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

Tommy2holes said:

Not sure about machinery failing but have you considered that companies might not want to deal with us due to our treatment of the said employee

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Didn't the company go bust or have I remembered it wrong? We probably found one pretty quickly after that but it was too late.

at the risk of discussing the game on a match rating thread, I think the problem yesterday was that we played like a team of strangers second half. we didn't seem to know how we were trying to play and were so disjointed. players would come short and the ball would go long, someone would stand still and the ball would go in the space.
there is the usual rubbish about Phil Brown only wanting to defend and that but the fact is we did attack a lot, we just did it badly. The odd thing was how badly, in that we had no coherence and that is strange. Could be due to all the chopping and changing - some enforced, some not

turkishm said:

We wont lose by a big score under PB,

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ermmmmm pretty sure we have lost 3 nil at least twice this season as well as a 5 nil drubbing at Rotherham so I'm not sure your statement is at all correct here.

davewebbsbrain said:

I'd rather win 7-6 than lose 1-0...or 3, 4 or 5-0 that we have seen this season.

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Controversial.

LBBlue said:

Chris Phillips reckons that there has been a rule change that means a hand ball doesn't incur a red and a penalty. i.e. no double punishment. I'm sure Mick will confirm or refute that. Alternatively it could be that neither the ref or his assistant actually knew who had committed the offence so couldn't issue a card.

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I am not aware of any such rule change but then I'm not a professional sports journalist whose job it is to know such things.:winking:

Mick said:

I am not aware of any such rule change but then I'm not a professional sports journalist whose job it is to know such things.:winking:

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It should have been a red - my guess is they did not know who to give it to.

Mick said:

I am not aware of any such rule change but then I'm not a professional sports journalist whose job it is to know such things.:winking:

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I thought the rules changed last year, deliberate foul/ handball = pen and sending off, accidental foul, handball = caution and penalty. Loads on the internet on this, it came in at the same times as the kick off change allowing teams to kick the ball backwards.

united we stand said:

I thought the rules changed last year, deliberate foul/ handball = pen and sending off, accidental foul, handball = caution and penalty. Loads on the internet on this, it came in at the same times as the kick off change allowing teams to kick the ball backwards.

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More or less as I understand it except that there's no such offence as accidental handball. So handball in the area must be Pen and Red.

The fact that he never carded the offender at all suggests that he really wasn't sure who it was, which must trump any other consideration.

Suffolk Blue said:

More or less as I understand it except that there's no such offence as accidental handball. So handball in the area must be Pen and Red.

The fact that he never carded the offender at all suggests that he really wasn't sure who it was, which must trump any other consideration.

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One thing we can be sure of, if it had been a Southend defender handballing it at the same end it would be a definite red.

Suffolk Blue said:

More or less as I understand it except that there's no such offence as accidental handball. So handball in the area must be Pen and Red.

The fact that he never carded the offender at all suggests that he really wasn't sure who it was, which must trump any other consideration.

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Only if it denies a clear goalscoring opportunity. If it's out on the edge of the box it may not be a red.

It happened so quickly from where the ref was it just looked like a good block. Most hand balls are probably accidental but never the less given as intentional. I don't think he dived to block with the shot with the intention of parrying it away with his hand or arm.

Yep, witness the Northern Ireland v Switzerland penalty.

LBBlue said:

Only if it denies a clear goalscoring opportunity. If it's out on the edge of the box it may not be a red.

It happened so quickly from where the ref was it just looked like a good block. Most hand balls are probably accidental but never the less given as intentional. I don't think he dived to block with the shot with the intention of parrying it away with his hand or arm.

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So a definite red then because it was flying straight in the net until his arm came outside the line of his body. I was right behind the our goal and could see his arm was out from our end.

A pretty depressing afternoon between two sides who reeked of midtable even in November.

The match was fairly even for the best part of an hour but tellingly once Pompey scored - after Ferdinand(?) had been caught flat-footed from a cross - we needed to chase the game and had nothing to offer.

It was a weirdly narrow set-up. A diamond in midfield can work but only if your full-backs can get forward to provide that width. On the bench, unused, we had two who do this naturally in Stephen Hendrie and Elvis Bwomono but instead of trusting them to play their game we had two veterans, who are both more accustomed to looking inside rather than going on the outside, preferred in White and Timlin. This was acerbated as both were managing their legs (White didn't even last the 90) instead of providing forward impetus. Surely the dropped Bwomono would have been a more natural "replacement" for the injured Demetriou? The result was a disjointed performance; particularly disappointing after the manager had two weeks to work on it in training.

Someone mentioned identity and worryingly after 5 years we still don't seem to have established any real style or rhythm of attacking play. We seem to sit and wait for mistakes or set pieces rather than have the ability to create any opportunities ourselves. We don't dribble past opponents, we don't take defenders out with quick passing, we don't attack quickly on the counter, we don't draw defenders out to the touchline to create space to get in behind them, we don't get in good positions to cross the ball. Theo Robinson offers pace but we rarely gave him opportunities to test the defence - one pass from Kightly aside and Theo ran the wrong direction on that one. Simon Cox is trying to pull the strings like a fat Freddy Eastwood tried to at the end of his career and with a similar amount of success. Nile Ranger can outmuscle defenders and our best moments tended to come from him holding the ball up and creating a platform for us to attack from. However a summer at Her Majesty's Pleasure doesn't seem to have done much for his already lacking fitness (or penalty taking). He was gassed after an hour and weirdly replaced by McLaughlin. McLaughlin's introduction was needed to remedy the lack of width (although moving Kightly out wide would have been the obvious move) but Ranger's presence was needed to hold the ball up. By the time Fortune was introduced for the ineffective Theo Robinson (surely we know by now that he's not a targetman?) to give us that physical outlet we'd wasted a further quarter of an hour and any attacking urgency had drifted out of the match.

One wonders if Lenny will be repeating his transfer request in the January window. He ran about manfully, covering runners and trying to plug gaps but this is a team on the wane. It lacks his athleticism and work-rate and it can't be much fun for him to have to carry them. It desperately needs an influx of youthful exuberance. Sure Southend don't have the quality of players that England had, but during the international break a young experimental England twice played with a joy and enthusiasm that was missing from this display as much as any technical ability. Maybe Wordsworth can provide that spark (although he turns 29 in a month's time, that counts as youthful in this team). In his absence would not Dru Yearwood have been worth a go? Even if not from the start, at least as sub.

Southend fans being praised by Gary Martin's daughter on Twitter for joining in on the 58th minute applause.

Another Surrey Shrimper said:

Southend fans being praised by Gary Martin's daughter on Twitter for joining in on the 58th minute applause.

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There was a beautiful moment while both sets of fans stopped abusing each other and joined in, then went back to abuse

Yes someone did say they heard fans on the radio spoil the remembrance service. This was firstly fans who were making their way into the ground and were obviously not aware. Followed by the confusion of not realising the reading would be followed by a further 1 minute silence. You know when fans want to be the first to shout out at the end, they just went 1 minute early.

Reminds me of my loveable but daft step brother-in law. I think it was the famous Southend v Watford Div 4 game in 1978. He wanted to be the first onto the pitch with his flag back in the days when we all invaded at the end of a big game. Sure enough as the whistle went he was first on. He managed a good 20 yds before he realised it was just a free kick. Queue pantomime style cheers as plod chased him and slipped over in their unsuitable 70's slip ons and he kept going.

They did arrest him for about an hour then released him as they were happy he was just a fool. When he got home I think it was his mum who was watching something like an Anglia news report about the Southend game spoilt by another hooligan invading the pitch.

Really? as harsh as it was to sack the grounds man I'd doubt other companies would not do business with the club for them reasons, they need repeated business to stay afloat

Just goes to show how little about football you know. Ranger has been a fool off the pitch, which apart from the criminal fiasco is non of our business really. What he gets up to in his own time is up to him. He was found guilty and has paid the price, whilst he only spent 10 weeks inside that's still 10 weeks that neither you or I would like to spend. Hopefully he has learnt his lesson. Ryan Hall, Ryan Innis and Michael Timlin were all convicted and originally given custodial sentences yet they don't get the same treatment as Ranger. Ranger committed his offence before signing for us and pleaded guilty to it. The club stood by him as this was committed during a spell when Ranger was in what they said a bad place of which the club knew about.

On to Ranger being in the pitch, he has done nothing other than conducted himself professionally on the pitch. Never been involved in any nonsense on the pitch and rarely gets booked. His performances may have dropped a bit lately however he made his first appearance this season from the bench and I feel he changed the game, it gave our team a lift and we were more threatening. Next game at Charlton he was the best player on the pitch. If you watch closely his presence on the pitch scares the opposition and he attracts defenders, leaving big gaps for others to exploit. The big problem is Cox doesn't get close enough, far too often the ball gets to Ranger in the air and Cox ain't there for the flick on. An example of this was on Wordsworth return from injury, Ranger won the flick on and it was Wordsworth that made the run and into the open space and scored, Cox wasn't anywhere to be seen. Or it's on the floor and he's got to try and beat 3 defenders as Cox ain't there to help him and receive a pass and give and go etc. Play more to his strengths and get Cox up there with him and he and the club will reap the rewards. Don't play to his strengths and let Cox roam around in midfield and he will be less effective but don't blame him

Alex said:

Just goes to show how little about football you know. Ranger has been a fool off the pitch, which apart from the criminal fiasco is non of our business really. What he gets up to in his own time is up to him. He was found guilty and has paid the price, whilst he only spent 10 weeks inside that's still 10 weeks that neither you or I would like to spend. Hopefully he has learnt his lesson. Ryan Hall, Ryan Innis and Michael Timlin were all convicted and originally given custodial sentences yet they don't get the same treatment as Ranger. Ranger committed his offence before signing for us and pleaded guilty to it. The club stood by him as this was committed during a spell when Ranger was in what they said a bad place of which the club knew about.

On to Ranger being in the pitch, he has done nothing other than conducted himself professionally on the pitch. Never been involved in any nonsense on the pitch and rarely gets booked. His performances may have dropped a bit lately however he made his first appearance this season from the bench and I feel he changed the game, it gave our team a lift and we were more threatening. Next game at Charlton he was the best player on the pitch. If you watch closely his presence on the pitch scares the opposition and he attracts defenders, leaving big gaps for others to exploit. The big problem is Cox doesn't get close enough, far too often the ball gets to Ranger in the air and Cox ain't there for the flick on. An example of this was on Wordsworth return from injury, Ranger won the flick on and it was Wordsworth that made the run and into the open space and scored, Cox wasn't anywhere to be seen. Or it's on the floor and he's got to try and beat 3 defenders as Cox ain't there to help him and receive a pass and give and go etc. Play more to his strengths and get Cox up there with him and he and the club will reap the rewards. Don't play to his strengths and let Cox roam around in midfield and he will be less effective but don't blame him

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Not seen them play but this has been spoken about mnay times before ,that Cox is always too far away to capitalise on Rangers flick ons , so either this is something PB wants and i dont believe it is or Cox just trying to do his own thing and not the team thing , good post anyway .