My thoughts on the game.

[Mighty Shrimper]

Going to be brief.

West Ham probably deserved the win but all 3 goals were very poor really. Thought we played well but gave the ball away too much, Bailey in particular but he looked abit nervous and maybe even lacking in confidence.

Black was my MOM, he was fantastic. IMO he's alot like Gower, has a great footballing brain, runs around alot, runs at defenders and generally a pain in the ****. This was the first game i've seen so far but on this showing, I'd rather he played on the right than JCR.

Up front Harrold tried and did ok. Hooper was abit unlucky and probably needs afew steaks. I really want Paynter to do well but he didnt have much of an impact on the game when he came on. On this showing i'd probably go for Harrold and Macdonald up top against Orient.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

What was the crowd? any trouble?

 

[Cricko2]

9.500 Approx...And it wasnt a wise choice to stick aload of Hamsters in the West Stand, but they sorted it eventually..I Agree MS Black is Class....I thought Spam pushed the ball about ok and were quite fast from back to front , but I would not say we were dominated.We had Two good chances in the second half to level things up but missed them both.

 

[Mighty Shrimper]

What was the crowd? any trouble?

9,500 odd. I was in the East but saw something going on in the west where eventually, around 50 west ham fans were taken out and put into the North but thats it.

 

[shrimper4life]

What was the crowd? any trouble?

Bit of a scuffle in the west when a west ham fan chanted too loudly and a few southend fans reacted. Stewards prevented anything more and the corner block was open west ham fans in the home end (which seemed like half the stand!!)

 

[Cricko2]

9,500 odd. I was in the East but saw something going on in the west where eventually, around 50 west ham fans were taken out and put into the North but thats it.

Yes I was in the West, not sure what was happening but I saw Scriv outside trying to sort tickets then about 200 poured in the far end corner ...and were then moved, so it ended up with No empty seats between rival supporters. Having said that I didn't see any trouble, but I was up the opposite end .

 

[GregStarz]

So much trouble today it was unreal!

I even had a row with the guy behind me for telling me to stop chanting (wet spam fan) which I wasnt having.

Currently in Southend I think its kicking of major, sirens everywhere!

I thought Ginger was funny when he came down as the trouble was kicking off next to me, he said to the steward ever you get em out and **** em or I will (not funny i know but at the time it was)

My gf was very scared today and it wasnt good BUT Southend have totally cocked up today with all the wet spam shirts and chants happening all over the ground, adrenalin was very high and it wasnt good.

The game wasna a bad game, Bowyer his usual self with a late tackle on maher and maher smacking him back (would have been a red in the league) Darryl great as ever, Hunt looking very slow and poor, Bailey lacking confidence and nowhere near as good as Maher or McCormack (yet)

Overal they are 2 leagues above us so wasnt bad but need to improve a bit more, although some nice passing around the pitch here and there!

 

[Cricko2]

I can't beleive they let somebody put a Market stall in the Golden Lion carpark just to sell Wet Spam merchadise. Wtf was that all about...I agree with above SUFC4EVER definately not a good atmosphere about today .

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

I agree with above SUFC4EVER definatley not a good atmosphere about today .

Exactly the reason why 4,000+ Southend fans decided not to go today.

 

[GregStarz]

I can't beleive they let somebody put a Market stall in the Golden Lion carpark just to sell Wet Spam merchadise. Wtf was that all about...I agree with above SUFC4EVER definately not a good atmosphere about today .

Totally agree, I saw that this morning and straight away I didnt like it and it got me going!

The atmosphere today wasn't nice and I didnt like the feeling, I was on the edge of my seat all the time and I really didn't like it today (shame as i was looking forward to it for a longtime). The ticket office have made a major error with today and I hope the learn from it!

If I was to go to Upton Park and sit in the Bobby Moore stand in my shirt then I don't think they would let me in let alone sing songs and give abuse!!

Roll on Wednesday, I dont think they will take over our stand LOL :cool:

 

[GregStarz]

Exactly the reason why 4,000+ Southend fans decided not to go today.

I know mate, that and the price!

The thing is if we all thought that then it would be a home game for them (which we dont want)

 

[silentshrimper]

Going to be brief.

West Ham probably deserved the win but all 3 goals were very poor really. Thought we played well but gave the ball away too much, Bailey in particular but he looked abit nervous and maybe even lacking in confidence.

Black was my MOM, he was fantastic. IMO he's alot like Gower, has a great footballing brain, runs around alot, runs at defenders and generally a pain in the ****. This was the first game i've seen so far but on this showing, I'd rather he played on the right than JCR.

Up front Harrold tried and did ok. Hooper was abit unlucky and probably needs afew steaks. I really want Paynter to do well but he didnt have much of an impact on the game when he came on. On this showing i'd probably go for Harrold and Macdonald up top against Orient.

I agree fully, Black looked a very good signing indeed! We just totally lacked any height at the back and West ham realised that and put in crosses all the time. All 3 goals were poor.

The number of west spam fans sitting around me was disgusting and I really just wanted to go mad.

up front Matt Harrold showed very good link up play, will need to shoot more if he is going to get more goals but I was very happy with what I saw from him. Macdonald put in effort but Hooper was a bit un existant, ballooned one shot over the bar but cant remember anything else he done apart from a bit of defensive play.

Painter so should have scored at the end, showed a few good touches though.

