Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-2 Morecambe FC

[Jay_SUFC]

That is incredibly depressing. Kelman is off form, in a disfunctional team, being asked to lead the line at 18 years old. I never realised it was as bad as this. Utterly unacceptable from so-called fans.

I'm totally against the abuse he's getting, but it's nothing to do with form. Even if you are off form, your can still work your butt off for the team, and he didn't seem to be even doing that.

 

[mark387]

I haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere but what in the blue blazes is that god awful kick off tactic? Pass back, put it in the the clouds to give up possession? We tried it every single time and I couldn't understand what it was trying to achieve.

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Did anyone else notice the taking of the knee before the game? Have we done that before this season?

On the game, I thought we started ok, but I said to the missus after about 15 minutes, it’s been all Morecambe apart from when we scored. It turned out the whole rest of the match was like that.

Aquah is not he answer, he is slow to react, immobile and poor in the air. He wasn’t even quick enough to get the goal, although I thought it crossed the line from Goodships shot anyway.

Egbri is 2 years away from being a professional footballer, if at all.

We hardly created a thing all game, and virtually nothing once Green went off. How the ref didn’t get the card out for the tackle on the west touch line after the first couple of minutes I have no idea, but he hardly gave us anything all game anyway.

I fear for us, as a Carlisle, and Morecambe will be battling relegation and Harrogate will be mid table at best.

Even the likes of Lennon, White and Dieng coming back wont make any difference, as we have zero intent, drive, desire, nous, skill, ability, passion, speed, or bottle going forward.

It has got to the point with me now, where I just don’t really care anymore, which is terrible after 34 years. Or maybe that’s just what I have to tell myself, which is even worse.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

You haven’t, which is great, but others have. It’s not Kelman’s fault we’re fighting for our lives. What’s he supposed to say? “Gaffer I’m worried I might have a bad game, leave me out”. I’m not saying he should be exempt from criticism, I’m saying he shouldn’t be subjected to abuse. Nor should anyone for that matter. They’re two very different things. Unless you know him personally you have no idea what he wants. I’m sure some people thought Ted Smith didn’t want our sympathy.

Find it a bit weird that you’re still trying to make excuses for and justify people abusing our players. My post was never about asking people to give everyone a 7 rating even if they had a crap game, it was about asking people not to openly abuse our players. That isn’t unreasonable.

Blimey!
Have said three times I don't hold with abusing players.
OK, this is a fourth

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

Griemink, Jupp, Prior, Barrett, Nicolas, Pettefor, Bentley, Maher, Gower, Dudfield Broughton Subs Flahaven, Edwards, Gray, Bramble Hunt.

My first though was 'what a crap front 2'. Then I looked through the team, and the rest is pretty decent. They certainly did alright for us, give or take. One thing is the experience, they are proper professionals. Second is that there's just a chance maybe we have some players who could go on to do well, either with us or elsewhere. Here's hoping at least

 

[OldBlueLady]

thought Ralph did ok on the left wing and if we can get Lennon in the back 4 next week, I'd be tempted to put Clifford left back and move Ralph forward to replace egbri for a bit.

Except Egbri has been on the right..

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

we have zero intent, drive, desire, nous, skill, ability, passion, speed, or bottle going forward.

But other than those things we were alright?

 

[Tommy2holes]

Ive said this on many occassion here in Shrimperzone ,anyone who calls themselves a supporter and boos or slags off at one of our players is NOT A SUPPORTER , and as far as im concerned they can F**k off and go support the sheep up the highway .Now to change the subject 3 games 3 defeats reading all the threads ( so disheartening ) only advice i can pass onto to MM is give the 4-4-2 away mate. Maybe the squad better suited to a 4-3-1-2 system ,seems the new lad K Taylor played well on limited time in getting to know everyone and has an eye for a pass ,

I've never bought into that.

Whilst I agree that players deserve support the fans deserve 100% commitment and players playing for the badge.

Any player that thinks they are bigger than the club and just casual collects a wage with minimal effort will get booed by me.

Any player who simply isn't up to the job and works there nuts off will not get abuse from me. Maybe on here I will criticise but not at the match itself.

 

[Lincoln Shrimp]

Watching the brief highlights again this morning was not a good idea! Have a look at how Elvis trots back following Kelman's hospital pass in the build up to Morecambe's second goal! A criminal lack of commitment.
If he'd ran back with any intent he would have been able to at least challenge the eventual goal scorer.
He also had the audacity to point the finger of blame at Richard Taylor for Morecambe's first goal when he was actually closest to the man who put the ball in the net.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

Watching the brief highlights again this morning was not a good idea! Have a look at how Elvis trots back following Kelman's hospital pass in the build up to Morecambe's second goal! A criminal lack of commitment.
If he'd ran back with any intent he would have been able to at least challenge the eventual goal scorer.
He also had the audacity to point the finger of blame at Richard Taylor for Morecambe's first goal when he was actually closest to the man who put the ball in the net.

It's been said already, but Oxley must always find a glue patch in the centre of his goal.
Why else did he fail to challenge the first?

 

[Kris]

It's been said already, but Oxley must always find a glue patch in the centre of his goal.
Why else did he fail to challenge the first?

In fairness it was a fantastic cross whipped in with pace. Not sure Ox had any time to come off his line. I think sometimes we're too keen to criticise our players rather than praise the opposition.

 

[Kris]

A few points/observations:

Firstly, as frustrating as it was, it was still a big improvement over our performance at Carlisle, which was absolutely awful. I do agree that we were shot-shy but then again a certain Mr Humphrys was criticised for shooting too much and being greedy, just saying...

Taylor K: Looks some player; very composed and I just hope he doesn't get dragged down, although Demi's return was certainly welcome and if he can get back to full-ish fitness that would be a boost.

Macca: Yes I know he didn't play but worrying that after only 60 minutes last week he wasn't available. I hope I'm wrong but it was a similar situation with Northampton last season; the difference being that they were a good team.

Egbri: Nowhere near as bad as some have said. Always wanted the ball, didn't hide and stood up to some aggressive challenges.

Kelman: Suffering from a lack of service. Maybe he is being lazy, not sure, but he is a conventional number 9 who needs chances created for him. Unfortunately his stray pass led to Morecambe's winner.

Acquah: Thought he did OK for someone who hasn't started a game yet this season (I think?). He held the ball up reasonably well. Probably lacks match fitness.

Green: I know he got clattered early on but somewhat hid after that and didn't contribute much; for me he has been a disappointment so far this season.

Possession: Perhaps a bit cautious but thing is, was there any decent movement ahead to allow us to pass forwards? Always difficult to tell by the TV angle.

It always intrigues me when supporters demand us to pass forwards. How can they if they don't have options? Being a fan high up in the South Upper is different to being on the pitch. You only have to look at the equaliser against Portsmouth, two seasons ago to know that playing sideways and backwards isn't always a bad thing: how many passes were in the build-up? Lots if I remember rightly and there was a bloke in front of me ranting about it. Two seconds later the ball was at Dieng's feet, and a second later he played Cox in and the ball was in the net.

Tactics: Still 4-4-2 but noticed that MM tweaked it a bit, with Egbri often tucking in as a third CM like Atkinson and Pettefer used to.

Ref: We've had worse.

Next week: We need to be ugly and harder to beat. Chances of that? Erm... Well, if Macca's creaky legs are available, play him alongside Taylor K and move Demi to the right. On the other side bring in Clifford ahead of Ralph (or vice-versa). Hopefully we'll be more solid. Up front Acquah deserves another chance and assuming Akinola is still not available then it's a battle between Kelman and Goodship, although I'd be prepared to ditch both and put Green up front to give us some pace on the counter.

For now we should become a counter-attacking team IMO and I think Egbri, for all his mocking, would be an ideal impact player from the bench when the game opens up because he has fantastic pace and could be a great 'out ball' when under pressure.

