Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0-3 Norwich City

[BrettieAngell]

I was directly behind the shot. I, and those around me, were convinced it was an own goal as it was not on target when first hit.

I thought it took a deflection aswell.

 

[BoyWonder2]

I haven't read the rest of this thread so sorry if I'm repeating what has already been said but here are my thoughts on the game.

Norwich are a better side than us, there is no question of that in my opinion. But last night I didn't think they was 3 goals better than us, and neither did my Norwich supporting mate that went along.

I thought we created the better chances throughout the game, and bar one superb save from Mildenhall, I don't remember him having an awful lot else to do. They where more clinical than us, and it shows in the League table.

Scannell's miss in the second half was the turning point, it seemed to wake them up a little bit, and they had their good 10 minute spell where they scored twice to kill us off. If that had nestled in the back of the net, like it should have done, maybe we'd be talking about a very good win last night, but if you don't take your chances you don't win football games. Simple as.

We huffed and puffed, and produced decent attacking plays, but Norwich looked much better on the ball than us, and they looked very dangerous on the counter attack. They shift the ball around well, and Hoolihan, of how ever you spell it, is a very good player and Holt gets you goals not matter what.

Mildenhall - One superb save from a header in the second half, and no chance on the other goals. Couple of routine stops from distance as well. Solid performance.

Francis - Usual Francis story I'm afraid. Some superb deliveries into the box, like the one for the disallowed goal, but was out shadowed by some very poor defensive work.

Morrison - His scuff led to the first goal, but apart from that I thought he looked decent. Good in the air, and wasn't afraid to get rid of it when required, but also looked to pass out of the ball, and along to Barrett. Decent enough player. It has shown this season though, when we brought Clarke all those years ago we should have been going for a player like M'Voto, Heath or Morrison, all of whom have partnered Barrett better than Clarke ever did.

Barrett - Solid enough performance. He is a lot better with a proper centre half alongside him as it allows him to focus on his game. Superb block from Holt in the second half, that led to Scannell's chance.

Malone - Was disappointed with his set piece delivery, never seemed to get it right, but looked ok in open play. Some good crosses in the second half, and is an upgrade on Herd.

Scannell - We missed Laurent. Now, this isn't a pop at Scannell, because he did well enough but doesn't work hard enough, didn't put enough balls into the box, and didn't seem to want to take his man on. Laurent, although he doesn't work hard enough, makes up for it with the ball at his feet.

JFC - He is a strange one. His reading of the play, interceptions and tackling is spot on, but on the ball he is shockingly bad. I thought he did OK last night, but the crowd seemed to jump on his back.

Macca - I'm shocked at some of the critisicm of him so far. I thought he was one of our better players last night and got through an awful lot of work. Yes, he can't pass, and put us in trouble with one, but he is starting to drive on from midfield again, and looking more of a threat. Wasn't helped with the fact that Norwich had 3 in the middle, so they passed it around both him and JFC.

Moussa - Terrible. His man scored the second goal, and he wasn't tracking him back. One pass that had it got through would have been pass of the season, but that was it. I can't be too hard on him because he isn't a left winger, but come January that is one of the positions I'd look to bring in.

Barnard - Worked hard, won a lot in the air against two big centre halves and had a couple of efforts from distance, and probably should have scored his header at 1-0.

Jabo - Wasn't overly sure of him when we signed him, but tonight showed what a handful he can be. He was up against two big centre halves and won a lot. His first touch on his chest was superb. Not sure if it was handball, hard to tell from East Reds, but he didn't seem to complain about it. Great effort in the first half as well.

Subs:

Walker - Looked lively when he came on.

Freedman - Lost shape when he came on, not sure where he was supposed to be playing. Personally, I'd have brought on Asante. He looks quick and lively, and would surely do better on the left wing over Freedman.

 

[GBJ]

I'd have brought on Asante. He looks quick and lively, and would surely do better on the left wing over Freedman.

I've seen Asante for the reserves and to be fair, does look a lively player. He's not scared to shoot, has pace and looks quite confident on the ball. I'd definitly give him a chance either up top or on the wing. He can't be any worse than mr.rigor mortis.

Then again, i'd play Stephen Hawking over Freedman. Wheel chair and all.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

My ratings FWIW

Mildenhall 8 - Not to blame for any of the goals and made some smart saves. Deservedly won POTM aswell.

