Post-Match Thread and Ratings Scunthorpe 3 -1 Southend

[McNasty]

*Puts on tin hat*

 

[Another Surrey Shrimper]

Christmas is expensive. Everything up north is cheap. Christmas shopping trip to Scunthorpe is genius. But my train was £50 so my budget is blown.
'The Book of Dust' and a flask of lemsip packed and ready to go.


2 coach train for the change from Doncaster to Scunthorpe - niche! Friendly Shrimper faces on the old engine run train. Interesting views of canals at the backs of houses, wind turbines, wide river and an industrial bridge.


Housing is pretty neat in the surrounding area - contrasts with the ground. From the outside the ground looks like a shack - some breeze blocks, corrugated iron and some tarpaulins thrown on top. Inside it is the same but with some seats nailed into the concrete. Standing area behind the home end is a bit unusual for this league. Best thing about the ground is the sound system - Sham 69 at kick off! Actually to be fair the pitch looks in good nick.


2 mins in McLaughlin decent shot across goal followed by a great Oxley save - drama already.


Period of Scunthorpe attacking followed, then just high ball nothingness for a bit.


15 mins in and Oxley tipped a shot onto the bar then lay on the floor injured for a good 3 mins and looked in pain when play resumed. Sensing a weak link Scunthorpe pressed and it all went a bit Dunkirk around our goal for a few minutes.


Our passing was fairly decent at times but every attack seemed to end in a goal kick. Until 25 mins in - McLaughlin - who had created pretty much everything of value that we had done to that point was again running past players and reached Demetriou in front of goal outside of the box with a bit of space - blistering shot with a deflection - 0-1


2 minutes later good work from Fortune and another deflected shot this time from Wright deflected away.


2 minutes later a good punched clearance by Oxley but a goalmouth scramble that we looked to have gotten away with but it kept coming back till eventually it crossed the line 1-1


Coker's return seems to impact our attacking play and most of it is channeled up the left hand side.


1-1 at halftime - both teams could have had more - they have largely been thwarted by our crucial blocks, we have been held back by our own hesitancy. The goal shows that getting a shot away is all we are really missing - they should take that on board.


Second half - Oxley off, Bishop on....
1 min - cracking run from Cox and cross onto McLaughlin's head - just over.


First 20 minutes of the 2nd half was end to end stuff, constant half chances, a frenetic pace and a sense of panic in both sides. Happy to watch that - it's entertaining. Eventually a quickly taken corner, an outstretched Bishop and 2-1. Looked a bit soft, but maybe I didn't see that clearly. Maybe.


A clearance off our line, then theirs (Wordsworth - shot that wasn't really deserving of a goal but you've seen them go in). One of the few corners where a blue head gets there first - Turner - way over).


I applaud White's temperament - pulled down by their player so had to jump over him and had the free kick given against him - just walked off - nothing to be gained in arguing.


Corner at the end. Keeper didn't move. Defenders didn't move. 3-1


That's that really. I'm no expert but I'd say really, that my conclusion is - we need to be better. At football.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Improved every season under Brown

 

[Tommy2holes]

Another defeat. Whether there was an improvement in play is irrelevant at this point. The fact remains we are 4 defeats in a row and have 3 very tough games in the next few days.

Our goal difference is horrendous and haven't been this bad on the road since the days of Alvin Martin.

Brown won't turn this around and I can see charlton making it five defeats.

I seem to remember Paul Sturrock doing a lot less wrong and getting the sack.

Big crowd to come against charlton and I really do think the Browns future at the club rests on the next result.

5 defeats on the bounce will not be acceptable.

 

[Evening Echo]

Match report: Scunthorpe United 3, Southend United 1

SOUTHEND United are still waiting for their first ever win at Glanford Park after suffering a 3-1 defeat against Scunthorpe United this afternoon.

More...

 

[Barry.C]

Losing long term formula for promotion...........
Be the last club to bring players in during the close season
Largely bring in past their best players from the Championship or Premiership, known to Brown+
Dont focus enough time on training and Coaching scoring
Have a small squad unable to cope with injuries
Dont bring in any loanees as you are no good at recruiting them and think they are disruptive
Dont spend any money on anyone from lower leagues
Dont strongly review and change recruitment methods and backroom staff
Dont give enough on field time to youngsters unless desparate
Try to develop a squad with an average age of 29+
Spend ages on sorting out contracts
Ron is it time for a change in culture, strategy, structure and Business Planning ??

