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

[Up the Shrimpers]

Poor clearance is inaccurate to be fair, I was thinking of his poor attempt at clearing the ball when the cross came in.

Ah I see what you mean. I will have a look at the goal again.

 

[Tommy2holes]

Thought that white at right back/centre half and Demetriou out wide worked really well. Robinson caused them all sorts of problems as did the identity of the team to fight for every ball. Great work even after the early formation cost nearly cost us dearly.

 

[mrsblue]

What a ridiculous game...we went from despair as the Saddlers went 2 up courtesy of Franck..just couldn't believe what we were seeing...back to the bad old one up top stuff which is crap.

Final 30 minutes was right up there with the best we have seen...Coxy and the free kick was delicious ,pleased Nile bagged his first home goal.

Phil's set up was odd very odd,it worked out in the end.

 

[ms brush]

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.

Agree with most of the above. Walsall weren't that bad, and they were there to finish the job and claim the 3 points. Credit must go to Moussa, he looks a bit chunky these days, but he has still got something special. He also knows our players and therefore was able to exploit the weaknesses in the defence. Twice :'( ! Blame John White's lack of pace all you want, but he isn't the only Southend player culpable - the whole defence wasn't good enough in the first half, and the starting team selection and tactics was much more of an issue. On the up-side, having a bench with such quality is a great place to be! I can't remember us being in that position for a very long time.

My Dad and I were convinced at half time that we had thrown away the three points and it would need a minor miracle to turn the game around - the turning point for me was the Inness booking, which brought some sense back to the equation. It was a silly card, and PB was not going to run the risk of a sending off in such a crucial game when we were already losing 0-2. So Inness was taken off for his own good; enter Theo, and Amos (who I thought was doing well) was sacrificed to allow JW to take over centre half duties alongside Anton and allow us to rev up Demitriou to cause havoc on the right flank. The change in formation was absolutely what was needed, and it changed the game. Theo is strong and fast, so he took a huge amount of pressure off Ranger, who was a Lone Ranger with 3 close personal body guards for the whole of the first half! Suddenly, their defence had something else to think about, and that was the start of the end for them. The additional space allowed Coker and McLauglin to have a greater impact and then When Cox arrived on the pitch they looked a bit punch drunk - suddenly they didn't know what was coming next or where from. Brilliant to watch! Was lovely to finally see Ranger get off the mark at home, he has obviously been getting his head down and he has worked hard so good to see this paying off. I always like to see a Centre Half score, so very pleased about Anton's goal, and Cox's free kick was pure class!

Can't remember the last time we turned round a 2 goal deficit, showed that we are a credible threat and we could become the form side in a play off contest!

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I was so annoyed by that, where were you when we were **** Ron? Oh yeah not paying your staff (allegedly :unsure:). Spoiled the deserved lap of honour for me. As soon as I saw Ron I scarpered.

I am still not sure why people don't understand what happened back then. Banks were giving out money like it was water, Ron had all his plans ready to go then the big crash happened and banks stopped lending, meaning Ron was in trouble. Not his doing, but he managed to keep SUFC going. Fast forward to this season and we have a squad with some real quality players in it and in a decent position in L1. If Ron wants to come on the pitch it's no big deal.

From what I saw, he came on the pitch to congratulate the players on a magnificent comeback after a poor first half. He wasn't looking for or taking any adulation from the fans. What he was doing was showing gratitude to his staff for outstanding work

 

[RobM]

I know Moussa was the epitome of ex-players scoring against us, he must be the only ex-player to score two against us as a sub!

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I know Moussa was the epitome of ex-players scoring against us, he must be the only ex-player to score two against us as a sub!

And then get subbed himself. That must be some sort of record

 

[geoffmundo]

I am still not sure why people don't understand what happened back then. Banks were giving out money like it was water, Ron had all his plans ready to go then the big crash happened and banks stopped lending, meaning Ron was in trouble. Not his doing, but he managed to keep SUFC going. Fast forward to this season and we have a squad with some real quality players in it and in a decent position in L1. If Ron wants to come on the pitch it's no big deal.

