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

[Tangled up in Blue]

I’ve paid my £10 to the Zone @Tangled up in Blue , as @Cricko will confirm.

I’ll win it back

I hope so!

 

[wiggy]

Right... the positives.

After 20-odd minutes of the game and with it still somehow at 0-0, I turned to my mate and said that if I were a Peterboro fan I'd be concerned that they were not ahead because we can't continue to be that bad. Cue something happening to change our performance and for the rest of the half we played the best passing football under Bond and gave us a glimpse of what he is trying to achieve.

Hamilton looks very good.

The crowd really got behind the team at times.

Lennon looked better with the ball at his feet than I ever thought he would.


Can't think of much more.

But let's not kid ourselves; in the first 20 minutes we were as woeful and disorganised as I have ever - and I mean ever - seen. Passes were going to white shirts or into touch. No-one seemed to know what they were doing. It was shambolic and the fact that Posh weren't out of sight by then was just lucky.

Cue second half with both sides coming close, their terrific long range effort coming off a post and Goodship firing inches wide after a great move.

And then it all went wrong. I can't even be bothered to comment.

We were unlucky at the end with Milligan's header hitting the bar but in the end we got what we deserved... nothing.

@Onion_Bag_Dave is doing a great 1 man "Give Bond a Chance" rally on this and other threads and usually I'd be right there with him, but the fact is that we are not going to win any games playing like this. I'm normally all for giving managers time but we are now P4 W0 D0 L4 GF 1 GA 10 Pts 0.

How much time does he want?

As I said on another thread, we could be at zero points at the end of September. If we cannot shoot, we will not score.

As for his post match comments... he is seriously not sure if he could play none up front in an attempt to keep a clean sheet So an option for him is to play 10 at the back with a keeper. We have the players. the team would be

Oxley/Bishop (doesn't matter)

Bwomono White Shaughnessy Lennon Ralph

Milligan

McLaughlin Mantom Hyam Blackman

There you go. 5-1-4-0. Macca is the only person on the team sheet with any attacking instinct and that hasn't been seen for 2 seasons at least.

We could play endless triangles at the back, getting to the midfield and then... passing it back again. It would be a delight. There would only be 2 strikers for the opposition so even we could get around them and when their midfield pushes up, we could pass our way around them as well.

We could have 80% possession, all in our own half. The football would be terrific.

0-0 all the way, as long as we didn't manage an own goal. And as the other team got desperate and pushed the keeper up, Oxley could catch them out with a drop kick and score. So maybe it would matter if Oxley played... yeah, put the Ox in. He'd have a chance at being top scorer.



Listen, the fact that Bond even stated "none up front" means he's thinking about it. HE'S ACTUALLY THINKING ABOUT IT!

He is like Theresa May and her Brexit deal, trying to play the same style despite it not working again and again and again and again. Madness.

Enough is enough. We cannot give the rest of the league such a start. Forget Bury and Bolton, we have to start getting points on the board NOW. A 0-0 would be nice but it's not going to get us anywhere.

The formations and changes are too frequent, no-one knows what they are doing.

Football is a results business. He acknowledged that at least at the end of his interview and also stated that he has no concerns regarding Southend and "where THEY'LL be" at the end of the season.

They.

THEY!

These are the words of a man who knows that if the game isn't up yet, then the fat lady isn't just clearing her throat but the orchestra are playing the intro twice round while she gets a glass of water.

For the love of God, please, no more. To continue the Brexit analogies, get him out with no deal and make it before October 31st. In fact, before August 31st would be preferable.

......very good, he could even be Theresa May’s brother, and just about as useless!

 

[RootsHallRoar]

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?

Entitled of course, but I don't think fans should boo as it posions the atmosphere and is counterproductive. It might be old school, but if you don't like a backward or sideways pass, why not chant 'Attack, Attack, Attack-attack-attack...!!' (great little number, ahem), or something else positive. I've been supporting for 30 years but it disturbs me the number of people who seem to use going to a game purely to vent their own anger rather than getting behind the team.

 

[southendkid]

I really don't understand all the comments saying Bishop could do nothing about either goal, the first goes in because he's far too slow getting down, for all Oxley's faults he's very good at getting down quickly and made a save against Blackpool from a very similar sort of area. The second beats Bishop at the near post, something a keeper should never allow.

 

[Shrimper]

Entitled of course, but I don't think fans should boo as it posions the atmosphere and is counterproductive. It might be old school, but if you don't like a backward or sideways pass, why not chant 'Attack, Attack, Attack-attack-attack...!!' (great little number, ahem), or something else positive. I've been supporting for 30 years but it disturbs me the number of people who seem to use going to a game purely to vent their own anger rather than getting behind the team.

People were urging the players forward but they kept passing it backwards.

 

[Andy_S]

The morning after the night before...…….

I'm so utterly confused and torn about last night's game. Let's make no mistake, this was in no way as totally inept and hopeless as the Blackpool game and there were indeed some bright moments, BUT, to not make the opposition goalkeeper make a save in a home game is beyond inexcusable. I know it's a term used often in football, but we truly do not have a plan b. 2-0 down at home with five minutes left and we're still playing triangles around our own box. It's like the players have been brainwashed. It's nice to see some passing football and I've never witnessed a Southend team pass it as much as this team do, but we're not doing the right things in the last third of the pitch to make it worthwhile. With the exception of Goodship twice, nobody is making any runs beyond Cox. I commented during the game that if you looked at Peterborough, their front two and their midfield would constantly try and get in behind our defence, but we get to the halfway line and the player on the ball has no option but to pass it 5 yards diagonally because nobody is making any movement. Cox up front on his own doesn't work, it didn't work under Brown and under Powell and it's not going to work now.

Bishop - Now I'm on my own I think, but I'm really not for him playing currently. He still looks like a youth in a senior game and him coming and missing things is not going to help his confidence, his defender's confidence or the supporter's confidence. Lee Harrison needs to sort Oxley out and get his head right, as we desperately need the 2017/18 version of him back.

Shaughnessy - I wasn't at the Millwall game, but in the two home league games he's looked a dreadful signing. He's not strong enough to be dominant in the air, his distribution isn't great, he has absolutely zero pace and his awareness of forwards making runs appears to be non existent. I lost count the amount of times that Eisa or Toney peeled off and ended up on their own three/four yards away from him and it was only a matter of time before they punished us.

Milligan - He looked leggy from the off last night, which is a huge worry considering we've only just started the season. With those heavy legs came him sloppily giving the ball away on multiples occasions, which ultimately handed them their first goal.

Mantom - He takes a lot of stick, a lot of the time unfairly in my opinion, but I thought he was decent last night. His two 'Hollywood' balls out to Goodship were fantastic. Hopefully him and Hamilton can form a decent partnership in the middle of the park.

Hamilton - We needed a player to drive and drag us forward and he looks like he might be the one. I liked the fact that he always wanted to go forward, whether it be dribbling, passing or shooting.

Goodship - I like the early signs. He clearly knows where the goal is, wants to score goals and has that instinct. I'm looking forward to him finally playing in his natural position. He was unlucky last night with his efforts, but it's no coincidence that he's the only one that threatened the cleanliness of the Peterborough keeper's kit.

Ndukwu - I feel for him. He's come here eager to impress and each time he comes on we're being thumped and then every teammate completely ignores him, even when he's stood completely unmarked. Give him a start at Wycombe and lets see if he can give us that spark.

 

[ItsMichaelBlack]

Don’t give him ten games nothing will change and it just be points lost . Get in Adam Barrett.

 

[wiggy]

I really don't understand all the comments saying Bishop could do nothing about either goal, the first goes in because he's far too slow getting down, for all Oxley's faults he's very good at getting down quickly and made a save against Blackpool from a very similar sort of area. The second beats Bishop at the near post, something a keeper should never allow.

We have always had good keepers before and i'm afraid these two would not make a good one between them. Bishop gives it all the confident strutting around stuff but when it comes to the nitty gritty, makes very few saves and gets a lot of anticipation stuff completely wrong. Yes i know he's only young and all that crap but ideally we would have someone between the sticks that would worry the forwards...not the other way round!