 

[southendkid]

Not including the one he got injured in Harry Kyprianou has started 6 matches for us and we only conceded 6 goals in that time, surely he should be starting for us, if nothing else he'll actually bring some pace that the likes of Ferdinand, Turner and White don't have.

 

[rigsby]

Any Chance we can talk about today's game on this thread. At least let the people who went have a say before we have same stuff we see on every other thread

 

[Taters123]

Too many players not physically up for the battles, too many players past their best and some just not good enough.

We have been poor for weeks/ months now and when will it change, how long can we continue with this shambles.

Recruitment strategy needs to change, manager needs to change.

The problem is we are now stuck with some of these players who have contracts for next year as well. I would be amazed if we pay those contracts up early.

A rebuild of the squad needed

 

[Bluegoose]

I can understand the logic, get in some championship or low level prem players, the problem is they are not putting in a shift. With the distraction of the ongoing Leonard saga, who I would get shot of and look to get some player who understand this division

 

[rigsby]

For what it's worth from a Scunthorpe fan who is a mate of one our group. He says that is the best they have played all season.

From what I witnessed none of our players can be accused of not putting a shift in. The stats back that up, we had 51% possession and 18 shots on goal.

 

[Taters123]

For what it's worth from a Scunthorpe fan who is a mate of one our group. He says that is the best they have played all season.

From what I witnessed none of our players can be accused of not putting a shift in. The stats back that up, we had 51% possession and 18 shots on goal.

Unfortunately I think that just shows they are just not good enough, I believe someone quoted only 2 shots on target.

 

[BriggBlue]

got back from the game about an hour ago and have mulled over my thoughts.

There was no lack of effort from our players, it wasn't a performance of a team that has lost belief in the manager at all.

there was however a distinct lack of shooting going on from our frontline, I can't recall either cox of maf taking a single shot between them, we consistently caused scunny problems and got into dangerous areas to then pass the ball out wide. It reminded me of the Alvin Martin days in some ways.

The ref seemed to be making some strange decisions varying between being lenient to strict with no real rhyme or reason.

Bishop seemed competent enough when he came on with a few understandable jitters but recovered to make some decent saves.

I do think that if Wright had taken his chance to make it 2-0 then we would have had a very different result as our tails were up at that point.

I was very surprised that we made no outfield subs until the 87th minute, it was almost as if Brown had settled for a 2-1 loss and the hope of snatching an equaliser.

I've given Brown the benefit of the doubt so far and I do think that he can turn this team around, all we need is to hit the target frequently and then our mindset will change, however I can also see the argument for him leaving, we have gone a bit stale. I do just want to say that I'm impressed by the number of youngsters that have come through into the team this season.

 

[Shrimper]

For what it's worth from a Scunthorpe fan who is a mate of one our group. He says that is the best they have played all season.

From what I witnessed none of our players can be accused of not putting a shift in. The stats back that up, we had 51% possession and 18 shots on goal.

18 shots and one goal, which came from a deflection. Doesn't really speak volumes does it?

And it is all well and good mentioning shots but our defence is the bigger issues. Especially away from home.

 

[USAShrimper]

Scunthorpe away was always going to be difficult with the way we have played of late. Promotion, play-offs are out of our reach now. Still not worried about going down. So it's the same old situation we've often found ourselves in over the years.
Still think PB should be given until March to see if he can turn it around. We've got the players and enough positive play over the whole season to finish mid-table. However, is that enough for the club ? It has been many times in the past. Just what are the Chairman's expectations for the future. We need to start giving some of these young players a chance now. I'll be bak over in march for a couple of games. It will be interesting to see where we are by then.

 

[Taters123]

Scunthorpe away was always going to be difficult with the way we have played of late. Promotion, play-offs are out of our reach now. Still not worried about going down. So it's the same old situation we've often found ourselves in over the years.
Still think PB should be given until March to see if he can turn it around. We've got the players and enough positive play over the whole season to finish mid-table. However, is that enough for the club ? It has been many times in the past. Just what are the Chairman's expectations for the future. We need to start giving some of these young players a chance now. I'll be bak over in march for a couple of games. It will be interesting to see where we are by then.

