Post-Match Thread and Ratings Rochdale AFC 3-0 Southend United

[WESTY_SUFC]

I will always support the team, no matter who is playing, and who's in charge - if you want to support a winning team try getting a Real Madrid or a Manchester City season ticket.

Same here. With you on that. We have hard darker days than the current team. What's more worrying for me is the ownership of our club.

 

[IloveShrimp]

We are total dog **** but my support regardless of division will continue. This is Southend United, we've always been bobbins.

Iv'e have supported them for 45 years, and so I have been around when we have played in many divisions,so this does not come into it for me.

I have rarely felt so demoralised though (Alvin Martin's era was tough as was Colin Murphy's) but I have had enough of Brown now. If he stays I go simples!

 

[manor15]

We are total dog **** but my support regardless of division will continue. This is Southend United, we've always been bobbins.

This is true. That said, I don't think that in 15 years of supporting the Blues I have ever felt so disillusioned and go into every game expecting to lose hopelessly, and I put that fully down to Brown.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Easy parking, very good fish and chips, cheerfull stewards, pints of Thwaites in the ground at £3 and warm sunlight while the teams warmed up - all very good so far!
We are in the fetching/retching pink/cherry strip.
Kick off and the ball gets back to Oxley and woosh its launched towards Mooney, possession lost and the pattern is set for the afternoon. WHY? With 3/4/3 the ball mus go out to feet more often than not?
For the first 20 minutes it was dire and neither team did much.
Someone, Barrett or Ferdinand gives away as soft foul, they score from the set piece, clean, hard header. 1 attack, 1 goal BUT still more than our huffing and puffing and off sides (Mooney).
Another break forward and then they score again from a header with Oxley getting a hand on it and it seemed our 3 CBs didn't seem to know who should be doing what or marking who etc.
2 nil down, no attempts on goal and no midfield.
Mooney, rightly off, Fortune on, BUT all a bit late and still not enough.
O'Niell wasn't at his best but no-one was. There was a collective lack of responsibility and inspiration.

Half time

2nd half continued with McG off and Ranger on, Ferdinand pushed forward so we had a back 4 and sweeper; slight improvement.

A break from Rochdale and Oxley beaten in a 1 on 1 and its 3 nil.

Cox on and he gives some sense to the midfield but we could have played all night and not scored. I don't think Ranger or Fortune or Cox managed a shot on target but there was little build up, no quick play and hopeless set pieces of soft floated balls.

Rubbish team selection, inept tactics, thoughtless playing.

No player deserved more than 5/10.

 

[rlb999]

Same with me. Tbh I pondered whether to renew this season or not and now I am sorry that I have. My son didn't (he has supported blues for 29 years (since 4 years old) and he doesn't attend at all now.

That has nothing to do with Phil Brown. I've supported for about the same time as your son and is has been MUCH worse than this. All that has changed is social media and the demand for instant success.

 

[turkishm]

Two teams have scored less than us - nobody has conceded more so far this season in our division.

And there you have it. Does not RM look at that, and think to himself, i may have to do something about this, or o well might win next week, and everything will be ok. How long before we are trapped in the bottom 6 or 7, unable to climb the table because we are so far behind, then time for a change oops to late.

 

[AndyT]

We've got good enough players, but I just wish we'd play 4-4-2, get the ball on the deck and ping it around and have some constructive possession.

We don't need all this width, huffing and puffing and so on.

Just keep the game simple, stick to the system and have some belief in it.

I'm not keen on changing managers, but I just wish we had some idea of a plan.

You can tell the ball players like Cox get frustrated with the set-up.

At Sheffield United, we closed down quickly and moved the ball around at pace and completely destroyed them, but since then it just sounds so lacklustre away from home.

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

It boils down to Browns signings and they have mostly been utter crap. Do we really want another transfer window of poor signings from him?

 

[IloveShrimp]

That has nothing to do with Phil Brown. I've supported for about the same time as your son and is has been MUCH worse than this. All that has changed is social media and the demand for instant success.

That's nothing to do with it. He doesn't go because he is fed up with being bored **** less and wasting his money on being depressed after every game.

If you went to watch a band or singer who was total crap, bored you silly and didn't entertain, would you continue to spend your hard earned cash and continue to go repeatedly?

 

[maninasuitcase]

We were awful today, this reminds of the fag end of many a failed manager's reign with the constant chopping and changing of the formation. A the start of the game we seemed to be playing 3-6-1, at one point 4-2-4 before finishing on 4-4-2.

