Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend 1 Crawley 1

[AndyT]

I was thinking today, how many memorable FA Cup matches have there been at RH in the last 30 years!

I can think of one, off the top of my head, two at a push, since the late eighties!

 

[Stan33]

After a stirring performance from the wonderful Claire Poth, we were expecting a home performance to match her faultless vocals and excellent renditions.

The pre-match Remembrance Service then became a little disjointed. Pop music blaring out for 5 minutes or so instead of The Last Post. When it did arrive, the accompanying minute's silence did not and we were all left a bit bemused.

Still, it's the FA Cup, so we need to focus on that and so with Crawley switching us around, we attacked the South Stand first-half. Crawley started in 1st gear and we frankly passed through them on a number of occasions. A nice slipped pass for Kightly, giving us a well deserved lead.

What then followed was a bizarre performance. Crawley upped their game, as they grew into the match. Their endeavouring midfielders, nicking possession and forcing a few concerns. Balls played into the box, but dealt with OK by our defence.

We then sat out the remainder of the first half, staying in 1st gear for the bulk of it and culminating in a needless interplay of passing on the half-time whistle.

Half-time. No Bluebelles. I know it's a minor thing, but it kind of highlighted the general apathy towards the day itself. Why oh why can't we let season ticket holders have this one for free? Maybe we'd have got nearer 6,000 and created a bit of an atmosphere.

As it was, we then kicked towards an empty North Bank in the second-half and the chances we created were just as barren.

Crawley posed more of a threat. Players bombing forward and forcing the pace. We remained in 1st gear and at some points in neutral.

Their equaliser was thoroughly deserved.

Special praise to Ollie Palmer who was quite magnificent for them. A bulky frame, he had so much desire that he even won a couple of foot races he had no right to. Looking at his career, with one exception, his scoring record isn't bad either.

Also, Lewis Young at Right-Back. Apparently, the younger brother of Ashley Young, I thought he had an excellent game.

On to us. Too many players were half-ar*ed. Putting in a shift befitting of a pre-season friendly, at best.

Dieng doesn't work with Mantom, for me. Mantom is a class act and I thought he was probably the pick today. Always available and in the right place. Dieng, on the other hand, doesn't seem to have a definable role. It needed midfield players bombing into the box from the crosses, but way too many just ended up being scooped clear under no challenge whatsover.

Robinson and Cox don't seem to work together at all. As Rigsby says, they don't even seem to have an understanding. I know where I would say the issue is.

Kightly and McLaughlin both looked short of game time and still feeling their way back into the side.

Above all, for me, we had an ideal opportunity to try a couple of youngsters upfront in the last 15 minutes, but one remained on the bench and the other didn't make it that far.

I'd have started with Dru and given McCoulsky and Wabo a run at their defence, but people know better than me, so it's off to Crawley for a replay!

Referee did OK. Bit slow in handling a couple of things, but he did book their manager, which was quite amusing!

Overall, we didn't want it enough. That, to me, isn't acceptable!

The pop music was a disgrace from that moron of a DJ

 

[AndyT]

It was. Totally agree. Talk about inappropriate!

 

[Lord Football]

Of course, the ref is up for scrutiny. He messed up the minutes' silence by blowing his whistle before the Last Post when it should have been at the end, meaning that his 2nd whistle, which should have been when the silence started, signified to far too many the end.

That was the first of his many errors. Umpteen handballs missed, so many shoves in the back on our players as they jumped to head the ball, so many challenges and tackles which should otherwise have been given as fouls. Mystifying yellow cards to our players. A yellow card to their manager - surely they should only ever give a red card? And, bizarrely, the Crawley player who went down "injured" at the end and had treatment, being allowed back on before the game had re-started.

Let me help you out a bit.....

Referees have been able to give yellow cards to managers since the beginning of the season. It allows them a different option than having to send him to the stands. That said, their assistant manager was a little **** who was constantly whining about something. Fourth Official just blanked him (good work, young man)

What yellow cards are you referring to? Cox got one for a late tackle, White got one for a bad tackle and was very lucky not to get a second. (we'd have certainly asked for it if it had been the other way round). Deing got booked according to BBC, don't remember that. Certainly, no problem with the other two. (Crawley bench was shouting for a red for the Cox card).

Handballs... again, my recollection of the game doesn't contain much in the way of handball. We got one in the first half, they didn't get one in the second half (correctly). White was shouting for a handball in the build up to their goal. At least we think it was handball. There wasn't anything that looked like a handball. Didn't appear to be much else. Neither was a great deal of pushing. Remembering a push is a forward motion, in fact it was refreshing to see a referee not give a free kick everytime there was contact (both in the air and on the ground). He tried to let a poor game flow.....

And yeah, he might have let their bloke a second earlier than he should. So what?

 

[Fairport]

As most have said we played really well for the first thirty minutes and could and should have been two or three goals clear before the break. This was a game where the loss of Tom Hopper was so obvious. We had about fifteen crosses corners and free kicks that went into their penalty area and I can't remember a single one that wasn't cleared by one of their tall defenders. It was exactly the same when we played long balls from the back, they dealt with them every time. We desperately miss Hoppers height and strength. Mccoulsky is at least a bit taller than others and maybe could have won some balls in the air although he is a bit lightweight. It seems obvious that CP doesn't think he is the answer.

 

[onceknownasrab]

If Brown had been in charge today, he'd be being crucified all over social media right now. Powell still gets away with things because he is Chris Powell. Be under no illusions, that was as shocking a 2nd half performance as I think I've seen in several years and the tactical awareness was poor, as were the substitutions.

Well if Brown had been in charge today I would have been one of the first to moan about this game. CP is in charge and I see no reason not to complain. That was another mystifying performance. TBH I think it is becoming the norm now. I am a CP supporter but for me to stay that way he needs to pull his finger out of his a**e.

 

[rayleigh dan]

As others have said it was a real 'game of two halves'. We should have been out of sight by half time. Cox missed two gilt edged chances before Kightly's excellently taken goal. After that we had numerous shots flash just wide. We had a warning with Crawley's offside 'goal', but at half time I was confident of a 2 or 3 goal win.

WTF happened! Bar an early Cox effort that went wide we were dire. We seemed content to sit back despite our defense being suspect all game. The one chance on the break fell to Theo who ballooned over the bar.

Very negative subs from CP too, Bunn for Kightly, fine. But Dru for Theo at home against an inferior team. Sorry, relying on our dodgy defense to hold out is questionable tactics to say the least.

And why oh why didn't CP throw McCoulsky on when they equalised? Happy to hold on for 1-1 and play an extra game we really don't need?!

Oxley 7 - Decent game didn't do much wrong.
Demetriou 6 - Did okay, struggled at times second halfwhen they run at him.
Turner 5 - Looked hesitant all afternoon. Some off his passes were 'Prosser esque'. Not good enough from a player with Premier league experience.
White 5 - Struggled with their no 9 in the second half.
Hendrie 7 - Pick of the defense for me, stuck to his task and combined well with Kightly in the first half.

McLaughlin 5 - Good first half, anonymous after the break. He missed an easy header out in the build up to Crawley's goal too. Am I the only one slightly ****ed off with his work rate when we were under pressure today? He looked very half arsed on a few 50-50 tackles.
Mantom 7 MOM - Very good first half, faded like most after the break, but kept working hard.
Dieng 6 - Like Mantom, he was very good in the first half. He shows a worrying habit of flagging after the break. Petulant yellow card too.
Kightly 7 - First half - excellent! Second half, didn't do much. Then again when Bunn came on he didn't do much too. Perhaps it was down to lack of service rather than Kightly fading?

Cox 7 - His build up play was sublime in the first half but he missed two decent chances. After CP's subs he offered nothing in the second half. POWELL - COX IS NOT A LONE STRIKER!!
Robinson 4 - Okay first half, abysmal after the break. Sorry but he's not good enough. Start McCoulsky and Wabo midweek, let's see if either impress.

Subs

Dru 6 - A couple of decent passes but we struggled to get him involved.
Bunn 5 - Barely touched the ball. Probably down to a lack of service to be fair to him.

 

[Richard Hearn]

Re: the minute's silence I think the real problem and reason for the confusion was that for some (unfathomable) reason they wanted to do it round the wrong way. At every Remembrance Service or pre match observance I have ever experienced the silence is broken by the Last Post; I have never, ever known it to precede the silence.

 

[Mick]

Of course, the ref is up for scrutiny. He messed up the minutes' silence by blowing his whistle before the Last Post when it should have been at the end, meaning that his 2nd whistle, which should have been when the silence started, signified to far too many the end.

That was the first of his many errors. Umpteen handballs missed, so many shoves in the back on our players as they jumped to head the ball, so many challenges and tackles which should otherwise have been given as fouls. Mystifying yellow cards to our players. A yellow card to their manager - surely they should only ever give a red card? And, bizarrely, the Crawley player who went down "injured" at the end and had treatment, being allowed back on before the game had re-started.

I thought the referee was at least adequate. I don't recall "umpteen" handballs missed; I don't recall one handball missed. He was reasonably consistent with his foul detection, not being fooled by a number of players trying to win cheap free-kicks. He got around the pitch well and was close enough to play to give those correct yellow cards with confidence. He reacted quickly to the incident when Cox was entangled with an opponent and prevented that escalating. Of course he can show their manager a yellow card. The manager would be aware of that; he got another one quite recently! Regarding the injured player returning, I thought he dropped the ball for the keeper (restarting play) and waved the player back on before the keeper had released the ball.

 

[Fitz]

Missing Hopper and Coker massively today, but irrespective should have seen off a poor Crawley team by half time.

Thought Mantom and Cox played well.

Robinson awful, a headless chicken who’s attitude stunk after he skied one over in the second half, shouldn’t be playing.

Hendrie, very poor non league player, shouldn’t be playing. Powell clearly doesn’t rate Kyprianou.

We need a left back and a centre forward desperately in January.

Powell’s subs were shocking, going one up front when one nil up at home to an average League 2 side. Clearly has no confidence in our only other fit first team striker!!

Really want a cup run this year!!

 

[Fitz]

It's a bit hard to know what to say about what we witnessed today. The pre match singing was top drawer and enjoyed by both sets of fans, but just what happened to the minute's silence at the referee's whistle is anyone's guess. Obviously the lions share of the crowd decided a round of applause would work much better and the ref gave up shaking his hands at the crowd to stop the clapping and instead he though bugger it, let the game begin.

Anyway, to the match. We were ahead of Crawley in all aspects in the first half and it looked FL1 vs FL2 in terms of quality. We even scored a goal from Kightly and most of us thought it was only a matter of time before we knocked in a few more. Half time arrived and the flood gates had remained firmly shut. Second half began and Crawley finally woke up to the possibilty that they could make more of a game of it. They weren't awash with skill or finesse but as the half wore on it was obvious that they wanted it more than we did. And in the end they got their reward with an og from unlucky John White. I say unlucky because he had battled manfully with their man mountain of a number nine throughout the game and by and large had him under control.

I don't think anyone really impressed me today but Mantom and Hendrie deserve special mentions. Mantom never stopped working, prompting and probing but his attempts at shooting were consistently a bit astray. Hendrie has now recovered a bit of belief in his ability and his was a very solid performance to the point where I don't think we are missing Ben as much as I thought we would. A special mention is due for the travelling support today, they ****ed me with their continuous chanting and singing but they just never gave up and that must have lifted their team, well done Crawley fans.

The good thing about today is that we go into the second round draw of the FA Cup, not something that has happened very often in recent years

Really, I know football is a game of opinions but I thought Hendrie was absolutely shocking, especially in the second half. We need a left back in January with Coker out fo4 the season.

 

[rayleigh dan]

TBF I thought the minutes silence protocol was described perfectly over the loudspeaker. Why people starting clapping after the 'Last Post' is beyond me.

 

[RHB]

Really, I know football is a game of opinions but I thought Hendrie was absolutely shocking, especially in the second half. We need a left back in January with Coker out fo4 the season.

As you say, it's about opinions and we don't agree. I'm ok with that as I'm sure you are.

 

[AndyT]

TBF I thought the minutes silence protocol was described perfectly over the loudspeaker. Why people starting clapping after the 'Last Post' is beyond me.

I think it was because Mickey G advised the crowd that the silence would begin and end on the referee's whistle and he then proceeded to blow it before and after The Last Post.

Seenyeva has it right. The tribute was the wrong way round.

 

[rayleigh dan]

Re: the minute's silence I think the real problem and reason for the confusion was that for some (unfathomable) reason they wanted to do it round the wrong way. At every Remembrance Service or pre match observance I have ever experienced the silence is broken by the Last Post; I have never, ever known it to precede the silence.

I think it was because Mickey G advised the crowd that the silence would begin and end on the referee's whistle and he then proceeded to blow it before and after The Last Post.

