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

[AndyT]

I'm pretty sure Bradford City did that a couple of years back.

Think they subbed three players after 5 minutes or something.

Found it. Bradford City v Sheffield Wednesday.

It was Gary Megson of Sheff Wed who substituted three in first 18 mins including the keeper after 90 seconds! :-

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11703/7139523/bantams-spot-on-to-sink-owls

 

[Strutty the Shrimper]

I would just like to say (and some people may disagree) that Bristol Rovers are probably the best team that we have had at the Hall so far this season, except maybe Walsall.

It's not hard to see why this team is one of the best on the road in the Football League this season. The speed of which they do everything is brilliant. As soon as the ball went out of play, they were rushing to get it. Free kicks were played short or pinged across the park. They were constantly playing it forward and looking for a run down the wing or a run from a striker. They created so many chances as well, especially in the second half, and if we didn't have such a top quality keeper then they would have won 3 or 4 goals to 1.

Taking all this into perspective, I think we did well to get through. You could see some of the players hadn't played much this season and that probably explains the odd performances from Hurst and Payne. Credit to John White for getting forward and that perfectly timed header. The real frustrating player for me is David Mooney. Yes ok the service may not have been the best night last night, but I just expect more from him. And he is so slow to turn when he has the ball. As many have said, the sooner Noel Hunt is back the better!

Still, through to the next round. Clean sheet. And the remaining sides are beatable

 

[Muttley]

Totally disagree. Prosser is great back up but can be an accident waiting to happen. Worry every time the ball comes near his right foot as shown at Burton.

I'm not saying he doesn't give 100% but AB always sures up the back and it was no coincidence when Bolger's improvement came when paired with AB.

Last night we were embarrassing.

If not for Bentley we could have lost at least 4-1 and the only real light was Coker and Worrell who pair up so well. However Brown seems to have it in for Worrell at present so he'll probably be left out on Saturday.

Hurst offers absolutely nothing and at times looks disinterested. What is the point of having a wide man with no pace to beat a full back.

Leonard will apparently never be dropped, starts every game never gets subbed no matter how bad he plays and is seemingly invincible as far as PB is concerned. So far this year in the main his passing and shooting have been pretty bad and the only plus is that he is able to defend, which on most of our performances, he has had to do as we try to keep the 'Clean Sheet Mentality'.

Joe Piggot quite truthfully looks disinterested and we all knew he wanted to stay at Charlton and fight for his place. His body language is all wrong and quite truthfully, I doubt he'll even reach double figures for the season.

The last few weeks have been woeful, after quite a bright spell, and having taken a friend to the game last night I was quite embarrassed by the performance. It really follows Gillingham, Rochdale and Scunthorpe where the clean sheet mentality means after half time we try not to move into the opposition half !

Thank God for Bentley but what happens when he leaves in January !

I enjoyed the game,had a good tempo to it, but could have easily struggled on another night
I thought Worrell White and Cokes had a good game. Leonard again works hard, just needs to keep it simple and will become a better player overnight. Jack was busy and threatening when running at players, and Bentley star of the show
I think Barrett and Thommo, although just back from injury,need to thank Dan because without him, they might have been taken to the cleaners by pundits.
Thommo showed great application next to AB, but both exposed on a number of occasions
If Mr Brown stays with his policy of same team after a clean sheet, god help us at Sheffield.
My football brain tells me he cant play either AB or Thommo in such a big game without minutes under their belts
Stranger things have happened
UTB

 

[mrsblue]

My take,

We are just too slow around the pitch,we lack urgency with the ball,it's pathetic how we go from side to side or backwards,bloody hell we were playing Rovers not Arsenal !

Yeah we got through but BR must be wondering how they lost,thank goodness Bents was on fine form.

 

[Jam_Man]

As soon as Hunt is fit enough to run again , PB should let him take all the other strikers in training and show them everything he knows about movement off the ball , finding space , getting that split second advantage from the defender , and of course , taking your chances...... Hunt will always be our 1st striker when he's fit. But thats the problem, he's injured so often we need to use his knowledge positively whenever we can in order to cover when he's out.

And at the other end of the training pitch Coughlin needs to clip our centre half's round the back of the neck and train them til he's blue in the face of how to properly head the ball when attacking our set pieces. Coughlin himself was possibly one of the best at doing just this for years , yet he seems incapable of preaching what he practiced ! The number of times a great cross is put in and Bolger / Thompson / Prosser just dont nod it in. I'm sure bolger closes his eyes when he heads the ball . He must do . Its the only way he can possibly never score when 5 yards out with a gaping goal at his mercy. He's 6 foot 4 for goodness sake -- Coughlin teach him how to surge into a position so that he's ahead of his marker and bang the ball into the old onion bag. Jump man . Head it down . Use your neck muscles. I realise Bolger is still young but its just basics. Once he learns this his confidence will grow and supporters like myself who are really not convinced that he's good enough might reconsider our opinion.

Sort it out !!!!!!!:angry::angry::angry:

How about judging him on his defensive work? He is a defender after all.

Whilst we do need our defenders to score more goals (they have scored barely any over the last couple of years after all) people should be judging Bolger on his defensive ability. Him scoring a few goals a season from corners will have no bearing on how good a defender he is.

 

[Mick]

I would just like to say (and some people may disagree) that Bristol Rovers are probably the best team that we have had at the Hall so far this season, except maybe Walsall.

Lucky we haven't had to play Chesham.

