Post-Match Thread and Ratings Grimsby Town 1-0 Southend United

[CM2 Blue]

Big shout out to those who made the trip to Grimsby- respect. Overall, though we never threatened I thought we worked hard and competed throughout the game. I felt that we showed better organisation and kept our shape well but we don’t have midfielders who break the lines going forward or run past our striker(s) which means we are always playing with the opposition in front of us.

Are our players good enough? I think we all know that most of them are not but they are working hard and there is evidence of improvement. Substitutions were strange and do nothing to inspire confidence- what on earth is Dennis supposed to do in 5 minutes and Daley in 40 seconds?

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Arnold 5
Hobson 6
Lapota 6
White 4
Demetriou 4
Dunne 4
Atkinson 4
Ferguson 5
Brunt 7
Walsh 6
Murphy 5

And there was the main problem tonight. The old guys need replacing. Sad to say, but it's true, and killing us.

 

[amsemp]

One man to blame for me at the moment* and that’s Phil Brown unfortunately. His **** recruitment set the tone for this bollocks. Then again, difficult to know whether it was poor judgement on his part, or desperation after being forced to spend his summer getting knocked back and shopping in the bargain basement. All very sad really. Just hope the new coaching team can pull some more strings and get some real quality in. Few more signings like Lopata and Brunt and we won’t be far off.

*Ron Martin aside…

 

[Leicester Shrimper]

Remember when we used to moan about players that were actually half decent for us.
Oh how I long for those mediocre mid table league one Timlin days.

 

[RHB]

So reading this lot so far you would have thought we were completely rubbish, we weren't. You couldn't fault the effort tonight and contrary to the view of many we didn't wilt after going a goal down. Our biggest problem was that we were too slow to react at vital moments and our team efforts into their box reeked of a lack of confidence. But the lads did keep going, chased and harried and gave Grimsby a game, you know, the Grimsby that were 3rd in the table and were going to rip us a new one.

I agree that Kevin's substitutions were late and lacking purpose in terms of timing, but he is still learning his job and hopefully he will have seen that sooner would have been better tonight. New players needed? absolutely, but they have to be better than we have and want to come to us now, not an easy ask I reckon. What is for sure is that the early love for our new manager, and with it patience, have zoomed out of the window pretty damn quick on here. We are improving, it will take far longer than most want but it is what it is. Anyway that's my opinion, and opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one.

I keep thinking what if, what if Ralph and Clifford were fit and available, what if Agogo could last 90 minutes and so on. We definitely need newbies and I have no doubt the management team and Stan are working hard to achieve that, but until then Kev and co have to keep working with what they have, and I'll keep supporting them as they need us more now than ever.

 

[Lester Bangs]

Dismal. I’m trying to find positives and have been for the last 15 minutes.

There’s nothing but frustration and misery watching this team at the moment. It’s certainly not enjoyable.

 

[LBBlue]

What a poor excuse for a game of football from both sides.
Zero quality, zero excitement, even the ref looked competent until someone put in a tackle when out came the cards whether it was a foul or not.

I get more convinced very week that Phil Brown‘s only aim was to stuff Ron. The contracts he dished out are proving to be totally laughable added to throwing the Col U game at the end of last season.

Kev needs to take a bit more of a gamble with his substitutions, however I guess the 11 he picked and started with were the best and most balanced he had available.

Grimsby knew we wouldnt score if we’d played for another 90 minutes.

 

[Texas Eslan]

Until we address the middle of the park then nothing will change. Not a thing. Brunt was good again in there but Ferguson, Dunne and Atkinson (add Ogogo to that list) offer absolutely nothing going forward, very little sideways and at best get a bad tackle in going backwards. Need a player breaking up play, playing the simple pass and another to drive the team forward through the middle. Minimum.

 

[Whispering Bob]

Somebody said ‘don’t say that was an improvement’ - surely it was better than Saturday? Shame that we didn’t see as much from our only bright sparks, Walsh and Brunt, in the second half ( Walsh completely disappeared after 30 mins). Difference for me was the two front men, theirs - disciplined, composed, effective ours - not so.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Glenn Pennyfather is excellent on our current problems.

 

[Texas Eslan]

Arnold 5
Hobson 6
Lapota 6
White 4
Demetriou 4
Dunne 4
Atkinson 4
Ferguson 5
Brunt 7
Walsh 6
Murphy 5

Generous I would say to those rated a 4. Have you lost the number 1 on your keyboard?

 

[Chapperz]

And there was the main problem tonight. The old guys need replacing. Sad to say, but it's true, and killing us.

Grimsby had a central defensive pairing that are 31 and 32 years old. Their CM is 35 years old and their goalscoring striker is 33 years old.

The difference is that they have players who can cover for their limitations. We decided to play Atkinson and Dunne in a midfield two in front of the defence and a 35 year old defender at right back, who hasn't played there for years, against their most dynamic player.

 

[Chapperz]

Glenn Pennyfather is excellent on our current problems.

What did he say?

 

[ColinMorrisWalksOnWater]

All managers will tell you if you don't concede you don't lose.

Grimsby weren't that impressive and any trouble we were in at the back was mainly of our own making.

It sums it up that Sousa got MoM for and I quote "his performance down the right against John White." Well being given that much space he should have done so much more! All he wanted to do all night was come inside and shoot, so I understand JW standing off having no pace, but take up a body shape that at least shows him to the outside and closes off that option. He didn't do that once!

Arnold didn't have a lot to do. As the game wore on the defence looked better and a little more comfortable with the ball at there feet. From a back 4 that have been hoofing long for most of the season, there was more balls passed out than normal, which is good.

Although for me, we need two new fullbacks, we have one when Ralph is fit, but we need cover for when he is out.

The centre backs looked OK.

The midfield were solid and there was alot of effort defensively and it did reduce the efforts on goal from Grimsby.

Playing this system will shore us up, but will blunt our attacking presence. However at the moment we need this until new personnel can be brought in and players such as Ralph and Bridge are ready to come back.

Walsh did OK for me, Brunt was our best player and Ferguson was just a little too hesitant for my liking going forward.

Up front always a challenge for 1 striker to pull off, I would have preferred to see Dalby as a lone striker as I think he would have fared batter against the centre backs.

Egbri for me is so frustrating. When he made the break into the area it summed him up for me. Great effort to get the ball in that position, but it was a blind strike at the 6 yard box, no look up at the edge of the box or look for other options and he hit the first defender. Not good enough for me sorry.

Overall, we weren't embarrassed by the result, but we never hurt them. We looked more solid, but we had already shipped a goal.

We have to cut out the headless chicken moments at the back, find a right back and add more quality in at least three midfield positions.

But I feel the improvement was that we have gone away to Grimsby, not been rolled over, and won a helluva lot of possession. Now we have to use it more effectively.

And I am very worried about Sam Barrett up against JW or Demi next weekend. We could see what PB didn't have faith to make more of an effort to hold on to.

 

[GBJ]

Well, on the bright side we didn’t get the hiding that most of us were (rightly) expecting.

I thought we held our own for large parts of the game, the difference being we didn’t look particularly dangerous going forwards. Their defence was solid whilst ours looked wishy-washy at best.

It’s certainly an encouraging improvement to see us not rolling over when conceding though. How accustomed have we become to seeing Southend fall behind, drop their heads and then ship three or four?

We all know how desperate we are for recruitment. We lack pace and power in most positions, and that’s something we need to rectify immediately.

 

[Target man]

Generous I would say to those rated a 4. Have you lost the number 1 on your keyboard?

To be fair the 4 was for the work rate in the system Kev set up.... 1 would be for the quality they possess.

 

[jimmyboy999]

One man to blame for me at the moment* and that’s Phil Brown unfortunately. His **** recruitment set the tone for this bollocks. Then again, difficult to know whether it was poor judgement on his part, or desperation after being forced to spend his summer getting knocked back and shopping in the bargain basement. All very sad really. Just hope the new coaching team can pull some more strings and get some real quality in. Few more signings like Lopata and Brunt and we won’t be far off.

*Ron Martin aside…

Although you can’t blame Phil Brown for the inexcusable substitutions tonight.

 

[RHB]

Generous I would say to those rated a 4. Have you lost the number 1 on your keyboard?

The man's entitled to an opinion and that is his.

 

[Leicester Shrimper]

So reading this lot so far you would have thought we were completely rubbish, we weren't. You couldn't fault the effort tonight and contrary to the view of many we didn't wilt after going a goal down. Our biggest problem was that we were too slow to react at vital moments and our team efforts into their box reeked of a lack of confidence. But the lads did keep going, chased and harried and gave Grimsby a game, you know, the Grimsby that were 3rd in the table and were going to rip us a new one.

I agree that Kevin's substitutions were late and lacking purpose in terms of timing, but he is still learning his job and hopefully he will have seen that sooner would have been better tonight. New players needed? absolutely, but they have to better than we have and want to come to us now, not an easy ask I reckon. What is for sure is that the early love for our new manager, and with it patience, have zoomed out of the window pretty damn quick on here. We are improving, it will take far longer than most want but it is what it is. Anyway that's my opinion, and opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one.

I keep thinking what if, what if Ralph and Clifford were fit and available, what if Agogo could last 90 minutes and so on. We definitely need newbies and I have no doubt the management team and Stan are working hard to achieve that, but until then Kev and co have to keep working with what they have, and I'll keep supporting them as they need us more now than ever.

I disagree. Grimsby were poor tonight, sat back on the early goal and were there for the taking. You can blame confidence for so long, but put simply our problem is a serious lack of quality. We had no shots on target and didn’t remotely look like creating anything.

 

[Barling Magna]

We played well in patches, but have no goal threat. The team was set up to park the bus, but that plan fell apart after 2 minutes 45 seconds. We didn't give up having gone a goal behind which is an improvement. Grimsby faded after an impressive start and we came into the game but never looked like scoring. We should have put Dalby on after 60 minutes to accompany Murphy up front.

I would have taken a 1-0 defeat before the game (I feared we might get thrashed) but I think Kev should have shown more courage once it was clear that Grimsby weren't too hot.

At least we are playing Maidenhead who are only one place above us at the Hall on Tuesday. We must have a good chance to beat them but will need to get our tactics right that time....