Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 2-0 AFC Telford

[watchtheballboys]

Sawyer

How would that work ?

We would have no reason to ever sell him and would surely just hold onto him until his contract run out ?

It would in theory mean exactly that but we would get a player that we could not otherwise afford and one that would be playing for his future, albeit at another club!
I would prefer a guaranteed reimbursment figure being agreed with Chelsea, possibly even a very high percentage sell on fee so we get him for free and Chelsea can feel secure that they will get a higher fee for him as a first team player at another club rather than as a reserve player at Chelsea. There is afterall little chance of him getting into the first team at Chelsea.

At the end of the day I would just like to see Sawyer as a Southend player as having watched a very poor display from Macca last night the creative midfield area concerns me.

 

[Andy_S]

I'm sorry but I don't buy this Macca isn't fit excuse. He's been back playing since the end of September. He's had multiple reserve starts now and has now had 3 starts recently for the 1st team as well as multiple sub appearances. He's just been dire when he has played and his attitude to put it mildly looks like it is stinking at the moment.

 

[Andy_S]

AND Mr Martin, please sign Harding and Christophe now. Sawyer would be wonderful but financially unlikely.

Sawyer is financially very likely. Harding on the other hand is the opposite.

 

[watchtheballboys]

Sawyer & Harding

Sawyer is financially very likely. Harding on the other hand is the opposite.

That's good and bad news, Sawyer did make all the right noises in the press before he went back to Chelsea ~ do you know that it is a done deal?

Shame if Harding does not sign, is he simply too expensive or does he not want to stay ~ what do you know?

Thanks

 

[Mick]

The ref didn't have a good game though did he Mick?

It was quite clearly a poor spectacle so he should have tried to let it flow a bit more.

1/10 is probably a bit harsh but it was just how frustrated I felt towards him for constantly tooting his bloody whistle - it was almost like NFL at times with the constant stop starting.

If every ref plays the game like that then football wouldn't be a tenth popular as it is.

At least we're though!

UTB

I would have said neither good nor bad.

Of the three teams on display, the team of officials were best; they were average.

 

[Andy_S]

That's good and bad news, Sawyer did make all the right noises in the press before he went back to Chelsea ~ do you know that it is a done deal?

Shame if Harding does not sign, is he simply too expensive or does he not want to stay ~ what do you know?

Thanks

I don't know anymore now than I knew sometime ago, which has since been made public at the AGM anyway so I'm not bothered about putting it on here again. Sawyer is in our price range and up until now been keen to come permanently, but no doubt that could change if bigger teams do make a firm approach for him, whilst Harding is on hefty wages at Ipswich and would have to take a pay cut to come here in all likelyhood. The management aren't convinced it'll be a goer.

 

[BrettieAngell]

What are the chances of Revell being fit for Saturday? Or Barney for that matter!

 

[Feathers]

A truely dreadful game.

The most dissapointing thing for me was Scannel's performance. It was a very rare start for him but he just didn't seem interested with no running into spaces or looking for the ball. Betsy did not have a great game but at least the effort was there.

Only positives for me:

We won.
Great performance from Mildenhall.
Charles Ademeno.
James Walker's goal. The boost to his confidence was incredible - I doubt he would have tried the scissor kick before the goal. He will never be a first choice striker but we are likely to need him for the next couple of games at least.

 

[fbm]

It would in theory mean exactly that but we would get a player that we could not otherwise afford and one that would be playing for his future, albeit at another club!
I would prefer a guaranteed reimbursment figure being agreed with Chelsea, possibly even a very high percentage sell on fee so we get him for free and Chelsea can feel secure that they will get a higher fee for him as a first team player at another club rather than as a reserve player at Chelsea. There is afterall little chance of him getting into the first team at Chelsea.

At the end of the day I would just like to see Sawyer as a Southend player as having watched a very poor display from Macca last night the creative midfield area concerns me.

I would imagine it would be something like this...

Sawyer is 18/19 (not sure). Clubs can get money for a player under the age of 24 so they can't leave on a free.

I would imagine we'd offer him something like a 3 year contract to take him to 21/22. Lets say we had to pay £100K to secure his services.

If we sold him within that 3 year period or at the end of it he walked subject to compensation to us, we'd recover the £100K we paid and anything over that would go to Chelsea.

At the end of that period lets say he signs for 2 more years. If we sold him then I would imagine we'd have a sell on clause for Chelsea along the more normal lines as we would have also invested a lot in his development. At 25 he walks for free so no-one wins but he'll be long gone by then.

 

[GodblessArthurRowley]

Well, tonight has to be one of the most comedic football matches I have seen for a long time.