Moussa also looked good. Maher and Mcormack were brilliant and I think should start in the middle with gower on the left and Black on the right.

 

[South Bank Hank]

As others have said, we performed well enough today. However I think the difference in class was evident - hardly unexpected when you consider our respective positions.

I've tried to be as balanced as possible with my thoughts below.

Plus points

Moussa continued to impress. I was keen to see him playing against better opposition than we've seen in the other friendlies, and I wasn't disappointed. He still looks a classy player and I've no concerns about him stepping in to cover the sadly inevitable bans we'll see for Maher and McCormack.

Hunt, for me, showed why we shouldn't worry too much about the injury to Francis at right-back. He did a good job against a strong attack. I'm puzzled why people put this guy down. At worst, he's an excellent squad player. At best, he's a solid defender and competent right back.

Maher and McCormack. Quality as ever when they play together. Fantastic finish from Kev outside the box and some excellent challenges from Macca to energise his team-mates and the crowd.

Black. An excellent signing who will cause no end of problems for defenders in League 1. An intelligent player who reminds me somewhat of Paul Byrne (although he seems to be far less the passenger that PB could sometimes be). Good work Tilly and Brush.

Less encouraging

McDonald seems lacking pace (although this may well be relative against the very quick Spam defence - and I'm sure he brings other attributes). Most concerning though was our contentment at times to lob balls over-the-top for him to chase. It doesn't work and he was outpaced every time.

Bailey. He won't be at all happy with his game today I'm afraid, but I'm happy to forgive him considering the opposition. Despite a couple of nice touches, he gave the ball away far too much today. A tough debut given the opposition and perhaps his nerves showed in front of a full-house Roots Hall, but I'm sure he'll improve.

On another note...

There's not many people I hate, but God do I hate Lee Bowyer!

 

[Andy_S]

Well that was £20 I probably wish I hadn't have spent. I love going to our games and I love supporting Southend, but being surrounded by bloody West Ham fans like that today just took the ****. Even more so because you know they all live within a stones throw from the Hall. Anyone else see the West Ham flag hanging out of one of the flats windows behind the goal?

On the game, we weren't great really and the same flaws from last season were shown up. We didn't win enough 2nd balls, we didn't look organised enough there were far too many sloppy moments and we didn't pressurise the ball well enough. I know it is a friendly but we need to stamp certain things out in time for the serious stuff.

Black, yes, was the best player for us. BUT I do have doubts that him and Gower can play in the same team. They both roam so much there is very rarely going to be any width, plus, Black does not seem the type to track back. Hunt looked totally bemused today because he's so used to JCR busting a gut around him. It caused more than one argument between the two in the first half.

Bailey was total cack, lets hope that was a one off.

Clarkey will be a class above this season.

Harrold was back to his old self today. Jump Matt for fecks sake.

MacDonald impressed me with his willingness to run the channels. I think he'll get a few this season with the right partner.

Liptaks commitment and desire is great to see. A cult hero in the near future. Zoli Zoli Zoli.

Lee Bowyer is even more of a **** then I think we all realised.

 

[Jai]

I can't beleive they let somebody put a Market stall in the Golden Lion carpark just to sell Wet Spam merchadise. Wtf was that all about...I agree with above SUFC4EVER definately not a good atmosphere about today .

Those cockneys have to have a market somewhere. I'm just surprised they weren't selling fruit.

 

[Cricko2]

Those cockneys have to have a market somewhere. I'm just surprised they weren't selling fruit.

I did enquire to several Old bill to check if they had a street license:mad:

As an aside, was nice to meet a few of the SZFC boys today ..and Even Mr B sneeked out..I was wondering is it me, or has Chadded dyed his hair in line with Matt Harrold?:eek:

 

[southend_united_fan]

agree with the tommy black comments. This boy is a classy player with excellent skill, a quick turn of pace and a very good footballing brain.

With gower and black on the wings and maher and macca in the middle, we have an excellent midfield, who can all passs well AND score goals. I think with gower and balck on the wings, we might just have the most creative midfield we've ever had under tilson and brush.

Barrett and clarke were good as usual.

now just neeed a quality striker to play with such an exellent midfield and i think this season could be very succcesful.

also i was pleased again with macdonald. no he's not a super star, but his a honest hard working player, who, given time im sure will score more goals that the rest of our strikers. Link up play was better than the rest as well.

Baily.....hummm. not decided. Some nice touchs, some good passes, yet some poor touches and some wayward passes. i feel he's got it, and is obviously committed, but lacked confidence today. Im sure with time he could be a very good signing, just needs to get in to the groove so to speak....

 

[JoshC]

grrr i was just below where it all kicked off and i have to say the stewards did a good job in breaking it all up and preventing violence, really ****es me off all of the 'East London' ****e when probably 80% of therte fans were from essex. i spent the game watching trouble behind me, hoards of chav sitting on a wall behind the east stand and laughing at zamora headin the post :D good performance although bailley wasn't himself (nerves i guess). freddy ljungberg class really showed today too

 

[EastStandBlue]

Im sure with time he could be a very good signing, just needs to get in to the groove so to speak....

So, I'll have to get used to people shouting "C*nt" at him instead of Paynter after 15 minutes...

 

[southend_united_fan]

So, I'll have to get used to people shouting "C*nt" at him instead of Paynter after 15 minutes...

sad isnt it. got to give new signings time to settle...