Post-Match Thread and Ratings Gills 1 Southend United 2

[Jam_Man]

Morris 5
Clohessy 6
Prosser 7
Phillips 7
Barker 5
Kalala 5
Timlin 6
Ferdinand 7
Martin 6
Mohsni 6
Dickinson 8

Kane's return was huge. His off the ball movement made such a difference - just look at his role in both goals. But his prize asset is his decision making, repeatedly making the right call and reading the game which all makes it look easy. God knows why we were wasting him on the bench. It may be controversial to say it, but he's a better player than Hall.
Kalala breaks up plenty of attacks, but mainly ours. He manages to slice pretty much everything - even headers. He's repeatedly guilty of chasing the ball and getting dragged out of position. He needs to lose to close without losing the team's shape. Kane would be a good player to learn that off.

Dickinson's work-rate was immense, but should have been subbed 10 minutes earlier. That was a costly mistake as he got booked in that time and he's coming up to another suspension. He's been a huge player for us this year.

Not sure what happened to Mohsni towards the end of the game but he stopped running and closing down. Don't know whether he was injured, knackered or just being lazy.

Very odd markings there.

Morris kicking was dodgy at times, but a 5 ?

As for Ferdinand being better than Hall have to totally disagree. Without Halls assists and goals we wouldnt be in the promition race. Ferdinand showed against Swindon he isnt the complete article yet.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I thought Dave Martin and Bilel were absolutely brilliant and JPK did the job asked of him. Also I thought Chris Barker looked so much more assured with Mark Phillips back. It shows just how much we have missed him as the defence looked so much more solid and assured. A special mention for Luke Prosser who I thought was great. Well done.

Shows how opinions differ.

Agree with all of that. Also agree with those commenting on Mohsni but for me his worth was dropping back into defence when it was needed, particularly when Garry Richards went forwards. Meant that the actual defence just coped with the forwards - admirably most of the time. Barker looks a different player with Phillips alongside, and I'm so pleased Prosser had a good game. What I like about Prosser is he doesn't faff around with the ball when they're coming forward, he gets rid. Now, some may call it hoofing but to me it's playing it safe. I wasn't surprised Kane got MOTM, and to be honest I would say he deserved it, he is so much better being support to a lone striker as he was last night than being a defensive midfielder. He has probably more running in him than any of our players and last night that showed. He stretched them and harried throughout the evening. Dicko looked done in at the end, and while I didn't disagree with Sampson coming on, I'd have preferred Harris to get on to try and exploit the youth and inexperience of the Gillingham defence.

All in all, a decent enough display for the cameras and we're back where we belong at the top of the division - UTB!:loyalsupporter:

 

[canveyshrimper]

IMO Phillips has been our player of the season and his return to the side was vital, Barker looked more assured with Phillips back along side him. Defensively we were solid and they pretty much took everything Gillingham could throw at them in the last 20 minutes, Tomlins goal aside which was a good individual effort.

It's easy to see the players are more relaxed playing away, maybe that's the system we play or maybe it's the occasional poisonous atmosphere that certain players face at Roots Hall.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Morris - 7
Clohessy - 7
Barker - 6
Phillips - 7
Prosser - 8
Mohsni - 8
Timlin - 7
JPK - 7
Martin - 7
Ferdinand - 7
Dickinson - 8


I'm certainly not the biggest Kane Ferdinand fan in the world but credit where it's due, he put a decent shift in last night (for the 1st half at least) maybe we've found a new role for him.

Bilel was immense, he won absolutely everything in the air, attacking and defensively and was my shout for man of the match.

Closely followed by Luke Prosser who I thought was solid all game, very strong in the tackle and in the air. Didn't put a foot wrong. One thing I've always liked about Prosser is, despite his younger years he talks like a veteran pro on the pitch.

I thought Dicko lead the line very well, aside for being lazy getting back onside a couple of times. Showed good strength with his goal.

In the last ten minutes I thought it would have been perfect timing to bring on Blair, someone who could have actually kept the ball in the corner. This is why I still see him as a valuable squad player.

I wonder who PS was referring to being in the 'last chance saloon'? Barker? I know he's the captain but that shouldn't make him un-dropable. He invited so much pressure onto us in the 2nd half due to him being far too deep. Too slow in pushing the whole back 4 up.

All in all. Nice to get back to winning ways. Especially in front of the Sky cameras.

