Tonight - Positives and Negatives

[Smiffy]

Positives :-

Tommy Black - MOM The geezer is immense, pace, vision, distribution, awareness, he has the lot and if he doesn't start on Saturday against a former club, Tilly is mad..

Sir Adam - As above, even playing out of postion he was class, he looks to have gained a few extra yards pace aswell, should be the next captain of the side.

Richie Foran - Looked good tonight, great in the air, won more than Harrold, took his goal sublimely and again he should start on Sat, but upfront with Charlie Mac.

Tilly - For making subs before the 89th minute.

Created plenty of chances.

Knocked the ball about well at times.


Negatives:-

Gary Richards - I think he is decent enough at times in the air, but that is it i'm afraid, positionally he is a bit hit and miss, maybe that was because he was partnered with Clarke, who I thought was toilet tonight (EDIT) A little harsh on reflection

Lewis Hunt - Not as bad as Richards, but worry's me that he is the best backup we have.

Matt Harrold - Did ok tonight but again doesn't win enough in the air and doesn't get in goalscoring positions enough.

Eric Odhiambo - First game, so wont be too critical, but he will need to show a lot more than that to trouble even our forward line.

Inability to finish teams off.

Inability to concentrate for 90mins+........... AGAIN :mad:

 

[Jam_Man]

Positives :-


Negatives:-

Gary Richards - I'm sorry but if this bloke is our 3rd choice defender then we haven't got a hope in hell of sorting this defensive crisis out.. I think he is decent enough at times in the air, but that is it i'm afraid, positionally he is clueless.
.

I thought Richards had a good game today, was far better than Clarke.

He kept Benson completely quiet, won pretty much every header sent his way, kept which cant be said for clarke who got beaten by their short striker.

On todays performance I wouldnt want him as 3rd choice either, Id want him in with Barrett.

 

[Medway Blue]

Positives :-

Tommy Black - MOM The geezer is immense, pace, vision, distribution, awareness, he has the lot and if he doesn't start on Saturday against a former club, Tilly is mad..

Sir Adam - As above, even playing out of postion he was class, he looks to have gained a few extra yards pace aswell, should be the next captain of the side.

Richie Foran - Looked good tonight, great in the air, won more than Harrold, took his goal sublimely and again he should start on Sat, but upfront with Charlie Mac.

Tilly - For making subs before the 89th minute.

Negatives:-

Gary Richards - I'm sorry but if this bloke is our 3rd choice defender then we haven't got a hope in hell of sorting this defensive crisis out.. I think he is decent enough at times in the air, but that is it i'm afraid, positionally he is clueless.

Lewis Hunt - Not as bad as Richards, but worry's me that he is the best backup we have.

Matt Harrold - Did ok tonight but again doesn't win enough in the air and doesn't get in goalscoring positions enough.

Eric Odhiambo - First game, so wont be too critical, but he will need to show a lot more than that to trouble even our forward line.

Inability to finish teams off.

Inability to concentrate for 90mins+ a****ingain.

Shall have to disagree with some of that! :p I like Richards and I saw no problem with his positioning at all tonight. He doesn't do anything spectacular but he is solid and I value his height greatly at the back.

Lewis - can't really see what he did wrong tonight? Again, not spectacular - but not worrying or bad :confused:

Matt Harrold - again, I will argue against everybody who says that same thing about Matt harrold. People need to accept that getting into goalscoring positions is not his game. he will quite frankly never be that type of player. But my word he works hard, and I thought he won a good few balls in the air tonight. And he held it up and laid it off well, bringing other players into the game. I value what he brings to our game.

Nicky bailey - I thought he was a positive. He's immense and will be a key player. Tough and uncompromising in the tackle, puts himself about and always chases people doiwn, and my word he has a pass on him. Anyone in the west see that sublime ball he put through to Tommy Black down in the right corner in the second half? Superb vision, accuracy and weighting.

 

[ozzy-shrimper]

COncentration goes down the drain once again. Lets leave the ball and watch it dribble into the corner so they can pick it up and eventually score!

 

[southend_united_fan]

disagree about richards - i think he is a good defender - im much much more worried about clarke.

