• Welcome to the ShrimperZone forums.
    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which only gives you limited access.

    Existing Users:.
    Please log-in using your existing username and password. If you have any problems, please see below.

    New Users:
    Join our free community now and gain access to post topics, communicate privately with other members, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and free. Click here to join.

    Fans from other clubs
    We welcome and appreciate supporters from other clubs who wish to engage in sensible discussion. Please feel free to join as above but understand that this is a moderated site and those who cannot play nicely will be quickly removed.

    Assistance Required
    For help with the registration process or accessing your account, please send a note using the Contact us link in the footer, please include your account name. We can then provide you with a new password and verification to get you on the site.

Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 3-1 Grimsby Town

Game of two halves and all that.

If we can get a point or three at Mansfield then I will really really really start believing.

First half was fortunate to be 1-1 but then you make your own luck with pressing and chasing and the hard work off the ball so long may it continue.

Then the changes and to be honest it was quite comfortable after that. 3 goals, 3 points.

Got a proper glimpse of Akinola last night. Another 45 in the tank. Whether 25 yards from our goal or theirs he can beat a man, simple passing, good movement and strong in possession with a lovely dash of flair and pace in there. Exactly what we have lacked up front for a long time hopefully he finds the back of the onion bag soon.

Centre half duo look solid with a good understanding interested to see how they get on against a proper centre forward pairing from a side further up the table.

Feels good, 3 unbeaten, 7 points and back within a point of safety shame we can't be there for the foreseeable again considering that roots hall rather surprisingly feels like a much safe place to go covid wise as opposed to supermarkets, the train to work, the office, you name anything you can do in tier 3.

January will be key, if K Tizzle and Jimmy O go back to their parent clubs replacing them will be the fine margin between EFL or NL. A forward would be most welcome to accompany Akinola on a permanent basis as well.

Up the blues and on to Mansfield!
 
Delighted with that, and how much better does the League Two table look?

Still gnawing at me though the fact that I've backed Tom Clifford to score in the last three games (at odds ranging from 18/1 - 25/1) and decided against it last night ! :Facepalm:
 
Well what I do not want to see is a Ron stating that "I have saved the world by getting the embargo lifted etc. etc. etc."
We can all see the difference that adding experience and quality has added to the squad and our performances and we do not own the club!
This begs the question "Why didn't you get the embargo lifted months ago Ron"?
If you had we might be mid-table (remember those heady days!) and the fans (remember them Ron) would be so much more upbeat, happier have confidence in the future of the club, bought season cards etc. I am absolutely at a loss to understand why Ron has managed the club the way he has over the last 2 years. There is though a glimmer of light for this club so onwards and upwards COYB!! t

Some of of us already are because as a fan its been the best week we have had in the last 100.

Great to get 6 points in games that really count and in front of the very short lived return of the fans. Getting a 0-0 but finishing very strong at Stevenage was crucial in setting us up for the two home games.

Go back to CP and because of injuries he rarely had options from the bench. That has barely changed in 2 years but last night I was confident we would look better second half. Well done to MM he deserve some luck and some credit because he has had the worst hand dealt to any manger I have seen at RH.

Still thats in the rear view mirror now so looking ahead lets be cheeky and have another 3 points at Mansfield. The lads will be buzzing in training on Thursday and Friday and the bus ride will have a much better feel for players and staff.

We now have some good competition for places, which makes it easier for MM to see who needs to go. Still thats for a discussion for January. Lets enjoy the moment, at least a point on Saturday and then the big one on Boxing day. Such a shame the fans wont be at RH, they have really played their part this week and have proved by being true fans you make a difference......So to all concerned, its a big thanks from me.
 
Just listened to an interesting BBC Humberside post-match interview with Grimsby manager Ian Holloway. He says that the Southend fans really helped their team with strong support and no complaints at half time despite the fact that Grimsby had totally outplayed them in the first half. What a shame that we have moved into Tier 3 thanks to those Basildon spammers....
 
Just listened to an interesting BBC Humberside post-match interview with Grimsby manager Ian Holloway. He says that the Southend fans really helped their team with strong support and no complaints at half time despite the fact that Grimsby had totally outplayed them in the first half. What a shame that we have moved into Tier 3 thanks to those Basildon spammers....

I don't think we can blame Basildon; the rate is also increasing in Southend
 
Oxley - 6.5 - overall a quiet game, unlucky with the goal as the rebound was to quick for him to react. Hid command of the box and talking to the defence is so much better, ht back line move up as one on his command and thats helping us.

Elvis - 6 - his positional play defensively needs to improve, gets beat to easily on the outside. In the forst half when he let their guy run past and into the box by the byline was horrendous defending, put himself in a position where he couldn’t do anything. Better int he second half but even with Oxley’s shouting etc he needs to improve.

Hobson - 7.5 - is looking more solid every game, seems to work well with TD. I would take 7 out of 10 performances every week, we dont need anything special just a defender defending.

Dieng - 7 - looks much better at the back than in midfield and is forming a good partnership with Hobson.

Clifford - 7 - he looked of his game at first, some wayward passing and I’d decisions, but settled and grew into the game. Does the defensive side first which for me is good. Nicely taken goal from a planned corner, that got him an extra .5 on the marks.

Taylor - 7 - nothing spectacular in his general play and again as with Hobson if we get midfielders doing a solid job 7 out of 10 like then we are going in the right direction. Looks assured on the ball and took his goal very well.

Olyinka - 6.5 - it shows when your dissapointed in a young player that his passing is off what you have come to expect. He did some good bits and pieces and is always a threat, just felt his passing and maybe vision was off a little last night. One stood out was he could have cut the ball back to Akinola in the second half but ran up a blind alley, but he is young and i am nitpicking.

Demi - 7 - his best game of the season for me, and i do not think it is a surprise that it has come when he wasn’t moaning at the ref constantly. Focus on your game and produce which we know he can.

Hart - 6.5 - not as effective as Saturday and he looked leggy at the end of the first half, to be fair i do not think that is unexpected. He gives everything and made some useful runs and contributons

Sterling - 6 - looked unfit, i know he has had a knock do maybe thats why. H made some good runs but overall we are not seeing the pace he is reputed it have. He needs to put himself about a bit more and rattle a few. also need sot make more runs behind the lines even if the ball doesnt come.

Acquah - 4 - for me he was just awful, so little movement and terrible touch. He even fell over a blade of grass at one stage. That said he is young and learning, but he has to learn fast otherwise he may lose a career. SOmeone suggested a loan and that maybe a good idea.

Subs

Akinola - 7.5 - He looked much sharper than Saturday, made some intelligent runs, and his control and movement both with and without the ball was good. Competed for headers and has quite a good leap. Whilst not assisting for the goals in the second half he did win the corner and get the ball back in play for Halfords goal. Overall very promising.

Halford - 7 - I was sceptical of the singing (still am) but he came on and was a nuisance. Did what you would expect of someone being used on their own upfront and as a target man. The goal may have been lucky but you have to be there to get that luck.

Egbri - 6.5 - not his biggest fan, but he injected pace and a desire. He didnt give defenders a moment and pressed and chased. Thought overall this was a good performance form the lad.

Macca - 6.5 - steadying hand when needed, and came on for the right player too. Need to make sure Taylor is fit for the next game having just come back from an injury

Klass - Not enough to time to judge on the pitch, did manage a nice bit if defending though.

Want to mention MM, he made a bold decision to take Sterling and Acquah off, it was the right decision as they were not performing. Well done to him
 
Just listened to an interesting BBC Humberside post-match interview with Grimsby manager Ian Holloway. He says that the Southend fans really helped their team with strong support and no complaints at half time despite the fact that Grimsby had totally outplayed them in the first half. What a shame that we have moved into Tier 3 thanks to those Basildon spammers....

I struggle to get BBC Essex.
 
Just listened to an interesting BBC Humberside post-match interview with Grimsby manager Ian Holloway. He says that the Southend fans really helped their team with strong support and no complaints at half time despite the fact that Grimsby had totally outplayed them in the first half. What a shame that we have moved into Tier 3 thanks to those Basildon spammers....
Yeah when full fans back in attendance we must remember comments like this from opposing managers about how crowds can help players. Just shows you what 1,750 fans can do. So when back to 6,000 let's really crank the noise up.
 
You were doing well until the third sentence.
Acquah doesn't even look like a footballer.
Those rolling shoulders betray bulk he doesn't need, and anyway, his jumping is awful. Compare with Akinola and his leap.
Sterling needs mucho work.
He has little sense of anticipation and the ball rarely sticks when it comes to him.
That second-half team looks more like the side that could save us.

......absolutely, Acqua has got a great build for a centre forward and that I’m afraid is where it ends. Nothing sticks, can’t jump, terrible timing (see Akinola and Ralph how to do it).....as we progress he has got to be farmed out as hopefully the days of needing a cardboard cutout to stand up there doing very little has gone!
 
A much needed 3 points but that was a shocking game to watch. It didn’t help that we scored so early as we just sat back and tried to strangle the life out of the game, time wasting almost from the off.

In the end we got the win via a set piece and a hilarious goalkeeping error. I suppose Halford’s experience was what we’ve been missing as he conned the ref into twice booking their guy for the same offence. The rest of the night was largely spent time wasting.

But winning two in a row is huge.

The Hobson-Dieng pairing at the back looks a viable partnership although our problems at left-back remain. Yet another goal conceded down our left. No doubt Elvis was to blame.

We now have a full squad and Egbri is earning his minutes on merit.
Akinola isn’t a centreforward but he he’s excellent with the ball at his feet and can beat a man from a standing start. He looked a lot better on the left and means we can ditch Goodship - did he even make the bench today?

Finally, that is now twice we’ve won 3-1 the game before lockdown. Another dozen or so lockdowns should see us safe.

Re Halford - spot on.

Centre Back pairing - sometimes managers stumble upon the best pairing, and it seems MM has done so here. Dieng has really stepped up to the plate here and Hobson is getting better with every game.

Left-back - I think Hart will play there once he is fully fit. Playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday will help him get minutes in the bank, but won't be fit enough until the New Year. Then we will have proper competition for the position.

Egbri - already commented on him. Obviously listening to the management team and developing. Not the finished article but won't be back with the U23s anytime soon.

Akinola isn't a "9" but will do well playing off someone who can hold up the ball. Goodship didn't even make the bench and a spell in the U23s will do him good, gain confidence and put pressure on the front players.
 
Re Halford - spot on.

Centre Back pairing - sometimes managers stumble upon the best pairing, and it seems MM has done so here. Dieng has really stepped up to the plate here and Hobson is getting better with every game.

Left-back - I think Hart will play there once he is fully fit. Playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday will help him get minutes in the bank, but won't be fit enough until the New Year. Then we will have proper competition for the position.

Egbri - already commented on him. Obviously listening to the management team and developing. Not the finished article but won't be back with the U23s anytime soon.

Akinola isn't a "9" but will do well playing off someone who can hold up the ball. Goodship didn't even make the bench and a spell in the U23s will do him good, gain confidence and put pressure on the front players.
Goodship was out injured apparently, rib injury picked up v Stevenage Thats why he started on the bench v Scunthorpe as per MM
 
For all the praise to MM for the way we went about the 2nd half, I feel the 1st half performance was totally down to him and how he had set the team up. It was blatantly obvious after 15 mins that Grimsby's tactics were to get the balls to the full backs, and then work from there. With us set up as a 4-4-2, and with Demi and KT sitting far too deep, we made it so easy for them. We didn't / couldn't close down the full backs, and then we were overloaded in midfield. He actually changed the formation 5 mins before HT, pushing Sterling out to the right, and bringing Olayinka to play just behind Acquah. He made the right subs, but it was also telling in the first minute of the second half, that both Hart and Egbri immediately started closing down their full backs and not giving them time to pick their passes. Morais (who had been excellent in the first half), was starved of service, and from then there was only one team who was going to win. So credit for the HT subs, and change in emphasis, but we he has to react quicker when things are obviously not working.
 
I know all teams will have their own “what if” moments already , but without that ‘last kick’ Exeter equaliser we would be outside the bottom two.
Fine margins
 
Thanks for your opinion. Problem i have with it is that sterling is highly rated at one of the best youth set ups in the country. Transitioning to play league 2 football on a cabbage patch pitch takes time, but getting minutes under managers such as pochettino doesn’t happen if you’re rubbish. Just come back from a long term injury and I’ll take my chances with pochettinos eye for a player over yours. Give the kid a chance, he chased and hurried today and won some good fouls when we needed to calm the game down. If you took SZ literally, you’d think he got his professional contract in a lucky bag.

Agreed that the second half team needs to start, Emile and sterling will be good options on the bench.
You're right.
But I hope you would agree with the notion that Sterling is a work in progress.
I haven't given up hope for him, unlike Acquah, but watching him 'develop' is going to relegate us at his current learning pace.
Sterling as a sub, maybe, once we're on a roll and he's playing in a confident team.
 
I'm really hoping that Greg Halford can teach Emile Acquah a bit about playing as the main striker, how to use his physicality and presence and make a mark on opposition defences and how to get his feet off the floor to challenge for headers. That's the big problem with Acquah, there's not been anyone of a similar build who can play that position for ages - Cox, Robinson, Fortune, none of them tall and all could run with the ball, even Humps wasn't that tall. Even those others we've had this season have been shorter hence Richard Taylor being used as a target man on more than one occasion.

I didn't think Sterling was too bad first half, but things were just not going right. Two games in four days was too much too soon for Sam Hart, he looked knackered before half time. Good to see Kyle Taylor back as expected, for Macca, always expected him to be on the bench after Saturday's game.

There's no doubting that reacting to what was going on was what changed the game and the credit for that has to be with the management. Egbri was superb when he came on and Akinola is improving with more match time. Loved the ****housery from Macca too in the lead up to Tom Clifford's goal - they're playing like a team and how we love to see that after the disjointed set ups of the last 18 months or so.

Gutted to be losing our "in the flesh" matches, it's been so good to be back at Roots Hall for these two games, hopefully the supporters' reaction has given the players something to remember going forward.

Oxley - 6.5, unlucky with the goal, but two efforts onto the woodwork made it a bit stressful to watch, some A* time wasting!
Bwomono - 7, finding his confidence again, works so well with Egbri
Dieng - 7, solid and dependable
Hobson - 7.5, solid and dependable, improving every match
Clifford - 7, got forward more and good to see Hart immediately dropping in to cover, these two can work really well together. Well taken goal, lovely to see a training ground technique paying dividends!
Sterling - 6.5, just a little lightweight, was he trying too hard?
Demetriou - 7.5, seemed much more comfortable
K Taylor - 7.5, great first career goal! Set the evening up nicely
Hart - 7, can't fault the enthusiasm but legs were clearly struggling after Saturday's game
Olayinka - 7, barely noticed him in the 1st half to be honest but improved, like most of them, in the 2nd
Acquah - 6, someone take the lead out of his boots! Needs someone to teach him the dirty stuff, let's hope Halford can do that

Subs:
Akinola for Acquah - 7, improving all the time, great jump to win headers and gaining match time
Egbri for Sterling - 8, my MOTM, an absolute terrier - has Macca taken him under his wing?!
McCormack for K Taylor - 7, so good to see some bite in the middle!
Halford for Hart - 7, great to see the veteran Halford come on and score, however comical it was! Made a nuisance of himself amongst their defence
Klass for Olayinka - n/a, good to see him, great defensive cover at the death.
 
A few observations from me.

Demi another 90 mins. I think we have forgotten that pre-season he went for a scan and the knees are not as bad as feared. He has some problem with scaring related to an old op/injury but the problem is not as bad as they thought. Hence his ever present Sat-Tue-Sat & 90 mins. Big bonus touch wood. He will be playing much more often than anticipated.

Demi defers on the "in the referees ear" bit to Macca (his senior). So when Macca came on his slipped seemlessly into the role. MM is learning from them and enjoyed a 5 minute "discussion" with the 4th official about a quick throw not being allowed because it was taken 3 inches from the correct position.

Halford is what you might call an "emergency" Peter Crouch. He is either CB or holding midfield- given 4231 the latter ideally so. Looks in good nick, fairly mobile and I think we can say doesn't mind sticking his head in where it hurts. His versatility makes him a particularly astute signing I think.

Akinola looks very very promising. Left side in a 4231 I think he will score goals and be very exciting. Body strength, close control, skill, pace, good leap... what's not to like.

Egbri. A more skilful, quicker, more threatening version of Will Atkinson. And every team needs one and in my World the comparison to Atkinson is a compliment. We missed him when he went and we certainly have more energy on the pitch when Egbri is on. He is very young. He is learning very fast.

Macca. Quality. A Championship player who loves the game and wants to carry on playing - and can. Forget the legs have "gone"- when you are good as he is, your positional sense is as good as his is, your organisational skills as good as his is and you have the presence on the pitch he has it doesn't matter. Interesting Halford watching last week picked out how Macca was constantly coaching those around him- for MM to have this is invaluable to move what it done on the training ground on to the pitch. You need leaders. I wonder if Halford brings that too? 330 odd games in the Championship, 30 in the Prem, similar age (different haircut).
 
Last edited:
For all the praise to MM for the way we went about the 2nd half, I feel the 1st half performance was totally down to him and how he had set the team up. It was blatantly obvious after 15 mins that Grimsby's tactics were to get the balls to the full backs, and then work from there. With us set up as a 4-4-2, and with Demi and KT sitting far too deep, we made it so easy for them. We didn't / couldn't close down the full backs, and then we were overloaded in midfield. He actually changed the formation 5 mins before HT, pushing Sterling out to the right, and bringing Olayinka to play just behind Acquah. He made the right subs, but it was also telling in the first minute of the second half, that both Hart and Egbri immediately started closing down their full backs and not giving them time to pick their passes. Morais (who had been excellent in the first half), was starved of service, and from then there was only one team who was going to win. So credit for the HT subs, and change in emphasis, but we he has to react quicker when things are obviously not working.
Look, the fact he’s reacting at all is good. I thought it was refreshing, usually you’re frustrated as the manager can’t see the bleedin’ obvious but MM seems to be learning as he goes and getting to grips with what’s a big step up to L2. Mistakes are alright as long as you learn and as for luck for going in at HT level, we’re due a bit, after these last 2 nightmare seasons.
 
Back
Top