Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-1 Dagenham & Redbridge

[Jay_SUFC]

I'm wondering, if we could play Bridge in center Mid instead of Wes? Didn't he start out as a centre mid? His biggest asset is he does drive forward continually, is a good dribbler and does have a good shot. Obviously this couldn't be tried until one of Taylor or Kensdale is back as we can't move Ralph out wide until then.

No, we've tried him there before and it doesn't work.

Bedsides, he's top of our assists and you want to move him?

IMO it's the creativity of the other players we need to look at, not Bridge!

 

[RHB]

I paid another quick visit to the Daggers fans board this morning expecting to see loads of after match comments about how they mangled us first half (and they did), but apart from one of our fans telling them where to eat drink and park there was nothing. No criticism of their board, it is what it is, but no wonder @digger pops up on here a bit to tell us what he thinks.

 

[Gremlin]

One the plus side, since Daggers wore their home kit (and nobody batted an eyelid) we learned that we no longer have to deviate from our traditional blue when we visit their place. Result!

 

[ms brush]

For me, it is the fact that we kept slowing things down causes us the biggest problems, and that is what is making us predictable. We are overthinking and over complicating things on the pitch, which is making it so easy for any opposing team to do their homework. Coupled with a decimated defence, we were leaving gaping holes right down the middle in the first half yesterday, particularly in defence, but there was no-one in the middle either. And whilst Collin was the deserved MOM yesterday, your goalkeeper should never need to be called upon so often. We should, by rights, have been 3-0 down at half time, and that just isnt good enough if you are anspiring promotion winning side. Which we are not. Not yet at least!

During the second half, we were still doing the same things, but at a much faster pace that Daggers couldnt deal with. That is what has made us unbeatable in some games, and has led to some of our best performances, and when you look at our results, it would make sense if you plot the pace vs the result you would see a strong correlation. (I havent done this BTW, this is a gut feel)

I genuinely think we will see more of us taking our foot off the gas for the rest of this season. The long embargo has proved to be far more of a handicap than the 10 point deduction in my view. The lads are knackered, and cant operate at that high tempo for 90 minutes at this stage of the season, as we have just run out of gas. The pre-season was a nightmare, so we had no meaningful game-time prep coming in to the first game of the season, we were limited to the 16 for the first half of the season, we have had a few nasty injuries to content with, then I am not convinced that they have been 100% when they come back in, and the new lads will need time to fully settle, adjust to this level and everyone get properly used to each other.

@in the know also made the very good point that many of these players are inexperienced in front of big crowds, and will be inexperienced with playing on live national TV, so I think that this is a decent observation and spot on IMHO. Thinking about it, we did look nervy in the first half and that may be a bigger issue than I had considered. We are lacking a vocal captain as well - I love Ralph, and think he is an exemplar, leading by example and being 100% professional (and too good for this level if the truth be known) - but he is very quiet on the pitch and I dont know if that is a part of the issue.

Going forward, if we can turn Oli Coker in to the same sort of playmaker that we used to see in Ryan Leonard, we will have that pivot point in central midfield that is so badly lacking when we need to slow things down.

 

[Barling Magna]

One thing that I did notice on the much higher quality TV stream yesterday was how vocal Collin has become. He used to be very quiet but now he seems to be giving it large all the time. He is becoming a very good keeper.

 

[shrimperjon]

One thing that I did notice on the much higher quality TV stream yesterday was how vocal Collin has become. He used to be very quiet but now he seems to be giving it large all the time. He is becoming a very good keeper.

Colin has been outstanding at times this season. He is still young and a bit raw but he has made some very crucial saves and certainly his kicking has vastly improved. The lad is only 20 I think so young for a keeper.

 

[wiggy]

Miley at the moment is the biggest problem but everyone seem scared to say it.
Husin gets any flak going but he is on a different level to mr invisible!

