Dougie, What are you doing?

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

ESB. so I grabbed the guy warmly by the throat (literally) & offered to not let go if he continued. 10 minutes later when St Leonard scored the abuser didn't seem to have the stomach for more complaints. I'd eaten it with a nice Chianti. MMMMM.

I spoke of your crowd control in the 'idiot in West Block T' thread.
It seems they need you in the West Stand, with or without your Chianti.

 

[Southend Neil]

Well all this seems to confirm that the lack of passing ability in the midfield is the main problem. This makes it all the more baffling that Sawyer isn't included.
As for Freedman, personally I think he looks more effective coming on with 20 minutes to go and trying to unlock tiring defences, Brentford was his best perfomance I would say.
I thought we looked ok up front against Orient and Leeds and would pick Laurent as Barnard's strike partner, Sawyer in the centre with Macca moving out wide. Not ideal but the best for what we have in my view.

 

[BoyWonder2]

The problem with every single one of our strikers, well the 3 we have, is our midfield in my opinion. Freedman suffers because the midfield punt the ball over his head or to him in tight situations making him look stupid half the time. O'Donovan's clever runs are ignored and the ball again is punted at head height towards him making him completely ineffective. How in the hell Barnard has scored 10 goals, admittedly assisted by the penalties, I don't know, because the strikers get naff all service game after game. They have to feed on scraps. Tiny, tiny scraps.

Freedman, O'Donovan and even Barnard would be far more effective if we actually had a competent midfield line up. With Tilly continually ignoring the Sawyer or Moussa in the middle debate, it wouldn't do us any harm to bring in a lump up front, especially now Laurent is a "winger". Some laughed when Colchester signed Odejayi, but we need someone exactly like him. A bit of mobility, an aerial threat and a lump.

Spot on.

O'Donovan so far has been made to look a very poor player for us in his performances, but hasn't been helped because we don't use him properly like we did with Theo Robinson, our last pacy forward.

He needs the ball in the channels, slide between centre halfs, and playing in short to him so he is allowed to spin in behind the centre halfs and cause havoc. Unfortunately him, Barnard and Freedman aren't getting that service, and them opportunities to allow them to shine.

As for Freedman, I'm a huge fan of his. Without talking about his off the field influences, which is massive, he also helps a lot on the pitch.

One example was from a throw in in the second half for us on Friday night, he was talking to Moussa about where he should be from the throw in, and then he actually won the flick on. Moussa starting position was hiding away before Freedman spoke to him.

Freedman's footballing brain is much better than anybody elses at the Club, like someone else pointed out, his dummy to make Barnard's first half chance was class. Freedman's legs have gone a bit, and its a massive shame, but he can still play a big part in our campaign. He is playing in the right role, off of Barnard and in the space that makes him hard to pick up, he is then given the time and space to make chances for Barnard.

 

[Kris]

Spot on.

O'Donovan so far has been made to look a very poor player for us in his performances, but hasn't been helped because we don't use him properly like we did with Theo Robinson, our last pacy forward.

He needs the ball in the channels, slide between centre halfs, and playing in short to him so he is allowed to spin in behind the centre halfs and cause havoc. Unfortunately him, Barnard and Freedman aren't getting that service, and them opportunities to allow them to shine.

But there were at least three occasions against Oldham in the first half when O'Donovan did receive the kind of pass you refer to, which would have put him through on goal, only for his first touch to completely ruin it. I think there was one against Brighton as well.

I haven't seen enough of O'Donovan to form a solid opinion - and maybe he's lacking match sharpness - but he was certainly poor in that game and I think at the moment we can safely say it's a good thing we didn't shell out that 400k...

 

[Shrimper]

That is how Dougie plays. Brilliant performance.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

got to admit thought he did very well today!

 

[Shrimper]

His set-up for the first goal was absolute class, cheeky little back-heel and a good supporting run. Well played Dougie.

 

[SUFC Forever]

Douggie was superb today v Bristol Rovers. Barney really benefited from some of his runs and touches and it was a pleasure to see him use all those years of experience to play such a massive part in our win. The ovation he received when substituted said it all for me.

 

[Welly7]

The problem with every single one of our strikers, well the 3 we have, is our midfield in my opinion. Freedman suffers because the midfield punt the ball over his head or to him in tight situations making him look stupid half the time. O'Donovan's clever runs are ignored and the ball again is punted at head height towards him making him completely ineffective. How in the hell Barnard has scored 10 goals, admittedly assisted by the penalties, I don't know, because the strikers get naff all service game after game. They have to feed on scraps. Tiny, tiny scraps.

Freedman, O'Donovan and even Barnard would be far more effective if we actually had a competent midfield line up. With Tilly continually ignoring the Sawyer or Moussa in the middle debate, it wouldn't do us any harm to bring in a lump up front, especially now Laurent is a "winger". Some laughed when Colchester signed Odejayi, but we need someone exactly like him. A bit of mobility, an aerial threat and a lump.

