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AndyT

Lord of the Reedy River
Joined
Aug 7, 2010
Messages
11,974
Location
Hockley
:tumbleweed:

In the absence of Manor15 :spread: and that fella from Doncaster, who is frankly slacking, let's be honest, I thought I'd get the ball rolling.

I didn't go, but I know someone who did, so let's hear it. Was it as dire as it sounded?
 
:tumbleweed:

In the absence of Manor15 :spread: and that fella from Doncaster, who is frankly slacking, let's be honest, I thought I'd get the ball rolling.

I didn't go, but I know someone who did, so let's hear it. Was it as dire as it sounded?

I did, yes it was. More tomorrow, can't be arsed tonight, it was an eminently forgettable 90+5 minutes.
 
Boring. Two brilliant saves by oxley though and I thought drew and elvis looked good.... no injuries..... onto more important games
 
Wasn't the best game I've ever witnessed. Leon Constantine was sat behind me and spent most of the match looking at his phone!
 
I would not go as far as to say it was hugely entertaining but it certainly wasn't dire.
For a Shrimper fan it was interesting and good to see so many of the younger players involved AND looking the better players than the opposition.
Oxley, 8, didn't have much to do but did come out very quickly to claim the ball at the edge of the box; good game.
Elvis, 8, excelled, he ought to be nailed on for Saturday to start, almost scored too.
JW and Harry; 7,good centre pairing and did well.
Hendrie, 7,best game since his return, got forward well.
Flash, 7, set up goal, ran fast but drifted out of game after an hour.
Dru and Klass 7, worked the centre midfield okay and have an understanding, both looked to get forward.
Bridge,8, played well, looked happy and interested, he was subbed off to give Cotton,6, some game time and Bridge looked the better of the two at left midfield,
MAF 7(booked) and Theo 7 (goal scorer), both ran and ran.

Subs Cotton for bridge -see above.
Ba, 7 for Theo, Ba did okay after replacing Theo who had possible hamstring pull.

Our goal came from Elvis putting in Flash wide right and good cross for Theo to tap home at far post.

We ought to have won by more.
Crowd of just 1100.
 
A decent game which we mostly bossed. In true Southend style we probably should have scored more and were thankful to Oxley who made two excellent saves, one in each half to preserve the lead

our inability to make the right decision in the final third prevented us from scoring more. Mcglashan in particular was very wasteful and confirmed why he isn't a starter now for the first team. The one right decision he made created the goal, so some credit there. In the end a deserved win, and a win vs Colshite will see us through to the next round

Oxley - 8 excellnat again
Elvis - 8 very good game, good going forward especially first half and defended well second. Should start Saturday
White and Harry - 7.5, solid, would be my pairing for saturday
Hendrie - 7 struck to his task well against a tricky winger
Dru & Bridge - 7.5 competed very well, full go energy, disappointed to see bridge taken off
Klass - 7 struggled to get a foot hold in the game early, but grew as the game wore on
Mcglashan - 7 created the goal and a constant threat with his pace, but too often made the wrong decisions
MAF & Theo - 7 both worked very hard. Robinson got on the score sheet and MAF was strong and physical. Would start him over Ranger based on the last two games

Ba - 6.5 struggled to get into the game
Mclaughlin - not enough time to judge
Cotton - 6.5 sane a season Ba
 
I actually quite enjoyed the game! It was good to see the youngsters, I thought the tempo of the game was decent and whilst there wasn't a ton of goalmouth action, both teams were going for it. I've seen far more boring L1 and L2 matches.

No stand outs for me, I was a little disappointed in Klass but there some some lovely balls put through by Yearwood and Bwomono. McGlashan finally did what we have been crying out for him to do and beat the defender for pace on the outside before taking the ball into the box and crossing for Robinson to put into an empty net.

Two good saves from Oxley, now a draw or win against Col U sees us through.
 
Decent game tonight - I quite enjoyed it. My ratings fwiw

Oxley 8 - looks a far more confident keeper than when he first joined
Elvis 9 (MOM) - this lad looks a real player. Tough tackler, great engine, gets forward well, can pick a pass.
White 7 - Steady and composed, everything we would want and expect from him
Kyprianou 8 - Has come on leaps and bounds and looks to have settled into the CB role now
Hendrie 7 - Steady game, probably the best he's looked so far this season.
McGlashan 7 - created the goal well with a decent turn of pace. Not much else came off for him, but he worked hard
Yearwood 7 - this lad is a very decent central midfielder. Possibly not quite ready for regular 1st team yet, but will be soon.
Klass 6 - Doesn't look ready for 1st team yet, Brown was shouting at him to "get involved" all game!
Bridge 6 - a bit of a curate's egg performance from Jack - not enough to break into the team.
Fortuné 7 - what a model pro this bloke is, has a real touch of class about him
Robinson 7 - took the goal well and worked hard

Subs

Ba 6 - not much came off for him but he tried hard
Cotton 6 - looked a bit out of his depth, but was probably nervous on debut
McLaughlin 6 - was hardly on the pitch! Came on with about 2 minutes to go!

