Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0-0 Tranmere Rovers

[rigsby]

That may well be the last time we get to see Elvis in a Southend shirt at RH.

His reluctance to tackle in the first 45 would indicate to me that he thinks the same.....Likewise with Hump.

 

[borientater]

How about Demitriou right back, Elvis right midfield?

Elvis is not a midfielder , if he’s playing poorly he needs to be dropped just because he came through the ranks shouldn’t mean he’s an automatic choice

 

[rayleigh dan]

Much better defensively, we looked solid, there were no individual calamitous moments, and bar a shaky first ten minutes, for the first time in ages my heart wasn't in my mouth every time the opposition attacked. It's true that we'll have tougher tests than Tranmere to come but it was a step forwards.

Disappointingly we didn't create too many chances, but on another day that Macca shot that the keeper fortuitously deflected wide goes in.

Oxley 8 - Decent, one good early save tipped wide, then another where he pounced on the ball when the striker was through. Rock solid handling too.

Some have mentioned him not releasing the ball early enough. I agree that on a couple of occasion so here were runners available and he was too cautious. However I had to laugh when Sol was going ballistic on the touch line for him being too slow; the reason, you had everyone back defending the corner and no one was up the pitch!

Bwomono 5 - Not his best game, offered little going forwards but at least was safety first defensively.
White 7 - Decent no nonsense display.
Dieng 7 - Impressed again and made some good tackles.
Kiernan 8 MOM - I've been a big critic but he was very good yesterday. Seems to have finally pulled his finger out. More of the same please Rob. What were you doing with that foul throw though!
Milligan 5 - Poor first half, improved after the break and at least his long throws looked vaguely threatening for once. Why did he take that awful free kick though, we have far better options available.
Demetriou 6 - Had a fairly quiet game but tried hard to break up Tranmere's play and kept things simple on the ball.
Mantom 7 - Not great in the first half but was very good in the second. Created our best chance for Macca and nearly played him in again with a back heel. Generally decent set pieces too, bar the late attempt at playing it short which led to a Tranmere break.
Humphrys 5 - Still looks off the pace and doesn't get into the box enough to give much of a goal threat.
Hopper 7 - Worked really hard throughout and led the line well.

Subs:
Kelman 6 - Ran his socks off but not much came off for him.
Barratt - Not enough time to rate but great to see him back.

Finally a word to all the supporters, including Tranmere's, for the impeccably observed tributes to Chris Barker. That minutes applause where everyone got on their feet brought a tear to my eye.

 

[Tommy2holes]

True but those draws were against teams in or just outside the relegation zone, if we can't beat any of them I'm not holding my breath.

Yeah because Rotherham aren't flying at all!

 

[RobM]

"However I had to laugh when Sol was going ballistic on the touch line for him being too slow; the reason, you had everyone back defending the corner and no one was up the pitch!"

Heartily agree, head a corner away and the back comes straight back. Might as well concede two corners. Leave one player up,, two stay back to cover.

 

[BrettieAngell]

Yeah because Rotherham aren't flying at all!

ok, 1 out of 4.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

After 70 minutes or so I was looking at the bench and thinking who to use. Charlie for Hump is straight forward and clear. Maybe Goodship for a midfielder or Elvis was an opI considered.
However, if fit then the better choice might have been to have a Cox to put on for the last 15 minutes.
I have read the rumours etc but last season also remember that Simon was "pulling up trees" to make things happen positive on the field.

 

[jarvisyeh]

Yeah because Rotherham aren't flying at all!

Got to admit, I have not looked at the league table for quite some time as I am aware we are so far away from it being relevant any more but had to take a look after this comment.

That result looks pretty good when you see where they are now.

 

[Kris]

Poor game and an insight into what awaits us next season...

It could have been worse, though. Tranmere caught us napping - Macca failed to track his man - in the opening minutes and Oxley made a first-class save. His crunching slide tackle on Jennings was equally good and once he went off there wasn't much of a threat.

Feel a bit sorry for Humphrys; a great effort to chip the keeper after he made a real hash of a clearance, and from the SU it looked like it had enough power to go in but alas not. He could have blasted it but if he had and missed the target he probably would have been panned for lacking composure or whatever.

Penalty? Definitely. * One of those classic situations where anywhere else on the pitch it would be given as a foul. * [edit, I'm less convinced now I've seen the highlights]

We started the second half positively but without really hurting the opposition. Our best chance came when Macca was played in by a fantastic back heel by Mantom (I think) but missed narrowly when their keeper appeared to divert the ball wide via the back of his right ankle.

A few thoughts:

The general consensus is we lack creativity. I agree, so why is Hutchinson not getting more game time? He's the one player who looks comfortable in the 3-5-2 system as he can drift into the pockets and has the quality to hurt the opposition in the final third. The front two were feeding off scraps as it was so it was arguably pointless bringing on Kelman if the pattern of play wasn't going to change. We're going down anyway so why not play Hutch and develop him for next season.

Equally, unless he is genuinely injured, Cox should be involved at least from the bench. I don't care if he's (allegedly) disruptive off the pitch; on it he remains a class player and we needed some of what he still offers to break Tranmere down and give them something to think about. Just one bit of magic would have given us victory.

I just hope we can bring in a new left-back soon to balance the team and allow Macca to play his natural game. He was too deep to cause problems going forward for much of the game. I'm pretty sure Sol wants to play a back four so sooner the better. Hopefully Barrett will benefit from that as well. Looking forward to seeing him play.

 

[Andy_S]

A clean sheet eh? A clean ruddy sheet.

Tranmere were one of the most physical sides I've seen at the Hall for a long, long time and what was pleasing is that we scrapped with them. Absolutely no chance would we have done that a couple of months ago. Don't get me wrong, there were a couple of absolutely ridiculous moments from our players, the likes of which you would never see elsewhere. The free kick at the end was possibly the most abject, infuriating moments I've seen at a game. Our set pieces had Tranmere worrying already, yet we try to play a low and short one in, John White proceeds to fall over, then under absolutely no pressure on the halfway line, Elvis doesn't even look and boots the ball out for a corner, 20 yards in the opposite direction as to where Oxley was actually stood. Criminal. BUT, we need to focus on the positives from yesterday. No, we've still not won, but think of a couple of months ago when we were being battered week in and week out with barely a sweat broken.

------------

Oxley - I still can't fathom why Bishop played so many consecutive games. Oxley played well yesterday and showed why he's a far better choice; always vocal, always demanding and always organising. Made one great one handed save and one sliding tackle that was better than any outfield players has made all season.

Bwomono - Let's not beat around the bush, he was bloody awful.

Kiernan - I thought he played well to be honest. Is he worth the money we're undoubtedly paying him? No. Is he as bad as some would like to make out? No.

Dieng - Without a doubt the best performance he's put in since moving to centre back.

White - His distribution as usual was wayward and ill thought, but defensively he did ok.

McLaughlin - He didn't look to be fully moving right all game, almost as if he was struggling with a knock. He did however come to life in the last half an hour and was incredibly unlucky with his effort which the keeper just managed to shut his legs for.

Milligan - Better, but still managed to struggle. He needs to be put out of his misery and quickly. League 1 is just too fast and furious for him and five months in he still looks like a rabbit in headlights.

Demetriou - I didn't think he was as good as he has been in that role recently, but he still got around the pitch and got in faces when he needed to.

Mantom - My man of the match. He doesn't get the credit he deserves and any decent moment going forward tended to involve him. His back heel to set up Macca's effort in the second half was sublime.

Humphrys - Very little, if anything, came off for him. He still doesn't look convincing and still only looks to be at about 80% effort. He could be an absolute star in this league if he truly wanted to be.

Hopper - Struggled to win much in the air against their lump of a No6, but kept plugging away. Severely struggled to receive any kind of service that he'd thrive from.

 

[Mr Browns Ghost]

That may well be the last time we get to see Elvis in a Southend shirt at RH.

His reluctance to tackle in the first 45 would indicate to me that he thinks the same.....Likewise with Hump.

That’s good news . Elvis clearly cares very much about us and I’ll have that all day long ! And wish him all the luck in the world

 

[rigsby]

Poor game and an insight into what awaits us next season...

It could have been worse, though. Tranmere caught us napping - Macca failed to track his man - in the opening minutes and Oxley made a first-class save. His crunching slide tackle on Jennings was equally good and once he went off there wasn't much of a threat.

Feel a bit sorry for Humphrys; a great effort to chip the keeper after he made a real hash of a clearance, and from the SU it looked like it had enough power to go in but alas not. He could have blasted it but if he had and missed the target he probably would have been panned for lacking composure or whatever.

Penalty? Definitely. * One of those classic situations where anywhere else on the pitch it would be given as a foul. * [edit, I'm less convinced now I've seen the highlights]

We started the second half positively but without really hurting the opposition. Our best chance came when Macca was played in by a fantastic back heel by Mantom (I think) but missed narrowly when their keeper appeared to divert the ball wide via the back of his right ankle.

A few thoughts:

The general consensus is we lack creativity. I agree, so why is Hutchinson not getting more game time? He's the one player who looks comfortable in the 3-5-2 system as he can drift into the pockets and has the quality to hurt the opposition in the final third. The front two were feeding off scraps as it was so it was arguably pointless bringing on Kelman if the pattern of play wasn't going to change. We're going down anyway so why not play Hutch and develop him for next season.

Equally, unless he is genuinely injured, Cox should be involved at least from the bench. I don't care if he's (allegedly) disruptive off the pitch; on it he remains a class player and we needed some of what he still offers to break Tranmere down and give them something to think about. Just one bit of magic would have given us victory.

I just hope we can bring in a new left-back soon to balance the team and allow Macca to play his natural game. He was too deep to cause problems going forward for much of the game. I'm pretty sure Sol wants to play a back four so sooner the better. Hopefully Barrett will benefit from that as well. Looking forward to seeing him play.

In fairness to Macca that left hand corner is our weak spot, well the worst of many that is. The first goal v MK was similar because we don't have an LB.

Macca had pushed on as part of back 5 which often looks a bit lopsided. JW covered well on the right but Kiernan seems reluctant to to go out wide. Plus with 3 defensive CM's, then if Macca pushes up, one of those should shuffle over......You may have noticed Mantom treading water as Macca went past him. It was something Ethan Hamilton did really well on the away fixture but his off the ball work was rarely noticed.

Macca did make a goal saving clearance at the back post second half. As did JW with a front post header and then someone else at the back post from a corner?.....Its those sort of clearances and the Oxley saves that we have missed so much this season....I certainly cant remember a game with 5 or 6 game changing bits of defending by SUFC.

Kelman should have been on no later that 55 if not a H/T. And why wasn't Hutch on....Not sure what he has done to upset Sol but i would have fancied him for one of those free-kicks. Some real plus points but the work was nearly all undone with one of the worse free kicks I have ever seen. I have tried but no....I really can't for the life of me understand some players thinking and game management skills.

Met some real good lads from Tranmere in the Spread....Hope they enjoyed their weekend.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

In fairness to Macca that left hand corner is our weak spot, well the worst of many that is. The first goal v MK was similar because we don't have an LB.

Macca had pushed on as part of back 5 which often looks a bit lopsided. JW covered well on the right but Kiernan seems reluctant to to go out wide. Plus with 3 defensive CM's, then if Macca pushes up, one of those should shuffle over......You may have noticed Mantom treading water as Macca went past him. It was something Ethan Hamilton did really well on the away fixture but his of the ball work was rarely noticed.

Macca did make a goal saving clearance at the back post second half. As did JW with a front post header and then someone else at the back post from a corner?.....Its those sort of clearances and the Oxley saves that we have missed so much this season....I certainly cant remember a game with 5 or 6 game changing bits of defending by SUFC.

Kelman should have been on no later that 55 if not a H/T. And why wasn't Hutch on....Not sure what he has done to upset Sol but i would have fancied him for one of those free-kicks. Some real plus points but the work was nearly all undone with one of the worse free kicks I have ever seen. I have tried bit no....I really can't for the life of me understand some players thinking and game management skills.

Met some real good lads from Tranmere in the Spread....Hope they enjoyed their weekend.

Away fans in the Spread?? I’ve not been in there in a while but surely that ain’t right

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Away fans in the Spread?? I’ve not been in there in a while but surely that ain’t right

It happens now and again, if they don't look like trouble.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

Away fans in the Spread?? I’ve not been in there in a while but surely that ain’t right

Have they relaxed security on the door, to get a few more people inside?.

 

[Willis]

That may well be the last time we get to see Elvis in a Southend shirt at RH.

His reluctance to tackle in the first 45 would indicate to me that he thinks the same.....Likewise with Hump.

I thought that during the match: he has zero interest in anything even approaching a 50:50 challenge: case in point is evident in the highlights (just over a minute in) where he fannys about, carefully evading a couple of Tranmere players and losing the ball. Shame. Waste of a talent.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Have they relaxed security on the door, to get a few more people inside?.

Don’t know, but surely that’s the one pub that’s reserved for home fans. Ok if they cause no trouble fine .. but the Spread is surely a home fans only pub ..

 

[rigsby]

This was after the game and they had been in a box with Southend fans.....House trained Scousers rather than bin dippers. Probably own cars rather than mind them for you....That sort of thing.

They even wore their shame quite well....I mentioned we had done the double over them. They have played Southend twice and not won.

 

[SUFCfan44]

A clean sheet eh? A clean ruddy sheet.

Tranmere were one of the most physical sides I've seen at the Hall for a long, long time and what was pleasing is that we scrapped with them. Absolutely no chance would we have done that a couple of months ago. Don't get me wrong, there were a couple of absolutely ridiculous moments from our players, the likes of which you would never see elsewhere. The free kick at the end was possibly the most abject, infuriating moments I've seen at a game. Our set pieces had Tranmere worrying already, yet we try to play a low and short one in, John White proceeds to fall over, then under absolutely no pressure on the halfway line, Elvis doesn't even look and boots the ball out for a corner, 20 yards in the opposite direction as to where Oxley was actually stood. Criminal. BUT, we need to focus on the positives from yesterday. No, we've still not won, but think of a couple of months ago when we were being battered week in and week out with barely a sweat broken.