Francis 6 - Good crosses but defensively poor
Barrett 7 - Typical performance from the skipper, made a couple of crucial blocks when the game was still 0-0
Morrison 7 - Was quite impressed, won a few headers, as others have said though he dosen't look the quickest.
Malone 6 - Defensively looked ok but his set pieces were poor, wasn't an own goal, it was on target anyway.

Scannell 6 - Has great pace but he really needs to look up, I lost count of how many times he ran into a brick wall last night. Should have scored.
Christophe 6 - Broke up the play well but then gave it away again.
McCormack 6 - Don't think he was that bad, Some people are just slagging him off for the sake of it now.
Moussa 5 - I like him but he's seriously out of form at the moment.

Ibehre 6 - Holds the ball up well and put himself about.
Barnard 7 - Lots of huff and puff but no service.

Subs -

Walker 4 - Did he touch the ball ?
Freedman 5 - I'm usually one to back him up but last night he looked completely knackered and couldn't be bothered, left wing though ?

 

[Firestorm]

I liked the loanees , Malone looks particularly useful and once Moose gets "give and go" explained to him I am sure we will see more decent left foot deliveries into the box

Until the subs were made i didn't think anyone (apart from the obvious Mildy) really stood out as either playing well or playing poorly...that was until Freedman came on. I can only think that he believes he is being the consumate professional and not walking away from the club when we are short of bodies, because the bloke doesn't appear to be wanting to play football. His is a striker , and on his day a very very good one, yet on at least two occasions yesterday he had shooting opportunities any striker would have loved, yet he didn't even try toget a shot away, I can't believe its confidence at his age and experience, he is more than capable, I think he has just had enough...

I think that Jabo didn't quite get enough of a head on the ball and ended up deflecting it onto his arm. the two pics on the official site whilst not showing it , do indicate that he was totally aware of it as he is seen not celebrating but looking at the lino very soon after getting to his feet

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I find it hard to accept that any of our players deserves ratings of 7 and 8 after a 0-3 home defeat. If we have no injuries and no suspensions, we can field a mediocre League One side that with a bit of luck can survive in lower mid-table. Obviously, that's not realistic, as suspensions and injuries will always play a part, and thanks to Dr Warchest, we don't have the quality or depth to cope, particularly against a decent (but not brilliant) side like Norwich.

 

[Shrimper]

What swear filter circumvention? The whole word comes up as asterisks if you type it in, circumvention is when you, yourself take it upon yourself to change a couple of letters so it's obvious what the word is.

Were you at Tranmere or Yeovil? If so you'd know that Moussa last night was clearly better than on either of those occasions. If Ibehre used his fist why wasn't he booked, and if that was a pen, why wasn't Macca booked? As I said I haven't seen replays just my impression at the time.

Scannell does this repeatedly, and has to a number of players, most often Barney. As to Macca getting on the wrong side of officials, well, he does, doesn't he? Shame the guy ran into his elbow as it goes, but didn't think he had a lot of option but to make the challenge in the box.

I think that if Macca shot someone you'd blame them for walking into the bullets. You cannot defend Macca for last night. 5 is being generous he contributed nothing and when he got a knock he cancelled himself out of the game. Ibehre was brilliant as as Mildenhall

 

[OldBlueLady]

I think that if Macca shot someone you'd blame them for walking into the bullets. You cannot defend Macca for last night. 5 is being generous he contributed nothing and when he got a knock he cancelled himself out of the game. Ibehre was brilliant as as Mildenhall

Simply wrong, Ibehre was NOT brilliant, nor was Mildy. Mildy had a good game, continuing the run of form we have seen in the last month hence the POTM recognition. Ibehre had a quiet debut I thought, he didn't stamp his mark nor show any flashes of the kind of brilliance we got used to seeing from our successful loanees last year - what he did show was a similarity to Barney in drawing players into fouls, and occasional strength on the ball that we've not seen in a forward for a while. It was a good enough debut but that is all.

I'm not going to be drawn into defending Macca again, enough other people have said the same. People see what they want with him, and no amount of any of us telling those of the opposing view otherwise will change that. What I am saying is that we know that stuff on here gets back to them at times, and as I keep saying - not only regards Macca - have kept advocating for months and months now is that we should be more supportive of players, not knocking them at every opportunity. Blimey, it wasn't so long ago that Barney was getting rubbished on here, there's actually very few players that haven't, but there's several that have moved on that were unhappy at their treatment by the supporters. Now you can take that as just those at games or otherwise, I just don't want ANY of our players to feel "hounded" so objective criticism, fine but bald statements of the type you make that he contributed "nothing" are just ridiculously over generalised and plainly inaccurate.

 

[Pubey]

Simply wrong, Ibehre was NOT brilliant, nor was Mildy. Mildy had a good game, continuing the run of form we have seen in the last month hence the POTM recognition. Ibehre had a quiet debut I thought, he didn't stamp his mark nor show any flashes of the kind of brilliance we got used to seeing from our successful loanees last year - what he did show was a similarity to Barney in drawing players into fouls, and occasional strength on the ball that we've not seen in a forward for a while. It was a good enough debut but that is all.

I'm not going to be drawn into defending Macca again, enough other people have said the same. People see what they want with him, and no amount of any of us telling those of the opposing view otherwise will change that. What I am saying is that we know that stuff on here gets back to them at times, and as I keep saying - not only regards Macca - have kept advocating for months and months now is that we should be more supportive of players, not knocking them at every opportunity. Blimey, it wasn't so long ago that Barney was getting rubbished on here, there's actually very few players that haven't, but there's several that have moved on that were unhappy at their treatment by the supporters. Now you can take that as just those at games or otherwise, I just don't want ANY of our players to feel "hounded" so objective criticism, fine but bald statements of the type you make that he contributed "nothing" are just ridiculously over generalised and plainly inaccurate.

will EVERYONE stop SHOUTING! it's simply WRONG


you're WRONG!

 

[OldBlueLady]

will EVERYONE stop SHOUTING! it's simply WRONG


you're WRONG!

I didn't! I emphasised one "not"! BUT I MIGHT SHOUT IF ALL THIS STUPID KNOCKING THE PLAYERS WHEN WE HAVE SO FEW OPTIONS CARRIES ON!!!

 

[Pubey]

I didn't! I emphasised one "not"! BUT I MIGHT SHOUT IF ALL THIS STUPID KNOCKING THE PLAYERS WHEN WE HAVE SO FEW OPTIONS CARRIES ON!!!

in fairness he was saying Mildy played brilliantly, as well as Ibehre. He wasn't the only poster to say they did really well and it's you who's knocking them.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

Simply wrong, Ibehre was NOT brilliant, nor was Mildy. Mildy had a good game, continuing the run of form we have seen in the last month hence the POTM recognition. Ibehre had a quiet debut I thought, he didn't stamp his mark nor show any flashes of the kind of brilliance we got used to seeing from our successful loanees last year - what he did show was a similarity to Barney in drawing players into fouls, and occasional strength on the ball that we've not seen in a forward for a while. It was a good enough debut but that is all.

I'm not going to be drawn into defending Macca again, enough other people have said the same. People see what they want with him, and no amount of any of us telling those of the opposing view otherwise will change that. What I am saying is that we know that stuff on here gets back to them at times, and as I keep saying - not only regards Macca - have kept advocating for months and months now is that we should be more supportive of players, not knocking them at every opportunity. Blimey, it wasn't so long ago that Barney was getting rubbished on here, there's actually very few players that haven't, but there's several that have moved on that were unhappy at their treatment by the supporters. Now you can take that as just those at games or otherwise, I just don't want ANY of our players to feel "hounded" so objective criticism, fine but bald statements of the type you make that he contributed "nothing" are just ridiculously over generalised and plainly inaccurate.

I'm not going back reading all the posts but if for one minute you think that Macca had a better game then Mids and to an extent Jabo , then you have lost the plot .

Mids had a great game , one goal was a pen and teh other was an O'G , apart from that his handling was great and he got down to about 4 shots low down , yes they were fairly easy saves but he held onto them and his one tip over the bar was class .

Macca got absolutly outclassed by Norwich , get on with it , i'm sure even he admits he came a poor second to their passing and movement and fitness at getting back and shielding their defence .

And i didn;t even rate Norwich's 2 CM's that much either , as i pointed out in another thread ...Bailey is different class to these boys and Macca will have to be on top top form to handle him on Saturday .

 

[OldBlueLady]

FFS! How am I knocking them?! These were my ratings and comments:

Mildy - 7, haven't seen the replays but don't think there was anything he could do, some good saves and some confident handling - no sign of shakiness as far as I was concerned
Francis - 5, sorry, I'd much rather see him playing RW, Grant at RB and O'Keefe start on Saturday
Morrison - 6, confident heading and strong but he has the inexperience of youth that can easily be exploited, seriously worry about him with Franno to his side
Barrett - 6, some awesome blocking but struggled with the Norwich forwards all night
Malone - 7, pick of defence for me, like the guy, reminds me of Mulgrew but more positional awareness
Scannell - 7, always looks a danger on the ball but absolutely has to be aware of which team mates are around him, usually in better places
Macca - 6, lots of effort and some very good passing which largely goes unnoticed cos all you lot are looking for are the bad ones, getting forward lots although why was he last man? Again, haven't seen replays but didn't think it looked a pen
Jeff - 6, did ok I thought, opposition players don't like his style of challenge, prefer him playing as he was just in front of defence
Moussa - 6, better than of late, surprised to see him subbed, and more so that O'Keefe didn't come on in his place
Barney - 6, quiet game for Barney, don't like him playing the deeper of the 2 forwards
Ibehre - 6, looked strong at times, lack of understanding with others which they need to work on, promising though

All I was saying is that they weren't "brilliant"!!!

 

[Pubey]

FFS! How am I knocking them?! These were my ratings and comments:

All I was saying is that they weren't "brilliant"!!!

because everyone is entitled to their view, and most appreciate it's fairly subjective. however you seem to kick off every time someone either disagrees with you directly, or gives scores different to yours. if you're so bothered that players will get really upset when they get low marks or criticised on here then maybe you shouldn't post in these threads.

 

[OldBlueLady]

because everyone is entitled to their view, and most appreciate it's fairly subjective. however you seem to kick off every time someone either disagrees with you directly, or gives scores different to yours. if you're so bothered that players will get really upset when they get low marks or criticised on here then maybe you shouldn't post in these threads.

Jon, come on, you're splitting hairs here - I'm not objecting to people having different views, I'm objecting to the nature of the expression of some of those views. The fact that there is such opposing opinion on here is evidence as I keep saying that people see either the good or the bad in Macca, what he brings to the team or what he doesn't.

 

[Pubey]

Jon, come on, you're splitting hairs here - I'm not objecting to people having different views, I'm objecting to the nature of the expression of some of those views. The fact that there is such opposing opinion on here is evidence as I keep saying that people see either the good or the bad in Macca, what he brings to the team or what he doesn't.

I'm not even talking about Macca!

I'm taking issue with you telling posters that their views are "simply wrong". Other posters have said Ibehre and Mildy played 'brilliantly' or 'well', and the difference between a 7 and an 8 is probably splitting hairs in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Welly7]

I think that if Macca shot someone you'd blame them for walking into the bullets. You cannot defend Macca for last night. 5 is being generous he contributed nothing and when he got a knock he cancelled himself out of the game. Ibehre was brilliant as as Mildenhall

I'm not a fan of Macca and never have been, but he seems to be getting more and more stick on here after every game. At the minute we have no real creativity in the side and as a result we are looking to beat teams -especially at home - with high work rate and tempo. The players all work hard and it's that work rate that is making us competitive in all games. No-one has handed out a sound beating to us at home and even a 0-3 scoreline last night far from tells the whole story.
My point is that in a hard working side you would surely want a player with high energy levels, an unquestionable desire to win and 100% commitment in the midfield and that player is Alan McCormack. We have so few options at the moment that he is a very big player for us and seeing us play at Gillingham without him underlines this.
As I said, I'm not a fan of his football ability, but I hope he starts getting a break on here. It's Charlton at The Valley on saturday and I'd much rather go there with Macca than without.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I'm not even talking about Macca!

I'm taking issue with you telling posters that their views are "simply wrong". Other posters have said Ibehre and Mildy played 'brilliantly' or 'well', and the difference between a 7 and an 8 is probably splitting hairs in the grand scheme of things.

There's a huge difference between "well" and "brilliantly", not indicated by the difference between a 7 and 8! While I agree there's a lot who said they played well, I'd question how many used a superlative to the level of "brilliantly"!

And can I just say it's time the front page was changed!!!!

 

[Pubey]

There's a huge difference between "well" and "brilliantly", not indicated by the difference between a 7 and 8! While I agree there's a lot who said they played well, I'd question how many used a superlative to the level of "brilliantly"!

And can I just say it's time the front page was changed!!!!

read the thread and you'll see plenty of high praise, especially for Ibehre.

However my point remains, don't be so dismissive of other people views.. especially when you take criticism of Macca so personally.

 

[GBJ]

And can I just say it's time the front page was changed!!!!

I know what we can change it to.....


:)