Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-0 Torquay

davewebbsbrain said:

It was ball to hand, nothing Murphy could do about it hence why the ref didn't blow for handball

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Absolutely correct and this is where some people really don't know the rules, as it has to be intentional.

Thought the ref was ok, but not sure how their center back never got booked for persistent fouling

I thought today was going to be one of those days --- we came close many times during the match but just couldn't get it right until Freddy saved the day.

Torquay were a difficult team to play against , especially with a ref who was far too lenient, and we didn't perform as well as Monday but still got the 3 points when all our rivals dropped points.

I definitely think his recent goal has gone to John White's head --- his two shots and the header nearly increasing his goal tally , could someone tell him he is not due to score for another 301 games !

Our new signings will soon become used to their team-mates and our style of play and if we carry on as we are hopefully we will get there in the end.

A day where the result was more important than the display ,On the plus side the two centre backs are getting stronger by the game (although at times we miss Prossers height and headed clearances).Also thought Barney had a good game,and linked up well with Loza

Jcd said:

Struggle to understand how Leonard gets 8+ every week from some people, I must watch a different player, Opinions opinions eh?. Don't think everyone was completely at the races today, but its fantastic to win a game when we dont' play too well. Sign of a good side as they say.

Would probably give MOTM to one of the two centre halfs (halves?!), 4 games without conceding is an unbelievable stat and a testament to the pair of them.

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I think I have the answer to that: we know what we are looking at in a player!

Rick Parsnip said:

I think I have the answer to that: we know what we are looking at in a player!

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Seconds away, round 1

yogi bear up the cagire said:

Long time meaning Monday night??? If he was better than the ref against Oxford, he must have been bloody good! What have we done to merit good referees in two consecutive games?

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What ****ing game were you watching? Terrible, gutless, panicky ref allowed himself to be intimidated by a snide and nasty side.

Egan MOTM for me, with Sokilik running him a close second. I think there number 9 Anelka look a like was a real handful, and they dealt with him quite well. Another strong game from Lenny, Drew plenty of fouls, the boy doesn't half take a shoeing for this team!

Although I was glad we got a goal, if I hear people saying Freddy should start because of scoring a three yard tap in :angry: . That said, the corner play with Coker at the end was good.

Talking of time wasting, our fans are as thick as **** sometimes. They stand there moaning at our players for making a bad job of it, yet throw the ball back to the oppo keeper ASAP. Why, run the clock, make a difference for goodness sake!

I was never worried we were going to concede as they posed absolutely no threat up front.

Good sides win ugly and that's what we did today, delighted for Freddy to get the winner.

Couldn't make it today, delighted we got the winner though. Nice to know there was a decent crowd as well today, nearly 6 and half thousand shrimpers (not including away fans). Onwards and upwards now! UTB

yogi bear up the cagire said:

So, that makes you and Leonard who would disagree with manor15, that today's referee was one of the best we've seen at this level in a long time! From what I heard, the commentators would side with you OBL......certainly didn't sound better than the one I saw on Monday night.

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Would agree that Monday's ref was pretty impressive too, I thought today's was maybe a bit lenient, but only in a way as to keep control of the game, he could easily have given a few stupid cards and more than one red, a few players deserved yellows and didn't get them but it was the kind of game that could easily have boiled over if the ref had gone crazy with cards or a red. He could have given more but by not doing so he kept control.

I must admit i thought Egan was a touch better than Jacob today ... not alot in it but we agreed in the Blacks that Egan just about edged our MOM! Interesting that others felt different...

Rick Parsnip said:

I think I have the answer to that: we know what we are looking at in a player!

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Glad you cleared that one up for me, cheers mate.

At least Lee Barnard looks a lot sharper , faster and fitter. Loza was targeted early and took a couple of hefty challenges, seemed to be playing at about 80% after those. They then targeted Leonard. They couldn't play very well, so it seemed their game plan was to stop our best players. A very dirty side.

After Monday night Loza will be targeted every match. TV advertised his qualities. Will he have the mental strength to tough it out.? With his pace he will always have a chance of getting pens.

greyerfox said:

After Monday night Loza will be targeted every match. TV advertised his qualities. Will he have the mental strength to tough it out.? With his pace he will always have a chance of getting pens.

