Post-Match Thread and Ratings Northampton Town 2-1 Southend United

[JoshC]

I am usually a very positive poster, however, tonight I am going to say it exactly as I saw it.

Firstly, 4-5-1 against a very strong Torquay is fine, against a very poor and defenisvely weak Northampton it just played into their hands. Sturrock you got it wrong.
I just cannot believe we lost this game to one of the poorest sides we have faced this season.

Morris 4 - did not command his area on the very few occasions he needed to.
Gilbert 4 - did not protect his area, and was caught out of position on a few occasions
Moshni 2 - worst game he has had for us. At fault for the first goal, at fault for the second goal and at fault when they hit the post and went close late in the match. Sturrock should have substituted him after the first goal, his head went. Coughlan should have come on.
Barker 8 - a rock, tried to hold it together but Moshni was just having a mare beside him.
Clohessy - 3 too slow, caught out time and time again, didn't not put one decent cross into the box.
Soares 2 - little boy lost, don't see what he brings to the table, poor performance - again.
Hall 6 - tries hard, has that turn of pace but needs to start delivering.
Simpson 6 - not up to his high standards
Easton 7 - battled, spreads the ball well, looks like he picked up an injury towards the end
Grant 9 - really got stuck in, wants it.
Sturrock 6 - tried, constantly fouled, but then started looking for it, seriously needs a supporting striker.

Subs:

Corr 2 - why did he come on, not fit
Paterson 7 - got stuck in, a few good crunching tackles and won a fair amount of headers - he is not a left winger - needs to play up front before he packs his bags and leaves us to score goals for some other team.
Spencer 4 - didn't touch the ball.

Sturrock/Widds 2 - uninspiring, 4-5-1 with Blair up front just didn't work, you could see it after 10 minutes - didn't change it, no plan B.

As you can tell I'm a little ****ed off tonight. Spent a lot of time and money in taking 11 people to the game today, sorely disappointed by a very lacklustre performance.

Was it not his cross that led to our goal? some harsh scores there!

 

[TravellingBlue]

Was it not his cross that led to our goal? some harsh scores there!

Afraid I believe my scoring to be perfectly fair. Clohessy was overlapped on four seperate occasions in the second half - poor. Bilel had a nightmare and Soares wasn't that far behind. One striker until the 75th minute - give me a break.

Sorely disappointed.
:thumbdown:

 

[McNasty]

A strange quite boring and at times frustrating game really.

Morris : 6 Im quite a fan of his but dont think today was his best game and im sure that he could have got a stronger hand to there first goal which wasnt a particularly powerful.

Gilbert : 5 It was obvious that the crowd had an affect on him and he just doesnt offer the same going foward that clohessy offers on the other side and didnt have a great game today.

Barker : 7 Pick of the defense. Solid and assured and dealt with most of the problems that came his way.

Bilel : 5 Not a great game from him today. Poor distribution and looked an accident waiting to happen. Was involved in both goals and we nearly conceded a third due to his static defending. It looked like he was clearly fouled for the second . There player had both hands all over him and climbed on him.

Soares : 6 Looks lively but has very little affect on the games in which he plays.

Grant : 7.5 MOM scored again for 3 on the bounce and nearly scored again with an outrageous attempt from a silly angle and if we were to increase the lead it would have been most likely to come from him. Given his goalscoring record before this season it highlites our need for a goal scorer.

Easton : 6.5 Same as every other game . Never poor never great just does the donkey work

Simpson : 6 Had a hard game today and it was obvious that northampton had done there home work and he was targeted and given no time on the ball. He will have better games as he is a talent

Hall : 7 Looked good when he had the ball and pumped the ball into the box , but still doesnt get enough shots away and wasted a great chance to cross by blazing it out for a goal kick

Sturrock : 5 Wasnt blairs day today and it just didnt work for him. Last week he was able to shield the ball and work it to the midfield whereas today he just could keep hold of it and rarely found a team mate and missed a very good chance to score from 2 yards. TBF he was just man handled by the lump of a centre half which is to be expected at this level.

Corr : 5 Came on and if anything we got worse as we resorted to long ball which played into northamptons hands and the headers he did win didnt meet any blue shirts.

Paterson : 5 Fast becoming the forgotten man and his body language suggest his heart is not in it. Needs a start and soon to show what he can do, but had no influence on todays game and was played out wide instead of upfront.

Spencer : 5 I saw scott in the reserves in the week and thought he looked poor. It just shows our lack of options when a poor reserve performance can get a place on the bench. Cant see see screech getting much game time in the league anytime soon.

TBV : 4 Very quiet today and didnt have much to sing about , but must have been 7-800 odd which is a good turnout.

We deperately need to sign a pacey goalscorer and i thought mckenzie did really well for them today and looked a handful throughout . I also thought there left back was a class act and look very very tidy.

All in all not best performance against a very average northampton and we conceded two very sloppy goals where weak defending both technically and physically cost us the game.

Bottom of the table morcambe at home next and i am expecting a big response.

Tommy, did you miss Clohessy ?

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

shame , threw it away, some people think to have success you dont need a striker who scores lots of goals, I couldnt disagree more. this is league 2, all the teams are fairly **** poor and all are gonna have good days and bad days. It appears that on our day we can compete and this should hopefully keep us up,but with the current strike force nothing more then that. You only have to look to last season where we played poorly (for many reasons), yet with Barney we won games. I know some of you think they might be good prospects/still young etc. I dont quite see that myself , plenty of games left for them to prove me wrong though!

I've been discussing the proper striker subject from the first week of the season. Nobody can change my mind on Blair Sturrock, only Blair Sturrock if a miracle happens. Away from home, a backs to goal striker is only good if you are protecting a lead. You need someone with pace to attack and run at the defenders and get in behind them, and of course, a better finisher. Listening on the radio today, Northampton were there for the taking, for 60 minutes they were terrible at the back. and yet you still wouldn't back Sturrock to score. Paul Clarke said that someone up there with pace would have a field day, as their centre of defence was so slow.

We are very close to having a decent team, most would agree that Soares has to be dumped. Bilel will learn and get better, but to get promotion, we need a striker or strikers that can finish off a game when well on top, or get us back in the game when a goal behind. At the moment, we have neither.

 

[mattytheshrimper]

Gilbert 7 - Clearly up for it against his old side

really? i thought he was shocking throughout.

 

[Medway Blue]

Not going to go into ratings. It's more the collective that I'm interested in. Although special mention for Grant, who I thought was excellent.

Why set the team up to play so negatively against one of the worst sides I've ever seen Southend play in my time supporting the club? That lot were awful, and there for the taking, and man for man, Blues are better in every department. But the whole team from front to back was constricted in all sorts of ways by the way that they were set-up. There was little movement going forward; Soares and Hall didn't seem to know whether they were wingers or 2nd and 3rd strikers, so either Sturrock was isolated and helpless up front on his own or there was no width; the whole team sat deep when defended and invited a very poor side to put us under pressure at times. Fair enough if he wanted to make it difficult for them, but firstly, there's no need to do it against such shockingly poor opposition, and secondly, if we can't 'make it difficult' against that lot, how does he plan on being able to do it against the better sides that this league has to offer?

We were lucky in the first 70 minutes that we were up against such a pile of shoite. Better teams would have punished us for playing so negatively. As it was, we were largely on top the first half and the first 15 minutes of the second half, and managed to go ahead. That shows how poor Northampton were - for us to play with a system like that and be on top for most of the game. Where is the adventure? Where is the attack? If he had started out with a 4-4-2 and told them to go for it from the off, I can guarantee that we would have been 3 up at half time. Where was the panache and the excellent football that was played against Torquay last week?

For all the people who say that, unlike Tilson, Sturrock isn't afraid to mix his tactics up a bit, and Sturrock has a tactical knowledge and awareness that allows him to play different systems to suit our opposition - as things stand at the minute (although I'm willing to change my opinion if things change), you can take all of that. Give me Tilson's standard game-to-game 4-4-2 any day of the week. At least Tilson went out to score goals and win games.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Can't we just focus on the team's performance, rather than comparing every loss to what might have happened under Tilson?

 

[Medway Blue]

Can't we just focus on the team's performance, rather than comparing every loss to what might have happened under Tilson?

I did focus on the team's performance, and instead of explicitly suggesting that things would have been different under Tilson, I am passing comment on those who rave about Sturrock's tactical genius in comparison to Tilson's. Just pointing out that being pretty by switching tactics can often only be a cosmetic change.

 

[Rob Noxious]

We are very close to having a descent team, most would agree that Soares has to be dumped. Bilel will learn and get better, but to get promotion, we need a striker or strikers that can finish off a game when well on top, or get us back in the game when a goal behind. At the moment, we have neither.

I get worried if I hear a level-headed poster like you saying this, TSNB. To be fair, we probably did drop a few places today though. I quite like Sturrock's reaction to defeats - I get the feeling the players will be very aware of it this evening too.

 

[Medway Blue]

I agree too. We are a decent striker away from being a good team at this level. But the tactics are completely wrong.

 

[southendkid]

I did focus on the team's performance, and instead of explicitly suggesting that things would have been different under Tilson, I am passing comment on those who rave about Sturrock's tactical genius in comparison to Tilson's. Just pointing out that being pretty by switching tactics can often only be a cosmetic change.

I didn't go today but if its not working changing tactics is usually more favorable rather than doing the same thing and hoping it works, it makes you predictable and easy to defend against. Even if it doesn't work at least you know you tried something rather than sit back and hope for the best. I think the reason it was 4-5-1 at the start today was that Corr wasn't fully fit, and Sturrock doesn't trust Paterson or spencer to start so he only had one striker to start, it was essentially 4-5-1 against Torquay and I bet you weren't moaning about it then

 

[Kent Shrimper]

Can't we just focus on the team's performance, rather than comparing every loss to what might have happened under Tilson?

