Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 2-3 Aldershot Town

[Chris Powell's mate]

The trouble is that last year we started the season with a young, athletic side that got gubbed 4-0 on the opening day by the team that had just come up from this league and who had never played in the football league before.

We need a blend of youth and experience, not a plethora of either all at once.

I'm not mourning the loss of ANY of the departees from last year; further, we have made 3 very good additions to the squad - Arnold, Dalby and Murphy (although with no transfer window who rates the chances of them still being here at Christmas?).

Ralph is clearly too good for this level but let's also not forget that every team he has played for has been relegated and he has only appeared in one competitive victory for us.

No-one can doubt the character of John White but this is - in all honesty - a season too far for him.

Will Atkinson was a decent player for us 4 years ago. Last night he looked way out of his depth as Aldershot simply passed the ball around our veteran midfield.

Demitriou has the character PB wants but is again a crock with half his knee missing.

We haven't really seen Ogogo yet but what I HAVE seen doesn't make me think he is the missing link and the solution to the problems.

Coulson I was really excited about but 4-4-2 is not his system. He cannot be exposed to pace and when I say pace, I mean any other professional footballer. I'm 60, overweight and with a dodgy knee but I could probably give him a run for his money (OK, I couldn't, but you get the point).

Phillips and Ferguson seem to be no longer part of the plan and I don't necessarily disagree. However, I can't see how either could have made last nights debacle any worse. Similarly, Akinola and ANG couldn't make this team worse either, but Brown will absolutely not play them. It's an interesting line in the sand.

So where do we go from here? **** knows. Down, probably.

When I saw last night's team sheet, I was hopeful.
After all, Arnold was back, and there al those braying for 4-4-2 got their wish.
And whilst I agree with most you write, had he played Ferguson again he would have got it in the neck, and deservedly so.
Therefore, both those mentioned could have made it worse - hard as that might be to imagine.

 

[Jonny_Stokes]

He’s so slow that I would have said his legs had gone when he arrived, let alone by the time he left. He has the turning circle of an oil tanker and you might as well start heading for the bogs if he gets dragged out into the channels because you’re probably about to concede a goal. He was, in short, a bit of a liability at League Two level for those reasons - which were exacerbated because we often played with James Brophy as an extremely attacking fullback on his side…. You could do a lot worse. Wish him all the best. Just don’t play an attacking fullback next to him.

Coulson - was known to be slow and injury prone, the fact we have tried to accommodate him lime he is Ronaldo is insanity. You won't see a slower player...ever. sure he can head a ball but if you kicked a ball at a statue enough times even it would hit it back occasionally. Awful signing - 2

Think PB should be employing me as a scout tbh.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

I don't think Ron is deliberately trying to destroy the club but he is guilty of gross incompetence in his stewardship of the club. I also suspect he is delusional about how poorly he has run the club and how bad it's reputation is in the football world. Add to that the years and who knows how much money wasted in trying to build a ground that will be far too big for us whilst so many other clubs have built decent small stadiums during that time. I think he is a Walter Mitty type character living in a fantasy world who loves rubbing shoulders with 'big names'.

Spot on!
Every time 'Arry leaned over and whispered in his ear, Ron bought it.
Five minutes research would have told him what that jumped up second-hand car salesman brings to football. Smoke and mirrors isn't the half!
Ron's real knowledge of football is thin.
He obviously has some acumen in the business world, but none of it is applied to our beloved club.

 

[pete boss]

i must admit..ive sunk very low now with the mighty blues ive supported since mid-70's it really cant get any worse..spiral down now to national south it looks like and as for my last night 4-0 murphy hat-trick...yes keep taking the tablets and i will!

 

[Strykr]

Ok well you must’ve been watching two different players to me. Both to me offered very little in the final third. Last season we couldn’t create chances or score goals. ANG just ran into blind alleys. I keep hearing about Akinola being great at Barnet (he was amazing when I watched him for Braintree years ago) but he hasn’t quite sparked for Southend. To me we need creative players in the middle, not wingers who can’t deliver the ball into the box.

I sort of agree, bit perhaps both of them would have been better had they actually had someone to pass too.... at least dalby and murphy play as strikers rather then goodship out wide and aquah faffing about in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Ailsa Road Shrimper]

I think our downfall last night was lack of ability and mobility rather than lack of effort. The players that appear to be past their best and don’t seem to have legs required to be effective for a full 90 minute are :

Demetriou
Coulson
White
Atkinson
Dunne
Ogogo? (Has only featured for around 100 minutes this season not to be seen again which isn’t a good omen)

That’s alarmingly high for a smallish squad and players that are seen as regulars. We seem to be running out of steam in the last 30 minutes of games, unusual for Phil Brown’s teams but the reliance on too many of these old timers is probably a factor.

Murphy has been a good acquisition, 3 goals in 6 games and he could easily have had more. Whilst some his antics are not for everyone’s liking at least his gamesmanship is something we have been lacking in the past few years when we have been too soft. Dalby and Arnold also seem like really good signings so it’s not all bad. We just need more attacking guile in midfield plus more mobility also in the centre of the pitch and defence.

 

[rigsby]

I'm a manager of a team of 10 in my company and completely agree with this. If someone in my team was performing poorly, I would have a private one to one chat with them to try and deal with it. I certainly wouldn't call them out in front of the rest of the team in our weekly meetings.

Phil Brown is a dinosaur and his managerial techniques are way too old school for the modern game.

Where there 4 mangers in your position sacked in the last 2 years because the staff had the worst record in the Companies 110 year history?

Is your company likely to go bust if you don't perform this year?

What would you do after the quiet chat. Especially if they totally ignored you and your second in command and continued to under perform..

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

Where there 4 mangers in your position sacked in the last 2 years because the staff had the worst record in the Companies 110 year history?

Is your company likely to go bust if you don't perform this year?

What would you do after the quiet chat. Especially if they totally ignored you and your second in command and continued to under perform..

I suggest some self awareness and media training.
Then be sure not to play "favorites" and also "naughty corner" stuff when dealing with staff that better returns are urgently required from.
Play and pick the best available for selection and bench places rather than placing players in "detention".
PB's instructions from the touchlines need to be better, clearer, simpler, consistent and an example of requirements, not changing, for example last night sometimes he wanted a player on the halfway line when we defended a corner and other times he sent that player back, other times he had JD in midfield and other times switching wing and again as full back.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

PB's instructions from the touchlines need to be better, clearer, simpler, consistent and an example of requirements, not changing, for example last night sometimes he wanted a player on the halfway line when we defended a corner and other times he sent that player back, other times he had JD in midfield and other times switching wing and again as full back.

Blimey, sounds like the 'Hoki Koki'!!.

 

[Mr Browns Ghost]

I thought Murphy had a decent game. Looked lively and made some good runs. Dalby started well but drifted out of the game.

Coulson was running on sand. If he’s not injured then I’m struggling to see that we haven’t signed a dud.

Most puzzling was Atkinson lasting 90 minutes. It was like playing with 10 men. Contributed nothing despite his running. Even back in the day he was a defensive wide midfielder, so centre midfield alongside someone who can’t pass the salt?!? That was the worst centre midfield pairing I’ve ever seen us put out and it’s where we lost the game against a team who were total garbage

Atkinson absolutely awful I can only assume this game was for sentiments only completely dog shiiit

 

[Mr Browns Ghost]

The problem is in the centre of midfield. Neither Akinola or ANG will play there. In terms of the wing where they’d actually play, neither of them are anywhere near as good as Bridge. An upgrade on Egbri? Perhaps, but not a massive one.

Allows bridge and Holmes ( sorry forgot we weren’t allowed to sign Holmes) to run with the ball down the middle of the field and gain 10 yards instead of John white kicking it off the pitch trying to launch a long ball

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

None of the midfield seem to want the ball. Maybe because they can't make a decent attacking pass. Egbri just runs around a lot, what else? Walsh looked a better bet to me.

Jack Bridge wanted the ball. He kept showing for it but nobody could spot him. Even when he drifted infield looking for it they ignored him.

I don’t think Egbri was particularly hiding either. The problem was the central midfield was dire. Too slow to close, too limited on the ball to change direction of play. It made me nostalgic for a midfield of Phillips and Ferguson which wasn’t something I ever thought I’d type.

 

[Stan33]

Rest assured I have known Mr Martin long before he got involved with Southend United and he knew nothing about football then and knows very little about football now. As far as property development is concerned see if you can find one major development he has completed

Villa Road Benfleet