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

[SeldomSeenShrimper]

I thought Ranger was brilliant when he came on ... but I wouldn't know as I wasn't there ...:unsure:

 

[RHB]

I thought Ranger was brilliant when he came on ... but I wouldn't know as I wasn't there ...:unsure:

What Ranger did when he came on was to become a target man for the mids and back four to aim for. He's not fit but he won most headers he challenged for, and most importantly Rochdale started to stand off him. Its been a while since we have had a tall forward on the pitch that can hold up the ball and bring others into play. Fit or not, that is what he bought to the match and if he continues to do those things then Coxy will benefit immensely from those knock ons.

 

[turkishm]

I thought Ranger was brilliant when he came on ... but I wouldn't know as I wasn't there ...:unsure:

You be careful, you will have Rigsby after you

 

[LBBlue]

The current batch of injuries has forced Brown to make changes he would never think of making and that is a very good thing. I think sometimes things get stale but unless changes are forced, nothing changes

Oxley has really turned it around. Much better this season, with some real quality saves
Hendrie, whether injured or not just doesn't seem to be at the races, positioning not great and slow to react to situations
Lenny was that good that I'd probably rate him one of the best CB's we have and would happily see him there every game.
Kyprianou played out of position and again looked better than a lot what we have seen at CB this season.
Elvis is a breath of fresh air, grabbed his chance superbly and if Brown puts Demi back into RB next week it will be a massive injustice. Elvis is just 17, let that sink in for a minute.
Timlin was better when moved to LB. At CM,Couldn't pass for toffee today, poor from him
Kightly isn't a CM as today showed.
McGlashan, for all his pace and running has no final ball
McLaughlin was the pick of the midfield today from the starting 11
Cox flatters to deceive
Fortune has good skills, strong on the ball but nothing doing for him today

Subs
Ranger made a massive difference when he came on. Wining headers, holding the ball up, neat interplay between him and Dru. We have missed Ranger big time
Yearwood has something special about him. His first touch was a sweet diagonal ball out to the right wing. Second touch was a bit heavy but he has the knack of making the ball stick to him. Went on a mazy run through the middle, feigned movement left and right and the Rochdale players has no clue. He is a strong lad too
Robinson was typical Robinson. Ran a lot but offered little

Pitch cut up big time again, but it's the same for both teams.
Rochdale are a dirty and nasty team and the red card was well deserved.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of Elvis, Dru, Kyprianou, Ranger and Lenny at CB please

I agree with this nearly entirely - McLaughlin was probably the pick of a poor midfield today but tired quickly. Kightly didn't really have clue what his role was. He is not a central midfielder.

The game was entertaining in a weird way - not through the quality of the football.
The ref bottled a red card in the first minute for the assault on McGlashan.
We were then given 11 free kicks in the first twenty minutes. All Keith Hill did was laugh at the ref and according to Chris Phillips, Hill reckons Brown had a love-in with the ref.

Despite our makeshift defence the dire Rochdale and they were dire managed four shots all game with just one on target.
The attempted lob of Oxley which went over the South Stand summed them up. They've only managed one goal from open play all season. Did we really need a defence - we could have subbed Oxley he had so little to do?
Their attempt to get Cox sent off after he followed up the penalty was disgusting.

I hope Oxley took note of how their keeper caught corners and crosses.

Why does Brown spend the whole match shouting and bawling at the team.? I don't really see what good it does it must make them uptight and anxious. Why can't he just let them play?


It was a pleasure watching Elvis and a pair of mobile centre backs, however several others were a complete let down.

Timlin in midfield is not League One standard. He is a good League 2 cruncher.
McGlashan is great at controlling a pass to him, quick, but can only run in a straight line and has consistently shown he can't pass, cross or shoot.
Robinson seems to have no football brain what so ever - a target of Brown's bawling in all the games I have seen (and quite rightly but fans mustn't give him stick).
Fortune seems to have gone over the hill.

