Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-0 Bristol Rovers

[bishmania]

Haven't seen one yet so here we go.

Very good performance, was Lambert even on the pitch??????

Dervitte looked a good signing and Bazza is good at LB because it allows him to bomb forward. Unfortunate for Herd to be dropped but the correct decision by Tilly.

Also correct in playing Dougie over Barney, which I did question at the start.

My ratings:

Mildy - 8 - Good save and strong with everything.

Sankofa - 8 - Best I've seen him. Good going forward and strong at the back.

Dervitte - 8 - Excellent debut. So composed for a youngster.

Clarke - 9 - MOTM - Was the league's top scorer really on the pitch?

Barrett - 7.5 - Half a point off for the near game-costing error in second half, but will be a real asset at left back.

Francis - 7 - Good delivery. Didn't beat his man as much as he'd have liked and could have made more forward runs to support Dougie.

Macca - 7 - In and out of the game. Our best spells came when he was in it, will get better with fitness.

Christophe - 8 - Broke up play and even used possession well today, the min criticism of his game in recent weeks.

Moussa - 7 - That 7 shows how far he's come in recent weeks. Would dearly love to see him influence game more by playing in middle. Great feet, what an asset he's going to be at this club. Wanted to see a bit more of him today creating.

Robinson - 8 - Having a pacy frontman stretches the game and allows everyone else to play football. Did it perfectly today, shooting needs some work though.

Freedman - 7 - Wasn't actually his best game today, probably because just coming back from injury but when he got his chance he took it with all the composure you'd expect.

SUBS:
Barney - 6 - had a frustrating time.

Scannell - no time.

REF - 0 - Doesn't even get one for turning up - lost that for his REF1 registration plate.

 

[Spikey Shrimper]

Mildenhall - 7 - Made one crucial save in second half, not a lot else to do.
Sankofa - 7 - Best game I've from him. Still lacks confidence with the ball though. Needs to be more positive going forward.
Clarke - 8 - Won everything in the air and some great tackles. Still got dodgy distribution though.
Dervite - 8 - Impressive debut. Solid, strong and good distribution.
Barrett - 6.5 - Not a natural left back but did a good job. Heart of a lion.
Moussa - 6.5 - Some good runs and passes from the left.
McCormack - 6 - Didn't look quite 100%. Worked hard but still not the player he was a couple of years ago. A decent run in the team will hopefully sort him out.
Christophe - 7.5 - Best game since joining on a perm.
Francis - 7 - Put some good balls in the box, improved in second half.
Freedman - 7.5 - Has no pace and didn't look fit but has more class than the both of todays teams put together. See's things other players don't.
Robinson - 8.5 mom - Worked so hard, held the ball up well, good with ball at his feet. Deserved a goal.
Barnard - 6.5 - Was unlucky not to score
Scannell - Did he touch the ball for the 20 seconds he was on?

Very good team performance and I thought that was the most solid we've been at the back for ages. Bristol Rovers were very poor and their fans were very quiet. Lambert seemed to play like he wanted to be elsewhere.

 

[Rob Noxious]

'Lambert seemed to play like he wanted to be elsewhere.'

This was noted on another thread too- maybe he's the subject of transfer interest. Would like him playing for us if possible but no chance of this, I guess?

 

[Andy_S]

We actually played football today for the first time in weeks. We kept it on the ground, passed it around and finally looked to feed the strikers. Theo is going to be a big asset for the rest of the season and I am stunned that Watford aren't using him. Hey ho, our gain. We've missed his sort of player for a long while. After an uncomfortable start, Dervite did very well.

Ratings:

Mildenhall 7: An impeccable performance. His save from Duffy was as important as Dougie's goal. He deserves a lot of credit for it, although he probably won't get it on here.

Sankofa 6.5: Not troubled defensively for the second home game running and again offered little going forward. Hunt's distribution was better and that's saying a fair deal.

Clarke 7.5: The usual Clarke performance when he's not partnered by Barrett - immense. The type of player you want in your team when you need to scrap whilst he seemed to help coach Dervite through the game as well. Did anyone see how frustrated he was after the Phillips handball/disallowed goal farce? Pumped up is not doing it justice!

