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

AndyT said:

I might be going out on a limb here, but I didn't think Corr had a great game. A lot bounced off him and out of the two, Cassidy definitely had the better game.

I'll go even further out and wasn't overly convinced with Atkinson, either, though he did enough.

The best performances for me came from Bolger and Deegan.

Also surprised at some of the negativity regarding Dan. He hasn't let a goal in at home since October. OCTOBER!

He made a couple of good saves early on and his handling and presence was there throughout the 90 mins, except one that he flapped at a bit, but that looked like it went higher than he expected (Don't forget there was a swirling and quite strong wind out there).

Just a word on Tranmere. If they are the one side out of the bottom three to survive, I'd be amazed. Far too many of their players were waving their arms about and pointing at colleagues to get into better positions or look to receive a pass and in the end they were just arguing with each other or the ref.

The assistant on our side (East Bank) didn't make a decision all afternoon. Hope his good lady hasn't asked him to decide on and pick up the take-away on the way home. She'll be starving by now!

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This is Shrimperzone! Its no good him just keeping clean sheets we expect him to do much better than that! i mean, how many assists does he have? How many goals has he scored in that time, has he saved penalties...........................

I don't do player ratings as we all see things differently. For example how can Bentley be marked as low as 5. Ten clean sheets at home and plays with a mask. Yes he did miss a long ball in the box but no mention of that great save in the first five minutes. Would anyone have fancied us chasing a 1-0 deficit.

Special mention goes to three lads who have not featured much lately.
Bolger... two great clearances from their best crosses and took a good card for the team
Cassidy... worked real hard and unlucky not to get off the mark today.
Deegan... running round like a man possessed in the first half. We all praised Barrett for raising the team last Friday. I think this weeks Mr Motivator award should go to Deegan. His aggression/determination rubbed off on Timlin who also made some great first half tackles.

I know some were upset with Corr coming off. He was not having his best second half and Tuesday has to be taken into account.

Ugly win. Ref was terrible as he was at Wycombe! Let's hope Newport is a better game and then down to Exeter on Saturday which is a difficult place to get a result!

Benfleet Blue said:

Just goes to show how differently people see a game.

I thought Deegan was immense and hardly put a foot wrong. Great partnership with Michael Timlin, talked all the time, organised and simple but effective passing. Had a great game and would hope he continues there as he is far better in the centre than Atkinson.

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More fundamentally, I thought Tranmere were one of the better teams we have played at the Hall this season!! For a team with so few points on the board, they never gave up and were particularly threatening in and around the 18 yard box. Crazy how opinions can differ so wildly.

Thought we rode our luck today for large portions of the game, and were very fortunate that they lack even more composure than us up top.

I thought Tranmere were far better than their position. They won nearly all the 50/50 balls and bossed the midfield for most of the game. Thankfully they looked pretty woeful at the front and the back which I guess is why they are down the bottom. But in the middle they looked better than us today I thought. It's fine margins in a league like this.

Rob1920 said:

I thought Tranmere were far better than their position. They won nearly all the 50/50 balls and bossed the midfield for most of the game. Thankfully they looked pretty woeful at the front and the back which I guess is why they are down the bottom. But in the middle they looked better than us today I thought. It's fine margins in a league like this.

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Actually agree with that. Worst team at back I have seen all season, and pretty ineffective up top. Their inability to clear kept them under pressure. Of course we will all take a 1-0 win but if Corr hadn't scored we would all be moaning tonight if we couldn't break that lot down.

Another bright spot of the day was not seeing Weston out there second half when defending a lead.

Very quiet on here from the usual critics, after all Cassidy didn't score again. :winking:

Awful game again...very low entertainment value again...Tranmere looked generally more threatening in a dreadful first half...thoughts....

1) Thought Barrett was awesome last week....not so sure today, bullied a bit by Odejayi and resulted in a bit too much cuddling which was always a sign he was struggling in the past. A few more games required before we decide if he's the saviour or not.

2) Difficult to give a MOM as there wasn't a lot of quality, honourable mentions to Bolger, Deegan, Atkinson, Cassidy and Corr, but I'd give MOM to Timlin today I think...I don't think I've ever said that before as I see him more as functional than spectacular, but thought his energy, harrying as well as good use of the ball today was vital to the win today.

3) I thought Corr looked knackered from about 5 minutes into the game and well off his best. HOWEVER, he still won plenty more ball than Cassidy or Pigott will ever do...it goes to show he is absolutely vital to the way we play...even when well below par he was still hugely influential to everything going forward. I think Corr and Leonard are absolutely vital to this team whether they are playing well or not.

4) Worrall - I like him, and would love to see more of him..as well as being willing to run with the ball and take on the opposition he also gives us great aerial presence in wide areas...he's fantastic in the air considering his size and gives us an aerial outlet that we simply don't have when McLaughlin/Hurst/Atkinson is out wide.....he's probably the best we've had at that since Sturrock used to stick Mohsni out wide left and bounce goal kicks off him.

5) Cassidy - quiet first half, but really came into the game second half....good performance, but difficult to know where to play him. He's great with the ball at his feet, but couldn't win a header if it was a prize in a one ticket raffle, so can't be up front alone. He's fine alongside Corr, but maybe the future sees him as more of an attacking midfielder than an out and out striker?? Oh, and for the record I don't care if he never scores himself as long as he's contributing to the team, which he certainly is at the moment.

People say it's a good sign if you can win when you don't play well but I would worry that if we are in a higher division next year we will need a large amount of better players.

Get your wallet ready Ron.

Just a dire game, but we're getting used to that. The interesting thing for me is the low crowd. We have a shout of automatics (although unlikely) and just two home matches yet, but despite a healthy away attendance can't get 6,000 through. I'll never be disappointed with a win, but unfortunately agaon, that was not entertainment. The hardcore will shoulder it.

Brown's mentality can be summed up by his selection. He lost Leonard so had a straight choice: Payne or Deegan. Bearing in mind we had nothing to lose vs a team 23rd and he chose Deegan.
Fwiw Deegan had a good game, but Tranmere were dreadful and this should have been three or four.

Jai said:

Just a dire game, but we're getting used to that. The interesting thing for me is the low crowd. We have a shout of automatics (although unlikely) and just two home matches yet, but despite a healthy away attendance can't get 6,000 through. I'll never be disappointed with a win, but unfortunately agaon, that was not entertainment. The hardcore will shoulder it.

Brown's mentality can be summed up by his selection. He lost Leonard so had a straight choice: Payne or Deegan. Bearing in mind we had nothing to lose vs a team 23rd and he chose Deegan.
Fwiw Deegan had a good game, but Tranmere were dreadful and this should have been three or four.

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That is not a straight choice at all. In fact I doubt there is any other squad in L2 that has two midfielders who are so far apart. Don't forget PB was slated for bringing on Payne just a few games ago.

rigsby said:

That is not a straight choice at all. In fact I doubt there is any other squad in L2 that has two midfielders who are so far apart. Don't forget PB was slated for bringing on Payne just a few games ago.

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He was slated because he brought Payne on for a forward.

Jai said:

Just a dire game, but we're getting used to that. The interesting thing for me is the low crowd. We have a shout of automatics (although unlikely) and just two home matches yet, but despite a healthy away attendance can't get 6,000 through. I'll never be disappointed with a win, but unfortunately agaon, that was not entertainment. The hardcore will shoulder it.

Brown's mentality can be summed up by his selection. He lost Leonard so had a straight choice: Payne or Deegan. Bearing in mind we had nothing to lose vs a team 23rd and he chose Deegan.
Fwiw Deegan had a good game, but Tranmere were dreadful and this should have been three or four.

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We had nothing to lose? Why's that? Would it have mattered if we had lost? If they scored early on and we only drew 1-1? I think at this time of the season...we have everything to lose.

Credit has to go to Phil again as he picked the team that got 3 points.

Blues 'n' twos said:

Very quiet on here from the usual critics, after all Cassidy didn't score again. :winking:

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Sorry for the delay!,Had a choice go to the Hall or attend an event with free booze,free booze won.

Cassidy never scored:stunned:
We were crap:stunned:

Anything else I missed?

mrsblue said:

Sorry for the delay!,Had a choice go to the Hall or attend an event with free booze,free booze won.

Cassidy never scored:stunned:
We were crap:stunned:

Anything else I missed?

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Yea, Barrett is not the Messiah. Some people still cannot get the capital Z in ShrimperZone. Someone else shockingly used the word gotten in their comments. We won so Wiggy isn't around. BBC Essex commentary is still crap but I was at least able to pick it up a fair way around the M25. Oh and I didn't sleep again on the flight coming home. Bugger !

PB's team selection was a little surprise for the midfield.
Deegs got his chance and played his part with some good work and a physical performance against Laird who was lucky not to get booked - especially when he stuck his arm out across Deegs as a block/obstruction to a run and caught him across the neck. I doubt Jack could have made the impact however his passing/play making might have been better.
FWIW, before the game I would have considered moving Willo into the centre with Tims and playing Wozza on the flank.
As stated on my original post the bench selection was odd with 3 wingers (Wozza, Westy, Kevan) + Jack but only JBW as a back when Luke & Mads available. Only Pig as forward when Barney or Williams (J) also fit too. - So much for balancing and using a squad however as we never looked to be getting a usefull goal margin where fringe players could get game time that is immaterial.
Barry had usual ice pack as soon as he got benched- hope he is good to start Tuesday.

Behind me yesterday was a lady who was plainly attending her first ever match ("Why is the goalkeeper in different colours?").
Toward the end she said "This referee is awful!"

mrsblue said:

Sorry for the delay!,Had a choice go to the Hall or attend an event with free booze,free booze won.

Cassidy never scored:stunned:
We were crap:stunned:

Anything else I missed?

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Yeah, we got three more points, minor detail.

Bkdside said:

Does he? Why is that?

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The system was attack minded but the players selected do not have enough goals in them. For example, why isn't Payne selected, an attacking midfielder who makes runs into the box and scores more goals than yesterday's midfield put together.

Jai said:

Brown's mentality can be summed up by his selection. He lost Leonard so had a straight choice: Payne or Deegan. Bearing in mind we had nothing to lose vs a team 23rd and he chose Deegan.

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rigsby said:

That is not a straight choice at all. In fact I doubt there is any other squad in L2 that has two midfielders who are so far apart. Don't forget PB was slated for bringing on Payne just a few games ago.

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I didn't see it as a straight choice, the more obvious one was to start Worrall on the wing and move Will into the middle into his more natural position!