Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-0 Bristol Rovers

[Massimo Giovanni]

There were a few other odd moments in the goings on last night.
Phil cuddling the fourth official a few times; normally he glares at them.
A corner given as goal kick that got the Brizzie management running on the pitch and fffing enough to get red carded but got a chat instead.
GC, Brian Horton, 3 (three!) non player fitness coaches, the lady physio and Paul Smith alone in the dug out while Luke wedged himself in a corner and the other three subs had gone to have a jog - it looked like Luke was trying to be invisible -what is BH's role as he doesn't appear to say much/offer advice etc.
I had the parents of the ball boys near me who gave running commentary on which lad, and how well, quickly every out of play ball was returned -sweet but really?
Finally, good work by TBV; but as OBL says the "torches" is very naff as is the foul stream of "fffff"s directed at the very few, but to be commended for their support/travel, Brizzie fans. Cut out the stupid stuff and TBV will be improving on what is a GOOD core fan noise section.

 

[rhrussell]

Poor show last night, if wasnt for Bently we would have lost, so much for PB and his clean sheet attitude AB is like an old cart horse often out of position, wrestles his marker at defensive corners and when spotted by a ref will give away a penalty. Sorry all you AB fans but defensively Prosser is a better defender, but PB has been waiting for an opportunity to drop Prosser, instead of putting an arm around him to up his confidence, not slagging him off in public. As for our forwards they could not hit a barn door, but thats OK in PB mind.

 

[danburyshrimper]

Dont let the result paper over the cracks.... we were ABSOLUTELY BATTERED last night. Someone needs to stop Phil Brown from going into our changing room every half time --- whatever he says to our team ive no idea but the result is our players always reappear lethargic , confused , timid , scared .... must be the "clean sheet mentality" brainwashing theyve just been given. 1st half we were ok , 2nd half totally dreadful. If we are to play the isolated striker role , fine , but this only works if said striker is either blisteringly pacey or is a big lump who holds the ball up when several midfielders burst forward in support. What we had last night was Mooney with his striking partner ( resembling an enthusiastic 7 year old running around on the beach ) 40 yards away. Not good enough. Never gonna work. we were very very lucky to not lose 1-6.

ratings Bentley 9.5 , White 8 , Thompson 7.5 , Barrett 8 , Coker 8 , Worrall 8.5 , Leonard 6 , Atkinson 5 , Hurst 5 , Payne 3 , Mooney 5.

 

[Benfleet Blue]

Poor show last night, if wasnt for Bently we would have lost, so much for PB and his clean sheet attitude AB is like an old cart horse often out of position, wrestles his marker at defensive corners and when spotted by a ref will give away a penalty. Sorry all you AB fans but defensively Prosser is a better defender, but PB has been waiting for an opportunity to drop Prosser, instead of putting an arm around him to up his confidence, not slagging him off in public. As for our forwards they could not hit a barn door, but thats OK in PB mind.

Totally disagree. Prosser is great back up but can be an accident waiting to happen. Worry every time the ball comes near his right foot as shown at Burton.

I'm not saying he doesn't give 100% but AB always sures up the back and it was no coincidence when Bolger's improvement came when paired with AB.

Last night we were embarrassing.

If not for Bentley we could have lost at least 4-1 and the only real light was Coker and Worrell who pair up so well. However Brown seems to have it in for Worrell at present so he'll probably be left out on Saturday.

Hurst offers absolutely nothing and at times looks disinterested. What is the point of having a wide man with no pace to beat a full back.

Leonard will apparently never be dropped, starts every game never gets subbed no matter how bad he plays and is seemingly invincible as far as PB is concerned. So far this year in the main his passing and shooting have been pretty bad and the only plus is that he is able to defend, which on most of our performances, he has had to do as we try to keep the 'Clean Sheet Mentality'.

Joe Piggot quite truthfully looks disinterested and we all knew he wanted to stay at Charlton and fight for his place. His body language is all wrong and quite truthfully, I doubt he'll even reach double figures for the season.

The last few weeks have been woeful, after quite a bright spell, and having taken a friend to the game last night I was quite embarrassed by the performance. It really follows Gillingham, Rochdale and Scunthorpe where the clean sheet mentality means after half time we try not to move into the opposition half !

Thank God for Bentley but what happens when he leaves in January !

 

[rigsby]

I know the popular zone theory is we sit back on a lead and don't attack but its more than just the persil tactic (clean sheets) as to why this happens. Yes Bentley was our MOM in a side that contained a lot of our reserves so I'm glad were in the draw. Credit to Bristol they really threw men forward even in the first half and unlike some I did not find the game dull.

The main reason the oppositions keeper can never win the MOM award is because we can't hit the target, and we fail to put any decent crosses in the box. Even in the last 10 Hurst had a clear chance to pull the trigger, instead took a needles touch and then passed. When Pigott put his shot wide of the target it meant apart from a miss hit cross their keeper had not made a save since our goal.

We have faded upfront in the second half in quite a few games now. There seems to be a fitness problem with our forwards. Pigott, Mooney and Weston never seem to have 90 minutes in them. Last night however the quality of ball up to Mooney was really poor. How many annoying times was he made to jump for a header against their CB. Rovers two best chances were created by a simple pass on the floor to feet and them the forward slipped in a runner. We had several good breaks as they often left just 2 at the back but every time we picked the wrong option or our final ball was poo

Some of us need to take the blinkers off with certain players as well. Jack Payne as per norm some exciting skills but no end product. Off the ball he gets in some great positions but never gets the pass. First half Worrall had two glorious chances to pull the ball back to an unmarked JP but choose the difficult option both times. Mooney should have passed to an unmarked Payne but when for a blocked shot instead.

We can't have just sat back as some have awarded Worrall an 8. Cocker often gets praise for his attacking qualities but again he needs to actually deliver one decent cross, or set piece, a game before I'll get to exited. Mooney has had his critics so far but if you watch his 50 you tube goals you'll see a lot from crosses. Crucially they are all early crosses and with Worrall and Coker playing keep ball in the final third all the space he likes to attack has vanished before the cross finally arrives. Think of his goal at Millwall. Worrall had a difficult bouncing ball so without thinking about it, hooked it in first time and of course Mooney had stole in front of his marker.

Pigott's only goal at the Hall this season came from Wordswoth crossing 'blindly' into the right area. What I'm trying to say is that its the easy option to constantly blame PB. These are professional players and they should pride themselves a bit more on their shooting, crossing and final ball. Yes PB needs to do more work on set pieces but again last night Thompson had a free header from a corner and just like Bolger at Gillingham he tamely headed straight at the keeper. If we do go up from the back the only one who looks like he has any believe in himself is Barrett.

Looking at all the injured in the stand last night we have some tough times ahead. We know about Hunt and Wordsworth but Deegan and McLaughlin were also on crutches. Lets hope we don't pick up to many more injuries as it is already having a serious effect.

 

[Jam_Man]

I know the popular zone theory is we sit back on a lead and don't attack but its more than just the persil tactic (clean sheets) as to why this happens. Yes Bentley was our MOM in a side that contained a lot of our reserves so I'm glad were in the draw. Credit to Bristol they really threw men forward even in the first half and unlike some I did not find the game dull.

The main reason the oppositions keeper can never win the MOM award is because we can't hit the target, and we fail to put any decent crosses in the box. Even in the last 10 Hurst had a clear chance to pull the trigger, instead took a needles touch and then passed. When Pigott put his shot wide of the target it meant apart from a miss hit cross their keeper had not made a save since our goal.

We have faded upfront in the second half in quite a few games now. There seems to be a fitness problem with our forwards. Pigott, Mooney and Weston never seem to have 90 minutes in them. Last night however the quality of ball up to Mooney was really poor. How many annoying times was he made to jump for a header against their CB. Rovers two best chances were created by a simple pass on the floor to feet and them the forward slipped in a runner. We had several good breaks as they often left just 2 at the back but every time we picked the wrong option or our final ball was poo

Some of us need to take the blinkers off with certain players as well. Jack Payne as per norm some exciting skills but no end product. Off the ball he gets in some great positions but never gets the pass. First half Worrall had two glorious chances to pull the ball back to an unmarked JP but choose the difficult option both times. Mooney should have passed to an unmarked Payne but when for a blocked shot instead.

We can't have just sat back as some have awarded Worrall an 8. Cocker often gets praise for his attacking qualities but again he needs to actually deliver one decent cross, or set piece, a game before I'll get to exited. Mooney has had his critics so far but if you watch his 50 you tube goals you'll see a lot from crosses. Crucially they are all early crosses and with Worrall and Coker playing keep ball in the final third all the space he likes to attack has vanished before the cross finally arrives. Think of his goal at Millwall. Worrall had a difficult bouncing ball so without thinking about it, hooked it in first time and of course Mooney had stole in front of his marker.

Pigott's only goal at the Hall this season came from Wordswoth crossing 'blindly' into the right area. What I'm trying to say is that its the easy option to constantly blame PB. These are professional players and they should pride themselves a bit more on their shooting, crossing and final ball. Yes PB needs to do more work on set pieces but again last night Thompson had a free header from a corner and just like Bolger at Gillingham he tamely headed straight at the keeper. If we do go up from the back the only one who looks like he has any believe in himself is Barrett.

Looking at all the injured in the stand last night we have some tough times ahead. We know about Hunt and Wordsworth but Deegan and McLaughlin were also on crutches. Lets hope we don't pick up to many more injuries as it is already having a serious effect.

Most people completely ignore what the oppostion are doing when they judge us.

When we are 1-0 up in a knockout competition Id suggest most opponents would then throw the sink at us, so you end up having to deal with that.

I do think there is a lack of confidence in the side which leads them to dropping back but Brown even said the other week he didnt understand why we dropped deeper in the second half against Rochdale so its not a tactical plan on his part.

Just saying we should attack and 'attack is best form of defence' is all very well, but if the opposition have the ball and are pouring forward then "attacking" isnt an option.

 

[tommy tucker]

Was not there but for what I heard on BLUES WORLD it sounded as if we had the whole of the first half .Broke very quickly from the back and was good value for the lead . Sots on target 3 to there 0 .And for the first 5 mins of he second half we was at the races . But then the momentum changed maybe because of a tiring defences that has not played together all season And Tommo has not played a game for 8 months or more that Bristol had the next 40 mins with 5 shots on target to our 1 .But hey ho we won in the end . And now on to the semi final .:happy:

 

[AndyT]

Good point, well made, Jammers.

The frustrating thing with the Rochdale game was that we did invite pressure, as well, because of our use of the ball when we did get it back.

I mentioned on that thread that the out ball wasn't an option in that match, as much as it should have been. Not sure if it was the same last night.

 

[Cockle43]

Just one little thing that I feel needs a mention.
At half time the Bristol subs were out doing the usual kick about and the ball came into the West in front of V/W, a young lad picked the ball up and instead of throwing back to the sub he threw it up and headed it back, the sub gave a little smile picked the ball up and tossed it back to the lad so he could head it back again, which he did. The sub then gave him a little thumbs up and trotted off for the second half, the young lad turned around with a big grin on his face, looked like it had made his night.
So, from me, a big thumbs up to the young Bristol sub in the grey top, good to see the spirit of football still being kept alive at our level; people with a ball and a smile on their face. :thumbsup:

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

Still think a lot of our lack of goals is down to poor set pieces. Brian Horton was saying he wasnt bothered about the defending at set peices recently because 'the mjaority of goals come from set pieces'- except in our case! Under Sturrock nearly every win had a set piece goal in it. Seems to be a mix of poor delivery and not enough decent headers of the ball in the team. Brown seems to want all our goals to come from nice pretty passing but we dont have the players for that.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Still think a lot of our lack of goals is down to poor set pieces. Brian Horton was saying he wasnt bothered about the defending at set peices recently because 'the mjaority of goals come from set pieces'- except in our case! Under Sturrock nearly every win had a set piece goal in it. Seems to be a mix of poor delivery and not enough decent headers of the ball in the team. Brown seems to want all our goals to come from nice pretty passing but we dont have the players for that.

In the 2nd half Cokes took a super free kick, Mooney had easy/good header and put it miles over when he should have buried it. From a couple of 2nd half corners Thommo headed down (good?) but straight into the gk and Adam put one wide of post so the chances are there but not being taken advantage of; last night the delivery was better but the end product not. And we do seem to have recognised (most times) the need to clear straight out when defending set pieces.

 

[Jai]

Yeah both Mooney and Thompson had good chances from set-pieces last night. Thompson's was a sitter and he was really frustrated with himself.

 

[onceknownasrab]

Oh the enigma that is The Blues! We had a makeshift team last night. On the one hand we had seldom used players and players looking for match fitness and on the other hand we still put out a side that had oodles of experience. Something is awry and the biggest problem seems to be identifying it.

Yes Rovers made a fist of it in the second half. Any team worth its salt will have a purple period in a match but superior sides manage that and counter it. We, as most teams, are not going to attack for ninety minutes but we have too often allowed the opposition to take hold of the game for significant periods and we seem powerless to prevent it.

I am not a PB fan. Oh that surprises you? :smile: But in most games this year he has put two genuine forwards on the pitch which is the thing I wanted so much last season. Credit where credit is due. For me the elephant in the room is PB's, self acknowledged, lack of attacking nous.

I believe we have the players, not that some additional pace would go amiss, and there is a lot of experience in the side. Mooney, Hunt and Pigott are no mugs. I am sure Mooney will benefit from balls to his feet in and around the box. Hunt has a real tactical/game reading brain and although I don't think he has a lot of goals in him he has the potential to create many with his hold up/lay off play. Pigott is a work in progress but very useful for this level at least.

We often talk about how much creativity, or lack of, there is in the side and whether certain line-ups can create and finish chances but does it stop there? If you want the chance to get clean sheets then I suspect the combo of Horton, Brown and Coughlan are as adept as any at this level in being able to coach that aspect of the game. Which of them, on paper admittedly, is going to fill you with confidence about their ability to coach the forward play?

I have suggested many times, as have others, that maybe we would benefit from the presence of an attacking coach and to be honest I am beginning to feel vindicated. Another season, same problem.

Lets face it. We have had enough games with the current coaching set up to make the judgment that their way of doing things is not going to thrill the goal seekers. This lg is tougher than lg 2 and the clean sheets are going to be at a premium and so a good season will require goals. That is not a slight at the coaching staff. They are probably very good at what they know but we all have to acknowledge our limitations and they are no exception.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

3,495 gate to be exact. Better than I thought it would be.

So more at this game than the F.A. Cup game at Scunthorpe.

 

[shrimpled]

Leonard will apparently never be dropped, starts every game never gets subbed no matter how bad he plays and is seemingly invincible as far as PB is concerned. So far this year in the main his passing and shooting have been pretty bad and the only plus is that he is able to defend, which on most of our performances, he has had to do as we try to keep the 'Clean Sheet Mentality'.

Leonard had to play last night, despite Brown admitting he needs a rest, owing to the restrictions in the competition. Three other central midfielders were unavailable and he's scored 2 in his last 2 prior to last night, so why should he not have started last night? I happen to think he was best player too.

 

[danburyshrimper]

As soon as Hunt is fit enough to run again , PB should let him take all the other strikers in training and show them everything he knows about movement off the ball , finding space , getting that split second advantage from the defender , and of course , taking your chances...... Hunt will always be our 1st striker when he's fit. But thats the problem, he's injured so often we need to use his knowledge positively whenever we can in order to cover when he's out.

And at the other end of the training pitch Coughlin needs to clip our centre half's round the back of the neck and train them til he's blue in the face of how to properly head the ball when attacking our set pieces. Coughlin himself was possibly one of the best at doing just this for years , yet he seems incapable of preaching what he practiced ! The number of times a great cross is put in and Bolger / Thompson / Prosser just dont nod it in. I'm sure bolger closes his eyes when he heads the ball . He must do . Its the only way he can possibly never score when 5 yards out with a gaping goal at his mercy. He's 6 foot 4 for goodness sake -- Coughlin teach him how to surge into a position so that he's ahead of his marker and bang the ball into the old onion bag. Jump man . Head it down . Use your neck muscles. I realise Bolger is still young but its just basics. Once he learns this his confidence will grow and supporters like myself who are really not convinced that he's good enough might reconsider our opinion.

Sort it out !!!!!!!:angry::angry::angry:

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

As soon as Hunt is fit enough to run again , PB should let him take all the other strikers in training and show them everything he knows about movement off the ball , finding space , getting that split second advantage from the defender , and of course , taking your chances...... Hunt will always be our 1st striker when he's fit. But thats the problem, he's injured so often we need to use his knowledge positively whenever we can in order to cover when he's out.

And at the other end of the training pitch Coughlin needs to clip our centre half's round the back of the neck and train them til he's blue in the face of how to properly head the ball when attacking our set pieces. Coughlin himself was possibly one of the best at doing just this for years , yet he seems incapable of preaching what he practiced ! The number of times a great cross is put in and Bolger / Thompson / Prosser just dont nod it in. I'm sure bolger closes his eyes when he heads the ball . He must do . Its the only way he can possibly never score when 5 yards out with a gaping goal at his mercy. He's 6 foot 4 for goodness sake -- Coughlin teach him how to surge into a position so that he's ahead of his marker and bang the ball into the old onion bag. Jump man . Head it down . Use your neck muscles. I realise Bolger is still young but its just basics. Once he learns this his confidence will grow and supporters like myself who are really not convinced that he's good enough might reconsider our opinion.

Sort it out !!!!!!!:angry::angry::angry:

Two things there that I will add to. Noel Hunt does talk to Phil Brown at training about those sorts of things. I saw them have about a 30 minute discussion once, and you could see by Hunt's and Brown's arm movements and pointing, it was about attacking and strikers. But yes, you are dead right. Our other strikers, and midfield setting up our strikers could learn so much from Noel Hunt.
Secondly, I absolutely agree with you about more work being done on our tall defenders going up for corners and free kicks or an attacking move. Too much work is done with them defending, what you would expect from Brown and Coughlan. Practicing corners and free kicks they always seem to have the first choice central defenders, defending. It wouldn't hurt to work on them, to make them a goal threat, and better still, score some goals for us. Barrett is the only one that knows how to time his run, and attack the ball.

 

[Eddy Melito]

Leonard had to play last night, despite Brown admitting he needs a rest, owing to the restrictions in the competition. Three other central midfielders were unavailable and he's scored 2 in his last 2 prior to last night, so why should he not have started last night? I happen to think he was best player too.

if he needed that much of a rest, then start him and sub him straight off again. nothing in the rules about that I presume.

 

[AndyT]

I'm pretty sure Bradford City did that a couple of years back.

Think they subbed three players after 5 minutes or something.

 

[united we stand]

A few observations from last night (although to be fair some of them you could cut/paste into many match reports).

1st half (generalizing) we seemed to have been told to shoot on sight ,and this seemed (to me) to be a good thing. Yes a couple of shots were charged down but if you dont shoot you dont score! 2nd half we reverted to looking for that extra touch meaning that we didn't get the shot away, or the chances of scoring had gone down. Others ahve said that we should have been 2/3 up at half time, that may be true based on our general play, but the truth is their keeper had very little to do , except retrieve the ball for goal kikcks (and pick it out of the net once of course :smile:)

Build up- why are we so slow- and I don't just mean the build up. There were two breaks last night where we had the ball on the wing (Worrall ?) so potnetially a cross would be coming . Atkinson bursts a gut to run 3/4's of the pitch at faull pace, overtakinging Payne and Mooney whoese starting positions were at least 10 yards forwards of him. Atkinson becoem the player in the best position to receive the ball . Payne and Money are both well behind the ball, why is neither of them rnning at fall pace ? It has nothing to do with sheer speed, atkinson is running as fast as he can they aren't - why not?

1st half we have the ball in front of W block attacking the North , somehow we manage through a few passes to get the ball back to Bently who under pressure launches it and we loose position . Was there really so little movement that we had to go back to our keeper from having the ball on their 18 yard line ! I know that there are times when this makes sense, but this passage of play summed up to me our general approach , too little off the ball movement, no 'killer pass' and choosing then choosing the wrong pass.

Too mnay of our players are becoming premiership primadonna divers . Every team has one , and in Anthony grant we ahd one of the best on how to win a free kick , but its becoming laughable how often our players go down looking for a pen or freekick . Worral and Lenny have been (IMO) very guilty of this in the past and now Mooney has joined them. He goes down just to easily , last nights penalty appeal looked pathetic from where I was . I don't like to say it about our own players but there it is.

Stating the obvious- with an 'average' keeper we would not have won.



I am pleased I went last night as I saw Mooney win a header, and not many people can say that , and what was White doing up front for the goal ?