 

[gazza]

Strangely I think the team is pretty good. But without repeating a point mentioned many times before, the way they are set up is wrong. Something needs to change and this will either be voluntary or involuntary depending on results.

 

[palexander]

Don’t give him ten games nothing will change and it just be points lost . Get in Adam Barrett.

What is the obsession our fans have with Barrett? Just because someone has PASHUN! it doesn't mean they will be a good manager. Dont want another Powell situation.

There's plenty of decent experienced managers out of work at the moment. I wouldn't mind Barrett having a role at the club and maybe breaking through the ranks when he's earned it, but absolutely have no desire to see him chucked Into the managers job especially when we are bang in trouble.

 

[FarmdogSUFC]

For many of the reasons already mentioned, I'm so 50/50 after that result. If that performance came after Coventry, I think I'd still be behind Bond. On the other hand, we didn't have a shot on target, we conceded 2, we could have conceded about another 3 and none of our players have scored a league goal yet. The only player who looked like scoring was playing out of position and then taken off. Just seems backwards. I'm not gonna list off all the pros and cons (there were some genuine pros IMO), but to top it off he comes out with some bizarre post match interview about playing no one up front and how the "end is nigh". I've been hearing a few things around the club and he honestly seems more out of his depth every passing game.

Frustrating but more so worrying night

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

And Humphreys and Robinson are not delivering, Hopper who would be an upgrade is injured. Maybe Goodship could play central but then I still think we would want Cox along side

No really? I am surprised. Who would have thought?

 

[Ricky Otto]

I have been a terrible fan this season and this is the 1st game I have actually seen, which is why I have been so quiet on the match threads and the sack Bond thread etc. as I have only seen results and highlights and I don't think it's fair to cast damning judgments based on that.

Anyway my expectations were set very low for the game last night. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how we played, there were some positives there and I came away more optimistic for our season than I had been from seeing the bad results and social media condemnation roll in.

Goodship looks a very capable player to me. I think we should persist with him, there were 2 instances where he ghosted through players and set himself up to finish only to pull both shots wide. There was something instinctive about the way he went about his business though and the shots weren't wild swings, they were both low hit and controlled (obviously not overly controlled as they were off target). I was massively impressed with the lads movement and awareness though. He comes to us with a really impressive non league scoring record and I think when it click into place here we could see a fair few goals from him.

Milligan is a waste of a player if we are playing 5 at the back. I do quite like the 5 at the back system but with the personnel we are using it isn't overly effective. I don't know if we signed him on the strength of a promise we would play him in midfield? For me we should be moving him into the back 3. He's a very capable centre back, I watch a fair few Socceroos games as I know the family of Trent Sainsbury from my time in Perth and the two of them are formidable at the back together. They kept France pretty quiet in the world cup group stage last year. Milligan, White and Lennon as the back 3 would work well IMO. Shaunessy didn't look very good last night.

 

[Evening Echo]

We’re changing formation, system and line-up in every game. Nothing is being created in the final third and team looks totally disorganised, disjointed and devoid of confidence. Possession is conceded too often and haven’t kept a clean sheet for eight months. Other than that all’s well.

More...

 

[Blue Yonder]

Attempting to get out of the relegation zone of league 1 without a point on the board by playing in the style of Barcelona is an unusual strategy. Hope it works.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Not read all of this thread, so apologies if I repeat anything.

I cant get back at Roots Hall until October thankfully, as witnessing that shower of **** and getting home at 1am is not fun.

I was sitting near the dugout and Ralph was injured, that substitution was not planned.

Shaunessy? Why were we so desperate to sign him? He has been partially at fault for about 5 goals in 4 games so far.
Goodship? Looks promising, and would score 15 goals a season if played upfront and not on the wing? Utterly clueless tactics.
Mantom? Did OK last night, but why was he the closest to Cox, when Goodship was on the pitch? Utterly clueless tactics.
Hamilton!! A very promising debut and the only positive last night.
Lennon!! If he could stay fit, he will be a good player.
Ralph?? OK, but not fit to lace Cokers boots. He certainly isn't as good as his highlight reel suggests.

