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The fbm view and ratings - Southampton (a)

We lose 4-1 and two central defenders get the highest ratings - have I missed something here ?

I don't know if you were there ORM but I don't think that Barrett and Clarke were the problem. Without them it would have been loads more.
 
I agree FBM yet again the full-backs leave the goal looking very exposed, maybe they will do better at league 1 level, if not there needs to be a change of personel in that area.
 
I don't know if you were there ORM but I don't think that Barrett and Clarke were the problem. Without them it would have been loads more.

I agree. The midfield was left wide open on a number of occasions and Barrett and Clarke did what they could to stem the tide.
 
I agree with most but am I the only one who thought Hooper had an ok game...Actually I would go as far to say that I thought he played well.
 
DOWN WITH A WHIMPER AS FANS STEAL SHOW


Southend's life in the Championship was of course ended last week and today there was the equivalent of the funeral.

Rather than a sombre affair, it was like all good memorial services which was a celebration of life in the Championship which turned into, as they say, "a bit of a do".

On the pitch Southend attempted to halt Southamptons charge towards the play offs with a side that lacked Maher, Gower and Eastwood. These three players had contributed most of Blues goals this season and with a barely fit Hooper and the untried Moussa in the starting line up, one wondered where any goals would come from.

Barrett provided the answer to that by volleying the opening goal after 12 minutes following a fine move and Forans knock down.

Southampton were nervy and the large and loud crowd were silenced as they could see their promoion dreams slipping away. Foran nearly added a 2nd with a fine header at the far post and the Blues defence kept their hosts at bay. That is, until about half an hour had gone when Jones nodded in from close range at the far post.

Almost immediately Southampton sliced Blues apart and would have made it 2 if not for one of many fantastic saving tackles by Peter Clarke. Blues held on for the rest of the half but they were visibly tiring and Southampton looked dangerous every time they came forward.

It really was a case of how long Blues could hold out for in the second half and the answer was sadly not very long at all. After just 3 minutes Jones beat Flahavan in the air and the ball headed goalwards only for Clarke to hack off the line. Sadly the ball went straight up in the air and Best provided an easy finish from a few inches out into the empty net.

The home side seemed to take their foot off the gas and the game started to drift. Blues as an attacking force were nowhere to be seen although Hooper had a half chance from 12 yards which trickled harmlessly towards the keeper.

With 15 minutes left the fans took over and started singing "The Great Escape" over and over again. After being stunned into silence the home fans found their voice and St Marys began to rock. This coincided with Best sliding home a 3rd from close range to seal their place in the play offs. The singing however was totally relentless and the Blues fans continued throughout the home sides goal celebrations. Almost immediately from kick off they carved Southend open again and Flahavan brought down Best but before the ref could point to the spot, Jones had notched his second despite Clarkes best efforts.

The game as a contest had long gone but the singing continued until the very end leaving the home fans amused, bemused and in the end they just had to applaud.

The match itself was incidental - the travelling Blue Army were going to finish the season off in style - and every Southend player needs to take a long hard look at the support today and ask themselves whether they were deserving of it. I hope that if any of them were thinking of jumping ship then they will think again. They got us into this mess - they can get us out!

Ratings -

Flahavan - 6.5 - Made 3 fine saves but again his lack of height and failure to command the box cost us dear.

Francis - 6.5 - Made some absolutely first class tackles and blocks today but was let down badly by his distribution.
Hammell - 6 - Had his hands full and his distribution was not up to standard either. One late free kick from a dangerous position was delivered far too deep and went straight out of play, prompting a song of "That's why we're going down" from the travelling faithful.
Barrett - 7 - Great strike and led by example. Stood up well against Best and Jones.
Clarke - 8 - MOM - What a superb battling defensive performance. He really kept Southampton at bay for long periods and made several fantastic blocks and tackles. Defended as if his life depended on it.

JCR - 6 - Received little of the ball and did even less with it when he got it. No lack of effort, just lacking belief and viable options.
McCormack - 6 - Missed Maher in the middle and persistently went flying into sliding tackles until he got booked.
Moussa - 7 - A promising full debut and looked very good going forward. Positional play leaves something to be desired but he'll learn. A good prospect and one of the positives of the day.
Foran - 7.5 - Anyone who thought he didn't care should have seen his performance today. Ok, it wasn't the finished article but he ran, chased, blocked and gave 110%.