Mooney was ineffective and replaced in the first half. Ferdinand started at centre back, had a spell at left back and finished in midfield.

McLaughlin came out for the second half but the referee made change something so we kicked off with 10 men.

I have to say that all this messing around is a bit like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It isn't going to stop us sinking in to League 2.

That said, it can be fixed, with or without PB.

We need to go back to 4-4-2 and stick with it. Brown needs to sort out his preferred parings at centre back, midfield and upfront. As we don't have a Jack Payne style of player who takes on players in the middle of the park and scores a few goals, we have to play two wingers to supply the strikers.

There is a good team in there somewhere, but I wonder if Brown is making it too complicated for the players and himself. He may think he is a tactical genius, but at this level, with average players, 4-4-2 is what gets the job done and what most of the players are used to.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

I'll start my match report by talking about the second half first .......... I hope that is okay.

The formation seemed to change to a back 4 with Anton going into the midfield - it didn't make sense to me but then I had just witnessed a 1st half that made a motorway pile-up look orderly ............. and quite clearly there was an immediate improvement in performance. There was an increase in tempo and some crisp passing that included some elements of the midfield ........ that was until we lost the ball (which was an awful lot) or it was punted up to Fortune (who looks like a proper professional player) and he did his best at chasing lost causes. That this was an improvement on the first half tells you all you need to know.

And then a few minutes later Ranger came on and lifted the spirits of the few Southend fans who had sat in near silence until that point. My first viewing of the lad and he looks good to me but even Ranger couldn't turn a dog's dinner into a first class meal. The arrival of Cox added more class to the team but it took him a while to get into the game from his midfield position (oh yes) and then he showed what we had been missing for the previous 75 minutes - a player that controlled the ball, moved smartly with the ball, went past players and had an attacking intent. We used to have a player called Payne who was a bit like that. :'(

And for much of the second half Rochdale were smacking the ball away and we were building up from the back ......... but then it was going all pear shaped as in reality we could still be playing now and still not have scored. Our only shot on goal came from Cox at around 88 mins and our only header on goal came from Ranger and it was easy for the goalie to gather. That I think was the total of our attacking intent.

And our fragile defence was highlighted by a break away goal that really summed up the difference between the two teams. But by then the game was already lost by that comedy first half. I saw Coker mainly playing as left back in a 5-4-1 formation that clearly did not work. Rochdale's first attack and the ball is rocketed into our net. Rochdale's second attack and the ball is rocketed into the net off the post via Oxley's despairing dive.

The arrival of Fortune did see things improve a little and McL and McG came in closer to support him - I don't think I have ever witnessed a 5-2-2-1 before and I'm not sure I want to again either.

All in all there were very few positives to take from the game. Fortune played okay; Cox and Ranger were a class above their colleagues - taken all together the whole team was set up to fail by an absolutely ridiculous starting XI and formation that saw a largely slow moving Anton trying to act as a midfield king pin. Bonkers - absolute bonkers.

Rarely have I seen such a lamentable show as today - and I have already seen us lose 4-0 at Scunthorpe and 2-0 at Port Vale. In particular Wordsworth and Barrett were poor but then so many other players did not do well and that includes O'Neill, Mooney and Ferdinand. Leonard had a poor game but I don't think the lad had a clue about what he was supposed to do when he was heavily outnumbered by his Rochdale opponents.

I don't usually come on here to moan but that was a new low point in this season. Things can only get better ............. can't they? :unsure:

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

We were awful today, this reminds of the fag end of many a failed manager's reign with the constant chopping and changing of the formation. A the start of the game we seemed to be playing 3-6-1, at one point 4-2-4 before finishing on 4-4-2.

Mooney was ineffective and replaced in the first half. Ferdinand started at centre back, had a spell at left back and finished in midfield.

McLaughlin came out for the second half but the referee made change something so we kicked off with 10 men.

I have to say that all this messing around is a bit like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It isn't going to stop us sinking in to League 2.

That said, it can be fixed, with or without PB.

We need to go back to 4-4-2 and stick with it. Brown needs to sort out his preferred parings at centre back, midfield and upfront. As we don't have a Jack Payne style of player who takes on players in the middle of the park and scores a few goals, we have to play two wingers to supply the strikers.

There is a good team in there somewhere, but I wonder if Brown is making it too complicated for the players and himself. He may think he is a tactical genius, but at this level, with average players, 4-4-2 is what gets the job done and what most of the players are used to.

