Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 2 Stevenage 0

It's difficult to judge a performance sometimes when you go 2 up after 20 mins.
i thought Stevenage were awful and we just went through the motions after the second goal.
Very happy with the result and how we controlled it , but thought the game itself was quite tedious.

Won't give points but thought Bentley made two superb saves in the first half and Clifford was the MOTM.
Corr played well too.

Slight negative ?
This was my first game of the season , but have agree with many comments from the friendlies and other games that Hurst is not on his game.
He put in the effort but he seems strangely off the pace somehow - sure it's just temporary.

I think Stevenage are in for a huge shock this season.
Awful , gutless display

Clifford MOM for me....looks composed and assured. ...spreading the ball around nicely.

good, controlled performance from all. i think the team have matured since this time last year, and todays game last year could well have ended up with southend down to 10 men and losing discipline. probably would have held on to a 2-1 win but conceded at a set piece.

stevenage are a well drilled unit. the problem is, its drilled by Westley and his bodyguard Dino Maamria.

they are a cynical side, with well timed nudges and pushes when the ref isnt looking etc. physical and very direct are their default and usually only settings, and if that doesnt work in open play, they start trying to win cheap free kicks so they can go direct into the box.

im so glad i dont have to watch them every week as i'd not only get a very sore neck, but you can see that they have some players with ability but its being stifled by the manager. very frustrating team to watch, and i think they might find it tougher with that 'style' this year in league 2 than they did in league 1 last year. most teams can deal with physicality, but less so with a bit of cleverness and guile.

Eddy Melito said:

good, controlled performance from all. i think the team have matured since this time last year, and todays game last year could well have ended up with southend down to 10 men and losing discipline. probably would have held on to a 2-1 win but conceded at a set piece.

stevenage are a well drilled unit. the problem is, its drilled by Westley and his bodyguard Dino Maamria.

they are a cynical side, with well timed nudges and pushes when the ref isnt looking etc. physical and very direct are their default and usually only settings, and if that doesnt work in open play, they start trying to win cheap free kicks so they can go direct into the box.

im so glad i dont have to watch them every week as in not only get a very sore neck, but you can see that they have some players with ability but its being stifled by the manager. very frustrating team to watch, and i think they might find it tougher with that 'style' this year in league 2 than they did in league 1 last year. most teams can deal with physicality, but less so with a bit of cleverness and guile.

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Agree with so much of that. Easy to say Stevenage were poor but they'll win their fair share with that approach. Bottom line is we dictated the game and made them worry more about us than us about them. Early doors but we already look like we could have too much for a lot of teams this year.

Well done all concerned today. A very professional performance.

Eddy Melito said:

stevenage are a well drilled unit. the problem is, its drilled by Westley and his bodyguard Dino Maamria..

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Was he the one that was moaning when there were some physical challenges and suggesting that Coker went poorly on one of their players?

[video=youtube;0ufq6nLDNLo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ufq6nLDNLo[/video]

thats him...

think its fair to say hes been to the gym a couple of times since he finished playing...

A decent performance and you get the impression we could have raised it a few gears.

I am really impressed with the new signings, all of whom have strengthened what we had last year. Leonard and Clifford are already looking a formidable partnership in midfield, and they have the potential to boss anyone in this league. Hurst, again, a little off the pace - but we know what he is capable of and no doubt it will come.

Have to say Stevenage were poor and one dimensional. I was surprised at that,

All in all a day of positives....

im not sure what people were expecting from a graham westley stevenage side other than what they showed today?

Job done early on. Stevenage are pretty poor so not sure how much of a yardstick they are. The left back (Demblele) is literally woeful as was Charlie Lee and the rotund number 8.

Bentley - 8 - Made some two great saves. Was all he had to do but did it so well

White - 7 - Defensively sounds but a bit weak going forward if I was being harsh
Prosser - 7 - Solid, did nothing wrong at all
Bolger - 7 Pick of the pair. solid and a few decent balls too.
Coker - 8 - Worked hard, scored and made some good tackles

Leonard - 7 - Good as always. Good defensively and attack wise.
Clifford - 8 - Like a young Peter Butler. Solid and brave.

Hurst - 6 - Worked hard but didn't create much
Shaq - 7 - End product needs some work but good display

Weston - 8 - Though everything positive went through him
Corr - 8 - Did loads of unseen work against two really strong (but ****) defenders.

Overall a really promising start I thought.

Great to have six points in the bag already. Excellent for first 25 mins then fairly average after, but worth the win. Only downside was that less than 5000 home fans were there.

thought attendance was ok considering its still holiday season.

It was ok, we got a couple of hundred more this time last year against Northampton, not sure what the away attendance was back then.

