Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend 1-3 Gillingham

[Bromley Blue]

Right firstly let me start by saying I wasn't at the game yesterday as I had a friend's wedding. However some of the reactions on here are frankly ridiculous after one game of a 46 game season!

Comments like "If we carry on like this it could be a long hard season". Well yes of course, if we lose every game 3-1 we will be relegated. But we won't play Gillingham every week who, some have already highlighted, have some very good players in Dack, JET, etc and for all we know, could win the division this year. Then again, so could we. Quite literally anything could happen between now and May so lets not lose the plot after one defeat.

Whatever you think of Phil Brown, he is not an idiot and he will be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of his team. The verdict is still out on whether David Mooney will be more of an asset to us this season, but PB is currently pursuing another top striker in Jay Simpson to provide competition for him. We're also trying to get a centre back in so the squad is not complete. We all know this is not ideal preparation but until the FA do the sensible thing and move the transfer window deadline forward to before the first game of the season, it is always going to be like this at a club of our size.

Keep your heads up and lets see where we are after 12 games when the division starts to take shape and the squad is complete.

 

[* ORM *]

It's taken about 10 years but the truth about Barrett has finally dawned on people. At the heart of a frail defence for the entire second half of last season and then rewarded with captaincy. Oh dear Brown this could be your undoing

 

[Shrimper]

The sooner Mooney leaves the better, awful player

 

[Thor]

The first half was played very much in the vein of a friendly, neither team looked like they had unpacked their holiday luggage and it could have been a kick about on the beach with absolutely no intensity at all. I’m guessing Gillingham must have got a proper talking to at half time because they came out 2 gears up from where they finished the first half; they had purpose, strength and desire. They were able to force our boys off the ball at will and counter straight down the middle on numerous occasions. I left feeling depressed and sincerely hope that the team can improve, I’d not give any ratings, the team were poor throughout. Both sets of fans today were great, but I have to admit I was squirming in my seat with the embarrassment at the ease of it all for Gillingham.

 

[xekyn92]

The sooner Mooney leaves the better, awful player

He'll most likely end up as our fourth choice striker once Ranger is fit anyway, no need for him to leave. I think he may be better suited to coming off the bench with the very occasional start anyway, stamina seems to be an issue with him; he makes a positive contribution for 30-45 minutes but tends to fade later in the game.

Cox, Simpson & Ranger will get the bulk of the minutes, let's just hope Wordsworth & Timlin get healthy soon so our strike force has some better service. Signing another more offensively minded midfielder wouldn't go amiss either.

 

[Mark Stevart]

ranger is **** also the people moaning about mooney were the same people kissing his *** on being a good player beginning of last season lets hope ranger sticks around longer then a month waste of a contract

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

ranger is **** also the people moaning about mooney were the same people kissing his *** on being a good player beginning of last season lets hope ranger sticks around longer then a month waste of a contract

Why are you abusing a man who wasn't even in the Matchday squad? Bizarre comment.

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

Mooney has looked very impressive during pre-season, so what changed? Again, I will say that the atmosphere at Roots Hall can be poisonous and those newbies and regular scapegoats will be dreading playing there before too long.

The conditions yesterday should also be considered, that was as hot as they'll have experienced over the summer and there weren't really that many opportunities to take on water.

Are you serious ? Were Gillingham playing in a different temperature zone ?

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

Right firstly let me start by saying I wasn't at the game yesterday as I had a friend's wedding. However some of the reactions on here are frankly ridiculous after one game of a 46 game season!

Comments like "If we carry on like this it could be a long hard season". Well yes of course, if we lose every game 3-1 we will be relegated. But we won't play Gillingham every week who, some have already highlighted, have some very good players in Dack, JET, etc and for all we know, could win the division this year. Then again, so could we. Quite literally anything could happen between now and May so lets not lose the plot after one defeat.

Whatever you think of Phil Brown, he is not an idiot and he will be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of his team. The verdict is still out on whether David Mooney will be more of an asset to us this season, but PB is currently pursuing another top striker in Jay Simpson to provide competition for him. We're also trying to get a centre back in so the squad is not complete. We all know this is not ideal preparation but until the FA do the sensible thing and move the transfer window deadline forward to before the first game of the season, it is always going to be like this at a club of our size.

Keep your heads up and lets see where we are after 12 games when the division starts to take shape and the squad is complete.

Don't make yourself sound stupid then because if you had been there it would have been crystal clear that the management were inept once again. Switching McLaughlin to the right after a good first half display, bringing on a player who only signed a matter of hours before and putting Leonard at right back then bringing on O'Neill at Right midfield is some of the worse management I have ever witnessed. You would also have seen a non existent midfield in the second half, huge gaps that JET just ran through unchallenged. Brown has a knack for signing good players then turning them into donkeys. Square pegs in round holes AGAIN !!!!!