None of the above 4 should be on the pitch now.

Kightly must be wondering what he has let himself in for - he needs to be on the right wing.

Just look at the league table 4 of the 5 sides we have played are below us in the table and we haven't beaten any of them. (only Blackburn are above us). I'd rather have more youngsters learning their game than persevering with those who will never improve.

Today showed what a bit of youthful enthusiasm can bring.

Charlton and Shrewsbury will be much bigger tests - then comes the hapless Northampton (Don't beat them we will be in a relegation fight -when did I hear that before) followed by Fleetwood way. Could be bottom 4 by then.

Attacking play needs sorting out - with a balanced midfield.

 

[buffalowolf]

I was hoping that at least we could come out of this match with a draw ,reading all week about how many injuries we have and what a patched up team we will be sending out on the pitch.Yes we got a draw but reading all of your threads maybe we should have won the match,missed penalty mmmmmm, but what pleases me most is how well you all agree how our youths played and how well Lenny played at CB.Augers well for the future,maybe when DEMI comes back we will see him in the #6 shirt with Elvis behind him.Also good to see Ranger get some minutes.MAF i fear its a season too much ,McGlashen and Robinson and Timlin should have been allowed to find another club during the off season sorry.They all league 2 at best.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

I called it after 10 minutes that there would be no goals - a total lack of quality going forward from both sides , Dale were a big side and we did very well to contain their Ariel threat from set plays with some great defensive headers and blocks .
Elvis had a very busy debut and won his fair share of headers and he grew into the game - second half he dealt with the bombardment of goal kicks down his throat extremely well and deserved his MOTM .

Coxy was trying too hard to pick out defence cutting passes and needs someone else on his wave length in or around him .
Rangers presence just seemed to rattle the dale back 4 and you could see them dropping off him which enables him to bring the ball down and link up play well .

A game our senior pros needed to be a lot more brave on the ball - Kights should of ran the show today with his pedigree but hid a few times when our back 4 were in possession - Dru on the other hand was brave enough to receive the ball under pressure and try and make things happen for us - he was positive and tried to pass the ball forward on every occasion and I enjoyed watching him .

 

[RHB]

I called it after 10 minutes that there would be no goals - a total lack of quality going forward from both sides , Dale were a big side and we did very well to contain their Ariel threat from set plays with some great defensive headers and blocks .

So it was you who hexed Coxy's penalty miss some time after the first 10 minutes then, thanks:winking:

 

[The General]

For me our attacking play had no cohesiveness. We weren't looking to string together passes and passages of play just saw both teams going nowhere. This wasn't helped by the fact that Tims was starting attacks off with his "passing" and that was where we missed Lenny. When he started bringing the ball out from the back, we started to look a bit better but as soon as Ranger came on, we just started to avoid the midfield totally and go from front to back. Yearwood needed to get on the ball much more often (I think PB was making that point to him!) as when he did, we started to look dangerous and if he could shoot, probably would have bagged the only goal after a good solo dribble.

For me in the first half Cox was playing way too deep and left MAF isolated! Cox and Kights were basically the same player trying to do the same thing in the same part of the pitch! And neither did much of note. Play passed them both by and highlighted how much we need Woody back!

Came away feeling slightly underwhelmed for my first game of the season a season game was definelty there for taking!

 

[united we stand]

I called it after 10 minutes that there would be no goals - a total lack of quality going forward from both sides , Dale were a big side and we did very well to contain their Ariel threat from set plays with some great defensive headers and blocks .
Elvis had a very busy debut and won his fair share of headers and he grew into the game - second half he dealt with the bombardment of goal kicks down his throat extremely well and deserved his MOTM .

Coxy was trying too hard to pick out defence cutting passes and needs someone else on his wave length in or around him .
Rangers presence just seemed to rattle the dale back 4 and you could see them dropping off him which enables him to bring the ball down and link up play well .

A game our senior pros needed to be a lot more brave on the ball - Kights should of ran the show today with his pedigree but hid a few times when our back 4 were in possession - Dru on the other hand was brave enough to receive the ball under pressure and try and make things happen for us - he was positive and tried to pass the ball forward on every occasion and I enjoyed watching him .

I don't think Levi's really had to deal with their keepers kicking. At one point he kkcked 4. , maybe 5 in a row into touch.

 

[Polish_Blues]

I am glad we didn't lose, giving our build up as our back four was missing and we had to swap players around to cover, like Leonard has to play in CB plus Kyprianou too, both did well at the back and a 17 year old Elvis at Right back. Rochdale is much better than their position in the table. We should have won, at least we didn't lose which I thought we would before the kick off. Looking at it, Kieran Richardson & Josh Wright is an upgrade over Timlin, as both players would give decent balls to like of Knightly, Cox, McGlashan & McLaughlin.

 

[RobM]

Maybe the wayward goal kicks (all down the left, second half) were an attempt to exploit Bwomono's perceived lack of aerial power. Just a guess - it didn't work anyway.

I went to some of the friendlies and thought then that Yearwood looks promising - seems I'm right (that makes a change!).
Bwomono looked as if he'd had a few first team appearances before - he hasn't - fitted in well.
Kyprianou didn't have a lot to do but did the majority of it well. He was close to being 'mugged' once or twice, maybe that was just anxiety to impress.

"I'm looking forward to seeing more of Elvis, Dru, Kyprianou" said someone earlier in the thread - me too.
Based on those performances, who to start at Charlton?

Oh well, there's always good - I got 3 points in the Row G prediction league and 1 in the Shrimperzone one (I had Cox as first scorer - did you? Did you also think "That's a point for me..."?), It wasn't a bad penalty - just the 'keeper guessed right (in both ways). I suppose any scored penalty is a good one.

 

[RobM]

Kieran Richardson & Josh Wright is an upgrade over Timlin, as both players would give decent balls to like of Knightly, Cox, McGlashan & McLaughlin.

We're hoping Wordsworth will as well. We're simply not making chances. It's not as if we all went home and thought "How did we miss those?".

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I don't think Levi's really had to deal with their keepers kicking. At one point he kkcked 4. , maybe 5 in a row into touch.

If you mean Elvis, then what he did do well was just give the Rochdale player a nudge every time the keeper kicked out to the touchline, just to put the player off in case he had a chance of a header. Someone said Elvis isn't a great header of the ball but he won most headers yesterday

 

[amsemp]

