Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend Utd 0-1 Bolton Wanderers

[flangejackrabbit]

I suppose I'm a minority of one. Maybe, just maybe it was a totally freak goal? Initially, my thought was that, instead of turning it over the bar, Oxley flapped at the ball and sent it into the path of the scorer. Looking at it repeatedly, maybe he tried to put it over but the ball came off the face of the crossbar before he could touch it. Maybe he could have done better but maybe it's just the kind of s**t luck you get when you're in our position. I really would like to hear Oxley's interpretation of the incident.

It kind of looks like it gave the impression it was going out (maybe even was out) but the wind blew it back in to the extent that it could take that bounce off the top of the bar

 

[davem]

Thanks for the feedback, sometimes I wonder whether it's my flash player, internet connection or old computer to blame. From what I remember the first-half wasn't too bad, it was the second-half when it got really annoying . I tried rebooting ifollow but to no avail. Hope it will be better for Wednesday and next Saturday

Load it up on Google chrome, seems to wrk really well for me!

 

[Shrimper93]

First half we were not good. Second we were by far the better team, but if you don't take chances we know what happens

 

[the champ]

As a Bolton fan have to say that we got very very lucky second half first half we should have been in front but second half you dominated without really threatening I was happy with the point after playing Mansfield and we looked leggy second half keep on playing the way you did with the quality you have to get fit you’ll be fine all the best for the rest of the season

 

[Shrimpet steve]

How on earth are you sure of all that ?

From what I've heard in the echo mainley over the last 2 -3 weeks

 

[rigsby]

From what I've heard in the echo mainley over the last 2 -3 weeks

Im amazed you get so many responses but well done credit where credits due. Personally I call you the Italian...You switch sides so easily with no shame.

 

[rigsby]

AIDS is ok but if he’d said he’d prefer to have Covid then that would’ve been way below the belt!!!

The only thing that would not be acceptable on here is if you said they were made in the same laboratory.

 

[Mr Browns Ghost]

I still think oxley is the least of our problems. One mistake ... has cost us such an important point, but more so the momentum... we simply cannot cannot keep on loosing each week and almost sound ‘pleased or relaxed’ about the loss , because we’ve now got the ‘right players’ we’ve got ‘him or him’ in midfield ... for heavens sake we are stone cold bottom of the football league ( if the other two win their games in hand) we are not pulling away, we are not creating any chances , we are not having clear cut chances and we seem to play without a plan ... if you disagree, can someone please tell me what our style or game plan is ? We don’t build pressure we don’t play intense football we don’t have an outlet we don’t have a ‘go to’ person .. we just try to pass it to each other in the hope that something might happen ..... and it simply isn’t and hasn’t and won’t
We cannot keep spending our Saturdays saying the same old thing.. 100% we will go down, we are down already, we are doomed and the reason for that is this MM cannot get a reaction from his team or his squad .. he doesn’t know how to, we’ve let him off all through the first half of the season even though performances have been absolutely abysmal ( again no plan no style) he has so so many players to chose from now and still , non of them know what they are doing ? None of them are standing up to be counted... they are all simply going through the motions each week I don’t see anything else ?? Hackett Fairchild not good enough... the other winger all well and good continuously trying to keep the ball with tricks and flare , yet had two opportunities to shoot and it was like watching a kid kick a ball ... ( not good enough) anyone seen him beat the right back for speed as Whip a cross in? No me neither ... demmi loads of passion but what is he actually doing? Surely fergusson is now there as a defensive midfielder , so what’s his role ? He can’t pick a pass his distribution is **** he gets knocked off the ball continuously.. Ferguson two times today his half arsed attempt to tackle nearly cost us goals ..

We simply dont have a game plan the players don’t know what their roles are and it’s so clear to see.
It won’t get better next year ... because any of the players you ‘think’ will be good enough will ALL leave, they won’t stay .. and we will be back to square one ... no game plan no urgency no direction , but just trying it again in another league ...

how can the manager not be responsible for the complete lack of chances we create not just this week but every week .... every week? Nothing ... who’s training that then ...it’s just a group of blokes trying to manage a league club almost like some sort of experiment.It’s nuts ...

I’m so so despondent because it’s the definition of madness that I am watching, trying the same same thing every bloody week but somehow expecting a different result

 

[Jay_SUFC]

Last 2 away games gained us 4 pts when most of us expected none. Last 4 home games all defeats.
IMO if we don't win our next 4 home games, irrelevant of what scraps we pick up from away games, we're doomed?.

Then MM needs to stop playing 3 defensive midfielders; should never have gone with Ferguson, JD and Dieng in the middle

 

[LennySUFC]

I’m far more concerned at the lack of goal scoring opportunities as opposed to the mistake by Oxley today. I understand that we’ve played three of the top teams back to back however I don’t think the Cambridge or Bolton keeper needs to wash their kit. If we were creating 10 chances and scoring 0 a game that would be different but we’re not even getting the clear cut chances. There are so many opportunities to shoot and nobody has the confidence or belief to actually have a dig - not singling him out but ANG cutting in on his right foot? HIT IT!!

We need creativity in the midfield. Dieng, JD and Ferguson don’t have that between them but do you then lose defensive stability by dropping one of them?

Could Mellis be the Key to the creativity in midfield? (Genuine question, I’ve no idea what his style is!)

I would like to see Holmes start behind Sim in a 4231, then have Macca sitting deep with someone willing to create next to him.

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

I still think oxley is the least of our problems. One mistake ... has cost us such an important point, but more so the momentum... we simply cannot cannot keep on loosing each week and almost sound ‘pleased or relaxed’ about the loss , because we’ve now got the ‘right players’ we’ve got ‘him or him’ in midfield ... for heavens sake we are stone cold bottom of the football league ( if the other two win their games in hand) we are not pulling away, we are not creating any chances , we are not having clear cut chances and we seem to play without a plan ... if you disagree, can someone please tell me what our style or game plan is ? We don’t build pressure we don’t play intense football we don’t have an outlet we don’t have a ‘go to’ person .. we just try to pass it to each other in the hope that something might happen ..... and it simply isn’t and hasn’t and won’t
We cannot keep spending our Saturdays saying the same old thing.. 100% we will go down, we are down already, we are doomed and the reason for that is this MM cannot get a reaction from his team or his squad .. he doesn’t know how to, we’ve let him off all through the first half of the season even though performances have been absolutely abysmal ( again no plan no style) he has so so many players to chose from now and still , non of them know what they are doing ? None of them are standing up to be counted... they are all simply going through the motions each week I don’t see anything else ?? Hackett Fairchild not good enough... the other winger all well and good continuously trying to keep the ball with tricks and flare , yet had two opportunities to shoot and it was like watching a kid kick a ball ... ( not good enough) anyone seen him beat the right back for speed as Whip a cross in? No me neither ... demmi loads of passion but what is he actually doing? Surely fergusson is now there as a defensive midfielder , so what’s his role ? He can’t pick a pass his distribution is **** he gets knocked off the ball continuously.. Ferguson two times today his half arsed attempt to tackle nearly cost us goals ..

We simply dont have a game plan the players don’t know what their roles are and it’s so clear to see.
It won’t get better next year ... because any of the players you ‘think’ will be good enough will ALL leave, they won’t stay .. and we will be back to square one ... no game plan no urgency no direction , but just trying it again in another league ...

how can the manager not be responsible for the complete lack of chances we create not just this week but every week .... every week? Nothing ... who’s training that then ...it’s just a group of blokes trying to manage a league club almost like some sort of experiment.It’s nuts ...

I’m so so despondent because it’s the definition of madness that I am watching, trying the same same thing every bloody week but somehow expecting a different result

I went into detail about what our game plan is earlier in this thread: http://www.shrimperzone.com/forums/threads/southend-utd-0-1-bolton-wanderers.106141/post-2334930

It’s absolutely fine, of course, for fans to disagree with the plan, but so far it’s ensured that we give ourselves a chance of staying up this season.

There were times in the early stages of this season when we’d’ve been 3-0 down at half-time yesterday; the only time recently where we’ve been out of it at the break was Port Vale. That chance Doyle scooped over after Oxley pushed the ball into his path? That would’ve been 1-0 for a start because John White/any defender wouldn’t’ve been getting back to put pressure on them.