------------

Oxley - I still can't fathom why Bishop played so many consecutive games. Oxley played well yesterday and showed why he's a far better choice; always vocal, always demanding and always organising. Made one great one handed save and one sliding tackle that was better than any outfield players has made all season.

Bwomono - Let's not beat around the bush, he was bloody awful.

Kiernan - I thought he played well to be honest. Is he worth the money we're undoubtedly paying him? No. Is he as bad as some would like to make out? No.

Dieng - Without a doubt the best performance he's put in since moving to centre back.

White - His distribution as usual was wayward and ill thought, but defensively he did ok.

McLaughlin - He didn't look to be fully moving right all game, almost as if he was struggling with a knock. He did however come to life in the last half an hour and was incredibly unlucky with his effort which the keeper just managed to shut his legs for.

Milligan - Better, but still managed to struggle. He needs to be put out of his misery and quickly. League 1 is just too fast and furious for him and five months in he still looks like a rabbit in headlights.

Demetriou - I didn't think he was as good as he has been in that role recently, but he still got around the pitch and got in faces when he needed to.

Mantom - My man of the match. He doesn't get the credit he deserves and any decent moment going forward tended to involve him. His back heel to set up Macca's effort in the second half was sublime.

Humphrys - Very little, if anything, came off for him. He still doesn't look convincing and still only looks to be at about 80% effort. He could be an absolute star in this league if he truly wanted to be.

Hopper - Struggled to win much in the air against their lump of a No6, but kept plugging away. Severely struggled to receive any kind of service that he'd thrive from.

A clean sheet eh? A clean ruddy sheet.

Tranmere were one of the most physical sides I've seen at the Hall for a long, long time and what was pleasing is that we scrapped with them. Absolutely no chance would we have done that a couple of months ago. Don't get me wrong, there were a couple of absolutely ridiculous moments from our players, the likes of which you would never see elsewhere. The free kick at the end was possibly the most abject, infuriating moments I've seen at a game. Our set pieces had Tranmere worrying already, yet we try to play a low and short one in, John White proceeds to fall over, then under absolutely no pressure on the halfway line, Elvis doesn't even look and boots the ball out for a corner, 20 yards in the opposite direction as to where Oxley was actually stood. Criminal. BUT, we need to focus on the positives from yesterday. No, we've still not won, but think of a couple of months ago when we were being battered week in and week out with barely a sweat broken.

------------

Oxley - I still can't fathom why Bishop played so many consecutive games. Oxley played well yesterday and showed why he's a far better choice; always vocal, always demanding and always organising. Made one great one handed save and one sliding tackle that was better than any outfield players has made all season.

Bwomono - Let's not beat around the bush, he was bloody awful.

Kiernan - I thought he played well to be honest. Is he worth the money we're undoubtedly paying him? No. Is he as bad as some would like to make out? No.

Dieng - Without a doubt the best performance he's put in since moving to centre back.

White - His distribution as usual was wayward and ill thought, but defensively he did ok.

McLaughlin - He didn't look to be fully moving right all game, almost as if he was struggling with a knock. He did however come to life in the last half an hour and was incredibly unlucky with his effort which the keeper just managed to shut his legs for.

Milligan - Better, but still managed to struggle. He needs to be put out of his misery and quickly. League 1 is just too fast and furious for him and five months in he still looks like a rabbit in headlights.

Demetriou - I didn't think he was as good as he has been in that role recently, but he still got around the pitch and got in faces when he needed to.

Mantom - My man of the match. He doesn't get the credit he deserves and any decent moment going forward tended to involve him. His back heel to set up Macca's effort in the second half was sublime.

Humphrys - Very little, if anything, came off for him. He still doesn't look convincing and still only looks to be at about 80% effort. He could be an absolute star in this league if he truly wanted to be.

Hopper - Struggled to win much in the air against their lump of a No6, but kept plugging away. Severely struggled to receive any kind of service that he'd thrive from.

With regards to the Oxley Bishop thing, I’ve been saying it for ages! Fans seem to favour bishop, and although oxley isn’t perfect, I feel so much more safe as a shot comes in when oxley is in net. Bishop only really gets the nod from most because “he’s one of our own”, but no matter where he’s from, I don’t think he’s good enough, not even for league 2. However, he’s still learning and may still have a decent future.
Edit: sorry for replying to the same thing twice...

 

[Evening Echo]

TRANMERE Rovers boss Micky Mellon felt his side lacked the quality needed to triumph at Southend United on Saturday, reports Theo Beevers.

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