Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 2 Swindon 1

Match Reports and Ratings to follow...

Positives today-
Revell getting his first Roots hall goal and well deserved,
Clarke excellent at the back I thought alongside Barrett,
Christophe should definitely be signed on a permanent deal.
Laurents cameo- super goal and fantastic feet.

Negatives
- Betsys aside, the crossing was very poor and the lack of composure in front of goal, particularly from Walker. Had Barney and Freedman been playing we might have hit 4 or 5. Betsy passing it to a clearly offside teammate summed it up. Need more goals from the midfield.
- Two full backs, very poor. I know Franno isnt a left back but him and Sankofa are gonna have to play a hell of a lot better in the next 2 games.


Overall not a great performance but with Barney and Dougie still to come in, we have some great striking options. I think its time to bring Macca in for Sawyer, who I thought was invisible today and too often just runs head down and doesnt go anywhere. Big concern is the full backs, especially with Scunny on tuesday night. Swindon played well, but why was Mcnamee on the bench, he caused us all sorts of problems when he came on.

Match report now on Longpier

Swindon Match Ratings

Nobody has posted any yet so here goes

Federici - 8 (Spot on all game. A key reason for our jump up the league)
Francis - 6 (Better today, but still way off best. We looked shaky today)
Barrett - 7 (Won loads in the air, but often positioning not great)
Clarke - 7 (Solid, without being obvious today. Shaky at times for all defs)
Sankofa - 5 (I feel bad, but he looks weak to me. Looks unconfident)
Robson-Kanu - 5 (Awful service today, and looked away with fairies)
Sawyer - 7 (Battling display, not up to usual high standard)
Christophe - 7 (Solid, some great tackles, but often anonymous)
Betsy - 9 (My MOM, only because Revell went off. Main creativity today)
Revell - 8 (Excellent stuff. Has won me over!)
Walker - 7 (Looks great & dangerous when wide. Dreadful finishing)

Laurent - 8 (What an impact. Why 5th choice striker?)
Grant - 5 (No time. Looked huffy at the end)
McCormack - 6 (Came on and got stuck in - good run at end)

Generally, a poor display in terms of quality. Service was shocking. We could have had Torres and Drogba up front today and they wouldnt have had sniff.. Never thought I would want Harding back for his freekicks. Everyone else had a go and looked terrible. What do they do in training all week?
Swindon looked more dangerous than I expected, and Peacock won everything in the air, despite that finger injury.

I'll take the 3 points though, as long as Tilson has a word with the defence and convinces them that winning the ball at the far post is a good thing to do !

The offside goal was an awful piece of football. We needed Walker's crisp (sorry!) finish burt he made a right cheese and onion of it.

Magnum PI said:

Nobody has posted any yet so here goes

Federici - 8 (Spot on all game. A key reason for our jump up the league)
Francis - 6 (Better today, but still way off best. We looked shaky today)
Barrett - 7 (Won loads in the air, but often positioning not great)
Clarke - 7 (Solid, without being obvious today. Shaky at times for all defs)
Sankofa - 5 (I feel bad, but he looks weak to me. Looks unconfident)
Robson-Kanu - 5 (Awful service today, and looked away with fairies)
Sawyer - 7 (Battling display, not up to usual high standard)
Christophe - 7 (Solid, some great tackles, but often anonymous)
Betsy - 9 (My MOM, only because Revell went off. Main creativity today)
Revell - 8 (Excellent stuff. Has won me over!)
Walker - 7 (Looks great & dangerous when wide. Dreadful finishing)

Laurent - 8 (What an impact. Why 5th choice striker?)
Grant - 5 (No time. Looked huffy at the end)
McCormack - 6 (Came on and got stuck in - good run at end)

Generally, a poor display in terms of quality. Service was shocking. We could have had Torres and Drogba up front today and they wouldnt have had sniff.. Never thought I would want Harding back for his freekicks. Everyone else had a go and looked terrible. What do they do in training all week?
Swindon looked more dangerous than I expected, and Peacock won everything in the air, despite that finger injury.