Hooper - 4 - Totally lost, out of his depth and ring rusty.
Bradbury - 6.5 - Tried desperately to play his team mates in during the first half and won some decent ball, but was practically anonymous in the second and looked knackered due to almost playing up front alone.


Subs

Harrold - 5- on for Hooper and made little difference.


So, that brings another season to an end and with it the fbm views for Shrimperzone. I'll do what pre-season friendlies I can but otherwise roll on August.

Thanks for reading and the many, many positive comments that I get almost every time.

BLUE ARMY!



Great post, like you said every player that is thinking of trying to earn a extra buck or two by leaving us should ask themselves if they will get better support anywhere they are thinking of going.

I for one would stay put after todays performance from our fans, as the way they performed on the pitch i don't think they really deserved it ,as they got totally outclassed .

If i hadn't of beeb there myself ande read your post i too would wonder how our 2 CB's got the highest ratings but they did make some very crucial blocks and tackles otherwise the score could of got out of control.
 
agree with Ricey and Andy... I thought Hooper didn't do badly, definitely better than Harrold
 
Can't disagree about AB & Clarke. Despite conceding 4 they put everything they had into that game & other than Clarke's 2 rather naff attempts I've just seen on the Championship to stop the 2nd & 4th Saints goals I don't see there was much more that they could do. What he attempted for the 2nd goal I've no idea & the 4th was a rather tired slide to get the ball going in by the post.

I felt sorry for Hoops as I believe that Bradbury's display today was one of the worst I've seen in not far short of 40 years. It's a "funny old game" when people can see things so differently. But I really don't recall a player of ours giving the ball away so simply, so often & also staying on for 90 minutes. What annoyed me even more was that Bradbury's supposed legendary hold up play was nullified by his inability to stop the Soton players simply walking round him. They didn't have to challenge, foul or niggle him they just waited for the ball to get to him & simply strolled round him to nick it off him, so slow of both mind & body was he.

Most of the attacks that got the Saints back into the game in the 1st half stemmed from Bradbury giving the ball away in a variety of cunning ways. As for the 2nd half I thought he simply got worse. The Leg End that was loanee Paul Moran is the closest I've seen to that naff a display.

I thoroughly expect to be :guns: & :flamer: but honestly that's what I thought about him today. :fart:
 
Can't disagree about AB & Clarke. Despite conceding 4 they put everything they had into that game & other than Clarke's 2 rather naff attempts I've just seen on the Championship to stop the 2nd & 4th Saints goals I don't see there was much more that they could do. What he attempted for the 2nd goal I've no idea & the 4th was a rather tired slide to get the ball going in by the post.

I felt sorry for Hoops as I believe that Bradbury's display today was one of the worst I've seen in not far short of 40 years. It's a "funny old game" when people can see things so differently. But I really don't recall a player of ours giving the ball away so simply, so often & also staying on for 90 minutes. What annoyed me even more was that Bradbury's supposed legendary hold up play was nullified by his inability to stop the Soton players simply walking round him. They didn't have to challenge, foul or niggle him they just waited for the ball to get to him & simply strolled round him to nick it off him, so slow of both mind & body was he.

Most of the attacks that got the Saints back into the game in the 1st half stemmed from Bradbury giving the ball away in a variety of cunning ways. As for the 2nd half I thought he simply got worse. The Leg End that was loanee Paul Moran is the closest I've seen to that naff a display.

I thoroughly expect to be :guns: & :flamer: but honestly that's what I thought about him today. :fart:

Well I'll start. :thump:

I didn't think Bradbury had a bad game today. He's got no pace (but we knew that already) but held the ball up well and played a lot better than he has of late. Wasn't his fault that our midfied sat far too deep and he was therefore left isloated up front - whenever he got he ball he was surrounded by a sea of red-and-white with nobody helping him out.

They were just better than us.
 
Well I'll start. :thump:

I didn't think Bradbury had a bad game today. He's got no pace (but we knew that already) but held the ball up well and played a lot better than he has of late. Wasn't his fault that our midfied sat far too deep and he was therefore left isloated up front - whenever he got he ball he was surrounded by a sea of red-and-white with nobody helping him out.

