Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0-0 Millwall

[canveyshrimper]

I was the wrong end of the West Stand to make any definitive (or fair) comment but there was one time when I expected to see a flag and he was a way behind play.

Thanks, I am in the East Blacks and it appeared to me he wasn't completely up with play, and missed 2 or 3 in the first and 1 in the second half.

 

[shrimperboy84]

Mildenhall - Solid, confident, great kicking for the most part and gave a nice bit of recognition for the song about him by the Blue Voice :)

Francis - Great game, crosses where a threat again, and defensively read every threat especially one on one's

Heath - looked much better than the first game of the season, still a little panicy at times, needs to build confidence to take a touch at times

Barrett - looking much more match fit and won every header that came his way, and based on Millwall's 'up & under' style of the night he had alot of them to deal with

White - Solid, creative and everytime i see him i like him more, gives a sense of calm down the left

Grant - great game for him, got forward a few times which is what we need to see more of, but he adds so much for Francis to get forward i think they're working well together

Moussa - on the opposite side Moussa had a Quiet game by his standards, but always looked a threat when the ball was at his feet, maybe the physicality of the game was a bit above him but that will come with his development

Jeff - good game, got stuck in and kept Ali Fuseini out of the game for the most part

McCormack - amazing night, if ever there was a game tailored for his style this was it, get the ball get the player get the crowd going, looked sharp and well deserving of MOTM

Barnard, no real support for him from Freedman but Revell's introduction gave him that bit of space and they almost teamed up for the first goal if it wasn't for the post being and inch too far the the right, won so many headers, he seems to of worked on this aspect of his game over the summer

Freedman, Quiet game, had a few spells where he held up the ball well but not up to his usual standard

Revell - was the much needed change and everything took a much more dynamic look , very unlucky not to get his first goal of the season

All in all Southend where the better side, should of had the 3 points but it wasn't just down to luck, theres still a lack of choice going forward and too many occassions whilst on the break the ball would be played back and back again and by then Millwall had parked the bus again (i've sent the club this as it could be some alternate income for the club JOBS)

The 3 points will come

UTB

 

[Mick]

So why was Eastwood sent off for it then?

Wrongly, in my opinion. But it is down to what the referee construes as violent conduct. A similar incident to Freddy's at, I think, Liverpool a couple of weeks later only attracted a yellow card.

You cannot look back at past refereeing decisions/mistakes and cite them as precedent. Otherwise every shot that hits a staunchion would be disallowed, every ball that crosses the goal-line somewhere near the goal would be adjudged a goal and so on.

 

[ozzy-shrimper]

It was my first game of the season last night for me. Heath didn't really impress me that much but it is only the first game i've seen him.
Got to see that M'voto at half time who looks a beast! Would like to see him given ago in replace of Heath in the next game.

 

[Roxy]

As most have already said on here, I feel we are just a couple of players short of having a really good side for this League.

Desparately need some pace and width to play alongside Barney - hope Laurent is back soon as this looked liked it might be the making of a good partnership. Barney ran all night despite coming in for the usual Millwall treatment and put in 100%.

Normally a big Dougie fan, but felt last night he was so far away from Barney that it just was'nt going to work against Millwall.

Yes, Revs looked lively when he came on and perhaps should have started with Barney for this one, as Millwall was never going to be an open and flowing game.

Thought we looked steady at the back, but please Mildy - practice your kicking and distribution!

Francis had another good game, as did Granty although thought he tired in the second half.

Macca was MOTM for me, without him and Jeff in the middle I think Millwall would have overun us.

Would have like to have seen Sawyer at some point but not sure who I would have taken off - possibly Moussa, who had a tendency to drift out of position all night which left White exposed and meant Barney was coming deeper and deeper to try and win the ball.

All that said, it was still a good performance with some great passing moves at times and I am still feeling very positive about this season.

I am sure Tilly is only too well aware of what we need to improve upon and trust him to do whatever he can with the means and personnel which he has at his disposal to help the team achieve this.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Wrongly, in my opinion. But it is down to what the referee construes as violent conduct. A similar incident to Freddy's at, I think, Liverpool a couple of weeks later only attracted a yellow card.

You cannot look back at past refereeing decisions/mistakes and cite them as precedent. Otherwise every shot that hits a staunchion would be disallowed, every ball that crosses the goal-line somewhere near the goal would be adjudged a goal and so on.

It's down to inconsistency, which is the whole problem.

 

[Uncle Leo]

A pretty enjoyable game, as 0-0s go. I too would have liked to have seen Sawyer on the field and it's amazing to think we've already drawn more games than in the entire 2002-03 season.

Good to meet Olvis in the South Upper too!

 

[borientater]

macca had a great game , what a player he would be if he learnt to pass !

 

[OldBlueLady]

macca had a great game , what a player he would be if he learnt to pass !

Get out of it! Nowt wrong with his passing last night, two **** ups and they were both short passes.

 

[OlvisIII]

A pretty enjoyable game, as 0-0s go. I too would have liked to have seen Sawyer on the field and it's amazing to think we've already drawn more games than in the entire 2002-03 season.

Good to meet Olvis in the South Upper too!

Likewise mate. Seen us play worse and win - usually sit in East - but enjoyed the South Upper view. Sadly that's me done for the Hall for a little while - back to sunny Devon now!

 

[Smiffy]

Thanks for all the positive comments towards TBV chaps.

Good to hear that our efforts were appreciated around the ground.

Hopefully we can keep it up and hopefully more of you will continue to join in and help us create an atmosphere that will earn us a few extra points over the season...

 

[Gremlin]

It was my first game of the season last night for me. Heath didn't really impress me that much but it is only the first game i've seen him.
Got to see that M'voto at half time who looks a beast! Would like to see him given ago in replace of Heath in the next game.

Well as the next game is in the Carling Cup you may get your wish, M'voto played in the last round after all. I can't see Tilly meddling with Friday night's back four for Swindon after our first clean sheet against Millwall though.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

Midds - 7 not really bothered by Millwall all night ..staedy game .

White - 7 thought he doen well , defo worth an extension of his loan IMO

Barrett - 7 done well against Price , but felt he struggled with Harris , who was Millwalls link up man and done well when he came on .

Heath - 7 Done all that was asked of him , won headers and actually brought the ball done and tried playing out from the back , gives 100 %.

Francis 7 better from him and has started thios season quite well .

Grant -8 what an engine this guy has , you can't help but be impressed by his work ethic and tracks his man back every time .

Macca 7.5 best game for a while , won the midfield battle .

JFC 7.5 same as above , bossed the midfield .

Moose - 6 poor game from him , i think the bully boy tatics got to him and he went missing ....thats whats stopping him being a decent player IMO .

Barnard 7.5 worked hard , looked a threat and won so many headers for hi ssize , shame no one was around him for any of his flicks .

Freedman 6 poor , no real effort if the ball is not within 2 yards of him , bags of ability , but if not up for it , he's not worthy of a start .

Revs 7 done well and mixed it up .



Better performance against a solid unit in Millwall , they will be hard to beat as they are a strong , physical side and for times i liked the fact that we mixed it up with JFC , Macca and grant holding their own well .

One small point was that Millwall managed to take 4 short corners and free kicks without a SUFC player within 15 yards of them , luckily laspes of concentration at the back friday night like that went unpunsihed but really is schoolboy stuff .

Good atmosphere in the West BTW

 

[BoyWonder2]

I writing this without reading anyone elses opinions on the game so sorry if its been covered.

I thought it was a "nearly" performance Friday night, and by that I mean things went well until the final cross, the final pass, the final shoot.

Our general build up play, work rate, commitment and desire was spot on and if we play like that week in week out we will win more games then we lose.

I haven't been to any of the away games so far, but Barrett was back to his best Friday night. It was a close call between him and JFC for man of the match for me, although you could have made a case for most of our team. Barrett won the vast majority of his headers, organised a more solid looking back four, moved forward well with possesion and seems to have developed a bit more of an understanding alongside Heath, who again caught the eye for me.

Was a very decent 0-0 draw, and was a real blood and thunder match and I really enjoyed it. If Revell's header had gone in, or JFC's or any of our other good chances then we would be calling it a perfect performance.

I think Tilson maybe should have been a bit braver with his subs. Revell was brought on at the right time, but I may have had Betsy on, so we had a natural winger out there, to give Rev's and Barney a bit of service, although Francis did a good job. Maybe bring Sawyer on as well, but both Macca and JFC played very well, and it would have been harsh to have taken either off, maybe Moussa would have been the man to go off.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Mildenhall 7 - solid, feel pretty safe with him between the sticks.
Francis 8 - Disappointed he didn't get forward more in 1st half, looks a much more confident defender with grant infront of him, great cross in 2nd half for Revell.
White 8 - Impressed me alot, solid, good distribution esp. for a RB playing LB.
Heath 7.5 - Didn't notice him, which they say is a good thing for a defender.
Barrett 7 - Barrett is as Barrett does.
Christophe 7 - Broke up play, got forward well a few times, but gave ball away sometimes.
McCormack 8.5 MOM - best I've seen him play ina long time, really should have scored in the first half though.
Grant 7 - Played well, stuck to his wing pretty well too.
Moussa 7 - Not his best game but still looked our most (only) creative outlet.
Freedman 6 - Could see he was trying to drop off Barney and link the midfield to attack just didn't work that well.
Barnard 7.5 - Looks so much stronger than he has in the past.

Revell 7 - Worked hard, unlucky not to score from francis cross he did the right thing just needed a little bit more on it and he would have been the hero.

First game of the season for me, so here's a few thoughts. We looked pretty solid at the back but having seen M'Voto at halftime, would love to see him at the back - he's a beast! Midfield all played well, and Grant & Moussa stuck to their tasks pretty well it's a very athletic strong quartet but I would have liked to have seen some natural width come on in the form of Betsy. Also thought that Macca got tired towards the end so Sawyer would have been a good option with 10 mins to go. I'd also have prefered Walker to come on for Dougie to provide a bit of pace.

Overall happy though, we'll be a tough team to beat this season.

 

[Beefy]

I think Tilson maybe should have been a bit braver with his subs. Revell was brought on at the right time, but I may have had Betsy on, so we had a natural winger out there, to give Rev's and Barney a bit of service, although Francis did a good job. Maybe bring Sawyer on as well, but both Macca and JFC played very well, and it would have been harsh to have taken either off, maybe Moussa would have been the man to go off.

I thought that Betsy might have come on but as you said, I don't think that Tilly wanted to risk losing what we had and at that stage we were probably looking most dangerous when Grant & Francis were combining down the right. Sawyer coming on would have been a reckless change as McCormack was having a blinder and as I don't think there's many of us who would fancy a Macca/Sawyer midfield partnership.

Only criticism of McCormack is that that's now two blatant dives in the first two home matches. I'm not sure that I like to see that from a Southend player and he's very lucky not to have picked up a booking for either.

I also thought that the Ref was very good. That game could very easily have got out of hand

 

[united we stand]

One small point was that Millwall managed to take 4 short corners and free kicks without a SUFC player within 15 yards of them , luckily laspes of concentration at the back friday night like that went unpunsihed but really is schoolboy stuff .

Very good point, on at least two occassions Grant was to blame. He was the closest player to the corner flag but just walked back to goal facing the goal and not once looked over his shoulder. If we had of conceeded from this it would ahve been very upsetting. Even U10's min soccer get this right so for a professional team to screw it up is awfull.

Freedman- I like him but after 10 mins he had tried to simple flicks which both went to a Millwall player. It wasn't going to be his night and I would have liked to have seen him come off much much sooner.

On Barney - I know he gets frustrated but I wish he didn't come back so often looking for the ball. Its great that he wants it but it leaves us with fewer options when he gets it

 

[Gremlin]

Only criticism of McCormack is that that's now two blatant dives in the first two home matches. I'm not sure that I like to see that from a Southend player and he's very lucky not to have picked up a booking for either.

I also thought that the Ref was very good. That game could very easily have got out of hand

Agreed on both counts. Macca's diving was embarrassing and my only possible criticism of the ref would be that he wasn't booked for it. Not that I'm complaining too much.

 

[Andy_S]

I am throughly surprised that I'm in a real minority that don't rate White. His positional play is dreadful, no doubt due to the fact he's a right back, but still, whilst he continually gets caught out ball watching. And he offers less going forward than Che Wilson, who most people on here couldn't stand.

 

[Andy_S]

Only criticism of McCormack is that that's now two blatant dives in the first two home matches. I'm not sure that I like to see that from a Southend player and he's very lucky not to have picked up a booking for either.

Trying to be Nicky Bailey perhaps? :unsure: