Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-1 Stockport County

[Mick]

I think I saw roughly the same game as DtS. Oh, and as for formation, didn't we sort of line up 4-1-4-1?

Morris - 7. Reasonably tidy - and, shock horror, he uses his voice! There was quite an amusing moment in the first half where he shouted a very loud "AWAY!" at Prosser... who promptly passed it back to him. :doh:

* * *

Clohessy - 7. Liked the look of him a lot. Kept it simple, tried to link up with Soares, seemed reasonably tidy.

Barker - 8. He and Grant looked a class apart from most other players on the pitch - and that's with Barker (seemingly) carrying a few extra pounds and possibly not 100% match-fit. I'd love it if he stayed.

Phillips - 6.5. Reasonably solid, though he looks pretty one-paced (and that pace appears to be "slow"). Read the game well, though.

Prosser - 6.5. Tall and rangy, and is quite a good athlete; but not necessarily a student of the game (e.g. hasn't yet worked out the definition of "away!").

* * *
Low - 6.5 When he put his foot on the ball and brought it out of defence, I liked the look of him a great deal. It didn't happen that often, though. Works hard off the ball and restricts space for opposition forwards.

* * *
Soares - 5. Decent set pieces... and, er, that's it, isn't it? If we're supposed to be playing a "flexible" 4-5-1 / 4-3-3, then it's surely incumbent on Soares to get close to Corr when the ball is on the other flank in order to feed on the knock-downs. Don't recall him doing this once. I have no idea how they pick man of the match - do the match sponsors throw a dart at a teamsheet while blindfolded? On the plus side, Soares presence in the side had a comforting familiarity about it... yes, folks, once again we have the "less famous" brother (following in a rich tradition set by Messrs. Bramble, Cort and Scannell).

Easton - 6.5. Kevin Maher mk II. Keeps it simple, looks to pass, looks to keep the ball moving. On the plus side, does occasionally pass forwards, and also puts his foot in.

Grant - 8. My MoM. Bags of energy, playing higher up the pitch this season, getting stuck in but also looking to bring others into the game and trying to get into the area. Always wants the ball - a go-to player. Will be very, very important for us this season, provided he doesn't pick up too many bookings.

Spencer - 6. Worked hard (e.g. chasing that ball in the first half which we all thought would run dead, and winning a throw in), and some nice footwork. A crowd-pleaser... but perhaps flatters to deceive? No understanding at all yet with Corr, and (as with Soares) played too far away from him when the ball was on the other flank.

* * *

Corr - 5.5. Pffff. Frustrating. Yes, he plays the "lower league target man" role to perfection; but even target men should be able to hit the target. He was presented with a gilt-edged, gift-wrapped, gold-plated, on a platter chance in the second half... he was no more than about 5 yds out and he had buckets of time. He headed it about 5 yards wide of the target. Very disappointing. Hopefully he'll build up more of a rapport with his front men; for instance, won a header and sent it beautifully onto the penalty spot - it was begging to be smacked into the top corner. Blair simply failed to read it, and Corr berated him (quite fairly). Set the goal up, though, so his graft paid off.

* * *

Subs -

Sturrock - 7. Put himself around, has nice touches, and on hand to score the winner. If there weren't the misconceived notion that he's only here through nepotism, not ability, people would be purring about him, wouldn't they - even with that daft rat's tail haircut?

Paterson - 7. Thought he showed some nice touches and again got into dangerous areas. If he could beef himself up, he'll be twice the player Corr is (on the basis that he appears to have ability). Won the corner - through his mere presence - from which we scored.

Zaaboub - 4. Loses two marks for spitting; disgraceful, and it's not something I ever hope to see again from him. Not fully fit, and seemed a bit off the pace, but clearly has an eye for a pass and also a good set piece. Hope he cleans up his act.

* * *

Officials - 4. A card happy ref and a lino who appears to struggle with the off-side law. Is this what we've got to look forward to this season? Oh, lordy.

Full marks to Sturrock & Tommy W. That we have any team at all is a bonus. That they battled back to earn a well-merited draw is a huge compliment to the abilities of our management team. They are to be congratulated. More of the same this season, and we'll be fine.

Final thought: I never thought Conlon was Pele when he played in the blue of SUFC, but he was absolutely dire on Saturday, wasn't he?

Perhaps you could explain the Low mark ?

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Perhaps you could explain the Low mark ?

Errr. I meant Simpson - wrong Josh! Senility is playing havoc with my mind...

 

[Beefy]

You're not the first person to have done it in this thread, Matt. I found myself double-checking that it was Simpson who played!

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

This was a super result considering the events of the last month. It is a soild foundation for a team that can, surely, only get better. The team spirit was great to see. A huge credit must go to the new management and this bunch of lads. And Moshni can play next game!

Are you sure about that? From what I read on the OS last Saturday, the club was hoping to get International clearance from their respective FA's for Bilel Mohsni and Adam Bouzid at the start of this week. Do you have more up to date info?

 

[canveyshrimper]

Are you sure about that? From what I read on the OS last Saturday, the club were hoping to get International clearance from their respective FA's for Bilel Mohsni and Adam Bouzid at the start of this week. Do you have more up to date info?

The Echo is saying that the club are still awaiting International clearance.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Are you sure about that? From what I read on the OS last Saturday, the club were hoping to get International clearance from their respective FA's for Bilel Mohsni and Adam Bouzid at the start of this week. Do you have more up to date info?

