we have six to choose from, but the telling comment was picking the right two, which kind of concedes he messed up today.

 

[LBBlue]

I think the point he was trying to make was that we have six to choose from, but the telling comment was picking the right two, which kind of concedes he messed up today.

He didn't concede anything - he said his tactics were spot on the first half the stats showed we had more goal attempts than Walsall. All us empty heads wanted changes at half time but he knew better and kept the same team and only changed it because Innis was in danger of a second yellow.

 

[colonelnutter]

Yep, but anyone with half a brain could call those changes.

. He made a series of bad decisions resulting in the score at half time and then made a series of good decisions which resulted in a great come back. Those decisions were based on a possible set of permutations. At the end of the day like any manager he had to make the decisions so I think your response is simplistic.