Post-Match Thread and Ratings Gillingham 3-0 Southend United

[Cricko]

Post your match reports and ratings here please.

 

[Lord Football]

Firstly, lets be thankful we had a game!

We started fairly brightly, with Walker coming close but then it was downhill all the way. Gills got a penalty (stone wall) and missed it. Mildy diving to his left to palm it away. Maybe lady luck was on our side. Then we felt apart. Gills passed through our defence for our first and the second saw Francis shredded down the right. Game over. Scannell replaced Herd at that point leaving us with two midfielders in defence. Gills wrapped it up with a Bentley header just as we were staring to look like we were interested. Freedman missed an absolute sitter at the end.

On the bright side, none of us have to spend a freezing December morning in the car park queuing for tickets for Big Club FC in the 3rd Round.

Midlenhall 8 - Didn't do much wrong, saved a penalty, had no hope with any of the goals.

Francis 4 - Woeful.

Herd 6 - Only played 30 mins. Injured possibly.

Grant 6 - Lots of errors and bottled a few challenges!!

Barrett 6 - No captain marvel today, a bit cumbersome.

Christophe 6 - Looked a bit lost in midfield with out Macca, did ok as emergency centre back.

O'Keefe 5 - Looked like he had been thrown in at the deep end, which he was.

Moussa 5 - For those that claim he should be in the centre, this performance suggests otherwise.

Laurent 6 - When he got the ball, looked a threat, but produced little.

Freedman 5 - Oh dear.

Walker 8.5 - Our best player on the day, looked dangerous and lively.

Subs

Scannell 8 - Came on a 2-0 down, but made some good runs and looked our most likely outlet to create chances.

Asante - Not on long enough.

All in all a really poor display, which to me shows the value of Macca. There was no thrust or bite from midfield whatsoever.

 

[Smiffy]

Cold and crap. That is all.

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

Didnt go today but, despite our threadbare squad, to lose 3-0 there is **** poor. Hopefully Tilly can get a centre back and left back in, with Macca and Barney back in we should look a lot better. Just a shame we have so few players capable of playing well consistently over 5 or 6 games.

 

[jamesmut2000]

O'Keefe 5 - Looked like he had been thrown in at the deep end, which he was.

Moussa 5 - For those that claim he should be in the centre, this performance suggests otherwise.

Agreed on both counts - although if you hadn't seen us play before you would have thought O'Keefe was the more senior player. Either Moussa really isn't up to playing in the middle or he has just wasted a great opportunity to prove himself in that position

 

[Maidstone Shrimper]

Just not our day, and deservedly. A mixture of senior pros letting the side down, players out of position and just not enough experience. A bit of composure in front of goal early on could have made a game of it but their front two terrified Barrett and Grant.

Midenhall 9 Worth 9 just for the penalty save but did nothing wrong and handled well.

Francis 5 After a run of good performances this was one of his shockers, saved only by a few good dead ball deliveries

Herd 6 Did Ok until his hamstring went

Barrett 7 Gave his all as always but with a selection of misfits aound him in defence he stood no chance

Grant 4 Very poor, both at CB and left back. Perhaps hard to rate him low out of position, but he was awful.

Laurent 5 Promised much, delivered little and gave Francis no help

Moussa 5 Very disappointed to see a poor display from him in centre midfield, gave the ball away far too many times

Jeff 5 Poor in midfield, perhaps worth a 6 for trying hard at CB but I don't want to see him play there again.

O'Keefe 5 Tried hard, got stuck in but it was a hard game to make his debut with so many other having a poor match and his distribution was poor at times

Walker 7 Ran and ran, had to with Dougie in the team. No end product though and no killer instinct in the box

Freedman 4 Disappointing from an experienced pro. Should have done better with a first half header and his second half miss for a consolation goal, well words escape me.

Subs

Scannell 7 Rusty first half but played very well second half beating his man and putting good balls into the box. If he could add fitness and awareness to his game what a player he would be!

Asante No time to do anything

Okai Even less time and probably didn't touch the ball



A disappointing day, but at least we won the league game and we've paid the tax bill, which is more important.

 

[Southminster_Shrimper]

Absolute toilet performance today. Most looked like they couldnt be bothered or werent interested, apart from:

Mildy's penalty save (at last ;))
Scannell did well especially coming back from all his recent injury problems
Walker was very lively

Rest arent worthy of mention other than I felt sorry for the kids being dropped in it to try and make up the numbers as subs or on the pitch.

Today showed what a shambles the squad is.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

Absolute toilet performance today. Most looked like they couldnt be bothered or werent interested, apart from:

Mildy's penalty save (at last ;))
Scannell did well especially coming back from all his recent injury problems
Walker was very lively

Rest arent worthy of mention other than I felt sorry for the kids being dropped in it to try and make up the numbers as subs or on the pitch.

Today showed what a shambles the squad is.

Interesting co-incidence is the only other game this season which attracted comments like these was the recent cup game at M.K.Dons. Makes you wonder if because of our thread bare squad, league games are the priority because no-one wants to risk injuries, bookings or additional games in other competitions, despite the possibility of big games in later rounds?.

 

[SUFC Forever]

Oh well, another year we don't have to worry about getting our FA Cup Final tickets then.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

Oh well, another year we don't have to worry about getting our FA Cup Final tickets then.

I believe this result was on the cards irrelevant of our squad problems. We've had good cup runs in the 3 seasons reaching the 3rd/4th round and the law of averages dictates that this will not happen every season for league 1 and 2 clubs. Will probably have to wait another 3 years before we reach the 3rd round again.

 

[SUFCStu]

Mildenhall - 8 Good Save for the pen, not at fault for the goals.

Francis - 5 Not at his best

Grant - 5 Not playing in his ideal postion and it showed.

Barrett - 6 Average

Herd - 6 Did ok until he went off injured

Laurent - 6 Looked threating at times but faded.

Christophe - 6 Not a great performance in midfield but at CB did ok.

Moussa - 5 Lost the ball to many times.

O keefe - 5 Tough game to play in for a first start did no worse then the others.

Freedman - 4 Poor

Walker - 6 One of our better players today,

Scannell - 7 Looked very lively when he came off the bench, good runs and some decent crosses

Okai
Astante - No time for each of them to make a impact

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

So far the first 2 names on the team sheet for next weeks game at Yeovil should be Mildenhall and Scannell.

 

[Hawkwell Blue]

Didnt go today but, despite our threadbare squad, to lose 3-0 there is **** poor. Hopefully Tilly can get a centre back and left back in, with Macca and Barney back in we should look a lot better. Just a shame we have so few players capable of playing well consistently over 5 or 6 games.

You rightly mention our threadbare then dismiss it as irrelevant. It really is relevant and undoutedly the reason we lost 3-0.

 

[OldBlueLady]

No, I am NOT going to gloat, of course I'm not, I was very disappointed that the guys just didn't seem up for it at all, particularly for the likes of Stuart and the two young'uns that came on.

Mildy - 7, good man for the pen save, it's been a long time coming and I thought today it meant we were on for a result in our favour....sadly not to be
Franno - 5, oh dear, normally one of my favourites, and he tried hard, blimey, did he, but nothing worked today
Grant - 7, another assured performance despite obviously being in trouble, and THEN switched to left back
Barrett - 6, boot to the face and the ref doesn't see it? Should have been a pen in my book
Herd - 5, sorry Johnny, not good
Laurent - 5, Franny! what happened?
Moussa - 5, poor, very poor
Jeff - 7, did ok in both places he had to play
O'Keefe - 7, why not just slot him in in Macca's position? Would have been much simpler and more effective
Walker - 7 MOTM, just slightly ahead of the others, but he looks scared to shoot, please sort this out
Freedman - 5, Dougie you weren't fit and it showed

Subs - Scannell for Herd (hamstring injury btw), 7, looked good
Akai and Asante for Laurent and Walker - barely had a touch, at that stage I'd have brought them on earlier

Ref - strange decisions but by no means the worst. Didn't think it was a pen, and felt Jeff was very harshly dealt with when that little cheating **** Brandy leaped into him and fell down! Dirty so and sos in Gills defence again, same culprits as last week, dirty buggers.

 

[Skyblue]

Interesting co-incidence is the only other game this season which attracted comments like these was the recent cup game at M.K.Dons. Makes you wonder if because of our thread bare squad, league games are the priority because no-one wants to risk injuries, bookings or additional games in other competitions, despite the possibility of big games in later rounds?.

I was only just thinking that myself and even daring to wonder if Macca and Barny got booked last week on purpose to serve their one match suspensions in todays 'not so important' cup game. Could they have even been acting on orders, so not miss any league matches where every point is a lifeline. If our troops are also going out with the express orders of 'don't get injured today its only the cup' attitude then isn't it the case that we as supporters who are paying our cash to be shown at least 100% effort, being short changed? Or is it pure coincidence these two dreadfull performances were both cup games.

 

[Maidstone Shrimper]

To be honest I went to today's game not really worried if we lost as survival in league 1 is what I really want, so I can't be too critical if some of the players saw it as a game to get through without getting injured/booked. That's probably why we lost.

 

[Alex]

I was only just thinking that myself and even daring to wonder if Macca and Barny got booked last week on purpose to serve their one match suspensions in todays 'not so important' cup game. Could they have even been acting on orders, so not miss any league matches where every point is a lifeline. If our troops are also going out with the express orders of 'don't get injured today its only the cup' attitude then isn't it the case that we as supporters who are paying our cash to be shown at least 100% effort, being short changed? Or is it pure coincidence these two dreadfull performances were both cup games.

Rubbish. Today was a game we had to win, purely for the finances. Ok we wont win the cup but look what happened last season. We got through the 1st round meaning we got several thousand pounds in prize money and set up a second round match which we won to get more prize money and also the extra gate reciepts. Then we pulled Chelsea out the hat and not only earnt a packet from the game at Stanford Bridge got a replay which meant more gate reciepts and the live coverage fee. Its a big if but if we did progress and pull out Man United at a packed Old Trafford then our 40 percent share of around1.5m in ticket sales is massive revenue for the club in its current situation. About the Barnard coment, he didnt even foul the player to get booked so I couldnt have been deliberate by him. The team would have never been told no to try hard to win. If that was the case then Freedman would not have been risked and Asante would have started in his place.

 

[Andy_S]

I said this last week, but I just don't agree with this whole it's only the cup thing and this whole attitude towards it. Every penny helps as they say and a win today, the chance of a home game against lower league opposition in the next round and then quite possibly another Chelsea-esque game in the Third Round would've meant more to this club than ever before. I'm more than disappointed that the general consensus from today is that we didn't put the maximum effort in. Even more so considering the whole hearted effort etc from just last Friday.

I'm glad to hear Scannell did well considering he was no doubt at about 60% match fitness. Chucking Dougie back in appears to have failed though. Asante should've probably given a chance to stretch their back four.

Has to be said though that we better hope we can bring in at least 2 during the next week. Probably wishful thinking though. I do hope that Herd isn't out for too long though and that we don't instantly go out and get another average left back, as that would be extremely, extremely tough on him.

 

[Andy_S]

Just wondering as well why the official site aren't acknowledging Julian Okai making his debut as a 16 year old? A bit harsh really considering it's a moment that is massive in a kids career.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Hardly surprising we lost this one, bearing in mind we had only one midfielder capable of putting his foot in, and he switched to defence after 20 minutes.

As much as having 3 midfielders who can hustle but not pass hamstrung us earlier this season, having no midfielders who can tackle meant that yet again we were unbalanced in midfield.

On the pitch this season was always going to be about the cup this season, this defeat just means our season is over in November.

The two good things to come from this are that Barnard is no longer suspended and the idiots can no longer have a go at Mildenhall for never saving penalties.


BTW why did we have 3 wingers and a GK on the bench? I know Whittaker was crap the other night, but neither Okai nor Asante did anything to deserve a place on the bench either. Lewis Merrick-James or whatever way round his name is would have been a far more sensible choice for the bench, because he could have replaced Christophe in centre-mid when Herd went off.