If only we had some France based posters to camp outside the French FA until they completed the relevant paperwork.......

 

[Tommy2holes]

Final thought: I never thought Conlon was Pele when he played in the blue of SUFC, but he was absolutely dire on Saturday, wasn't he?

I actually thought conlon was rubbish when he was with us , but thought he did reasonably well saturday without threatening.
Maybe corr should take a leaf and try and use his chest and body to shield the ball before laying it off rather than aimlessly heading the ball into no mans land . Why get flick ons when nobody is behind you. Hold the ball !

 

[Hooly]

Morris - 7. Reasonably tidy - and, shock horror, he uses his voice! There was quite an amusing moment in the first half where he shouted a very loud "AWAY!" at Prosser... who promptly passed it back to him. :doh:

Yea, that was quite funny.

Can you imagine the foot stomping, abuse & sulking that would've gone on if a certain taller keeper were still here? ;)

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

If only we had some France based posters to camp outside the French FA until they completed the relevant paperwork.......

Well, if they've got offices in Saint Gaudens, Pointis-Inard or Villeneuve-de-Rivière you can count on me. ;) Not sure if they have to go back to countries of origin i.e. Tunisia and Algeria................that perhaps, could take a little longer than France.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

If only we had some France based posters to camp outside the French FA until they completed the relevant paperwork.......

I'm in France until Thursday(Midi)but I have no idea where the French FA is.Paris I imagine.:)
.

 

[BoyWonder2]

Having not read the thread, I wonder if anyone actually saw what happened with their goal?

From my view in the East Reds, it looked to me as if the lino on the far side flagged that the ball had gone out of play for a Stockport free-kick before their guy played it towards their striker who was off-side. Now, the lino on the East side flagged as he was off-side but unfortunately for him, he hadn't seen his other lino flag for the throw. Now, if the ball has gone out of play on the West side, between the three of them they have got the decision spot on and its just unlucky that the East Stand lino flagged, when he shouldn't off.

The game itself was encouraging again for us. Players are beginning to gel out their and partnerships are being formed. To me, it didn't look like we had 9 new players out there. Obviously the longer these guys get to play together the more it will help us which is why I wouldn't want that many changes for Bristol City tomorrow.

Onto the players themselves:

Morris - Bar one little scare in the first half, where it appeared that their forward got to the ball before him but it went straight out of play, he looked very solid. Good pair of hands, and is nice and vocal. What I like about him, despite his height, he still came out for a couple of crosses and looked to take command, something which Flavs' rarely did. Did very well with a couple of dodgy back passes as well.

Clohessy - Like the look of this kid. Reminds me very much of a younger, cheaper, Francis. Wish his set piece delivery was a little bit better as it the games I've seen, Saturday and West Ham, the goalkeeper has come out and claimed it all day long. Appeared to be hobbling a bit at the end, possibly his groin injury hasn't fully recovered.

Prossier - Nice, solid, typical lower league centre half. Puts his foot, his head and his body in the way of everything. I found out, one guy I drink with down my local is actually his uncle, and when at Port Vale he was only on £250 a week. Was worried when I heard about him coming in after reading a few things about him but is proving them wrong.

Phillips - Will be a big player this season. Did everything Prossier did, but better. He and Prossier are showing signs of a good partnership back their. Bihel won't find it easy getting into the side, and nor with Cloughan.

Barker - Another good performance from him. Haven't seen Gilbert play for us yet, but on the showing of Saturday and West Ham, I wish he was "our" left back.

Soares - Struggled to get involved in the game, which is a problem wingers often have. His set piece delivery was excellent and such a change from previous seasons. Touch let him down badly when he was put through on the left. Think he will be very hit and miss, which is another problem wingers have.

Simpson - Wasn't quite on the money for me. Looks to be a good player, but looked a yard or two off the pace. I'm not sure how much of a pre-season he has had at Peterborough, but I think he will get better once he gets a run of games under his belt.

Easton - I'm very much in the camp of him reminding me of Maher. Likes to put himself about and is very composed on the ball.

Grant - Usual Granty performance. Big frustation with him at the end when he was trying the million dollar balls out to the left, was he had Barker in arces of space which was a much, much simpler pass.

Spencer - Not a fan of him playing wide. Good bit of skill early in the first half, but in this formation both him and Soares where too far away from Corr that neither could get on the end of Corr's flick ons and knock downs.

Corr - Very, very impressed. Was a real handful upfront, but he won't score many goals. Definately should have scored just after we went 1-0 down with a free header, but his knock down for Sturrock made up for that. If he had taken his chance, it would have been a near perfect performance from a lone striker. Very handy in the air as well. Will be a target of the boo boys because of the lack of goals, but I'm a fan already.

Subs:

Zabboub - Good corner for our goal, and excellent touch when he brought the ball down and took the shot on late in the game. Another who will need a run of games before we see the best of him. Would like to see him or Hall instead of Spencer if we carry on with the 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation. Would suit the two of them much more.

Sturrock - Really pleased for him to open his account for us nice and early. Will get stick because of his Dad being the manager, but if he continues to stick the ball away he will soon win them around. He got a bit of stick when he came on as well, nice to see we don't even give some people a chance hey Glasgow_SUFC.

Paterson - Didn't really see much of the ball.