Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 4, Torquay United 1

[OldBlueLady]

I didn't think Harris was up to much till his vision created our second goal.

Are you serious? He put some very good crosses into the box, and not only the one for Kane's 2nd which was sublime. I thought Harris led by example today and played a fine game, both he and Dickinson worked hard for the good of the team - in fact, my only criticism was that they were both often too wide leaving no striker in the box but I guess that's what created Kane's goals!

Also, I thought Timlin had quite a reserved game for him, definitely something in the loss of the beard! Defensively, I thought we were sound, Gilbert seemed very confident and in control and it's good to see him mirroring Clohessy's forward runs. Prosser came in for Barker and did a fantastic job, Phillips, as others have said, had a great game too. For me, he actually looked more commanding without Barker. Big worry about Morris, much as it's good to have Bentley as a youngster on the sidelines, I don't think he's up to the level we need at this moment in time so I think a dip into the loan market for short term cover is probably best....talking of which, don't Bournemouth have someone who could be short term cover? :winking:

Midfield, well, Kalala frustrates the hell out of me. He does brilliant stuff a la Claude Makelele then promptly gives the ball away. I didn't like the pairing of him and Kane in the middle and first half we suffered through a lack of creativity. In fact, goals apart I thought Kane didn't have a great game either and Hall was fairly quiet. Timlin also, certainly to begin with, things improved when he went central. Leonard looked good when he came on, really like the lad. Blair did nothing wrong either but wasn't on for long.

Torquay were very poor, no doubt about that, didn't like the tactics particularly either but wish the bloke well who was stretchered off. He got Prosser in the first half, seems he came off second best with the second challenge.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I thought Dickinson was excellent today, virtually all of his touches and flicks came off, and his finish on the third goal was emphatic. You can tell he is a player who feeds off confidence and crowd approval - he loved the ovation from the East as he came off. I'll always be a BBBC devotee, but Liam is deputising nicely. Harris had his moments, and was unlucky not to score, but he drifts out of the game at times and too many of his flicks and lay-offs don't come off. Whether this is due to his team mates not being on the same wavelength, I'm not sure. He's obviously a great leader and in old CM parlance 'has a positive effect on the team', but I'm not convinced that Barry should sit on the bench when he's fit to keep Harris in the side.

As everyone has noted, Timlin was excellent, but I also feel that Gilbert had a quietly effective game on the left, he was solid defensively, but also played some tidy balls into the box, proving he isn't just a hoofer. Prosser did OK but I'm not convinced by him, he lacks the physicality to play that position at this level. All in all, no complaints, we had a magnificent 20 minute spell where we tore them to shreds, however poor Torquay may have been, that sort of dominance is only possible when you have a decent side. I'm certain that we'll be in the top three come May.

 

[* ORM *]

Harsh on Timlin. The reason he gets my mom is that whenever a teammate needed an outlet he was there. Last player to offer what Timlin gave us today was Kevin Maher.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Are you serious? He put some very good crosses into the box, and not only the one for Kane's 2nd which was sublime. I thought Harris led by example today and played a fine game, both he and Dickinson worked hard for the good of the team - in fact, my only criticism was that they were both often too wide leaving no striker in the box but I guess that's what created Kane's goals!

Also, I thought Timlin had quite a reserved game for him, definitely something in the loss of the beard! Defensively, I thought we were sound, Gilbert seemed very confident and in control and it's good to see him mirroring Clohessy's forward runs. Prosser came in for Barker and did a fantastic job, Phillips, as others have said, had a great game too. For me, he actually looked more commanding without Barker. Big worry about Morris, much as it's good to have Bentley as a youngster on the sidelines, I don't think he's up to the level we need at this moment in time so I think a dip into the loan market for short term cover is probably best....talking of which, don't Bournemouth have someone who could be short term cover? :winking:

Midfield, well, Kalala frustrates the hell out of me. He does brilliant stuff a la Claude Makelele then promptly gives the ball away. I didn't like the pairing of him and Kane in the middle and first half we suffered through a lack of creativity. In fact, goals apart I thought Kane didn't have a great game either and Hall was fairly quiet. Timlin also, certainly to begin with, things improved when he went central. Leonard looked good when he came on, really like the lad. Blair did nothing wrong either but wasn't on for long.

Torquay were very poor, no doubt about that, didn't like the tactics particularly either but wish the bloke well who was stretchered off. He got Prosser in the first half, seems he came off second best with the second challenge.

'Short' being the operative word.


I wasn't knocking Harris, he did ok, dunno why he played wide so much tho?

Ur wrong about Timlin as well, he was immense today, we need to get him on permy, he makes the midfield tick.

 

[Ulysses]

Morris 7.5 - nothing to do
Clohessy 7.5 - better than last week
Phillips 8.5 - a tower
Prosser 8 - no problems
Gilbert 8 - no problems
Hall - 8 better 2nd, nowhere first
Kalala - 9 MOM- everywhere
Ferdinand - 8 - game of two halves, 2nd goal fantastic
Timlin 8.5- sign him up perm
Dickinson 8 - great flick for first goal
Harris 8.5 - everything but a goal

Subs
Leonard, Bentley & Sturrock - 7

Manager
Paul Sturrock 8

 

[stickyboy]

Mohsni 8 - held the corner flag out of Hall's way for the fourth :o)

glad he made up with the corner flag after giving it a good kick in a few weeks ago

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

Great 2nd half today, could even have had more than 4 but that would just be greedy!

Couple of things, thought Bentley looked a bit shaky but was his debut and I always think it's tricky for a 'keeper coming on as sub. Guess we'll struggle to sign anyone before Tuesday so maybe we'll get a chance to see him in a proper match situation for which he's prepared before jumping into the loan market.

I thought Kalala was immense before he went off, was also really impressed by Dickinson today too (even though he runs like a penguin!)

Finally, their no.19 was the shortest professional footballer I've ever seen - can't be much over 5 foot tall!

 

[fbm]

Now most people know me as the ever optimistic, probably overly optimistic blues fan, but...

I have to say that today was probably one of the worst games I've seen where we won convincingly.

First half was a tremendous advert for Sceptre League football... both sides losing possession and giving it away at will. It took until 43 mnutes for us to have our first real attempt and then had another scrambled off the line before half time.

We scored after 20 seconds of the second half and then were on top for 20 minutes when we clunked in 3 goals. But the third was sort of on the break and the 4th finished them off. At 4-0 I thought we would just go on and get 6,7,8... Torquay were already on the bus home. But a few moves aside, we still didn't really take them apart. Our dominance was due to the fact that there was just nothing to beat. They stopped pressing, gave us tons of room and it was like a training match against various members of the crowd selected at random (maybe not all male or under 50). Then Morris goes off, a very nervous Bentley comes on and we fall to pieces at the back after that. I couldn't tell whether it was bad keeping or a massive deflection for their goal but sadly young Bentley didn't inspire confidence in anyone and it was a good job we were 4-1 up.

I know that sounds really harsh, but Torquay were worse than Dagenham a couple of weeks ago. Boring first half, satisfying rather than enjoyable second and a good win... but that was some way behind other performances.

Phillips MOM for me - hardly put a foot wrong. No-one was really off their game and everyone did some good stuff at some point. Timlin and Kalala both were VERY good at breaking things up but the short passing, especially in the first half, was poor. Today we were lucky we came up against some a ragged, unmotivated side.

If the two halves were reversed I'll bet the reviews would be different.

I sincerely hope we get some loan cover in goal because Bentley doesn't look up to it I'm afraid.

Where was Barker by the way?

 

[McNasty]

Great 2nd half today, could even have had more than 4 but that would just be greedy!

Couple of things, thought Bentley looked a bit shaky but was his debut and I always think it's tricky for a 'keeper coming on as sub. Guess we'll struggle to sign anyone before Tuesday so maybe we'll get a chance to see him in a proper match situation for which he's prepared before jumping into the loan market.

I thought Kalala was immense before he went off, was also really impressed by Dickinson today too (even though he runs like a penguin!)

Finally, their no.19 was the shortest professional footballer I've ever seen - can't be much over 5 foot tall!

According to Torquay's official site Danny Stevens is 5'10" tall.

 

[united we stand]

Now most people know me as the ever optimistic, probably overly optimistic blues fan, but...

I have to say that today was probably one of the worst games I've seen where we won convincingly.

First half was a tremendous advert for Sceptre League football... both sides losing possession and giving it away at will. It took until 43 mnutes for us to have our first real attempt and then had another scrambled off the line before half time.

