Post-Match Thread and Ratings Bristol Rovers 0-0 Southend United

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

I was there.

First game since Hull, so first time I've seen Barnard this time around. Well, he worked hard but he's never gonna score. I'm no fan of Eastwood but he was no worse than the others. They must get depressed when they see those two up top, though.
The conditions were terrible. Wind, rain, hail and godawful football. The team looks out of ideas and their body language says the season is over. Other than that it was great.

I thank you for your opinion, everything else is just hearsay. I find it a bit pedantic with the 'should this not be in ex-shrimpers thread' brigade but seriously if you heard it on the radio then your opinion is worth no more than mine as I was in a Baker Street pub checking my phone every few mins.

 

[wakes123]

To say we hav been dog **** for a few months we are still in with a great chance of play offs. Chins up folks.

Seriously how do you work out that we have a great chance of playoffs? I think it's a big outside chance now tonight had to be a must win.

 

[LBBlue]

Played 20, won 3, drawn 12, lost 5, goals for 20, goals against 20, points 21 - lucky we got 32 points in the first 18 games otherwise we'd be on our way to the conference. We ain't going to win anything with this lot - manager and players.

 

[wiggy]

To say we hav been dog **** for a few months we are still in with a great chance of play offs. Chins up folks.

....deluded as usual, Phil Brown hates shooting at the oppositions goal, how do we make the play offs with this idiot in charge?

 

[Shrimper]

To say we hav been dog **** for a few months we are still in with a great chance of play offs. Chins up folks.

We'll be 4 points behind Plymouth tomorrow if they beat Accrington

With our run in that would be season over to me. We have to play Oxford, Rochdale, Burton and Fleetwood in our last 8 games.

 

[dingleydangley]

I thank you for your opinion, everything else is just hearsay. I find it a bit pedantic with the 'should this not be in ex-shrimpers thread' brigade but seriously if you heard it on the radio then your opinion is worth no more than mine as I was in a Baker Street pub checking my phone every few mins.

What now? :'(

 

[Mark2907]

We have scored just 6 goals in the past 8 games. That's bad even for a side struggling to stay in the league let alone those chasing the top7!

Overall this season the defence has been good considering the number of injuries and therefore central partnerships. In fact at least 4 of those goals we have scored have come from defenders. Sort the attack out and the defenders can relax a little more.

 

[Neil 24]

Seriously how do you work out that we have a great chance of playoffs? I think it's a big outside chance now tonight had to be a must win.

U daft? Only a few points in it

 

[Neil 24]

....deluded as usual, Phil Brown hates shooting at the oppositions goal, how do we make the play offs with this idiot in charge?

Mr optimistic as ever

 

[Sammy Shrimper]

Loza has pace and was very close to being a hero towards the end of the game, but just failed to connect sweetly with the ball.
Start Loza on Monday Phil.

 

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

What now? :'(

Sit and wait for everyone to get home from Bristol. Frustrating I know but those that have seen the horrors and the triumphs with their own eyes are our only hope to understand the real truth. Maybe we can't handle the truth....time will tell.

 

[buffalowolf]

0-0 :raspberry:

 

[Wobbler]

Awful game in horrible conditions. The mini storm towards the end compounded what was a pretty forgettable night, with the only highlight being the stick for Harrold during his warm up. And there I was thinking it couldn't be any worse than Saturday...

First half was truly woeful from an attacking point of view, with our idea of attacking play consisting of either a long ball over Eastwood's or Barnard's head or a pointless punt down one of the channels. Second was marginally better as we actually looked to get the ball into feet a bit more but apart from a 10 minute spell at the start of the half and Loza's chance late on we just didn't look like scoring. All the more depressing as Rovers were genuinely the worst side I've seen us play this season.

Bentley - 7 - Solid when called upon, one good save in the first half after a goalmouth scramble.
White - 5 - Crossing and passing was poor.
Egan - 7 - A class above this level.
Sokilik - 7 - Impressive again, he and Egan look a very solid partnership.
Coker - 7 - Solid at the back and got forward well, some decent crosses.
Hurst - 5 - Out of form, created little.
Leonard - 6 - Pick of the midfield but should have done more to influence the game.
Atkinson - 6 - Industrious but lacking in quality bar a good run towards the end.
Timlin - 5 - The usual work rate but poor in possession.
Eastwood - 6 - Felt he wasn't as poor as is being made out, some nice touches and link-up play when he actually got the ball at his feet but all in areas far too deep to harm the opposition.
Barnard - 5 - Poor service apart from one chance in the second half but again way off the pace, brushed off the ball far too easily countless times.

Loza - 6 - Gave a bit of life to our attack, quick with good close control but spurned our best chance late on. Should start on Monday.
Straker - Brought on far too late to make an impact.

 

[BrettieAngell]

U daft? Only a few points in it

we haven't won for 13 games?

 

[shrimperjon]

The thing I don't get is the young lad Williams came on against Exeter I think and looked ok, strong, decent touch and good pace. He hasn't been seen since on the pitch. So, why go and sign this Loza guy who by all accounts is a very similar player to Williams. Not sure it sends out the right message to our young players if when they get a chance and do ok they just get forgotten again. Good luck to Loza though and maybe we should start him and Williams and just go all out pace upfront. Can't do any worse than the current shambles.

 

[Neil 24]

we haven't won for 13 games?

Exactly and only a few points in it, turn the coldplay music off!

 

[rlb999]

Far too regimented again and never likely to create a chance for our forwards. It's been like that throughout Browns tenure. My favourite Southend manager was Barry Fry because we all just piled forward.

 

[Rick Parsnip]

Long way to go to be served up a very poor game of football from two very ordinary mid-table League Two teams, officiated by the biggest 'homer' I've seen for some time - it was embarrassing at times.

Rovers all 'big boot' forward and never looked to play football, whilst at least the Blues did try in awful conditions.

First half poor, but we started the second half at an excellent pace and could/should have scored whilst well on top - but it never came - and never will with our very poor finishers.

People here have been on for some time about getting the ball to Freddies feet - well today he got it - plenty of times but he was so deep he was ineffective. His partner will not score in a month of Sundays if he could not take advantage of a brilliant cross which found him only yards from goal.

Bentley - 5 Not a shadow of the confident player he was earlier in the season. Would not come off his line to take crosses and was rightly bawled out by Sokolik for not coming for a through ball that the CH had to hack clear in a panic
White - 4 Poor. Not been the same since his injury. Such a shame.
Egan - 6 Safe and steady game. Unspectacular but effective
Sokolik - 6 Excellent in the air, but his passing was woeful, especially in the first half.
Coker - 7 Good game. Used the ball well and a big improvement on recent performances.
Hurst - 5 First half totally anonymous, second half bit more improvement but he is not very effective. How some on here can say his crossing is good must be watching a different game from me.
Leonard -8 MOM. Broke up attacks time and again in the first half and still had time to rampage forward to shoot or set up good passes. Second half pushed forward and his supply to the front men was excellent. To say he did not influence the game was nonsense as most of the danger in the second half came from his support and supply.
Atkinson - 7 Worked as hard as usual for the team. He is never spectacular but that should not detract from his contribution game after game..
Timlin - 4 Poor. Cannot remember one of his passes finding a yellow and black shirt all game. Wasted attacking moves time and again. Why Laird is not in this position amazes me.
Eastwood - 6 Good control with the ball which he held up well but unfortunately mostly outside the penalty area with no end product. Looked fit for the first hour though.
Barnard - 4 Poor. If he cannot convert the several easy chances he had second half then there is no hope for him (or us).

Loza - 6 Quick, and given time could well be an asset. Lazily caught offside several times by ball-watching. He could have made himself an early fan's favourite but somehow headed a pin-point cross into the ground and over the bar from four yards out with the goal wide open and Mildenhall nowhere.

Straker - 5 Not on long enough to make a difference. Made one run which petered out.

 

[manor15]

A tough game, tough conditions, but we battled through and got what I would say is a decent result in the end. The performance wasn't great, we didn't ever look like scoring and I don't think we would have if we carried on playing all weekend, but at the same time we were great defensively and didn't look like conceding at any point. It really was just a poor game of football and neither side deserved much more. We need a win soon, but we need some motivation, the midfield looked tired and devoid of ideas, up front we were blunt, Loza looked like the spark that might change that if he can settle in quickly and avoid being kicked about too much. Far from a good performance, but there were certainly positives to take from it.

Bentley - 7 - Did what he had to do and his distribution created chances at times
White - 5 - Worst I've seen him play, repeatedly went for the long ball down the line and wasted good chances when attacking
Egan - 7 - Calm, collected and solid, nothing really seemed to worry him
Sokilik - 7 - Would be surprised if he missed a header all season, dominated defence
Coker - 7 - Quiet first half, more of an attacking threat in the second with some good deliveries
Hurst - 7 - Far from his best but created more chances than most and put the ball in the box which is what we needed, not his fault that no one is getting on the end of it
Leonard - 6 - Game just completely passed him by, had no impact or influence
Timlin - 5.5 - Off the boil, tried hard to find the right passes but nothing seemed to come off for him
Atkinson - 6 - Worked hard and had a few decent moments but didn't create much at all
Eastwood - 6 - Won his headers, but is painfully slow and didn't have much help when he got it to his feet
Barnard - 4.5 - It almost hurt to see him struggle so much, improved when Loza replaced Eastwood, never looked like scoring and never seemed to have the ball at his feet for long enough to so anything before losing it


Loza - 6 - Showed glimpses of skill and talent, could really be a good player at this level, but had the obvious issues of clearly having met his team mates a few hours before the game.
Straker - Did he even touch the ball?

 

[Wobbler]

Leonard -8 MOM. Broke up attacks time and again in the first half and still had time to rampage forward to shoot or set up good passes. Second half pushed forward and his supply to the front men was excellent. To say he did not influence the game was nonsense as most of the danger in the second half came from his support and supply.

Fair enough, though my point was he could have done more to influence the game in an attacking sense. His defensive work was good as per and his passing was tidy enough but Leonard at his best this season has caused problems for opposition teams with his driving runs from deep, which were few and far between tonight.

I can't agree on his supply, how many chances did we even create as a team? I'll give you his cross for Barnard's chance, but apart from that and the shot he dragged wide in the first half I don't recall too many meaningful attacking contributions from him.

I did say he was the pick of the midfield and admit I probably under marked him. A 7 would be fair, he's had far better and more influential games this season.