From what I saw, he came on the pitch to congratulate the players on a magnificent comeback after a poor first half. He wasn't looking for or taking any adulation from the fans. What he was doing was showing gratitude to his staff for outstanding work

Agree.When people have a go at the club/Ron, i just think Leyton Orient.......

 

[shrimperjon]

I am still not sure why people don't understand what happened back then. Banks were giving out money like it was water, Ron had all his plans ready to go then the big crash happened and banks stopped lending, meaning Ron was in trouble. Not his doing, but he managed to keep SUFC going. Fast forward to this season and we have a squad with some real quality players in it and in a decent position in L1. If Ron wants to come on the pitch it's no big deal.

From what I saw, he came on the pitch to congratulate the players on a magnificent comeback after a poor first half. He wasn't looking for or taking any adulation from the fans. What he was doing was showing gratitude to his staff for outstanding work

Great post. People need to look around the league and see how many sides have gone into administration during RM's time with us. We've always managed to stay a float. God knows what the salary bill is this season but no one can deny he hasn't backed PB. For those still on Rons case I give you Leyton Orient��

 

[rigsby]

Great post. People need to look around the league and see how many sides have gone into administration during RM's time with us. We've always managed to stay a float. God knows what the salary bill is this season but no one can deny he hasn't backed PB. For those still on Rons case I give you Leyton Orient��

Indeed. After spending Tuesday evening in Coventry and drinking in one of their social clubs, Ron can come on the pitch any time he likes as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Ailsa Road Shrimper]

im sure we came back against Scunthorpe in league two at some point in the noughties as well?

We came back from 2-0 down to win against Hartlepool in Tilly's final season. We also did the same against Darlington in 2004.

 

[Fitz]

So bored of all the Ron bashing....from the ill informed. Would you plough all you hard earned money into SUFC knowing you are never going to make a profit? If it wasn't for Ron we could easily be in the sad position Orient find themselves in.

If he wants to come on the pitch and congratulate the players...entirely up to him and I don't begrudge him for doing so.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

We came back from 2-0 down to win against Hartlepool in Tilly's final season. We also did the same against Darlington in 2004.

Ah yes ............. but all 5 goals yesterday were in the same goal. What about that?

 

[1966 and all that]

A good, independent, report from a Walsall forum:

http://www.bescotbanter.net/2017/03/match-report-southend-united-3-walsall-2.html

 

[OldBlueLady]

A good, independent, report from a Walsall forum:

http://www.bescotbanter.net/2017/03/match-report-southend-united-3-walsall-2.html

An excellent report :clap:

 

[AndyT]

Yep, very good indeed! :thumbsup:

 

[rayleigh dan]

Agree.When people have a go at the club/Ron, i just think Leyton Orient.......

Fair point, that puts it in perspective, I was a bit OTT with the Ron bashing yesterday! I'm never going to like Ron but we certainly could have ended up with someone much worse.

 

[Shrimper]

For those that were asking, I looked and came up with a 2-0 come from behind against Hartlepool on 12/12/09.

 

[David Icke]

"Did anyone else notice how upset /emotional Ferninand was at the end ? He walked over to the Walsall supporters , I didn't see if anything happened, but when he walked back to the West he clearly looked overwrought, maybe the goal and win meant that much?"

He was last off the pitch too - soaking up as much of the atmosphere as possible. It means a lot to him to still be playing, and with a club who have aspirations.

With regard to Amos - pretty dire for nearly all the time he was on. Made a couple of good passes (he should have made dozens in that position) but was rarely involved in any of the play. For the most part he was a passenger. He should have been taken off after fifteen minutes - because the game was that important. I don't give a monkeys about what it would've done to his confidence.

 

[Leoblue]

"Did anyone else notice how upset /emotional Ferninand was at the end ? He walked over to the Walsall supporters , I didn't see if anything happened, but when he walked back to the West he clearly looked overwrought, maybe the goal and win meant that much?"

He was last off the pitch too - soaking up as much of the atmosphere as possible. It means a lot to him to still be playing, and with a club who have aspirations.

I understand his daughter was at her first game seeing him play. If that can't make you emotional, nothing will. He likes it here so I'm told and enjoying his football. Playing in front of 6,000 - 8,000 passionate home fans means more than playing in front of 40,000. You feel more connected and as a family. :thumbsup: