Post-Match Thread and Ratings Stevenage 4-2 Southend United

Mark2907 said:

Because there is some weird love-in for the guy. Apparently he can do no wrong. He doesn't need all this love as he loves himself enough. The fact he takes his position last and exits the pitch last so he can get his own separate ovation should tell you everything about this self-obsessed man.

By the way, he is a good goal keeper. He's just self obsessed and selfish.

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hope this dreadful 'flaw' in his character spreads through out the squad. Then we could all look forward to winning L2 this season.

CyrilSneer said:

I said when we signed Barrett we would ship goals on his return and I was right. Think only Spoons and rigsby agreed with me. Am i happy with that no. People who were at the game saying he had a great game. WHAT GAME WERE YOU WATCHING, Out of the two CBs Bolger had the best game. I am utterly dumfounded that Thompson was removed from the squad completely, and Prosser wasnt even on the bench. Thompson has been outstanding. He has one shaky game and then removed from the squad completely. Prosser and Thompson should have been out two CBs today. 6 changes after one defeat. You have to be kidding me. How we have lost today against an awful Stevenage team is just unfathomable. So angry and upset. I just havent got the minerals for another play off heartache, I really havent.
As for Stevenage as a place. Honestly thought I was in Basildon.

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Thanks Cyril yes I did say that about Barratt and it gives me no pleasure to say that I told son when we heard the team that we would lose. Barratt and Bolger did ok in the air but lacked pace and Stevenage had no real threat in the air, but played the ball well down both wings exposing our back 4 numerous times.
Brown made too many changes. So many on here calling for Barratt an ageing and not match fit player to come in and we ship 4 goals
Bentley 5 was to blame for the opener, made 1 good save
Coker 4 regularly gave the ball away when messing about on the ball trying to be clever
Barratt 5 okay in the air but no pace to assist covering of others, blowing hard in warm up session
Bolger 5 good in the air but looks like a risk, couple of well timed interventions, useless on the ground
White 5 poor captain, not sure what he offered today
Worrall 8 Man of the Match for me, always looked a threat and classy on the ball, had a hand in both goals
Deegan 6 did ok looks like he wants to play rugby
Timlin 6 worked hard but not enough of a threat to their back 4
Leonard 5 has not been on his game for weeks, not sure what Brown tells him to do
Corr 5 took a good penalty but looks like a tailors dummy most of the time, no pace, no touch, way past his best
Pigott 8 scored a lovely goal after getting into good area in penalty box, looks classy
subs didn't do much, Cassidy turned well in the box but keeper was in right place to block weak shot
Brown gets 3 for me, he has no idea of what is required at this level
Stevenage played good enough on a sandy pitch that cuts up and they play on every other week.
Brown must have been happy with us looking for 5 yard passes in defence when it needed a more direct approach, we looked like a side worried about average Stevenage rather than concentrating on our own play.
No width to our play, most of our attacks through Worral on the right wing and a defence that looked shaky and a midfield lacking conviction.
Why so many changes after one slip up against Accrington. Prosser looks to be in the wilderness, young players confidence is knocked when dropped after one bad home loss. Brown does not improve players, instead always looking for an alternative. The Stevenage manager had all the nous today and although we probably deserved a draw, after being behind and getting ourselves in front, we do not look like a promotion winning team.
Finally, what a waste of time when entering the ground to find stewards using metal detectors thar regularly beeped only for the steward to look at his wand and ignore it. I was even asked if I was carrying a bag when I clearly wasn't.
The hail storm at the end of the game summed up a bad day.
On a positive note, free car parking opposite the ground and plenty of spaces.

I was at the game yesterday and agin after watching the goals this morning apart from the third goal I fail to see where the CB can be blamed. They dealt well in the air and were not exposed by pace as Stevenage don't play that way and generally hoof long balls. The first goal a fluke, if anyone is to blame its Bentley, the second goal came from an odd ball by Piggott, a missed tackle by Leonard and then a stupid tackle in the box, the third goal shouldn't have stood as the ball was over the line and should he have been a throw in a to us and the fourth a mistake by Coker and a break away goal. Really not sure why Bolger and Barrett are getting the blame when others all over the pitch are far more responsible as is a slightly orange coloured individual on the touch line.

shrimperjon said:

I was at the game yesterday and agin after watching the goals this morning apart from the third goal I fail to see where the CB can be blamed. They dealt well in the air and were not exposed by pace as Stevenage don't play that way and generally hoof long balls. The first goal a fluke, if anyone is to blame its Bentley, the second goal came from an odd ball by Piggott, a missed tackle by Leonard and then a stupid tackle in the box, the third goal shouldn't have stood as the ball was over the line and should he have been a throw in a to us and the fourth a mistake by Coker and a break away goal. Really not sure why Bolger and Barrett are getting the blame when others all over the pitch are far more responsible as is a slightly orange coloured individual on the touch line.

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Agree with this Jon. Unfortunately some have entrenched positions and try and fit these based on the ultimate result rather than actual performance. I thought AB didn't put a foot wrong and Bolger was also blameless although he does tend to knock the ball out when he could try and get it upfield more. i'm not convinced how fit Bentley was and whether this had an affect on both his and the defences performance in general. Brown can be blamed on use of subs though, we only made a change once Stevenage had equalised and their 1st change in 68th minute provide pivotal. By the time they got their penalty we were already starting to be overrun in midfield.

Somebody commented on how poor the ref was. If he was poor, not sure how you would describe the Assistant Refs?

All in all the travelling support deserved better.

geoffmundo said:

Agree with this Jon. Unfortunately some have entrenched positions and try and fit these based on the ultimate result rather than actual performance. I thought AB didn't put a foot wrong and Bolger was also blameless although he does tend to knock the ball out when he could try and get it upfield more. i'm not convinced how fit Bentley was and whether this had an affect on both his and the defences performance in general. Brown can be blamed on use of subs though, we only made a change once Stevenage had equalised and their 1st change in 68th minute provide pivotal. By the time they got their penalty we were already starting to be overrun in midfield.

Somebody commented on how poor the ref was. If he was poor, not sure how you would describe the Assistant Refs?

All in all the travelling support deserved better.

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Agree with both. The bigger issue for me at the back end of the second half (not long before we capitulated), was the substitutions. Can't argue with Cassidy on for Corr, made sense. But taking Timlin and Deegan off for Hurst and Shaq?? Both were doing okay, Deegan particularly, so was Worrall. If any midfielder should have come off I would have taken Lenny off, because he hasn't been playing well for weeks, he was responsible for their penalty and was anonymous for a lot of the game. Hurst made no impacts and poor Shaq just looked a bit lost, so to me neither of them added anything and actually destabilised the balance. I think it was ill-judged substitutions that ultimately derailed us, not AB and Bolger. The ploughed field and appalling ref and lino just didn't help.

...and anyone complaining about Barratts lack of pace obviously hasn't been paying attention. He has never been quick, and has always made up for lack of mobility by good positioning and being almost unbeatable in the air! On that basis, nothing has changed, he is still the best CB we have by a country mile, and he fully justified his place in the side yesterday.

sufclee said:

Biggest problem in my opinion is that we are around 3/4 of the way through the season and PB still doesn't seem to know his best eleven with no consistent partnerships anywhere on the pitch!

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As I've said before, we don't have a best XI. We have a strong squad of interchangeable players. Hopefully they will be strong enough to get us up. There's plenty of games left, no need to panic.

As for yesterday, the pitch was absolutely terrible and whilst it's the same for both teams, it's very hard to play football on. We weren't direct enough.

Six changes was a surprise. However, after an appalling first half that made some of the football at Roots Hall seem like Champions League stuff, we were completely in control. We'd scored two, the defence was solid, their players were arguing amongst themselves and the fans were getting on their back. They had only had one shot on target bar their fluke goal and I couldn't see any way that we would lose.

And the Lenny absolutely makes a mess of some midfield play, opting to wait for the ball to come to him instead of just challenging for it and then, trying to atone for that, get's turned inside out and gives away the penalty.

After that Cassidy had a great chance to put us back in front but didn't take it and then the linesman fails to give the ball out of play. I was on the far end of a row and it was a whole ball width over the line. However, it still left them with a 2 v 2 and you have to take your hat off to the kid who scored, great finish.

The 4th was just an absolute disaster defensively and what Coker was thinking, God knows. I'm still struggling to see how that happened.

If there's an omen then the last time we conceded 4 we went on a long unbeaten run. Let's hope history repeats itself there.

Ratings - Bentley 6 - Barely made a save, had obvious trouble with kicking as he only took the first one then Bolger took over. Was he fit? Could he have done better with the first? Hmm.

White - 6 - Didn't really contribute much and as a Captain he needs to.
Barrett - 7 - I thought he did really well and can't blame him for the goals.
Bolger - 7 - Ditto. Good partnership with Barrett and benefited from having an experienced head beside him.
Coker - 5 - The last away game I saw at Oxford he put in a fantastic performance. He was off song today and gave away the 4th.

Worrall - 7 - Another who probably would escape criticism today. Great work rate.
Deegan - 7 - Always an outlet and got stuck in when necessary.
Timlin - 7 - Great work rate, surprised to see him subbed.
Leonard - 4 - What has happened to last years POTY? Time for a rest.

Corr - 7 - Made some great lay offs and tucked away the penalty nicely.
Pigott - 7 - Fab finish for his goal but gave away a lot of fouls and made a terrible backwards pass from an attacking position that led to their equaliser.

Subs -

Hurst - 6 - On for Timlin but should have been on for Leonard. Didn't do much.
Cassidy - 6 - On for Corr and had a great chance to put us 3-2 up but fluffed it.
Coulthirst - 6 - Only on for a few minutes.

Ref - 4 - I thought he was generally all round poor for both teams. Far too fussy, didn't let the game flow (as far as that was possible on the sponge of a pitch) and the linesman dropped a huge rickett for their 3rd.

geoffmundo said:

Agree with this Jon. Unfortunately some have entrenched positions and try and fit these based on the ultimate result rather than actual performance. I thought AB didn't put a foot wrong and Bolger was also blameless although he does tend to knock the ball out when he could try and get it upfield more. i'm not convinced how fit Bentley was and whether this had an affect on both his and the defences performance in general. Brown can be blamed on use of subs though, we only made a change once Stevenage had equalised and their 1st change in 68th minute provide pivotal. By the time they got their penalty we were already starting to be overrun in midfield.

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Well said!!

Though I thought Bolger and Barrett did ok, no way did Thompson deserve to be dropped.

IMO Bentley shouldn't have started, he clearly wasn't fit as it's not as if we don't have back up.

Leonard needs to be dropped, such a stupid challenge at a key point in the game and how he stayed on when Timlin went off is a joke - if Thompson can be dropped after playing well, how the hell does this guy continue to be picked.

Hurst is also a complete waste, would rather Payne came on at left midfield, far more creative than Hurst is now.

One final point, still rather see Atkinson in the middle than Deegan (not saying Deegan was bad yesterday) but Atkinson doesn't give the opposition any time and chasing and harries, which I think was lacking yesterday.

Be interested what (if any) changes Brown makes next week.

Mark2907 said:

Because there is some weird love-in for the guy. Apparently he can do no wrong. He doesn't need all this love as he loves himself enough. The fact he takes his position last and exits the pitch last so he can get his own separate ovation should tell you everything about this self-obsessed man.

By the way, he is a good goal keeper. He's just self obsessed and selfish.

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A young guy living his dream everyday of playing for the club he loves! I'm pretty sure I'd want to soak up the atmosphere if I got the chance to play for Southend.

If he was selfish and self obsessed then he would of been off a long time ago. Let's be honest he could get more support from bigger crowds but he hasn't tried to engineer a move away, when he quite easily could have.

It is always the case with young talent that has come through our set up that they can do no wrong, in the eyes of the fans. I think it's just people wanting them to do well having seen them start at the club from young and progress through.

Had time so sober up and reflect on the game

bentley 3 - 5 shots on target and 4 goals (I don't remember him making the 1 save), he couldn't even take his own kicks but his open play distribution was ok
white 5 - didn't have his best game
bolger 4 - he ducked from the cross for the first, the third he kept backing off and allowed the player to run into the box, he needed to be tighter. Why Thompson was dropped completely is beyond me
Barrett 6 - standard Barrett performance
coker 5 - at fault for one of the goals, didn't seem fit to me

worrall 7 - this lad is class! Assisted Piggy and won the pen. He's beyond L2
leonard 5 - conceded the pen when we looked comfortable after losing it in midfield, he just isn't the same player yet PB won't drop him? Conor Clifford had a MOTM performance for Barnet yesterday..
timlin 7 - all over the pitch as usual getting stuck in
Deegan 7 - solid. Big tackles when needed

pig - 7 took his goal really really well and looked lively
Corr 6 - thought he played well but due to the poor ref conceded lots of fouls

subs im not even going to go into, brown seems to make subs for the sake of it. I can understand Cassidy coming on and he really should have put us 3-2 up but why take CORR off? Why take Timlin and Deegan, 2/3 best players on the day but leave Leonard on the pitch? It's embarrassing it's like being a teachers pet and always getting undeserved high marks. He needs dropping pb let him sit a few out and see what happens.

Ref - 2 - completely useless. Let them be dirty and climb all over us yet we do it back and it's a foul? He gave piggy a handball that came off his chest when the lino didn't and he had his back to the ref...

absolute shambles.

I thought Barrett and Bolger dealt with everything in the air but had difficultly when ran at on the ground. The pitch was crying out for a player with low center of gravity who could just run at the defense and make them turn, in that respect I was disappointed Payne wasn't introduced. Don' think Casidy will ever score although he created his chance well enough. Leonard... omg ..no way a creative midfielder his mistake changed the game. For me its playoffs at best now and another season in this awful div and get rid of the dead wood in the summer. Some of our players desperately need a challenge elsewhere to kick start their careers. Leonard, Hurst and Corr to name a few. Sign Pigott whatever it takes as his as close to a 20 goal a season man we've seen in a long while.

There is a lot of match reporting on here about the game and most of it I agree with; not the blaming of the centre backs though.
Brown's subs were wrong and at the wrong time; taking Tims off was odd & must be down to PB's personal opinion.

Aside from the loss of such a winnable game..........
Ground and pitch are conference standard.
Home fans were poor in every aspect.
Officials inept or purchased!
But the idiot on the microphone ought to have it shoved up where the sun don't shine.

I must admit I was very surprised to see Bolger start after not having even been on the bench for the last few games but maybe it was because PB thought he was the best player to take Bentley's goal kicks for him.
As others have said couldn't believe how we didn't get a throw in when the ball went out just before they scored their third. Also how on earth could the ref say the pig had handled it when he was facing us and it clearly hit him on the chest.
Coker was by far the weakest of the back four yesterday (unusually for him). He was left lying on the floor by one of their players when they scored one, if not two of their goals.

Not Brown's biggest fan but actually think he picked the right starting 11 yesterday, however taking off Timlin was ludicrous. Payne would have been useless on that pitch against a physical team so totally understand not playing him. Bolger and Barrett were fine until the last 10 when Zola and the young lad Kennedy changed the game for them. Leonard needs to be dropped not been performing recently looks like a player who knows his place is safe. Timlin was our best player yesterday why he went off I'll never know, and consequently when he came off both goals came from the side he had been playing. Don't think we was that bad yesterday definitely seen us play worse and win this season. From memory they had 3 shots scored 4. Ref, awful. Pitch, awful. Just one of those days

rigsby said:

At 2-1 Worrall overlaps Pigott down the right. But critically for us, instead of a simple pass, he chose a far more difficult cross field ball to Coker, who was attacking down the left. Coker struggles with a header, they clear , Lenny misses a midfield tackle and chases back to concede a poor penalty in the left back position. Certainly weren't being defensive at the time. Similar situation for the 3rd goal but we were going for the winner.

It was not a case of sitting back that cost us but not using, as PB would put it, 'Nous' whilst leading 2-1 away from home.

By the way as they were waiting to take the penalty, Worrall gave Pigott an almighty 'telling off'!!

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Well we will differ on our views there, which is fine! I think they were there for the taking when we went in to the lead but we failed to look for it. Sure, become more defensive if only a few mins to go, but with so long left as with yesterday then why hand the initiative back to the opposition? Yes we were attacking just before their equaliser but we had been sitting back and had started to lose momentum by then, and a bad pass can happen any time and often when being cautious (especially on that pitch).

Now i've had time to reflect an appalling performance, the blame must surely lie at Browns door. When I heard he had made 6 changes, I thought we must have been struck down with flu or similar. No, he put two CB's together who had never played together, he played 2 forwards who never play together, he played a clearly injured GK whilst not even putting young Smith on the bench. What had the poor lad done? He continues to play Leonard who gave away a schoolboy penalty and is having a dreadful time. He substituted Timlin who was doing a great job. It seems to me that he doesn't know what he is doing. What has Prosser done to not even get on the bench? Has he been caught with Mrs Brown? Thompson has been outstanding and doesn't get a game. Bolger is a liability and despite the fans adulation for Barrett he is now past his best by date. We couldn't sign Lee from West Ham because we have too many forwards. Where are they? I haven't seen too many. Of course, Lee signs for the Hatters and scores! All Mr Brown wants is to stand on the pitch before the game and wave to the substantial number of away fans who had travelled to support the Blues to soak up adulation. On the local radio driving home, he came up with the old, old excuses. Everyone's fault except his. Well as far as I am concerned, he picks the players, the team and the tactics and he must carry the can. We have now blown any chance of the autos and we may even struggle to stay in the play offs. Our home form is abysmal and with Carlisle coming down for a local derby next Saturday and with them in the bottom 3 and in terrible form, we all know that we will struggle to beat them. So enough of the excuses Mr Brown, forget the terrible ref, the terrible pitch, we should be beating a team that wouldn't look out of place in the Conference. I', pretty sure that if we fail to gain promotion this season, you'll be collecting your P45 at the end of the season as I'm sure Uncle Ron will not put up with it again. The hail storm at the end of the game just about summed us up. Rant over whilst I get used to another season in League 2.