I'll take the 3 points though, as long as Tilson has a word with the defence and convinces them that winning the ball at the far post is a good thing to do !

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Did you go to the game? Sankofa was great at right back! Kanu can not do corners and freekicks because he is good at crossing low and hard across the 6 yard box and he did well part from the poor 3 corners and freekicks. Sawyer is great again!

If we had Torres and Drogba upfront they won't have a sniff??? we had 10 shots and 9 corners and many more freekicks.

Peacock won everything in the ari, despite the finger injury??? How does having a finger injury stop you heading the ball, think before posting mate.

The last bit is just stupid as the defense was good today and did you see Barrett save our arse at the back post?

i think you have been a little harsh on sankofa there. thought he had a solid display defensively, no where near as good as harding, but good cover. as for betsy he does look like a threat but the goal aside his delivery into the box was appauling for someone who has been around the game so long and played in the premier league. still a pretty poor performance but yet another win.
oh 1 more thing i thought switching francis to left back was a stroke of genious. although not great going forward today, it made him concentrate harder on jis defending, which was a massive improvement to the last few games.

Spot on chapperzuk Sankofa was very good today and as for Sawyer the little man is magic would walk into any championship team I will def follow his progression in his career, however he does seem to have a first good half then always seems to go off the boil in the second.

Sankofa done well IMO, sawyer was not in the game today, passed the ball well a few times thought he was dominated by the swindon CMs and macca showed the way when he came on. Revell was awsome today rarely have I seen a forward work as hard as he did today fully deserved his goal, laurent now the new cult hero wooooooooooo

My two pennies:

Federici 7: Wasn't as good today as he has been, mainly down to his distribution not being anywhere near as good or quick. Made a couple of decent stops though.

Sankofa 6: Nothing ground breaking. He looked alright pre season and as he played in some big games for Charlton, he's obviously got something but he's not shown it in the first team as yet. Probably needs a run of games though. VERY disappointing that he was outjumped by Simon Cox for their goal though.

Clarke 7: Decent enough performance and great ball in for the winner.

Barrett 6: Seemingly decided he was going to spend the game cuddling Paynter. For christ sake Adam keep your hands off the attackers, it's really going to cost us time and time again. And don't look surprised when the ref blows up when you've got two hands round him.

Francis 6: A little bit better than of late, but looked a little bit like a square peg in a round hole at left back.

Betsy 7: Yet another game where most of our attacking came through him. I like him. Another assist for him as well.

Sawyer 6: His poorest game for us yet. Never looked right from the moment he took a knock early on. Tilly actually turned round and said "that's his f*cking dead leg that is", so seemingly he'd had a problem in the week. I'd have liked to have seen him taken off a lot sooner as he struggled.

Christophe 7.5: My MOM. A very decent display from the big Frenchman No1. I love the way he drops back and breaks up attacks and then plays the simple ball out. His defensive mindedness and his athleticism will be sorely missed when he goes back.

Robson-Kanu 6: Same old from HRK. Flitted in and out, one moment of decent play, followed by 15 minutes of anonominity. And repeat.

Revell 6.5: Got the goal, worked his nuts off, but again his ability, or lack of, lets him down on the whole. He had a chance in the 2nd half to seal the game, yet he controlled like a pub player. Today kind of summed his time here up so far, with the bonus of a goal - works incredibly hard, wins the odd flick, but falls short when it comes to continually doing decent things.

Walker 6: Dear God he's frustrating. Can't do the simple things, still doesn't have a footballing brain and now seemingly has added can't stay onside to his list of downfalls. There's a little something in there that says potential, but a whole load of stuff that's stopping him from ever producing that regularly. I'm a broken record I know, but I'd still have rather saved a £100,000 and kept Hooper.

Subs:

Laurent 7: All legs isn't he!? Like a faster, more athletic Kanu. Portsmouth's Kanu that is. Fantastic header for his goal and was unfortunate to have one ruled out. Could there be something there that we could nurture?

McCormack 6.5: Looks fitter now than when he did when he first returned and made a good couple of driving runs.

