Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 2-0 Rotherham United

[dannypav]

I probably need to cop a plea on Wordsworth at this point. I had him down as my MoM as a wind up to see how many would bite. Thanks to those that did, and also thanks to those who didn't give a **** anyway. Woody did indeed have a good first half, but as some have said, he faded in the second. Turner was my real MoM by the way. I feel better now.

It’s always best to confess RHB.
You are indeed the Steve Smith of the Zone.
Acting alone in this ‘wind up’ or any others in your Leadership Group ?

 

[Stan33]

My faith is restored RHB. I thought I was at the wrong match ,I also thought Turner a an excellent match

 

[RobM]

"Rotherham turned up in white and purple - still trying to work out how red and white clashes with all dark blue. I do hate these clubs that change colours for the sake of it."

Probably because the away kit sponsors insist.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Marvellous mood here in Mussoorie, India! I even finally worked out how to get it in HD on iFollow, and have also got it onto my wide screen TV, which is terrific.

Have to agree with all those who said Turner was MOTM, he just seems a rock now under Powell, and John White too was solid. I hope we give JW another contract, such a versatile player. Impressed with Mantom too but felt Woody was not that great, just hoofing high balls in the second half.

We very much rode our luck and I don't know how Rotherham didn't score in the last ten, but thank goodness Coxy got the second. As has been said, he is such an intelligent player and worth his place due to his link up play, like Fortune. I didn't think Elvis played too badly and with more experience should be solid at this level.

Plymouth's going to be a tough game at their place, a point would be good.

What's the secret? Always freezes when I try.

 

[Zeuss]

Wonderful in Westcliff.


What a game. We completely dominated the first 30-35 minutes and should have been at least 2-0 up but for a brilliant save by their stand in keeper. The last 10 minutes of the first half was a little bit different, Rotherham weren’t any better but we looked like we wanted to gift them a goal, unable to clear the ball. Fortunately the opposition didn’t want to score any way.

At half time I am sure everyone in the ground was wondering how this team were 4th! Also surprising to see they are 3rd top goal scorers but perhaps losing Moore hasn’t helped them there.

Second half Rotherham come out with a bit more drive and looked to force the issue a little more, but when Oxley’s first save of the day was on 62 minutes they still weren’t really threatening. After 15 minutes we managed to get back in to the game and it became more end to end, although maybe we had started to go very route one. (Not always a bad thing as it gave the midfield a breather and resulted in the second goal)

The first substitution was spot on, Timlin came on and gave the midfield a bit more structure at a time when Mantom (who was very impressive, Maher like) was flagging a bit.

At 2-0 Rotherham started to throw everything at us but some very determined defending and many bodies being thrown in the way we somehow managed to end with a clean sheet.

Oxley - Didn’t have anything to do before 62 minutes and did very well to stay awake until then. Reliable when called upon and extra marks (not that I do scores) for the assist!

Bwomono - You could see his inexperience as there were a few moments he could have done better, but kept his head up and looks a very good prospect. Also great that with Demi away every now and then he should be guaranteed some game time throughout the season, hopefully this time next year he can really push for a starting place.

Coker - A few lazy passes but generally did very well. Late on in the second half he became more of a threat going forward.

White and Turner - Very impressive duo. Turner had his hands full with a big lump Smith who was very very physical. One moment that impressed me from White was when had he not stretched and intercepted they would have been 1 v 1 with Ox, not only did he make it to the ball but he managed to get it to another player in blue!

Wordsworth - Worked hard, played some nice passes that didn’t quite come off because of the pitch. Drifted inside a bit more as the game went on, which left Coker exposed a bit. He is more suited to a central role but did alright.

Yearwood and Mantom - great first half performance, dominated everything between them. Both have the right balance of grit to win the ball back or disturb the opposition play and passing ability to get the ball going again. One brilliant shot by Yearwood that everyone would have been willing to see nestle in the top corner but for a good save, Mantom shot well over which typified his Maher like performance.

Mclaughlin - Was given way too much space for his goal, where did the Rotherham defence go? Took it well on the pitch (I don’t get the criticism for that first touch when the ball bounces around everywhere) and after his miss against Doncaster made sure this one went in. Other than that he had a few good moments, one bit of skill to send Elvis down the wing. Some moments didn’t quite come off, but did alright.

Fortune - Showing his age? Didn’t quite have the same impact on the game and at one point any other player could have resulted in a 1v1 but he just didn’t have the legs by then. Still the effort was there and he still made their defenders work hard.

Cox - This was a performance of someone who wants to be doing much better than he has been. Going by his twitter feed it seems he has been having issues personally so it was great to see him assist one and score one, both of which were all about his hard work. This result was because of Cox and I feel this was so important for him.

Timlin - Only sub I will touch on. Felt he came in to the match just when we needed him to. We were knocking it long but the ball was bypassing our midfield back up the pitch again. Timlin came in and gave us that structure and bite so the ball didn’t get through again and we could then build our play back up the pitch.


The ref - Reading Micks review I was concerned, but felt he did very well. Only one yellow which was deserved.

Special mention to their number 5, Ajayi. Looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights through the match. If we all thought Wigan’s Burn has a torrid time the other week, this guy was on another level!

Those two no.5s were remarkably similar in height,build,PERFORMANCE,(not colour) at the Hall-but did you see how well Burn then played against Man C in the Cup?

 

[RHB]

It’s always best to confess RHB.
You are indeed the Steve Smith of the Zone.
Acting alone in this ‘wind up’ or any others in your Leadership Group ?

Acting on my own Danny. If I'd shared it with Cricko or SBH they would have made me slip sandpaper down my jocks. I'm not doing that let me tell you.

 

[Mick]

I probably need to cop a plea on Wordsworth at this point. I had him down as my MoM as a wind up to see how many would bite. Thanks to those that did, and also thanks to those who didn't give a **** anyway. Woody did indeed have a good first half, but as some have said, he faded in the second. Turner was my real MoM by the way. I feel better now.

You've lost me completely here.

What on earth is the point of making a completely and obviously fallacious statement to see if anyone would "bite" ?

 

[Mick]

I was there as I told the barman not to hit Kev. It was just after a match. I was just about to walk past the Last Post to leave the ground when I heard Kev shouting really loud, telling people to f off and going into one over nothing. I told him to calm down, but he got louder. It got very heated between the barman and Kev. The barman rightly said ''You're upsetting the customers.'' Kev again told the barman to f off. The barman told Kev to get out and don't ever come back. Dagenham Kev has mental issues as most people know and many have mentioned on here. If he misses his medication he can go into one. He's been punched many times, usually on a bus or at bus stops.

He must miss his medication an awful lot. I can't remember seeing him when he wasn't being an objectionable gobshite. This may sound unsympathetic but mental health issues do not give him the right to turn everyone's afternoon or evening into an unpleasant bout of aggression and obscenity.

 

[RHB]

You've lost me completely here.

What on earth is the point of making a completely and obviously fallacious statement to see if anyone would "bite" ?

Probably no point whatsoever, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Getting castigated by you Mick and being the owner of a fallacious statement kind of makes it worthwhile though.:smiles:

 

[dannypav]

He must miss his medication an awful lot. I can't remember seeing him when he wasn't being an objectionable gobshite. This may sound unsympathetic but mental health issues do not give him the right to turn everyone's afternoon or evening into an unpleasant bout of aggression and obscenity.

Yep , Saturday was tough.
Whilst I didn't hear and obscenities myself , mainly because my hearing isn't great and most of what he said was inaudable , my daughter was quite upset and concerned as we were sat quite close to him in the first half.
The stewards did a decent job of trying to calm him down , but too many complained and they were forced to act in having him removed.
Two points I would make.
One , the barman and a steward were discussing the fact of whether he should be served alcohol on Saturday with the barman clearly saying that he head been instructed not to serve him - somebody did .........
I'm not a medical expert by any means , but have a little knowledge through my wife who is , and the overriding opinion is that alcohol and medication for mental health problems are not good bed fellows.
The second point is that whilst I agree he was very annoying and indeed needed to be removed after not calming down , the offensive 'goading' and 'laughing' by some idiots in the boxes are around , is pathetic to say the least.
The guy has huge issues and was rightly removed on Saturday ( I have also witnessed him behaving perfectly well on occassion ) , but to mock his condition is not on and just hope that those who did don't face similar issues in the future either directly on with a close family member.

 

[Mick]

The second point is that whilst I agree he was very annoying and indeed needed to be removed after not calming down , the offensive 'goading' and 'laughing' by some idiots in the boxes are around , is pathetic to say the least.
The guy has huge issues and was rightly removed on Saturday ( I have also witnessed him behaving perfectly well on occassion ) , but to mock his condition is not on and just hope that those who did don't face similar issues in the future either directly on with a close family member.

Absolutely. Sounds like their behaviour was even worse than his.

 

[Usual_Suspect 2]

I was sat a few seats away from the guy (Kevin if i recall) and had heard of him in the past, but that was the first time that I'd actually seen him at a game. For my part, he was shouting out a few 'strange' things (Purfleet, Robots etc), but at no point did I think he was aggressive or offensive.

As someone said above, the worst behavior was from people in the boxes and others around him trying to wind him up. Also, when he moved in the second half to further down the east blacks a guy sitting two seats away from him actually moved towards him shouted 'shut the **** up' right in his face - what a ****ing hard man you were.

At this point everyone around Kevin starting making gestures to their mates the stewards to get him chucked out (I thought he was fairly quiet during the second half) and then five minutes later 6/7 blokes turned up to turf him out.

Yes he might have been a pain, but he wasn't aggressive, he wasn't swearing, he wasn't scaring anyone and people were quite happy to sit there and take the **** out of the poor guy.

Still we'll have blokes shouting ****, ****, **** and bollocks in front of kids next week but nobody will moan at the stewards about that.

 

[jaffa1]

Targeted ? ;

Manager Paul Warne has refused to make defender Semi Ajayi a scapegoat for his promotion-chasing side’s 2-0 defeat against Southend United. Ajayi put in a jittery performance in a poor all-round Rotherham United display and was at fault for the Shrimpers’ game-clinching goal in the second half at Roots Hall.

Warne accepted the centre-half had been well below his best as the Millers, after a 14-match unbeaten run, lost for the third time in their last four League One outings. But he preferred to focus on Ajayi’s huge contribution during the three-month spell without a defeat which took the Millers into fourth spot and cemented their place in the play-off frame.

“The lads are going to have off-days,” said the boss after his side had fallen to a seventh-minute opener from Stephen McLaughlin and a 79th-minute strike from Simon Cox. “We’ve lost three in 18 games and Semi’s been a massive part in how well we’ve done.”

Ajayi is one of the most talented defenders in the division but prone to indecision from time to time. He was an ever-present in Rotherham’s unbeaten sequence and the 6ft 4in 24-year-old scored four goals during that period. At Southend, on a terrible pitch, he was targeted by home supporters and allowed Cox to beat him too easily as the Shrimpers man wrapped up three points.

“Semi did have a shaky start. Then he played his way into it,” Warne said. “I’m not going to stand here and criticise him, because he’s been brilliant for me.

“Unfortunately, Southend probably wasn’t his best game. Then again, you could say that about a few of them.”

 

[Rob1920]

Cox and Turner were cut above, but Yearwood, Mantom and MAF all had solid games too. The rest were functional 6-7/10 performances. Oxley didn't have too much to do, but made a great stop in the second half. I thought Rotherham were worth a point as they were the better side in the 2nd half for long periods, but I wasn't going to argue with that superb bit of individual skill by Coxy for the second. MAF should have had a stone wall penner when he got brought down by Price. Worst player for me was Wordsworth (not to any great extent), he seemed to give the ball away an awful lot yesterday whereas Mantom and Yearwood played very tidily.

Saw Cox, Coker and Ferdinand in the bar afterwards. Ferdinand's body language seemed very much like that of someone who has no confidence. Or maybe that's just the way he is.

I just think he has a certain build & way of moving that doesn't appear very athletic or footballer-ish, quite different to Rio.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I was sat a few seats away from the guy (Kevin if i recall) and had heard of him in the past, but that was the first time that I'd actually seen him at a game. For my part, he was shouting out a few 'strange' things (Purfleet, Robots etc), but at no point did I think he was aggressive or offensive.

As someone said above, the worst behavior was from people in the boxes and others around him trying to wind him up. Also, when he moved in the second half to further down the east blacks a guy sitting two seats away from him actually moved towards him shouted 'shut the **** up' right in his face - what a ****ing hard man you were.

At this point everyone around Kevin starting making gestures to their mates the stewards to get him chucked out (I thought he was fairly quiet during the second half) and then five minutes later 6/7 blokes turned up to turf him out.

Yes he might have been a pain, but he wasn't aggressive, he wasn't swearing, he wasn't scaring anyone and people were quite happy to sit there and take the **** out of the poor guy.

Still we'll have blokes shouting ****, ****, **** and bollocks in front of kids next week but nobody will moan at the stewards about that.

Dagenham Kev was sitting in the Far Post during the whole of the Southend games this season mostly, watching on the TV in that bar. Since he kicked off a few home games ago, he know has started watching from his seat again, like he used to in the East Stand. He also used to be quite peaceful in the bar, although of course saying strange things if you had a chat with him. After a match he could then get loud and sometimes a little aggressive. I think this was due to the alcohol and medication mix kicking in, or him not taking his medication due.

 

[SHRIMPERPETER]

"Rotherham turned up in white and purple - still trying to work out how red and white clashes with all dark blue. I do hate these clubs that change colours for the sake of it."

Probably because the away kit sponsors insist.

Also what's the point in buying an away kit if the team hardly ever wear it?!!!:unsure:

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Anyway, back to the actual match.

Really pleased with Mantom. He's just what we want in midfield. Clearly short of match-fitness he faded badly but that's to be expected. Hopefully on that display we can, medical reports allowing, make the move permanent in the summer. We had a nicely balanced midfield with Timlin a timely sub.

Elvis stepped in and did everything you could realistically hope for someone who hadn't - a brief 2 minute cameo the other week aside - played with the first team in nearly six months. Sure he misplayed a few balls, but defensively he was solid enough and whilst he didn't get forward much when he did it was our best move of the match: his intelligent off the ball run dragging defenders out of the way to create the space which led to Dru's shot being tipped over. Had that gone in that was goal of the season. If you include the illegitimate cup (which you probably shouldn't) we've kept clean sheets in 4 out of his 8 starts.

Turner was dominant at the back again, White mopped up the rest and the front two ran their legs off. Cox's goal was big for him and will hopefully spark a run of goals.

Another three points on a day where individual performances were mainly 6s and 7s with no-one letting the team down.

I'd have liked to have seen us go for the jugular when we were well on top in the opening 20 minutes but that's more of a preference than a criticism and we instead killed the intensity in the game. I'm still not sure how much that is old pros managing their legs (and old-manning Rotherham), how much the manager's instructions and how much old habits dying hard from the previous regime. We will probably need to wait until next season and CP has fully stamped himself on the team. Fortunately that now looks like being in League One.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

I am in shock Wordsworth has got such good scores through out this thread. I must have been watching a different game to the majority of you.

Not looking to tear in to Wordy as I am a big fan of his but I haven't seen him play well in a long time. I thought he was terrible on Saturday, especially in the second half. IMO he looked lazy, unfit, not that interested and generally poor. I remember in the space of about 5 seconds he did two hoofs up field to nobody without even looking in the direction he was playing the ball towards.

Personally I expect more from such a talented player and I don't think he did any defensive work at all. Compare him to Macca who did his very best to protect Elvis as much as he could. Like others have mentioned, he ducked a number of tackles and didn't track back much at all.

Good news is Cox scored! Very happy for him to finally be rewarded for his hard work and lets hope he goes on a bit of a scorer run now.

 

[Ozzer]

Dagenham Kev was sitting in the last post during the whole of the Southend games this season mostly, watching on the TV in that bar. Since he kicked off a few home games ago, he know has started watching from his seat again, like he used to in the East Stand. He also used to be quite peaceful in the bar, although of course saying strange things if you had a chat with him. After a match he could then get loud and sometimes a little aggressive. I think this was due to the alcohol and medication mix kicking in, or him not taking his medication due.

I take it you mean the Far Post. If he’d been in the Last Post (Wetherspoons) we wouldn’t have heard him. Lol. Anyone with mental issues I feel sorry for.

 

[westie]

I am in shock Wordsworth has got such good scores through out this thread. I must have been watching a different game to the majority of you.

Not looking to tear in to Wordy as I am a big fan of his but I haven't seen him play well in a long time. I thought he was terrible on Saturday, especially in the second half. IMO he looked lazy, unfit, not that interested and generally poor. I remember in the space of about 5 seconds he did two hoofs up field to nobody without even looking in the direction he was playing the ball towards.

Personally I expect more from such a talented player and I don't think he did any defensive work at all. Compare him to Macca who did his very best to protect Elvis as much as he could. Like others have mentioned, he ducked a number of tackles and didn't track back much at all.

I was watching the same game as you. Having read the programme article on Wordsworth, I was expecting a decent performance from someone who apparently desperately wants a new contract. Apart from the opening 20 minutes, his contribution thereafter was little or nothing of note. Mantom looked far more composed, although fitness told after an hour or so, but he looks useful all the same.