Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 3-0 Oldham Athletic

[Lincoln Shrimp]

Well....What a strange 90 minutes of football that was! I'm not really sure where to start.

First half, apart from a good 10 minute spell i felt we lacked urgency and were too slow in our build up.
I was impressed with Oldham. They seemed confident, passed the ball around well and seemed a yard quicker than us at times. That said despite creating some useful openings, they never really tested our debutant keeper Christian Walton who cut a confident figure between the sticks. The ref had given us nothing first. The trend was set to continue in the second half.

Credit must go to Phil Brown for making an early attacking substitution in the second half. Macca hadn't done much wrong, but in truth he hadn't really stretched the Oldham back line and the extra pace and zest that the introduction of Mcglashan was to provide proved to be a masterstroke.
Jermaine's influence on our attacking play had already seen us at last begin to stretch a tiring Oldham defence. Brown then went for the throat and replaced Atkinson with Theo Robinson.
Simon Cox then suddenly found himself clean through only to have his heels clipped by an Oldham defender. Unbelievably the ref pulled out only a yellow card. A few moments later he quickly pulled out a red one to send the hard working Leonard packing for a high and late challenge.

This only seemed to galvanise us as suddenly we began to use the full width of the roots hall pitch expertly with Robinson and in particular Mcglashan terrorising the Oldham defence. A good turn and cross from the former saw Ranger roll the ball home at the back post to open the scoring. Amazingly, Theo doubled our advantage as he arrived between two Oldham defenders to head home Wordsworth's floated free kick.

Mcglashan was involved in a couple more great moves and could quite easily have been awarded a penalty having been bundled over in the box. The referee (or should i say the linesman​) finally did award a deserved spot kick when Peter Clarke pulled down the same player deep into added time. Wordsworth duly converted to further improve our goal difference which could prove crucial come the end of the season.

Whilst the final scoreline flattered us somewhat, i thought Brown's bravery to change things and take the game to Oldham was deservedly rewarded. The attacking options on the bench is something that we've not seen in years. It made all the difference today.


Ratings
Walton 7 - Although not seriously tested, i felt he looked very assured and had a real presence about him.
Demetriou 7 - Got forward well and put in several crosses towards Ranger in the first half.
Coker 7.5 - not massively influential first half but came alive in the second and was involved in some great attacking moves.
Thompson 7 - stuck to his task well and won most of his challenges. I think he must have been pleased that he only had to mark the Oldham sub Ngoo for the last 10 minutes as he looked a real handful when he came on.
Ferdinand 8 - A rock and calming influence at the back. A touch of class too.
Lenny 7.5 - a vital cog in our machine. He probably deserved to see red in all honesty. He seemed initially to almost apologise for the late lunge. Will be a huge miss. The two week enforced rest being the only positive.
Atkinson 6 - I'm a big fan, but he wasn't really in the game today and was rightly withdrawn as we looked for the opening goal.
Macca 6 - As above
Woody, 8, lots of running, some brave blocking and some neat passing, confident pen.
Ranger 7.5 - struggled with the bouncing ball on a hardening pitch in the first half, but became a central figure in the second. Finally the ref began noticing Peter Clarke's holding and pushing and awarded some free kicks putting the visitors under pressure. Scored the crucial opening goal too.
Cox - 6.5 - He too struggled a little in the first half, mainly as the ball spent a lot of the time bouncing around. In the second his influence was growing before being sacrificed for Timlin following Lenny's dismissal.

Subs
Mcglashan 8.5 - Made a fantastic impact after coming on. His pace terrified Oldham and he was the source of so much of our attacking threat in the second half. Won the penalty to top the afternoon off.
Robinson 8 - He gives our front line another dimension and doesn't give the opposition defence a minute's peace.
Timlin 7 - A calming influence at a crucial stage in the match. I loved the way he picked the ball up before handing it to Wordsworth to take the penalty, telling Ranger and Robinson that Wordy was the nominated taker.