...and i must admit i thought eric was a breath of fresh air because he had some pace. looks very young, but has got to be better than those montrosities tilly calls strikers(harrold, macdonald).

such a great midfield is being wasted with cr*p strikers. i actually dont feel its the defence that that is the problem. we're conceding these late goals because we are not killing teams off. we could have scored 6,7,8 goals today - thats clear cut chances we made.

i think the scorers tells a lot - once again its the midfields we that are scoring, macca got a couple this season, so has baily, gower and foran have also scored. the strikers should be scoring the goals, not relying on our midfield.

clarke and eric up front on sat - no sympathies for the other strikers im afraid(despite however hard they work)

 

[mattytheshrimper]

Matt Harrold - again, I will argue against everybody who says that same thing about Matt harrold. People need to accept that getting into goalscoring positions is not his game. he will quite frankly never be that type of player.

Isn't Harrold a striker?

 

[Smiffy]

This is what makes forums great.

Differing opinions...

 

[Jay_Shrimper]

Positives - I lost my voice? First time I've screamed so much at a Southend match.

Negatives - An hour before the match started, the sun was in my eyes and I couldn't see the pitch.

But nah, on a serious note, I thought there was more positives to come from todays match, than negatives.

On the Richards subject, can't really fault him. Thought he looked solid to be honest with you.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

disagree about richards - i think he is a good defender - im much much more worried about clarke.

...and i must admit i thought eric was a breath of fresh air because he had some pace. looks very young, but has got to be better than those montrosities tilly calls strikers(harrold, macdonald).

such a great midfield is being wasted with cr*p strikers. i actually dont feel its the defence that that is the problem. we're conceding these late goals because we are not killing teams off. we could have scored 6,7,8 goals today - thats clear cut chances we made.

i think the scorers tells a lot - once again its the midfields we that are scoring, macca got a couple this season, so has baily, gower and foran have also scored. the strikers should be scoring the goals, not relying on our midfield.

clarke and eric up front on sat - no sympathies for the other strikers im afraid(despite however hard they work)

very very true, i have often said the same thing. we can't always rely on our midfielders to as we have so far this season and last season. we need our strikers to score a few.

 

[Pubey]

richards positioning was spot on for most of the game IMO. he did his job well... winning most of the ball in the air and playing it fairly simple

positives:
forans striking and arial ability... could he be a decent striker for us!?
baileys all-round play... definitely seems to show up maher and macca IMO. this kid is a massive talent
harrold really does seem to have improved
there seems to be a bit more creativity with slide-rule passes and crosses

negatives:
clarkes horrorshow moments
fullbacks weren't used very well
mccormack just doesn't seem to play well without maher along side. passing was woeful
concentration concentration concentration!!

 

[Scamps]

Richards has only 1 thing in mind and thats to boot it anywhere.
Also Get Bradbury back 2 goals tonight.

 

[Medway Blue]

Isn't Harrold a striker?

Good observation Matty :p yes he's a striker, but not all strikers bang in 20 goals per season do they? Many who are perfectly good players dont even score ten. Harrolds game is to play with his back to goal, hold up the ball and lay it off to bring on-rushing midfielders or the other striker into play. And that's exactly what he does. Some of the criticism against him is not only illogical most of the time, but also only evident because he's an easy target. People get it set in their heads that he's sh1te after he's had one or two off-games, and their opinion henceforth will never change. No matter what Matt Harrold does, the vast majority will be calling for his head.

 

[silentshrimper]

I just dont no what to think about our team at the moment...

I think harrold is a decent player and I dont care what other people think, nice touch and is always looking to play other members of the team in, wins quite a few headers, he does get in good positions in the box but always has his back to goal in there.

The other new striker looked very good and he could go quite far at only 18, good touch and got in good positions and actualy looked quite strong for a small guy.

Black again got the crosses in and was great, he is going to be one of our highlights if we manage to keep hold of him.

Foran looked good in the first half, goal in his first start and got up in the air well to.

Barett looked like ronaldo at one point.

Middle two were fairly good.

Wasn't the best centre back partnership tonight, Richards was ok in the air but not great with positioning and Clarke was quite average.


Subs didnt do to much when they came on but atleast tilson made subs early as said.

Another late goal, this time with a team one league lower with 10 men getting it.


I think we have the basis of a good team, sort the defence out and get the team defending well all together and we can push on next season.

 

[JoshC]

negatives.
being surrounded by lairy chavs who haven't yet made puberty.
letting in another 2 goals
Odhiambo showed nothing (i will wait to see him more)
what was wrong with harrolds goal?
also, hunt walking up was the equilvilent of david batty against argentina, everybody knew it wasn't going in.
long queues :(
a chance of visiting wembley down the ****ter

positves

tommy black was immense
gary richards looked solid
foran looked good
barrett was fantastic

 

[* ORM *]

Isn't Harrold a striker?

