Ratings for today

[Andy_S]

The worst home display this season bar Cheltenham, yet we still beat a very good side. Football truly is a 'funny old game' as they say!

We didn't pass it well, the defence, especially the full backs were all over the place at times and Pettefer and Hunt (2nd half mainly for him) were completely ineffective. Saying all that though, we won so lets get on with the next game!

Ratings:

Flahavan 7: Magnificent low save from the penalty, although didn't have much else to do despite their dominance, which was strange.

Jupp 6: At times, woeful, yet at others looked quite good. He's still a major concern for me though as he gives the ball away more than any other player.

Prior 7: Still gives the ball away too often just like Jupp, although in the air, he did well.

Barrett 7.5: Some timely interceptions, although Sabin's pace gave him a big problem at times, he coped quite well.

Wilson 5: Time for Nicky to get another chance IMHO. Once again Che was poor against a flying winger in Josh Low. The amount of times he misjudged balls and let them nip in and take it was a huge worry. The impressive form that he showed when he first got back into the side has now diminished completely.

Pettefer 5: I'm sorry, we have to have a change at right wing now. With Petts playing, we're far too narrow and we have absolutely no attacking prowess down the right. Worked hard as normal but completely ineffective, which lays a burden on Gower.

Hunt 6: Did alright in the first half and tried to get forward whenever possible. Second half when we were under the cosh though, we missed Bentley massively. I'd get Benno back in the team for the Oxford game without a doubt.

Maher 7.5: Gave the ball away more often than usual but won it back more than any other midfielder. Once again vital in driving the team on. Never stopped working.

Gower 7: Cracking goal, but wondered over the pitch too often instead of staying on the left which contributed to some of our downfalls. Strangely subbed for Bentley when Hunt would've been the more obvious choice.

Eastwood 6.5: In the first half he did alright, worked hard and generally made himself a nuisance, but in the second half due to a complete lack of service he vanished. Didn't have that great a game but still had 2 chances and a goal disallowed! I heard from a steward and someone sitting behind me that a deal's been wrapped up and we should announce it Monday. Did anyone else hear this? Or is it another fictitious rumour?

Gray 7.5: Worked hard and showed what he's all about with his goal. Just like Eastwood though, he suffered from a complete lack of service.

Subs:

Dudfield : Barely touched the ball in his 10 minutes.

Bentley : Only had 10 minutes but put in 3 or 4 crunching tackles which is something we lacked when he wasn't on.


Great result but iffy performance to say the least. I suppose you always hear though, how a sign of a good team is when they win despite playing poorly!

 

[southend4ever]

flahavan 7.
jupp 6
prior 7
barrett 6
wilson 5/6
maher 7
hunt 7
gower 7
pettefer 5/6
eastwood 6
gray 8

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

Bit harsh saying it was the worst since Cheltenham. We didn't play that badly. We played some decent football and defended well. Hunt ineffective?? He was brilliant today I thought. I agree it wasn't a great performance but for once we took our chances and that's what matters. These would be my ratings:

Flahavan 7 - Good save for the pen, didn't have much else to do because Northampton's finishing was so terrible.

Jupp 6 - Slight improvement on previous games. Defended well but again his passing was poor.

Prior 7 - Dealt with the dangerous Northampton strikers well and won pretty much everything in the air. Needed to play well and did.

Barrett 7 - Same a Prior.

Wilson 5 - Yet again proved that he can't defend against pace. Low was running at him all afternoon and Wilson just couldn't defend against him.

Pettefer 6 - Bright start to the game but faded afterwards. Time for a more natural winger on the right hand side.

Hunt 7 - Really got stuck in during the first half and made some decent runs. Faded like a lot of the players after the break but it was one of his better performances I've seen from Lewis.

Maher 6 - Unusually poor passing from Maher but won the ball back alot too. Worked really hard and also did his best to encourage the rest of the team.

Gower 7 - Scored a scorcher of a goal but apart from that was fairly ineffective.

GRAY 8 - Worked his socks off and did ever so well

Seriously, he deserved his goal and his MoTM award.

Eastwood 7 - Good first half but disappeared after the break (to be fair he didn't have muhc service). Showed that he has a great first touch.

 

[Barmy Army]

Flavs - 7 - Not a lot to do

Jupp - 6 - Thinking he may be more of a RM than a RB

Prior - 7 - Solid, but likes to blame everyone but himself when something goes wrong

Barrett - 7 - Quiet game but came up with the goods when needed, a couple of nice driving runs

Che - 6 - Didn't think that he was dreadful, but not as good as he had been earlier in the season

Pettefer - 7 - Battled hard, but not a winger

Maher - 6/7 - Woeful passing and didn't really feature heavily

Hunt - 6/7 - Not a lot from him, but stuck his foot in at times

Gower - 7 - Great goal, looked knackered after 35mins very ineffectual at times

Gray - 8 - Work-horse like Drewe used to be, but feel more comfortable when he has the ball running at the defence

Eastwood - 7 - Too greedy, should have looked to play a couple more through-balls to Gray rather than looking for the shot.

 

[Thenewblue]

Since Cheltenham is quite harsh, ok in patches, passed well sometimes, both full backs though are liabilties at passing at tackling BUT and a big but Jupp is outstanding at defending set pieces, he gets his head on everything. Hunt was strong, and Gray runs and runs and runs.....

Flavs - 7 Not at fault for the goal, good pen save
Jupp - 5 Just puts his foot through the ball no thought
Che - 5 Conceded pen and went missing at times g2g
Barrett-7 Great interventions and some good runs
Prior - 6 Put us in trouble with some passes but good in air
Gower-7 Wonder goal and not afraid to run at N'hampton
Petts -6 Tries and tries but isn't a winger, gives 110% though
Hunt - 7 Very composed until in the area, good enough to stay
Maher-6 Lose with passing but gets his foot into everything
Fredy-6 Good touches but not his kinda game today
Gray - 8 MOTM just keeps trying and looks fantastic COME ON!
Subs - Bents - Deserves to play every week will be bck soon IMO
Duds - No chances just chasing balls down like he does so well

 

[Technician]

Quote[/b] (Barmy Army @ Oct. 30 2004,20:57)]Eastwood - 7 - Too greedy, should have looked to play a couple more through-balls to Gray rather than looking for the shot.

... without being too critical (and you're right, Barmy Army!), strikers are selfish, Eastwood and Gray have both got 4 goals now and if the former signs, he'll be in competition with Gray over how many goals they get (not only each, but between them as well... most strikers compete in this way!) this season and this is how they'll promote healthy competition between them and the usual post-match banter after the game.

This is of course assuming Eastwood does sign and Gray remains his partner... the jury's still out on that one, but IMHO it's looking good!

 

[Beefy]

Wow, its amazing how people see games so differently. For me Maher was the best player on the pitch. When our backs were against the wall, as they were for most of today's game, he was the one getting tackles in and setting the pace of our game. His passing was top notch, he put in several crunching tackles and for once his discipline couldn't be criticised. I thought Pettefer played well too. He isn't a winger, obviously, but he works hard, he offers a lot defensively and he can put a good cross in, as he did a few times today. On the other hand I thought Hunt was pretty poor and I'd definately stick Bentley into the middle asap.

Up front Gray was quality. I'm a huge fan of Bramble and Dudfield, but Wayne has made this place his own recently and fair play to him. Took the goal brilliantly. Fredy impressed a lot in the first half and he showed what sort of player he really is. After Swansea and his hattrick he looked like your out-and-out striker but today he was dropping off and creating chances. He reminds me of Dennis Bergkamp. I'm obviously not saying he's at that level but he takes up that sort of position and he is able to get two yards on his marker with his first touch, just like Bergkamp does. Second half he was anonymous but that was because we weren't getting the ball, and when we were we were knocking it upfront looking for it to stick on the feet of the strikers, but thats not Fredys game. We were defending far too deep too for him to get involved.

my ratings:

Flavs - 8 - good penalty save and a cracking double save early doors. Didn't come for a couple of balls that he should have done but we've got to accept that is going to happen. If he didn't have that floaw to his game he wouldn't be playing for us.

Jupp - 6.5 - woefully short of confidence. Didn't do too bad but didn't add anything going forwards

Wilson - 5 - Poor game. Beaten at ease everytime he is up against a good winger

Prior - 7.5 - Northampton had all the ball but hardly created anything. This was mostly down to our centerbacks. Two lads you'd want in the trenches with you.

Barrett - 8 - See Prior. Also got forward whenever he had the chance.

Hunt - 6 - Not a center midfielder. If he plays there again look at the positions he takes. He just doesn't put the opposition under any pressure at all and in that position it looks like we're carrying him which sets the tone for the rest of the team's performance. I like the guy and I'd like to see him given a run at rightback, but the sooner Bentley or Smith is back alongside Kev the better.

Maher - 8.5 - Brilliant performance. His passing today was as good as I've ever seen it. Rarely gave the ball away, if at all. Strong tacking and disciplined. When he plays like he did today there not a better midfielder in this league.

Gower - 7 - Quality finish for the first goal and always looked likely to create something out of nothing when we were looking for inspiration in the second half.

Pettefer - 7 - Not a winger but works his b******s off. Adds stability to the right flank and gets forward when he can. A couple of times Gower came over to the right and Petts missed the chance to come inside or go to the left which left us short but hopefully he'll work on this the more he plays.

Eastwood - 7 - sign him up. Brilliant first half, much quieter second half but as I said earlier that was down to the way we were playing. Too good for this level lets get him under contract before anyone else realises this.

Gray - 8 - One of the most hardworking and selfless performances I've seen from Southend striker. Always offering himself to the midfield and always trying to hurt the opposition with his strength and pace. Must be the fastest footballer in England. Took his goal fantastically.

Subs:

Dudfield - 5.5 - Didn't really get involved. Held the ball up when required but thats not what we bought him for. I can't believe that the guy I was sure would bag us 20 goals this season is now reduced to a bit part role like this. I can't see him being here in six months.

Bentley - 6.5 - put himself around a bit as always but not suited to the flanks.

 

[Technician]

Good report Beefy!

Oxford might be a different matter! (Roget, Mooney, ?Rawle?).

They won today, but will they win at the Hall next week? Ex-Southend players seem to have the habit of scoring against us and it will be another tough game. With 4 straight home wins in the league now, let's hope the fortress holds firm!

SHRIMPERS! ON THE UP...

 

[Kent Shrimper]

To be honest we done yesterday what promotion sides do, Ground out a result.

Indeed i dont think on goal scoring opportunitys we deserved it but they are the games that a year ago we wouldnt have won.