We scored after 20 seconds of the second half and then were on top for 20 minutes when we clunked in 3 goals. But the third was sort of on the break and the 4th finished them off. At 4-0 I thought we would just go on and get 6,7,8... Torquay were already on the bus home. But a few moves aside, we still didn't really take them apart. Our dominance was due to the fact that there was just nothing to beat. They stopped pressing, gave us tons of room and it was like a training match against various members of the crowd selected at random (maybe not all male or under 50). Then Morris goes off, a very nervous Bentley comes on and we fall to pieces at the back after that. I couldn't tell whether it was bad keeping or a massive deflection for their goal but sadly young Bentley didn't inspire confidence in anyone and it was a good job we were 4-1 up.

I know that sounds really harsh, but Torquay were worse than Dagenham a couple of weeks ago. Boring first half, satisfying rather than enjoyable second and a good win... but that was some way behind other performances.

Phillips MOM for me - hardly put a foot wrong. No-one was really off their game and everyone did some good stuff at some point. Timlin and Kalala both were VERY good at breaking things up but the short passing, especially in the first half, was poor. Today we were lucky we came up against some a ragged, unmotivated side.

If the two halves were reversed I'll bet the reviews would be different.

I sincerely hope we get some loan cover in goal because Bentley doesn't look up to it I'm afraid.

Where was Barker by the way?

I have to admit I tend to agree with almost all of that. The only thing I would say is that you can only beat whats in front of you, and their goal took a huge deflection. Would Morris have saved it- I don't know but am erring on no.

 

[bazzashrimper]

I disagree with some of the comments on Ferdinand. I said at half time that I thought he'd been superb, best player on the pitch and certainly his best half of the season. Second half he scored two, but otherwise his performance was no where near his first half effort

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

I think some on here are being a bit harsh on Bentley. He is an 18 year old kid making his professional debut, and as a keeper its always hard coming on as a sub. He had no chance with the goal, made one good punch, and just about did enough with another cross he came for. The only slight error he made was with his first save that he had to make that bounced off him. Unless Morris is out for 2 or 3 weeks, then I can't see any reason to get in a loan keeper. Give the guy a chance.

 

[southendkid]

Watching the highlights there is absolutely no way Bentley could have saved that goal, the deflection moved it from one corner to the other. Ferdinand's second was quality

 

[devonexile]

Watching the highlights there is absolutely no way Bentley could have saved that goal, the deflection moved it from one corner to the other. Ferdinand's second was quality

I agree with that completely.

 

[canveyshrimper]

According to Torquay's official site Danny Stevens is 5'10" tall.

Sideways? :unsure:

 

[eastling]

Just a quick mention for Bentley. Well done to the lad. Although we were well up at the time he came on it is difficult to come on as a sub especially for a debut in the big time. Thought he did okay. Let's give the lad some encouragement. We did let Torquay back into by letting them have possession but tbh it was more telling that their players had decided to ignore Ling's instructions and play for their own pride I think.

 

[McNasty]

I think some on here are being a bit harsh on Bentley. He is an 18 year old kid making his professional debut, and as a keeper its always hard coming on as a sub. He had no chance with the goal, made one good punch, and just about did enough with another cross he came for. The only slight error he made was with his first save that he had to make that bounced off him. Unless Morris is out for 2 or 3 weeks, then I can't see any reason to get in a loan keeper. Give the guy a chance.

To anyone judging Daniel Bentley on his debut I have a few words for you --- Ray White , Brighton , 1960's.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Agree there was nothing Bentley could do, the ball took a huge deflection, clearly seen on the match highlights. In fact, I wonder if there was even a hint of offside about it?

As for Stevens, I think that's a misprint and it should read 4'10"! Needed introducing to Mike Tyndall!

 

[canveyshrimper]

To anyone judging Daniel Bentley on his debut I have a few words for you --- Ray White , Brighton , 1960's.

9-1 my first away game, although I'm not sure if it was White's debut.

 

[fbm]

Watching the highlights there is absolutely no way Bentley could have saved that goal, the deflection moved it from one corner to the other. Ferdinand's second was quality

Having seen it on the box, yes, he was helpless really.

I'm not knocking his keeping ability - I'm sure he will develop into a decent goalie - but we are on a good run, the defence has been mean of late and I don't think he's ready. If he plays on Tuesday it wil change our whole gameplan. The defence will have to sit deeper to protect him.