 

[united we stand]

I think he was shattered. 70 mins as the lone striker. I really hope the crowd get behind him at home on Saturday because he looks so much more relaxed playing away from home. He's had some shockers but the abuse he gets won't help matters.

If he puts the same amount of effort in the crowd will back him . The question is will he put the same amount of effort in ? I don't think the crowd get angry at him making mistakes, they get angry at the percieved lack of effort. last night he didn't duck out of the way for headers, he harassed defenders and closed them down and forced errors, and got a goal through determination----- great stuff, loved it and want to see it more often

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

1st half was impressive, we kept the ball on the ground and we scored two goals. 2nd was diabolical - Gillingham (apart from the last 10) were appalling. All we did was hoof it up the ground, and surprise surprise it comes straight back. A better team would have crucified us.

Which is why we'll need to play a lot better the next time we're in front of the cameras.

 

[Beefy]

After that performance i never want to see Gilbert again even if Prosser has a bad game. Adds so much more aerially and gets stuck in better. Distribution not quite as bad either so it's bye bye Eric your time is up after numerous chances to prove that you are a League footballer!

Whilst I prefer Prosser as well, had Gilbert been turned inside out by Tomlin for the goal like young Luke was there'd already be a seven patch thread about it on here.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Which is why we'll need to play a lot better the next time we're in front of the cameras.

My missus said "typical Southend" - a decent 45 mins where we dominated Gills, followed by 45 of harem-scarem hoof it upfield panic football, desperate to hang onto the lead, counting down the clock. Why not keep the shape, play upfield and on the ground and kill them off with another one or two?

 

[Beefy]

My missus said "typical Southend" - a decent 45 mins where we dominated Gills, followed by 45 of harem-scarem hoof it upfield panic football, desperate to hang onto the lead, counting down the clock. Why not keep the shape, play upfield and on the ground and kill them off with another one or two?

Low confidence, rock-bottom belief, tired legs after a second game in 72 hours vs a team who hadn't played in two weeks?

Sturrock said in his interview that we dropped 15 yards too far back but it's hardly a surprise in the circumstances.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Ferdinand gets out-fought, and the game goes on around him when part of centre midfield 2. Maybe this is due to his up-bringing as a Central defender, and not having the nous and experience to play there.

With the protection of Timlin and Kalala behind him, he usually finds more space, and has the ability to drift into the box late.

A good role for him away from home, but would not be happy with this formation against Crewe on Saturday, as they are a good footballing side that like to pass the ball.

Would like to see a fit Lee Sawyer in that role!

 

[Beefy]

Ferdinand gets out-fought, and the game goes on around him when part of centre midfield 2. Maybe this is due to his up-bringing as a Central defender, and not having the nous and experience to play there.

With the protection of Timlin and Kalala behind him, he usually finds more space, and has the ability to drift into the box late.

I agree with that entirely. I made the point at the start of the season that he'll never have played in the middle of a 4-4-2 before so it may take him a while to learn the position. Personally I think he's best as a holding player still although he does have that knack of scoring goals.

 

[Bluepen]

Gillingham were a very poor team and we struggled for the last 15 to contain them "The listeners " won last night
but was lucky not to draw in the end ........if they had scored would the listeners have been told they didn't listen
just like the Plymouth game.......

 

[Andrewboom]

Hi lurking Gills fans alert.

Your boys played a very good version of league 2 hoof ball last night, and deserved to take all 3 points despite our late rally. I was surprised to see some of you criticize your keepers kicking. I thought he placed virtually every kick perfectly between our left back and left side centre half last for Moshni to attack.

Your ability to win countless flick on from long balls left us always picking up the ball deep in our own half miles from your goal. I only really remember a couple of fluffed clearances by Kalala, and he mopped up very well the rest of the time to be fair. Not sure he needed to roll over 20 times when he got kicked by Weston mind.

We on the other hand gave the ball away and missed tackles in our own half for both your goals. We have been doing this loads in recent games, and your manager employed a full court press to try and catch us out again.

I would not criticize your team too much second half. We looked a different team 2nd half because our best player Jack Payne was subbed on (who had not trained all week due to injury), and he got us passing the ball. We look a decent team when we do this, as we are hopeless at the long ball stuff, and actually have some good players going forward when we get them the ball.

Your best players for me was Ferdinand, who had very good movement in the hole until he faded 2nd half after picking up a silly yellow. Dickenson and Moshni put in a good shift for you, and Clohessy has improved into a good little player since he was with us (talented but with Arsenal sulking built in). Maybe the problem against you this season is the lack of ex Southend players we have. Is it only Richards at the minute? That must be the lowest amount in years ;-).

Sod playing pretty football in this league. We have tried to build a team to do it, and for me it is a very difficult thing to get right in league 2 . The ref last night was fair but let a lot of physical stuff go, so we got bullied out of our natural game. This can happen a lot, and let’s not even go into some of the pitches this time of year.

We got promoted from this league under Tony Pulis in 95-96 letting in 20 goals all season. Yes some of the the football was grim, but I still look back on that promotion year fondly (Dave Martin was head bounty hunter in that team).

I can't stand Crawley so make sure you go on and win the league.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Di you watch the same game. Morris did evrything expected of him, had no chance with the goal and other than that was solid. Barker, best game for weeks and him and Phillps together are the best partnership we have. Martin, was excellant whilst on the pitch and set up the second goal brilliantly then went off injured second half. JPK was everywhere and played the position 100% and finally Moshni was arguably the MOM. Anyone getting less than 7s last nite can feel hard done by.

Morris didn't have much to do other than pick the ball out of the back of the net, but what he did have to do, he didn't convince with. I thought his decision-making (in deciding what balls to come out of the area) was below par, as was his kicking.

I agree Barker had his best game for weeks, but that's not saying much. He's lost a step and looks gone. Maybe that's injury and a spell resting on the sidelines will let him get that back but for now he's struggling to deal with straight forward balls in the air and over the top. That's the bread and butter defending for a centre-half. I'm grimacing every time the ball is played towards him. Even when he should comfortably win the header or take a touch and clear it's a struggle. We look a lot less exposed when he has Phillips alongside him though.

Martin did very well for the second goal (although I see the BBC credited Kalala with the assist) but overall didn't offer much.

Kalala's a poor man's Stuart Thurgood.

Mohsni might have looked good on TV, but his positional play and work-rate was very poor towards the end. It's too late to be closing someone down once they get the ball, you need to be closing them down before the ball gets to them. A lot of Gillingham's space came from Mohsni losing our shape.

I think my ratings tend to be quite different as I give a lot more weight to teamwork. That's why I rate the likes of Ferdinand and Prosser higher than most, although it's nice to see them being given some recognition.

 

[Beefy]

Gillingham were a very poor team and we struggled for the last 15 to contain them "The listeners " won last night
but was lucky not to draw in the end ........if they had scored would the listeners have been told they didn't listen
just like the Plymouth game.......

Why were we lucky? We let Gillingham have the ball a lot in the second half but how many chances did they create?

 

[Gremlin]

Kalala's a poor man's Stuart Thurgood.

A bit harsh on JP, I'd say. If Thurgood ever came close to playing for his country then I'd be packing my bags for somewhere else sharpish.

 

[Bluepen]

Why were we lucky? We let Gillingham have the ball a lot in the second half but how many chances did they create?

well unless it was a different game i was watching they was putting the ball into our box quite a lot in last ten and i was on edge of seat thinking they was gonna get it so i guess i felt lucky they didn't get it .......now tell me was i the only one thinking that ?

 

[Welly7]

Mohsni might have looked good on TV, but his positional play and work-rate was very poor towards the end.

As we were under the cosh for the last ten mins or so, Moshni swapped with Ferdinand and sat in front of the defence. He was put there to win headers, clear the ball and basically do whatever he needed to so we kept the lead. To say his positional play and work rate was poor towards the end is either very harsh or naive.
Moshni was key in ensuring we saw out the game and get the important win.

 

[JoshC]

well unless it was a different game i was watching they was putting the ball into our box quite a lot in last ten and i was on edge of seat thinking they was gonna get it so i guess i felt lucky they didn't get it .......now tell me was i the only one thinking that ?

They didn't get the chance because we defended so well, I dont get all this negativity over the second half. Yes it would be great to keep pushing on and get another goal but as a team that had only played 3 days ago against a team fresh for about 2 weeks its always going to be difficult to keep up such a high tempo. We got 2 goals then defended that lead, we didn't rely on our keeper or ride our luck we just defended a lot better than they attacked. People need to start giving the lads a bit of credit when they do something well to say we were lucky is just not true. Hopefully this win will build our confidence and we can get another good run together and get this season back on track.

 

[wiggy]

See you're as clueless as ever!

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