Absolutely - I can't find it in myself to really blame the players today - there were enough decent players in the 18 that Brown had to choose from (11 starters and 7 subs) if only we had the right combination on the pitch playing the right formation.

Quite seriously I think 9 out of 10 fans could have done a better managerial job today.

 

[Sherif H]

Same with me. Tbh I pondered whether to renew this season or not and now I am sorry that I have. My son didn't (he has supported blues for 29 years (since 4 years old) and he doesn't attend at all now.

Same with me - have been hardcore for 22 years now, but my sense of hopelessness has been compounded this season, not only by the crap being served up on the pitch, but by the continued, deafening silence from Ron on FF - the project destined never to happen.

With fans seemingly happy to bumble along without any meaningful protest against the way the club is being run, I'm sad to say I feel we are facing doom sooner rather than later, and I probably won't be renewing next season.

 

[Jay_SUFC]

Everyone keeps going on about 4 at the back, but that will only work without Barrett, he's not good enough it there as a pair; maybe with Ranger back he'll revert back to a 4-4-2, but please don't let it be Anton and Barrett as the 2 center backs

 

[Sherif H]

That's nothing to do with it. He doesn't go because he is fed up with being bored **** less and wasting his money on being depressed after every game.

If you went to watch a band or singer who was total crap, bored you silly and didn't entertain, would you continue to spend your hard earned cash and continue to go repeatedly?

Agree entirely - another example quoted of how the majority of our fan base appear satisfied to maintain mediocrity, rather than expecting/demanding improvement, and aspiring to be better. The fact that we have always been crap as other posters have eluded to, doesn't exempt us from pushing to grow as a club, and that, we are not doing.

 

[Pubey]

I thought we didn't play too badly until we went 1-0 down, and even then we still looked decent until the second. The complete inadequacy at being able to defend set pieces meant all our good work was undone. We didn't create much in terms of clear cut chances, but we were getting in and around their defence and causing problems. It's worth giving Rochdale some credit because they were organised and hard working and their set pieces were delivered and finished really well (more than can be said for our numerous wasted attacking set plays). Also, while Mooney - 5 will get a lot of flack, I felt a little sorry because it was clear the team didn't have much confidence in him and so no one really got close. When the ball came to him it rarely stuck, and when he went long the ball was short, and when he dropped back the ball went long. He'll be frustrated both at his own performance but also that of the team who couldn't get him into things.

I also felt McGlashan - 6 and McLaughlin - 5.5 will be disappointed. They showed glimpses of quality but all too often they were wasteful. However like Mooney they were often targeted with long passes which isn't really the way to play them in. Why we ended up at the end of the first half with McGlashan through the middle and Mooney on the left I'll never know, McGlashan at least was worrying their left back but then we took all the pressure off him completely.

Oxley - 6 was reasonably solid and his passing was occasionally excellent, allowing McGlashan or McLaughlin to run behind. However I think he'll be slightly disappointed with the second goal, seeing as he got a reasonable hand to it and it wasn't from point blank range like the first. I thought Inniss - 5 was our worst player, inept at defending set pieces, being a tall guy he struggled to change direction, but also he wasn't strong enough against their strong No. 9. He was directly culpable for at least 2 of the goals, maybe all three. I see little reason to play him over Thompson. Barrett - 6 was his usual self, reasonably solid and 100% committed but with that faint whiff of maybe age catching up with him. Ferdinand - 7 MOTM was a surprise for me (first time seeing him), he defended well, picked pockets, distributed superbly and played pretty effectively at DCM for over half the game. However, I hope we don't use him there too much, he's clearly got to be in CB and it's up to Brown (or his successor) to fix our CM issues. Coker - 7 was strong all game and O'Neill - 6.5 worked hard and supported in attack.

I thought for as good as Lenny - 6.5 is, he can't do the role of 2 or 3 players, and with Wordsworth alongside him in a CM 2, he was left with far too much work and tracking to do. Wordsworth - 5.5 is a good player and he benefitted from better strikers in front of him in the second half, but he can't do it as a CM, he has to play higher up and have two CM's behind him.

All three subs added some positivity in the second half I felt, but it was always going to be a big task to get back into the game. Fortune - 6 showed all the class that Mooney lacked, but was wasteful at times and offside too often. Ranger - 6 looks like he'll be superb for us when back to full match fitness, however he was rusty and also gave the ball away (or misjudged headers) which then troubled us. However, you can play the ball to him and it'll stick and he'll bring players into the game. Cox - 6 looked good in the hole (oo er) but is that really the best place for him to be?

I thought the fans were really quiet (where were the usual blue voice lot?) but we did try to get behind them in the second half. The ref let things flow and was ok.

As it seems to be every week, the team and formation continue to baffle and I think it fundamentally comes down to Brown and the unbalanced squad he's put together - our lack of competition at CM is really concerning. I get the feeling Saturday is a must win for Brown, Barrett was clearly really miffed at the end of the game, and I thought Wordsworth looked less than impressed when McGlashan went off. Throughout the game there was a frustration with Inniss and his decision making/execution. It's basic football to work it around the back and find your best defender for the long pass (Ferdinand, O'Neill, Coker). Too many times we lacked the movement and nous to free those players up, and only once Ferdinand pushed up did we start to switch the play with success and increase the tempo.

 

[Pubey]

I'll start my match report by talking about the second half first .......... I hope that is okay.

The formation seemed to change to a back 4 with Anton going into the midfield - it didn't make sense to me but then I had just witnessed a 1st half that made a motorway pile-up look orderly ............. and quite clearly there was an immediate improvement in performance. There was an increase in tempo and some crisp passing that included some elements of the midfield ........ that was until we lost the ball (which was an awful lot) or it was punted up to Fortune (who looks like a proper professional player) and he did his best at chasing lost causes. That this was an improvement on the first half tells you all you need to know.

And then a few minutes later Ranger came on and lifted the spirits of the few Southend fans who had sat in near silence until that point. My first viewing of the lad and he looks good to me but even Ranger couldn't turn a dog's dinner into a first class meal. The arrival of Cox added more class to the team but it took him a while to get into the game from his midfield position (oh yes) and then he showed what we had been missing for the previous 75 minutes - a player that controlled the ball, moved smartly with the ball, went past players and had an attacking intent. We used to have a player called Payne who was a bit like that. :'(

And for much of the second half Rochdale were smacking the ball away and we were building up from the back ......... but then it was going all pear shaped as in reality we could still be playing now and still not have scored. Our only shot on goal came from Cox at around 88 mins and our only header on goal came from Ranger and it was easy for the goalie to gather. That I think was the total of our attacking intent.

And our fragile defence was highlighted by a break away goal that really summed up the difference between the two teams. But by then the game was already lost by that comedy first half. I saw Coker mainly playing as left back in a 5-4-1 formation that clearly did not work. Rochdale's first attack and the ball is rocketed into our net. Rochdale's second attack and the ball is rocketed into the net off the post via Oxley's despairing dive.

The arrival of Fortune did see things improve a little and McL and McG came in closer to support him - I don't think I have ever witnessed a 5-2-2-1 before and I'm not sure I want to again either.

All in all there were very few positives to take from the game. Fortune played okay; Cox and Ranger were a class above their colleagues - taken all together the whole team was set up to fail by an absolutely ridiculous starting XI and formation that saw a largely slow moving Anton trying to act as a midfield king pin. Bonkers - absolute bonkers.

Rarely have I seen such a lamentable show as today - and I have already seen us lose 4-0 at Scunthorpe and 2-0 at Port Vale. In particular Wordsworth and Barrett were poor but then so many other players did not do well and that includes O'Neill, Mooney and Ferdinand. Leonard had a poor game but I don't think the lad had a clue about what he was supposed to do when he was heavily outnumbered by his Rochdale opponents.

I don't usually come on here to moan but that was a new low point in this season. Things can only get better ............. can't they? :unsure:

Agree with all of your comments about the players, I thought Leonard did as much as he could do and Ferdinand was effective when clearly out of position.

Regarding the formations, I thought it was 343 for most of the first half (or 523!), McGlashan and McLaughlin were clearly high up alongside Mooney. When Ferdinand stepped up into DCM at about 40mins it looked like we switched to 433, and then at the end when Ranger came on we were playing 4312

I could be wrong because 5 mins after Ranger came on they were still debating with Brown what the formation was supposed to be. Maybe Brown didn't even know - it felt like a case of chuck the kitchen sink (3 strikers) onto the pitch and see what happens.

 

[Chocolardo]

Same with me - have been hardcore for 22 years now, but my sense of hopelessness has been compounded this season, not only by the crap being served up on the pitch, but by the continued, deafening silence from Ron on FF - the project destined never to happen.

With fans seemingly happy to bumble along without any meaningful protest against the way the club is being run, I'm sad to say I feel we are facing doom sooner rather than later, and I probably won't be renewing next season.

Organise somthing then, instead of moaning on the internet about knowing doing anything

 

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

My eldest daughter was a Shrimper from the age of 6 and travelled all over the country - Bournemouth, Swansea, Rotherham, Leeds - 20+ grounds I'd guess, reading fairy books for 4 hours on a train then watching crap football for 90 minutes. She has seen promotions and relegations and even had her first Nandos after a match at Bradford! Fond memories. Then ballet lessons were moved to Saturday mornings then a Saturday job so away matches largely had to stop.


Now at Uni in Manchester and on her 19th birthday - that apparently she shares with the Cybermen.....


http://metro.co.uk/2016/10/08/happy...from-doctor-whos-metal-monstrosities-6154198/


.....and she is back on it for the away day at Rochdale.


Football, hang with her, then last train back to Euston and a short walk to Koko for Manchester dance act 808 State and acid house legend DJ Pierre/Phuture for me and I guess she will spend the rest of her birthday at the library after the excitement of the football.


Woah, my seat number from Euston is C18 - do I not like that, not sure I have any Woody Guthrie to stop myself feeling dirty, Sonic Youth 'youth against fascism' will have to do.


3 women sitting at the same table as me on the train are talking music and have all worked with Damon Albarn - I'm tempted to tell them of my DA connections - seeing Blur when they were still called Seymour, and then about 20 years later him being with a guy I know who is in Gorillaz and me refusing to speak to Albarn as he is from Colchester. But I feel I may come across as a bit of a dick....


For future reference the Euston train goes to Piccadilly then there is a free shuttle bus that goes to Victoria where the Rochdale trains go from. Lovely sunny day at this point.


Rochdale train - 2 carriages long and looks more like a bus - so cute. Is going to Leeds eventually so I'm surprised it's so dinky.


40 minute walk to the ground but nice weather and Rochdale is quite interesting to look around. Big Muslim community and their buildings are attractive and it's a good mix with older buildings and and one point I had a view of rolling green fields with old factory chimneys and wind turbines. I like a bit of variety.
Chips are not allowed in the so whilst scoffing outside the ground I overheard a security guard giving feedback on training and he told his supervisor 'I thought the training we got from the police on manhandling was useful', his supervisor then ticked the manhandling box.


The ground is proper old skool, decidedly unattractive, three standard seating and a terrace behind one goal. No atmosphere to be found.


Headers keepie uppie for first ten minutes. The football is as League 2 as the ground. But we improve and for a while are the better team.
Mooney nearly on end of great through ball.


O'Neil put a good ball in from a free kick and again in a move started from a goal kick where he had to control the ball then cross in two smooth movements.
Barrett over keen on holding and in turn he is held in their box at a point where he could have been a threat.


McGalashan also putting decent balls into the box but only Mooney is in there. For one when ready to cross he could see Mooney surrounded by 4 defenders so instead switches it over to Coker on the other wing to give enough time to get bodies in the box but that loses the momentum.


20 mins - their fist chance - free kick at the perfect height to attack - headed in between Oxleys arms from very close quarters 1-0


A minute later Mooney had the ball in the net but was way off side. At least it went in - helps confidence levels.
Inniss is slow I note.


28 mins. Barrett has thrown himself in front of balls twice within seconds but a corner that just won't go away is still fizzing around as we just won't clear it far enough - lands on a thundering header and in off the post. 2-0.


35 mins Mooney off Fortune on - still only one up front though.
The PA is so poor I can't decipher any or the announcements and not sure what the goal music is -maybe Madness or some old ska. Shouty man in front of me is also impossible to decipher except:


Shouty man 'shut it'
His mate 'shut it. What was that for, who we shouting at?'


Pleased to hear half time whistle.


Second half - Ranger on and then with 15 mins 2 go Cox on - now 3 forwards on the pitch. No change though in the overriding feeling that there is no plan, looks like they don't train together. Too many system and personnel changes I'd say. Pick one and stick with it so the players have a chance to settle. This is the quietest match I've been to in terms of crowd noise for a long time.


Apparently I kiss my teeth a lot.


2nd have was rubbish and eventually they scored again, the end.

 

[rlb999]

If you went to watch a band or singer who was total crap, bored you silly and didn't entertain, would you continue to spend your hard earned cash and continue to go repeatedly?

No, of course not. But football team is completely different. But from the moment youre hooked until the day you die it's YOUR team. Through thick and thin. I don't think Tottenham for example have quite a good team at the moment so I'll go and watch them. But I would go and watch a new band, or multiple bands, if I thought their music was good.