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Yes, good point. I think there was an incident in the first half where I felt he could have got a penalty.

manor15 said:

Would agree that Monday's ref was pretty impressive too, I thought today's was maybe a bit lenient, but only in a way as to keep control of the game, he could easily have given a few stupid cards and more than one red, a few players deserved yellows and didn't get them but it was the kind of game that could easily have boiled over if the ref had gone crazy with cards or a red. He could have given more but by not doing so he kept control.

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Can't agree with that I'm afraid. If you want to keep control of a game you book a few players. Yellow cards are there as a warning to players. The whole "one more and you're off" concept. So by not booking them it encourages players to keep tackling hard until they get a booking.

Overall I agree with most on here that it was a performance where the result mattered more than how we played. With Torquay fighting for their lives they were always going to sit deep and try and hit us on the break. I actually thought they defended quite well for a side rock bottom of the league. Karl Hawley (I think) was the striker up front for them with the big beard and he's spent most of his career in the league above so I was wary of him throughout. That said I'd agree with others that they only really looked like scoring when we didn't clear our lines properly but for the most part our defence was solid.

I can see how Sokilik's performance divided opinion on here as I saw a very classy player and he did try a few things that you only see from players at the top level. Unfortunately these attempted moments of top class defending sometimes went a bit wrong and he lost the ball. After seeing both him and Egan for the first time live I think Egan looks a bit more no nonsense and Sokilik a lower league Martin Skyrtl.

I also thought Ryan Leonard went down extremely easy under challenge yesterday and wasn't surprised that was met by a few dirty challenges. To be honest I don't mind having a player like that in the side. Anthony Grant was a master of winning free kicks for us in dangerous positions.

Overall it was a solid if unspectacular performance and will obviously add to our side's confidence for the remainder of the season.

manor15 said:

Would agree that Monday's ref was pretty impressive too, I thought today's was maybe a bit lenient, but only in a way as to keep control of the game, he could easily have given a few stupid cards and more than one red, a few players deserved yellows and didn't get them but it was the kind of game that could easily have boiled over if the ref had gone crazy with cards or a red. He could have given more but by not doing so he kept control.

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Sorry, I really only picked up on that because of the remark, 'since a long time' when there was a pretty good refereeing performance on Monday. That said, they both had their faults, as you, OBL and colonelnutter have pointed out. Perhaps we should be thankful for two decent performances when you consider the normal standard we have to suffer at this level.

I should of added above that I did fear, during the second-half, that there was a red card coming and mentioned it on one of my OMT posts. OK, neither were perfect (but still far better than the normal dross we get) but I do prefer to see a match where the referee allows the game to flow and is not some over-officious **** who believes he is the centre of attraction.

One thing that was disappointing was how we wasted free kicks, especially the quick one that gently trundled to their goalie!

yogi bear up the cagire said:

I should of added above that I did fear, during the second-half, that there was a red card coming and mentioned it on one of my OMT posts. OK, neither were perfect (but still far better than the normal dross we get) but I do prefer to see a match where the referee allows the game to flow and is not some over-officious **** who believes he is the centre of attraction.

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The ref yesterday was excellent apart from the John White affair. At one point, Leonard tried to take a quick free kick and the Torquay player kept standing in front of him. Leonard picked up the ball, ran 3 yards and took the free kick. 5 mins later when the ball went out of play, the ref booked the player that had been obstructing Leonard. On numerous occasions he played the advantage and when it was obvious there wasn't one to be had, he called play back. Leonard was cynically and brutally fouled by over half the Torquay team yesterday. The ref let the first couple go, then started booking players for the fouls. The ref wasn't over officious or believed he was the centre of attention. He was just a very good ref

Someone earlier in the thread said they didn't see why Leonard gets 8+ every week. The fact that Torquay targeted Leonard shows he was the player they needed to hurt to stop us playing the way we were. At one point, Leonard was slightly limping and one of their players pushed him over at the same time as raking him down the achilles. Disgusting behaviour.