That goes both ways ESB, as in why do we have to compare wins under sturrock due to substitutions which Tilly may not of made. Unfortunately mate I don't think we will get away from it either way!!

 

[Stats]

Being an exile living up in MK I dont get to go to many SUFC games anymore but managed to make the short trip up the M1 today.

It was a weird experience because I knew as many of the Northampton players as ours!!

Saying that I'll offer the following on what I saw today

Morris - Looks solid enough for this level
Clohessy - Solid enough for this level, will offer decent support going forward as well
Gilbert - Solid for this level
Barker - Class, will be a huge player for us
Moshni - Has potential but will need to be bedded in. Today lost his composure and us the game
Easton - Maher MK2, class for this level
Simpson - Plenty of energy, will thrive when we sort out our system
Grant - Thought he ran the show from start to finish today. If we want to be up the right end of the league he's essential to us.
Soares - Works hard but dont really see any spark, Betsy MK2
Hall - Looks like he will cause problems
Sturrock - Everyone likes a hard worker, but if you arnt going to score 15+ goals (goalscorer) or win the ball in the air (target man) then your as much use as a pair of sunglasses on David Blunkett

Corr - Will do well at this level but will need a partner which could be.........
Spencer - Play him with Corr, he'll get goals
Paterson - Good for rotation

 

[Kris]

I didn't go today but if its not working changing tactics is usually more favorable rather than doing the same thing and hoping it works, it makes you predictable and easy to defend against. Even if it doesn't work at least you know you tried something rather than sit back and hope for the best. I think the reason it was 4-5-1 at the start today was that Corr wasn't fully fit, and Sturrock doesn't trust Paterson or spencer to start so he only had one striker to start, it was essentially 4-5-1 against Torquay and I bet you weren't moaning about it then

It may have been the same starting line-up as last Saturday but the difference today was that we genuinely played a rigid 4-5-1, whereas last week it was 4-3-3, with Soares, Hall and Sturrock all interchanging positions up front and us as a team pressing high up the pitch. We were far too defensive today and sat too deep, which was disappointing against a team as poor as Northampton. Sturrock Jr was getting quite a bit of stick from those around me but there's not a lot he could do with so few players willing to support him.

The first half was the worst 45 minutes of football I've ever witnessed. Neither team could string two passes together and the only entertainment was watching their hapless number 6 (McCarthy, I think) slice and slip over the ball on practically every occasion the ball went in his direction - which demonstrates how bad we were as well as we didn't take advantage.

Thankfully the 2nd half was an improvement, though, as many have already mentioned, we totally shot ourselves in the foot. Clohessy's cross for Grant's goal was out of this world and I thought it would be enough. Fair play to the Cobblers, however, who responded really well and took advantage of a woeful mix up to equalise, and from that point on we totally lost it. Holt had a free header for their winner and they were unlucky not to get a third.

Very disappointing overall, though at the same time I'm not surprised as I had a feeling we'd lose today. We've yet to put together two consecutive good performances, and the Cobblers were due a win - and especially one against us. Still, hopefully we can bounce back against The Shrimps next Saturday.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I get worried if I hear a level-headed poster like you saying this, TSNB. To be fair though, we probably did drop a few places today though. I quite like Sturrock's reaction to defeats - I get the feeling the players will be very aware of it this evening too.

Sorry Shrimpero, it was meant to be decent, and not descent. It does make it read differently. Have corrected it, Thanks.

 

[RobB11]

Blair Sturrock is s**t

 

[Rob Noxious]

Sorry Shrimpero, it was meant to be decent, and not descent. It does make it read differently. Have corrected it, Thanks.

A pleasure - you know my motto: "I'm here to help, not to hinder."

 

[Grim Reaper]

Gilbert is a ****. Steady at the back and will offer nothing going forward. You can pass it around nicely and retain possession but offered nothing up front all game.
The lad Grant stood out but without someone to smash the onion bag regularly I think that your season may fail to live up to expectations. Northampton only started playing after conceding which is a worrying tactic but this only happened as Southend allowed it to.

Kind regards.

 

[united we stand]

just seen the goals on the Football League show. poor defending is somewhat of an understatement. A win would have put us sixth!

 

[rlb999]

My first game of the season. Putting it in context to where we were at the start of the season, I'm reasonably happy with what I saw - the team isn't perfect, but will compete at this level and I think Sturrock has done well to get us this far in the time he's had available. In response to a couple of points raised by others:
- our centre half got mugged for both goals (and then tried to blame everyone else). shame as he was doing well until then - we'd have got something from this game if he'd kept his cool. he'll either learn quickly, or get binned. the lad along side him (barker?) looked solid.
- blair sturrock took a load of abuse from the crowd i thought, but given that he was up front on his own, he was on a bit of a hiding to nothing. agreed we were short of a centre forward - I won't start listing the number we've let go in the last 3 seasons who could score at this level.