Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0-2 Peterborough United

[stewart]

What to say about all this , as for Bonds comments about clean sheets ,sod the clean sheets just get the team to score more goals than the opponents, Sorry i dont think he is the man to manage Southend , i was hoping preseason he was but NAH , just happy Bolton and Bury have a -12 points or we would be looking real sick ,if we arent already. Yes and we need Kiernan back .

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

Of course the possession stats look healthy if you play 'crab ball' in your own half with no attacking threat.

I do somewhat agree about the Goodship chances, if one had gone in it could have been different. However you fail to mention that Peterborough had plenty of decent chances in that dreadful first 20 minutes too.

Bottom line is we deserved to lose, we'd have been very fortunate to get anything out of the match. I guess those positive vibes didn't help (sadly). For what it's worth, bar one moron at the back of the East Blacks, everyone kept really positive and tried to encourage the team. I hope no one tries to shift blame to the supporters today.

I thought the crowd really started to see what we were about the last 20 minutes of the second half. There was a good feeling from the terraces. Every time we broke away with the ball there was that positive roar that helps you on your way.

I heard so many questionable things again today.

I saw a bloke boooooooo at the top of his voice and then immediately clap.

I heard someone shout “what a load of rubbish boooooo” and then sing “Southend till I die”.

I am not even sure some supporters are sure who’s got the ball at times. Hamilton tried to take on their RB in the second half with a decent ambitious touch.

Somebody shouted abuse at Mantom.

Literally some of the maddest supporters ever. Their moral compass and decision making in life must be alllllll over the shop.

We play short BOOOOO we play long BOOOOO. We pass wide to Elvis BOOOOO JUST SHOOOOT. We shoot, BOOOOOOO passsssss it.

It’s so difficult to be there because of it.

I need some noise cancelling headphones.

 

[Lord Football]

For 20 minutes it looked just a matter of time until Peterborough scored. I thought they had when Bishop came way out of his area and almost got caught with a defensive header. The fact we weren't a goal down allowed us to come into the game for the last half of the half (!) and we looked like we could play.

Goodship probably should have scored at the beginning of the second, and before you know it the defence has gone to sleep not one but twice in three minutes and its game over.

There were some positives

Hamilton looks a decent player
Mantom had his best game for a while and seemed, at times, to be the only person with any attacking intent
Elvis did ok
Goodship did ok

That's not a lot is it. I was surprised that the crowd didn't get on Bond's back, I am sure that will come sooner or later because this isn't good. We are set up to play a style of football that frankly doesn't work at this level and doesn't work with these players. It is pretty, but not good to watch. I did wonder as the game entered its final minutes what else I could have done with my Tuesday night as I really didn't enjoy this. There is nothing here to get excited about.

Something has to give.

 

[RootsHallRoar]

I thought the crowd really started to see what we were about the last 20 minutes of the second half. There was a good feeling from the terraces. Every time we broke away with the ball there was that positive roar that helps you on your way.

I heard so many questionable things again today.

I saw a bloke boooooooo at the top of his voice and then immediately clap.

I heard someone shout “what a load of rubbish boooooo” and then sing “Southend till I die”.

I am not even sure some supporters are sure who’s got the ball at times. Hamilton tried to take on their RB in the second half with a decent ambitious touch.

Somebody shouted abuse at Mantom.

Literally some of the maddest supporters ever. Their moral compass and decision making in life must be alllllll over the shop.

We play short BOOOOO we play long BOOOOO. We pass wide to Elvis BOOOOO JUST SHOOOOT. We shoot, BOOOOOOO passsssss it.

It’s so difficult to be there because of it.

I need some noise cancelling headphones.

This is the post of the night. Sums up Roots Hall tonight. Get rid of the boo boys.

 

[Andy_S]

Why does everybody bang on about how good cox is? He is dog s**t and has been for a long time.
Does nothing. Runs about a lot. Thats it.

Playing the new kid on the wing when he had just banged in 70 goals for his last club. Do me a favour.

Nduku on the bench. Came on and looked the nuts. Start him for god sake.

Kelman on the bench as usual. To me he is the only one that puts in 100% when he is on. So start him too.

Takes Ralph off. He was the best player tonight.

Sick of it. 400 quid a season. Decent ??

Ralph came over to the bench and told them his hamstring had tightened, hence his substitution.

 

[rayleigh dan]

I thought the crowd really started to see what we were about the last 20 minutes of the second half. There was a good feeling from the terraces. Every time we broke away with the ball there was that positive roar that helps you on your way.

I heard so many questionable things again today.

I saw a bloke boooooooo at the top of his voice and then immediately clap.

I heard someone shout “what a load of rubbish boooooo” and then sing “Southend till I die”.

I am not even sure some supporters are sure who’s got the ball at times. Hamilton tried to take on their RB in the second half with a decent ambitious touch.

Somebody shouted abuse at Mantom.

Literally some of the maddest supporters ever. Their moral compass and decision making in life must be alllllll over the shop.

We play short BOOOOO we play long BOOOOO. We pass wide to Elvis BOOOOO JUST SHOOOOT. We shoot, BOOOOOOO passsssss it.

It’s so difficult to be there because of it.

I need some noise cancelling headphones.

Have you ever been to watch any teams other than Southend? Believe me we're fairly tame, try watching West Ham for example (I wouldn't recommend it!).

I dunno, perhaps you notice the negativity more than me, as I said I didn't notice much today (bar the aforementioned individual). I guess all you can do is be positive yourself and hope it rubs off. I even managed to get a couple of 'C'mon Southend' chants going today in the second half so I know it's possible!

 

[Sherif H]

I’m really struggling to understand why so many people are insisting that we played ‘really attractive’ football, and apparently for large chunks of the game?
First and foremost, we are grimly ponderous and predictable on and off the ball, movement is non existent when in possession which leads to a procession of sideways and backwards passes (often into suicidal areas), and when we do get over the halfway line the final ball is lacking any kind of composure or quality, which would explain why we make such hard work of registering shots on target.
Playing one up front will never work for us, particularly when that one striker is having to drop deeper than a sweeper to pick up the ball and garner some momentum.
As for Bond, I can’t work out whether the senile old bloke we hear stuttering through interviews is actually an act or whether we have appointed somebody who can’t tie their own shoelaces - deeply concerned for the guy’s welfare with what he says (and the way it is delivered).

 

[Shrimper]

This is the post of the night. Sums up Roots Hall tonight. Get rid of the boo boys.

Horror that people who paid to watch are entitled to express their feelings. Sure, sometimes you get questionable morons but on the whole I don't see the issue. Should fans not boo if we're doing **** like now?

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

Have you ever been to watch any teams other than Southend? Believe me we're fairly tame, try watching West Ham for example (I wouldn't recommend it!).

I dunno, perhaps you notice the negativity more than me, as I said I didn't notice much today (bar the aforementioned individual). I guess all you can do is be positive yourself and hope it rubs off. I even managed to get a couple of 'C'mon Southend' chants going today in the second half so I know it's possible!

Fair play for the positivity and getting the chants going!!!!!!!!!

There is an infinite list of things I’d prefer to do than go and watch those ****s up the road. And this might appear harsh but I think this is our problem too many fans watch too much premier league football and expect the same outcomes.

I have to be honest if somebody is going to act like a total fool and they also follow another club... I’m not sure I want those people there... if people go and watch other teams (West Ham which I really resent but I suppose have to accept it happens) but don’t act like a fool the whole time then I’m happy that they’re there. Ha ha ha. Thank **** that West Ham shops gone and thank **** that spursy mess of a shop has ****ed off too.

Please please please turn it around v Wycombe we really could do with sticking another one on ‘em.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

I didn't like playing players out of position, but something else struck me as odd. We are set up to play a certain way, which is to keep the ball and pass out from the back. But that 4141 set up seems a bad way to do it, especially with a fullback and a striker as our two wide players. Why not play 352? That way we've got three in the middle to give us a better chance of controlling the game there. Elvis and Ralph get forward to good effect so let them do that rather than expecting John White to have turned into Cafu overnight.
Or if you want to play wide players play the likes of Hutchinson who is a ball player. That way the industry of Mantom is complemented by the passing of Milligan and the control, touch and passing of Hutchinson. Elvis is a hard working lad, but he's not a silky attacking midfielder. I just find some of Bond's decisions very odd.

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

I didn't like playing players out of position, but something else struck me as odd. We are set up to play a certain way, which is to keep the ball and pass out from the back. But that 4141 set up seems a bad way to do it, especially with a fullback and a striker as our two wide players. Why not play 352? That way we've got three in the middle to give us a better chance of controlling the game there. Elvis and Ralph get forward to good effect so let them do that rather than expecting John White to have turned into Cafu overnight.
Or if you want to play wide players play the likes of Hutchinson who is a ball player. That way the industry of Mantom is complemented by the passing of Milligan and the control, touch and passing of Hutchinson. Elvis is a hard working lad, but he's not a silky attacking midfielder. I just find some of Bond's decisions very odd.

I would say 4-1-4-1 easily changes to 352 when we attack with Ralph pushing up high in possession where possible and Milligan sitting when everyone’s pushing on.

Even though I do applaud what we’re trying I think it’s really demanding and tough on what essentially is a new squad. And Im beginning to prefer a few points on the board first...

 

[ms brush]

I felt pretty sorry for our players tonight. A shed load of effort, but stuck in way of playing which isnt working at the moment. Much as we have some talent, we are not in the prem, and that style of play needs a lot more work thn a few weeks in pre season training. We looked better than before, but confidence is dire, written all over them. I hope KB makes the changes this week, otherwise we could be the first relegation this season!

 

[CMRandall92]

My first look at the side Bond has worked hard on assembling over the summer tonight. I came to the game with that pre-season optimism as I’d not been scarred by watching the god awful performances you’ve all described for me in recent weeks. “They can’t be as bad as they all say on The Zone, can they?”

What I would say is the squad our manager has put together clearly has some talent. Nathan Ralph at left back looks a solid acquisition with a decent leap and looked tidy on the ball. A fair replacement for Ben Coker it seems.

Ethan Hamilton in midfield looks like a lower league box to box man whose driving runs could bring goals and chances if utilised in the right way.

As others have said, Elvis Bwomono seems to have grown up in the past year and is now one of the first names on the team sheet. His style of play is infectious and he’s going to become a fan’s favourite for sure because at times tonight he looked like the only player in our side who cared.

These were the players that stood out for me. I kept a close eye on Milligan tonight but it sounds like he was due a bad game after earning decent reviews in poor team performances so far.

It all sounds fairly positive so far doesn’t it? That’s because for me we’ve got some good players and in brief spells we strung together some nice little moves. The problem was that often they began far too deep on the pitch and when a nice interchange of passing had freed up a runner in a Blue shirt, he still had 40-50 yards further to run to goal.

Also I lost count of the amount of times, Simon Cox or Stephen Humphrys came wide to get involved in play with either full back, leaving no one in the box should the move be successful and the ball get played in.

If those 2 are going to drop wide and be involved in the build up play then Mantom and Hamilton have got to be unstructured to bomb past them into the box.

But all of these things are fairly obvious right. Surely our manager knows this after years of coaching in the Premier League? After watching that game tonight I seriously have my doubts.

I thought you were all overreacting to a few abject performances on my way to the game tonight. How wrong I was!

Count yourself lucky that’s our best performance of the season yet

 

[shrimperjon]

Based on what I've seen and that's Stevenage and Lincoln away and then tonight I would like to see the following Saturday

Bishop
Elvis Lennon Shaughnessy Ralph
Mantom Hamilton Milligan
Cox
Humphrys Goodship

Doubt it will happen but for me gives us cover at the back whilst supporting the front guys. Best form of defence is attack and at times tonight we were either to cautious going forward or kept Cox too isolated. Even when Humphrys cane on we were by passing him at times. Play it into feet but in the right areas, get the ball forward quicker etc

 

[Evening Echo]

SOUTHEND United manager Kevin Bond felt the Shrimpers played some ‘terrific’ football’ in tonight’s 2-0 defeat against Peterborough United.

More...