At this rate, bottom 3 probably

 

[Sleaford Shrimper]

Just got home from my first match of the season and my 14-year-old granddaughter's first ever Southend match.

To my mind, Oxley had kept us in the game in the first half. If I'd been a Scunthorpe fan, I'd have been disappointed not to be at least two goals ahead by half-time. We were pretty poor in that first half. Neither Ferdinand nor Turner gave me any sense of confidence in the heart of the defence, hardly winning any challenges convincingly between them and giving the ball straight back to the opposition with monotonous regularity. White was left awfully exposed at right back, often having to cope with two Scunthorpe players because we had no one playing wide on the right in front of him so their left back was able to come forward at will and White usually had no one to pass to down the line when he did win the ball. Rather too often, that right side of our defence had to be helped out by Cox coming back to harry and tackle. Thank goodness that Coker was on form on the left, well supported by McLaughlin. Wordsworth, Wright and Demetriou seemed always to be bunched too tightly in the middle of the pitch. Cox and Fortuné battled hard but were severely hampered by having the ball pumped up to them in the air and by a referee who seemed to think it perfectly fair for the Scunthorpe players to push them, pull them and almost tear the shirts off their backs while the Scunthorpe players seemed to get endless free kicks for lesser offences committed by our players. My granddaughter's verdict was that only Oxley, Coker, Mc Laughlin, Fortuné and Cox seemed to have what was required. I can't say that I would disagree too strongly with her. Demetriou's heavily deflected shot for our goal really did flatter us.

We were much improved in the second half. I still felt uneasy about Ferdinand and Turner, and White was still exposed at right back but greater cohesion in midfield and improved passing kept the pressure off our defence a bit more. However, there were still too many "parting of the Red Sea" moments when Scunthorpe players ran into wide channels of space between our defenders.and midfielders There were a lot of pretty passing interchanges between our midfield and front players but too often there was no end product, shot or incisive pass. Young Bishop made some good interventions but was clearly nervous but who wouldn't be with Ferdinand and Turner in front of them in the form they were in today?

My player ratings:

GOOD: Oxley, Coker, McLaughlin.

GOODISH: Fortuné, Wordsworth, Cox

FAIR: White, Demetriou, Wright, Bishop

POORISH: Ferdinand, Turner

APPALLING: Referee

Young Wabo wasn't on long enough to rate.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

I've seen quite a few very poor games at Scunthorpe over the last few years ............. but today was one of the better performances.

As said above, we weren't that good in the 1st half and could have been 1 down after only 2 minutes. Scunthorpe were playing the ball to feet, moving with pace, turning and twisting. We were lumping the ball forward to Cox and Fortune who worked very hard all afternoon but both seemed to have lost that "spark" that a team with confidence has. 1-1 at half time was probably more than we deserved but that is footie.

In the 2nd half we were much better - pressing higher up the pitch and working the ball nicely at times .......... although we seemed too easily exposed when we lost the ball and Scunny raced up the pitch on a number of occasions. And Demi was staying more out to the right and giving White the opportunity to pass to feet. MacLaughlin had a good game too.

It looked to me like we stopped playing for their 2nd goal from a corner and the 3rd was credited as an own goal - both at the other end of the pitch.

All in all we didn't create enough chances to be worthy of 3 points. Overall we were too slow at times and there was (again) not enough cutting edge. Throw in some defensive weakness and it's another journey home with nothing to show for it. :sad:

 

[EastStandBlue]

From what I witnessed none of our players can be accused of not putting a shift in. The stats back that up, we had 51% possession and 18 shots on goal.

 

[wilburysteve]

Taking nothing away from the percentage stats, I've lost count over the years how often a team plays it's best game against southend, or ends a losing streak against us, etc. At the start of the campaign I felt we had a better squad than last season. with half the games played we need a massive upturn in consistency & seismic shift in mental attitude to make a success of the season.
The video for the new ground is excellent & will be great if it becomes a reality; we just need a team to match. yours, ever optimistically !