Crowd 1148 with 40 from Reading (really? We counted 19!)

All in all, it was good to see the fringe players - Bwomono and Yearwood are the two most likely to be playing first team football soon. Elvis was my MoM but the sponsors gave it to Fortuné - presumably so they could get their picture taken with an ex-Prem player.

The best news was that there were no injuries and our youngsters got some more pitch time.

I expect the crowd to be a bit bigger for the final group match against Col U next month
 
Scores in general seem a little generous to me. We were the better side but failed to test the keeper ( cut and paste vs various games). I wasn't as impressed by the youngsters as much as others bar Harry (excellent) and elvis (very good). Most interesting thing was that you could hear the players and you could hear oxley shouting out instructions all match- especially at elvis
 
Agree with most of the posts so far but I thought Robinson did nothing to convince the manager to select him for 1st team squad. I thought Ba had more movement off the ball than him.
MOM in my opinion was Elvis although Kiprianou ran him close second.
 
My initial reaction when I left Roots Hall last night was why did I bother coming. However, on reflection I feel a bit better about the game this morning. Pros - I was really pleased to see Phil field as many of our youngsters as he did. They all ran their hearts out, some more successfully than others. Pick of the bunch was Elvis Bwomono. This boy is going to be some player and as someone said earlier, he really must be a candidate for Doncaster. Yearwood and Klass showed they have the potential to become first teamers and did some good stuff but should look up and around a bit more at times. Bridge got better as the game went on and by the time he was subbed he really looked the part. I had to remember that Kyprianou is still a youngster, he looked so confident and composed next to John White. I would not be upset if that pairing started Saturday's game. Cons - McGlashan is such a enigma to me. He has fabulous pace but consistency is never going to be his strong suit. Theo is another that frustrates the hell out of me. I know he scored, and I'm pleased for him, but against an U21 side he should have had far more end product than he did. Neither Theo nor McGlash will have done their Doncaster chances much good. As for the other first teamers, they did what they needed to do. Hendrie got game time, which was good, but I bet Timlin starts at LB on Saturday as Hendrie's confidence still looks pretty low to me.
 
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The commentators were saying that Klass was disappointing, likewise Hendrie and Mcglashan was going down rather easily with a limited end product to his game. In fact, the crossing overall was over hit too many times. I don't know if the people who attended concur with this.

However, it's a dead end game with some youngsters getting their first taste of competitive action. A win and a clean sheet is great for them! So glad to see Elvis getting rave reviews again, really rate him. He looks like he'll be a top player. I just hope that, long-term, it's with us.
 
As others have said, a pretty forgettable game but a decent opportunity to see some fringe players given a shot. Could and should have scored more and came under a bit of pressure late on, where have we heard that before?!

Oxley 8 Made a couple of decent saves
Elvis 7.5 Solid and didn't look troubled, a little nervous early on
White 7.5 Poor opposition but huge improvement on Ferdinand
Kyprianou 8 Started a little slowly but stopped everything
Hendrie 6.5 Struggled at times, a huge concern and Timlin will be feeling relieved
McGlashan 8 Unstoppable when he got down the wing first half, faded in the second
Yearwood 7 May feel disappointed he couldn't do more with the opportunity, made some great passes but for each of those there was a sloppy one
Klass 6 Looked impressive early on going forwards, but lazy defensively and got more sloppy as the game went on with some poor touches
Bridge 7 Worked hard at some times then seemed overly relaxed at others, drifted in and out of the game and while for a couple of 5 minute spells he was our best player, he didn't do enough to be hoping he's anywhere near the eleven on Satyrday
Robinson 7 Got himself in some good positions with some good runs, good to see him on the scoresheet
MAF 7 Moments of brilliance and quality but like Cox, he was far too deep far too often

Subs
Ba 6.5 Ran around a lot, not a lot of service or luck
Cotton 6 Think he lost the ball every time he had it
McLaughlin - Don't think he touched the ball

Reading were exactly what you'd expect, some had potential but all a little bit rushed and nervous. If you think our finishing is poor then be glad you aren't one of the 40 (yeah right!!) Reading u23 fans.

Good run out for some and a step closer to Wembley.
 
I really enjoyed the game, it was a shame that the ref seemed to want to wrap Reading in cotton wool and blew every time one of them hit the deck however innocuous the challenge had been!

Plus points - Oxley, Elvis, the central defensive pairing and Bridge
Negatives - Klass (very disappointing) and our inability to properly stamp any authority on the game

Interesting to note that Brown was about to bring Nathan Bishop on for Oxley with 5 minutes to go, before Glash went down injured. Bit brave I thought, at only 1 nil. I'd like to know a bit more about Ted Smith's injury as I felt he was one who should have definitely started last night in the normal course of events.

