Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0-2 Mk Dons

[bertiebigbanana]

So, the bubble has burst as i am sure most but the fanatical on here realised it most likely would. This game showed up our woefull inadaquicies across the whole side and whilst the loanees, as well as probably clarke too, start pondering next season with thier respective sides it will be no mean feat if this club manages to tread water by replacing these three let alone improve enough in other positions to pose a serious threat on league 1 next season. This particular roll of wallpaper did well to hide those cracks for a while but like all temporary fix's it couldnt last. It was unfortunately the same old story again today. No real flair, static midfield and woeful finishing. Sadly our goal difference for the season tells all. Todays game started at a good pace and was fairly even until the first 'cert' fell to franchise and thier player found himself 2 yards out with the goal at his mercy and the ball invitingly at his feet but his boots nailed to the floor! After that we had two chances that looked easier to score than not but alas our 'striker's' were just as inept. Barney especially. They appeared to be passing to feet and we appeared to be trying lots of flicks over the top both styles resulting in failure more often than not. Thier breakthorough when it came was a well worked attack at considerable pace and a good headed finish. You could sense the air of resignation all around the ground and also on the pitch. We huffed and puffed and but for a few moments rarely threatened and then they got another with a classic counter attack. All in all a disappointing afternoon but at least the season stayed interesting till now.

Mildy 6 Didnt have a great deal to do except pick the ball out of the back of his net.
Francis 5 A pretty poor showing. Looked a yard off the pace and his decision making was all over the place.
Clarke 7 Hard as nails usual showing. With dorian, won everything in the air apart from the one that counted!
Dorian 8 A class above anyone else on the pitch.
Barrett 6 Another laboured 90 minutes from the captain in a position that he just aint cut out for.
moussa 5 Conspicuous by his absence from any meaningfull contributions apart from one ridiculous volley when in acres of space on the edge of the area 2nd half. This boy is not yet a man.
Macca 6 A lot of effort and attitude but little else today
Grant 6 Same as macca
Scannel 5 Another firing on 3 cylinders today. Even his pace seemed to have left him.
Barney 5 Outragously poor finishing and devoid of pace...brought nothing to the party.
theo 7 Only striker who lived up to the title. couple of good efforts early doors but drifted out of the game as he lost belief.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Mildenhall 7 - Made one good save, nothing else to do apart from pick the ball out the net twice
Francis 5 - Back to Mr Casual again
Dervite 8 - Won everything in the air
Clarke 8 - A few dodgy long balls but was like a man possessed trying to get a goal back
Barrett 7 - Steady as usual
Scannell 7 - Probably his best game for us, seems to have got his act together, could do with losing a few pounds pre season
McCormack 7 - Was unlucky with a couple of chances
Grant 8 - First half I thought he was outstanding, got booked and then faded
Moussa 7 - Was unlucky not to score in the first half, Dosent look like a 19 year old on the ball, Good strength
Barnard 7 - Worked really hard, should of scored at least one of 3 chances
Robinson 7 - Fades in and out, If his volley had gone in then we would of had another serious 'Goal of the Season' contender

Dougie 6 - Didn't really do much, had one decent run, maybe should of shot rather than pass
Laurent 5 - Missed a sitter
Betsy 5 - Not long enough to make a real impact

 

[Basildon Blue]

Mildenhall - 7
Francis - 5
Clarke - 7
Dervite - 8
Barrett - 7
Scannell - 7
McCormack - 7
Grant - 8
Moussa - 6
Barnard - 6
Robinson - 6.5

Subs:
Freedman - 6
Laurent - 5
Betsy - 5

 

[Lord Football]

A game we should have won. Their keeper made a couple of good stops, one off the line, a possible penalty, some woeful finishing. They were a solid side and did us on the break. Much like the game at Christmas MKD didn't impress me. On another day we'd be celebrating 3 points. But then again, we've rode our luck a bit recently, most of us were looking over our shoulders a couple of months ago at relegation and we'd have all taken a comfortable mid table position - which is where we are going to finish.