It was frankly so poor as a match it was laughable. Telford huffed and puffed and were the better side in the first half; had they been able to shoot they would have been 2 or 3 goals up. There was no cohesion between defence, midfield and attack for the Blues and there were frankly appalling performances from Francis, Grant, Scannell and Walker.

The ball spent more time off the pitch than on it and it was a mystery as to why the stand lights were kept on throughout the match which certainly made it a slightly odd atmosphere.

The ref slowly dragged the game down to the level of park football by blowing up for every single piece of contact which stopped the game flowing. Having said that, it probably saved players making even more errors.

It got worse. Players were misplacing passes for fun and for all their endeavour and effort, Telford looked a very poor footballing outfit indeed. In the second half however they burst into life as the Southend defence went AWOL for 5 minutes. Twice Mildenhall made excellent saves to keep the match goalless. There looked only one team in it.

The game changed on Southend's first substitution. The ineffective and disappointing Scannell was replaced by a hungry Ademeno who did what his predecessor should have been doing; running at the defence. Southend moved up a gear - actually really only shifted from neutral into first - and all of a sudden it became clear that there was a league team on the pitch.

The Telford keeper made a terrific save from a defenders deflection from just 3 yards to keep the match level. However, within a couple of minutes, the ball fell to Simon Francis in the box who waved his leg at the ball and poked it in the net. It was the only meaningful contribution he made to the game and he knew it; he didn't even celebrate the goal.

Telford now had to open up more and this gave James Walker more space. At last he showed what he could do when he hasn't anybody in front of him by curling in a shot from 25 yards.

Cue substitutions and debuts for Stuart O'Keefe and local lad Justin Hazell who got a great ovation from the West stand (well, part of it). Even that was a comedy moment. He was stripped and ready to come on with 2 minutes of normal time left. Telford were attacking and it was a minute into 3 minutes added time before the ball went dead in a safe area for him to come on. The substitution was announced but the ref restarted the game before Grant could leave the pitch and there was only a minute left when poor old Justin finally got on. Still, he managed to touch the ball 4 times and got flattened in the process.

Even dear old Peter Holmes, the announcer and someone who I have a lot of respect for, got into the comedy act by showing exactly how much he knows about football and geography. Can someone tell him that Altrincham isn't pronounced "Ulchingham"?

The fun continued. After the game in the post match BBC Essex interview the interviewer (David Grant I think but more like David Brent) asked possibly the most stupid and irrelevant questions ever. The best bits were something like -

DB - So Steve, did it suprise you that Telford were so positive?

T - No. Positive? They were 4-5-1. I don't think that's very positive is it? We had to play that way because of injuries and suspensions but no, I didn't think they were positive at all. We just played terrible.

DB - Saturday we have Oldham at Roots Hall. Is it a must win game?

T - What? Must win? (laughs) No way. We've lost one in 13 and sit just outside the play offs. It's not a must win game at all. Obviously we want to win and Oldham have a lot of good players but we're looking forward to it.

DB - When I say "must win" what I meant was that it would be nice to win but are you saying that you've had a good run, 9th in the league and so you'd be happy with a draw as you're 3 points outside the play offs?

T - No not at all - we're at home and obviously we want to beat whoever at home. Oldham are a good side with some good players but we'll give it our best and hope to get all 3 points. We always want to win at home against anyone.


That obviously isn't a direct quote as I can't remember it word for word but I do remember laughing at some of the questions and Tillys reaction. Classic.


RATINGS -


Mildenhall - 8 - MOM - Did whatever was asked of him and kept us in the game at 0-0.

Francis - 3 - Would have been 2 had he not scored. Appalling throughout in all respects.
Herd - 6 - Did nothing wrong but hardly set the game alight either.
Clarke - 7 - An easy night. Not stretched.
Barrett - 6 - Got caught in possession a couple of times but again, was hardly stretched.

Betsy - 6 - Wasn't sure where he was playing. Worked hard - did little.
Grant - 4 - Worst I've seen from him. Didn't look interested.
McCormack - 6 - Played well within himself but showed glimpses of what he can do. Managed to get booked.
Christophe - 6 - Did ok. Hardly noticed he was playing so obviously didn't do much wrong either.
Scannell - 3 - Woeful. Should have been able to destroy Telford but did nothing at all. Very disappointing.

Walker - 4 - Would have got 3 apart from a terrific finish. Should have done a lot better. Only really looked interested after he had scored.


Subs -

Ademeno - 7 - Did what Scannell should have done.
O'Keefe - 5 - Touched the ball twice and got caught in possession once.
Hazell - 6 - Touched the ball more in 2 minutes than O'Keefe did in about 8. Good to see a true local lad grace the Roots Hall turf.

The ref - 3 - Jesus, what a jobsworth. Ruined the game and showed more cards than I could count.

A more accurate account of a match you will have difficulty finding.