Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0-0 Rochdale

Blues4LifeDan said:

Mrsblue, I see people berate you on here an awful lot. Some called for, some not called for. I've never indulged in reacting to any of your posts because it becomes like a playground. However, I'm really surprised by your above comment! You constantly state that we sign too many old players and don't give youth a chance and yet, today we did exactly that and your unimpressed. I'm totally baffled. For someone who likes to see youth get a chance, I would have assumed that you would have relished seeing such a good performance by both Harry and Elvis. Furthermore, Dru came on and looked composed. I would say the youth system did us and Ricky Duncan proud today. Something that has to be celebrated. Somehow that has escaped your notice. Strange.

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I think Mrs Blue is saying she would like our scouting to be better, as well as using our own youth, raw non league talent is out there, don't ask me where, and say oh all the other clubs are looking too, but it's a known fact in the current climate, there is a lot of You Tube scouts, and it's not cool.

Up the Shrimpers said:

Ba is injured, he was not on the bench yesterday.

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Injured, that's no excuse. Oh well, next time then.

manor15 said:

Nothing to do with the linesman who flagged as soon as the tackle was made and then told the ref to send him off? You've come up with some real tosh on here before but this might be the best yet.

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Have a look at the highlights and you can see the linesman certainly does not flag immediately, in fact he runs off down the line and only starts to flag after the outcry from all the fans.

If your going slag people off you would be better off checking your facts first.

rigsby said:

Have a look at the highlights and you can see the linesman certainly does not flag immediately, in fact he runs off down the line and only starts to flag after the outcry from all the fans.

If your going slag people off you would be better off checking your facts first.

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Not good enough, he should be flagging well before the incident, thus giving us all a good chance to see it clearly first:smile:

rigsby said:

Have a look at the highlights and you can see the linesman certainly does not flag immediately, in fact he runs off down the line and only starts to flag after the outcry from all the fans.

If your going slag people off you would be better off checking your facts first.

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No, he's already running down the line before the tackle comes in. He steadies himself, sees the referee does not appear to be doing anything and flags vigorously all in the space of a couple of seconds. Good lining.

rigsby said:

Have a look at the highlights and you can see the linesman certainly does not flag immediately, in fact he runs off down the line and only starts to flag after the outcry from all the fans.

If your going slag people off you would be better off checking your facts first.

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For real? As any linesman would (as you were so keen to point out in your original response) was looking to see if the referee blew up as most in the ground assumed he would, he's flagging by the time the Rochdale player is back on his feet.

But seeing as you've taken this so personally, you carry on believing that you and your mates shouting about it made a League One referee send a player off.

Just a few comments as those who were there have given pretty spot on accounts.

1) The ref. He seemed very lenient on Rochdale's clear intention to injure anyone who got in their way. That early (1st minute?) clattering of McGlashan would have earned at least a yellow later in the game. The sending off challenge - he wasn't even going to give a free kick. Nothing to do with the crowd but everything to do with a competent lino who flagged furiously when he saw the ref had completely missed what happened.

2) Leonard. Am I alone in thinking that CB may prove to be his best position? He arrived as a young right back but soon got moved by Sturrock to right midfield. I saw him as a lumbering, ineffective player who couldn't beat his man and didn't relish a 50-50 challenge. I was sceptical when we were told he was the quickest player on the training pitch. Then he moved to centre midfield and his reading of the game and pace to get back and cover his and others' mistakes came to the fore. He is clearly our best and most influential midfield player. Yet his passing and finishing are still not up there to make you think he could be a Championship player. But seeing him for a short spell at centre back at Gillingham in the Checkatrade game and for 90+ minutes yesterday made me think that his pace, height and awareness really suits him playing there permanently.

3) McLaughlin At Gillingham and yesterday I thought he showed he was back to his best ... a combination of forward threat and tracking back to protect our full back plus an aerial ability. He doesn't have the spectacular pace of McGlashan but has more end product, more goal threat and a greater contribution to the team. He's had a lot of clattering since his return but if he can stay fit I think that we'll be much more effective and see the best of Kightly on the right. I'm still a fan of McGlashan though but maybe as others have suggested he's best as an impact sub.

4) Kightly I've been disappointed with his contribution so far given his pedigree and big build up. You can see there's a quality player there. Yesterday he was clearly out of his comfort zone but he still fluffed a few basic passes. I would dearly like to see him wide right without too many defensive responsibilities.

5) Kyprianou Again after seeing him at Gillingham and yesterday he gives me hope that our centre back situation isn't as bad as I thought. He's still got a way to go - his first touch let him down a few times- but he's quite tall and stronger now. If we started with Leonard and Kyp at Charlton I wouldn't be too downhearted.

6) The youngsters. Elvis clearly caught the eye. As at Priestfield he had a nervy start but after a couple of good moments he really grew in confidence. I would start him ahead of Demi at Charlton. Yearwood (the booed ... no!!!! ... the Dru'd!!") again had a nervy start but then produced some moments of lovely skill. These two plus Kyprianou make me think our squad isn't as thin on the ground as some would have us believe.

7) The pitch. Like others I have been watching the Blues for many years (nearly 60 in my case) and the pitch has been a constant pride despite the varying quality of players. It breaks my heart to see it like this. I am not privy to the reasons behind this awful state but there again I don't think many of us here are. It's easy to blame the sacking of a competent groundsman and him being replaced by a cheap, incompetent one but is that really the case? I haven't read a single post from someone who knows who the poor guy/lady is who now has the job. Ron financed a big investment in the pitch before the start of last season so I think it's unlikely that money is the main factor. We have two weeks now before our next home game. Hopefully the grass which looks green and verdant will get a chance to root deeply.

8) Expectations. Again being a well seasoned supporter I now never expect great things. A few quality (but elderly) signings sent the Zone into promotion mania. As we're now a few games into the season and we haven't annihilated the opposition it seems we're clearly rubbish. No. We've just (as last season) got to hold our nerve. If Turner and Kiernan get fit and stay fit then what a difference that will make. If Ranger gets his act together (and yesterday made us think he wants to) then our attacking power will be massively improved. Basically we're not as good as some thought we'd be and not as bad as some would have us believe we are. We are Southend and that's good enough for me. There are some pretty indifferent sides in League One and I think as time goes by we'll be better than most. But with all my experience I know I may be right and may be wrong.

Maidstone Shrimper said:

I haven't read a single post from someone who knows who the poor guy/lady is who now has the job.

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https://www.southendunited.co.uk/club/whos-who/

It's Chris Ball. He's been here a while, since at least 2008

http://www.southendunitedpics.co.uk/coca-cola-league-one-southend-united-vs/print/1399112.html

Napster said:

It's Chris Ball. He's been here a while, since at least 2008

http://www.southendunitedpics.co.uk/coca-cola-league-one-southend-united-vs/print/1399112.html

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Fridge magnet or jigsaw ? Tricky choice.

I remember him from Sunday morning football; he probably remembers me :winking:

We arguably could/should have won it in the end but I'll take that result all day. I hadn't really taken notice of Rochdale so far this season but was expecting a bit of a thumping based on previous Dale sides. I thought they looked pretty up for it within the first 10/15 but faded badly and the red killed them off. The worst Dale side to visit us in some time I might add.

The makeshift back 4 didn't really have an awful lot of defending to do but what they had to they did well. Kyp was fairly solid and grew into it, as did Elvis who not only grew into it but decided to really grab the opportunity, what a player he looks. Lenny has also added to the list of positions he can play, captains performance and my personal MOTM.

Alright it weren't a great game but we battered them second half without actually troubling the keeper which was frustrating. I have no doubt mind that when Wordsworth and our CBs are fit, we'll start to pick up results.

Main thing for me was the difference between Fortune and Ranger. While Fortune occupied one marker (who he often lost out to) Ranger sometimes occupied three (thus freeing up others). A classic comparison was when both broke free on the right wing in the second half - Fortune's marker recovered, caught up and won the ball back, while Ranger's dragged him down in desperation, earning him a yellow card (should have been his second).

FarmdogSUFC said:

We arguably could/should have won it in the end but I'll take that result all day. I hadn't really taken notice of Rochdale so far this season but was expecting a bit of a thumping based on previous Dale sides. I thought they looked pretty up for it within the first 10/15 but faded badly and the red killed them off. The worst Dale side to visit us in some time I might add.

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They have their own injury crisis with half a dozen players who would be in contention for a start missing. Having said that, they were pretty unenterprising !

Mick said:

They have their own injury crisis with half a dozen players who would be in contention for a start missing. Having said that, they were pretty unenterprising !

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In that case maybe a bit harsh of me but they certainly didn't offer much!

Really impressed by some of the young lads on Saturday, Yearwood has something extra about him than the others. Although you only saw glimpses of him you could tell he plays with intent and wants to drive forward. I admired his confidence in playing that way with it being his first few games but he didn't go for the easy side way balls.

I have to say though, I thought Timlin was shocking!!! He literally passed the ball straight to the Rochdale players about 6 times in a row when getting the ball. I really think he is very fortunate to be a league 1 player. I would never question his fight or his effort but more so the quality he lacks or has lost as he gets older. I think he's a great character and leader to have in the team but you'd think this would be his last season with us.

FarmdogSUFC said:

In that case maybe a bit harsh of me but they certainly didn't offer much!

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No they didn't, and I fear we are in some cases going a little overboard over how well the youngsters did in defence on Saturday . Don't get me wrong, they were both very good " under the circumstances/ given their age" but I saw a lot of unforced errors from Harry ( he recovered from them which is positive) . charlton will be an altogether bigger test. Not trying to be negative but I don't want to go crazy after one match.

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united we stand said:

No hey didn't, and I fear we are in some cases going a little overboard over how well the youngsters did in defence on Saturday . Don't get me wrong, they were both very good " under the circumstances/ given their age" but I saw a lot of unforced errors from Harry ( he recovered from them which is positive) . charlton will be an altogether bigger test. Not trying to be negative but I don't want to go crazy after one match.

not

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I think your bang on here. The danger of blooding youngsters through desperate need rather than steady progression is that they can have a good game and follow it up playing against opposition who are far better than them. Ok, they will learn from it, but I prefer a more drip feed system, that way they grow with the team without getting their confidence smashed. Mind you some are totally ready at 17, I'm sure ours are though. Thankfully its Mr Brown's decision and not mine.