Post-Match Thread and Ratings Kings Lynn Town 0-1 Southend United

[Bearded Shrimper]

i only listened, but Bridge and Phillips sounded impressive. In many ways the best thing may be that Murphy didn't score. He'll score throughout the season, but we need to consistently win in the games he doesn't too.
Glenn Pennyfather talked about the organisation and shape and how that got us through. we haven't had that for years. Last 2 seasons we've lost so many games in the dugout, now we might win some there.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

And we are joint top.

Fixed it for you

 

[palexander]

This was my first game in ages, a couple of nagging health issues meaning I haven't been to a game since 2017 (other than an u23 friendly at Lowestoft) so it was a very different Shrimpers team to the last one I saw live. There was a lot to really like about the performance today, and a few things to worry about. It's far too early to read anything into the result tthough, if KL win their next 5 games it will look great, if they lose their next 5 then not so much!

I was really impressed with the work ethic and team spirit, they really, really wanted that win and all 13 players used put in a hell of a shift, really worked to earn the right to play. Quality not always there, but the grass was too long and decent football wasn't easy to play.

Won't do ratings as they are meaningless particularly as I've no recent games to compare players against, but a few comments

Arnold - Looks exactly what we need from first glance, solid, mobile fantastic kick out to put Murphy through, though a few iffy kicks afterwards
White - no problems there good solid performance
Coulson - really solid, constantly first to balls on ground as well as in air, despite their no.9 looking a really good player
Ralph - Impressive, hopefully more to come as he gets back into things
Demetriou - good solid performance going forward and back
Bridge - Bit disappointing for me, worked really hard defensively but not much came off for him attacking-wise, reminded me a bit of Bridge before he left - hopefully he can improve though
Ogogo - probably my MOTM. I was honestly expecting another JP Kalala, but as well as doing the dirty work he has a great touch too, just did the simple things but did them really well.
Ferguson - Impressed with him, stayed in the game and use the ball well. he was part of a really high tempo midfield that prevented KL getting a foothold in the main
Phillips - Impressive as well, drifted in and out a little more than the other midfielders but looked composed on the ball and won a lot of second balls and broke attacks up.
Murphy - worked hard, got nothing from the referee, finishing was a wee bit off today but his all round game, off the ball movement etc was excellent, I think he'll lead the line well.
Dalby - good all round game, hold up play got better as the game went on and retained a lot of 50/50 balls chucked at him. Really looking forward to seeing him develope more as the season goes on

My early concerns are that the squad looks set up the be solid and stop teams playing without a huge amount of creativity, concerned we may struggle if teams come and park the bus or pack the midfield against us, but as mentioned earlier too early to judge really.

So good to see the team winning and enjoying their football!

Finally can I suggest a Charity Swear Box type thing for whenever posters use the phrase "at this level"

Nothing wrong with JP Kalala, he was ace!

 

[flangejackrabbit]

Finally can I suggest a Charity Swear Box type thing for whenever posters use the phrase "at this level"

At this level, a swear box seems like it would be an extravagance.

 

[blueblueblue]

Sure. But 45 seconds later I’ll be back to square one ?‍

Hahaha...... I honestly think we'll do ok this season, we've got the right man in charge.

I think we'll go up at the first attempt........

 

[Chapperz]

A win and a clean sheet. This feels weird!

Post your ratings here -> https://www.shrimperzone.com/zoneratings/ratings.php?fixture=118

 

[sufc_dave]

Was great to me amongst the Southend Army today. A ‘good’ win in the grand scheme of things. The first game of the season can always be a bit hit and miss.

Arnold looked good in goal when called upon. A few good saves and his handling was top notch (something we’ve not had before). Also, when his kicking is on point, it’s going to create chances.

The strikers played very well. Murphy should have got a goal today but they will come in time. Dalby looked class in the role today. Non-stop working.

Fair play to King’s Lynn. They went at us and maybe another day would of snatched a goal to make it 1-1. They passed it around nicely but I think we were in control, they only had 2 clear chances that I can recall (the Arnold save and hitting the bar). We had much more and it could of sounded a lot more comfortable than 1-0.

Onwards and upwards. WE’RE ON OUR WAY BACK!

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

Nothing wrong with JP Kalala, he was ace!

Agree, I thought he was quality

 

[RHB]

Just back, knackered, but in a good way. Three points, away win and superb support. Couldn't ask for more on the face of it, but truthfully we should have scored at least another two maybe three. A combination of wasteful finishing and good goal keeping from the KL custodian kept the score down. A bit harsh? probably, but Murphy had two guilt edged chances that he should have buried, however the great thing was that he was in the right positions to take the chances in the first place.

Our only goal came after a melee in their 12 yard box which was finished by Dalby pushing the ball home. Truthfully, there was only one team in it for the first 45, and that was the boys in white. Second half we sat back more than a bit and let them have possession, we also survived some squeaky bum moments which saw Arnold make two top drawer saves. One he tipped round the post low to his left and the other he pushed a goal bound shot up on to the bar and out. There was another melee where Demi cleared off the line. That makes it sound as if it was all Kings Lynn second half, it wasn't and we really should have had at least one more. Brown subbed Murphy out and bought on Matt Dennis. That seemed to scare the pants off of the Lynn defenders as his pace was fierce and so was his strength. Properly developed he is going to be some player.

Nobody had a bad game but special mentions go to Harry Phillips, who looked like the player we hoped he would become a few seasons back, Nathan Ferguson, who has obviously listened to Phil Brown's advice because he worked his nuts off the whole 90 minutes and Nathan Ralph, as he looked a class defender who is too good for this league.

The team will take time to gel, but the signs are there that we have the makings of a half decent team. As for Kings Lynn, they kept going the whole game but had no real cutting edge and after their number 10 decided to kick demi right under the ref's nose they went down to 10 men and that was it really. I have no idea about the quality of this league but I suspect we will face tougher opposition than Kings Lynn as the season progresses, starting next Saturday against Stockport.

Finally, the ref was a total donkey and the away support was brilliant, not only in the away terraces, but also in their main stand which was also bristling with Southend boys making all the noise.

 

[Maroon Blue]

Great day out, grass was way too long, we tired badly. On another day we would have killed the game off, could really have won 5-4., but equally on another day, last 2 seasons would have conceded and dropped points. Now we have the nous to get us through.

Arnold 7 Did well, but kicking got more wayward.
Demetriou 6 Solid, worry about his legs as a wing back
White 6 Typical JW defending
Coulson 7 Pick of the back line, calm and assured
Ralph 6 useful as left cb and wing back when Hobson came on
Bridge 6 Busy, sometimes ran into dead ends
Ferguson 6 In and out of the game, some sloppy balls, some good shooting, keeper denied him a goal
Ogogo 7 pick of midfield tidy and industrious, some bursts forward
Phillips 6 sat and done his job without fuss, seems stronger this season
Dalby 8 MOTM a constant thorn, won most of his duels, linked play when dropping deep and scored
Murphy 7 plenty of chances, another day has a hat trick

Hobson 6 shored up, last 15 mins
Dennis 6 looks tricky, a couple of times undecided when through.

Overall, take that 3 points, clean sheet, but this team does my nerves no good. Should have been put to bed at 60 mins to negate nail biting finish.

 

[Mr Browns Ghost]

How many away fans

The away standing was really mobed… the home standing had a lot of Southend in with Southend flags … the normal seating had a good couple of hundred and the dearer seats in the middle was a split between KL and SUFC

 

[Tinks]

It felt so good to be back watching the game and not on the telly.
SUFC should count themselves lucky regarding our support as what other team would have 2 relegations and end up in the NL and then still sell over 3000 season tickets and take support away today like we did. Not many I guess.

This is going to be a tough season but, if we get off to a good start and build from that and build confidence then fingers crossed for us.
Too early to say who and who isn’t going to stand out but, I have to say young Phillips stood out for me today and I was also impressed with Bridge and I am beginning to like the character of Coulson.
Here hoping we can impress on Saturday when we are back at home

 

[LCBB72]

Fixed it for you

Like It .

 

[leeblue]

My two penny's worth
I've said during pre season I don't think 3 5 2 suits our personnel and I still think that's the case. For me we don't have the wing backs to do it properly.
Kings lynn generally played better football than us i thought, they kept the ball well and got into very good positions around our box.
We were ok for spells, some good moves and Murphy should have notched today for sure.
I was concerned that there would be a physicality in this league that we as a team would not like, I'm pleased to say that wasn't the case and we were up for the fight from the off.
My MOM was was Dalby scored and linked up well throughout.

 

[Ricey]

It felt so good to be back watching the game and not on the telly.
SUFC should count themselves lucky regarding our support as what other team would have 2 relegations and end up in the NL and then still sell over 3000 season tickets and take support away today like we did. Not many I guess.

This is going to be a tough season but, if we get off to a good start and build from that and build confidence then fingers crossed for us.
Too early to say who and who isn’t going to stand out but, I have to say young Phillips stood out for me today and I was also impressed with Bridge and I am beginning to like the character of Coulson.
Here hoping we can impress on Saturday when we are back at home

Did you see him when the steward ran on to get the pyro off the pitch? The steward dropped his radio and Coulson picked it up and pretended to use it before giving it back. Made Arnold laugh! Coulson comes across as a bit of a joker.

 

[blueblueblue]

Just back, knackered, but in a good way. Three points, away win and superb support. Couldn't ask for more on the face of it, but truthfully we should have scored at least another two maybe three. A combination of wasteful finishing and good goal keeping from the KL custodian kept the score down. A bit harsh? probably, but Murphy had two guilt edged chances that he should have buried, however the great thing was that he was in the right positions to take the chances in the first place.

Our only goal came after a melee in their 12 yard box which was finished by Dalby pushing the ball home. Truthfully, there was only one team in it for the first 45, and that was the boys in white. Second half we sat back more than a bit and let them have possession, we also survived some squeaky bum moments which saw Arnold make two top drawer saves. One he tipped round the post low to his left and the other he pushed a goal bound shot up on to the bar and out. There was another melee where Demi cleared off the line. That makes it sound as if it was all Kings Lynn second half, it wasn't and we really should have had at least one more. Brown subbed Murphy out and bought on Matt Dennis. That seemed to scare the pants off of the Lynn defenders as his pace was fierce and so was his strength. Properly developed he is going to be some player.

Nobody had a bad game but special mentions go to Harry Phillips, who looked like the player we hoped he would become a few seasons back, Nathan Ferguson, who has obviously listened to Phil Brown's advice because he worked his nuts off the whole 90 minutes and Nathan Ralph, as he looked a class defender who is too good for this league.

The team will take time to gel, but the signs are there that we have the makings of a half decent team. As for Kings Lynn, they kept going the whole game but had no real cutting edge and after their number 10 decided to kick demi right under the ref's nose they went down to 10 men and that was it really. I have no idea about the quality of this league but I suspect we will face tougher opposition than Kings Lynn as the season progresses, starting next Saturday against Stockport.

Finally, the ref was a total donkey and the away support was brilliant, not only in the away terraces, but also in their main stand which was also bristling with noisy Southend boys making all the noise.

We're a well supported club at this level (and above), the home supporters must have pretty shocked.

 

[Medway Blue]

Did you see him when the steward ran on to get the pyro off the pitch? The steward dropped his radio and Coulson picked it up and pretended to use it before giving it back. Made Arnold laugh! Coulson comes across as a bit of a joker.

Think it was Browm who said a couple of weeks back that he makes his teammates laugh. I think he's going to be an asset this season, for team spirit as much as on thr pitch.

 

[Barling Magna]

And we are 8th in the table .

Just missed the play offs.....

 

[Barling Magna]

Sure. But 45 seconds later I’ll be back to square one ?‍

How d'ya make it last so long....?

 

[shrimperjon]

So 539 days since our last away game and what a way to return. Fans were brilliant, I’ve lost my voice totally. The team won’t be short of backing. As for the game, prob 4~2 to us would have been a more accurate score line, but the old PB 1~0 is back and a joy to see.

Arnold- a couple of dodgy kicks but overall was really solid, claimed lots of crosses/corners and two top draw saves to keep the clean sheet

white/coulson/Ralph- not sure about the playing three at the back but these three were excellent, Coulson is a unit and great to see Ralph back playing and enjoying his football again JW a leader

JD and Bridge - both worked hard but in truth at times struggled with the final ball. Bridge though has something about him and will cause defences lots of problems this season, JD unlucky not to score towards the end

Ogogo, Fergie and Phillips battled hard in a physical encounter. Phillips in particular impressed and both Ogogo and Ferguson ran themselves into the ground

Murphy and Dalby- at last we have a proper strike force. Both will score plenty this season, Dalby worked so hard and deserved his goal and Murphy did everything right but score, but he will get his fair share

hobson - solid to see out the game
and Dennis showed what he is capable of but prob should have done better with his clear chance

fans - 1500 or so, great effort and just didn’t stop. KL fans were quite frankly awful, no noise and spent most of the first half goading the Southend fans and throwing beer at us

so all in all a brilliant start and great to be back and feeling normal. This team can produce for sure and if we can make a positive start over the next few weeks then who knows what will happen