Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-1 Plymouth Argyle

[Parold]

Thought delivery from set pieces was decent today but we didn't have anyone attacking the ball with any conviction - Ranger and Turner would have thrived.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

This was an almost entertaining game; on a poor pitch and with a strong gusty wind - two factors that didn't help us play a game with a lower ball closer to the ground! - especially playing a team who seemed several inches taller than us all over the side.
We had enough good chances to have been 3 nil up at half time, 2nd half they got a deserved equalizer and Ox made some good saves from less Argyle chances although again we squandered good moves with poor decisions and tame attempts in the last third.
I don't think any player can be faulted for lack of effort; Anton had a few wobbles but steadied and I thought both Demi and Hendrie did ok as backs in dealing with bigger players with both also making sensible moves forward without leaving a huge opening behind.
Tims and Len seemed more aware and Glash and Kightly made chances and worked hard.
Usual MAF, good hold up, poor finishing, Cox worked and did very well apart from, untypically, poor finishing.

I am more optimistic that slowly things are starting to improve and that the return of Woody and Nile can help too.

 

[RHB]

Interesting indeed! I was at the game and it feels like we watched two different matches. We needed a reaction from last week and got one, totally dominating Plymouth in the first half yet frustratingly only coming away one goal to the good. Plymouth changed the game second half and we were thankful in the end to Oxley who had an incredible game but, for me, it was poor decision making and failure to execute in front of goal that cost us the game today. Our application was spot on as was the reaction from he players who let us down last week.

You watched the same game as me SBH, and you were in a different stand, amazing.

A few observations,

• Fortune is more effective as a 60 minute player.
• Cox is being starved of sufficient service to do his job properly.
• Robinson is going to struggle to score on that form.
• McGlashan is still better as an impact sub.
• Hendrie didn't have as bad a game as some have suggested.
• the team effort was good.
• our finishing was poor and Kightly especially needs to take his chances.
• the pitch was very bad.
• Oxley was very good.
• John White continues to be very good.
• Huge shout out for the crowd, as this game was on the back of a 0-5, you were all great today.
• Timlin could get a job as a turf flattener when he retires.
• There should be a limit on the number of giraffes Plymouth are allowed to have in their team.

That will do for the moment, I'm sure I'll think of some more tomorrow.

 

[Eddy Melito]

Thought delivery from set pieces was decent today but we didn't have anyone attacking the ball with any conviction - Ranger and Turner would have thrived.

I find it odd that in all the summaries of the game, that nobody has mentioned the sheer height of Plymouth. It wasn't a case that nobody was attacking set pieces, more that they were giving away about 6 inches per player in height. They needed to be a bit smarter at times, but also tried a couple of lower whipped in crosses too. It should have been made very clear before the game that it would be a disaster to give Plymouth set pieces, whether needless free kicks or corners. They had a left footed and a right footed option for taking really decent kicks through fox and Carey, and then they have 3x 6'4''+ and another 3x 6''+ players to aim at every time. It was also noticeable that when defending corners, Plymouth had every player in their own 18 yard box.

 

[mrsblue]

Zero quality up top,Cox and MAF could have played all night and still not bother the scoreboard..pitch is mental after 3 games.

Ox was MOM.

In the end not a bad point against the Argyle Giants .

 

[Barling Magna]

I warned PB about the height of Plymouth's forwards three times in the pre-match discussions over the past week. Don't tell me he doesn't read what we write....?

 

[Eddy Melito]

I warned PB about the height of Plymouth's forwards three times in the pre-match discussions over the past week. Don't tell me he doesn't read what we write....?

To be fair I think they coped reasonably well with it generally, and without Kiernan as an option, what realistically could have been done differently?

 

[geoffmundo]

4 games in and still we wait for a forward to find the back of the net.........................!

 

[Magnum PI]

My thoughts

Dominant first half, which was built on brilliant pressing and getting right at them. Should have scored more goals and put the game to bed. Plymouth were hopeless first half.
I thought Fortune held the ball up very well first half and it relieved pressure on the back 4 for which Anton looked very cumbersome I hate to say.

We had 16 shots today and 3 on target and therein lies the problem. Awful shooting - one from Timlin was just pathetic for a professional. We had 16 corners and never looked like scoring on one. They definitely looked menacing on theirs and duly scored from one. Admittedly we were a bit ragged second half but Plymouth improved massively with Song'o on the pitch.