 

[OldBlueLady]

I didn't think the 1st half was as bad as Tuesday night, although Dagenham were probably more dominant. I take @in the know 's point about a few of them being a bit overwhelmed by the tv cameras, I'd certainly say Waldron was affected as he was anonymous in the 1st half. Such a shame Coker was as well, after such a great sub performance Tuesday - looked as if he pulled a muscle in a challenge a bit before he went off too.

Again, rather than criticise our lads too much, I am going to give credit to the opposition who came at us with the intention of forcing mistakes early doors to give them a foothold, and it totally worked. They were then free to waste as much time as they wanted whenever they could.

Second half, they'd clearly had the now habitual riot act read again and came out with a different mind set and a clear alternative to "everything through Jack Bridge" work ethic. Getting the ball out to Gus saw more crosses in to the box and some lovely through balls from Demi to the forwards brought excitement to the crowd who started to really vocalise their support much more. This all seemed to galvanise the players and the tempo switched in our favour resulting in a great ball from Miley to release Cardwell to set up a fairly easy goal for Waldron.

I thought Miley broke up a lot of stuff in the middle, yes, I do think he was a lucky boy to stay on after that early tackle, but I thought he was much improved after Tuesday. I did think Morton had a great showing when he came on for Coker though, looked very composed and played some great balls. He also takes a very decent corner (as does Miley, to be fair) and I'd like to see some alternative to Bridge when others are on who can take them.

Collin pulled off some terrific saves 1st half to keep us in the match really. The Dagenham forwards were quick and ran at us with pace, which did seem to trouble the defenders a bit. Crowther not quite as calm and composed as he normally is but still seemed to take most of it in his stride. Liked the look of Woodman when he came on, also thought Sandat was terrific when he came on.

Ralph was MOTM for me though, this guy is so good, and changing to wing back after Bridge went off really seemed to suit him. If we can get Taylor and Kensdale back with Crowther, then I'd be tempted to give him the LWB role and put Jack further up the field, because he's really not a defender.

Excellent officials for once.

Collin - 7.5
Gus - 7
Demi - 7.5
Crowther - 7
Ralph - 8, MOTM
Bridge - 7
Miley - 7
Husin - 6
Coker - 6
Waldron - 6.5
Cardwell - 7.5

Subs:
Morton for Coker - 7
Woodman for Bridge - n/a
Sandat for Waldron - n/a

 

[OldBlueLady]

Miley at the moment is the biggest problem but everyone seem scared to say it.
Husin gets any flak going but he is on a different level to mr invisible!

He's really not. He broke up so much play yesterday and played the ball through to Cardwell for the goal.

 

[Barry.C]

Coker a bit lightweight, not strong enough yet, Wood is

 

[Dutch Branch]

Apart from stating the obvious, I was surprised that during the interval in the bar there was an eerie calm as if everyone knew better things were to come second half.

What ever du du Kev showers the team with at half time really needs to used before the game starts.

 

[BILLERICAY BLUE]

He's really not. He broke up so much play yesterday and played the ball through to Cardwell for the goal.

No, it was Coker who made the pass to Cards

 

[OldBlueLady]

No, it was Coker who made the pass to Cards

Not according to the match report on the OS, and not what I thought I saw as it was right in front of us?

 

[The General]

One thing that I did notice on the much higher quality TV stream yesterday was how vocal Collin has become. He used to be very quiet but now he seems to be giving it large all the time. He is becoming a very good keeper.

Now he is probably going to make a monumental mistake now I’ve posted this but I feel very confident watching Colin in goal and I feel like his team mates are very trusting of him too. He has a very calm and composed nature about him and comes across very mature for his age and the little amount of games he’s played. Now I’ve only seen 4/5 games since my boycott since Jan but he’s probably been our most consistant performer in that time, besides maybe Crowther who is a fantastic CB and someone we can build a promotion pushing side around.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

I didn't think the 1st half was as bad as Tuesday night, although Dagenham were probably more dominant. I take @in the know 's point about a few of them being a bit overwhelmed by the tv cameras, I'd certainly say Waldron was affected as he was anonymous in the 1st half. Such a shame Coker was as well, after such a great sub performance Tuesday - looked as if he pulled a muscle in a challenge a bit before he went off too.

