Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1 Shrewsbury & dodgy pitch 2

[RHB]

So, the last league game of 2017 and with it our faint play-off hopes have finally disappeared together with our second home defeat ofthe season. The first half was pretty grim as we were bossed about by a very good Shrewsbury team. Not too much point going into great detail, suffice to say we went in 0-2 down at half time and deserved that score-line.

Second half we at least showed some more effort but the flowing stuff of the Charlton game was a distant memory today. Admittedly Lenny scored a good goal to bring us back to 1-2 and we had a near scrape/miss from Nile, but in truth Shrewsbury were the better side over the 90 minutes.

A couple of things that I didn’t understand today. Why was Anton allowed to start if he was very fragile injury wise? And why was Robinson preferred to Fortune when Coxy was subbed? These things will tax my brain until tomorrow after which I probably won’t remember that I asked the questions, that’s the beauty of advancing years. Mrs RHB missed today’s game with a Woman Cold (bad, but not as bad as Man Flu obviously), thankfully she didn’t miss much at all.

 

[AndyT]

First things first. I really think it's harsh to criticize any of our players. The first goal was directly to do with the pitch. Nobody was to blame, though I guess Cokes might have got a better defensive header in another time.

The second was a quality strike.

Putting all that aside, how on earth are you meant to play football on that. It's boggy and cutting up horrendously badly. Must be like running on quicksand.

Shrewsbury were tight, well organized and closed down on every Southend player, sometimes with two or three players around the honeypot, recycling intelligently. Whalley (7) and Nsiala (22) were outstanding for them, but they all put a shift in.

At half-time, most of us felt that we had to abandon trying to pass and go for broke down the middle. Push Demi up and Cokes and put more bodies on their back-four and work from the ugly scraps. There was little or no point in playing it wide, as their defensive midfielders were right tight on our wide players, so just knocking it into the channels seemed the only way to get in behind them which, when we did, created chances for us, including the one Nile missed.

In that respect, at half-time I would have jettisoned Wright and brought Fortune on and gone 4-3-3. Possibly even sacrificing Wordy for Robinson in the last 15. The only time we caused them problems was when we went central. A half headed clearance or sliced hack by their defence would have reaped more benefits. There was no point in hitting 45 yard diagonal balls to the wings. They were just too well organized to be fooled by that.

We needed to play ugly, but we got stuck in no mans land, reverting to McG which we called as a poor substitution, the moment he came on.

The referee didn't help but that was a dog awful game and the pitch was the main culprit.

Oxley 7, Demetriou 6.5, Turner 6.5, White 6.5, Coker 6, Wright 5.5, Leonard 7, Wordsworth 5.5, McLaughlin 6, Ranger 6, Cox 7.5 MOM ... McGlashan 6, Robinson 6

 

[Fitz]

£700k or League 2...now Mr Martin this reminds we when we sold Barney and then go relegated and Leonard is far more integral than Barney ever was. Sell Lenny and very close call if we get relegated!!!

 

[tallboyblue]

Fortune is a class footballer and you can't play football on that pitch.

 

[RobM]

Wordsworthnotalot should have been subbed at half time. He contributed absolutely nothing.

 

[united we stand]

Wordsworthnotalot should have been subbed at half time. He contributed absolutely nothing.

completely agree, Wordsworth and wright were hopeless, I get it that you don't want to make all your subs early in case some one gets injured, but you need to give the guys coming on time to make a difference.

1st half today was just awful. Turner, wright, wordsworth couldn't do a thing right and many of the others were not much better.
I thought McClauighlin was better than others have said, he put the effort in , and that was more than some did.
Lots of people are putting Ranger down, but he was constantly marked by at least two players. Given this we still played the ball to him , and despite the fact that had two men on him we still couldn't find any space elsewhere.
I can see why Brown likes Timlin so much, he always gets a tackle in and even when he is having a mare he makes himself available for a pass- too many of our players were doing neither of these things.
MoM Cox by a mile
The only positive was that we actually restricted them to a handful of chances, we scored one for them, and decided not to bother marking or closing down their guy for the second

 

[ESG]

To be fair to the new Groundsman, I heard that when he came in the time had already passed for the new pitch to start to be laid. So it wasn't ready from day one.

Surely the pitch is Rons fault for his knee jerk reaction to a frozen pitch on the coldest night of the year.

 

[Bluegoose]

First things first. I really think it's harsh to criticize any of our players. The first goal was directly to do with the pitch. Nobody was to blame, though I guess Cokes might have got a better defensive header in another time.

The second was a quality strike.

Putting all that aside, how on earth are you meant to play football on that. It's boggy and cutting up horrendously badly. Must be like running on quicksand.

Shrewsbury were tight, well organized and closed down on every Southend player, sometimes with two or three players around the honeypot, recycling intelligently. Whalley (7) and Nsiala (22) were outstanding for them, but they all put a shift in.

At half-time, most of us felt that we had to abandon trying to pass and go for broke down the middle. Push Demi up and Cokes and put more bodies on their back-four and work from the ugly scraps. There was little or no point in playing it wide, as their defensive midfielders were right tight on our wide players, so just knocking it into the channels seemed the only way to get in behind them which, when we did, created chances for us, including the one Nile missed.

In that respect, at half-time I would have jettisoned Wright and brought Fortune on and gone 4-3-3. Possibly even sacrificing Wordy for Robinson in the last 15. The only time we caused them problems was when we went central. A half headed clearance or sliced hack by their defence would have reaped more benefits. There was no point in hitting 45 yard diagonal balls to the wings. They were just too well organized to be fooled by that.

We needed to play ugly, but we got stuck in no mans land, reverting to McG which we called as a poor substitution, the moment he came on.

The referee didn't help but that was a dog awful game and the pitch was the main culprit.

Oxley 7, Demetriou 6.5, Turner 6.5, White 6.5, Coker 6, Wright 5.5, Leonard 7, Wordsworth 5.5, McLaughlin 6, Ranger 6, Cox 7.5 MOM ... McGlashan 6, Robinson 6

You did see how much position we punted away

 

[OldBlueLady]

Can someone please explain to me why was Woody "last man" in the break that led to Coker's own goal? If he wasn't taking the corner (which I think he should have been anyway) he's not the person to be last man!!!

I was pleased Brown stuck with the same line up for once, though that soon changed when Anton was forced off. He was struggling from very early after making a couple of good clearances so it wasn't a surprise to see White brought on in replacement.

The pitch was a mess, we saw it quite close up and it really was in a poor state - and we've not even had that much rain yet. Shrewsbury adapted pretty well, must be quite experienced at playing on that kind of surface...... You also have to give them credit for being well organised and sticking to a plan, however annoying that was for us.

Oxley - 6, didn't have much to do, didn't utilise Coker or Demetriou much with a quick throw out and over-kicked a few times
Demetriou - 6, some mistakes and was forced to defend more than he's used to
Turner - 6, probably his hardest match so far for us, coped pretty well with their #9
Ferdinand - 6, a solid start but forced off
Coker - 6, he'll want to forget this one
Wright - 5, one good clearance just before pulling up
Wordsworth - 6, didn't get much chance today and seemed to be playing a different game to normal, Brown seems to have forgotten his best attributes
Leonard - 8, MOTM, everywhere, did everything, scored from a corner!
McLaughlin - 6, much like Woody, things didn't work
Cox - 7, thought he did ok, worked very hard
Ranger - 7, again, thought he did ok, not helped by officials at all

Subs:
White for Ferdinand - 7, pick of the defence
McGlashan for Wright - 6, inexplicably poorly utilised
Robinson for Cox - 5, why? Just don't get it

Gavin Ward made it "all about him" as per usual, aided by the West stand lino. None of the officials saw any of the numerous handballs and Ward gave several blatant fouls the wrong way. How their keeper wasn't booked for time wasting I will never know!

A bad day at the office.

 

[Wickford Blue]

First things first. I really think it's harsh to criticize any of our players. The first goal was directly to do with the pitch. Nobody was to blame, though I guess Cokes might have got a better defensive header in another time.

The second was a quality strike.

Putting all that aside, how on earth are you meant to play football on that. It's boggy and cutting up horrendously badly. Must be like running on quicksand.

Shrewsbury were tight, well organized and closed down on every Southend player, sometimes with two or three players around the honeypot, recycling intelligently. Whalley (7) and Nsiala (22) were outstanding for them, but they all put a shift in.

At half-time, most of us felt that we had to abandon trying to pass and go for broke down the middle. Push Demi up and Cokes and put more bodies on their back-four and work from the ugly scraps. There was little or no point in playing it wide, as their defensive midfielders were right tight on our wide players, so just knocking it into the channels seemed the only way to get in behind them which, when we did, created chances for us, including the one Nile missed.

In that respect, at half-time I would have jettisoned Wright and brought Fortune on and gone 4-3-3. Possibly even sacrificing Wordy for Robinson in the last 15. The only time we caused them problems was when we went central. A half headed clearance or sliced hack by their defence would have reaped more benefits. There was no point in hitting 45 yard diagonal balls to the wings. They were just too well organized to be fooled by that.

We needed to play ugly, but we got stuck in no mans land, reverting to McG which we called as a poor substitution, the moment he came on.

The referee didn't help but that was a dog awful game and the pitch was the main culprit.

Oxley 7, Demetriou 6.5, Turner 6.5, White 6.5, Coker 6, Wright 5.5, Leonard 7, Wordsworth 5.5, McLaughlin 6, Ranger 6, Cox 7.5 MOM ... McGlashan 6, Robinson 6

So if I read this right Wordsworth ran his arse off and should not have closed the guy down for the second goal, Cokers own goal wasn't his fault as there was so much pressure on him from all the opposition players,Ferdinand and Wright were 100% fit before the game.
MMMM let me think about that!

 

[BrettieAngell]

First off, Shrewsbury were a brilliant defensive outft and didn't give us any time on the ball for the full 90 mins. You can see how they're doing so well this season.

