Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-1 Bury

[Stuart W]

How shockingly predictable. Go 1-0 up (albeit totally out of the blue), so time to change tactics. In my 47 yrs of going to the Hall, I can't recall us taking the ball to the corner flag in the FIRST HALF before. And it was quite clearly a tactical decision to play the way we did, because as soon as Bury got their inevitable equaliser, we decided to go for it. WHY not play like this at 1-0, and endeavour to get a second goal? I'm afraid the buck stops with Brown, and the penalty decision should not disguise the ineptitude and negativity that had gone before.

What made it worse was listening to Mark Babbage talking to Phil Brown on BBC Essex in the car coming home, as for a fleeting moment I thought that I was in North Korea, what with the lies and propaganda flying about with regard to this and recent games. No we weren't unlucky, but negative. uninspiring and at best performing like a mid to lower mid-table side.


Rant over.

 

[Jam_Man]

Southend vs Bury

Ratings, Rantings and thoughts here people...

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

How shockingly predictable. Go 1-0 up (albeit totally out of the blue), so time to change tactics. In my 47 yrs of going to the Hall, I can't recall us taking the ball to the corner flag in the FIRST HALF before. And it was quite clearly a tactical decision to play the way we did, because as soon as Bury got their inevitable equaliser, we decided to go for it. WHY not play like this at 1-0, and endeavour to get a second goal? I'm afraid the buck stops with Brown, and the penalty decision should not disguise the ineptitude and negativity that had gone before.

What made it worse was listening to Mark Babbage talking to Phil Brown on BBC Essex in the car coming home, as for a fleeting moment I thought that I was in North Korea, what with the lies and propaganda flying about with regard to this and recent games. No we weren't unlucky, but negative. uninspiring and at best performing like a mid to lower mid-table side.


Rant over.

Yep that was dreadful, never seen us do that in the first half of a match either and we paid to see such brilliant tactics!

 

[wiggy]

Yep that was dreadful, never seen us do that in the first half of a match either and we paid to see such brilliant tactics!

How much longer of this predictable nonsense. Yet again they were poor and there for the taking and negative Phil wants to go all in our own half. Get rid Ron before it's too late!

 

[Jam_Man]

I think thats a pretty good indication of the confidence in the team at the moment if they feel they have to do that to stay in front that early.

 

[shrimperjon]

As has been the case of late we have failed to win a game that was there to win. Unlike other weeks though we created very little. PB tactics baffle me, 1-0 up doing ok, so he decides to take off barney who I thought played well and battled hard, went five in midfield and invited the pressure that inevitably lead to the goal. The mindset in the second half was clearly one to hold on to what we had, with very little thought of pushing forward and try to kill the game off. The players look low on confidence and void of ideas in the final third. Deegan has had his time and needs to go, get Timlin and Lenny back together in the Middle, Lenny is wasted at right back. Worrell mom by a country mile and should have got a nailed on penalty. Atkinson also played well. The defence looked solid and restricted their attack to few chances although Bentley made a good stop from the one chance in the first half they created. Really don't like Williams, gets forward ok but his final ball is dreadful and his positional play defensively is awful. Corr and Barney both battled hard with very little to feed off, Corr took his goal well. Disappointed to see Barney come off. Timlin worked hard but some his passing was way off today.

In the end 1 point is poor return after leading again at HT, yet our tactics have invited the opposition onto us and cost us all three points. I do think we have the players at the club, but they are not being allowed to express themselves with what appears to be defensive and negative tactics. 1 point from the playoffs isn't a disaster, but feel we could and should be doing so much better.

 

[Magnum PI]

How shockingly predictable. Go 1-0 up (albeit totally out of the blue), so time to change tactics. In my 47 yrs of going to the Hall, I can't recall us taking the ball to the corner flag in the FIRST HALF before. And it was quite clearly a tactical decision to play the way we did, because as soon as Bury got their inevitable equaliser, we decided to go for it. WHY not play like this at 1-0, and endeavour to get a second goal? I'm afraid the buck stops with Brown, and the penalty decision should not disguise the ineptitude and negativity that had gone before.

What made it worse was listening to Mark Babbage talking to Phil Brown on BBC Essex in the car coming home, as for a fleeting moment I thought that I was in North Korea, what with the lies and propaganda flying about with regard to this and recent games. No we weren't unlucky, but negative. uninspiring and at best performing like a mid to lower mid-table side.


Rant over.

completely agree. I was screaming at the radio "ask him a proper question". Embarrassing journalism and embarrassing waste of talent in this squad. Brown is making an absolute mess of this season. Ron please tell me you are watching and making notes before we are completely derailed.

 

[Vinny the Shrimper]

Poor performance from us today,Worrall and Timlin the best of a bad bunch.

 

[Depor_Shrimper]

No doubt in my mind that we should take a gamble on one or two of the younger squad players - particularly in the striking area!

 

[CyrilSneer]

Its clear that Brown doesn't know his best team or what tactics to play, and that's why the team now don't either. We didn't play any decent football at all until the last 5 minutes of the first half. What was going on with the long diagonal balls to Worrall in the first half? Fair play to him he did his best, but more often than not it was going out for throw ins or goal kicks. The upshot of these long balls to the flanks is that we didn't get one decent cross in. It must have been an instruction from Brown, as Leonard was doing the same throughout the game. You could tell he wanted to run with it, which is his game when in the middle, but he stopped himself on various occasions. The second half was the same predictable rubbish, and it took the penalty decision to spark some passion. I'm sure some people will criticise Barnard, but how can you. He got no service all game, as did Barry. I'm not usually one to call for the managers head, but I honestly think he's lost the dressing room, and you can tell that from the performances. Even when we have won, it hasn't been convincing. I can only think of two decent halves of football all season. First half against Stevenage and last week against Exeter. Its not that they dislike him, its that they just cant understand what's being asked from them. As a fan I cant either.

 

[Chairman Trigg]

Unfortunately Brown is a reactive manager,for the second game running everybody could see the midfield sitting deep and a goal coming from the opposition ,so what does he do nothing... to the game plan.......His subs normally always come on after an event , are predictable and have little or no effect.Sturrock at least would change the shape or formation if we didn't play well ......

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

So many teams come to Roots Hall and dictate the game. We have to play the way they want. First half Bury want to kill the game and are happy just not to concede a goal. Horrendous viewing. Second half, they are one down, so want to play an open game, we oblige and they get their equaliser.
Yes we scored out of the blue, and yes you won't see many stone walled penalties like that, but the fact is, their goalie wasn't really tested, and now our midfield don't look like scoring.

 

[amsemp]

I thought the team selection was poor from the off. We all know Leonard is our best attacking midfielder, but for reasons best known to him, he played Lenny at right back and White out of position, despite having Bolger and Thompson on the bench. The problem is, our two central midfielders were Timlin and Deegan who aren't the most forward thinking. Deegan is an out and out defensive midfielder and Timlin is your deep lying playmaker type of player. Neither had any drive forward and it showed. We were crying out for a Clifford or a Leonard alongside Deegan.

As soon as we went 1-0 up I knew what was coming. About 5 minutes before the substitution, I made a point of saying that Brown won't make a positive attacking substitution whilst we're 1-0 up. 5 minutes later, off comes Barnard, on goes Weston and we're 4-5-1. Very subtly trying to shut up shop without the masses noticing. I then said it's all well and good doing that, but we've conceded after doing that so many times as we invite pressure. Then they scored and I was certain I was psychic and could see the future before realising that Brown is incredibly predictable. He's done that so many times and you have to wonder how many more times that has to happen before he tries to put the game out of sight, rather than take our foot off the gas and cling on?

Binnom-Williams had his worst game since coming into the team. I lost count of how many times he didn't win a header against someone a good few inches shorter than him and his positioning at times is woeful. Seems to go on these strange one man runs down the left in the second half and has a slow jog back when we lose possession. He needs to remember he's a left back and his primary duty is to defend. Prosser had to take a silly booking in the second half to bail him out after he was needlessly ahead of play and making no effort to get back.

No words to describe the incompetence of the referee. 0/10 - would give less if I could. All in all, another dire performance. Things can only get better right?