Dervite 8: After the first 5 minutes in which he bulldozed into 2 forwards and ran straight into Clarkey, I feared the worst. From there though he grew in confidence and looked very assured and by the end he was strolling out of defence. He doesn't seem to leap properly when the balls coming out of the air towards him though which seemed odd.

Barrett 6.5: The usual from Barrett really - kamikaze like. I do feel when plays left back he tucks in far too much and interestingly Tilly was coaching him in the second half as to when to push forward into space to receive the ball and when not to. Nearly gifted Kuffour a goal with a horrid piece of acrobatics.

Francis 7: Got better as the game went on. In the first half he didn't pose enough of an attacking threat but in the second half he was able to put over a few telling crosses. I'm still not massively keen on him playing there though as his main attribute when attacking is when he overlaps, not when he runs at people.

McCormack 7: Better! Although he's still seemingly finding it incredibly hard to find a blue shirt with a pass, he did today add a bit more drive and purpose as per last season. Suffered what looked like a possible broken nose at the end though.

Christophe 7: As per McCormack - better. His passing is still a worry and Tilly was not happy at all with the amount of times he held on to the ball rather than playing a simple pass, but he broke up attacks like he was doing during his loan spell. Keep it up!

Moussa 7.5: He gets better and better, even though he's well out of position. He's so calm on the ball and I lost count the amount of times he came out of a free for all scramble with the ball at his feet like there was no pressure at all.

Freedman 6.5: For the most part he didn't look anywhere near fit enough, but there were a couple of promising moments for a Dougie/Theo partnership. Theo could profit an awful lot from playing alongside a fully fit Freedman, lets just hope that we get to see it.

Robinson 8: A great display. He looks like a goalscorer, always wanting to get in a shot at goal no matter how many times he misses. Perhaps a bit like a Defoe type? His pace is a massive asset to us along with his runs in behind and I reckon he'll get a few for us before the end of the season. Lets hope they look to sell him in the summer!

Subs:

Barnard 6: Nearly scored, but was played a little too deep in my opinion. I didn't like his petulant moan at Moussa when Franck played a poor ball towards him either.

Scannell /: Didn't touch the ball.

 

[Leigh_Shrimper]

Mildenhall - 8 - Good save, improved since last few matches.
Sankofa - 8 - Played well and didn't do much wrong.
Clarke - 9 - Overall very good, one early communication breakdown with Dervite but made up for it.
Dervite - 9 - Looks like a good young player with bags of potential. Just what we need at the back.
Barrett - 7 - Did well considering he was played out of position.
Moussa - 7.5 - Good vision, needs to take on the full back more often if he continues on the wing.
McCormack - 6.5 - Far from his best, silly booking but still played well.
Christophe - 8 - Strong as usual.
Francis - 7 - See Moussa. Played better in the second half.
Freedman - 8 - I was suprised he started today, didn't look 100% fit. Needs more pace but has great movement and a good goal.
Robinson - 9 - Worked hard, very quick player. Could've had a few more shots on target though. MOM.
Barnard - 6.5 - Brought on for Freedman. Again, not 100%, needs to regain full fitness before we see the best of him.
Scannell - Brought on for McCormack, less than a minute on the pitch.

 

[bishmania]

Freedman - 8 - I was suprised he started today, didn't look 100% fit. Needs more pace but has great movement and a good goal.

I know he's not 100% fit but there still ain't a lot of pace left to come from a 34yo I'm afraid!!! :p

 

[AdamTheShrimper]

Mildenhall - 8

Sankofa - 7
Clarke - 8
Dervite - 8
Barrett - 7

Moussa - 9
Mccormack - 7
Cristophe - 6
Francis - 8

Freedman - 6
Robinson - 8

Barney - 7
Scannell - 6

Moussa MOTM for me. so composed on the ball, picked a few good passses and wasn't afraid to have a shot. Experience desperatley needed? no, stick with the MOUSSSEE!

 

[Hazey]

So glad to see Moussa doing good for us, hope he becomes a mainstay of the team in the coming years.

 

[RobM]

"Mildenhall - impeccable performance - 7"

What does he have to do to get 8? Part the Thames?