Mildy - 7.. a good stop in the first half, could do nothing with the goals.
Francis - 5.. a nightmare period in the 2nd half where he looked like he had never played in his life.
Barrett - 6.. Huff and puff today.
Clarke - 8.. Solid as a rock, but we really need him putting pen to paper
Dervit - 8.. Same as Clarke, didn't put a foot wrong.
McCormack - 7.. Bags of effort and energy, nice free kick but no end product
Grant - 7.. Crucial tackle in the first half, but gives the ball away too easily.
Moussa - 5.. Did he play today?
Scannell - 7.. Needs a run in the team and a full 90 mins. Some nice touches and runs, but no end product again.
Barnard - 5.. Poor. Wouldn't be surprised to see him leave in the summer
Robinson - 7.. Lightening quick, good effort early on, but couldn't escape the shackles.

subs

Freedman - 6.. Still looks a class above, if we can keep him fit next season......
Betsy - 5.. Offered nothing
Laurent - 5.. Missed a good chance, poorly, again.

Crowd - MKD fans were very good, arguably the best this season? We were, well, woeful.

Ref - Played some good advantages and tried to keep it flowing. Could have given us a penalty - looked it from where I was.

 

[Andy_S]

I turned to someone I sit with after 5 minutes or so of the 2nd half and said "this is going to one of those days isn't it" and unfortunately so it proved to be true. It was one of those very frustrating days where you see what was going to happen all game long. They had ONE player who actually looked any threat and that was Puncheon. He ran every one of their attacks and for some reason we didn't instruct Grant to follow his every move to try and shut him down.

If Theo wasn't injured then Tilly had one of those days where he messed up on the tactical/substitution front. Why on earth was he taken off? I couldn't get my head around the decision to replace our only winger with another winger either. If Betsy was going to come on then it had to be for Moussa. On the subs note, I don't understand why nothing was done about our central midfield. Both are fire filled players and both had been booked. Both were on a knife edge of being sent off so surely it would've helped had we put Christophe on or moved Moussa into the middle as McCormack and Grant both tippy toed through the last half an hour.

Ratings:

Mildenhall 6: Made one save and watched the rest of the game with the other 10,000 in the ground with 2 goals flying past him in the process.

Francis 5.5: Poor. He started off ok but then seemed to get worse by the minute. Very ineffectual.

Dervite 8: His usual pretty darn good self.

Clarke 9: Absolutely immense. It's not often I ever give a 9 on here but today I felt persuaded to. He was just a rock and one of only a couple that seemed to realise how important today's game was. He's going to be a MASSIVE miss if we do indeed lose him.

Barrett 6: Now the season's over get Herd in there pronto to build his experience. Barrett was his usual self in this position really and that means he wasn't anything of note. Failed to control the ball which handed them their second.

Scannell 7: Pretty tidy. His ball that lead to Barnard's shot off the line was truly superb. He does need to release the ball quicker sometimes but I'm going to remind people that he's 23 and has made just 6 pro league starts in his career so far. I notice though there's a thread slating him and saying we should get rid, he's useless, blady blady blah though so no doubt some people are a little more blinkered than that. There's a surprise.

Grant 7.5: He was pretty good until he got his booking but then his performance seemed to dip as he wasn't as aggressive. This cost us the first goal though as he didn't go in as hard as he should've done.

McCormack 6.5: He's been better of late but today dipped back to prior months. He got caught on the ball too often and you never felt inspired when he got the ball.

Moussa 6: He started off pretty strongly I thought but then he disappeared into obscurity. Move him into the centre for the last 4 games please Tilly.

Barnard 6: I can't help but think that the 2008 Barnard would've been on the end of Scannell's cross. Unfortunately the 2009 Barnard was hanging back and then failed to put away the chance that came to him following it. He's got to stop playing so deep. I just don't understand it and it's by far and away my biggest frustration with the team at the moment. It doesn't add up.

Robinson 7: I've already said, but I just don't understand why he was taken off. Unless he had a knock, he's exactly the same as Freddy was - you NEVER take him off. THAT effort early on would've been goal of the century, let alone goal of the season.