 

[rhrussell]

Just watched the highlights again, Morecambe put the ball in the box ate every opportunity, we on other hand tried to pass the ball into the box or backwards, most of the time MM it does not work at this level

 

[Bluegoose]

We are still just trying to be AC Milan in league 2. We don't have the talent to play back to front on the floor. I lost count of how many times a poor pass lost us the ball or goal. The other issue is we don't have a big lump of a No.9 to knock the ball up to, league 2 is not for lightweights as we have seen.

 

[southendkid]

Open question, perhaps MM should stop trying to play Premiership academy style football and go back to what made Weymouth successful in the lower leagues...

From looking at a few highlights of Weymouth's matches the football MM is trying to get us to play is the same style Weymouth used.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

We are still just trying to be AC Milan in league 2.

Mark Molesley had a few spells in league 2 circa 2012 didn't he? Maybe, being the type who prepares meticulously, he came down to Roots Hall to scout on Sturrock's high flying side and observed the discontent because the football was deemed to be too direct?

 

[Bluegoose]

One has to cut the cloth to a pattern that fits.

 

[bluesfansince1952]

I saw the game on I Follow.
At the beginning I was very encouraged. At times we moved the ball well and we were able to set up some good attacking situations. Our goal was a good example of this.
After we scored we still looked good going forward, and, I thought that much had to do with Acquah whose physical presence made a difference. I also thought the new Taylor had a very decent game. He was in the game a lot and rarely wasted the ball. Demi also made his presence felt, and, I thought he linked up well.
After about the half hour mark I thought our performance began to drop. This was around the time Acquah received treatment so was it his effectiveness was reduced by his injury?
Watching on IFollow it is not always possible to see the work done (or not!) off the ball so I am not really sure how much his mobility was impaired
At the time I thought our drop in performance was a result of playing into the strong wind. I thought if we could hang on to half time we would be in good shape, as, I anticipated that in the second half with the wind at our backs we would be able to put them under some kind of prolonged pressure. At half time I was very optimistic about our chances of taking the points.
In the second half we were poor. Our midfield was much less effective, and, this may have been a result of a combination of Demi and Taylor's lack of match fitness, or, life being made more difficult by Acquah's reduced contribution and the substitution, or, a combination of these factors
By the end of the game I was bitterly disappointed.
Morecambe did not look that good a side, and, yet even with the wind at our backs in the second half we were still unable to seal the deal. A club in our position cannot afford to throw away points like that. Having failed to win in that situation it begs the question who can we expect to beat in the future? Where are our points coming from? Well after three games, two of which have been at home, the points have not yet come from anywhere.
Not only do we have we a small squad but only a very small number are making their presence on the field. Injuries to the wrong players could really make things impossible for us. The absence of Mc Cormack yesterday was a case in point as he would have been an asset, However, he has only played fifty games in the last three seasons so it is hard to think he will be available for us every game. I also suspect that Demi will have to sit out from time to time.
Our situation is dire.
Are there any reasons to be cheerful? Well, at least at times we did play well in the first half hour.
And the performance of Kyle Taylor suggests MM has an eye for the sort of player we need, But as long as the embargo is in place his hands are tied.
Played three and lost three. And no points from the last two games against Carlisle and Morecambe so what happens when we play anyone half decent?
I have paid my I Follow subscription and do not begrudge the club the money, but, it is becoming harder and harder to watch games.

 

[Rayleigh boy]

i dont beleive we have a poor squad or are light on number s

 

[fbm]

Here's how I see it -

The game v Harrogate - zero positives, an absolute embarrassment and IMHO the worst result in our history.

Last week v Carlisle - pretty usual that we lose up there but we could still be playing and not have scored. However, Oxley, Ralph and Macca were the positives.

Today v Morecambe - More positives - the return of Demi, Acqua's "goal" and presence before his knock and the performance of KT.

Every week it improves slightly.

I think we will be ok, i.e. we won't go down. But it will be another of the most miserable seasons in our history.