This could prove to be a crucial win. How often do you see a team score 3 times in the final 15 minutes of a game when down to ten men?! Hats off to you Phil Brown. Your bravery was rewarded big time.

 

[rayleigh dan]

Well....What a strange 90 minutes of football that was! I'm not really sure where to start.
First half, apart from a good 10 minute spell i felt we lacked urgency and were too slow in our build up.
I was impressed with Oldham. They seemed confident, passed the ball around well and seemed a yard quicker than us at times. That said despite creating some useful openings, they never really tested our debutant keeper Christian Walton who cut a confident figure between the sticks. The ref had given us nothing first. The trend was set to continue in the second half.
Credit must go to Phil Brown for making an early attacking substitution in the second half. Macca hadn't done much wrong, but in truth he hadn't really stretched the Oldham back line and the extra pace and zest that the introduction of Mcglashan was to provide proved to be a masterstroke.
Jermaine's influence on our attacking play had already seen us at last begin to stretch a tiring Oldham defence. Brown then went for the throat and replaced Atkinson with Theo Robinson.
Simon Cox then suddenly found himself clean through only to have his heels clipped by an Oldham defender. Unbelievably the ref pulled out only a yellow card. A few moments later he quickly pulled out a red one to send the hard working Leonard packing for a high and late challenge.
This only seemed to galvanise us as suddenly we began to use the full width of the roots hall pitch expertly with Robinson and in particular Mcglashan terrorising the Oldham defence. A good turn turn and cross from the former saw Ranger roll the ball home at the back post to open the scoring. Amazingly, Theo doubled our advantage as he arrived between two Oldham defenders to head home Wordsworth's floated free kick.
Mcglashan was involved in a couple more great moves and could quite easily have been awarded a penalty having been bundled over in the box. The referee (or should i say the linesman​) finally did award a deserved spot kick when Peter Clarke pulled down the same player deep into added time. Wordsworth duly converted to further improve our goal difference which could prove crucial come the end of the season.
Whilst the final scoreline flattered us somewhat, i thought Brown's bravery to change things and take the game to Oldham was deservedly rewarded. The attacking options on the bench is something that we've not seen in years. It made all the difference today.

Ratings
Walton 7 - Although not seriously tested, i felt he looked very assured and had a real presence about him.
Demetriou 7 - Got forward well and put in several crosses towards Ranger in the first half.
Coker 7.5 - not massively influential first half but came alive in the second and was involved in some great attacking moves.
Thompson 7 - stuck to his task well and won most of his challenges. I think he must have been pleased that he only had to mark the Oldham sub Ngoo for the last 10 minutes as he looked a real handful when he came on.
Ferdinand 8 - A rock and calming influence at the back. A touch of class too.
Lenny 7.5 - a vital cog in our machine. He probably deserved to see red in all honesty. He seemed initially to almost apologise for the late lunge. Will be a huge miss. The two week enforced rest being the only positive.
Atkinson 6 - I'm a big fan, but he wasn't really in the game today and was rightly withdrawn as we looked for the opening goal.
Macca 6 - As above
Ranger 7.5 - struggled with the bouncing ball on a hardening pitch in the first half, but became a central figure in the second. Finally the ref began noticing Peter Clarke's holding and pushing and awarded some free kicks putting the visitors under pressure. Scored the crucial opening goal too.
Cox - 6.5 - He too struggled a little in the first half as the players struggled to come to terms with a bouncing ball. In the second his influence was growing before being sacrificed for Timlin following Lenny's dismissal.

Subs
Mcglashan 8.5 - Made a fantastic impact after coming on. His pace terrified Oldham and he was the source of so much of our attacking threat in the second half. Won the penalty to top the afternoon off.
Robinson 8 - He gives our front line another dimension and doesn't give the opposition defence a minute's peace.
Timlin 7 - A calming influence at a crucial stage in the match. I loved the way he picked the ball up before handing it to Wordsworth to take the penalty, telling Ranger and Robinson that Wordy was the nominated taker.

This could prove to be a crucial win. How often do you see a team score 3 times in the final 15 minutes of a game when down to ten men?! Hats off to you Phil Brown. Your bravery was rewarded big time.

I'm sure this has been mentioned already but that was probably the worst decision from Mr 'Look at me' today. Cox was clean through on goal so it should have been a red. I hope whoever was assessing the ref today gives him a good kicking!

 

[Shrimper]

I lost my grandad this morning so this was a nice result and enjoyable. The referee was beyond inept today. There is 0 reason not to give a red to the Oldham player. I felt that the result was the type you see from promoted sides, where they grind out the wins and keep going. Never giving in. Ideally, I'd hope we get Scunthorpe and then Bradford in the play offs. I don't want Fleetwood or, should we be in the position, Millwall. On to Charlton, I shall be in attendance hoping for a win. Three wins this week would be incredible and I would think, set us up to need only one more win.

 

[Pubey]

I lost my grandad this morning so this was a nice result and enjoyable. The referee was beyond inept today. There is 0 reason not to give a red to the Oldham player. I felt that the result was the type you see from promoted sides, where they grind out the wins and keep going. Never giving in. Ideally, I'd hope we get Scunthorpe and then Bradford in the play offs. I don't want Fleetwood or, should we be in the position, Millwall. On to Charlton, I shall be in attendance hoping for a win. Three wins this week would be incredible and I would think, set us up to need only one more win.

sorry to hear that news. glad you were able to enjoy the game and see a win.

 

[Jai]

OK.

He got less of one at the end, as he was moaning at the ref for the last 20 minutes!

He's a winner. He always has been, and he will have been hurting after that. He's been back a couple of times, lost and generally been a bit of an arse on the field but it's testament to the career he's had and how many teams he has captained, he wants to win that little bit more than almost everyone else.

Was good to see him back. Was even better to see Jermaine skin him for the pen.

 

[Jai]

istening to browns post match interview I very much got the impression we will not be appealing it. Brown had seen it back and reading between the lines thought it was a fair decision.that was my take anyway-hope i am wrong

We won't appeal, nor should we. It was a bad challenge and a red in any other context would have been accepted. What made it unacceptable was the decisions and general demeanour of the referee up to that point - our players were clearly getting frustrated and I said to a mate "he's completely lost control of this, we're going to end up with ten men here" about 10 seconds before Leonard's challenge.

This is of course ten minutes after the clearest red you are ever likely to see is not given, and it also came shortly after Coker was throttled by their lad who wouldn't give him the ball to take a free kick. It was completely the Oldham player's fault yet they both got yellows, and when we actually tried to take the free kick, the ref pulled it back again and I think that was the point the players had just had enough. Leonard would never had made that challenge had the ref not riled our players up so much. But try putting that to a panel of suits who never watched the game.

Let's put it this way, if that referee was a sheepdog, his owner would be taking him out to the back of the field, double-barrel shotgun in hand right about now. Even the ****ing penalty he didn't want to give and you're not likely to see a more clear cut penalty than that.

 

[AndyT]

He's a winner. He always has been, and he will have been hurting after that. He's been back a couple of times, lost and generally been a bit of an arse on the field but it's testament to the career he's had and how many teams he has captained, he wants to win that little bit more than almost everyone else.

Was good to see him back. Was even better to see Jermaine skin him for the pen.

Agreed.

Whilst he wouldn't have got a great reception at the end (we were too busy celebrating) he organized and ran that defence superbly. Both him and the other centre-half were excellent for the first 70 minutes.

 

[LennySUFC]

Couldn't be there but following it on twitter I put my phone away after the red thinking here we go... 10 mins later I see two pics of goalscorers!

Theo seems to be proving us all wrong, he's chipped in with a few good goals and assists now!

Onto Bolton! Come on lads, let's get 8000+ Into RH

 

[RHB]

Couldn't be there but following it on twitter I put my phone away after the red thinking here we go... 10 mins later I see two pics of goalscorers!

Theo seems to be proving us all wrong, he's chipped in with a few good goals and assists now!

Onto Bolton! Come on lads, let's get 8000+ Into RH

I'm a bit confused Lenny. Why is he proving us wrong when his signing was welcomed by many? To my mind he's proving us right.

 

[Barling Magna]

Theo and McG; forwards with real pace. Add a couple of quality goalscorers in Cox and Ranger and you have the recipe for success. Simple really.

With a clearly impressive loan goalkeeper behind a competent defence (only Anton stands out in my opinion) and several attacking midfielders we could win all our remaining matches. 84 points would be impressive.

Is that a pipedream? Probably, but I bet we'll win four of the six. COYB!!!!!!!!

 

[Bromley Blue]

A stunning performance from 10 men made up for a slightly disappointing performance from our initial 11.

As others have said, we just couldn't get going for the first 70 minutes and were largely frustrated by a hardworking and capable Oldham side.

I listened to Phil Brown's comments on the drive home and he said he thought only one side were trying to win the game in the first half and I wrongly thought he meant Oldham. They had more possession and more shots on goal but showed why they've scored so few goals this season as they lacked any real cutting edge and young Waters was not really troubled.

I fully agree with Jai above that there's no way Lenny would have made that challenge without extreme provocation. The players definitely felt like they were getting nothing from the ref and when challenge after challenge from the opposition go unpunished it seemed to egg us on to challenge harder and harder to see what we could get away with. It was bizarre really because I didn't feel at the time that it was an overly dirty game just the ref failed to give routine decisions.

With all this said, none of the above counts for anything in Lenny's appeal. There's no point appealing, it was an awful challenge and he deserved to go.

I'm not really one for ratings but for me Nile Ranger was outstanding yesterday and looked a threat all afternoon.

Coxy had quite a quiet game but it was interesting to hear Brown's comments post match re - his strike pairing. Brown said he's always reluctant to take off his main strikers as they've done so well this season and I think we can understand that as fans. Cox wasn't at the races yesterday but you wouldn't have wanted anyone else racing clear one on one late in the second half. Shame the inept ref failed to punish the professional foul which stopped him in his tracks.

We go again on Tuesday night against one of the best sides in the division, but we go into the contest off the back of 4 straight wins. Lenny's suspension aside we couldn't be better prepared.

 

[AndyT]

I listened to Phil Brown's comments on the drive home and he said he thought only one side were trying to win the game in the first half and I wrongly thought he meant Oldham. They had more possession and more shots on goal but showed why they've scored so few goals this season as they lacked any real cutting edge and young Waters was not really troubled.

D'you know what. I was doing the same, driving home and thought exactly the same. That PB was talking about Oldham.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Best thing early on was seeing Mark Bentley back at Roots Hall!

Awful first half, Oldham's defence seemed to be coping with us far too easily, and, in particular Ranger - which is why I'm surprised he's got such high ratings from some people. The old warrior, Peter Clarke, dominated their defence although I passed comment to my other half early on that he's always likely to give away a penalty! The holding, hugging etc seemed to still be a favourite trademark of his game. We also agreed that their defence wouldn't cope with pace and players running at them, the signs were there and bringing McGlashan and Robinson on absolutely changed the game on top of the injustice felt at Lenny's red card.

Oldham were there for a point, I don't think anyone can doubt that. Our loanee GK had very little to do, but what he did, he did assuredly and there was one fabulous moment where he fooled the oncoming Oldham forward and airkicked to let the ball run out of play in front of their supporters. I can see Ted having difficulty getting back in the team.

Everyone's already said so much about the referee, it really was a case of we should have been singing McFly's hit song "It's all about you", as that was how it seemed. Every time an Oldham player fell to the ground, whether fouled or feigning, he gave them free kicks. He gave them kicks when our players had been fouled. Woody was treading a fine line, as the ref had him in his sights for a 2nd yellow, after his glorious over acting when being fouled. As already said elsewhere, the sight of Ben Coker very clearly telling him to "calm down" was weird - shouldn't happen! And then, of course, the two incidents so close together, Cox clearly fouled when about to go past their last man, and the 55/45 challenge by Lenny - because that was what it was. So nearly a 50/50. I didn't think it was a red, even on the highlights it's hard to be certain, yellows for both players.

I tweeted BBC Essex after the game, saying that this galvanised our players, and their perceived sense of injustice at Lenny's sending off, coupled with the impact of the two subs already mentioned, made us suddenly burst into life. Both Robinson and McGlashan deserve huge kudos for their part, and Woody also deserves credit for his part in getting the assist with a beautifully weighted ball in for Theo's goal and for dispatching his penalty with such conviction - think he missed his last one at RH?

Walton - 7, very solid, great kicking and understanding for the quick throw out will improve in training.
Demetriou - 7, some defensive mistakes in the 1st half but otherwise solid.
Thompson - 7, couple of mix ups where two (and at one point, three) players went for the same defensive header, someone needs to call.
Ferdinand - 7.5, as Thompson, and as skip, he should be giving the call. Lovely touch at the end where he went over to a crowd of youngsters in South Lower and signed loads of stuff, being last off the pitch by a long, long way. They'll remember that.
Coker - 7.5, didn't have as much opportunity to get forward as usual, but when he did he got some good crosses in that we didn't seem to make the most of.
Atkinson - 7, fairly inconspicuous so wasn't surprised he was subbed.
Leonard - 7.5, one very slightly late challenge on an otherwise good performance. Such a shame, had expected him to be subbed earlier as he seemed to tweak his groin painfully in the 1st half so at least any injury will have the chance for proper treatment and healing.
Wordsworth - 8, joint MOM, pick of the starting line up for me, was involved in everything going forward.
McLaughlin - 6.5, love the guy normally but didn't seem to be at the races.
Cox - 7, not at lot of joy for Cox, though, if he'd not been fouled who when that player brought him down, who knows what a different game we'd have been watching?!
Ranger - 7.5, want to see him being far more physical when oppo defences have the upper hand. Let's hope that injury he picked up towards the end isn't too serious, though doubt he'll start Tuesday. Heard it was his ankle again?

Subs:
McGlashan for McLaughlin - 7.5, made a huge difference when he came on
Robinson for Atkinson - 8, joint MOM, as above but more so. Great work for Ranger's goal.
Timlin for Cox - 7.5, we needed that bit more steel in the middle so this sub was bang on. Got to love Tims!

A word on the young fan who came on and celebrated with the players. Yes, he's got an unbelievable memento but is this yet another incident that's going to cost the club money? Stewards were so slow to react.

 

[Swiss Tony]

Best thing early on was seeing Mark Bentley back at Roots Hall!

Awful first half, Oldham's defence seemed to be coping with us far too easily, and, in particular Ranger - which is why I'm surprised he's got such high ratings from some people. The old warrior, Peter Clarke, dominated their defence although I passed comment to my other half early on that he's always likely to give away a penalty! The holding, hugging etc seemed to still be a favourite trademark of his game. We also agreed that their defence wouldn't cope with pace and players running at them, the signs were there and bringing McGlashan and Robinson on absolutely changed the game on top of the injustice felt at Lenny's red card.

Oldham were there for a point, I don't think anyone can doubt that. Our loanee GK had very little to do, but what he did, he did assuredly and there was one fabulous moment where he fooled the oncoming Oldham forward and airkicked to let the ball run out of play in front of their supporters. I can see Ted having difficulty getting back in the team.

Everyone's already said so much about the referee, it really was a case of we should have been singing McFly's hit song "It's all about you", as that was how it seemed. Every time an Oldham player fell to the ground, whether fouled or feigning, he gave them free kicks. He gave them kicks when our players had been fouled. Woody was treading a fine line, as the ref had him in his sights for a 2nd yellow, after his glorious over acting when being fouled. As already said elsewhere, the sight of Ben Coker very clearly telling him to "calm down" was weird - shouldn't happen! And then, of course, the two incidents so close together, Cox clearly fouled when about to go past their last man, and the 55/45 challenge by Lenny - because that was what it was. So nearly a 50/50. I didn't think it was a red, even on the highlights it's hard to be certain, yellows for both players.

I tweeted BBC Essex after the game, saying that this galvanised our players, and their perceived sense of injustice at Lenny's sending off, coupled with the impact of the two subs already mentioned, made us suddenly burst into life. Both Robinson and McGlashan deserve huge kudos for their part, and Woody also deserves credit for his part in getting the assist with a beautifully weighted ball in for Theo's goal and for dispatching his penalty with such conviction - think he missed his last one at RH?

Walton - 7, very solid, great kicking and understanding for the quick throw out will improve in training.
Demetriou - 7, some defensive mistakes in the 1st half but otherwise solid.
Thompson - 7, couple of mix ups where two (and at one point, three) players went for the same defensive header, someone needs to call.
Ferdinand - 7.5, as Thompson, and as skip, he should be giving the call. Lovely touch at the end where he went over to a crowd of youngsters in South Lower and signed loads of stuff, being last off the pitch by a long, long way. They'll remember that.
Coker - 7.5, didn't have as much opportunity to get forward as usual, but when he did he got some good crosses in that we didn't seem to make the most of.
Atkinson - 7, fairly inconspicuous so wasn't surprised he was subbed.
Leonard - 7.5, one very slightly late challenge on an otherwise good performance. Such a shame, had expected him to be subbed earlier as he seemed to tweak his groin painfully in the 1st half so at least any injury will have the chance for proper treatment and healing.
Wordsworth - 8, joint MOM, pick of the starting line up for me, was involved in everything going forward.
McLaughlin - 6.5, love the guy normally but didn't seem to be at the races.
Cox - 7, not at lot of joy for Cox, though, if he'd not been fouled who when that player brought him down, who knows what a different game we'd have been watching?!
Ranger - 7.5, want to see him being far more physical when oppo defences have the upper hand. Let's hope that injury he picked up towards the end isn't too serious, though doubt he'll start Tuesday. Heard it was his ankle again?

Subs:
McGlashan for McLaughlin - 7.5, made a huge difference when he came on
Robinson for Atkinson - 8, joint MOM, as above but more so. Great work for Ranger's goal.
Timlin for Cox - 7.5, we needed that bit more steel in the middle so this sub was bang on. Got to love Tims!

A word on the young fan who came on and celebrated with the players. Yes, he's got an unbelievable memento but is this yet another incident that's going to cost the club money? Stewards were so slow to react.

Agree with all that apart from the young lad coming on for a photo shoot,maybe a lad who got carried away with the excitement imo not worthy of a fine what is worthy of a fine is the club making us walk into a toilet flooded with a delightful mixture of urine and water half an inch deep disgusting.

 

[RobM]

Grr! I had £2 on 3-0 AND Simon Cox to score first!

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Grr! I had £2 on 3-0 AND Simon Cox to score first!

I had £2 on Ranger to score anytime and win 2-0...thanks Wordy and McGlashan for screwing that up in the last minute :sad:

 

[Harry Bullocks]

PB in

 

[OldBlueLady]

What is worthy of a fine is the club making us walk into a toilet flooded with a delightful mixture of urine and water half an inch deep disgusting.

Which toilet was this?

 

[AndyT]

Good report 'OBL' though, like 'Swiss' said, I think the young lad incident was not a major issue.

 

[RobM]

I had £2 on Ranger to score anytime and win 2-0...thanks Wordy and McGlashan for screwing that up in the last minute :sad:

You have to laugh...or cry!