See you next Wednesday - A match report

[Southendsleeper]

Well, what can I say.

Some of the worst officials I've seen at the hall, the ref was a disgrace, missing most things, yet giving trivial thing. Hard but fair tackles were penalised, Freddy, fouled but with the ball at his feet in front of goal is stopped to take the ball back for a freekick instead of giving advantage. Hooper's shirt pulled in the Weds Box. Crap offside decisions.

The officials must have been sponsored by the same people who gave Gower man of the match. JCR was immense today, constantly chasing back and tackling (first dubious yellow card of the game), he tormented both sides of the Weds defence so much that at one time when he was free on the left, Weds had 4 players marking him. His pace, ball control were amazing, and he never stopped. His final ball seems to be improving, but he seemed like the rest of the team, to not know when to release it.

I'm amazed Maher didnt get booked, a shoving match in the first half, and constant backchat after another bad decision by the ref that went on for minutes. He was very good too and with JCR seemed to try and win the game singlehandedly.By this time the ref had antagonised both sets of players.

The back 4 did their job well, the exception being the 2 crack shots that hit the bar and upright respectively. A bit of ball watching on some occasions.

Paynter was good at holding the ball up, and his efforts were appreciated by the crowd who gave him a resounding send off when he left the pitch. Freddy, still seems out of sorts some wayward passing, and putting a shot wide when finally through which he would have buried up until recently. He'll come good.

Biggest cheer of the day was for the Blue Belles whipping off their tops, and still no winner for the half time challenge

Strangest thing at the hall - new PA messages about seat checks to make sure youre sitting in the right seat, and no standing in the aisles ('Open the bar then ' some wit shouted to much amusement).

Atmosphere was a bit stunted today, the officials saw to that, most of the shouting aimed at them, the Weds fans were loud but only at periods during the game

Fair result alround, but Im wary of Tuesday

 

[Bielzibubz]

Good all round assessment for which I agree to a large extent.

I thought Gutts had a nightmare today. Some of his passing was atrocious and seemd hesitant to take the ball forward.

Again we lacked that final bit of thought in the last third of the field which I hope will be sorted by Tuesday.

 

[silentshrimper]

First game for me of the season. Atmosphere was terrible, me and a few mates tried to get some songs going when the bigger guys tried, but in the first half I was embarassed by the lack or vocal support. It gets worse the higher we go. Wednesday fans were 10 times louder than us today.

The match was decent in the second half, end to end. We did not no how to release the final ball. I also didn't like the way we looked to go wide at every opportunity as the crossing was dire.

JCR and Gower played well but often there was no final ball/cross, they just seemed to beat there man all day though.

Maher cleaned up well. The back four were decent, Francis I liked, good pace, link up play, he won more headers than any other defender im sure! Barrett and Clarke were commited, blocked nearly everything. Clarke miss timed his jumps quite a few times with the ball bouncing over him. Hammell delivered some good set plays in, but did not get forward like che does so well.

Paynter was average, held the ball up well but didn't do much else. Eastwood was quite dire for most of the game.

I think it was Gower who made a couple of brilliant cross field passes to JCR.

The subs didnt get much time to impress but they did look more lively than eastwood and paynter.

Average game, im sure we can play better than that! But we really need to be beating teams like wednesday as they were **** poor to.

 

[MightyShrimper]

Eastwood was sh!te today. Guttridge wasnt far off either. Thought Clarke and JCR were great.

Eastwood isnt going to get the time and space he's been given in league 1 and 2. He looked at times when things wernt going well his head went down. Paynter obviously isnt a goal scorer but will chase things down, win headers, free kicks and will lay the ball off well. I think its vital we get Ricketts back asap.

 

[MightyShrimper]

Quote[/b] (silentshrimper @ Sep. 09 2006,18:04)]The subs didnt get much time to impress but they did look more lively than eastwood and paynter.

Paynter did really well today. Chased for the ball, won headers and his lay offs were great. This is why he's in the team and he did his job well.

 

[silentshrimper]

Quote[/b] (Mighty Shrimper @ Sep. 09 2006,18:11)]

Quote[/b] (silentshrimper @ Sep. 09 2006,18:04)]The subs didnt get much time to impress but they did look more lively than eastwood and paynter.

Paynter did really well today. Chased for the ball, won headers and his lay offs were great. This is why he's in the team and he did his job well.

Yes I agree he did win alot of balls and a dam lot of free kicks, i'v never been convinced with big target men though, they can slow the game down sometimes. Goater had his bad and great games, just hope paynter turns out to be like him.

 

[OneDreweBroughton]

I'd take Gower over JCR.

JCR might have beaten his man for fun today, but he has no end product. Worse example when he beat two men got in a great position by the byline and scuffed his cross into the first defender.

 

[wiggy]

Quote[/b] (silentshrimper @ Sep. 09 2006,18:04)]First game for me of the season. Atmosphere was terrible, me and a few mates tried to get some songs going when the bigger guys tried, but in the first half I was embarassed by the lack or vocal support. It gets worse the higher we go. Wednesday fans were 10 times louder than us today.

The match was decent in the second half, end to end. We did not no how to release the final ball. I also didn't like the way we looked to go wide at every opportunity as the crossing was dire.

JCR and Gower played well but often there was no final ball/cross, they just seemed to beat there man all day though.

Maher cleaned up well. The back four were decent, Francis I liked, good pace, link up play, he won more headers than any other defender im sure! Barrett and Clarke were commited, blocked nearly everything. Clarke miss timed his jumps quite a few times with the ball bouncing over him. Hammell delivered some good set plays in, but did not get forward like che does so well.

Paynter was average, held the ball up well but didn't do much else. Eastwood was quite dire for most of the game.

I think it was Gower who made a couple of brilliant cross field passes to JCR.

The subs didnt get much time to impress but they did look more lively than eastwood and paynter.

Average game, im sure we can play better than that! But we really need to be beating teams like wednesday as they were **** poor to.

A perfect summing up!

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

Yes there was a poor atmosphere but the away fans weren't much better.

I thought it was a good, exciting 0-0 draw today. Both sides went for it and the game had a good tempo to it.They looked more dangerous in the 1st half but we dominated in the 2nd half. Unfortunately, we just lacked a bit of conviction in and around the area. Eastwood and Paynter were poor but had little service. Saying that, JCR was quality today. His best game in a Southend shirt because there was actually an end product today. He tore the Wednesday left side to shreds and never stopped running. I love his attitude and today he had an end product too. Francis and Barrett were quality too. Overall a good performance but there are still concerns about creating and taking chances. One criticism of Tilly, and that's that the subs were too late.

 

[Thenewblue]

If Freddy had scored that 1 on 1 rather than shifting it onto his left foot and scuffing it wide, I think we'd all be saying how well we played today personally.

 

[Southendsleeper]

Quote[/b] (shrimpboy @ Sep. 09 2006,22:50)]Yes there was a poor atmosphere but the away fans weren't much better.

I thought it was a good, exciting 0-0 draw today. Both sides went for it and the game had a good tempo to it.They looked more dangerous in the 1st half but we dominated in the 2nd half. Unfortunately, we just lacked a bit of conviction in and around the area. Eastwood and Paynter were poor but had little service. Saying that, JCR was quality today. His best game in a Southend shirt because there was actually an end product today. He tore the Wednesday left side to shreds and never stopped running. I love his attitude and today he had an end product too. Francis and Barrett were quality too. Overall a good performance but there are still concerns about creating and taking chances. One criticism of Tilly, and that's that the subs were too late.

Youre right about it being a good exciting 0-0 draw.

We'd had a lot happen, I looked up and only 10 mins had passed.

At times Sheff Weds had all 11 players in their box defending deep, and we kept them pressed in their half

Youre also right about JCR tearing the Weds left back to shreds, he went past him so many times the bloke didnt know what to do. Its probably why Tilly switched Gower and JCR a few times during the match.

And youre right about the late substitutions, Harrold and Hooper didnt do anything wrong, but didnt have a lot of time to show what they can do.

I still blame the quality of the match on the ref.

 

[Southendsleeper]

Quote[/b] (Thenewblue @ Sep. 09 2006,22:51)]If Freddy had scored that 1 on 1 rather than shifting it onto his left foot and scuffing it wide, I think we'd all be saying how well we played today personally.

If the ref hadnt stopped Freddy in the first half when he looked like he had a good chance, our perception of his performance would have been different

If the linesmen hadnt given so many wrong offside decisions/late flags it would have been different

Its frustrating, too many loose passes from him and careless balls, just an off day. The fans still chanted his name a good few times, so he did have some good moments

 

[silentshrimper]

Freddy just seemed to spend all day being offside, a few looked dodgy descisions, he will get his sharpness back. Remember guys, the worse he plays early on in the season, the more bigger clubs go away interest wise, and the more he can bang them in at the end.

 

[* ORM *]

Stinker - Eastwood - his habit of giving the ball away cheaply is going to prove costly one week. I'll try not to get on his back but I sometimes wish he'd realise that not every goal has to be a 20 yard plus thunderbolt.

Great games - JCR - a constant threat AND there was an end product, Gower, when in that sort of form an absolute joy.

Everyone else performed OK, just a couple of observations:

Clarke - missed a couple of headers in the second half that could have cost us dearly.

Paynter - I reckon with a two or three games behind him he'll be alright. He certainly got around the pitch and won more than his fair share. First touch let him down a couple of times but he was always looking to link up and do the simple thing.

A reasonably entertaining 0-0. Somewhat lucky to be level at the break but I think we shaded the second half. Never really looked threatening enough in the penalty box.

Referee - one of the worst first half performances seen for many a time. I have a bit of sympathy for the linesman. Most of the offsides were spot on but this stupid rule change about waiting to raise your flag to see whether the player is interfering is a no win situation for them.