Cox?? I reckon he will be out for a bit after tweaking his knee. Would be very surprised if he is fit for Saturday.

Humpheys?? Yes I know he is a hero, but other than a few long range goals, is he really any good? His hold up play is very very poor.

Elvis?? Yes I know he has improved, but he is not a wing back. He doesn't know how to take on a full back and get a cross in.

5-4-1? My god, what is going on. 3-5-2 with exactly the same players would of been fine. Goodship and Cox up top, with Mantom, Hamilton and Milligan in the centre and the two full backs providing the width.

Slow negative backwards football. What is the point of 70% possession if its all in your own half. Other than a spell of 15-20 minutes (when we were already lucky not to be 1-0 down) we were utterly terrible.

I can't see where the next goal is coming from to be honest, and I am so glad I no longer have a season ticket and have to suffer this week in week out at the moment.

Bond hasn't got a clue, and I think another couple of games without a win and he will be gone.

Utterly depressed and so out of love with my club at the moment.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

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...

4141 to 352 can work, but it depends on the personnel. We didn't pick the right players for 4141 and it showed. Those players in a 352 would seem to be alright. And three in the middle with balance up top, at the back and out wide would seem to work better than what we had yesterday.

I totally agree about the foundation and points on the board. When Guardiola took over at man city he had a formation and stuck to it. I think Bond is trying to do too much at once and not succeeding with any of it.

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

HHhaha for the love of god stop saying Bond hasn’t got a clue. You can’t say that. You can say “it’s not working.” Or “you don’t like him” for whatever reason. But to say he’s got no clue is just wrong. Really good transfer window. Not a good start. But we’re playing a certain way.

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

4141 to 352 can work, but it depends on the personnel. We didn't pick the right players for 4141 and it showed. Those players in a 352 would seem to be alright. And three in the middle with balance up top, at the back and out wide would seem to work better than what we had yesterday.

I totally agree about the foundation and points on the board. When Guardiola took over at man city he had a formation and stuck to it. I think Bond is trying to do too much at once and not succeeding with any of it.

Oi yeah I agree with that definitely. Very very demanding to play with 2/3 formations in a game depending on phases and then to ask for possession football. ****ing difficult.

I’d like to see 4231. Same philosophy. But just a little more standardised.

 

[southend_aussies]

Ratings from ifollow

Bishop - 5 - Looked nervous at times and came forward at shocking occasions that left us exposed. But couldn't really do anything for both goals.
Ralph - 6 - Very solid and I have NO IDEA why he was taken off for Blackman. Was a stupid decision.
Lennon - 7 - Our best player on the team for the night. Extremely solid at the back.
Shaughnessy - 4 - Turned over the ball so many times and was out of position for both goals. Had a nightmare.
White - 5 - Not much better than Shaughnessy and how two players can't mark one bloody striker, I have no idea.
Bwomono - 6 - Got forward well and defended well.
Milligan - 5 - Didn't really do too much and didn't dictate like other games.
Mantom - 5 - Insert Milligan comment here.
Hamilton - 6 - Thought he was good and provided some good options.
Cox - 6 - Couldn't really fault his effort but nothing went his way.
Goodship - 6.5 - Oh how I wish he took his chance at the start of the second half. Could have turned the game. Had two brilliant chances to score and didn't get either. But he did well to get into those positions.
Subs
Humphrys - 5 - Hard to do much in the time left.
Blackman - 4 - I have no idea why we signed him... Didn't offer much.
Ndukwu - 5 - Not much time to do anything

Few points:
If we are going to conceded goals like that then 5-3-2 is a waste of time. Better off playing four at the back if two defenders can't mark one bloody player.
It was literally wash, rinse, repeat for Peterborough and will be for other sides.
Mantom and Milligan can't play together in the midfield. Both are the same type of player and offer the same thing. Either play one, or play none. Hamilton should have been playing in the midfield or try Ndukwu there for pace. We were too one dimensional.
Bond has a week to turn it around otherwise Southend will be left with no other choice.