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

[Ozzer]

Mildey- 7 MOM, good all round performance from Steve, 2 fab saves. Looks far better than in early on the season
Francis- 5, forget the lucky goal, he is in the worst form of his life and a liability. But thanks to our paper thin squad and awful back up (sankofa) his place is secure
Clarke- 6, defends well but I really am getting sick of his distribution and wouldnt cry if he is sold in the window.
Barrett- 7, pick of the defence as always.
Herd- 5, poor, out of position too often and didnt use his long throws much.
Betsy- 6, worked hard, moved to a more advanced positon as 2nd striker, but his finishing is truly awful.
Christophe-6, pick of the midfield but not saying a lot.
Macca- 4, dear oh dear have aliens come and swapped Macca for Stuart Thurgood? Totally anonymous, only contribution was a booking.
Grant- 3, one of Tillys worst signings, gave the ball away with almost every pass. Too negative to play on the wing.
Scannell- 3, not league standard.
Walker- 5, awful bar for one minute of brilliance. WIll be 5th choice when all strikers fit.

Subs
Ademeno- 6, looked lively, why didnt he start on the left???

Other 2 only on for a few mins but good to see some youngsters getting a chance.

I think that is pretty much spot on!

 

[MilkeySUFC]

Typed these notes on my mobile phone on the train last night:

Got out of jail tonight. For a lack of better finishing by Telford, we could have been chasing the game come halftime. The only positive I could see from that shower was Mildenhall looked good.

Ratings:

Mildenhall 8. Two superb saves 2nd half. Came for and got nowhere near one first half cross that we were fortunate not to get punished for but otherwise assured and untroubled. Reasonable distribution too.
Francis 4. Woeful passing all game, certainly the worst performance I've seen from him. Extra mark for the goal.
Clarke 5. Couldn't impose himself on non-league oposition. Distribution worse than usual (which is poor normally).
Barrett 6. Better than Clarke defending - slightly. Distribution better (which isn't saying much).
Herd 4. Poor. Too conservative, didn't want to get forward, didn't want the ball, caught in possession in his own half or on halfway line too often. No chance to see the long throw. Not Tilly's style of full-back at all. Wouldn't expect to see him anywhere near the league side any time soon.
Betsy 6. Not much wing play for a winger. Some reasonable set pieces, some not so.
McCormack 5. Still not a patch on the McCormack of last year. Usual stupid booking, this time for a late chalenge after getting riled.
Christophe 6. Didn't seem to be quite on his game but broke up Telford play okay but without creating any forward momentum.
Grant 5. Can't remember any decent contributions from him. No howlers either.
Scannell 4. One good cross-field run & cross in first minute. Ran and chased a lot, usually chasing his own first touches.
Walker 4. Please, please get fit soon messers Barnard, Freedman and Revell. Did he do anything? Except win a throw that was the worst refereeing decision of the night and proceed to score from the resultant throw with a Gower-esque cut in from the left and curler into far corner. Get's the extra point for the goal.

Ademeno 7. Not much time but far better than we had seen on the left before his introduction.
O'Keefe & Hazell. No mark or comments as only had about 2 minutes on the pitch between them.

On the whole, Telford were robbed due to their own inability to get shots on target from decent positions in the first half and two excellent saves from Mildenhall in the second.

If that's the team we have to look forward to next month, god help us.

 

[bishmania]

We were poor tonight.

Formation didn't help, but we were forced to play that way.

Referee didn't help either (1 out of 10 for me), game lacked a flow because of him, he was just so petty. Every little thing was given (it seemed if you thought about a tackle you were penalised) but the strongest foul of the evening wasn't given when their keeper wrestled Francis away from the ball when he was waiting to stab it in from three yards. Hope we don't see him again.

PLAYE RATINGS:

MILDENHALL - 8 - Two outstanding saves that kept us in the cup and solid throughout the night, didn't drop a single ball I recall.

FRANCIS - 3 - Only got a 3 because he scored. Can't pass the ball, needs to be taken out of the firing line for a couple of games. I think he's a great player on his day but has had so few this season.

HERD - 6 - Solid. Can't expect more from a youngster on his home debut when the rest of the team was rubbish.