 

[ItsMichaelBlack]

Waste of money purchasing tickets for this clown of a club especially at this level. How can the club justify asking people to pay nearly 30 pound to watch us concede over 2 goals a game in average and only score one in four ? Yeh it’s early but Wycombe away next is going to be tough. This squad is basically a league two squad. Not one of our players has a potential if being a championship player and tbh you need about 5/6 players to be potential championship standard to get out of this league one. It’s going to be a long season kind of like the 97/98 relation season. Luckily it’s like being in league two though for relegation this season as bury and Bolton looked doomed. Otherwise we would be rock bottom. I say get in Harry redknapp !

 

[onyerbike]

Elvis
JW
Lennon
Ralph
Hamilton
Goodship

All really impressive. The rest not so much.

Shaughnessy at fault for at least 1, if not both, seems slow and a bag of nerves at times. He’s a no nonsense type defender, but when he’s asked to play as a ball playing CB, I wonder if that effects it

And three of them were subbed!

 

[overseas shrimper]

He comes off and we don’t concede, coincidence?

That's unfair. Was also played for 52 mins without conceding. Coincidence?

 

[OldBlueLady]

I felt pretty sorry for our players tonight. A shed load of effort, but stuck in way of playing which isnt working at the moment.

Totally agree with this, we're not a Prem side so why are we trying to play as if we are? Trying to play a system dictated by playing the ball out of defence on the floor is all well and good if you're high on confidence and people are showing for the ball. We aren't and we don't.

Mr Bond needs someone to tell him some home truths, whether that's Ron or someone else I don't know, but at our level and in our state of mind, keeping it simple is the best option until confidence grows and we have a few points on the board. If that means hoofing the ball either upfield or into row Z, then so be it. He also needs to be less obsessed with the clean sheet thing, and worry more about scoring goals than conceding them.

The number of times Lennon or Milligan had the ball and looked for some movement from someone showing to pass to, was again difficult to watch. It left them with the only option of passing the ball back, but Peterborough learnt this was going to happen and so pressed more and more to put players under pressure. We play ourselves into trouble far too often playing this system.

I honestly believed the 1st half we were ok, playing some fairly decent football. The young loanee, Hamilton, looked as if he could be what we're missing to link play through the middle. Goodship looked lively, if out of position.

I thought it an odd decision to play White at RB, and felt he'd have been better at CB. Shaugnessy is just not cutting it for me there at present. We need Kiernan back and fighting fit very soon.

Thought the subs were wrong, when Humphrys came on we should have gone with Goodship up top too, three forwards might have generated a more positive outcome. I'd have much preferred to have kept White on and gone with the 3 CBs. Shame Ralph was forced off as he was one of the more positive lights in the team, but I wouldn't have put Blackman on, you have to go more positive under those circumstances.

Bishop - 5, felt he should have done better with the goals. I think if he were Oxley, he'd be getting roasted on here
Bwomono - 6, tried his best in a more unfamiliar role, one of those who keeps going and going like the Duracell bunny
White - 6, typical JW performance, did an awful lot more geeing people up after we conceded than the captain did
Shaugnessy - 5, felt he was more at fault for the goals, still a long way from the performance we saw in pre-season that earned him his contract
Lennon - 7, solid. Good to see him berating the lino, shows some passion
Ralph - 7, to be honest, put him in a team with more confidence and I think we've got a player better than Coker in there. Like him a lot
Mantom - 6, 1st half was poor, 2nd much better as he stepped up to cover Milligan's short comings
Milligan - 4, less than impressive, far too much backward passing though, as I've said earlier, that's partly down to people not showing
Hamilton - 7.5, MOTM, impressive start at Roots Hall for the young man
Goodship - 7, lively, though feel we should be playing a proven and instinctive goalscorer more to his best advantage
Cox - 5, quiet game for Cox, that lone striker role doesn't suit him

Subs:
Humphrys for White - 6, something isn't right with him but he is a fans' favourite for a reason. Give him the right opportunity and the right set up and things will happen
Blackman for Ralph - 5, the wrong substitution, like for like at that time was wrong
Ndukwu for Goodship - 6, felt for the lad, wasn't an easy situation to come into, didn't show too much in the time he had

Officials - decent enough for this level.

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

Can someone tell this clown to win you need to put the ball in the oppositions goal