Grant /: Did he actually touch the ball in his 9 minutes on the pitch?

haveaguiness said:

i think you have been a little harsh on sankofa there. thought he had a solid display defensively, no where near as good as harding, but good cover. as for betsy he does look like a threat but the goal aside his delivery into the box was appauling for someone who has been around the game so long and played in the premier league. still a pretty poor performance but yet another win.
oh 1 more thing i thought switching francis to left back was a stroke of genious. although not great going forward today, it made him concentrate harder on jis defending, which was a massive improvement to the last few games.

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Spot on H A G.....

I thought Sankofa did pretty well today. I guess he may struggle against a half decent team (e.g. Scunny / Leeds) but today looked solid against a poor Swindon side.

Betsy - BIG disapointment again, poor delivery and one of the few widemen who cant beat his man.

Revell - Great game, lots of energy & passion - I bet Brighton miss him plenty!

Laurent - Love him, could cause havoc at this level.

Chistophe - Reminds me of Papa Doupa Biop from Fulham.



Bring on Scunny!!

OK, I wasn't at the game today but from what I heard on BW commentary we ground out a good result today, without being brilliant......but also without three key players.
We've now moved up, from 22nd, to sixth place in the space of six weeks.......which can't be bad!
There seemed to be a number of good discussion points today. Sankofa, in spite of fears from a number of people, equipped himself reasonably well. Christophe and Betsy both seemed to have good games. I remember commenting....perhaps on the Yeovil match? that Sawyer seemed quiet and this appeared to follow through today. Revell sees to have captured a number of hearts, which is great, as he seems a really nice bloke in interviews. Laurent.......he didn't have his interpreter on the pitch...... .....did he?!!!!.....he is perhaps one we are going to hear a lot more about in the near future.
In spite of Tilly stating that he would still like one or two more positions strengthened,
earlier in the season, I think the interesting thing is how we now seem to have more options on the bench than we ever had in our Championship season. Considering that Harding, Freedman and Barnard were all out we could still bring on someone from the bench, like Laurent, who, as they say, has that ability to change a game.
The season is still young but if we can keep this squad together and even add to it in January, I would reckon that we will be in contention come the end of the season.

A few observations.

Federici. Saved us two points when he won that late one on one. He gives the defence the confidence they need. I'd have him down as our MoM today.

Francis. Better than last week. But that doesn't say much. In a poor run at the moment. He'll get over it.

Sankofa. Looked alright to me if I am honest.

Barrett. Totally agree with the contact issue others have made. It will cost us at some point.

Clarke. His best game for a while.

Sawyer. Not as good as in previous games, but he is non stop energy. I'd like to keep him for the season. Nicky Who?

Christophe. Another one we need to keep. I think he and Macca will work very well in weeks to come, but I suspect it may be Christophe who makes way.

Betsy. Frustrating. He makes some fantastic runs but his final ball could be so much better

Robson-Kanu. His quietest game since his return.

Revell. So pleased he scored. As others have said, he puts himself about a lot but seems to lack some of the basic stuff.

Walker. Grrr. He does some fantastic stuff and makes some fantastic chances, but like Revell fails in the simple things. I still can't believe his missed that chance in the 2nd half. Desperately needs a goal.

Laurent. Where has he been for the last month? Scared the life out of Swindon today and scored a really good, quality goal. Ultimately, he made the difference.

Grant. Anon

Macca. Time to start him I think. He gives us so many more options.

I thought Sankofa did well today and thought Francis looked better at Left back as he was able to cut in on occasion.