Suffolk Shrimper said:

Well we will differ on our views there, which is fine! I think they were there for the taking when we went in to the lead but we failed to look for it. Sure, become more defensive if only a few mins to go, but with so long left as with yesterday then why hand the initiative back to the opposition? Yes we were attacking just before their equaliser but we had been sitting back and had started to lose momentum by then, and a bad pass can happen any time and often when being cautious (especially on that pitch).

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Disagree. We were absolutely bossing the game and pressing for a 3rd.

I find it difficult to disagree with wally4pm

If we look back at earlier in the season the best CB pairing was Thompson and Prosser, so to my mind PB should hold his hands up and admit his selections have been wrong. Why oh Why has Prosser been locked out of the team, he's not fancy but solid and dependable and is prepared to give his all for the club and the team. I'f you listened to Browns recent remarks he intimated that he still had part of Sturrocks squad, so Messrs Hurst, Lenard, Corr, Timlin & Prosser its all your fault. But as Paul Clarke said yesterday we dont have any body on the bench who is an impact player. But its not Browns fault. Get Thompson & Prosser back in the centre it worked before.

Firstly, I did not go to the game, but to those who were there can they say if the wonder sub Kennedy was something special.

We know about Zola, and I think he was some posters on here were keen on us taking a look at.


Do any who went think that their manager, whom lets face it knows how heavy the pitch would be, and the tiring (ageing) defenders waited until late in the game to introduce the super subs.


As I say I didn't attend, just wondering if their manager had game changing subs, and ours didn't (Cassidy's miss aside)

wally4pm said:

Now i've had time to reflect an appalling performance, the blame must surely lie at Browns door. When I heard he had made 6 changes, I thought we must have been struck down with flu or similar. No, he put two CB's together who had never played together, he played 2 forwards who never play together, he played a clearly injured GK whilst not even putting young Smith on the bench. What had the poor lad done? He continues to play Leonard who gave away a schoolboy penalty and is having a dreadful time. He substituted Timlin who was doing a great job. It seems to me that he doesn't know what he is doing. What has Prosser done to not even get on the bench? Has he been caught with Mrs Brown? Thompson has been outstanding and doesn't get a game. Bolger is a liability and despite the fans adulation for Barrett he is now past his best by date. We couldn't sign Lee from West Ham because we have too many forwards. Where are they? I haven't seen too many. Of course, Lee signs for the Hatters and scores! All Mr Brown wants is to stand on the pitch before the game and wave to the substantial number of away fans who had travelled to support the Blues to soak up adulation. On the local radio driving home, he came up with the old, old excuses. Everyone's fault except his. Well as far as I am concerned, he picks the players, the team and the tactics and he must carry the can. We have now blown any chance of the autos and we may even struggle to stay in the play offs. Our home form is abysmal and with Carlisle coming down for a local derby next Saturday and with them in the bottom 3 and in terrible form, we all know that we will struggle to beat them. So enough of the excuses Mr Brown, forget the terrible ref, the terrible pitch, we should be beating a team that wouldn't look out of place in the Conference. I', pretty sure that if we fail to gain promotion this season, you'll be collecting your P45 at the end of the season as I'm sure Uncle Ron will not put up with it again. The hail storm at the end of the game just about summed us up. Rant over whilst I get used to another season in League 2.

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Spot on Wally except I thought Stevenage were quite good, although nothing special.
Brown blamed inexperience last week, so changed for Barratt an Bolger and we shipped 4 goals.
Brown promises more changes for Carlisle, well 1 change for the better would be for him to have a spell in the garden and let Penney take the reins for a month perhaps.:blush: