Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0-1 Mansfield

[sufc4life21]

We are not playing as a team. We have a collection of players Some too old some to young and not much in between and I can’t see how MM can turn this squad into a unit capable of avoiding relegation.

Also this team cant hack the quick turn around in games!

 

[Strykr]

Not sure i agree with most that we didnt compete, i thought they tried but were to a man crapper then mansfield.

I thought mansfield were a good team, what they lacked in skill they made for with tempo, energy, organisation and work off the ball. All things we need.

I know his hand is forced a lot but i sometimes wish MM would put his laptop away and pick his best players and best formation and drill it into then. They looked like they hadnt a clue today, and some of that must be down to not having clear roles and formation. Tinkermen rarely succeed in L2 imo.

Worst tho was macca and taylor in the middle i was hoping that would be the core, but it didnt work today. And worse then that is a growing suspicion that MM and or RM feel that acquah and halford are adequate targetmen to keep us up..

 

[geoffmundo]

This morning I was deliberating spending £10 knowing that it would be grim watching, but there is always hope.

Mansfield were on a rich vein of form, also they hadn't played for 10 days - so would be fresh. For us this would be game number 3 in a week. I thought maybe a last minute signing would be unveiled....no. Maybe we could scrape a draw? 1st half I was pleased we managed to go in without conceding. We had had just the one chance a counter attack that Akinola hit first time, but that was it (Ironically Mansfield were to win it with a counter attack!). If the ball had fallen to Halford (?) instead of behind him, who knows...?

We had two further chances in the 2nd half, after Mansfield had gone 1 up, but in reality we didn't deserve anything. Unfortunately our main problem remains in scoring goals 15 in 24 lowest in league 2 demonstrates quite clearly our issue. Olayinka remains top scorer and whilst Akinola will get goals, he can't do it all by himself. We didn't have too many set pieces and farcically in additional injury time when we did get a rare free kick, rather than pump it in to the box we took it short and nothing came of it and the ref blew up!

We cannot afford to lose against Bradford and slip further behind and yet we may be without Elvis, Macca, Demi and of course Dieng and can Taylor play 2 matches in succession within a couple of days? our bench looked light as it was.

Hopefully our Head of Recruitment can come good.....

 

[kentblues]

We have one specialist forward available who is an u23 and learning his trade.
True we also have a winger who can play down the middle because he is a very good player. He is not necessarily a natural goalscorer- his 15 for Barnet when he converted to CF included 5 or 6 pens. But he is decent and will chip in with 10 or so.
Forget more defenders, or a 25th wideplayer or midfielder. Just focus on two new forwards. Add them to what we have got then we have a balanced squad.

 

[kentblues]

Btw we missed Demi big time

 

[Leicester Shrimper]

Campbell wasn’t much worse than Moseley on results to date from similar match total.
Campbell win rate 17% and Moseley 20%.

You can hardly compare the 2 given the change in personnel.

 

[GBJ]

We AlI know his hand is forced a lot but i sometimes wish MM would put his laptop away and pick his best players and best formation and drill it into then

He would probably like that too.

But in typical Southend fashion, we once again have a growing injury list in Ralph, Lennon, Olayinka, Egbri, Gard & Goodship.

To add to that, Halford & Elvis came off with injuries today and Macca & Demi aren’t capable of playing regularly, so we’ll be without them for the next game at least, you’d think.

Kyle Taylor isn’t match fit after having two-months off and to compound our woes, Dieng gets banned for what can only be described as wreckless, amateur behaviour.

If none of those players were available for the next game, this is the outfield squad we’d be left with;

Clifford
Hobson
R. Taylor
White
MMN

Phillips
ANG
Klass
Walsh (maybe)
O’Shane Stewart
Kinali

RHF
Akinola
Acquah

A truly frightening prospect

 

[RHB]

He would probably like that too.

But in typical Southend fashion, we once again have a growing injury list in Ralph, Lennon, Olayinka, Egbri, Gard & Goodship.

To add to that, Halford & Elvis came off with injuries today and Macca & Demi aren’t capable of playing regularly, so we’ll be without them for the next game at least, you’d think.

Kyle Taylor isn’t match fit after having two-months off and to compound our woes, Dieng gets banned for what can only be described as wreckless, amateur behaviour.

If none of those players were available for the next game, this is the outfield squad we’d be left with;

Clifford
Hobson
R. Taylor
White
MMN

Phillips
ANG
Klass
Walsh (maybe)
O’Shane Stewart
Kinali

RHF
Akinola
Acquah

A truly frightening prospect

Still stronger than we started the season with.........just!

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

[QUOTE="southendkid, post: 2322761, member: 8810"

We looked extremely sluggish, much like we did in the match against Orient, .
I'm hoping this is down to tired legs because of our lack of depth
[/QUOTE]

And with another game on Tues, will probably be the same?.