I think Federici is a fantastic keeper and would love to keep him here longer but I though he looked a little bit shakey today, He made some fantastic saves the one he flicked over the bar in the first half and the one-on-one towards the end but for their goal a header into the six yard box - That's got to be keepers ball.

streaky shrimper

WTF betsy never beats his man? what games have you been watching? beats his man plenty of times, think he been very good for us especially the last month or so, his crossing is sometimes poop but he has plenty of assists to his name already

Finally being able to get on the computer after the conspiracies of Sky and various Middle Earth armies, this is how I saw it

Federici - not as good as some of his other performances but solid nevertheless - 7
Sankofa - thought he had a really good game, lacked a little in the tackling maybe but quiet and unassuming, didn't put a foot wrong - 7
Clarkey - bless! One of his most confident performances, needed to be alongside the inexperience of Sankofa - 7.5
Barrett - him and Billy Paynter looked to be long seperated lovers the amount of "hands on" stuff going on! - 6.5
Francis - playing out of position, and thought he did a reasonable job - 6.5
Betsy - learn to shoot man! Most creative player no shadow of a doubt but would love to see him shoot - 7.5
Christophe - this guy is quickly becoming our lynch pin - we either need to sign him or learn not to depend upon him - 8
Sawyer - brilliant once he got going but a couple of glaring errors early on, baby keeping you awake mate? - 7.5
Kanu - quiet, but still flashes of brilliance - 7
Rev - "You are the gurning Queen", I think he's fantastic and I'm so pleased he got a goal today - 7.5
Walker - ignore the crowd, I thought he did ok, him and Rev are similar players so inevitable one of them wouldn't do so well - 7

Subs:
Laurent - what can you say? Thought he looked good when he came on before a s a sub and by God, he showed us today! - 7.5
Macca - still got it! great to see the confidence going forward, and no booking today! - 7
Grant - not on long enough, good to see a bit of bolstering to counteract McNamee, but wasn't really necessary as he was way off his pace from last year - 6.5

lee blue

leeblue said:

WTF betsy never beats his man? what games have you been watching? beats his man plenty of times, think he been very good for us especially the last month or so, his crossing is sometimes poop but he has plenty of assists to his name already

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Put 1 decent ball in the box today - but didnt go past a single player today im afraid. When he was clear through he played a half arse ball instead of taking a shot.

I saw him go past his man a few times and crossed the ball for a goal + another offside goal where Laurent should never have gone offside.

Thought Christophe was fantastic today. He broke so much up in the middle and didn't seem to give the ball away cheaply as he has seemed to before - in fact he played a couple of excellent through balls.

Sankofa struggled a bit for me. Could have done a bit better defending for the goal at the back post and also when their guy went clear through with 10 mins to go - it was Sankofa 5-10 yards behind our defensive line playing him onside. It was his first full game though so I think he'll get better as he gets used to playing.

My ratings

Federici 7 - far from convincing when Swindon hit he post, he redeemed himself with a quite outstanding save late on when one-on-one. Thank **** we've got a proper keeper this season.
Sankofa 7 - easily the pick of the back 4. Looked a solid squad player
Barrett 6.5 - not bad
Clarke 6.5 - let his man miss two free-headers from corners but delivered a peach of a cross for the winner. Two good balls in one game - we were spoilt!
Francis 6 - looked as if he was sulking on the left. He even sliced balls on his right foot and stubbornly refused to use his left foot, even though he is normally happy to use it on the right flank.
Christophe 7.5 - yet another impressive performance, breaking up numerous attacks.
Sawyer 6 - takes far too many touches to be a top flight player. I'd still love us to sign him but has plenty of room for improvement. At least the fans didn't display their ignorance by booing him when he was subbed this week.
Betsy 6.5 - looked dangerous without ever quiet producing. Nearly set up the conclusive 3rd but would have been better finishing it himself rather than risking the off-side flag.
Robson-Kanu 5.5 - talented but rarely influences the game. His set pieces were woeful.
Revell 6.5 decent display and a good goal
Walker 7 - an elusive display. Always willing and more mobile than his strike partner

Subs
McCormack 4 - woeful. Well off the pace.
Laurent 7 - scored with his first touch and showed promise if not an appetite for hard work

StreakyShrimper said:

Put 1 decent ball in the box today - but didnt go past a single player today im afraid. When he was clear through he played a half arse ball instead of taking a shot.

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Leeblue you were spot on. In the 1st half Betsy was always our main outlet. I can't believe the differing opinions as we all thought he had a great game, never scared to take on his man and despite what SS said gave some great service to the frontmen. Think he seems to get better with every game.