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

In fairness Bury were mostly responsible for a terrible first half and in the first 20 minutes of listening, I feared the match had 0-0 written all over it. Yet, how many teams, like Bury, arrive and park their bus with us unable to break them down. As above, I couldn't believe we were again going to try and defend a one goal lead in the second-half and following pressure and a series of corners, it came as no surprise when the equaliser came. I thought that Bury would probably go on and win the game and it was only following the injustice of that penalty decision, that we seemed to wake up. Again, as above, the disallowed penalty shouldn't be used as a cover up for our inadequacies. TWO points from the last FIVE games...........TWO goals in the last FIVE games. Today's BBC stats give us SEVEN shots with just ONE on target. Phil Brown we have a problem and the question will sooner or later be asked.............is it you?????? Still early days in the season but our attack looks powder-puff and our defence looks nowhere as solid as it did in the latter part of last season. Still time to turn it around but is the squad or the manager capable of doing it?

 

[tommy tucker]

Rose tinted glasses .Or has Phil Brown got s**t in his eyes . He said we played well when was this approx 15 mins of a 95 min game . The rest was pure dross long balls hoofed forward to no one . Players playing like they have not got a clue .Phil brown either watches a diffent game to the rest of us .Or he needs a trip to speck savers to get some glasses .:angry:

 

[YoungWestcliffShrimper]

Why did he not bring payne on earlier? Atkinson should of been taken off and Payne. They controlled the second half the start and instead of trying to get the ball back and attack he went 451 and let them attack us and then they score.

We need some consistenacy in our team. barnard and corr upfront with payne behind would be a good start. give them a run and see how they do. The thing is with strikers they need confidence and ours have none. the chopping and chanigng every week does not help.

Also John White is terrible and nearly cost us another goal today. He should not be our captain, Timlin should be. He should be on the bench.

Thought prosser improved today compared to recent performances

 

[Medway Blue]

I genuinely don't know where to start with that. I am disgusted. Phil Brown and Phil Brown only cost us 3 points in that match.

Now I will be the first to admit that we were not brilliant in the first half. It was all a bit scrappy and there were a few too many aimless hoofs forward. But we were comfortable and not once did Bury ever look like they were going to threaten. Yet you could see the players immediately start sitting back on the lead. Instead of going for the jugular and opening up a bigger lead against what, up until that point, had been very poor quality opposition, we have a situation where Timlin and Worrall are playing a short corner and trying to hold the ball down there 2 minutes before half-time! I couldn't believe what I was watching.

It got worse after half-time. From the 50th minute, White was watching the ball go out of play by the corner flag for a goal-kick to us and leaving it there for a ball boy to trundle over and return it to Bentley. And then Bentley making a point continually of walking to the opposite side of the goal from where the ball went out to take his goal kick. Timewasting in the 50th minute!

What in the name of sweet Jesus is that idiot saying to them at half-time? Bury are there for the taking, all he had to do was tell them to keep the pressure up and turn the screw after half-time.....but they did the opposite. So now we'll have a situation where some of the more short-sighted fans will start blaming the failure to hold a lead today on the lack of goals or the 4-4-2 system which we began the game with (a system which will come good with Corr and Barnard up top if it is persevered with) when in reality, it is clearly down to something that he is saying to them before the match (“get the first goal and sit on it”) or at half-time (“now you're 1-0 up, take it easy and see the game out”).

It is made all the more infuriating to hear him in his post-match interview saying “we knew Bury would come back into the game second half and we tried to tighten things up a little bit at half-time to counter that”. Sorry, but what sodding aspect of Bury's woeful first half display gave you any sort of impression that they would come back into the game? The only way they were ever going to work their way back into it is if you allowed them to do so with your half-time team talk and tactical tweaks you stupid, inept *******. What football manager worth his salt honestly makes that kind of prediction when 1-0 up and in control after 45 minutes at home against one of the poorest sides we've seen this season? He's made tactical tweaks at half-time to counter something which hasn't happened yet and allowed them to come back into the game. Go for the fecking jugular and try to create a 2-or-3 goal buffer. If Bury still come out, manage to move into the ascendency and put our slender lead under threat despite Southend still throwing men forward and attacking then fair enough, react to it and try to protect it. You can't make changes and base your half-time team talk on something which is showing no signs of happening, but he's done exactly that and plunged his team into a situation where its lead IS under threat.

We may even have been able to hold on despite the tactical tweaks and half-time team talk, but the final nail in the coffin was the decision to haul Barnard off for Weston and switch to a negative 4-5-1 set-up. From the moment that change happened, the ball stopped sticking up front like it had in the first half due to the fact that Corr/Weston (whichever of the 2 chose to be the one player to stay forward at the time) was isolated up top alone and we had lost the energy and the ball-retention skills of Barnard. We put 10 men behind the ball and straight away invited a pressure onto our own goal which was never there before and had shown no signs of appearing. The old man and I turned to each other as soon as that change was made and said “that's it, we'll either cling onto a 1-0 win by the skin of our teeth or it'll finish 1-1,” because as soon as that change is made you know that Phil Brown ain't looking for any more goals. From that point on I pretty much switched off because I knew the equaliser was now going to come. The goal and the free-kick which led to it would never have happened if he had kept things as they were but the Bury pressure, the panic in our defence and the three successive corners that Bury forced, all the result of that substitution and negative change in shape and mentality, told you exactly what was around the corner.

Of course, as anyone could have predicted, the tired excuses came out in the post-match conference and the first words which came out of his mouth were about the referee, the penalty and the fact that they cost us the game. I'm sure many of our less-observant fans will fall for you hiding behind that excuse too but sorry mate, forget the non-penalty because YOU cost us that win and should never have put your players into a position where they needed to be awarded a late penalty to get the 3 points.

As an aside, there have been plenty of stonewall penalties not given and shocking refereeing performances over the years but it's a long long time since I've seen our players react to a decision like that. Is that frustration with their manager boiling over on the pitch? I can't see how the changes he made in the second half, the clear difference they made to the shape and mentality of the team, and the fact that we conceded a goal minutes later will help the players' confidence in El Tango and it already looks like he's lost them a little bit. There certainly seems to be something more deeply and fundamentally wrong than just the “lack of a goalscorer”.

Either way, he's certainly lost my confidence. The old man reckons he's the worst football manager we've had since Dick Bate. He might not be far wrong. The Alvin Martin and Alan Little days may have been dark ones but those two never had the quality available to them that this clueless idiot has. This group of players has the collective quality to be fighting at the top end but they are continually being blunted by a manager who is tactically inept and has no idea how to get the best out of them. I think the players themselves know this too and IMO this frustration is showing in their body language and even more so in their reaction to the non-penalty today. There is a total lack of confidence among, and maybe that is to blame for ridiculous time wasting in the corner before half time and at our own goal kicks after 50 minutes (although I'd say it's more likely Brown's instructions), but it is our own manager who has drained the players of confidence with his negative tactics and formations, his chopping and changing of the starting line-up, and his ludicrous substitutions. He needs to go.

Cut your losses Ron.

 

[sufclee]

In the end 1 point is poor return after leading again at HT, yet our tactics have invited the opposition onto us and cost us all three points. I do think we have the players at the club, but they are not being allowed to express themselves with what appears to be defensive and negative tactics. 1 point from the playoffs isn't a disaster, but feel we could and should be doing so much better.

Couldn't agree with this more, player for player i cannot see a stronger squad in the division yet for whatever reason PB cannot get them playing TOGETHER, as manager he must take responsibility for this instead of constantly blaming the players!

 

[geoffmundo]

Perhaps the match programme should contain Brown's personal mobile number? We can then text him to warn him when the opposition is about to score or even better to let him know they have changed tactics or made substations etc - cos the poor guy has no idea. We can go one step further and advise that it is customary for SUFC teams not to rely on slender 1 goal leads and try and see out a win because we are not very good at doing that.

 

[Welly7]

Wasn't good today and I'm concerned at the way we are constantly changing systems & formations. I'm also pointing the finger at players who simply aren't taking responsibility on the pitch. I'll start with Johnny White who is seemingly captain in name only. Need much, much more from the skipper especially in times like this.