Subs:

Freedman 5: Apart from a nice pass to allow Laurent to make a fool of himself, he looked off the pace.

Laurent 5: Made a hash of his chance and wasn't involved other than that.

Betsy 6: Battled away but failed to get down the line.

 

[bishmania]

Should have won today, I was convinced Barney's shot was over the line but probably just getting caught up in the heat of the moment.

Though Theo deserved a pen for fould by Gueret and even though Clarke was looking for it, we would have had his one on another day.

We had great intensity for parts of the game, particularly the first 25 or so minutes but just seemed to run out of steam and ideas.

Mildy - 7 - Good stop in first half, nothing he could do about the goals.
Francis - 5 - Woeful in the second half - needs to cross earlier.
Dorian - 9 - As a sad anorak I made a point of counting how many times Dorian lost an aerial challenge today. The answer: zero.
Clarke - 6 - Worst I've seen him in a while, didn't look like he eve knew how to kick the ball for a spell towards the end of teh first half. Did tackle well today though.
Barrett - 7 - Solid and puts the ball in early enough (I guess he knows he has to because of his dribbling limitations!)
Scannell - 6 - Lively, worked hard but needs to deliver earlier and better.
Macca - 6.5 - Snapped around but couldn't find the breakthrough going forward.
Grant - 6.5 - Going to be a big player for us next year. Attitude has improved immensley. Covered so much ground, won a lot of ball - just a shame he and Macca went walkabouts for the first goal.
Moussa - 6 - I saw the highlights of him beatig people at Huddersfield and was really looking forward to him terrorise the opposition today but it just never happened.
Theo - 7 - Lively early on, wanted the ball but didn't always get it early enough. Quiet in the second half.
Barney - 6.5 - Typical frustrating Barney performance. Couple of things went against him early on and the ref didn't take too kindly to him after that. Desperate for service to show off his goalscoring ability.

SUBS
Dougie - 6 - Not enough time or possession to make a difference.
Betsy - 6 - As above.
Laurent - 5- Decent chance but fluffed his lines

 

[OldBlueLady]

Pretty much agree with LF's analysis of the game as a whole. We were so much better than them in the 1st half, and we really should have done better with the chances we had. I do feel that some of the ref's decisions affected us adversely, and certainly that in booking Grant and Macca he effectively nullified our most dangerous players today. The defence was seriously worrying today, Franno will have known he did badly, but as we've seen before, the more everyone gets on at him the more it affects his concentration. If it had been up to me, I'd have taken him off and gone 3-4-3 for the 1st sub, with Laurent on alongside Barney and Theo to mess up their defence.

Mildy - 6, didn't inspire me too much today
Franno - 5, poor, but still kept offering options
Dervite - 7, even he made a few mistakes today
Clarke - 8, higher score because of the way he kept going right to the end
Barrett - 6, their winger made his life hell
Scannell - 6, he did use his strength at times but this is not his position and I think Franno suffers for having him in front of him
Macca - 8, typical gutsy performance, desperately unlucky not to score and the only player not to be afraid of a shot from distance
Grant - 8, MotM for me today, just edged it over Macca and Clarkey, thought he'd gone when him and Clarke went over on the gravelly stuff
Moussa - 7, did ok as far as I was concerned, maybe not the right game to be wearing new boots though! Where's your superstition man?
Robinson - 7, they knew he was the danger man and he was marked accordingly
Barney - 7, again, thought he did ok, tried playing deeper to break the offside trap, and came back to help defend, hassled the goalie and put up with huge amounts of manhandling by their no.6

Subs: Dougie for Barney, Laurent for Theo, Betsy for Scannell - 6 each - all had their chances, the introduction of new men confused their defence, it should have been done earlier - including bringing on Dougie and Laurent before we took that corner - would have confused the hell out of MK.

Ref: Sorry, thought he was poor - a Mr Limelight. Retire. Now.

TBV: 8, didn't hear the new song and with you moving further away meant I had to listen to more negativity!

 

[Skyblue]

Looks like our last chance for any silverware is Shrimperzone FC on Sunday then....will there be enough programmes?

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Macca - 8, typical gutsy performance, desperately unlucky not to score and the only player not to be afraid of a shot from distance

Mwahahaha, it is posts like that which are the reason you are one of my favourite posters along with the likes of Tarquin and Mad Cyril. We need far more posters with that sort of sense of humour.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Mwahahaha, it is posts like that which are the reason you are one of my favourite posters along with the likes of Tarquin and Mad Cyril. We need far more posters with that sort of sense of humour.

Should I feel flattered? :unsure: The little fella did well today :p

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Should I feel flattered? :unsure: The little fella did well today :p

Are you an MK Dons fan?

We played in blue.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Are you an MK Dons fan?

We played in blue.

I said "little" not "fat"! ;) And wash your mouth out insinuating I'm a MK Dons fan - not on your nelly!

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I said "little" not "fat"! ;) And wash your mouth out insinuating I'm a MK Dons fan - not on your nelly!

Apologies, I'm just struggling to work out how someone could think McCormack had a good game today.

An extra mark in sympathy of that **** Taylor booking him, maybe, but that would surely only raise his mark to 6 out of 10 on a generous day.

Macca strolled around (was he injured?) and gave the ball away and ensured we were overrun in midfield most of the game. When he did pop up in attack, his back-passes didn't even trouble Franchise Scum's comedy keeper.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Well, I think you're the only person so far to think he didn't.

 

[MK Shrimper]

...and you know the annoying thing - Scunthorpe, as I type, are losing.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

My ratings

Mildenhall 6.5 - didn't have much to do, but still beaten twice. Displayed a good strong wrist (something Flahavan fans would appreciate) for one save.
Francis 4 - someone should have told him we kicked off at 1 not 3.
Barrett 6 - so-so
Clarke 6 - average
Dervite 8 - looked even more of a class above than usual today
Scannell 6.5 - all that fancy footwork didn't really create much
Grant 7 - dominant in the first half an hour but faded
McCormack 5 - little influence on the game
Moussa 6 - some nice touches, but should have been played centrally to allow him greater influence
Robinson 6.5 - good pace and one great shot, but doesn't quite convince
Barnard 7 - unsung hero. Excellent support play and we missed him once he went off

Subs Freedman 5 - didn't really touch it
Betsy 6 - much quieter than Scannell
Laurent 5 - the ball just doesn't stick when he's up front

 

[JoshC]

Macca - 8, typical gutsy performance, desperately unlucky not to score and the only player not to be afraid of a shot from distance

You are joking aren't you, I'm a big fan of Macca's but today he was awful. Couldn't pass to any of our players and his tackling was unusually off. As for his shooting....

 

[palexander]

...and you know the annoying thing - Scunthorpe, as I type, are losing.

Yea, aside ours, results went quite for us today :(

Ignoring the games in hand, its not all over! The old saying about having the points on the board etc...

 

[OldBlueLady]

You are joking aren't you, I'm a big fan of Macca's but today he was awful. Couldn't pass to any of our players and his tackling was unusually off. As for his shooting....

Ok, so there's two of you. Not arguing everyone's entitled to their opinion, just that, mine's right on this occasion ;)

 

[palexander]

Thought we were very flat today, almost as if we'd conceded the play-offs and had nothing to play for.

MK were pretty average and our lack of any physical presence up front was telling. That said, when Laurent came on, he was awful (as was Freedman).

Dunno why Tilly didnt go for it and leave Robinson on and play 3 up for the final part of the match?

Francis had another shocker. How many chances is this guy gonna get in the side? Urgh. Not many came out with any praise really - Dorian was in a different league, Mildy did as much as he could (think people are underplaying his save, was excellent) and Grant first half especially was good.

Just a weird atmosphere around the game today, players seemed flat, no atmosphere in the ground really - South Upper was very quiet and its almost as if the 2-0 reverse was expected... not any fight of a team chasing that last chance of glory.