Agree totally. O'donovan in particular was given dogs abuse on here, but I really don't thikn he was given a chance due to the service (or lack of).

As for Dougie, I thought that he was much more effective today than in recent weeks, but when we used him correctly. Balls over the top for him to run onto are a waste of time. When the ball was played into him and we quickly supported him in the right areas we saw what his game is all about. Pleased for him and I think the applause he got when subbed showed that his efforts and performance was appreciated today.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Douggie was superb today v Bristol Rovers. Barney really benefited from some of his runs and touches and it was a pleasure to see him use all those years of experience to play such a massive part in our win. The ovation he received when substituted said it all for me.

He was much improved, yes, but to say he was Superb is being superfluous for the sake of it...

 

[Richard_Cadette]

I was going to post a seperate thread about this, but what the hell.

I wrote earlier in this thread last week about how I could not believe what some fans were saying about Freedman, and simply were not understanding his importance to the team - then he puts on a performance like he did today, which was utter class.

All this nonsense about him not being good enough or being past it is just that - nonsense. He is head and shoulders above any of our current playing staff, and today showed exactly how good he is - his football brain is about 10 minutes ahead of everyone else, including the opposition.

Give the ball to Dougie to his feet, as we should be doing, and he will cut teams apart.

I am MORE than happy to say I told you so, and will happily grin smugly to myself,as I was during the game today, and hopt that this is the end of the ridiculous derogatory threads about Dougie.

 

[Kris]

I was going to post a seperate thread about this, but what the hell.

I wrote earlier in this thread last week about how I could not believe what some fans were saying about Freedman, and simply were not understanding his importance to the team - then he puts on a performance like he did today, which was utter class.

All this nonsense about him not being good enough or being past it is just that - nonsense. He is head and shoulders above any of our current playing staff, and today showed exactly how good he is - his football brain is about 10 minutes ahead of everyone else, including the opposition.

Give the ball to Dougie to his feet, as we should be doing, and he will cut teams apart.

I am MORE than happy to say I told you so, and will happily grin smugly to myself,as I was during the game today, and hopt that this is the end of the ridiculous derogatory threads about Dougie.

Would give you a big fat green if I didn't have to spread it around first. I've never understood the anti-Dougie brigade either, though having said that, as has been cited elsewhere, there were plenty on here who wanted to see the back of Barney as well not so long ago.

I guess fickledom does make this board entertaining at times but it also becomes incredibly tiresome, so thank god for reasoned and thoughtful posts like yours!

 

[adsmithers]

First Two times he played for us up front I thought he was brilliant, quick feet and brain and getting a few shots on goal and setting up chances, now when we need him to play as a striking partner for Barney he starts dropping back in the hole after ten minutes and we revert to a negative and boring One up front at home.

The last Three matches that he has started he has probably had about Four shots in total as he is playing far too deep. Such a waste of a natural goalscorer. We need goals, not another midfielder.
The Moose made so many great runs at the saints defence, and Dougie was never near their penalty area for Moose put him through on goal.
So it ended up going to the well marked Barney or a short pass sideways and wasted.

Get up there Dougie, and help keep their backline back, and be an option for the midfield.

It probably isnt anything to do with dougie its probs tilly telling him what to do to finish and see out the game

 

[ms brush]

Doogie is the best player at the club, without a shadow of doubt as far as I'm concerned, and his performance today was utter class - was that a standing ovation I saw when he was substituted??? Anyone who cant see how good he is compared with most players at this level obviously has no idea what an excellent player is...

Yes, he's getting older, and he's not got the pace he used to have, but that if by far outweighed by his experience, the little off the ball runs, direction to the other players to exploit gaps and his intelligent hold-ups and lay offs. Its also true that he would have never been at Southend a few years ago, but he's here now, and he is making a huge difference! I'm also convinced that he is helping Barney to improve his game, which is working (12 goals so far and its still October!)

If I were in charge (which thankfully I'm not...), Doogie would be the first name on the team sheet for every game. Realistically, Tilly knows that this isnt possible or practical - but this doesnt mean that Doogie isnt pulling his weight or not contributing to the team. I'm guessing that when the boots get hung up, Doogies future will be in coaching or management, so it works both ways - who better to learn from than Tilly and Brush??

 

[OldBlueLady]

Not so much of a standing ovation in the West, though I and a few others did. Thought Dougie did indeed have a great game and showed exactly what he can do when he's given the opportunity. Great vision, great skills, and some bloomin' stamina too to run as much as he did - keep those legs pumping Dougie!

 

[smudgster]

Dougie may be utter class or whatever. But for me as a striker he never looks like scoring. Apart from the one yesterday i cant remember too many assists either.

I thought he was ok yesterday, but for an experinced striker like him he should hold on to the ball longer when its cleared to him.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

The post seems to have become wether or not he is a very good player, I was basically saying he is a very good player but was dropping in the hole behind Barney and becoming another midfielder and Southampton exposed this boring system. Yesterday he did play more on the front line and was much better and had a great game, although he still didn't look like scoring himself.