Oxley 7 - not an awful lot to do at all but made a fantastic save in the first half to keep things level. Kicking was excellent again.
Bwomono 8 - a little green at times and struggled to keep his footing on the pitch, but a really encouraging performance and never shied away from wanting the ball and wanting to be involved. Loved seeing him win a corner by the east stand and then gee up the crowd as he was running back. Really good attitude and hard to believe he's as young as he is. Never looked out of place.
Leonard 9 - my MOTM. Real captain's performance. Looked assured and reliable and always looked to play out from the back with some decent passes. It was really pleasing to see him so supportive with Kyprianou, always making himself available for him and guiding him through the game.
Kyprianou 7 - very encouraging from the lad and dealt well with much of what was asked of him. He knocked a few long balls stray in the second half and seemed to lose confidence a bit as after that he kept rolling the ball back to Lenny rather than taking anything on himself. He's another one who should hold his head high, and again, didn't look at all out of place.
Hendrie 6 - not spectacular by any means, but not exactly terrible either. Not sure if he's short on confidence at the moment, but haven't seen much of the player we had on loan before. Still think he will come good and still only a young lad. Maybe having competition when Coker is back will bring the best out of him.
Timlin 5 - really poor from him yesterday. Doesn't appear to be the player he once was. Lost count of how many times he failed to complete very simple passes in the first half. Decent as a squad player, but sadly he doesn't look good enough as a starter for this level any more.
McGlashan 6 - very frustrating to watch him yesterday. I know people always say that "if [player's] passing/crossing/finishing was better then he wouldn't be playing at this level", but his end product needs to be far, far better than what we saw yesterday if he wants to stay in the side. So much pace and movement, runs past players for fun and then struggles to put anything meaningful into the box for the strikers to work with.
Kightly 6 - didn't look comfortable in the middle and struggled to make any real impact. Probably our best crosser but wasn't given the opportunity to demonstrate his ability which in hindsight, could've made a real difference especially once Ranger was introduced.
McLaughlin 7 - decent enough performance whilst still attempting to get himself properly match fit and back to form. Some dangerous deliveries and decent passes. Really important we get him fit and firing as quick as we can, as he's someone who can be a real asset for us.
Fortune 6 - thought he held the ball up well at times but never really looked close to scoring or creating anything. He and Cox were like a couple of blunt instruments up front and struggled to ever really threaten. As I said for Timlin, excellent experienced squad player, but not sure he can be relied on as a starter any longer.
Cox 6 - I get the feeling that he'll have an explosive game for us soon where he'll score a couple and get back to his best (possibly when Wordsworth returns). But again, struggled to impose himself yesterday and didn't really manage to trouble them at all. Wasn't the worst penalty I've ever seen, just got a bit unlucky with the keeper making a good save.

Ranger 7 - welcome back Nile. We looked twice as likely to score once he was introduced. Made a real nuisance of himself and has a real footballing brain. Thinks about where he passes and where he heads the ball. If we had swapped Kightly and McGlashan over to let Kightly get some balls in the box, I fancy we would've scored. Really important we get him back starting sooner rather than later.
Yearwood 7 - very impressed with the young man yesterday. Seems to have it all. Pinged some very good long balls and then worked his way into some decent positions with some good footwork and close control. What a player he'll be.
Robinson 6 - see McGlashan. Pace and not a lot else really. Another one who seems a bit low on confidence. Was in danger of almost trying too hard. To be fair, we were lumping balls forward by the time he came on and it obviously doesn't suit him. Still a decent squad player.

Rochdale were a poor side with a real nasty streak. Some awful challenges going in and poor sportsmanship with shirt pulling, kicking the ball away etc. I can see where they get it from though as the behaviour from their manager and particularly their assistant was pretty embarrassing the whole game.

Lots of positives to be taken though. The young lads were all excellent and all look like they'll develop into excellent prospects. The pitch however, was about the worst I've seen it. Looked like a ploughed field by the time we'd finished. Time to speak to the football league and get some fixtures changed so we can have a run of away games and do whatever we need to do. We can't play a whole season on that pitch, it must be one of the worst in the football league.

 

[RobM]

"Looked like a ploughed field by the time we'd finished. Time to speak to the football league and get some fixtures changed so we can have a run of away games and do whatever we need to do. We can't play a whole season on that pitch, it must be one of the worst in the football league."


Sort of - all Hall and no Roots!

 

[rayleigh dan]

As other's have said there were some positives to take from yesterday, all the youngsters performed well (especially Elvis), Lenny was excellent in defense and it was great to see Ranger back. Too many of the senior pro's had off days though, notably Timlin and Kightly, while Cox and Fortune look very short of confidence right now, shame Coxy couldn't take our best chance from the spot.

Oxley 7 - Good early save onto the post from Rochdale's only real chance, kicking was good especially when compared to dale's keeper!

