Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0-1 Burton Albion

[Evening Echo]

TEN MAN Southend United sunk to a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to Burton Albion at Roots Hall tonight, with Jacques Maghoma bagging an injury time winner for the Brewers.

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[Medway Blue]

Funny how people see things differently. I'm seeing all this praise for Timlin as MotM on the other thread for "covering every blade of grass" and pulling off these great passes.......well all I saw was a headless chicken with little to no positional discipline who pulled off (as I counted) two or three accurate passes and either over or under-cooked all the rest.

I actually lay a large degree of blame at his door for the loss, especially so far as the two pivotal moments of the match go at least. Everyone is on Spicer's back for the tackle - and I'm not saying it wasn't reckless - but all of those people seem to have conveniently forgotten the way that Timlin sold Spicer up **** creek with the touch of a concrete elephant swiftly followed by a hideously under-cooked pass which put Spicer in trouble. Another case, for me, of Timlin making an idiotic mistake on the ball and then hospital passing the ball to the nearest (completely unaware) blue shirt in order to get shot and pass the buck as soon as he possibly can. More evidence for me, too, to back-up my theory that Spicer has looked dodgy recently because Timlin's over-trying to find some form ****s Spicer's game up - Timlin just gets in his bloody way all the time.

Then, to make things even worse, he got mugged by the Burton player on the halfway line and then chased and brought him down with a needless lunge from behind which conceded the free-kick that they scored from.

More of a "Mug of the Match" performance in my eyes. Clohessy, Cresswell, Hurst and Assombalonga were my contenders, maybe even Martin at a push. That's not to say any of those players were amazing - just the better out of a pretty impotent set of players on the night.

 

[silentshrimper]

Had to be my old football manager ace (for southend) who scored!

I am absolutely gutted tonight, top class performance which would have ranked as average with 11 men, but to produce that with 10 was great to see.

The defence was rarely called in to real action, as the boys defended from the front. Spicer owes them all a few drinks and I hope Sturrock gives him (and the team)a talking to about this, 3 red cards in 10 league games is not acceptable with a squad this small.

Highlight had to be Clohessy's bit of skill that any Barca player would have been proud to pull off, it was pretty damn special and I doubt I will ever see that again in this league. Martins wing play at one point tore their right back a new A-hole, hopefully this will give him confidence to do this more now! Hurst also had a top game, bar the awful selection of corners.

Timlin ran the show in midfield, kind of basically saying to Spicer that he didn't really need him anyway. Eastwood also did well in a deeper role.

Bentley - 7.5 - Did well, one dodgy moment but one good save, most of his game is pretty solid!

Clohessy - 8 - gets 1 more point for the skill he did.
Cresswell - 8 - Dominated them.
Prosser - 8 - Also dominated them.
Barker - 7.5 - Did a good job.

Hurst - 7 - Awful corners again, but good wing play and engine.
Spicer - 4 - I called for him to put more tackles in just yesterday, I wish he hadn't listened.
Timlin - 8.5 - Ran the midfield, he is truely back to his best.
Martin - 8 - Think this was a great game for his confidence, his best game that I have seen this season.

Eastwood - 7 - Had to adapt to playing deeper but he done this well, always seems to look like he has more time on the ball than others.
Assombalona - motm 8.5 - His muscles are pure elastic, this boy was top class tonight and deserved a goal for his efforts, I bet he isn't even tired!

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I thought it was a fantastic performance with Ten men. Two footed off the floor tackle, no complaints there. Barry Corr's was not a sending off, having watched it many times in slo mo. But he nudged him with his shoulder in an act of retaliation, but his forward motion made it look worse, and then Purse wins an oscar for his reaction. Barry was mugged, but he shouldn't have got in a tangle in the first place. I just hope the players now realise you can't do these things nowadays, and that we don't have another player sent off this season. That's Two games we could have won with 11 men.

The goal was very soft, and I think we saw the best and worst of Bentley. Magnificent save earlier, but then doesn't line that pathetic wall correctly, and is beaten by a soft free kick which wasn't even right in the corner.

But hats off to the Ten men, they gave everything. Just hope they have enough left for Saturday, as Leonard is now injured with a hamstring, so the players left standing is getting worse.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I thought it was a fantastic performance with Ten men. Two footed off the floor tackle, no complaints there. Barry Corr's was not a sending off, having watched it many times in slo mo. But he nudged him with his shoulder in an act of retaliation, but his forward motion made it look worse, and then Purse wins an oscar for his reaction. Barry was mugged, but he shouldn't have got in a tangle in the first place. I just hope the players now realise you can't do these things nowadays, and that we don't have another player sent off this season. That's Two games we could have won with 11 men.

The goal was very soft, and I think we saw the best and worst of Bentley. Magnificent save earlier, but then doesn't line that pathetic wall correctly, and is beaten by a soft free kick which wasn't even right in the corner.

But hats off to the Ten men, they gave everything. Just hope they have enough left for Saturday, as Leonard is now injured with a hamstring, so the players left standing is getting worse.

Corr's was a sending off. There's footage from another angle that a Plymough fan posted online that clears shows Corr slapping Purse. A sending off every time I'm afraid.

 

[FarmdogSUFC]

Funny how people see things differently. I'm seeing all this praise for Timlin as MotM on the other thread for "covering every blade of grass" and pulling off these great passes.......well all I saw was a headless chicken with little to no positional discipline who pulled off (as I counted) two or three accurate passes and either over or under-cooked all the rest.

I actually lay a large degree of blame at his door for the loss, especially so far as the two pivotal moments of the match go at least. Everyone is on Spicer's back for the tackle - and I'm not saying it wasn't reckless - but all of those people seem to have conveniently forgotten the way that Timlin sold Spicer up **** creek with the touch of a concrete elephant swiftly followed by a hideously under-cooked pass which put Spicer in trouble. Another case, for me, of Timlin making an idiotic mistake on the ball and then hospital passing the ball to the nearest (completely unaware) blue shirt in order to get shot and pass the buck as soon as he possibly can. More evidence for me, too, to back-up my theory that Spicer has looked dodgy recently because Timlin's over-trying to find some form ****s Spicer's game up - Timlin just gets in his bloody way all the time.

Then, to make things even worse, he got mugged by the Burton player on the halfway line and then chased and brought him down with a needless lunge from behind which conceded the free-kick that they scored from.

More of a "Mug of the Match" performance in my eyes. Clohessy, Cresswell, Hurst and Assombalonga were my contenders, maybe even Martin at a push. That's not to say any of those players were amazing - just the better out of a pretty impotent set of players on the night.

Your opinion on Timlin is spot on. Such a liability to the team it's unbelievable. I actually thought defensively tonight that Clohessy was pretty average at best. Got beat several times by a predictable winger. Also thought that Eastwood in CM was defensively good. Got back well and made about 4 vital headers in our box. Wouldn't be surprised to see him play there this season with the injuries and suspensions we have. Quick mention to the save Bentley made near the end. I was directly behind the goal and he saw that so late. To get a hand to that and manage to tip it over the bar was quality. Well played.

 

[united we stand]

what is the point off a wall if there a bloody big hole in it !

 

[haveaguiness]

I too completely agree about Timlin. For every one good tackle he makes, he makes 5 bad passes. Yes, the tackle from Spicer was stupid and he should of known he was going off, but the pass from Timlin was shocking. He never lifts his head and everything is 110 miles an hour with him, which is annoying as he has a great first touch and engine, but is just a word I can't say on here when he has to pass.

I thought Hurst and Martin played well at tucking in and helping out tonight and despite some poor set pieces from Hurst, he had a very good game a looks a very good player. The back 4 were all superb and dealt with everything by staying on there feet, which made it even more frustrating when Timlin has to go lunging in at a ball he was never getting to, to give the free-kick away for the goal.

Couldn't really tell we had 10 men most of the time as Burton were shocking and you can clearly see from the way they played they massively rely on Zola.

 

[Silencer]

Wow - In the past hour I have felt many differing emotions, well except joy and relief. I reckon I have felt pride, frustration, anger, realisation, acceptance and loneliness.

Pride - at the way we were the better team for the majority of the night despite playing 80 minutes with ten men. Our players were terrific in the main and deserved at least a point. We had more possession and more clear cut chances and it was evident that our opponents were settling for a draw by running down the clock.

Frustration - Towards our fans. We were reduced to ten men for almost the entire match yet 'we' the fans were terrible tonight. Supporters usually step up with support, noise and encouragement when teams are up against it yet I feel that tonight 'we' let our players and manager down, that includes the North Bank and the Blue Voice who are quick to praise their own stock on this forum when they make some noise.

Anger - Step forward Ron Martin. Basically, whether or not there is no-one else out there, you are dragging this club back to the dark and shallow days of nothingness in the mid/late nineties and early noughties. Take note, even your are running out of excuses and your inept statement proved that yesterday, the feeble excuse for a press release was merely words and paragraphs amounting to zero information. Despite what people on here say WE ARE UNDER AN EMBARGO, that is fact (I challenge a Wee Birdie to back you up confirm if not). You cannot say the reason we are operating with a kid in goal (when he was required), unfit Eastwood for 90 mins and operating with only two central midfielders is because "Paul has not identified anyone yet". Phone me now and I will reel you off over a hundred players out of work, let alone potential loanees, freebies etc. You have been lucky that this club does not have the nasty fans or the protesting type of fans, but believe me, 4100 fans tonight (when we had no home game for a bit) proves that people are voicing their concerns and showing they patience has worn once and for all.