Seenyeva has it right. The tribute was the wrong way round.

I didn't hear the ref blow the whistle earlier. I can understand the confusion now.

 

[meerkat54]

I have not felt the need to post a comment for 2 years now but after the match today I must.

This will annoy a lot of supporters that although our manager Chris was a very good player for us he is a poor manager who hasn’t got a clue. History said he was always going to be a risk with the only achievement being that he got a Charlton side (he inherited ) promotion once and that’s it total, simply the reason he got the job with us was sentimental i.e. bring back a popular player and keep the fans happy for a short while.
Today showed his lack of management in full

• At home to Crawley who clearly were a poor team we took a forward off (I think he is a forward) and replaced him with a midfielder which meant we then sat back and hoped Crawley would not score
• However we play, whatever the score the subs come on around 75 minutes
• Still does not know his best team
• Supposed great contacts within the game? Well where are they
• Clueless with tactics
• Any manager who plays Robinson says it all
• Plays players out of position

In total have we improved after Phil Brown left simple answer is no , if we have please tell me where???????
Lastly how we could have done with a forward like their number 9 – totally roughed us up constant threat, we could do a lot worse than him

Ive only witnessed 2 games this season so I can only draw limited views on CP as a manager, but I do read a lot of reports and come to the conclusion much alike yours BBWG. CP was a Legend as a player, but often players don't have the savvie to make a good manager. Having said that I think its a bit early for anyone to say CP`s tenure should come to an end, but I do think since PB`s days we have not progressed much. I do think CP should be given more time as he has had barely a year yet. I don't think CP is very tactically astute tho`, but some posters on this site will see things differently to me. Think we must sum up CP`s performance as manager at the end of season.

 

[AndyT]

This may have been covered elsewhere, but do Keen and Matthew have a lot to do with tactics and selection or just some of the coaching aspects?

 

[OldBlueLady]

Thank you @Lord Football and @Mick I, and those around me were unaware of the change re issuing a yellow card to the manager. We were all under the impression if it's a card then they go to the stand.

I still stand by what I said in the umpteen things he missed. Perhaps the aspect from the west gave a different view...?

 

[Danshrimper]

Missing Hopper and Coker massively today, but irrespective should have seen off a poor Crawley team by half time.

Thought Mantom and Cox played well.

Robinson awful, a headless chicken who’s attitude stunk after he skied one over in the second half, shouldn’t be playing.

Hendrie, very poor non league player, shouldn’t be playing. Powell clearly doesn’t rate Kyprianou.

We need a left back and a centre forward desperately in January.

Powell’s subs were shocking, going one up front when one nil up at home to an average League 2 side. Clearly has no confidence in our only other fit first team striker!!

Really want a cup run this year!!

Hopper- absolutely.
Coker- not at all, he would have changed nothing about that game.

Not sure what game you were watching r.e Hendrie you seem to be the only person on here criticising him, he was by far the best defender. How you’ve singled him out of that defence instead of Turner and White who were awful is beyond me.

 

[rayleigh dan]

Let me help you out a bit.....

Referees have been able to give yellow cards to managers since the beginning of the season. It allows them a different option than having to send him to the stands. That said, their assistant manager was a little **** who was constantly whining about something. Fourth Official just blanked him (good work, young man)

What yellow cards are you referring to? Cox got one for a late tackle, White got one for a bad tackle and was very lucky not to get a second. (we'd have certainly asked for it if it had been the other way round). Deing got booked according to BBC, don't remember that. Certainly, no problem with the other two. (Crawley bench was shouting for a red for the Cox card).

Handballs... again, my recollection of the game doesn't contain much in the way of handball. We got one in the first half, they didn't get one in the second half (correctly). White was shouting for a handball in the build up to their goal. At least we think it was handball. There wasn't anything that looked like a handball. Didn't appear to be much else. Neither was a great deal of pushing. Remembering a push is a forward motion, in fact it was refreshing to see a referee not give a free kick everytime there was contact (both in the air and on the ground). He tried to let a poor game flow.....

And yeah, he might have let their bloke a second earlier than he should. So what?

They were all definate yellows. I'm surprised you don't remember Dieng's, a petulant swipe well after the ball has gone, utterly stupid yellow to pick up. And yes, White was very lucky not to get sent off.

TBF I thought the ref was okay today, trying to shift some blame on to him sounds like sour grapes OBL.