Oxley - 8, composed and some great saves
Elvis - 8.5, MOTM, love this guy, does the job and does it well - decisive, committed and brave
White - 7.5, good, solid performance
Kyprianou - 7.5, looked much more comfortable alongside JW, loved the way these 3 all covered each other when one was caught out of position on more than one occasion
Hendrie - 7, thought he did ok, couple of mistakes which people were quick to get on his back for, but also showed some good passing and got forward well
McGlashan - 7, some good runs, lots of defensive cover, still missing the quality in the final ball which is what McLaughlin generally is better at, and why he's the preferred starting option
Yearwood - 7, did ok, but not as well as I'd hoped
Klass - 6.5, pretty disappointed, one moment of , well, class but over whelmed most of the time. For me, Timlin should have started alongside Dru to put some authority in there
Bridge - 7.5, pick of the midfield, didn't understand why he was subbed out of all of them, some good runs, some good challenges
Robinson - 7, scored but possibly should have had more, some good runs, didn't link with Fortune enough
Fortune - 7.5, some sublime skill at times, turned his man several times, possibly should have shone more?

Subs:
Ba for Bridge - 7.5, boy this lad has a turn of pace, thought he came on and looked quite good
Cotton for Robinson - 7, nice debut for Nico, got stuck in
McLaughlin for Glash - barely had time to touch the ball

I thought Reading made a good game of it and was particularly impressed with their #39, Josh Barrett. Looked much older and wiser than his 18 years would suggest. What on earth was the abuse of their player, Holmes, about from the direction of W block?
 
I really enjoyed the game, it was a shame that the ref seemed to want to wrap Reading in cotton wool and blew every time one of them hit the deck however innocuous the challenge had been!

Plus points - Oxley, Elvis, the central defensive pairing and Bridge
Negatives - Klass (very disappointing) and our inability to properly stamp any authority on the game

Interesting to note that Brown was about to bring Nathan Bishop on for Oxley with 5 minutes to go, before Glash went down injured. Bit brave I thought, at only 1 nil. I'd like to know a bit more about Ted Smith's injury as I felt he was one who should have definitely started last night in the normal course of events.

Oxley - 8, composed and some great saves
Elvis - 8.5, MOTM, love this guy, does the job and does it well - decisive, committed and brave
White - 7.5, good, solid performance
Kyprianou - 7.5, looked much more comfortable alongside JW, loved the way these 3 all covered each other when one was caught out of position on more than one occasion
Hendrie - 7, thought he did ok, couple of mistakes which people were quick to get on his back for, but also showed some good passing and got forward well
McGlashan - 7, some good runs, lots of defensive cover, still missing the quality in the final ball which is what McLaughlin generally is better at, and why he's the preferred starting option
Yearwood - 7, did ok, but not as well as I'd hoped
Klass - 6.5, pretty disappointed, one moment of , well, class but over whelmed most of the time. For me, Timlin should have started alongside Dru to put some authority in there
Bridge - 7.5, pick of the midfield, didn't understand why he was subbed out of all of them, some good runs, some good challenges
Robinson - 7, scored but possibly should have had more, some good runs, didn't link with Fortune enough
Fortune - 7.5, some sublime skill at times, turned his man several times, possibly should have shone more?

Subs:
Ba for Bridge - 7.5, boy this lad has a turn of pace, thought he came on and looked quite good
Cotton for Robinson - 7, nice debut for Nico, got stuck in
McLaughlin for Glash - barely had time to touch the ball

I thought Reading made a good game of it and was particularly impressed with their #39, Josh Barrett. Looked much older and wiser than his 18 years would suggest. What on earth was the abuse of their player, Holmes, about from the direction of W block?

Things had gone really quiet with Bridge, thought he was well and truly frozen out. I said when I watched him a few times at Chelmsford that if he wasn't our player I'd have been crying out to sign him, he impressed me that much! When a conversation with GC was posted on here and he said that Bridge was the stand out talent of the youngsters, it suggested to me that he must be impressing in training and I hoped he'd get a chance soon. Then last night I saw the line up and saw that he was playing out wide too (like he did at Chelmsford) and I was dying to find out how he performed. Glad he was the pick of the midfield in your opinion and hopefully he'll get further opportunities.
 
Things had gone really quiet with Bridge, thought he was well and truly frozen out. I said when I watched him a few times at Chelmsford that if he wasn't our player I'd have been crying out to sign him, he impressed me that much! When a conversation with GC was posted on here and he said that Bridge was the stand out talent of the youngsters, it suggested to me that he must be impressing in training and I hoped he'd get a chance soon. Then last night I saw the line up and saw that he was playing out wide too (like he did at Chelmsford) and I was dying to find out how he performed. Glad he was the pick of the midfield in your opinion and hopefully he'll get further opportunities.

Phil was talking to Bridge quite a bit in the second half (we were playing towards the south then so it was his side of the pitch) and all the body language and expressions were of mutual respect etc - positive stuff. The subbing looking planned to, for Cotton to get some game time. Bridge won a fair few tackles against his opposite number and him and Hendie overlapped a few times suggesting a possible partnership down the left.
Cotton didn't get going, it didn't happen for the lad and it also showed some problems then for Hendrie at full back as Reading did more down their right.
I believe this was a very good run out for Phil, GC & KM to understand more about the potential bubbling under the regular 1st team squad.
I believe both Theo and Flash got injuries.
The pitch still cut up with huge divots BUT looked, again, to be slowly improving.
 
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