Post-Match Thread and Ratings Portsmouth FC 4-1 vSouthend Utd

[Tangled up in Blue]

We can'tkeep playing statues at the back and hope to avoid relegation.Also,Milligan gives the ball away far too often and cheaply in midfield to start proper counter attacks.This is something Sol needs to address right now before the window opens in January,

 

[rigsby]

Like the last two mangers Sol now has a goal keeping decision to make. Do I pick the one who pushes shots out or the one who lets them straight through him.

By the way I like Bish and his attitude . Showed a bit of inexperience with the first goal but so did the whole team.

I wouldn't be to harsh on them for a poor last 10. They had been beaten by some very poor refereeing.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Like the last two mangers Sol now has a goal keeping decision to make. Do I pick the one who pushes shots out or the one who lets them straight through him.

By the way I like Bish and his attitude . Showed a bit of inexperience with the first goal but so did the whole team.

I wouldn't be to harsh on them for a poor last 10. They had been beaten by some very poor refereeing.

Personally,I think Bishop's won the battle against Oxley.He's younger and better.

Don't think poor refereing had anything to do with last night's result or the previous couple of games.

 

[wiggy]

Like the last two mangers Sol now has a goal keeping decision to make. Do I pick the one who pushes shots out or the one who lets them straight through him.

By the way I like Bish and his attitude . Showed a bit of inexperience with the first goal but so did the whole team.

I wouldn't be to harsh on them for a poor last 10. They had been beaten by some very poor refereeing.

What a shambles.....if you can’t get the most important part right what chance have you got.
Oxley has had enough chances now to prove he is number one but he just ain’t got the bottle to be a goalkeeper. At least Bishop looks like he is confident and hopefully will get better with experience although still not sure he’s got what it takes for a career in pro football. Stick with him till January and keep Dracula on the bench.

Looking at them all last night player for player other than Hopper which we know what he can do and Hutch plenty of potential, the rest wouldn’t be sort after by any League 1 team.

Ralph ....flattered to deceive pre season
Elvis, League 1 one minute, 2 the next Shaugnnessy......Scottish Conference if they ever form one
Lennon .....crippled and Col U
Dieng makeshift League 2
Milligan ....Celebrity Jungle back home please!
Cox.....washed up or could come good again if playing with footballers
Goodship.....think we know where his level was

Good luck with that lot Sol......think he will walk and Ron take over as manager. Only he knows how good these misfits really are and can make them perform to a level higher than what they are capable!

 

[Taunton_Shrimper]

We scrapped and fought for the first half an hour, under pressure but the shape was better and pompey didnt really create anything major, then finally we get a decent 10mins and we open them up, Goodship scores and who knows but then backs to the walls again and I thought we tired at the end of the first half, their goal was so soft and a terrible time to concede, last kick of the half and Sol probably had to rip up the team talk he had planned.

We tried to keep possession but often ended playing square across our own box and needlessly getting ourselves into trouble, schoolboy stuff really. That's players decision making, sometimes like it or not you've just got to get rid of it and squeeze up.

Positives of the half were Hutchinson, looked lively and prepared to try and carry the ball at times, not afraid to have shot.

As for the 2nd half, nothing positive to be said about it. As soon as they scored the writing was on the wall and it was a question of how many. Our goal was actually a decent spell of passing football, which resulted in goodship getting a shot away which their keeper with 'cat flap' wrists has palmed in to give us some false hope.

Cox getting some unfair stick I think, he's not a wide midfielder thats known for tracking back and putting in tackles which is was he was asked to do tonight, for sure he left Ralph exposed at times but we need him up front, that chance at 0-0 in the first half we want that falling to Cox.

A very Disappointing night and I wait with fear for Sundays FA Cup game to see how that pans out.

 

[gazza]

January will not save our season. As far as I am concerned, January will be about laying some foundations for next season on league 2, part 1 of a rebuilding project with the summer transfer window being part 2.

 

[Chrisb]

January will not save our season. As far as I am concerned, January will be about laying some foundations for next season on league 2, part 1 of a rebuilding project with the summer transfer window being part 2.

Players won't be queuing up to join us in January, even on loan. A few weeks ago I thought things might be improved during the transfer window but as time goes on that looks less likely.

 

[Jai]

Agreed, January won't save us and we need to try and get as many of these wasters out of the club as possible to free up wages and give us half a chance of bringing in better players. Problem is there won't be many takers.

Ron, appoint a CEO please. Your boast that this lot are in the top 5 wage budgets of the division just shows how bad you are at transfer negotiations.

 

[rigsby]

Personally,I think Bishop's won the battle against Oxley.He's younger and better.

Don't think poor refereing had anything to do with last night's result or the previous couple of games.

Not sure I ever claimed last nights ref is to blame for previous games. I guess you could blame the so called assistant for the second goal and the ref for giving the penalty.....When our one in the first half was a better shout.

I remember a few years back when their player saved a certain goal with a deliberate hand ball and the ref decided it was not a red. Even though the keeper would have never saved it.

 

[Rayleigh boy]

The poor refereeing had a lot to do with the result ...

Portsmouth were on their heels before the pen .. the crowd had turned .. we were beginning to boss it ..

 

[palexander]

Yea Jan should be spent getting players OUT. Play Bishop, Elvis, Taylor, Hutch etc for rest of season and put together a really young hungry squad next year.

Rest of season;

Bishop *
Elvis *
Taylor *
Shaughnessy
Ralph
Macca
Dieng
Milligan
Hutch *
Acquah/Rush *
Kelman *

Majority of kids going forward - for all the **** this season, seeing lot of them coming on and improving is encouraging.

 

[BARNETBLUE]

At least Spencer Prior has marked our card if he ever wanted the managers job. He reckoned MILLIGAN was a world beater, couldn’t beat an egg.......Milligan, Hyam, Mantom, are there 3 worse midfielders in the football League?

Never thought Id ever agree with Wiggy, but,here I have to...and to answer the question posed..NO!

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Not sure I ever claimed last nights ref is to blame for previous games. I guess you could blame the so called assistant for the second goal and the ref for giving the penalty.....When our one in the first half was a better shout.

I remember a few years back when their player saved a certain goal with a deliberate hand ball and the ref decided it was not a red. Even though the keeper would have never saved it.

Like the last two mangers Sol now has a goal keeping decision to make. Do I pick the one who pushes shots out or the one who lets them straight through him.

By the way I like Bish and his attitude . Showed a bit of inexperience with the first goal but so did the whole team.

I wouldn't be to harsh on them for a poor last 10. They had been beaten by some very poor refereeing.

You clearly suggested above that "poor refereeing" was responsible for our last 10 results.Frankly,I can't remember that far back,which was why I narrowed it down to the last 3.

We nearly got a point at Sunderland.But no way were we in the match against Ipswich (though we kept it to 1-0 for about 60 mins) or last night (though we didn't conceed until the end of the 1st half).

Frankly, the team is nowhere near good enough to survive in L1.Currently I'm worried that Dover could be yet another banana skin game for us.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

I’m not in favour of blaming referees, I hate when managers do it, all teams get good and bad decisions from refs. The fact is, we crumble when we go a goal down. We can’t defend as a team, we have no urgency. I honestly think they WERE making an effort, against Ipswich and Sunderland. That’s my worry, that that’s the best this lot (as a team) are capable of. Brown, Powell, Bond, Waddock and now Campbell .. same results. Little peaks, mainly troughs. There’s a losing mentality right through this squad. I hate to say it but maybe Bond’s ramblings had some truth. Maybe the rot set in last season (before?) and there’s something irreversibly wrong here. I keep hearing “they just need confidence, give it time, these players are good enough” .. I just hope to flipping God that Sol is a miracle worker. Because I see no evidence that anything has drastically changed. Some of this squad don’t seem to be able to get themselves out of this rot or just don’t care. We do have good players, but I’d get 5/6 of this lot out the team as they’re affecting others around them. Negativity breeds negativity. Trouble is we can’t bench them as we have too little option other than fielding the U23’s..

 

[rigsby]

You clearly suggested above that "poor refereeing" was responsible for our last 10 results.Frankly,I can't remember that far back,which was why I narrowed it down to the last 3.

We nearly got a point at Sunderland.But no way were we in the match against Ipswich (though we kept it to 1-0 for about 60 mins) or last night (though we didn't conceed until the end of the 1st half).

Frankly, the team is nowhere near good enough to survive in L1.Currently I'm worried that Dover could be yet another banana skin game for us.

When I said last 10.....I meant the last 10 minutes of yesterdays game.

 

[Kris]

4-1 flattered us, not Pompey. Even before the 'offside' goal Harrison somehow missed a header from six yards and they hit a post at 2-0. God, even our goal, albeit a good strike, was a ****-up by their keeper. Yes, the penalty was soft but Kiernan gave the ref the opportunity to give it after losing his man, and after that they bombarded us and the fourth wasn't exactly against the run of play.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

When I said last 10.....I meant the last 10 minutes of yesterdays game.

Ok.Beg your humble.

 

[wiggy]

4-1 flattered us, not Pompey. Even before the 'offside' goal Harrison somehow missed a header from six yards and they hit a post at 2-0. God, even our goal, albeit a good strike, was a ****-up by their keeper. Yes, the penalty was soft but Kiernan gave the ref the opportunity to give it after losing his man, and after that they bombarded us and the fourth wasn't exactly against the run of play.

Quite agree all this blaming the ref nonsense. Perhaps if we got in the opposition area now and again we'd get a couple of dodgy decisions. Four managers and we never look like scoring....god this is bad!

 

[CM2 Blue]

These are very trying times to be a Southend United supporter. I have never known a run of results like this or seen such a disjointed-looking Southend team in many, many years of supporting the club. It is difficult to assess the worth of our players when we are playing as poorly as we are but it is a mystery why such apparently decent players combine to produce a team effort that is way below the sum of its parts and makes individual players appear so poor in their skills, decision-making and application. What is pleasing is to see that our younger, home-grown players are demonstrating the grit, application and ‘never say die’ attitude that the senior players should be showing, notably Elvis and Hutchinson. These rough times could be the making of them and they are the future of our club.

Another positive, oddly enough, may be the impossibility of our situation. Hopefully, Ron will give Sol Campbell the go-ahead to get the right things in place (training, fitness, style of play) and hopefully the right players in place ready for next season. A clear out of players seems inevitable. I just hope we can attract the calibre of players who can enable us to steady the ship and at least consolidate the club’s position in League 2 next season, I haven’t given up hope of surviving in League 1 but it will take a miraculous change in fortune for this to happen.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

#54, agree mate, at least Hammy and Macca are now available for our shortfall area of midfield and width.
Fat Lady not sung yet.