 

[in the know]

I'm hoping Kyle Taylor will react positively to getting 90 mins under his belt and be nearer match fit. It could go the other way as he struggles with recovery I think, but here's hoping because JD and Taylor enjoy playing alongside each other and I'm 95% sure JD will be back for tuesday.
With those two in the middle and Hobson and white behind them in front of ox it's quite a good lower spine. With sim in front of them it's quite strong and all in they're best positions. Add HF out right, Clifford and Hart left hand side, it just leaves the right side to sort out. Hopefully we won't shuffle players around out of position to solve it, just bring in the next best player in the positions to be filled and support them loads. Hopefully Elvis is ok to resolve part of it.
Mansfield played us perfectly today , they were as good as we were bad!
Totally different game tuesday

 

[Jay_SUFC]

Mansfield deserved the win, the two centre backs and the two up top were key. From the start we appeared slow to react, didn’t shift our feet in time, and were obviously playing people carrying injuries. I think Dieng did tread on the guys ankle, not a violent stamp as such, but a foolish act when you are on a yellow (not sure the ref saw it mind).

Oxley – Surprisingly didn’t have a lot to do, was positive off his line and spread himself magnificently to block in the first half.

Elvis – Suffering with a back injury, bizarrely stood to attention and raised his hand in appeal when the ball was in front of him, ten yards from our goal. Withdrawn HT
*sub Clifford - ok, but poor crossing.

White – Great positioning first half but shaky second, including a ‘tackle’ he made while turning his back (poss pen?).

Hobson – Defended well.

Hart – Torrid first 20 mins, recovered a bit, but not much.

Reeco – Great run and pull back for good chance first half (and superb cross at the death) but barring that, did not affect the game.

Taylor – fleeting nice touches but no impact.

Macca – Enjoyed a good battle with their blondie, a battle he did not win.

Dieng – Won some tackles, good block on the line but took off too early for a free header he could have buried, and was dismissed.

Akinola – my MOM – some good hold up play (when the ball did find him) showed great feet, but should have taken one of his two chances.

Halford – I get playing him up front (but I think he won only one header) I get playing him a right back - 15 years ago – but that collapse tackle he made for their goal was embarrassing.

The annoying thing was, the writing was on the wall, when 5 minutes before, their player easily knocked the ball past him and got away. Why did MM not react at that point and change it, rather than waiting until they scored!

 

[Chrisb]

I'm hoping Kyle Taylor will react positively to getting 90 mins under his belt and be nearer match fit. It could go the other way as he struggles with recovery I think, but here's hoping because JD and Taylor enjoy playing alongside each other and I'm 95% sure JD will be back for tuesday.
With those two in the middle and Hobson and white behind them in front of ox it's quite a good lower spine. With sim in front of them it's quite strong and all in they're best positions. Add HF out right, Clifford and Hart left hand side, it just leaves the right side to sort out. Hopefully we won't shuffle players around out of position to solve it, just bring in the next best player in the positions to be filled and support them loads. Hopefully Elvis is ok to resolve part of it.
Mansfield played us perfectly today , they were as good as we were bad!
Totally different game tuesday

I do hope that Demi will be able to play on Tuesday, we missed his organisation, workrate and enthusiasm. John White seems to be more of a leader and vocal when Demi plays.

 

[Evening Echo]

SOUTHEND United manager Mark Molesley was a frustrated figure after seeing his side waste a 'big opportunity' against Mansfield Town at Roots Hall.

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[in the know]

I agree !
From what I know the injection was overdue by a month or so. had it weds think . Apparently it's like an engine needing oil and when it runs low it needs topping up or gets a bit grinding. In this case via a needle into the knee!!
think its 5 to 7 days just going easy before playing. Which I believe is why resisted going on the bench today.
Believe intends being available Tuesday

 

[Evening Echo]

SOUTHEND United suffered three injury setbacks during Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Mansfield Town.

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[Massimo Giovanni]

A week can be a long time in football.
For me the 1st half against Cam U, with the wind, was the best team performance from us for 45 minutes for a long long time, and the 3 halves since have been very far from that.
In the good half we knew our roles, harried, won challenges, drew fouls, looked sharp, fast, fit AND from then and the 46 minute equaliser our bubble has burst, confidence gone and uncertainty swept in, and energy seeped away.
We need Macca and JD playing and pressing, Dieng was stupid today and is the villain but had he scored with his header who knows.
Simeon had 2 very good chances, as Paul Clark said, he seemed anxious, too scared, to really let his instincts do the business.
Today the team set up was mystifying in set up and perhaps fanciful BUT with the paucity on the bench it shows how we have no depth.
I expect there to be some serious thinking and talking going on before the next game.

 

[amsemp]

Hard to know what conversations are going on behind the scenes. But lots of noises have come out lately about the squad being good enough etc. Makes me think that message may have come from Ron, and MM is subtly hinting there might not be any more additions.

Wonder if MM starting Acquah last game and Halford up front this game was some sort of message to Ron that he needs to get the cheque book out for another striker at the least?

 

[Chrisb]

Hard to know what conversations are going on behind the scenes. But lots of noises have come out lately about the squad being good enough etc. Makes me think that message may have come from Ron, and MM is subtly hinting there might not be any more additions.

Wonder if MM starting Acquah last game and Halford up front this game was some sort of message to Ron that he needs to get the cheque book out for another striker at the least?

No doubt MM knows that Akinola needs support up front and is trying out the options he has - wouldn't be surprised to see Richard Taylor given a go on Tuesday.

 

[shrimperjon]

FFS

 

[Strykr]

No doubt MM knows that Akinola needs support up front and is trying out the options he has - wouldn't be surprised to see Richard Taylor given a go on Tuesday.

Maybe we should see if keith dublin could come back, throw him up front as well.

This is crazy, there must be a striker in the world out of contract who can head the ball and score 5-10 goals.