It's definitely dropped points, but was at least a reaction to last week. Long way to go and we will have better players back, so let's not get too excited or depressed until we finish September.

Oxley looked great today. White was the best player on the pitch, but Ox ran him close.
Can't say I agreed with the subs. Cox will score goals - and Robinson is really poor this season. Again today his touch and passing was just woeful. McGlashan was causing them lots of trouble on the right and McLaughlin has been hopeless for 6 months. Don't understand making changes if you can't improve things.

 

[Tampa Blue]

I thought we were poor and if I were a Plymouth fan then i would be disappointed not to have beaten us. Having said that, Plymouth were poor especially first half.

Oxley - 9 three top class saves, didn't put a foot wrong
Demi - 3 like others have said, he is hopeless and is getting worse game by game - decision making is terrible
Hendrie - 6 actually thought he played quite well, especially first half
White - 9 if only the others put in as much effort and desire.......
Ferdinand - 3 living off reputation, slow, didn't jump and reading of game was awful
McLash - 7 lively and worked really hard for the goal
Kightley - 7 looked class and improving, but bad decision at the end
Timlin - 6 disciplined and i thought he did ok
Leonard - 7 worked hard. broke up play and looked good at times
Cox - 5 I actually thought he worked hard and looked a threat
Fortune - 5 worked hard as normal but nothing came off for him

Subs
Robinson - 5
McLaughlin - 6

 

[tottenham541]

Well 1-1 draw looked about right even tho we were much the better side going forward, I'm not a fan of white at centre back but thought he was very good today and maybe our best performer along with jermaine Mac who I thought was unlucky to be subbed off, Cox needs to up his game after today and Ferdinand looked injured and well below his best, struggled in the air against a big man when he should of been going right through the ball as well as the centre forward at times, needs to toughen up after today as white looked good along side him.

 

[Ricey]

I think people are being harsh on Demi and Hendrie I thought they were a hell of a lot better than they were against Rotherham. Both easily 6's!

I'm going to admit it! I WAS WRONG! John White in the past two games has looked like a very dependable centre back and unless he has a major **** up, in the next couple of games or Kiernan suddenly becomes world class over night. I am more than happy to have him at centre back.

Oxley was excellent and saved us from losing with a great save. His confidence seems to be getting better and we have a decent keeper in him, kicking still a bit of work needed.

The front two were shocking, Robinson didn't do a lot either. MAF works hard but they both lack end product. Cox seems half the player he was last season which is odd as he looks a lot fitter.

In situations like today why not chuck Ba in? He was the only one during shooting practice with a deadly shot. Why was MAF not dragged off even with 15 to go and give the guy a go.

Glash I thought was good and caused them issues, Kightly looked good also. Their no.5 and him had a bit of a set too he elbowed Kightly and got away with it and they kept going at each other, I thought this will only end in tears.

Oxley - 8 MOM
Demi - 6
White - 8
Ferdinand - 6
Hendrie - 6
McGlashan - 7
Timlin - 7
Leonard - 7
Kightly - 8
Cox - 5
MAF - 6

Subs:
Robinson - 5
McLaughlin - 5

 

[IloveShrimp]

You only had to watch the pre match shooting practice to see how poor our finishing is, especially Cox who's shots were wayward off target and limp.

Not a good sign for the season which is going to be long and hard I think!

 

[Chairman Trigg]

Can't believe some of the negative comments today.After last week's result confidence must have been zero. The players responded with an opening 45 mins where we could have been 3 up.2nd half was even with chances for both sides.We know we are hit badly by key injuries at present so options are limited. 3 league games into the season is too early for some of these views.
My only negative is for the end of the game .....why did all the players apart from a couple walk straight off? very strange as certain players like Anton have religiously acknowledged support and today something was not right

 

[Farmer Fossett]

I must have been watching a different game! Thought we were by far the better team over than a 10 minute period in the second half. They only threatened on the break and from set pieces (not sure if I have ever seen us play against such a tall team most seemed 6" 5+).

 

[SeaSideDoughnut]

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We huffed and puffed but the house was never in too much danger, disappointing in a word.

I don't do ratings, but pick a few or...

Ferdinand 5. I can accept a player losing an aerial battle but you have to challenge.

Hendrie, 5. To my surprise he had a better game and got forward in the first half, but still shouldn't been dropped.

Timlin, 7. This guy will never please his critics but it's good to have more than one leader on the pitch.

McGlashan, 7. Our main threat I felt towards the end of the game, why take him off?

I'm thankful Oxley kept us in it but we had the pressure, we should've made it count. White needs no explaining, rightfully MoTM.

 

[RHB]

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We huffed and puffed but the house was never in too much danger, disappointing in a word.

I don't do ratings, but pick a few or...

Ferdinand 5. I can accept a player losing an aerial battle but you have to challenge.

Hendrie, 5. To my surprise he had a better game and got forward in the first half, but still shouldn't been dropped.

Timlin, 7. This guy will never please his critics but it's good to have more than one leader on the pitch.

McGlashan, 7. Our main threat I felt towards the end of the game, why take him off?

I'm thankful Oxley kept us in it but we had the pressure, we should've made it count. White needs no explaining, rightfully MoTM.

I would imagine we are all grateful that you shared your SZ biography with us but match comments alone would probably worked just as well.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

I must have been watching a different game! Thought we were by far the better team over than a 10 minute period in the second half. They only threatened on the break and from set pieces (not sure if I have ever seen us play against such a tall team most seemed 6" 5+).

Totally agree, dont get all this negative stuff on here today? For some to say, Plymouth would be disappointed with a point is just insane. Other than the 10 minutes when they scored and the odd breakaway they were 2nd best for nearly all the match.

We had 16 corners and 16 attempts on goal as well as at least half a dozen moments where we could and should of carved Plymouth open.

The only reason we didn't win that game comfortably was poor finishing, only 3 on target.

Also not sure of the hate for Demetriou either. He was fine in the first half, unless everyone slagging him off sits in the west stand and I didn't see him have a mare.

 

[fbm]

Oooohhh, we do love to over react, don't we? Blimey, it's 3 games in and we've had one of each. At least we are not Gillingham or Oldham.

Firstly, there was a HUGE positive reaction from last week. Plymouth are a team of giants and caused us no problem at all in the first half. We should have been 3 or 4 up, mind, but although we had a few half chances, there was nothing really clear cut.

The pitch also was vastly improved and wasn't a factor at all in today's performance.

In the second half Plymouth stepped it up and started to play to their strengths. Their equaliser was no surprise. A few things could have gone for us in the second half - that handball for instance - but aside from that, I reckon the game was pretty decent and overall, a draw was probably a fair result.

Ratings -

Oxley - 8 - Solid kicking as usual and made a great save to keep us in it

Demetriou - 6 - Nowhere near as bad as some seem to think
Hendrie - 6 - Ditto. He showed some very positive moments today although defensively, he does concern me. But he will be our left back for pretty much the season so we had best embrace the fact.
White - 8.5 - Another MOM match performance, save for one almighty ricket that led to the corner they equalised from. But he's built up enough credit to be allowed that.
Ferdinand - 7.5 - He played absolutely to his strengths today. There was no way he was going to out-jump their gigantic forwards so he stood off and picked up the loose ball, marshalling the defence at the same time. How some people think he was rubbish today is beyond me.

McGlashan - 7.5 - Showed some good stuff and worked hard to create the goal.
Leonard - 7 - Again, no evidence that his mind was elsewhere at all. Nearly scored in the first half and made some good blocks and tackles.
Timlin - 6 - For me, not really that great today. Distribution poor but again, dd make some good tackles. Cannot be faulted for commitment.
Kightly - 7.5 - Could have scored late on if he had shot more quickly. Good link up play at times with Hendrie.

Cox - 4 - An off day. His shooting was all over the shop in the pre-match practice and it continued into the match.
Fortune - 6.5 - Again, in my book, better than most suggest. I thought he did hold it up well against the huge centre half.

Subs -

McLaughlin - 7 - Pretty decent when he came on, hit a rasping shot that fizzed just over the bar.
Robinson - 5 - He doesn't seem to be able to cut it for me. We would probably need to play to more his style of running the channels, which we don't.

Ref -

7 - I thought he was ok, missed the handball, or maybe he thought it would have been harsh. Anyway, the refs this season have been in my opinion much better than last season... but it is still early

 

[Thundersley Blue]

Just a couple of points that may or may not have been covered. Think the physical side of Thompson's game is being missed particularly by Anton. Fortune couldn't be taken off as his height was needed at Plymouth set pieces. A game we really should have won but in the end we could have lost it. Early days.