 

[borientater]

mildy 7 great save and his kicking seems to have improved
sankofa 7 solid at back bit lacking going forward
clarke 8 always in control of thier strikers
dervitte 9 never looked like he even broke sweat obviously a prem class player probably even future french senior international
barrett 6 usaul 100% effort but just not a left back we need a left back who can get some decent balls into the box ( herd )
moussa 8 looked very comfortable on the ball our best passer should be in the middle not stuck ouy wide
macca 7 better than of late but still not with the pace
jfc 7 covered every blade of grass but needs to improve his passing
francis 7 some good crosses would like to see him beat his man more often
freedman 8 great link up play took goal well and always talking to team mates telling them where to go
theo 9 MOM looked the real deal wont be long before he scores
barney 7 worked hard good effort
sannell only came on to use up time

 

[A Century United]

Gas View, shamelessly lifted from The Black Arab Fanzine

Roots Hall looked just like it did last time we came and won 2-1, though I hadn’t noticed their executive boxes which are unusually crappy and possibly even of Luton standard. It’s a decent, if unattractive, little all-seater ground with low old-fashioned roofs that provide nice resonance for the crowd’s singing, of which there turned out to be plenty although from only one end of the ground. They had a drum instead of crowd noise, and it was loud but completely rubbish.

Chelsea had visited recently for a thrilling cup match, but this was back to the day job for the Shrimpers against our mid-table team in green. Trolls eschewed the promised forward line of the ‘big 3’, and went instead for the usual side except with Pipey in on the right instead of Lines. Southend fielded Adam Barrett at left back, a very quick forward called Robinson (very like the injured James Walker), and noone else that I recognised.

A man in a shrimp costume walked in front of the away stand. Everyone wondered whether the costume looked even slightly like a shrimp (it didn’t), and told him that ‘very little effort’ had gone into his costume. One of our crowd turned up in a much better pirate outfit to a loud chorus of oo arrz,

SP started in the goal in front of us, and for the first couple of minutes we were bright, but then the game descended into a long period of averageness. There was some skill, but very little excitement or goalmouth incident, and it wasn’t really all that much of a half.

Hughes got tackled badly about 10 yards outside their box, and spent a few minutes on the ground afterwards. The ref didn’t even give a foul though, and while it was a nailed-on free kick to us he was at least on the spot to get a good view.

Joker4 ran and ran, though with only spotty impact, and Lambert had a pretty quiet half apart from a couple of volleys which I had already painted mentally into the back of the net but which went miles wide. Phillips got a knock in the kidneys after coming for a cross, and I wondered if that would cause flapping later in the match, but generally he had a decent half including coming out quickly to block a shot when their guy was clean through.

They were a big and (sometimes unnecessarily) physical side, but they didn’t look all that to be honest – but more like a team that we’d expect to be below us in the table.

At half-time, everyone went off to the loo or that little café room that they have for away fans where they could warm up. Then they brought on some dancing girls in lurid pink who were a cut above any that I have seen in quite a long while (maybe I should try to see more dancing girls then) who provided entertainment that was at least as good as the football.

We started the second half poorly, then picked up a bit but after a while we had a 10 minute period of being under the cosh a bit. The pressure told, and they got a goal from somewhere, knocking in a rebound from Phillips’ save. We tried to come back at them, though to little effect, and shortly afterwards they had another disallowed, I think for a push on Phillips.

We defended deepish for most of the game, and allowed their midfield time on the ball and to stroke it around. Like us, they mainly lacked bite at the front, but they battled and used their size and we ended up playing the header-tennis and long-ball football that they would always be better than us at. We utterly failed to impose our passing game on them, with the result that we were playing to their patterns and rhythm so that we were losing most of the 50/50 balls.

Duffy came on, then Lines and Hunt, but it all made little difference. Joker4 was increasingly ineffective and, after much talk about how Southend were going to contain Rickie it seemed their main tactic was to mark him with their decent centre-half.

Phillips came out by the corner flag to clear a ball, made a bit of a breakfast of it, and ended up being out there for a few tackles. Eventually he dived, outside of the box, to stop a cross and got a yellow for his troubles. Clearly deliberate, it could have been a red but the ref probably saw no direct threat on goal given the oblique angle.

Near the end the ball went across their 6-yard box with various of our players trying to get little flicks on it on its way through. It looked a bit like a line of Riverdancers, all flicking their legs out from the knee, but seemed to me to sum up an ineffectual afternoon.

With about 10 minutes left, one bloke near me asked if we’d had a shot on target yet. I couldn’t think of one, nor could the bloke next to me, but a bloke in front said that we’d had one though it was so long ago we’d all forgotten about it.

They weren’t very good, but they were a little bit better than us on the day and I think they maybe deserved their win. As for us, I think the shots-on-target total about sums it up – really quite poor.

 

[Andy_S]

"Mildenhall - impeccable performance - 7"

What does he have to do to get 8? Part the Thames?

I'd give him a 10 if he did that. ;)

He had to make 1 save, which he did very well, but you can't be giving an under used keeper a higher mark than a 7 in my book. :p

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

Moussa has to be moved into the middle in place of Macca who seemed to be in a comfort zone of sitting in front of the back 4 and playing simple sideways passes. No one got into the box to supprot the strikers and I think we will need to play a lot better on tuesday night but hopefully by then we may get a left winger in and a targetman.

 

[hindle_666]

mine:


mildenhall 7 not a lot to do very important save near the end,kicking was alot better
sankofa 7 goes about his job without fuss,solid dependable right back
clarke 8 played well with new boy,usual determind performance
dervit 9 every thing he done he done right,nice to see a cb bring the ball out,set up freedmans goal.
barrett 8 always gives a 100% whatever position
francis 7 out of position but better than betsy
macca 8 sort of player we need to stay up chased everything
jfc 7 solid excellent shot just saved
moussa 8 out of position played well
freedman 8 well taken goal we needed his experiance
robinson 7 full of running,but needs to improve finnishing

barney 7 look lively when came on unlucky with late shot
scannell 6

 

[Lord Zoltan]

Not going to give ratings. But just some observations.#

1. Dervite is class and will be an important player for us - well done Tilly.

2. Theo will hopefully provide us with some goals - pace is what we need - well done Tilly

3. Confidence is so important. Look at how we were playing before and after we scored.

4. These are difficult times, but I believe Tilly/Brush are the ones to turn it around.

 

[TBV_Dan]

I thought that Mildenhall had a good game today, but he wasn't threatened much today, because the whole team defended today as a unit and that was what made the difference in the end.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Mildenhall 8
The black Che Wilson 7
Barrett 8
Clarke 7.5
Devitte 8
Christophe 7.5
McCormack 6
Moussa 7.5
Francis 6.5
Robinson 7.5
Freedman 6.5

 

[Swiss Tony]

Moussa has become the real deal from what i've seen lately,even when out of position,loads more to come from the lad,and thats great news for all of us.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Good all round performance, playing more as a unit than a bunch of individuals who hardly know each other.

Mildy - 7, did what was necessary, would like to see some of those low Federici kicks used please
Sankofa - 7, growing in confidence and composure all the time
Dervite - 8, welcome to the Hall, young man!
Clarke - 8, Rickie who? Had him in his pocket throughout
Barrett - 8, much better at LB than I've seen previously, some great forward moves from the skip
Franno - 8, nice stuff from Franno, good moves forward and covered Osei when he went
Macca - 7, good performance from Macca, can see he's not 100% otherwise he'd have been going in for more confrontational tackles - his poor nose at the end though, looked completely dazed for several minutes
Jeff - 8, lovely stuff from Jeff, harrying and hassling, non stop running
Moussa - 8, did well, looked confident
Theeeeeeoooooooh - 9 MOM for me, just fantastic, and I think with Dougie he could really come on leaps and bounds because of Dougie's intelligence
Dougie - 7, like Macca, you could see he wasn't 100% and had to use guile and know how to achieve results - hence the goal

Subs:
Barney for Dougie - 7, lovely shot with his left that just skimmed the bar, quite happy with the idea of him and Dougie alternating partnership with Theo for the time being
Scanners for Macca - 6, only because he didn't have time to do anything

Ref - 0, quite simply the worst display ever seen by me

Crowd - 9 joint MOM, kept it going throughout, well done on the drums guys! And those bangy things might have been rubbish but they didn't sound too bad in the ground! ;)

 

[Ulysses]

Mildenhall 7.5
Barrett 7
Clarke.P 8
Dervite 8
Sankofa 8
Francis 7
Christophe 7.5
Macca 7.5
Moussa 8.5 MOM
Freedman 7.5
Robinson 8

Subs
Barnard 6

Ref 1