Back from Walsall...

[palexander]

Well, 2-2 and another superb and spirited performance against a very good looking side in Walsall.

Gower did excellently in place of Cole and Petts was Petts in for the injured Bentley.

But surely the story is of the Goat and the fairytale start to his Southend career (or year!). Wasnt it inevitable that he would net on his debut and in the last minute to boot.

It was f%&king awesome and credit to the Southend fans again that made the atmosphere brilliant at a library-like Bescot Stadium. Would hate to see that stadium when the team are struggling!!?

Things of note...

Goater never stops smiling ->

and so obviously seems happy here. Did look a little rusty when he came on, but that is to be expected. Took his goal superbly though and proves the point that if you feed him, he does ACTUALLY score! Cannot wait for Cole, Gower and Gutts to get some quality to him.

Jay Smith was superb when he came on. Looks to be better than I certainly remember and is like having a quality new signing. He went in for 2-3 hard tackles and also got clumped badly but seemed unaffected. His passing and movement was excellent and he always wanted the ball. This for me was a highlight of the day.

Wayne Gray was immense again and I am so proud of his reaction to Goaters signing. Keep it up Wayne!

Freddy is beggining to get fans on his back and if Gray/Goater continue in good form, I can see a bigger fan turn. I know some of you thought I was having a pop at him in the week (i wasnt) but if we do it at the games then we will a) make his confidence worse and probably b) drive him out. STOP IT! SUPPORT THE BOYS...

Wilson was getting absolutely ridicolous stick from some sections of the crowd. If you were one of the people telling him to get wide and cover the 14 (Mark Wright) then you should be ashamed. The ball was on the opposite side of the pitch and Wright was out by the touchline! Please explain what on earth you were thinking because loads of people were quite rightly laughing at you. These were not kids, but blokes aged 30-50 ... absolutely crackers...

Lewis Hunt spent all of the HT break talking to somebody in the Walsall end instead of warming up. If we needed him in the first few mins of the second half and he pulled a muscle then he should be severly dealt with. Very unprofessional...

Anyway, GREAT spirit from the players and 4 points from 3 games is probably better than any of us hoped for. Long may it continue!!!

RATINGS:

Flavs 8 - Dealt with everything very bravely and pulled off an amazing match saving save at the end to keep the 2-2.
Jupp 7 - Didnt get forward too much, but defended very well.
Barret 7 - Solid against two very good forwards.
Edwards 6 - Very good in the air, though exposed at times for pace and movement.
Wilson 6 - Was against a very tricky winger today and did about all he could. Wasnt beaten outside too often
Petts 6 - Typical Petts, run around and offered nothing going forward.
Maher 7 - Had a terrible spell in the 2nd half where nothing came off, but a great ball in for Goaters goal.
Gutts 6 - Got a little lost in the hurley-burley and I reckon he is more suited to a wide role coming inside.
Gower 7 - Good performace from Mark who worked very hard to track back when possible and created some good chances up top.
Eastwood 5 - Oh dear. Trying too hard to score and getting more selfish with it rather than doing a team job. Boo boys lay off though!
Gray 9 - Another great performance and goal. Strong front running and was the base of all of our attacking play.

SUBS:

Smith 8 - Immense little cameo appearance. Very busy, demanding the ball and tackling hard.

Goater 7 - Took his goal very well though looked understandably rusty. Signs are good though!!

FEEEEEED THE GOAT!

 

[Andy_S]

Cheers for the report!

Some good positives it seems, although Freddy seems to be very off colour at the moment which is worrying. He's obviously going to be a very marked man at the moment though.

Was Flavs' late save as good as it was made out to be on the radio?

 

[Angell Delight]

I think also congratulations should go to the Goat on not only his 1st Southend strike but also the 250th of his career!

 

[KrustyTheKray]

Superb report!

Really thought Walsall had won it at the death going by Nick Allikers voice on BBC Essex, but superb Flavs pulls off yet another superb save to add to his collection.

Feed the Goat and he will score!!!  Superb, what a pro!

Yes i have to agree, Freddy seems out of form at the moment, but hopefully he will net soon.

Good to see Gray get on the scoresheet again.

Another great result.  Things are looking good.

UP THE BLUES!!!

Just a shame i wont be able to go next saturday, going to V2005 (but that should be good too).  Anyone else going to 'V'?

 

[Guest]

What a save by Flavs at the end. I was just about to swear loudly but as soon as I saw it go wide, I was amazed.

Great to see Jay back too. He played well considering he has not played in 18 months!

 

[Clarky_Blues]

Flav's save is world class, no word of a lie. If David James can play in net for England then so can Daryl.

 

[Southampton Shrimper]

A great performance by the lads today, just a little worrying that they sat back a little and seemed to lose their way for a while in the second half to let Walsall in, but that aside I thought they did very well as a team.

Today was my first game since the play-off final, and I really noticed the difference in quality between this league and League 2. Walsall are a quality outfit and we should be delighted with getting a point - and what a way to do it, with the Goat scoring on his debut a minute from time.

Darryl's save was outstanding. It reminded me a bit of the one he made at Northampton last season, I really thought the ball was going in the net, but then his hand seemed to appear from nowhere and the ball went out for a corner.

From where I was sat I couldn't hear anyone getting on Freddy's back, but those three misses that went just to the left of goal in the second half were extremely disappointing. The first of those particularly would have been a dead cert to have gone in last season. I agree with whoever it was who said on here a few days ago that they think he's getting the second season wobbles, not being able to live up to last season's hype. But I'm sure he'll keep plugging away, and hopefully the goals can come back.

All in all a good day, which was topped off for me by seeing Darryl at Chievley services on the way home!

 

[TrueBlue]

to be fair though Walsall do look like promotion contenders they have a very good side!

 

[Andy_S]

Quote[/b] (TrueBlue @ Aug. 13 2005,20:58)]to be fair though Walsall do look like promotion contenders they have a very good side!

When Merson starts playing again they'll be right up there I reckon.

Huddersfield are going to be a very stiff test next Saturday though.

 

[Guest]

Quote[/b] (Andy_S @ Aug. 13 2005,21:01)]

Quote[/b] (TrueBlue @ Aug. 13 2005,20:58)]to be fair though Walsall do look like promotion contenders they have a very good side!

When Merson starts playing again they'll be right up there I reckon.

Huddersfield are going to be a very stiff test next Saturday though.

Walsall will get promoted, thats my thinking!!!

 

[Southampton Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (shrimp_on_the_wing2003 @ Aug. 13 2005,21:16)]

Quote[/b] (Andy_S @ Aug. 13 2005,21:01)]

Quote[/b] (TrueBlue @ Aug. 13 2005,20:58)]to be fair though Walsall do look like promotion contenders they have a very good side!

When Merson starts playing again they'll be right up there I reckon.

Huddersfield are going to be a very stiff test next Saturday though.

Walsall will get promoted, thats my thinking!!!

I think they will definitely be there or thereabouts. But of course the "experts" who tipped us for relegation this season also said they would struggle.

Can't see it somehow!

 

[Hambone]

I thought Freddy was terrible! He missed a couple of great chances, especially the one when we were 1-0 up. That was a shocker. But agree that Jay Smith was on fire - he changed the game when he came on.

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

Got back earlier on the coach, good day! Bit disappointed, as Darryl says, that we sat back after we'd scored and Eastwood's miss was a turning point, so I'm slightly disappointed we didn't win. Saying that, we went 2-1 down so I'm pleased with a draw and 4 points from games at Bradford and Walsall is excellent.

We started off a bit slowly but I thought overall we matched them in the first half. Didn't create too many chances but played some nice football. They didn't create much either. 2nd half was much more entertaining and I thought we deserved the goal, and Gray certainly deserved it. He was excellent today, if Goater's going to start the next game then it should be Freddy who's dropped. He's not on form at the moment, if he'd had that chance last season he would've buried it. Gray ran his heart out and caused the Walsall defence a lot of trouble. Probably the best performance I've seen from Wayne. Nice cross from Pettefer for the goal too. After that we let them back in it though and I could see an equaliser coming but a 2nd goal was a bit of a shock and underserved. It was at the other end but it looked like bad marking for both goals. We showed good character to come back though, and as the chant goes, we fed the goat and he scored. The celebrations were brilliant!

Credit to the away support today. Fantastic as ever, we were the only stand making any noise in that library of a stadium. The home fans sung for about a minute after they'd scored that was it. Not sure how many there were, looked about 500/600, but they were superb.

Player ratings:

Flahavan 7 - Superb save at the end to keep it 2-2, the kind we've come to expect from Darryl.

Jupp 7 - Defended well.
Edwards 7 - No nonsense, solid defending.
Barrett 7 - Solid alongside Eagle.
Wilson 6 - Fairly pedestrian again, but defended soundly.

Pettefer 7 - Worked hard and delivered a lovely cross for the first goal.
Maher 6 - Passing was poor at times but he was influential was ever.
Guttridge 7 - Got stuck in in the middle and made some good tackles, but never really got the chance to show off his attacking skills.
Gower 7 - Showed glimpses of his skill but didn't get into the game enough.

GRAY 9 - Ran his heart out and deserved his goal with an excellently placed header. The competition's doing him good, more of the same please Wayne.
Eastwood 6 - Needs that first goal soon. Had a great chance today but as Tilly says, blasted it rather than slotting it in the corner. That was at 1-0 too, so if he'd scored it should've killed of the game. Needs to be patient though otherwise he'll start playing selfishly.

Subs:

Smith 7 - We've been missing him! Worked hard and was always wanting the ball. Got chopped down by some Walsall muppet which had everyone in the away end worried, but thankfully he was fine and he kept battling away.

Goater 7 - We fed him and he scored. Didn't do much else, but he scored and that's what he's there for.


Finally, we had another sh*t ref!

 

[Guest]

Quote[/b] (Hambone @ Aug. 13 2005,22:09)]I thought Freddy was terrible!  He missed a couple of great chances, especially the one when we were 1-0 up.  That was a shocker.  But agree that Jay Smith was on fire - he changed the game when he came on.

I wouldn't say that Freddy was terrible, he quite clearly a bit short of confidence but asides from his wayward finishing his overall game wasn't too bad and he still got back and defended when he was needed.

He'll be back

 

[Upminster Blue]

Quote[/b] (Whatever @ Aug. 13 2005,22:57)]

Quote[/b] (Hambone @ Aug. 13 2005,22:09)]I thought Freddy was terrible!  He missed a couple of great chances, especially the one when we were 1-0 up.  That was a shocker.  But agree that Jay Smith was on fire - he changed the game when he came on.

I wouldn't say that Freddy was terrible, he quite clearly a bit short of confidence but asides from his wayward finishing his overall game wasn't too bad and he still got back and defended when he was needed.

He'll be back  

Exactly.  He just needs a goal and he'll be fine.  Don't worry folks and don't get on his back.

By the way, he only had one decent chance today which he should have burried.  But remember he created the chance himself with a superb first touch and turn to leave the defender floundering - pure class. This came at the end of possibly the best passing move, bearing in mind the quality of the opposition, I've seen from us in years - we ripped them aprt .  At the time I said it would have been goal of the season if Freddy had finished it (the finish was the easy bit!).

Overall, an excellent day and excellent game of football.

I can definitely see Walsall going up on that evidence and not too many teams will leave the Bescott without losing this season.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Quote[/b] (shrimpboy @ Aug. 13 2005,22:30)]Jupp 7 - Defended well.
Edwards 7 - No nonsense, solid defending.
Barrett 7 - Solid alongside Eagle.
Wilson 6 - Fairly pedestrian again, but defended soundly.

Never really understand why this seems to happen but when the defence all play fairly solidly but unspectacular, Che always seems to get a lower rating.

From what they were saying on the radio, most of Walsall's chances barring the goals where I was most likely cursing too loud to hear were coming as a result of Juppy napping. I think it would really be a shame if Jupp doesn't raise his consistency in light of his competition with Hunt.

 

[blueheaven]

I agree with you - why does Che always get a lower rating ?

 

[Matty the Shrimper]

Quote[/b] (pboreham @ Aug. 13 2005,19:29)]Wilson was getting absolutely ridicolous stick from some sections of the crowd. If you were one of the people telling him to get wide and cover the 14 (Mark Wright) then you should be ashamed. The ball was on the opposite side of the pitch and Wright was out by the touchline! Please explain what on earth you were thinking because loads of people were quite rightly laughing at you. These were not kids, but blokes aged 30-50 ... absolutely crackers...

Spot on! Some people don't have a clue about football. Wilson knew Wright was there and people are telling him to mark him on the touchline. It ended up that Gower marked him when the ball went infield. If anything Wilson lost concentration when the fans were berating him. If he had had to do something vital in the penalty box he would quite possibly have made a mistake.

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

I heard that big-nosed idiot too, Wright was on the far side of the pitch from the throw-in there's no need for Che to cover him. The guy obviously knows nothing about football.

 

[Guest]

On the subject of Che I don't think he's doing too badly at the moment considering the higher class forward he's up against: Jupp looks shakier IMO .... some people though, seem to want Che to fail and I'll guess these are the people that get on his back. Give the man a break!