Bwomono 8 - Very good, solid throughout the game and also got forward well.
Leonard 9 - MOM, looked a natural in defense, didn't put a foot wrong.
Kyprianou 7 - First time I've seen him play centre back and didn't look out of place, made a number of good clearances.
Hendrie 6 - Got caught out once early on but other than that he did okay, noticeably limping before he was subbed, not another defensive injury :sad:

McGlashan 6 - Looked threatening running with the ball and had the beating of his full back, shame his final ball was usualy awful.
Timlin 5 - Put him self about well as usual and broke up play well, however his passing was dreadful. Did okay at left back in the second half.
Kightly 5 - Dissappointing. I know he was out of position but I still expected more considering his undoubted quality, with hindsight perhaps we would have been better off starting Dru and leaving him out wide.
McLaughlin 6 - Did okay but still some way short of his best form.

Cox 6 - Looked busy and worked hard. Played deeper than usual, especially in the first half, which helped the midfield but left Fortune a bit isolated. Poor penalty, he really needed that to go in for a confidence boost.
Fortune 5 - Had an off day, nothing really stuck and he had little real impact.

Subs:
Ranger 7 - Dominant in the air, good to see him back.
Yearwood 7 - Made a difference, not afraid to run with the ball and passing was good.
Robinson 6 - Struggled to make a real impression other than one shot into the side netting.

 

[IloveShrimp]

Oxley 7 - not an awful lot to do at all but made a fantastic save in the first half to keep things level. Kicking was excellent again.
Bwomono 8 - a little green at times and struggled to keep his footing on the pitch, but a really encouraging performance and never shied away from wanting the ball and wanting to be involved. Loved seeing him win a corner by the east stand and then gee up the crowd as he was running back. Really good attitude and hard to believe he's as young as he is. Never looked out of place.
Leonard 9 - my MOTM. Real captain's performance. Looked assured and reliable and always looked to play out from the back with some decent passes. It was really pleasing to see him so supportive with Kyprianou, always making himself available for him and guiding him through the game.
Kyprianou 7 - very encouraging from the lad and dealt well with much of what was asked of him. He knocked a few long balls stray in the second half and seemed to lose confidence a bit as after that he kept rolling the ball back to Lenny rather than taking anything on himself. He's another one who should hold his head high, and again, didn't look at all out of place.
Hendrie 6 - not spectacular by any means, but not exactly terrible either. Not sure if he's short on confidence at the moment, but haven't seen much of the player we had on loan before. Still think he will come good and still only a young lad. Maybe having competition when Coker is back will bring the best out of him.
Timlin 5 - really poor from him yesterday. Doesn't appear to be the player he once was. Lost count of how many times he failed to complete very simple passes in the first half. Decent as a squad player, but sadly he doesn't look good enough as a starter for this level any more.
McGlashan 6 - very frustrating to watch him yesterday. I know people always say that "if [player's] passing/crossing/finishing was better then he wouldn't be playing at this level", but his end product needs to be far, far better than what we saw yesterday if he wants to stay in the side. So much pace and movement, runs past players for fun and then struggles to put anything meaningful into the box for the strikers to work with.
Kightly 6 - didn't look comfortable in the middle and struggled to make any real impact. Probably our best crosser but wasn't given the opportunity to demonstrate his ability which in hindsight, could've made a real difference especially once Ranger was introduced.
McLaughlin 7 - decent enough performance whilst still attempting to get himself properly match fit and back to form. Some dangerous deliveries and decent passes. Really important we get him fit and firing as quick as we can, as he's someone who can be a real asset for us.
Fortune 6 - thought he held the ball up well at times but never really looked close to scoring or creating anything. He and Cox were like a couple of blunt instruments up front and struggled to ever really threaten. As I said for Timlin, excellent experienced squad player, but not sure he can be relied on as a starter any longer.
Cox 6 - I get the feeling that he'll have an explosive game for us soon where he'll score a couple and get back to his best (possibly when Wordsworth returns). But again, struggled to impose himself yesterday and didn't really manage to trouble them at all. Wasn't the worst penalty I've ever seen, just got a bit unlucky with the keeper making a good save.