They were just better than us.
You see that's where this game is strange in that I thought Bradbury was much worse than he has been. I think his inability to hold the ball up was shown up by the Saint's defenders constantly taking the ball off him without fouling him. From my years of watching the game someone, even isolated, who holds the ball up will draw fouls from the opposition. But he didn't get hardly any.

As for AB I thought he constantly climbed all over the back of Jones, but the ref seemed prepared to let him get away with it.

Anyway it's all about opinions. :)
 
You see that's where this game is strange in that I thought Bradbury was much worse than he has been. I think his inability to hold the ball up was shown up by the Saint's defenders constantly taking the ball off him without fouling him. From my years of watching the game someone, even isolated, who holds the ball up will draw fouls from the opposition. But he didn't get hardly any.

As for AB I thought he constantly climbed all over the back of Jones, but the ref seemed prepared to let him get away with it.

Anyway it's all about opinions. :)

You're right Hooly, it is strange especially as at away games we are all sat in the same place so we can't even blame differing angles for our opinions.

I put Bradburys lack of effectiveness down to the fact that his partner, Hooper, may as well not have been there.

I like Hoops, I think he has a good future in the game and I hope we offer him a new deal. But yesterday was his first game for us in ages, and he's just come back from a nasty injury at Orient. Boy did it show. He failed to beat any man at all, kept falling over his own feet and really just wandred around fairly aimlessly.

Bradbury in the first half did give the ball away but he also made some excellent lay offs as well. As a team we have to start defending from the front but sadly today we just crumbled and the only real effort at stemming the Saints tide was provided by Barrett and Clarke, with occasional assistance from Francis and Foran.

The "senior" members of the midfield, McCormack and JCR, were for me pretty disappointing as they weren't really in the game and too much was therefore placed on the shoulders of the youngsters like Hooper and Moussa. The latter acquitted himself much better than Hoops did, especially in the first half.

But far from being too critical, we know there is a huge gulf in quality between league one and the CCC. We also have to remember that we essentially have a young side that after another pre-season will have got that little extra fitness and understanding. I really do want the menagement to clamp down on this party lifestyle that we have down here at the moment and I'd rather not see players out all over the town every night of the week (whether they are drinking or not).

Next season we will find it easier to recruit players and I fully expect a slightly larger squad - but not too big, as we essentially need that close knit team spirit that only a tight squad can bring.

We'll need a couple of experienced heads to replace Sodje and Prior, and perhaps another go at an experienced striker because I feel Bradbury will not be up to it as the target man.

There are several reasons to be optimisitic. I don't expect to bounce back, but 2 or 3 years of consolodation will provide the strength we need to compete at CCC level.
 
I have to agree with you Hooly, I thought that Bradbury had a very poor game. He was slow and out of his depth for much of the game in my opinion. He never lacks for effort and always gives of his best but he is no longer good enough to carry a threat. If we are to challenge in League 1 next season he surely cannot be in the starting eleven. I also agree with the comments made about Flahavan who I know has been a great servant for us- but his lack of height and inability to command his box has put huge pressure on a defence that has been fully stretched anyway this season.

The fans were awesome yesterday- it was a tremendous display of commitment to the club. Well done!
 
frustrating, rather than particularly poor, performance form Bradders IMO. When he got the ball under control, his hold-up play was excellent, played a few great cross-field balls to JCR and Foran with his back to goal. He did however look absolutely knackered in the second half, and gave the ball away a lot. Don't think the Hooper rating was particularly harsh, he was basically anonymous apart from the world's slowest shot in the 2nd half.
 
I thought yesterday showed the strengths and weakneses of Lee Bradbury pretty well. He always made himself available to his teammates, his first touch (no matter how ****-poor the ball to him) was quality and his awareness of his teammates and ability to play the ball to them is very good. Unfortunately he is very slow which makes him fairly easy to defend against and the Southampton defenders were happy just nick the ball off of him as soon as he'd brought it under control. He offered just about nothing as a goal-threat again.

Eastwood aside though, I still think he's the best striker we've got.
 
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