The plan is to stay in games for as long as we can, and not be out of touch by half-time to give us the best chance of snatching something. Sometimes it’ll work (Newport away), sometimes we’ll grab a point (Cambridge away), sometimes we’ll still lose games (yesterday). We’re not going to win every game from now to the end of the season after two-and-a-half seasons of barely winning a match. It’s a completely pragmatic approach given we don’t have any forwards with a history of prolific goalscoring in the league.

I expect us to create more chances with Holmes in the squad; he might just provide a moment of magic every now and then. Olayinka will also provide a spark in and around the penalty area once he returns to fitness, but we have to keep things tight to make sure we can make the most of that potential, otherwise it’ll be like Ferguson’s stunning strike at Vale Park; a consolation.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

Yeah, to me it seems we set out to be solid defensively, you can see why and it’s picked us up points and made us harder to play. We are competing in games and not getting soundly beaten. But we need to create more in the final third. I’ve said this all along, we miss chances we’ll eventually get punished but it took a goal of freak proportions to finish us off yesterday.

The reactions on here see saw depending on the result, we go from world class to utter ****. The reality is somewhere in between. Holmes will I think improve our attacking options, who knows with Nile. We rode our luck to get to HT 0-0 and the start of the second half was when we should’ve gone for it. I see why MM didn’t though, he left it til it was “safer” and it might’ve worked.

It’s like we’re scared to shoot. We’ve scored 31 less goals than Exeter but ok....carry on slagging Oxley if it floats your boat.

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

And just a little bit of statistical background into why that pragmatic approach is required: we've picked up one point this season after being behind at half-time (away to Crawley, when it was 0-1 at half-time and 1-1 at full-time) from nine matches.

It's been goal-less at half-time 12 times this season in the league; we've picked up 12 points from a possible 36 when that's been the case. When it's been level (15 times), we've picked up 16 points, so it's a just over point a game when we've matched our opponents in the first half.

As you'd expect, in the 5 games we've led we've got the most points per game (2 wins, 1 draw, 2 defeats, so 7 points from a possible 15); we've only once led by two goals at half-time (against Col U on Boxing Day), but it's a completely realistic approach to make sure we're not out of the game at the interval because results so far so we don't get much if we are.

 

[Stuart W]

I've got to say that what Mr Brown's Ghost says above hits the nail on the head. The only thing I would disagree with is that we are not as yet doomed because we have enough games to change our approach plus we don't really know how bad Barrow and Grimsby are.
There is a fundamental difference between the defeats we were having at the start of the season, and the defeats we are having now.
Back in September to November, given the multitude of injuries, we were playing youngsters who through no fault of their own were not up to the task. I won't name names but normally they would be fortunate to be playing regularly in the National League.
But now things are different. Bar Olayinka (coming back shortly), and the three players out long-term (Gard, Ralph and Lennon), we now have "on paper" a squad more than good enough for League 2.
Calls for making changes here and there in mid-field or tinkering with formations are not going to address the main issue, which I am convinced is a LACK OF POSITIVITY. We seem content to sit back and let the opposition make the running, and when we do get the ball, we treat it like a hot potato and launch it forward in a hit and hope way. We seem to be over-awed by the opposition whoever it is, and generally let them play the way they want to.

The results at Newport and Cambridge were less to do with a change in this approach and more to do with rock hard pitches which negated any tactics by either side.

Therefore it is entirely down to MM to change this strategy; the way we are currently playing is draining any confidence we have, evidenced by things like ANG's reluctance to shoot yesterday.

The manager still has enough games to turn it around, but it needs to start on Wednesday, because whereas the early season results were excusable given the circumstances, he no longer has any excuses for serving up these negative performances providing zero entertainment and regularly a similar amount of points.

 

[Mr Browns Ghost]

I went into detail about what our game plan is earlier in this thread: http://www.shrimperzone.com/forums/threads/southend-utd-0-1-bolton-wanderers.106141/post-2334930

It’s absolutely fine, of course, for fans to disagree with the plan, but so far it’s ensured that we give ourselves a chance of staying up this season.

There were times in the early stages of this season when we’d’ve been 3-0 down at half-time yesterday; the only time recently where we’ve been out of it at the break was Port Vale. That chance Doyle scooped over after Oxley pushed the ball into his path? That would’ve been 1-0 for a start because John White/any defender wouldn’t’ve been getting back to put pressure on them.

The plan is to stay in games for as long as we can, and not be out of touch by half-time to give us the best chance of snatching something. Sometimes it’ll work (Newport away), sometimes we’ll grab a point (Cambridge away), sometimes we’ll still lose games (yesterday). We’re not going to win every game from now to the end of the season after two-and-a-half seasons of barely winning a match. It’s a completely pragmatic approach given we don’t have any forwards with a history of prolific goalscoring in the league.

I expect us to create more chances with Holmes in the squad; he might just provide a moment of magic every now and then. Olayinka will also provide a spark in and around the penalty area once he returns to fitness, but we have to keep things tight to make sure we can make the most of that potential, otherwise it’ll be like Ferguson’s stunning strike at Vale Park; a consolation.

So In a nut shell you are saying that Southend Uniteds game plan isn’t to take it to anyone isn’t to have a dog fight it’s to hang on as long as possible in the hope we might get a chance ?? Wow ... would you or do you have confidence in that method at a pro club ? That seems Sunday league park football cup match type stuff

 

[blues exile]

I know it's all about survival this season but what grim viewing it makes. All the enjoyment has been sucked out of it with the emphasis on 'staying in the game'. Despite the now over abundance of midfielders there is almost zero creativity and no movement up front to encourage it. Inevitable that a single defensive lapse is likely to lose us the game when there is so little chance of scoring at the other end. A few months ago Akinola was going to be our saviour, now unrealistic expectations are being heaped on Ranger, who even at his best was never a prolific goalscorer. When our best chances of survival depend on two other clubs being even worse than we are or the National League being voided, it shows just how low our expectations are.

 

[Exiled Shrimper]

So In a nut shell you are saying that Southend Uniteds game plan isn’t to take it to anyone isn’t to have a dog fight it’s to hang on as long as possible in the hope we might get a chance ?? Wow ... would you or do you have confidence in that method at a pro club ? That seems Sunday league park football cup match type stuff

It's to make sure we're not out of the game at half-time, because when we are behind, we have picked up one point out of a possible 27 this season. There's plenty of fight being shown (you can use the example of John White getting back to put pressure on Doyle in the first half yesterday, or Elvis clearing the ball off the line. You can also look at Elvis bursting into the penalty box to meet RHF's cross before half-time).

It's not that we don't want to be ahead at half-time; if we are, that's great. It's that we absolutely don't want to be behind and out of it at half-time (e.g. Harrogate at home, Carlisle away, Bradford away, Port Vale away this season, innumerable examples in the previous couple of seasons as well).

Do I have confidence in it? I have more confidence in this plan than to blindly throw everything into attacking teams when we simply don't have the tools available to us to do that, because we don't have forwards that have a history of scoring 10 goals a season in the league, let alone 20 goals. And the plan will appear slightly better when there are a couple of creative players (Holmes, Olayinka) involved because we should create a bit more.

 

[martinreed]

How many goals has akinola scored? Another good player who cant finish! I like akinola but the team I selected is stronger

In your deluded opinion perhaps

 

[geoffmundo]

The most disappointing thing for me was having weathered the Bolton 1st half storm, we started the 2nd on top without creating any real chances. I thought Bolton were there for the taking and I was not surprised that they made their triple change 15 mins into the half. Our most likely goal threat would come from dead ball situations, and unfortunately we wasted our corners and often took quick free kicks which also came to nothing rather than getting the ball in to the box.

Looking back at the Oxley incident again he looks just too casual, there is no urgency maybe he just expected it to go over?

 

[SeldomSeenShrimper]

Nile Ranger needs to be on the bench next game.

If he's got 20 minutes in him we need to gamble.

Again we are relying on clean sheets and its the same old story. Oxley, who has been outstanding recently makes a mistake and all of a sudden he's the reason we lost ?

We need to start scoring goals