 

[mfurok]

Debatable whether that incident was simulation, but Mooney does go down far too easily, I went as far as calling him a cheat after one particularly bad dive in the box last season. It's frankly embarrassing at times, for the second game in a row he went down under minimal pressure and gave away a free kick for hand ball. :angry:

While we're on the subject McGlashan didn't cover himself in glory either with his constant rolling around on the floor, I laughed at him jumping up very quickly on one occasion when he didn't get the free kick!

He's done it throughout his career.

Brown should tell him to cut it out and concentrate on trying to beat the defender and deliver a decent cross.

 

[mfurok]

It's taken about 10 years but the truth about Barrett has finally dawned on people. At the heart of a frail defence for the entire second half of last season and then rewarded with captaincy. Oh dear Brown this could be your undoing

Why do the mods allow this constant uninformed trolling of our captain from thousands of miles away?

 

[ooh-andy-ansah]

It's taken about 10 years but the truth about Barrett has finally dawned on people. At the heart of a frail defence for the entire second half of last season and then rewarded with captaincy. Oh dear Brown this could be your undoing

You don't even go to matches to see how Barrett plays so your view is as welcome as a fart in a lift as far as i'm concerned.

 

[bazzashrimper]

You don't even go to matches to see how Barrett plays so your view is as welcome as a fart in a lift as far as i'm concerned.

Sometimes I love to fart in a lift though

 

[OldBlueLady]

ranger is **** also the people moaning about mooney were the same people kissing his *** on being a good player beginning of last season lets hope ranger sticks around longer then a month waste of a contract

For God's sake, give it a rest, man!!!

Are you serious ? Were Gillingham playing in a different temperature zone ?

They obviously seemed a lot better acclimatised than we were!

Why do the mods allow this constant uninformed trolling of our captain from thousands of miles away?

He's done it while a regular at Roots Hall and long before he went to HK!

 

[Bromley Blue]

Don't make yourself sound stupid then because if you had been there it would have been crystal clear that the management were inept once again. Switching McLaughlin to the right after a good first half display, bringing on a player who only signed a matter of hours before and putting Leonard at right back then bringing on O'Neill at Right midfield is some of the worse management I have ever witnessed. You would also have seen a non existent midfield in the second half, huge gaps that JET just ran through unchallenged. Brown has a knack for signing good players then turning them into donkeys. Square pegs in round holes AGAIN !!!!!

So because I didn't go to the game I can't comment on people losing the plot after one game?

Let's face it, at our level when the team or manager has a bad day at the office it can get really painful to watch.

All I'm saying is it's very early to judge our chances this season and we're still getting players in. I'm also having trouble remembering a season when we started brilliantly. Even when we won League One we started with an opening day home defeat to Port Vale.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

So because I didn't go to the game I can't comment on people losing the plot after one game?

Let's face it, at our level when the team or manager has a bad day at the office it can get really painful to watch.

All I'm saying is it's very early to judge our chances this season and we're still getting players in. I'm also having trouble remembering a season when we started brilliantly. Even when we won League One we started with an opening day home defeat to Port Vale.

This isn't a one off, one game issue. It is a continuation from last season with same issues unresolved.
And very very different from when we lost to Port Vale.
The manner of the defeat in the 2nd half was hard to watch, we lost hope and it seemed as if the players (both sides) just wanted the whistle blown and get off home.

 

[fbm]

We never start well.

However, the manner of the second half performance and the overhang from last season made it more painful than normal.

 

[Bolton Shrimper]

For 40 mins we were on top. The 2 misses by Mooney gave them hope when they should have been dead at HT. We were undone by their set piece first as our defence slept. Downhill from there as we lost the midfield after defensive failures again for their second. Some heads dropped and it was as if last season never ended. The good thing is that in Ranger, Timlin and Wordsworth we do have 3 good players who will be available soon, hopefully. We need a Deegan for days like yesterday and more importantly a top CB for every game. Why did we stand off Emmanuel-Thomas so much. He should have been taken out when he started to pose a threat.

 

[TheGoat]

For 40 mins we were on top. The 2 misses by Mooney gave them hope when they should have been dead at HT. We were undone by their set piece first as our defence slept. Downhill from there as we lost the midfield after defensive failures again for their second. Some heads dropped and it was as if last season never ended. The good thing is that in Ranger, Timlin and Wordsworth we do have 3 good players who will be available soon, hopefully. We need a Deegan for days like yesterday and more importantly a top CB for every game. Why did we stand off Emmanuel-Thomas so much. He should have been taken out when he started to pose a threat.

I'm not sure how effective Timlin is at this level. However, I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.

 

[RHB]

I'm not sure how effective Timlin is at this level. However, I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.

We really are a bit short of an enforcer sort of mid fielder. Timlin is probably the nearest fit to that requirement at the moment. Everyone, apart from Atkinson maybe, was being a bit too nice yesterday, so hurry back Timms, we need you.