Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend 1-1 Rochdale

[OldBlueLady]

In summary, we didn't look very settled, however Atkinson, Timlin and Hurst keep things together in the 1st half. Lenny started ok, then made a huge faux pas and seemed to lose confidence, wasn't surprised when he was subbed in the 2nd half. Big loss in Prosser tonight, Phillips looked rather lacking in judgement and misplaced the ball a few times. Corr should definitely have scored near the end with a header that crept tantalisingly along the top of the crossbar. Conditions weren't helpful at all, goal kicks struggled to reach halfway line into the wind, we should have been playing more on the floor than we did.

Bentley - 6, some poor judgement tonight, a couple of times he should have called but didn't, putting his backs under pressure
White - 7, solid game from John, calms things down and shows strength when it's needed
Kiernan - 6, did ok, couple of misplaced passes
Prosser - 7, superhuman ability to put his body on the line for the cause, concussion I heard
Coker - 6, fits and starts, some good some a bit scrappy
Hurst - MOTM 8, doing some absolutely sublime stuff at the moment, long may it continue
Atkinson - 7, breaks up play very well and pushes on
Leonard - 6, confidence issues tonight
Timlin - 7, little pocket rocket, kept chasing and going. If he'd made the right choice in the end with a pass to Freddy (which was the easier option) we may be sitting here talking about a win
Straker - 6, not at the races for me
Corr - 6, controversial one, but did very little with any success all night, got pushed off of balls, got caught offside, should have scored that sitter at the end that went on off the top of the crossbar - I expect better.

Subs:
Phillips for Prosser - 5, worried me hugely
Woodrow for Leonard - 6, need to channel that enthusiasm
Eastwood for Straker - 6, livid at some of the ball play forward. Ball to feet guys, that's what we need.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

The whirling wind got -10 from me.
But we're going to have to deal with those sort of conditions that included a surface so greasy, I can't remember one kick-out from either keeper where their standing foot didn't slip.
The football was frankly, pants.
Timlin was rightly man of the match if only for trying to get the ball down while doing something constructive with it.
Apart from him, the midfield went missing, excepting Straker, who having one of his down days, was far too obvious.
What does Brown fear by putting out Woodrow, Corr and Fred - especially if you're going to play percentages and channels?
We looked far more threatening in the last 10 minutes than the previous 80 combined.

 

[Bromley Blue]

Really surprised you could just go about reviewing that game without passing comment on how truly dire it was from the whole team tonight.

We really should have been 3-0 down at half time but for some awful finishing from the visitors and what looked like some unofficial goalkeeping on the line by Luke Prosser. Another ref might have given a pen there which would have been game over and down to ten men yet again.

FairPlay to Luke though as he got something in the way and kept it out and although it wasn't really a turning point in terms of performance it did keep us in the game so that our in form winger could come and save the day.

The goal came from one of the only times in the first half we managed to string 2 or 3 passes together and was a cracking finish by Hurst to be fair.

Second half we improved slightly and Rochdale sank to our level after being made to look like Brazil in the first half.

I was really disappointed by the amount of passes bypassing the midfield tonight. We seemed to be incessantly attempting the up and under technique which may have been because of the unpredictability caused by the strong wind but it rarely produced much in the way of chances and we didn't seem to have a plan B.

Credit to Cauley Woodrow when he came on. Think your comments are slightly harsh on the youngster as he, for me, was one of the few bright sparks to take from this evening. He was nice and tidy in possession and always trying to turn his man.

Hurst, other than his goal, had a few bright moments but other than that it really was pretty bleak from Blues tonight.

The last 2 home games we seem to have lost faith with the passing football which has brought us so much success this season and gone more direct and I can't put my finger on why?

 

[Eddy Melito]

I can. The pitch is starting to cut up and players often can't trust a pass to arrive without bobbling up or bouncing about. They are now much more likely to try and take a touch, and fair play to them because if a player does miscontrol a pass there are audible boos and jeers around the ground.

 

[mgh]

Really surprised you could just go about reviewing that game without passing comment on how truly dire it was from the whole team tonight.

We really should have been 3-0 down at half time but for some awful finishing from the visitors and what looked like some unofficial goalkeeping on the line by Luke Prosser. Another ref might have given a pen there which would have been game over and down to ten men yet again.

FairPlay to Luke though as he got something in the way and kept it out and although it wasn't really a turning point in terms of performance it did keep us in the game so that our in form winger could come and save the day.

The goal came from one of the only times in the first half we managed to string 2 or 3 passes together and was a cracking finish by Hurst to be fair.

Second half we improved slightly and Rochdale sank to our level after being made to look like Brazil in the first half.

I was really disappointed by the amount of passes bypassing the midfield tonight. We seemed to be incessantly attempting the up and under technique which may have been because of the unpredictability caused by the strong wind but it rarely produced much in the way of chances and we didn't seem to have a plan B.

Credit to Cauley Woodrow when he came on. Think your comments are slightly harsh on the youngster as he, for me, was one of the few bright sparks to take from this evening. He was nice and tidy in possession and always trying to turn his man.

Hurst, other than his goal, had a few bright moments but other than that it really was pretty bleak from Blues tonight.

The last 2 home games we seem to have lost faith with the passing football which has brought us so much success this season and gone more direct and I can't put my finger on why?

absolutely this - posted in the match thread, but Woodrow + Corr looked a good combo until Freddie came on and Woodrow was put out wide right. I think we really missed Laird's composure in front of the back four - I can see why PB likes Atkinson's workrate but especially in the second half we need someone to sit there and let Timlin get forward more - Hurst, Timlin, Woodrow feeding off Corr (if we're going to play a slightly longer game) is more likely to work....

 

[dloman]

absolutely this - posted in the match thread, but Woodrow + Corr looked a good combo until Freddie came on and Woodrow was put out wide right. I think we really missed Laird's composure in front of the back four - I can see why PB likes Atkinson's workrate but especially in the second half we need someone to sit there and let Timlin get forward more - Hurst, Timlin, Woodrow feeding off Corr (if we're going to play a slightly longer game) is more likely to work....

Agreed, thought our best spell was when Woodrow came on as playing centrally then after he was pushed out wide it all went backwards again.

 

[Bromley Blue]

I can. The pitch is starting to cut up and players often can't trust a pass to arrive without bobbling up or bouncing about. They are now much more likely to try and take a touch, and fair play to them because if a player does miscontrol a pass there are audible boos and jeers around the ground.

Yet Rochdale had no trouble passing it around at will in the first half whereas for us the ball was a hot potato.

The conditions and pitch and stuff don't help but for me that's a bit of a cop out and the few times we did actually get it down and string a few passes together coincided with us creating chances

 

[chapperzUK]

I can. The pitch is starting to cut up and players often can't trust a pass to arrive without bobbling up or bouncing about. They are now much more likely to try and take a touch, and fair play to them because if a player does miscontrol a pass there are audible boos and jeers around the ground.

The pitch wasn't great and you could tell when he tried to pass the ball on the floor it was just bobbling about. Leonard went to play a simple ball back to Kiernan and ended up shinning it. Several players were slipping over throughout the game too.

 

[chapperzUK]

Yet Rochdale had no trouble passing it around at will in the first half whereas for us the ball was a hot potato.

The conditions and pitch and stuff don't help but for me that's a bit of a cop out and the few times we did actually get it down and string a few passes together coincided with us creating chances

Rochdale played sensible, they only passed in about in the final 3rd while we tried to play football between the back line and with Rochdale playing a high pressing game it was never going to end well.

 

[prawntobewild]

I've seen worse performances than last night - but it wasn't the showing of a team hoping for promotion.
We lacked compusure & fluency. Both teams gave the away too much but Dale had a bit more quality when they kept it.
Only a great bit of defending from Pross/Bents prevented a certain second goal (possibe handball).
Positives were another good goal for Hursty / Some good work by Atkinson /notable cameos from Fred/Crawly Woodworm.
Strakes/Lenny & at times Kiernan fell short of the higher standards they have attained recently.
Corr fluffed a free header & Timmo failed to pick out Fred with a through ball dspite the cries of the East Green Massive,Has to go down as a point gained but we need to start winning again ASAP.

 

[northlincsshrimper1]

From some of the remarks about last night's game I think I must have been at the wrong venue. This performance was di-jointed, disorganised and very, very patchy in terms of any real class. On that basis I would make every player a maximum of 5. The two exceptions are Lenny who was worth only a 2 and Straker worth a 0

 

[Jay_SUFC]

We really should have been 3-0 down at half time but for some awful finishing from the visitors and what looked like some unofficial goalkeeping on the line by Luke Prosser. Another ref might have given a pen there which would have been game over and down to ten men yet again.

If you watch the highlights there is no way the referee should have given a penalty, let alone sent Prosser off!!!

If there was any contact with the arm it was not intentional, it wasn't in an unnatural position and he wasn't moving it towards the ball; don't recall many protests from Rochdale either.

Personally it would have been a shocking decision if it had been given as handball; though with some of the refs we've had in the past, I suppose that could have been a possibility :smile:

 

[Bromley Blue]

If you watch the highlights there is no way the referee should have given a penalty, let alone sent Prosser off!!!

If there was any contact with the arm it was not intentional, it wasn't in an unnatural position and he wasn't moving it towards the ball; don't recall many protests from Rochdale either.

Personally it would have been a shocking decision if it had been given as handball; though with some of the refs we've had in the past, I suppose that could have been a possibility :smile:

Fair enough you've had the benefit of watching a replay, I haven't yet and was commenting on what I saw live from the halfway line in the West Stand. I wasn't alone in this opinion as I heard many others say the same at half time. If it had hit his hand or arm preventing a certain goal then the ref would have had no option but to send him off. Luckily for us the ref had a better view

 

[chapperzUK]

Short highlights

[video=youtube;-pLrbPnDMzg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pLrbPnDMzg[/video]

First stop from Prosser is a great reaction flick with his left foot but second look like it hits his leg and bounces up and does hit him on the arm.

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

Really difficult to see even from the highlights. Does the ball appear to go up from his foot and strike his outstretched arm? There was obviously no intention there (is that a justifiable defense?) and no possibility that he could have got his arm out of the way. IMHO it Would have been an extremely harsh penalty and red card.

 

[RobM]

The laws of the game state there must be intent. The only exception is under "method of scoring" which states "... Excluding any part of the hand or arm".

 

[rlb999]

If that had been their number 6, you'd all be screaming for a penalty.

 

[RobM]

We would, but wrongly in my view.

 

[silentshrimper]

Epic defending from Prosser earned us a point last night, those on the line goaly style saves were hugely important. 2 0 down against a Rochdale team who were no mugs would have meant we had no chance of getting much from the game. Especially with the pitch as it was.

Saying that, their two main opportunities came from us giving the ball away stupidly. Straker may have been fouled I am not sure but he should have lumped the ball clear. Then Leonard turning in the middle of the pitch and falling on his arse...

We looked more like one of Sturrocks sides with the way we played, not helped by the pitch. Corr is on such bad form at the moment but he still feels important to this team. Unlucky to clip the bar but to be honest he doesn't get much service.

Bentley - 6 - Not much to do at all.

White - 7 - Solid stuff.
Kiernan - 6 - Couple of bad moments but solid enough.
Prosser - 8 - Them blocks were similar to goals! Hope he is okay.
Coker - 6 - Didn't really get to influence the game much down the left.

Straker - 6 - had an off game last night.
Timlin - 7 - Good running but the ball bypassed him a lot.
Atkinson - 6 - Didn't notice him at all last night. But people say he had a decent game.
Leonard - 6 - Looked off the pace. Worst I have seen from him this season.
Hurst - 8 - Lovely goal and good play as usual.

Corr - 6 - Worked hard but needs more service, unlucky not to score.

Woodrow - 6 - Helped us in the final third.
Eastwood - 6 - Straight away looked dangerous, but bad choices.... after that he didn't get the chance to do anything.
Phillips - 7 - Can't complain with his performance.

Why did Laird get dropped?

 

[silentshrimper]

In summary, we didn't look very settled, however Atkinson, Timlin and Hurst keep things together in the 1st half. Lenny started ok, then made a huge faux pas and seemed to lose confidence, wasn't surprised when he was subbed in the 2nd half. Big loss in Prosser tonight, Phillips looked rather lacking in judgement and misplaced the ball a few times. Corr should definitely have scored near the end with a header that crept tantalisingly along the top of the crossbar. Conditions weren't helpful at all, goal kicks struggled to reach halfway line into the wind, we should have been playing more on the floor than we did.

Bentley - 6, some poor judgement tonight, a couple of times he should have called but didn't, putting his backs under pressure
White - 7, solid game from John, calms things down and shows strength when it's needed
Kiernan - 6, did ok, couple of misplaced passes
Prosser - 7, superhuman ability to put his body on the line for the cause, concussion I heard
Coker - 6, fits and starts, some good some a bit scrappy
Hurst - MOTM 8, doing some absolutely sublime stuff at the moment, long may it continue
Atkinson - 7, breaks up play very well and pushes on
Leonard - 6, confidence issues tonight
Timlin - 7, little pocket rocket, kept chasing and going. If he'd made the right choice in the end with a pass to Freddy (which was the easier option) we may be sitting here talking about a win
Straker - 6, not at the races for me
Corr - 6, controversial one, but did very little with any success all night, got pushed off of balls, got caught offside, should have scored that sitter at the end that went on off the top of the crossbar - I expect better.

Subs:
Phillips for Prosser - 5, worried me hugely
Woodrow for Leonard - 6, need to channel that enthusiasm
Eastwood for Straker - 6, livid at some of the ball play forward. Ball to feet guys, that's what we need.

Pretty much same grades as me!