Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 2-3 Exeter City

[Tommy2holes]

I'm more concerned that our fluid passing game has gone to ****.

Laird should be getting a game and I liked the look of Williams. Has scored a lot for the youth/reserves?

 

[amsemp]

Tango cost us the 3 points today, pure and simple. Bad day at the office and a bit out of character for him because he's never really been one to make changes for changes sake before. In my opinion only one change was needed and that was Eastwood for Corr. Barry did well but looked knackered towards the end and stayed down holding his ankle, so maybe could have done with coming off.

Gomis might have impressed on a nice dry, good quality, green pitch in Portugal but today he looked like he'd never seen a crap and rained on pitch in his life. His sense of positioning wasn't great and he couldn't anticipate where the ball was going in the conditions. Such an unnecessary change in what was an important game.

Don't get the hype for Jason Williams on here either. He had one good piece of play after coming on which resulted in a shot, despite his huge handball in the build up that the dreadful lino never spotted. I think he'll be great in a few years and I'm a big admirer of his, but no way should he be starting games yet.

Phillips may have scored twice which was brilliant, but defensively he still looks like a bit of a liability to me. The sooner Prosser is back the better. Bentley spared our blushes quite a few times with some good saves but wasn't helped much by the defence who looked out of position on a few occasions.

All in all I don't think we were awful, I just think Brown got the changes horribly wrong and once Exeter sussed that out they just piled bodies forward and piled on the pressure. Time for Laird to come back into the side now I think, as there's no excuse not to change a side who've now lost 2 on the bounce and conceded 3 at home.

 

[dogfish]

Spot on, plus I would add how poor Thompson is. He is possibly the slowest 20 year old footballer I have ever seen

Been on here all season but havn't posted as I didn't feel the need to ,good defensively at start of season but we are lacking Bigtime now ,Phillips and Thompson Don't mix I read ,,well I must say I agree with silencer about Thompson's pace ,its dreadfull and lacks strength too , well out of his depth at league 2 im afraid ,but Brown watch's the training ,he sign's the player's ,,its not just Thompson's fault today ,,we were awful at the back but you need athlete's in this level ,, Brown must take resposibility for people who are so slow ,, if we don't get some lad's in who can at least get near a player we wont even make the play off's ..First rant of the year over !!

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

So frustrated. Not just because we lost, but the manner in which we lost. From the first minute we looked shaky at the back, lost all cohesion in midfield (couldn't get used to 4-4-2) and still can't score from open play, up front. The subs defied logic, aswell. It was crying out for the experience of Laird to come on and tidy up the midfield. I'll do my player ratings when i've calmed down a bit..

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Weve changed our system to fit Barnard in and we've not won since he came back!

We're also massively missing Prosser as well. Thought the kid Williams was very unlucky not to score within seconds of coming on.

 

[Stephen L]

Bentley 10
Corr 3
Rest of Team Today 2

I was talking to The BBC Football League Show this afternoon about when was our last win at home… i said to the bald one, its beginning to be hard to remember.

 

[Rochford Shrimper]

Hurst 2 out of ten......and they moan about Straker.

 

[chapperzUK]

I'm more concerned that our fluid passing game has gone to ****.

Laird should be getting a game and I liked the look of Williams. Has scored a lot for the youth/reserves?

10 goals in 14 games in youth games from my count. Also scored in a reserve game a couple of weeks ago.

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

Poor start, equalised, then soaked up 10 minutes of severe pressure, then got our noses in front - From that point onwards, I thought we looked comfortable. That was more to do with a poor looking Exeter side rather than anything we did.

To be fair, their second goal was a Worldy and he won't hit one like that again for as long as he plays football.

Defending overall, however, is inadequate, which is completely uncharacteristic for us as we have built out success this season on being difficult to score against. Thompson and Phillips do not mix I;m afraid.

The biggest issue for me, however, is the signing of Lee Barnard. Not directly his fault we have lost the last two games, but Brown is trying to find a way of including him, and that has meant dismantling the very successful 4-3-3 formation which was the bedrock of our good run of form. He may not be the most popular player in our squad, but we are massively missing the natural balance offered by Straker, and the entire team look far less comfortable playing this system than they did previously.

I understand the temptation to change to incorporate Barney, but it is to the detriment of the team unfortunately. Brown does not seem to be able to get the team playing the right way with 4-4-2 and I really hope he switches back for Tuesday night. On top of that Barnard looks so far off the pace right now, he's not offering anything to the side.

The indirect consequence of the formation change is that we are nowhere near as solid - 5 goals conceded against two pony teams playing this way shows that. At least with his 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 the defence gets plenty of protection and also allows at east one of the three central midfielders to get forward in and around the box.

Inconsistent performance, caused by the wrong formation IMO, and a soft centre was our downfall in a game we really ought to have seen out from the position we were in.

Some very good points made, especially about Barnard

 

[stickyboy]

yet another dire performance from Blues. the team is going nowhere at the moment. We need to focus on just getting the 7th spot as top 6 are a class above us unfortunately. Hartlepool, Daggers and Newport whose results we need to look for now

 

[mgh]

Worstwe we have played at home this season, Exeter were average and we made them look good. Brown got it wrong, need to stick to 4-3-3.
Bentley 8 some top saves
White 5 offers nothing going forward and AWOL at times
Phillips 6 scored twice but suspect at the back
Thompson 3 awful all game
Coker 6 tried to get forward but was out of position at times
Hurst 3 one again awful looks tired
Timlin 5 ran about without influencing game
Atkinson 5 is not a wide player
Leonard 8 mom passed well the only midfielder offering anything forward
Barnard 3 so off the pace it's embarrassing
Corr 7 won plenty of headers but missed an open goal

Subs: Gomis 4 he is not a wide player either
Eastwood 5 ran a bit
Williams 6 pact

 

[Jcd]

Two weeks in a row now we've lost to a sh*t team by playing 4-4 fking 2. I feel like I'm watching Mike Bassett's England out there.

433/451 whatever you want to call it please. I can't take another season slipping away.

 

[onceknownasrab]

I am all for not changing a winning side but am at a loss as to why certain players are nailed on to start when in truth much of the side has looked so below par for a considerable time. The last time the team looked anywhere near cohesive was the 3-0 win over Chesterfield on the 18th of January.

Since that time we have played five games, drawing 2 and losing 3 and yet the same underperformers/underachievers are turning out on the pitch, week in and week out, without the hint of true squad competition.

Some players on the fringes must feel very unappreciated and it hardly inspires reserves to work hard.

I think overall this season PB has got a lot right and I still think he will get us across the line, in the auto's, but he will need to rethink a few things and quickly.

 

[Chairman Trigg]

What has Laird done ? The game was crying out for someone in midfield to cover the back four,and Gomis is brought on,just looked totally out of place ,and stood off to let the shot for the 3rd goal.Whole team were 2nd best today.We are looking lost without Prosser at the back, and how the tactics can make Barnard and Eastwood run around like headless chickens suggests something is badly wrong in our formation

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

4-4-2 doesn't work with two such slow forwards. Laird has to come in. Need another centre back but have done all season.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

fine points made on here. Barnard coming back has been terrible for us, our defence looks shaky at best and we need Laird back in the middle

 

[johnlattimerssponge]

What has Laird done ? The game was crying out for someone in midfield to cover the back four,and Gomis is brought on,just looked totally out of place ,and stood off to let the shot for the 3rd goal.Whole team were 2nd best today.We are looking lost without Prosser at the back, and how the tactics can make Barnard and Eastwood run around like headless chickens suggests something is badly wrong in our formation

Could not agree more that game was crying out for Laird to caome on and thought with Cliffords suspension he may get a chance again. We were being dominated so needed to win the ball back which he may well have helped us do.

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

It's funny how we were all so excited by signing Barnard, and since he arrived we've not won a game and Brown has changed a successful formation to fit him in. Time to revert to 4-5-1 and the system that has served us so well this season. Square pegs round holes and all that. I'm sure Barnard or Eastwood could play on the other side of Corr, if I recall Brown said so himself when Barney signed.

The worrying thing is that this is the stage of the season when we've bottled it the last two years, and we appear to be doing it again. The top of the table is starting to open up more and teams like Scunthorpe, Rochdale and Chesterfield are grinding out results (all three of whom came from behind to win this weekend). Have to say that automatics are looking unlikely now. When was the last time one of our strikers scored? As for the defence, compare Kiernan and Prosser with Phillips and Thompson and it's not surprising our form has dropped.

 

[RobB11]

Hopefully o'neill is back soon and he can come in at rb, John White and prosser cbs, should be a much more solid and experienced cb partnership.

 

[united we stand]

Not 100% sure that I heard it right. But before the match BBC Essex said that Hurst was involved (scores or assists) in 60% of our goals. It shoes just how dependant we are on him playing well_ and he isn't.

Very poor today. Surely now even the most anti prosser supporter can see how important he is.

We were poor today which I can accept. But I can't accept the complete lack of urgency or aggression and the ridiculous tactics and substitutions. Yes both subs almost scored with heir first touches, but we didn't deserve it and the hand ball was ridiculous. How the ref didn't serif I have no idea