Now for the negatives.. you can't afford to give away the first goal to a side so solid defensively, and unfortunately it came from individual errors. Demetriou slipping in a small bog that formed on the east side of the pitch and Coker with a very poor defensive header in to his own net. From that point on it's a struggle, their second was a wonder strike.

We did fight back well in the second half though and it almost fell to Ranger perfectly to make it 2-2 on the rebound, not sure how that didn't go in, if the keeper's saved that then it's a remarkable double-save. Left ourselves too much to do in the end though and couldn't find the breakthrough, not through lack of trying though.. some of our players ran themselves in to the ground (particularly Cox). Some of the booing at full-time was unwarranted in my opinion.

Agreed 100% apart from ALL of the booing was unwarranted.

 

[Bobby dazzler]

I am sure I will be called unfair but I say it as I see it.
for a while I have wondered what Wordsworth. Wright & Mcglauchlin do on the pitch. Too often being protected by Lenny.
Woody is lazy (apart from first 35 mins Boxing Day)
Wright. Go on I give in what does he bring us
Macca. Poor oh so poor for so long now.

many feel Ranger is harshly criticised and yes he has no one linking with him up front but he too is Lazy ! When was he seen having laid the ball off busting a gut to get in for the header. Too often today he was still arriving at the edge of the box when the ball came in.

Mcglashan. Why put him on if we don't play the ball to him at all

Robinson. Why ?

Fortune. What has he done wrong ?

Our Glorious Billiard Table of a pitch
How long before a serious injury is caused by the ploughed field we have

shrewsbury were a well organised and solid side. Nothing special but doing what they need. We were just not good enough in general

 

[Barry.C]

The strong majority opinion supports the view that that was Wordsworths 5th poor game on the trot. Clearly Paul Clark not a fan ( poor, cant tackle , no pace etc ) I am not intending to scapegoat him, but what is he doing ? , somewhat delicate and more than a luxury currently, Is this the way to play for a contract? I really struggle with our midfield tough tackling group of Wordsworth, Wright , Mc Glashen and Mc Laughlin. Very weak and frail without the Lenmeister. Paul clarkism " we are weak in midfield, saved by Lenny getting back , the other 3 wander forward, allowing opponents to get in front of them and are on the wrong side and cant get back quick enough "

 

[Bobby dazzler]

The strong majority opinion supports the view that that was Wordsworths 5th poor game on the trot. Clearly Paul Clark not a fan ( poor, cant tackle , no pace etc ) I am not intending to scapegoat him, but what is he doing ? , somewhat delicate and more than a luxury currently, Is this the way to play for a contract? I really struggle with our midfield tough tackling group of Wordsworth, Wright , Mc Glashen and Mc Laughlin. Very weak and frail without the Lenmeister. Paul clarkism " we are weak in midfield, saved by Lenny getting back , the other 3 wander forward, allowing opponents to get in front of them and are on the wrong side and cant get back quick enough "

Clarks view on Ranger is interesting too

 

[Taters123]

Clarks view on Ranger is interesting too

Would be interested to know what he thinks?

 

[Bobby dazzler]

I listened to him on the radio on the way to the match. Unfair to para phrase him but as I pointed out he never busts a gut to get in the box for a header. He is very static and makes a defenders job easy etc. Our get out clause with him on is to lump it up field to him as they don't trust the pitch enough to play it out.
After one of their free kicks in which he came back to defend we broke forward and he was still getting to the half way line whilst all our midfield were on the edge of their box. He not so much sprinted as had a swift walk.

 

[AndyT]

...... Nothing to see here

 

[GBJ]

£700k or League 2...now Mr Martin this reminds we when we sold Barney and then go relegated and Leonard is far more integral than Barney ever was. Sell Lenny and very close call if we get relegated!!!

Hold on, you're saying we got relegated because we sold Barnard? There were a few more weighty factors involved other than just selling Barnard

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

The strong majority opinion supports the view that that was Wordsworths 5th poor game on the trot. Clearly Paul Clark not a fan ( poor, cant tackle , no pace etc ) I am not intending to scapegoat him, but what is he doing ? , somewhat delicate and more than a luxury currently, Is this the way to play for a contract? I really struggle with our midfield tough tackling group of Wordsworth, Wright , Mc Glashen and Mc Laughlin. Very weak and frail without the Lenmeister. Paul clarkism " we are weak in midfield, saved by Lenny getting back , the other 3 wander forward, allowing opponents to get in front of them and are on the wrong side and cant get back quick enough "

Woody has said this week in the Echo that he's been playing through the pain with a calf problem since October. It beggars belief that he's picked every game with a calf problem, and helps to explain his bad form, and him looking slower than ever. I would rather have a fit but inexperienced Yearwood in the middle rather than a not 100% fit Woody.

 

[Thundersley Blue]

When will Brown work out that Wright and Wordsworth can't play in the same midfield. Lenny had an impossible job. For the second time in 3 games Wright has gone off at half trime with a clean pair of shorts. Does he know what a tackle is ?