Again, rather than criticise our lads too much, I am going to give credit to the opposition who came at us with the intention of forcing mistakes early doors to give them a foothold, and it totally worked. They were then free to waste as much time as they wanted whenever they could.

Second half, they'd clearly had the now habitual riot act read again and came out with a different mind set and a clear alternative to "everything through Jack Bridge" work ethic. Getting the ball out to Gus saw more crosses in to the box and some lovely through balls from Demi to the forwards brought excitement to the crowd who started to really vocalise their support much more. This all seemed to galvanise the players and the tempo switched in our favour resulting in a great ball from Miley to release Cardwell to set up a fairly easy goal for Waldron.

I thought Miley broke up a lot of stuff in the middle, yes, I do think he was a lucky boy to stay on after that early tackle, but I thought he was much improved after Tuesday. I did think Morton had a great showing when he came on for Coker though, looked very composed and played some great balls. He also takes a very decent corner (as does Miley, to be fair) and I'd like to see some alternative to Bridge when others are on who can take them.

Collin pulled off some terrific saves 1st half to keep us in the match really. The Dagenham forwards were quick and ran at us with pace, which did seem to trouble the defenders a bit. Crowther not quite as calm and composed as he normally is but still seemed to take most of it in his stride. Liked the look of Woodman when he came on, also thought Sandat was terrific when he came on.

Ralph was MOTM for me though, this guy is so good, and changing to wing back after Bridge went off really seemed to suit him. If we can get Taylor and Kensdale back with Crowther, then I'd be tempted to give him the LWB role and put Jack further up the field, because he's really not a defender.

Excellent officials for once.

Collin - 7.5
Gus - 7
Demi - 7.5
Crowther - 7
Ralph - 8, MOTM
Bridge - 7
Miley - 7
Husin - 6
Coker - 6
Waldron - 6.5
Cardwell - 7.5

Subs:
Morton for Coker - 7
Woodman for Bridge - n/a
Sandat for Waldron - n/a

Agree on Ralph. When he's fit he's more than good enough for this league.
My beef is that fitness.
He's missed a chunk of every season since 2015, including this one spanning nearly two months.
That dominance you speak of came from Daggers slick, speedy play we don't possess.
I don't think we have anyone that's lightning quick, and apart from a couple including Demi, no one with assured first touch control.
This is a factor when we move forward: it's all a bit ponderous.

 

[Swiss Tony]

oh and Justham - what a prize bell end!
Celebrating their goal like they’d won the Champions League or something.
Glad we didn’t sign him.
Pr i ck

I’ll cut him a bit of slack because he’s had to pick the ball out of the net four times against us this season, how sad never mind.

 

[IloveShrimp]

Jack Bridge really needs to practice crossing with his left foot

Or play on the right!?

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

One thing that I did notice on the much higher quality TV stream yesterday was how vocal Collin has become. He used to be very quiet but now he seems to be giving it large all the time. He is becoming a very good keeper.

This is thanks to Dave Martin. He's passing on everything to Collin, including being more of a boss as a goalkeeper.

 

[CaptainSmudger]

Disjointed Team at the moment, we are missing Kensdale badly. Bridge an enigma , something , needs to be done, Over to you Kev and Co!
Brilliant Crowd, See you again Tuesday. COYB UTB

 

[Hawkwell Blue]

oh and Justham - what a prize bell end!
Celebrating their goal like they’d won the Champions League or something.
Glad we didn’t sign him.
Pr i ck

And his 30 yard rush to try and get Miley sent off. Plus the now ubiquitous keeper “injury”.