 

[Mick]

And at the other end of the training pitch Coughlin needs to clip our centre half's round the back of the neck and train them til he's blue in the face of how to properly head the ball when attacking our set pieces. Coughlin himself was possibly one of the best at doing just this for years , yet he seems incapable of preaching what he practiced !

That would explain his zero goals from 42 appearances ?

 

[hockleyshrimper]

I didn't go last night so won't comment on the performance, but there does seem a few strange posts on here with people saying how bad we were then giving lots of 7 and 8's out of 10. Surely if we were that bad most of the team would be far less than that? If the average rating was 7/10 then it can't be such a bad performance.

 

[Blues4LifeDan]

I don't think anyone deserved an 8 apart from Bentley. Be honest with yourself, just because people like Worrall, myself included, doesn't mean he deserves an 8. Maximum for any player was a 7 but most players a 6.

Are the echo going to ask if Bentley if he is focused?

 

[TBV_Dan]

Sums up our typical performances as of recent (as far back as Gillingham away, possibly even further back also). 1st half we absolutely dominate the game, and could have easily scored 3-4 goals. 2nd half and Bristol Rovers were all over us. Once again, we didn't convert 90% of the chances we made for ourselves, and that's a little worrying in my opinion. 2nd half Bristol Rovers wanted it more than us, as did Rochdale, Gillingham, Scunthorpe, etc. Whatever is being said to the team in the dressing room is not having the desired effect on the players, as they seem to come out for the 2nd half with somewhat of a lazy attitude, wanting to sit on that lead and not concede another goal. Bentley saved us last night on numerous occasions, and was 100% man of the match for the saves he made in the 2nd half. We need to snap out of this mentality that we have to sit on any lead that we may have, because it is going to start costing us major points. In both games vs Rochdale & Gillingham, we have given away 2nd half goals which have led to us dropping 4 points in total from 1-0 and 2-0 up - we aren't well enough prepared for teams after the break. If we want to continue to push for a top half of the table finish (which is a realistic finish for us in my opinion), we need to sort out the basics first, including our preparation for the 2nd half.

Seeming as the crowd last night was just under 3,500 I thought the atmosphere was quite good from the home fans, most of the fans in W block were really getting behind the team, which is fantastic to see. Let's hope we can go on a bit of a run in the JPT again!

UTB

 

[dannypav]

We didn't play well , but the level of negativity on here when we WON is quite staggering.
If it wasn't for Bentley....
if they had a bit more luck.....
if only they could finish .....
BR would have won ....

They didn't , we did !

 

[YoungWestcliffShrimper]

People saying how poor we are and giving 7/8s, 6 at best tonight for everyone bar DB.

Well done to ref handle the goal situation well.

You could tell it was cheapers tickets tonight and that was mainly reflected in TBV alot of non regulars in my section and very stupid comments and songs.

 

[Floval Flyer]

We didn't play well , but the level of negativity on here when we WON is quite staggering.
If it wasn't for Bentley....
if they had a bit more luck.....
if only they could finish .....
BR would have won ....

They didn't , we did !

...and we've played a lot better this season and lost

 

[Ex-Member1]

Unbelievable whingeing, and we won! Get a grip ffs. COYBB

 

[rayleigh dan]

I thought we played well for the first 30 mins, Worrall looked particularly impressive in this period and White took his chance well.

Not sure what happened after that but the ball retention became very poor, the 3 'fringe' players in midfield were pretty disappointing. None did enough to deserve a start on Saturday though probably at least one of them will have to due to the injury situation. All started the game reasonably well but Atkinson and Hurst faded very badly. Payne looked to me like he was trying too hard to impress, he did make a couple of eye catching runs but there was rarely end product and he gave the ball away too often.

Mooney cannot play the lone striker role, he barely won a header and doesn't hold up play well. I also doubt Pigott could do well in the role well either. IMO with the strikers available at the moment we must play with a front two. A lone striker only works if they are good at holding the ball up.

Pleased to be in the next round though after the FA cup disappointment. If we can get a home draw against Oxford or Yeovil I'd be pretty confident of reaching the area final.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

Pleased to be in the next round though after the FA cup disappointment. If we can get a home draw against Oxford or Yeovil I'd be pretty confident of reaching the area final.

This. Yes - a home draw will do nicely and either of the division 4 teams will be even better. :thumbsup:

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

As a group of fans, we, Shrimpers, have taken this JPT for what it is. Good, competitive and bargain games too. The chance to give some fringe players a work out and also for the club to get some needed coffers in.
OK, we have lost 3 finals: BUT I enjoyed them all and especially some of the build up games and semis against Borient and Col Ewe.
I hope we get there again, and again, and again.............and win the darn thing too.

 

[Mick]

This. Yes - a home draw will do nicely and either of the division 4 teams will be even better. :thumbsup:

You could make a good case for wanting the strongest team at home.

In theory, more chance of beating them in a one-off home match than over two legs.

 

[Strutty the Shrimper]

This. Yes - a home draw will do nicely and either of the division 4 teams will be even better.

Haven't heard it called Division 4 for a while :winking:

 

[Cockle43]

Haven't heard it called Division 4 for a while :winking:

Take no notice of him, Ratty, those of us of a certain age know what you mean, some older would probably refer to the Third Division South..... :smile:

I still find myself referring to the Premiership as Division One, my sons just smile benignly, subtlety shake there heads and humour the old guy.... :omg2::stupid you: I think :smile: