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

[RHB]

We weren't too bad in the first half, we closed Bristol down well and did mostly the right things until we got into their penalty box where we were dire. Lenny and McLaughlin were, for me, our best players of the half. All in all, after 45 minutes and 0-0 we probably were the better team. That said I just couldn't see where the goals were going to come from. So we got to half time and I was proved right unfortunately.

The second half did it's usual and left me totally underwhelmed when we conceded on the 61st minute. We just can't defend set pieces and the need for a heavyweight tall commanding CB was again evident. Lenny continued to drive himself and the team on for the remainder of the half but he really does need some proper help in the middle, cue new hard hitting midfielder soon please or failing that a fit again Timlin. Up front Cox showed some classy touches but it is very difficult for a player like him to feed off high balls all the time. Mooney still doesn't impress me and I suspect he never will. He's not bad and probably a better option than Williams but that's not really saying much. From my vantage point the penalty was a penalty and Cox despatched it well but a point was probably all we deserved today.

Other bits worthy of mention maybe, Bristol had a Deegan lookalike, sort off, Mildenhall made a couple of solid stops (git) and he got a solid reception from those notoriously fickle fans in the South stand finishing off with a lingering man hug with Barratt.

Just a normal Saturday afternoon at Roots Hall.

 

[Tommy2holes]

A poor game with little quality.

If we had any forward quality in that opening 45 mins then we could have had a field day.

Rovers were that poor they couldn't even take a throw in.

Oxley 6. Made a couple of decent saves been he always seems routed to his spot.

Thompson and Barrett 6. Just average.

Coker 6. Seems to be lacking confidence and a player ahead of him he can use.

Demetriou 6.5 . Gets forward well but literally walked off when subbed whilst a goal down.

O'Niel 6. Squad player.

King 6. A boy in a man's game. Has promise but is not what is needed right now.

Lenny 6.5 mom. When he drives forward he is a class act. Can't help thinking that PB is stifling his development.

Mclaughlin 6. Got foward but delivery let him down.

Cox 6. Quality player that's being fed scraps

Mooney 5. Like a poor man's cox. Should be a fourth choice striker.

Subs.

McGlashan 6. Pace pacey pace. Not a lot else.

Bridge 6.5. Looked positive and has quality. Like to see him get a start.

Williams 3. Pointless. Can't even find a man with a simple pass. Never going to be a league player.

PB. Stop talking about players coming in and get them in.

Frustrating. We have a weaker squad than last year and could struggle to avoid a relegation scrap.

Get woody timlin and Ranger fit and add in a quality centre half midfielder and striker and we will be fine.

Need to get a maximum against an average fleetwood side next week.

 

[geoffmundo]

So basically 4 games (5 including the league cup defeat) and we looked really good for about 25 minutes Tuesday evening?

 

[Kevin Hogg]

We need:
To move the ball much quicker.
A more mobile centre back.
A centre forward.
King to stop passing to the opposition.

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

So basically 4 games (5 including the league cup defeat) and we looked really good for about 25 minutes Tuesday evening?

This just about sums it up. Another depressing, boring, uninspiring effort today.

 

[shrimperjon]

Just love the way PB has again taken the blame away from himself AGAIN

barretts man for goal
guy on the line should have stopped it
having a go at the fans again
more comments about the transfer window, judge him when he has his stock in
said he wanted more players, yet has also said he wants a smaller squad with more quality

look in the rucking mirror you moron

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

Just love the way PB has again taken the blame away from himself AGAIN

barretts man for goal
guy on the line should have stopped it
having a go at the fans again
more comments about the transfer window, judge him when he has his stock in
said he wanted more players, yet has also said he wants a smaller squad with more quality

look in the rucking mirror you moron

He has to go, he's destroying what little confidence these players have left.

 

[Evening Echo]

Match report: Southend United 1, Bristol Rovers 1

SIMON Cox’s late penalty rescued a share of the spoils for Southend United against Bristol Rovers at Roots Hall this afternoon.

More...

 

[Stan33]

My first post ,so bear with me ,how do see Cox as class ,he did nothing today imo apart from picking up the ball & putting it on the spot & scoring ,pathetic as were 8 or 9 more !��

 

[RHB]

He has to go, he's destroying what little confidence these players have left.

Wishful thinking I'm afraid. He's just taken 4 points from the last two games. Ron won't wield the axe for that return whatever we may think.

 

[Tommy2holes]

My first post ,so bear with me ,how do see Cox as class ,he did nothing today imo apart from picking up the ball & putting it on the spot & scoring ,pathetic as were 8 or 9 more !��

The problem is that cox is a class player but is having to constantly drop deep and collect the ball with his back to goal. Its a pointless exercise.

He needs to be in the box on the end of crosses.

He is a fox in the box.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Dear oh dear. I knew I would come on here and find Mooney and Williams being scape-goated. Honestly, if you actually watched Mooney's movement today you would know this was a player trying to work channels where other players didn't bother, coping with a guy who wanted to wrestle him the whole time while getting no help from the officials, making some intelligent runs both with and without the ball into space and trying to get on the end of crosses but smaller men jumping ahead of him. Williams too, today, did better than he's being credited for. Having said that, I still don't think he's anywhere near ready for L1 and a loan out to a top Conference or L2 side is a must.

Oxley - 7, criticism of his kicking because it was better in one half than the other? Hmm....wonder if the wind might have had any effect there? :facepalm:Did ok, looked far more confident than against Gillingham, in either game.
Demetriou - 7, guy clearly has a temper. Refusing to shake a team-mate's hand is not the way we do things at Southend. He also gets into more than his fair share of flare ups on the pitch with oppo players. Having said that, he impressed down the wing today. Defensively, he's not as good as White.
Thompson - 7.5, pick of the defence today.
Barrett - 6.5, three games in a week too much for him.
Coker - 7, got forward more today, which was good to see.
O'Neill - 6.5, bit of a luxury we can't afford as his natural instincts are defensive, and we need the creativity up front.
King - 6.5, does some things well, then makes mistakes. Doesn't seem able to pick a decent forward pass. Too inconsistent at the moment, and would rather see Bridge in there.
Leonard - 8, MOTM, good to see him driving forward and not afraid to shoot. We need to see more of this.
McLaughlin - 7, flashes of speed and skill, but Gavin Ward took a huge dislike to him and he was targeted a bit.
Mooney - 7, hard worker, difficult being the target man when it's as windy as it was and we still insisted on pumping high balls forward. Chased balls that others gave up on, and won them.
Cox - 7, want to see him in the middle more.

Subs:
McGlashan for O'Neill - 7.5, made a massive difference, ran at them with pace. Crosses were a bit hit and miss.
Bridge for Mooney - 7, did well when he came on, want to see him given more opportunity.
Williams for Demetriou - 6.5, better, but still needs to learn.

Your friend and mine - Mr Gavin Ward. Mr Fussy. Today was one of those "sod off and don't ever come back" ones.

 

[RHB]

Dear oh dear. I knew I would come on here and find Mooney and Williams being scape-goated. Honestly, if you actually watched Mooney's movement today you would know this was a player trying to work channels where other players didn't bother, coping with a guy who wanted to wrestle him the whole time while getting no help from the officials, making some intelligent runs both with and without the ball into space and trying to get on the end of crosses but smaller men jumping ahead of him. Williams too, today, did better than he's being credited for. Having said that, I still don't think he's anywhere near ready for L1 and a loan out to a top Conference or L2 side is a must.

I don't usually take issue with your views OBL, and the vast majority of your post was the match that I saw as well. But your assertion that Mooney and Williams were scapegoats simply isn't true, well not from my post is wasn't. I watched Mooney closely today and bearing in mind he is an experienced forward he didn't attempt to win balls that were 50/50, and his heading ability was non existent. I actually want him to do well in the side, but sadly he is not the sort of player that we need at the moment. As for Williams, it's telling that he has been given more chances by Brown than I would give him. The fact that we have different opinions about players is what makes this board interesting, it doesn't make Mooney and Williams scapegoats.

 

[kentblues]

The Victors & Victorias are clearly in their element, flat caps neatly pressed, desperately looking for every conceivable negative. The game I was at today we were well on top in the first half without making it pay. Second was much more even and BR made it difficult when they went one up. If we had better options up front then I think we would have won- but we all know the squad needs strengthening.

I think we need to see what happens between now and the end of the window. In the meantime some will take every opportunity to pillory their least favourite players and call for the managers head even though there is zero chance of that happening.

For me no-one had a bad game, problem was nobody really had a good game either. I would agree with Paul Clark's analysis I heard in the car after the game which was that Lenny and Barratt were our best on the day.

 

[rigsby]

The problem is that cox is a class player but is having to constantly drop deep and collect the ball with his back to goal. Its a pointless exercise.

He needs to be in the box on the end of crosses.

He is a fox in the box.

Worked very well on Tuesday up in Sheffield.

Cox likes to come off the back four and collect the ball, that's the way he plays.

Our problem today was having no cutting edge in the final third. We had plenty of possession high up the pitch, in fact Rovers barely got out of their half for 30 minutes. Unlike Tuesday we failed to cross early and when we did there was very little quality.

I agree Cox had a quiet game but he made plenty of runs in the box, shame no one could put in a decent early ball. Its been a problem at RH, with players overcomplicating a move with an extra touch or pass.

 

[rigsby]

I noticed there was quite a few booing when Williams came on as sub. Or was it because Demetriou was taken off. Maybe a bit of both?

 

[Mick]

Honestly, if you actually watched Mooney's movement today

I did; it was mainly from a vertical position to a horizontal one.

 

[RHB]

I noticed there was quite a few booing when Williams came on as sub. Or was it because Demetriou was taken off. Maybe a bit of both?

I think it was a bit of both, certainly from the West Stand. I found it a bit strange because it was obvious to me that PB was going to go three across the back to chase a winner and he wanted the two Adams and Ben to be the three.

 

[Mick]

I noticed there was quite a few booing when Williams came on as sub. Or was it because Demetriou was taken off. Maybe a bit of both?

I thought very much the latter. We were starting to make some progress and pick up a few free-kicks down that wing.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I think it was a bit of both, certainly from the West Stand. I found it a bit strange because it was obvious to me that PB was going to go three across the back to chase a winner and he wanted the two Adams and Ben to be the three.

Absolutely. Far rather have Barrett in the middle, flanked by Coker and Thompson, than Thompson in the middle flanked by Barrett and Demetriou. Shouldn't have thrown a paddy at being subbed.

And on Mooney, did you see the ball that he chased down into the corner and got a foot on to go out for a thrown rather than a goal kick? He was held every time he went for a ball out of Oxley's hands, pushed over or twisted, and yet barely got a free kick all game.