Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0-3 Doncaster Rovers

united we stand said:

its not pathetic - its a match thread, its about todays match, its not about how the players played a month ago ! whats pathetic and moronic is using someone performance in a game a month ago to justify the crap we saw today. I DO agree with you on getting behind the team. Our support today was pathetic-, and at the ground yes get behind the team or **** **** off (and moan on here instead )-- yes its difficult- sometimes very difficult to sing and applaud when its bad, but thats when we are needed. If we expect the players to raise themselves then we also have to do our bit. We used to get louder when we went one nil down, the last two games we have been very very poor

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That's hilarious, you can read I presume ? People are using this thread to have a go at Barrett saying he's too old, can't play in more than one game if they are close together. He was one of the few that actually knew what they were doing yesterday. There's also been a few morons having a dig at Bentley recently and again they are using this thread to slate him, not just for yesterdays mistake, it goes deeper than that, read back some of the comments.

AndyT said:

LOL.

I think he should have been leaning on the post, smoking a cigar whilst casually kicking the penalty away.

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like their goalkeeper was for most of the game then! My son has a photo of their goalkeeper doing this, minus the cigar of course!

LOL.

Yes, most visiting goalkeepers seem to have a clean shirt mentality!

We never went yesterday so cannot comment !

Sounds like a mirror image of the Millwall game.

mrsblue said:

We never went yesterday so cannot comment !

Sounds like a mirror image of the Millwall game.

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Yes it was

Bobby dazzler said:

Yes it was

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I disagree, personally I thought it was worse than the Millwall game. I won't do ratings , it may offend , but I have two comments I wish to make :-

- as already stated on here numerously , PB started with the complete incorrect formation. The game stated way too narrow, too congested in the middle and while Payne is a good prospect this didn't help unleash him, as he was just running into Doncaster walls due to the congestion. I was glad that when the Atko sub had to be made PB acknowledged the error and bought on a winger

- notwithstanding the above, whilst I'm not player bashing, the second half performance the players have to take full responsibility , goals two and three were shocking . Whilst I don't think it's a penalty , we made the opportunity for them . People can blame PB , which is fine, as above I get that , but as I've said before, when the players cross that white line , they themselves must be responsible for their own actions !!

JamesTheSuperBlue said:

Yes I will talk about "clean sheet policies" because once again today was exactly that. It backfired badly and the negative mentality, from the get-go, spread through a knackered team which was unable to keep the rigid defensive shape the manager so desperately desires. Just because Payne played in behind 2 strikers, doesn't mean we don't still have the clean sheet mentality. They looked absolutely terrified to concede today and that ended up being the downfall. Once again no tempo, no movement, no penetration, no width to our play.....nothing. Slow, tired, laborious and easy to defend against. And the players looked like they are playing with zero freedom, because they are being asked to be rigid so as not to concede a goal. As I said the other day, it's nothing to do with formation, that's such a basic way to look at it. It's mentality, what gets said in the dressing room before the game and during HT, and what they work on on the training pitch. They work too much on defensive shape and defending from the front on the training pitch and not enough on attacking moves and movement.

Take the shackles off and give them a bit of freedom Brown, let them spread their wings, use their attacking talent to its fullest potential. Please.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Do you actually know they've worked on not moving around and getting free from their markers in training? Or is that just a pop at Phil Brown because we're all well aware that you don't rate him? I'll confess that after seeing the starting lineup the little confidence I had left after Millwall was gone as the team selection was extremely negative. But to say they've worked on having no movement or imagination in training is quite frankly laughable.

What I saw yesterday is what I was fearing as I walked out of the ground after the Millwall game, a reaction. Unfortunately a horribly negative one. The Millwall result had clearly got to a lot of the players and destroyed their confidence. Therefore the ball was played around like a hot potato and no one was picking a pass and the team as a whole weren't knocking the ball around looking for gaps. The main reason for this being that they all looked petrified of losing possession and its extremely difficult to break down a defence without a bit of patience and imagination on the ball and without confidence thats really difficult.

I actually think that an away game might help us get out of this slump. This isn't the first time in the past couple of seasons that we've struggled to break down teams at home and I think that is because under Brown we are primarily a counter-attacking team. Those tactics are harder to employ at home as the away team will try to do something similar themselves and the onus is on the home side to have the lion's share of possession. But to be a successful counter attacking side you need to be water-tight at the back as to not concede during the spells when the opposition have the ball. This is obviously where we've gone wrong in the past two games and the knock-on effect on the team's confidence has stifled our attacking play.

In an away game we might get a bit more space on the counter as the opposition should commit a few extra players forward in the hope of breaking us down. With the defence playing how it is right now, thats a scary thought but it should help us when we have the ball. Lets not forget, we haven't scored in the past two games either so its not just defensively we need to improve.

Personally I'd swap out at least 2 players from the back four for the next game if only to play some players that haven't been involved in those heavy defeats. I'd put in Prosser for Barrett as LP usually gives a solid if not spectacular performance and I think thats what we need right now. I also like the way he's always talking and encouraging to his teammates and again thats called for in our situation. Adam's not been at the races the last few games and could do with the rest.

I think it would be harsh to drop Adam Thompson as he's not been quite as horrendous as the other guys back there but maybe giving Cian Bolger a run alongside Prosser for a few games would help us get these defeats out of our system?

In midfield we desperately need Michael Timlin back. Does anyone know how much longer he will be out for? If possible I'd go for the following line up at Swindon:

Bentley

White
Bolger
Prosser
Coker

Worrall
Leonard
Deegan
Timlin

Hunt
Mooney

the_saafender said:

I actually think that an away game might help us get out of this slump. This isn't the first time in the past couple of seasons that we've struggled to break down teams at home and I think that is because under Brown we are primarily a counter-attacking team. Those tactics are harder to employ at home as the away team will try to do something similar themselves and the onus is on the home side to have the lion's share of possession. But to be a successful counter attacking side you need to be water-tight at the back as to not concede during the spells when the opposition have the ball. This is obviously where we've gone wrong in the past two games and the knock-on effect on the team's confidence has stifled our attacking play.

In an away game we might get a bit more space on the counter as the opposition should commit a few extra players forward in the hope of breaking us down. With the defence playing how it is right now, thats a scary thought but it should help us when we have the ball. Lets not forget, we haven't scored in the past two games either so its not just defensively we need to improve.

Personally I'd swap out at least 2 players from the back four for the next game if only to play some players that haven't been involved in those heavy defeats. I'd put in Prosser for Barrett as LP usually gives a solid if not spectacular performance and I think thats what we need right now. I also like the way he's always talking and encouraging to his teammates and again thats called for in our situation. Adam's not been at the races the last few games and could do with the rest.

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Agree totally with this, two away games on the bounce will definitely help regain confidence.

ooh-andy-ansah said:

That's hilarious, you can read I presume ? People are using this thread to have a go at Barrett saying he's too old, can't play in more than one game if they are close together. He was one of the few that actually knew what they were doing yesterday. There's also been a few morons having a dig at Bentley recently and again they are using this thread to slate him, not just for yesterdays mistake, it goes deeper than that, read back some of the comments.

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please read what you actually wrote and what I responded to. You are now making totally different comments in the above post . The comments on Barrett are relevant if thats how people feel. Personally I didn't think he had a good game yesterday and would like to see Prosser play

OldBlueLady said:

Agree totally with this, two away games on the bounce will definitely help regain confidence.

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Unless we get battered in both!!

IloveShrimp said:

Sorry but I disagree with you.

Personally I think that Paul Smiths attributes are now showing in Bentleys performances I.e. Not coming for crosses, staying on his line at corners, punching rather than catching and losing the confidence of his defence. I think for his own sake he should move on to a team with better coaching.

As for the last three performances, I think much is to be blamed upon the reluctance to break quickly. So many times the break is on for us only to stop and pass it backwards or sideways or even to the goalkeeper giving the opposition the chance to reorganise for the mindless punt up the field that follows. In doing this all we do is give possession back and bring more pressure onto ourselves.

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I see your point about the coaching however I cannot see Dan going straight in as a number 1 - there would need be a considerable outlay required for Ron to let him go as well.

I just think Dan needs a big confidence boost.

1 other thing I noticed why on a slippy pitch did he stand in centre circle or halfway line? I just thought this was very risky considering the conditions. Especially when Barratt was struggling with the pace of Tyson. Surely the coaches should be saying something

Fwiw I felt the substitution of Rea for Deegan swung the game. Sure we were looking poor , but Brown decided to change it a bit in order to go for an equaliser. Fair enough, but the change did not appear to be communicated tothe players and I saw two players go over to the touchline and ask, Hunt had quite a lengthy chat.
5 minutes and Two goals later the damage was done.
To me, probably on of the more disastrous substitutions I have seen.

luke_1983uk said:

Can't believe the stick Adam is getting!!! Unbelievable, as holds everything good about us together, prosser / Thompson partnership isn't even good enough for the championship let alone league 2! Honestly what a load of rubbish!

glad it's Phil b picking the team and not most of the Barrett bashers

adam was far and away the most solid defender today, I'd honestly hate to have seen what would have happened today without him!

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Please wake up and smell the Coffee mate
The AB love in has got to stop
The so called Barrett bashers are very few, to which he is fortunate.
We are not even sure Phil is picking the team when it comes to Adam
These sort of results have been on the cards for a long while, going back to the Bristol Rovers game when we could have lost 5-1 if it wasn't for Bentley.That day both CBs were run ragged
Bentleys form of past has been the main reason for results, so it's no coinsidence that his slight drop in form has resulted in heavy defeats
The only positive is Thompsons emergence has a solid willing player
But that all said, the midfield has to take some responsibility in not defending good enough in front of them.
Yesterdays result although poor and frustrating, we thought Donny where a bloody good football team, and although we were poor, I agree with Brown when he said we just lost to a better side.
Still confident we will get something out of the game at Swindon
UTB

Looking at the highlights and given the fact I weren't at the game it looked as if we had our fair share of chances during the game, even at 0-0 we could have scored first, still losing 3-0 at home isn't good and changes will be made for sure, we also have Coventry at home in couple of weeks, they will test our defence big time, let's hope the performances improve by then.

mods please delete- double post

Bentley had a shocker and I'd be delighted to see Ted Smith in goal in our next game. Get Bolger back in the side and Timlin can't get fit soon enough.

And for pity's sake stop shoe-horsing a luxury player into the side. Payne is not good enough to justify it.

Firestorm said:

Fwiw I felt the substitution of Rea for Deegan swung the game. Sure we were looking poor , but Brown decided to change it a bit in order to go for an equaliser. Fair enough, but the change did not appear to be communicated tothe players and I saw two players go over to the touchline and ask, Hunt had quite a lengthy chat.
5 minutes and Two goals later the damage was done.
To me, probably on of the more disastrous substitutions I have seen.

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Yep. Although the second came from a corner as Brown was chatting to Hunt about the formation. The players didn't have a clue how they were supposed to be lining up. It was like when you emptied a box of subbuteo players onto the field and they just land haphazardly.

jaffa1 said:

So you are not giving any credit at all for one of the cutest passes I've seen at the Hall for their first goal ?

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Having calmed down a bit since yesterday, yes you're right it was a good pass, Thompson still should have got a challenge in though. I probably didn't give Doncaster enough credit, I still think Millwall were better but they were quick and incisive in attack and fully exploited our defensive deficiencies.

The one positive I'm clinging on to is that at least we looked like we might score yesterday, against Millwall I think we failed to test the keeper at all.

I see that Brown's made no comment as yet, I'm interested to see whether he holds his hands up to getting the team and formation wrong or if he solely blames the players. I'll have much more respect for him if he does take his share of the responsibility as he did against Walsall early this season.

I think Donny's setup won them the game. We was too narrow, their three centre backs were always on top and their wing backs were up and down the pitch working really hard. Even when we changed I still think they bossed it, although the width towards the end of the game looked like we might be able to nick a goal back, but it was too late by then.

At home, we should not be set up like we were from the start. Too many individual mistakes cost us today.


Bentley 5 - Made a few standard stops. Didn't command his area too well and a couple of mistakes from pass backs, which weren't helped by some bobbles and the passes themselves. Probably his worst game for the blues but this period will hopefully give him good experience for the future.

White 6 - Had a few problems with the flying wingback but did okay overall. Not sure on the pass back to Bentley though?
Thompson 6 - Struggled a little, could have been a bit more aware for the first but it was a cracking finish. Penalty looked harsh to me.
Barrett 6.5 - Had his hands full with Tyson.
Coker 6.5 - Didn't get to play his natural game. Got forward well in the last 20 minutes and put a few dangerous balls in.

Atkinson 6.5 - Did okay until being subbed with an injury. Might give Brown the chance to freshen the side up.
Rea 6.5 - Unlucky not to score. It must be hard for him coming in and out of the side. Feel Brown only started him in order to persuade him to stay? Deegan would have been my pick if I had to choose for this setup.
Leonard 7 - Best of our players in the first half, faded in the second.

Payne 6.5 - Struggled in a quite busy midfield, didn't offer much when pushed out wider either. A couple of good pass and moves though.

Mooney 5.5 - Did not contribute much.
Hunt 7 - Appreciated his hard work, flick ons etc.

Subs:

Worrall 6.5 - Not his best game but I felt the shape of the team was off, which didn't help him.
Deegan 6 - Couple of miss placed passes. I would like to see him back in the side though.
Pigott 6 - Made a nuisance of himself but to no avail.

I said after the game that it was the players fault, but in reflection we did not stand chance with the setup of the team, and the substitutions although they were positive, weren't carried out well and did not really help the shape.

We need a back to basics performance now, Atkinsons injury might mean Deegan gets his place back. Although I think Browns biggest decision to make is whether to carry on with Mooney/Hunt/Payne, or sacrifice one or two for more width. 4 4 2 might be the way to go. Mooney is such a frustrating player, does JUST enough to warrant a place in the side and has found himself fairly central to the way Brown sets up his team.

OldBlueLady said:

Agree totally with this, two away games on the bounce will definitely help regain confidence.

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As long as we don't lose them both:sad: