Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 3-3 Fleetwood Town

[Floval Flyer]

Paul Clark says midfielders just ball watch - never track a runner. Blackman also caught out of position leaving acres of space behind him

Andre Blackman was a total liability today, but got say Mantom, Hutchinson and Hamilton gave them acres of space.

We got a point though!!

That man in the mask !!! You gotta love him!!

 

[SeaSideDoughnut]

I wasn't at the game and couldn't listen either, but a huge point. Hopefully that lifts some of the tension felt by the players.

 

[Medway Blue]

Difficult to assess. It was certainly an improvement, but how much does that really tell you?

Certainly some more structure, a bit of back to basics, and players looking a little bit more like they knew what was expected of them.

That being said, some of the same old issues. Our midfield is either very weak or very unbalanced. Or both. And we remain way too easy to just carve open through the middle. We also struggled out wide - firstly, because Blackman (as much as he did a couple of good things) is not League 1 level and is a glaring weak link, and secondly because Hutchinson is not a winger/wide midfielder and left Bwomono exposed.

Oh, and the old Bond tactic of putting Goodship out wide remains.

Generally, whilst we weren’t exactly flat (no by this season’s standards anyway), we certainly didn’t appear “spirited” to me until the last 10-15 mins after Fleetwood made their baffling tactical change.

Let us not forget that 2 of our goals were direct free kicks so scoring from open play remains a worry.

Nice to see us register a point at last though!

 

[Callum]

Slight improvement today we still need a leader manager to take us forward still don’t think Waddock is that person onto Tuesday

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Nice to hear SH's talking on BBC Essex.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Agreed, he was awful, never should have been offered a contract. I've been against playing Elvis at LB previously, but if Ralph's out for the next game, it has to be Deme RB and Elvis LB.

Agree totally. I would happy start with the 11 that finished the game with maybe Macca starting over Ndukwu

 

[HertfordshireBlue]

A very good hardearned point against one of the most organised sides in our league..

It’s obvious how much potential this squad has, we just need a manager who can play this squad to its strengths and max potential and the reinstall some confidence around the club.

Attacking play wasn’t bad today, just need a clear up of our defence and central midfield. There’s not much communication and often found ourselves caught out multiple times with our wide defenders often being overloaded and punished.

This club under the right management will go very far in this division.

Big shout to McLaughlin, much better today showing some desire winning most if not all his aerial battles.

 

[eastling]

Is it our defenders or is it the midfield that exposes the defence or a combination of the 2.

Both. Unsettled defence and powder puff midfield

 

[Ex-Member1]

Some relief with a point, it's a start at least. Marching down the pub tonight with my head held higher. COYBB

 

[RHB]

First point on the board, a lot more effort but we're still lacking anything resembling a combative midfield and the defence had a game they may want to forget. I agree with other posters that Blackman is not the answer at LB and apart from Stevie Mac the rest of the middle boys just watched it pass them by for the majority of the game. I was more than a bit disappointed with Coxy today. He has lost that ability to evade a defender and get away from him with the ball, maybe he needs to be rested for a couple of weeks. Again, Humphrys did a marvellous impression of a bull in a china shop, but he did seriously scare defenders and his two goals may yet prove to be priceless. My fear is that come January suitors will come calling for him. Stevie Mac deserves a mention for his first half performance, he tackled, he won balls in the air and he scored a cracker. Just do it again now please sir. Also Elvis is becoming a first rate player, never gives up and looks better in the air these days. All of that said, Fleetwood could have scored at least two more goals if they hadn't been so wasteful in front of goal, but that's just being churlish. 3-3, happy fans and on to the next one.

 

[Evening Echo]

GARY Waddock started his spell as Southend United’s caretaker manager with an entertaining 3-3 draw against Fleetwood Town at Roots Hall this afternoon.

More...

 

[Benfleet A1]

Two goals from set pieces ? It's been a while. Blackman was woeful, eyebrows were raised when his name was read out. Hutchingson was way out of his depth, he's not ready for the first team by a long chalk.

But, we battled, got luckey a few times and earned a point. It's a start, onwards and upwards.

 

[Fairport]

Paul Clark says midfielders just ball watch - never track a runner. Blackman also caught out of position leaving acres of space behind him

I was just going to post a comment about our midfielders but Paul Clark has summed it up perfectly. The biggest culprit was Hamilton.

 

[Magnum PI]

Need a ball winner in the middle. Mantom Hutch and Hamilton all lightweight. Fleetwood gifted us the point by backing off.

That said. Some positives today amidst the usual defensive bad luck and buffonery.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Well, that was very lucky. Fleetwood missed so many good chances. They were all over us at the time when thankfully, Barton decided to hold onto the 3-2 lead and went one up front with 10 minutes to go, not only allowing us to push up, but also relieving the pressure on our goal. They payed the price. Blackman, oh dear. The midfield allowing them to pour through. Hutchinson is clearly not ready, and Mantom and Hamilton need to be on the other side of the opposition midfielders. We had a lot of players ball watching today, allowing their players to find loads of space unmarked. I would like to see the stats on our possession and passing, as it wasn't good. Cox might as well not have been on the pitch the last few games. He's not going to score where he's camped, and looks so slow. On the plus side, it's a point, and we didn't lose again. . If only we had a better team to feed Humphrys more.

 

[Chairman Trigg]

Full backs defending dire ,midfield poor...no pressing and our fitness levels are shocking for this stage of the season.We escaped with a point thanks to certain forwards....Waddock is not the solution unfortunately.
On the plus side the players tried and kept going ,and the support was good throughout the 90 and 3 good strikes. Don't think I ever celebrated a point like that

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Need a ball winner in the middle. Mantom Hutch and Hamilton all lightweight. Fleetwood gifted us the point by backing off.

That said. Some positives today amidst the usual defensive bad luck and buffonery.

Something we have done on many occasions

Fair play to Waddock, he changed tactics after Fleetwood went 451 and it got us the point in the end

 

[Ricey]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1172916396726071302

That says a lot to me! Don’t think Bond was liked by the players.

 

[Mad Cyril]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1172916396726071302

That says a lot to me! Don’t think Bond was liked by the players.

I don't like some of the people I work with/for.

I am well paid so I overlook it.

 

[Willis]

First 30mins was pretty good, reasonable tempo and team pressing when out of possession. Then they scored and our heads dropped. Last 15mins was all Fleetwood. We started second half same as first half and, in similar vein, when Fleetwood went 3-2 we took some time to get gong again. Finally 15mins I thought we looked very good.

Our midfield is shocking. Especially centre midfield. Mantom and Hamilton were playing so far apart today it gave so much time and space to the oppo. There’s no bite and a reluctance to track runners. I don’t see how this gets rectified with the current group of CMs.

I thought Cox was poor today. He’s not the play of past seasons. Something is amiss there; he hasn’t had the same level of commitment as under PB or CP.

Defence remains a shambles. Lennon is a liability and Blackman is an awful defender.

Positives were Humphreys (full commitment, two good goals, but we can’t rely on him doing it on his own all the time), Macca (looking something like the player who did so well under PB and in CP first half season), Kiernan (clearly a bit match-rusty still, but is a class above his defensive colleagues). Was great to see us starting each half with urgency; very un-SUFC-like.

On a final note, I have to say I was surprised how well Waddock did today.