Not necessarily - I can see the well reasoned point James is trying to make about being a supporting forward but I disagree with it. Unless the ball is within 3 or 4 yards of him you can forget it. A vague jump in the direction of the ball against opposition players 3 or 4 inches shorter is just embarrassing. Tilly seems to have him for the nuisance factor. Well it certainly seems to annoy the majority on here. :hilarious:

Sadly Harrold is not fit to lace the boots of Benjy or the greatest of them all; Super Roy McDonough. To cap it all he makes Drewe Broughton look like an international. In fairness Drewe had all the attributes Harrold doesn't possess. Strength, ability to win the ball in the air (though god knows where it would end up), elbows and wristbands and an uncanny ability having won the ball to pass it straight to an opponent.

 

[rooster]

It was a good game & well worth a fiver. Sat in the East for the first time in 3seasons which was strange but heard a lot of good singing from the West. I thought most of the team did well but it is that inabaility to finish teams off that's costing us. We should have bee at least 3 up by half time & despite the Daggers fighting spirit I couldn't have seen them coming back from that. We scored two good goals but should have buried several more of the great chances. Also thought there was an offside in the build up to their second goal.

Was encouraged by Foran, Tommy gets in some great crosses, Eric was bright with some nices touches, Harrold does work really hard, holds the ball up & creates space for others, AB was impressive at left back but it was easyish for him tonight. Unsure on Collis - had no saves to make & a bit dodgy in the air but thought his distribtuion was quicker & better than Flavs.

Looking forward to Saturday - I think it going to come good!

 

[mattytheshrimper]

Good observation Matty :p yes he's a striker, but not all strikers bang in 20 goals per season do they? Many who are perfectly good players dont even score ten. Harrolds game is to play with his back to goal, hold up the ball and lay it off to bring on-rushing midfielders or the other striker into play. And that's exactly what he does. Some of the criticism against him is not only illogical most of the time, but also only evident because he's an easy target. People get it set in their heads that he's sh1te after he's had one or two off-games, and their opinion henceforth will never change. No matter what Matt Harrold does, the vast majority will be calling for his head.

only messing with ya mate. seriously though i get your point but to be honest i would rather a 20 goal striker. we've already lost one in fred and i can't see no one replacing him at the moment. this is a big worry at the moment for me.

 

[Jam_Man]

Subs didnt do to much when they came on but atleast tilson made subs early as said.

.

THought Hooper and Macdonald looked good together and linked up really well almost scoring within 30 seconds of coming on.

We looked far more dangerous after they came on than before.

 

[Beefy]

Positives:
- Foran. He's not the most talented player ever but he works his socks off, he has a agreat attitude and he's very direct. Loves to run at defenders and scored a lovely goal.

- Richards - He's a young, white Efe Sodje. As good with the ball on his head as he is as bad with the ball at his feet. But at least he seems to know this and doesn't try to do anything other than hoof the ball. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, to be honest. I'm with Jam_Man, stick him with Barrett at the back when Hammell is fit enough to get his left-back spot back.

- Barrett - drove the team forward from left back.

- Bailey - class.

- Harrold - Worked his socks off again and his team mates really seem to appreciate his efforts. I think some of the crowd might be too.

Negatives:
- Macca - Not a good performance by him. Gave the ball away a lot and seemed very upset at the end. I was amazed that he took a pen because he didn't seem in the right frame of mind at all.

- Clarke - Dear, oh dear. Not a good performance from Clarkey.

- Two more goals conceeded and another late, late equaliser. The personel change but the pattern stays the same.

 

[Andy_S]

Am I the only one not falling head over heals everytime I see Black? Yeah decent enough player but he's not been nearly as good as people seem to be saying. With the exception of 2 or 3 great balls tonight he wasn't great IMHO.

Foran would be my pick. Best performance he's put in for us by a mile.

Odhiambo looked promising to me. Neat, tidy, few nice flicks, pace and most importantly got into the right place at the right time several times.

At the end of the day though we've played a team off the park, had loads of chances, restricted them to 2 or 3 and yet still gone out. I'm sorry, this is getting ridiculous. How many more goals are we going to concede towards the end of games? With 10 minutes to go Brush shouted don't get sloppy. Looked what bloody happened. You could read the script all night when it was 2-1 with 10 left. The players need to buck up their ideas and fast because if we get into a spiral it's going to take more guts and courage to get out of it than I think a lot of them possess.