Realisation - We simply are not good enough to challenge with our squad, we are short in depth and that will cost us throughout. We desperately lack two central midfielders, Timlin despite giving 100% cant pass wind and his unforced errors lose us momentum time after time and it really is costing us...tonight his hospital pass killed Spicer for the red card and his headless chicken runs saw him out of position hence the lunge that gave away the scored free kick. He is in the heart of the side and along with Spicer and the pair of them are simply not good enough for a promotion chasing side.

Acceptance - that this is football and this is sport. You have to have the bad times to appreciate the good times, next time those good times come round we will all savour them. You can't have Ryder Cup days, Wins over Man Utd or wins @ Layer Road/Western Homes without experiencing late losses like tonight. I accept that's why we love sport so much....just fricking annoying when it's the bad side.

Loneliness - I fear my club becoming mundane and soulless like the dark days of division three were for so so long. I will go to work tomorrow and try to justify 'how well we did with ten men' amongst a room of plastic premiership football "fans"

We need reinforcements, some quality and that Embargo lifted....and quickly, but whatever happens, I am proud to be a Shrimper. UTB

 

[fbm]

I thought we deserved a draw at least. When you go down to 10, you can defend pretty much as well as you can with 11 but making chances and attacking is much harder.

Overall, I didn't think Burton were much cop but their substitutions changed the way they played. Glad to see Paterson as ineffective for them as he was for us.

Amazingly I'm not feeling at all downhearted after that defeat, I felt proud at the effort the players put in. Worryingly it's another Tuesday night where we have lost 2 more players; Spicer for 3 matches and Leonard with a hamstring pull that will probably be about 6-8 weeks.

Bentley has managed to step up, now perhaps is the time for Woodyard.

And where the hell is Ryan Hall? He is still our player and should be back here playing for a move.

Ratings -

Bentley - 6 - Did well enough up to when he dropped a simple catch mid 2nd half, then he seemed to get nervous and I think, in all fairness, should have done better with their goal.

Clohessy - 7 - Sublime skill in 2nd half on one occasion that, in the words of TrueBlue, made me moist. I didn't notice him getting particularly skinned although he nearly conceded a penalty in the first half early on.
Prosser - 7 - Battled away and didn't just hoof it most of the time.
Cresswell - 8.5 - MOM - Immense performance, won everything.
Barker - 8 - Did pretty well at LB.

Martin - 7.5 - One of his better games. Was doing the defensive stuff well.
Spicer - 3 - Did nothing and got sent off after 10 minutes. Prat.
Timlin - 7 - Covers so much ground yet his passing lets him down. I think Jamesthesuperblue is being a bit harsh on him. He had to do the job of 2 people for 80 minutes and had a pretty good effort.
Hurst - 7 - Some really good work and approach play was let down by some pretty poor corners.

Eastwood - 8 - Pushed Cresswell and looked pure class on the ball, certainly a cut above what we've had before.
Assombalonga - 7 - Battled away without much support due to the sending off.

The fact that we didn't make any subs indicates we didn't have anyone we could bring on that could improve things. I think we may have seen the last of Benyon. Hopefully Harris, Phillips and Tomlin will be back soon.

 

[RobM]

James - Spicer's red is Timlin's fault? That's just dim!

 

[bazzashrimper]

We were the better team with 10 men, certainly until the Burton double substitution where they came more into the game than before.

Spicers tackle was a gutless and reckless challenge - certainly a red was the correct decision. Fingers crossed we can get a couple more CM's in for the weekend, and Spicer can remain benched for a long spell.

Paterson was lame, didn't look to get involved, similar to how he was when he played for us. He looks scared to get stuck in - something he will need to get over if he wants to stay a pro footballer.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Really strange how people see a game differently. Guys in the West around T block giving David Martin a shockingly hard time for not going "to" the man in the 1st half, and generally moaning about his defensive attributes. I thought he did well enough in an unfamiliar role - once Spicer had walked, everyone was playing a different role.

Bentley - 7, thought he had a good game, one slip and let in a goal, however, I felt the wall should have covered it - Martin was trying to organise the wall and Hurst was ignoring him. One superb save not long before they scored.
Clohessy - 7, was it my imagination or did he twice end up on the wrong side of the pitch, what I felt was, unnecessarily. Other than that he gave his usual solid performance, not used as effectively as he should have been.
Cresswell - 7.5, usual Cresswell performance, I know it wasn't for long, but didn't seem as effective up top as he usually is.
Prosser - 7.5, thought he had a great performance, really solid and commanding, really making it harder for Phillips to come back in.
Barker - 8, MOTM, you know what, I thought Barks had an immense game, those "legs" people have been on about, worked tirelessly, up and down the wing all night. Some quality crossing too.
Hurst - 7, sort those corners out please! Something I previously praised him for and last night they were all poor, other than that he worked tirelessly, as I said earlier, I'd question his position in the wall from when they scored.
Spicer - 4, what a ********! It's the position we have least cover for, he's not done brillinatly lately and then goes and does that. Big fine I hope.
Timlin - 8, I really wonder what some people expected of him last night! Once Spicer went, they settled into the same diamond as Saturday, Freddy covered him on the odd occasion he surged forward, Timlin harried and chased and tackled more than any other of our players. Give him some credit people!
Martin - 7, grew into his role and showed some skill at times too.
Eastwood - 7.5, probably didn't expect to play the full game but there wasn't a great deal of choice to be honest, hope that won't affect his availability for Saturday's game. Worked damn bloody hard, wish he still shot at goal without thinking so much about what he's going to do like he used to though!
Assombalonga - 7.5, just ran and ran all night, got no help from the officials, at one point he was subjected to a challenge the police would have been interested in!

Officials - all of them, just dire.

 

[Semi-Spanish Shrimper]

Very disappointing to not come away with even a point and right up until their goal I really thought we might nick it. Excellent team performance against a poor Burton side. They only really threatened down the left wing, with their tricky winger getting past Clohessy a few too many times although their subs did start to cause a few more problems.

No complaints about the red card really, Spicer jumped into it after losing the ball and it was a very bad challenge. Hurst I thought was excellent, would have been my MOTM had it not been for a few disappointing crosses, but showed that he is an excellent footballer. Martin worked his socks off and looked better, but still lacking in confidence I think. Timlin I thought had a very good game. Played some delightful passes and also made some excellent challenges without diving into them as he sometimes does.

MOTM goes to Assombalonga. Didn't play as well as he done in the past, but he gets a 9 from me. Worked his socks off all night, chasing the keeper down, hassling the defence and really made a difference.

Special mention also to Clohessy for that flip-flap which he did again a few weeks ago I think.

 

[Jai]

Worryingly that's three games now this season where we've lost 1-0 to a skanky goal (either a corner, free kick or a pen) and on the face of it we haven't deserved to lose. The fact we are unable to make game-changing alterations from the bench is in danger of ruining our promotion push. With reinforcements available, and with a stronger central midfield, there's no doubt we would be strong promotion contenders.

 

[united we stand]

To anyone thinking Bentley should have saved the freekick, may be he should, maybe he should't - that is an opinion. BUT the freekick went straight through the wall as Hurst was more woried about the ball being played to the left rather than standing firm in the wall . Had he been where he was meant to be, standing up straight in the wall (how difficult is that !) the ball would ahve gone straight at him . I don't think it was lucky, I think their guy meant it . To me if you are going to attach blame then it goes to Hurst for leaving a hole, not Bentley for not saving it

 

[C C Csiders]

Worryingly that's three games now this season where we've lost 1-0 to a skanky goal (either a corner, free kick or a pen) and on the face of it we haven't deserved to lose. The fact we are unable to make game-changing alterations from the bench is in danger of ruining our promotion push. With reinforcements available, and with a stronger central midfield, there's no doubt we would be strong promotion contenders.

What promotion push is that?

 

[Liam AAS]

Did nobody else see Hurst lean over to leave a huge gap in the wall? I feel like only Maghoma and I saw it. Cost us the goal Bentley couldn't do anything about it.

Bentley - 7

Clohessy - 7

Cresswell - 6

Prosser - 6

Barker - 5

Hurst - 4

Timlin - 5

Spicer - 3

Martin - 6

Eastwood - 7

Assombalonga - 6

 

[DTS]

Bentley 6 - Made a great save but dropped one and felt he should have done better for the goal. Still a promising start

Clohessey - 7 Really feel he has moved up a gear. Solid at back and good going forward
Prosser - 8 - Faultess
Cressweel -8 Faultless
Barker - 7 Worked hard to provide support for team and defended well

Martin - 7 Ran Hard and looked lively but no real end product
Timlin - 6 - Worked hard and never stopped fighting but too reckless at times when we were down to ten and passing was poor.
Hurst - 6 Tried hard, some decent delivery but created little really
Spicer - N/A - Silly tackle cosy the game.

Freddy - 7 - Thought he was excellent defensively and used the ball well
Britt - 7 - Had little suupport but still caused a threat.

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

Special mention to Matt Paterson who was completely ineffective the whole game. Felt sorry for him in fact.