CLARKE - 6 - Solid. Distribution too panicy at times in the first half when we needed a calm foot on the ball.

BARRETT - 5 - Less than Clarke only because this is the sort of game you expect our skipper to take by the scruff of the neck and he didn't and then reflected throughout the team. Not up to his usual high standards recently.

BETSY - 5 - Alright, but didn't have enough quality in final third to cut them open. Did play slightly out of position though.

SCANNELL - 4 - Seems to have lost that spark when we first saw him last season. Did play slightly out of position though.

GRANT - 5 - Doesn't release the ball early enough but was strong in the tackle when we needed it.

CHRISTOPHE - 7 - Did his job. Broke up the play, it was up to the others to break forward and he just had no support, ending with him having to pass backwards at times.

McCORMACK - 5 - Not the Macca of last season. Let's hope he's still finding his form and fitness after so long out. Will come good.

WALKER - 6 - I thought it was unlucky on Walker that he had to play on his own up top because he isn't a lone striker. Showed what he can be worth when we got someone up there with him. Great goal.

SUBS
ADEMENO - 7 -Dangerous, strong, quick. Seemed to shift the balance of play to Telford's end when he came on. Has probably jumped ahead of Scannell on this showing.

O'KEEFE/HAZELL - Too little time to make an impact but great to see the future of our club getting on for some valuable first team minutes. I bet Hazell was worried when the ref decided to play on after initially allowing us to do the sub then change his mind when Grant had run across the pitch and out of position to come off.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

What I gathered from listening last night on bbc essex was the only positives were Mildenhall's performance, Charles Ademeno and the fact Walker got a goal. I'm dead chuffed Walker scored as you couldn't think of a blues player who needed to get one more than him.

The performance is worrying with alot of loanee's gone/going back soon but we did have alot of players out last night injured - strikers mainly but Revell should be back soon, Laurent is only suspended and Barney & Dougie are on their way back.

Let's hope Tilly pulls some magic with some loans.

 

[sufcintheprem]

It's actually quite amusing when you miss a match and read this sort of reports.

Should be good betting opportunities against Oldham seeing as the match itself completely defies perception from the scoreline.

 

[Mick]

We were poor tonight.

Formation didn't help, but we were forced to play that way.

Referee didn't help either (1 out of 10 for me), game lacked a flow because of him, he was just so petty. Every little thing was given (it seemed if you thought about a tackle you were penalised) but the strongest foul of the evening wasn't given when their keeper wrestled Francis away from the ball when he was waiting to stab it in from three yards. Hope we don't see him again.

PLAYE RATINGS:

MILDENHALL - 8 - Two outstanding saves that kept us in the cup and solid throughout the night, didn't drop a single ball I recall.

FRANCIS - 3 - Only got a 3 because he scored. Can't pass the ball, needs to be taken out of the firing line for a couple of games. I think he's a great player on his day but has had so few this season.

HERD - 6 - Solid. Can't expect more from a youngster on his home debut when the rest of the team was rubbish.

CLARKE - 6 - Solid. Distribution too panicy at times in the first half when we needed a calm foot on the ball.

BARRETT - 5 - Less than Clarke only because this is the sort of game you expect our skipper to take by the scruff of the neck and he didn't and then reflected throughout the team. Not up to his usual high standards recently.

BETSY - 5 - Alright, but didn't have enough quality in final third to cut them open. Did play slightly out of position though.

SCANNELL - 4 - Seems to have lost that spark when we first saw him last season. Did play slightly out of position though.

GRANT - 5 - Doesn't release the ball early enough but was strong in the tackle when we needed it.

CHRISTOPHE - 7 - Did his job. Broke up the play, it was up to the others to break forward and he just had no support, ending with him having to pass backwards at times.

McCORMACK - 5 - Not the Macca of last season. Let's hope he's still finding his form and fitness after so long out. Will come good.

WALKER - 6 - I thought it was unlucky on Walker that he had to play on his own up top because he isn't a lone striker. Showed what he can be worth when we got someone up there with him. Great goal.

SUBS
ADEMENO - 7 -Dangerous, strong, quick. Seemed to shift the balance of play to Telford's end when he came on. Has probably jumped ahead of Scannell on this showing.

O'KEEFE/HAZELL - Too little time to make an impact but great to see the future of our club getting on for some valuable first team minutes. I bet Hazell was worried when the ref decided to play on after initially allowing us to do the sub then change his mind when Grant had run across the pitch and out of position to come off.

Anyone who thinks that the referee performed only a third as well as our worst player has got no understanding of football. Yes, he was a bit quick with his cards (I told you he would be) but his decisions were substantially more right than wrong. Yes, he blew quite often ... he was probably as bored as the rest of us. Even the ever so low marking Echo gave him 7/10, which I'd say was perhaps half a mark on the generous side.

 

[pringlejon]

on the subject of the poor interviews post match last night,it seems that the interviewer thought simon francis was called steve!

right at the end he thanks him with a "cheers steve". clueless!

 

[Mick]

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.

Six ? ..... admittedly you'd need to use both hands.

 

[Scottish_Shrimpers]

theres no way of brushing over it, we've been awful for the last 4 games.. we might have lost 1 game in 14/15 (whatever it is) but its not good enough! and now we're at a stage where we're losing our loan players we are gonna slip down the table until january transfer window opens...

2 positives last night...

1) if mildenhall performs like that then we will not miss federici when he leaves... very good game and 2 world class reaction saves

2) i thought when Charles came on he changed the game, he looks very sharp and not afraid to have a go.. everytime ive seen him in pre-season and cup games he has always impressed

2 MAIN negatives...

1) Macca is not the same player after his injury, very worrying!!!

2) everyone knows it.. its francis! said it 3rd game into the season, and i sick of watch him fumbling through every game... at the end of the season when the dvd review comes out.. look at the goals we've conceded and see how many were his fault... he cant even go forward...

and hes not a confidence player, hes lazy good for nothing excuse of a professional footballer who doesnt give a **** about playing for the team. he only performs when he has to fight for his place and for a manager like tilson who loves having the highest team spirit possible, he is not a player we need in our squad... sooner he gets out the club the better!

 

[Kris]

I can't really add much to what's already been written here. For me that was the worst performance since we lost 2-0 at home to Boston under Wignall, and we're very lucky to be in the next round. In fact, at half-time I would have settled for penalties.

The main entertainment was a couple of rows in front of me in the South Upper, where a collection of people appeared to be having a sweepstake on how many times Clarke found touch. That did raise a chuckle.

On the plus side, Mildy was excellent. I was also thrilled to see James Walker score, and a cracking effort it was too. He looked so devoid of confidence in the first hour it was painful to watch but once he found the net his game picked up substantially and was unlucky not to score a second with his scissors-kick. Hopefully he'll kick on from here and fulfil the potential he undoubtedly has.

 

[The General]

it's actually quite amusing when you miss a match and read this sort of reports.

Should be good betting opportunities against oldham seeing as the match itself completely defies perception from the scoreline.

lump on!

:)

 

[OldBlueLady]

Just one more positive, and in his defence - Francis was hitting in some cracking free kicks from the edge of the area, first one was a way off, second was a lot closer and the third and fourth would have been fantastic goals if they'd sneaked in but for their GK.

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

Have posed this question before but after last nights performance it perhaps has even more relevance. Tilly has talked about the possibility of bringing in one or two loan players in the next couple of days. Would these be fill ins just to take us up to the January transfer window or players that would arrive in January?

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

I would say we are looking at a replacement for Sawyer and one for HRK, to take us up to January so us poor supporters dont have to have the misfortune of seeing the likes of Scannell and Grant get us through the busy xmas period.

 

[Scottish_Shrimpers]

I would say we are looking at a replacement for Sawyer and one for HRK, to take us up to January so us poor supporters dont have to have the misfortune of seeing the likes of Scannell and Grant get us through the busy xmas period.

have to say i have been dissappointed by scannel and grant too..

scannell looked good in pre season but i guess he hasnt featured that much this season

and i was really eager to buy grant, he just hasnt performed.. my personal opinion i would place grant at full back instead of fanny francis.. when grant went at left back at huddersfield last season he was brilliant!

 

[fbm]

Six ? ..... admittedly you'd need to use both hands.

Ah, there's the problem. I only have one arm.

 

[watchtheballboys]

Telford ~ Unbelievably Embarrassing

I have not read all of the posts on the subject of the Telford match last night assuming that most if not all will feel the same as I do......a complete and bloody shambles!

It was particularly embarrassing as I took my Brother-in-law to his first home game in about fifteen years assuring him that we played some really good football and that he could not fail but to be impressed with what he will see. How wrong could I be! It really was the closest I have come to walking out in frustration at an inept display by the majority of the team. Some should be ashamed at their performances last night.

For me the most worrying factor is that we simply do not have the strength in the squad to cover players on the injured list. Thank God we have some loanees left to strengthen the team for Saturday otherwise we will be in big trouble....

How would someone like Christophe feel about signing full time with us when he sees the bulk of the team play so poorly, without the other loanees and the unavailability of the front three/four there is not a lot left.

My team asseeement....

Mildenhall ~ his best game yet and kept us in the game, especially in the second half ~ he has renewed my faith in him despite a couple of 'flappy' moments!

Francis ~ very very poor, terrible passing ~ simply not the player he was at the end of last season.

Barratt ~ by no means the worst player out there but began to show his frustration near the end possibly with the performance of others around him!

Clarke ~ his distribution is becoming a joke ~ needs to up his game or will become even more of a liability!

Herd ~ still a bit lightweight against players that are only slightly more powerful ~ his distribution was also very poor.

Grant ~ a total waste of space ~ since he signed full time for us has seemed to turn off with increasingly poor and erratic displays - terrible!

Macca ~ where is the real Macca? He is a shadow of the player he was and the only thing you can now guarantee from him is a booking!

Christophe ~ our best outfield player in my view although still below his usual standard ~ how long will he want to stay if we continue to play like we did last night?

Betsy ~ what does Tilly see in this guy? He runs around without real purpose with poor distribution and his crosses are rare and usually poor. Out of the game more than in the game and is certainly not an adequate replacement for Gower!

Walker ~ always rated this guy for being able to hold up play and get others involved but last night his control was very poor! Having said this we began to see a better player after the excellent second goal ~ lets hope it has raised his confidence level.

Scannell ~ why oh why down the middle, put him on the wing in place of Betsy!
His confidence was on a high before the season started but what has happened since with being played out of position and possibly injury has shattered what he had. A big shame as he could have been a great 'impact' type of player but without confidence there is little left.

Ademeno ~ the reason in my opinion that we did eventually win. He gave us a more direct and possitive force upfront and looks a real prospect.

Tilly ~ against this sort of oposition I would have played the youngsters from half-time as it was clear how terrible we were in the first half.

I hope we can pull things together for Oldham on Saturday, Harding, possibly Barnard, hopefully although unlikely Freedman and even galloping Revs can make a difference.

Kick Betsy out, Scannell start on the wing, Grant in the reserves please. AND
Mr Martin, please sign Harding and Christophe now. Sawyer would be wonderful but financially unlikely. Why not try to get him as was suggested to me on a 100% sell on package so Chelsea can reap some reward from their initial investment? We at least get a whole hearted player with more a winning mentality.

Still angry and peed off with last night's performance and hope that looking forward to a better performance on Saturday is not a forlorn wish!

PS My Brother-in-law thought the Stadium looked good compared to last time he saw it....Roots Hall that is!!!

 

[Jam_Man]

Why not try to get him as was suggested to me on a 100% sell on package so Chelsea can reap some reward from their initial investment?

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 ?

 

[bishmania]

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

 

[londonblue]

Apart from the fact that Adememo was more positive and actually ran at the defenders, in my opinion the real difference was the change of formation. Up until that point we had been playing 4-3-3 against a 4-5-1. They therefore had us substantially outnumbered in midfield. Once Ademeno came on and we reverted to 4-4-2 we looked far more balanced, and just plain better.

As has been mentioned, Macca is not match fit, and being one of only three midfielders made his task that much more difficult. I think his improvement came about when we changed formation.

Walker was obviously short of confidence which isn't a surprise given his lack of matches this season. Hopefully his goal will help him in that respect.

That said, it was a dire match. Tilson even said so. Francis also said that the goal saved him because he wasn't impressed with his own performance. At least all the players recognise that fact and aren't deluding themselves just because we won.