Ranger 7 - welcome back Nile. We looked twice as likely to score once he was introduced. Made a real nuisance of himself and has a real footballing brain. Thinks about where he passes and where he heads the ball. If we had swapped Kightly and McGlashan over to let Kightly get some balls in the box, I fancy we would've scored. Really important we get him back starting sooner rather than later.
Yearwood 7 - very impressed with the young man yesterday. Seems to have it all. Pinged some very good long balls and then worked his way into some decent positions with some good footwork and close control. What a player he'll be.
Robinson 6 - see McGlashan. Pace and not a lot else really. Another one who seems a bit low on confidence. Was in danger of almost trying too hard. To be fair, we were lumping balls forward by the time he came on and it obviously doesn't suit him. Still a decent squad player.

Rochdale were a poor side with a real nasty streak. Some awful challenges going in and poor sportsmanship with shirt pulling, kicking the ball away etc. I can see where they get it from though as the behaviour from their manager and particularly their assistant was pretty embarrassing the whole game.

Lots of positives to be taken though. The young lads were all excellent and all look like they'll develop into excellent prospects. The pitch however, was about the worst I've seen it. Looked like a ploughed field by the time we'd finished. Time to speak to the football league and get some fixtures changed so we can have a run of away games and do whatever we need to do. We can't play a whole season on that pitch, it must be one of the worst in the football league.

I agree with most of this except I am not sure Robinson deserves so high as 6.

The way I saw it was that Rochdale obviously set out to 'shut up shop' which we always have difficulty in breaking down. There were plenty of opportunities to pass the early ball into the channels but once again we stopped at half way and passed sideways instead.

I honestly think we would have won had we played at a faster tempo. Ranger proved this when coming on as he was making one touch passes instead of the two or three touches that the team were making previously. Just simple pass and move would have done it, but at times there was no movement at all and players had no options but to punt it long.

An observation... if one of our players had worked out that by standing in front of their goal keeper would have prevented him from gathering our crosses perhaps we may have scored!

Hats off to PB though, his team selection for the back four was spot on, and we certainly have some very good talented youngsters on the way.

Very disappointed that we only had one shot on target apart from the awful penalty (a header from Lenny).

Personally I would have played 3 up front when they went down to ten men, and left Fortune on rather than Robinson who once again did nothing (to be fair to him we do not play to his strengths).

UTB

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I agree with most of this except I am not sure Robinson deserves so high as 6.

The way I saw it was that Rochdale obviously set out to 'shut up shop' which we always have difficulty in breaking down. There were plenty of opportunities to pass the early ball into the channels but once again we stopped at half way and passed sideways instead.

I honestly think we would have won had we played at a faster tempo. Ranger proved this when coming on as he was making one touch passes instead of the two or three touches that the team were making previously. Just simple pass and move would have done it, but at times there was no movement at all and players had no options but to punt it long.


An observation... if one of our players had worked out that by standing in front of their goal keeper would have prevented him from gathering our crosses perhaps we may have scored!

Hats off to PB though, his team selection for the back four was spot on, and we certainly have some very good talented youngsters on the way.

Very disappointed that we only had one shot on target apart from the awful penalty (a header from Lenny).

Personally I would have played 3 up front when they went down to ten men, and left Fortune on rather than Robinson who once again did nothing (to be fair to him we do not play to his strengths).
UTB

I would have liked Ba to come on instead of Robinson. Rochdale weren't too pacey at the back and were there for the taking. Ba is faster than Robinson, although very green, sometimes all it takes is to get away from the defenders once. I just can't see Robinson or Fortune scoring at the moment.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

I would have liked Ba to come on instead of Robinson. Rochdale weren't too pacey at the back and were there for the taking. Ba is faster than Robinson, although very green, sometimes all it takes is to get away from the defenders once. I just can't see Robinson or Fortune scoring at the moment.

Ba is injured, he was not on the bench yesterday.

 

[BrettieAngell]

Ba is injured, he was not on the bench yesterday.

Well that put a crimp on an otherwise damn fine plan.