Fairport said:

Great to have six points in the bag already. Excellent for first 25 mins then fairly average after, but worth the win. Only downside was that less than 5000 home fans were there.

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Agreed but we didn't have to do much more.

Certainly promising, thought we went off the boil a little after Clifford's booking. He quite rightly held back a little and that detracted from his game. Still think he is a walking Red Card just hope he learns because at his best he is definitely an asset.

Often happens when a team goes 2 or 3 up quickly, don't understand the disappointment, it's bloody hard to score one goal in pro football sometimes so to wrap the game up early and gain another 3 points should deserve nothing but praise.

Bentley 8
White 8
Coker 8.5 mom
Bolger 7.5 Nervous first half, excellent second half
Prosser 8

Clifford 8.5
Leonard 8

Hurst 6
Shaq 8
Corr 8
Weston 8

Proper team performance. The second half was dull, but that was because we were able to see the game out so easily

I missed the build up to both goals, some poorly timed ebay listings!

Two assists for Corr and certain people are worrying about him? Seems as if some people need reminding we are a L2 side. A very good team performance.

Bentley - 7, did everything asked of him, very solid
White - 8, hugely under rated, and having seen Clohessy on Tuesday, I can honestly say that we have a much better RB in John. Captain's performance today
Bolger - 7, very solid
Prosser - 8, just love him, think he's a fantastic and gutsy player
Coker - 7, good performance, was disturbed to see the shouting at Coulthirst though
Weston - 8, really good stuff, got forward well and took his goal well
Clifford - 8.5, MOM, improving all the time and looking very impressive. Delighted for him
Leonard - 8, typical Lenny performance
Coulthirst - 8, cause all sorts of problems
Hurst - 7, worked very hard
Corr - 7, two assists, can't ask much more than that

All in all, thoroughly enjoyable.

Good performance...we may have had an extra gear or two if we'd needed it, but we didn't. Thoroughly deserved the win, though I think Stevenage will struggle this year.

There were several good performances today, but I'd give MOM to Corr today. He is instrumental to how we play, and against a side set up like Stevenage we needed a big performance and he certainly gave one. He won almost everything in the air and was the focal point of almost every decent attack, and had a hand in both goals. He also looks fitter than I've seen him in ages and was still back helping the defence in injury time.
Credit too to Weston playing along side him...he actually anticipated Corr winning flick ons and actually looked to gain from them (as per the first goal). Too often towards the end of last season Corr would continuously win aerial balls and Barnard or Eastwood would just stand watching. Weston looks a very good acquisition.

Bentley : 8 : two very good saves proving the benefits of reacting quickly...the first was one of those where as a keeper it either sticks or it doesn't...but he earned his luck being in the right place.
White : 7 : Still don't think he's at 100%, but did well
Coker : 7.5 : Fantastic goal, but loses a mark for a few sloppy second half passes
Prosser : 7.5 : I'm not a fan in general, but he was pretty much faultless today. Against a physical direct team you need a Prosser performance...distribution not the best, but that doesn't matter, he did his job and stopped them scoring.
Bolger : 7 : Thought he looked a bit shaky early on, but improved as the game went on. There's definitely a very good player in there and he's only going to get better....not great distribution, but improved second half, and as per Prosser...not bothered about that, he did his defensive job well.
Hurst : 6 : Not really involved enough, and looked knackered after about half an hour.
Clifford : 8 : Pick of the midfield, really looks to be coming on leaps and bounds..shows what a decent run in the side can do, hopefully he can keep improving like Leonard did when he first came into central midfield
Leonard : 7 : Good energy, not at his best, but still a good performance
Coulthirst : 6.5 : Did well, always tried to be positive, but bullied a bit by the bigger boys on occasions
Corr : 8.5 : MOM - Exactly the performance we needed, involved in everything
Weston : 7.5 : Composed finish for goal, and looked a good partner for Corr

Worrall : 6.5 : Didn't have much time, but looked a good player
Barnard :4.5 : Improved a bit after spending his first 5 minutes continuously putting us under pressure by conceding free kicks for them to lump into the box
Ibenfeldt :10: Didn't put a foot wrong

chapperzUK said:

Was he the one that was moaning when there were some physical challenges and suggesting that Coker went poorly on one of their players?

[video=youtube;0ufq6nLDNLo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ufq6nLDNLo[/video]

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How was that not a red card???

Romford Shrimper said:

Good first 30 mins poor 60. Worrying times..

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Jam_Man said:

Er ? What?!

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sufclee said:

2 wins out of 2 and 2 clean sheets and these are worrying times?

Dread to think how worried you may get if we actually lose a game....

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Wooooooosh..... :facepalm: