Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0-3 Brighton and Hove Albion

[rigsby]

You say that like we're Chelsea or Man City and will have players of Lenny's calibre falling over themselves to sign and take his place. We're less than 2 weeks from the first game of the season and you want us to sell our best player and replace him in that time?

Obviously Lenny wants to go. Similarly I want to leave my current job and am not having much luck either. We'll both keep trying whilst it's possible but there'll come a point when we both take stock and decide to just knuckle down and work hard for our current employers. Then try again at a later date.

That's life and Lenny clearly has enjoyed his time with us so won't want to tarnish that by downing tools for an entire season. He'd never get his dream move then anyway.

When you get head hunted and offered 3 times what you do now, lets see if you knuckle down and are happy to stay where you are.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Before people jump on Lenny's back and say he was poor - he wasn't playing his regular role and unfortunately, that was why he didn't look right. For me, our best two players - Yearwood and Fortune - were subbed. We were all over Brighton for the first 20 minutes but then they adjusted to the ridiculous length of the grass, and sussed out that we had no genuine width and stepped up through the gears to have us on toast.

Smith - 3 very good saves, was unfortunate to concede 3 goals as well. Still very undecided who Brown will start against Blackburn
Demetriou - did ok, one excellent piece of defending counteracted by one poor piece of defending, it was his player put the cross in for the 3rd. Him and JW should be able to work well together.
White - another who did ok, though the partnership with Ferdinand needs some work. Calm under pressure and on perfect wavelength with Ted at these times
Ferdinand - seemed to be a few gears off but an excellent dummy late on with Ted to send their forward the wrong way
Hendrie - played the full 90 last Tuesday, not sure if he did on Saturday - wonder if it's too much too soon?
Leonard - suffered from being out of position and not having any creative outlet (Woody, McLaughlin or McGlashan)
Yearwood - hope he can fulfil his potential, looks a star in the making - was it him or MAF who had that excellent shot in the second half?
Timlin - I love Tims and if you want a player to step in and break up play and make fierce tackles, then he's absolutely the man, but he was playing too far forward and couldn't pick a pass
Kightly - very subdued compared to what we saw last Tuesday, delivery needs some work
Cox - got mauled by Brighton's defender! Had to drop deep so often because there was no link between midfield and the forwards
Fortune - my best player on the pitch for us, classy and determined, all our best work involved him

Subs:
McGlashan - should have come on much earlier as far as I was concerned, we were crying out for some genuine wing play
Robinson - would have liked to see him for Cox to be honest
Triallist (Ba) - they're not allowed to announce the name, which was ridiculous as we all knew! Did ok, Brown could have made better use of his time by putting him on earlier.

Enjoyable evening, nice drop of Wells' Burning Gold in the Shrimpers, roll on the cricket tonight!

 

[Floval Flyer]

Didnt he come one through the Arsenal youth system and not ours? Thought I read that somewhere

I understand he left Arsenal at 11 so he's been with us for 6 years. So possibly (Ted?) the longest serving player in the starting XI last night?

 

[IloveShrimp]

I won"t do ratings, just general observations

Smith - Obvious potential but A big risk. I don't think he Is ready yet ability wise and definitely not physically.
Demitriou - Thought he was ok
White - did ok but has not got the height for CB. Got caught out a few times
Ferdinand - usual calm and collected self but lack of pace at CB positions worries me
Hendrie - Hope l'm wrong but I think he is overrated by some on here.
Lenny - RM isn't his position, but Showed obvious lack of commitment
Timlin - Attacking CM isn't his game. Game passed him by a bit
Yearwood - Looks class player in the making.
Kightly - expected more from him and didn't show class above our players which I was expecting
Cox - fed off scraps, lack of supply
MAF - worked hard but no chances created for him

McG - did ok
Robinson- didn't do much
Ba - put himself about. Definitely something there


Overall, I wouldn't worry about the result. They'll probably be the best side we'll face all season (or did we make them look good!)

Hope we are not going back to the sideways backwards tactics which was displayed, and once again there were chances to break quickly only for us to stop at the halfway line and pass it backwards. Lack of pace (if this was our stating lineup) front and back is worrying.

Brighton were very organised, had an established method of play and never let any of their players be isolated, when they put crosses into our box there was always 3 players trying to get onto the end of them - the complete opposite to us

 

[shrimperjon]

Before people jump on Lenny's back and say he was poor - he wasn't playing his regular role and unfortunately, that was why he didn't look right. For me, our best two players - Yearwood and Fortune - were subbed. We were all over Brighton for the first 20 minutes but then they adjusted to the ridiculous length of the grass, and sussed out that we had no genuine width and stepped up through the gears to have us on toast.

Smith - 3 very good saves, was unfortunate to concede 3 goals as well. Still very undecided who Brown will start against Blackburn
Demetriou - did ok, one excellent piece of defending counteracted by one poor piece of defending, it was his player put the cross in for the 3rd. Him and JW should be able to work well together.
White - another who did ok, though the partnership with Ferdinand needs some work. Calm under pressure and on perfect wavelength with Ted at these times
Ferdinand - seemed to be a few gears off but an excellent dummy late on with Ted to send their forward the wrong way
Hendrie - played the full 90 last Tuesday, not sure if he did on Saturday - wonder if it's too much too soon?
Leonard - suffered from being out of position and not having any creative outlet (Woody, McLaughlin or McGlashan)
Yearwood - hope he can fulfil his potential, looks a star in the making - was it him or MAF who had that excellent shot in the second half?
Timlin - I love Tims and if you want a player to step in and break up play and make fierce tackles, then he's absolutely the man, but he was playing too far forward and couldn't pick a pass
Kightly - very subdued compared to what we saw last Tuesday, delivery needs some work
Cox - got mauled by Brighton's defender! Had to drop deep so often because there was no link between midfield and the forwards
Fortune - my best player on the pitch for us, classy and determined, all our best work involved him

Subs:
McGlashan - should have come on much earlier as far as I was concerned, we were crying out for some genuine wing play
Robinson - would have liked to see him for Cox to be honest
Triallist (Ba) - they're not allowed to announce the name, which was ridiculous as we all knew! Did ok, Brown could have made better use of his time by putting him on earlier.

Enjoyable evening, nice drop of Wells' Burning Gold in the Shrimpers, roll on the cricket tonight!

Whether lenny was playing in his preferred position or not is not the point tonight. There was a real lack of effort, his head was down, pulled out of tackles etc. I'm afraid he looked like a player completely disinterested by Sufc, same on Saturday. I also noticed that we did no long throw routines, thank god, wonder if that is PB way of preparing the team for when Lenny isn't around. I've loved his time with us, but will not support a player who doesn't put a shift in. People have been critical of Hendrie tonight and he defo had a tough night, but he never stopped trying, same with people like Cox, Timo, MAF, Dru etc. Lenny for me and others sitting around was very disappointing. If we can get rid we should, there is no place for people in the side that havnt got the right attitude

 

[RHB]

so, about last night. Our first and probably last visit to the East Stand this season, more on that later. Important things first, the game.

As many have already commented, quite a few players looked rusty, but to be fair we were playing a Premiership side and they were, seemingly, a few yards faster than us whenever they felt like it during the match, so for rusty maybe read not as quick as Brighton. Smithy made some important stops, normally getting his shins in the way, so well done Ted. My preferred choice? probably I still want Oxley to start, but that discussion is for another time. John White continues to be a very valuable squad member and again last night he filled the CB slot with Anton and had a reasonable game. Anton and JW as 1st team starters, nah, just a little too slow for me. Hendrie tried so hard but he needs a bit more game time before we see the best of him, Demi was good going forward and there endeth stuff about the defence.

The lads in the middle had a hard time last night, they were chasing quicker players. As others have mentioned, Lenny was not overly interested. Now and again there were flashes of the old Len, but they were few and far between. Timlin was his normal combative self, Kightly needs more time to settle into the team and Yearwood is a v good player in the making. He ran his legs off, looked for dangerous passes and had a decent pop at goal. He will benefit from on the pitch guidance on when to play the simple ball though. So on to the Front men. Cox worked his new slim line socks off with v little return and Fortune continues to amaze me with his fitness levels. I thought he could do the whole 90 minutes.

and then on to the East stand, I discovered that the sun does shine at RH, right into the East stand so improvised visors using tickets were the order of the day all around me. We were treated to our very own Blue Voice soloist for most of the match until two stewards went and had a word. Thankfully said soloist was allowed to remain but his renditions of 'everywhere we go' were a lot more muted after a chat with the guys in black. I was able to see my normal seat in the West and I do believe we have two shiny new one this season.

Overall, a good run out for the squad, but why Phil used so few players is a mystery to me, especially as Brighton played almost their entire 1st, U23 and junior squads including one bloke who must have been 7 foot tall.

On to Blackburn then and my new seat.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Why were the stewards 'having a word' because a fan was trying to create an atmosphere?? :stunned:

Did they hand him a prawn sandwich and point to the 'silence please' signs?

 

[rigsby]

Why were the stewards 'having a word' because a fan was trying to create an atmosphere?? :stunned:

Did they hand him a prawn sandwich and point to the 'silence please' signs?

On an echoing summers evening, he went straight into "does your boyfriend know your here"....."We can see you holding hands" Which got an ironic cheer from the Brighton fans. So telling him to sit down and shut up was exactly the right thing to do.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Whether lenny was playing in his preferred position or not is not the point tonight. There was a real lack of effort, his head was down, pulled out of tackles etc. I'm afraid he looked like a player completely disinterested by Sufc, same on Saturday. I also noticed that we did no long throw routines, thank god, wonder if that is PB way of preparing the team for when Lenny isn't around.

That'll be why he went down after one tackle holding his ankle then, will it? At the end of the day it is still a pre-season friendly, and no-one wants to pick up an injury. I'll not join in with those saying he wasn't committed last night. On the long throws, with the record we have with them, is it any real wonder we've dropped them?!

 

[TTS]

Why were the stewards 'having a word' because a fan was trying to create an atmosphere?? :stunned:

Did they hand him a prawn sandwich and point to the 'silence please' signs?

Probably because he was so drunk he continued to spout the C and F words in an area full of children.

All for trying to raise an atmosphere but not for that type of language and before people say the club should have opened another a stand , that doesn't mean that a grown up can't respect the people that are surrounding them. It was unacceptable !

 

[Oakley1]

so reading some of the comments on here the season is over already.....no point going down there and I can look forward to 2018 in league 2....sounds like the same write ups and moans and groans this time last season

so was it a good run out or the end of the world as we know it again

 

[fbm]

so reading some of the comments on here the season is over already.....no point going down there and I can look forward to 2018 in league 2....sounds like the same write ups and moans and groans this time last season

so was it a good run out or the end of the world as we know it again

I don't think anyone is saying that at all. Everything I have read seems pretty much spot on and with the very mild exception of whether Yearwood is a world beater yet, everyone seems to agree. There's no moans on here that I've read and no-one thinks we should have won or will be relegated.

 

[Tommy2holes]

Probably because he was so drunk he continued to spout the C and F words in an area full of children.

All for trying to raise an atmosphere but not for that type of language and before people say the club should have opened another a stand , that doesn't mean that a grown up can't respect the people that are surrounding them. It was unacceptable !

Probably the same pillock that is at the back of block V every home game

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Probably because he was so drunk he continued to spout the C and F words in an area full of children.

All for trying to raise an atmosphere but not for that type of language and before people say the club should have opened another a stand , that doesn't mean that a grown up can't respect the people that are surrounding them. It was unacceptable !

Fair enough, that's totally unacceptable - agreed. If he could channel his enthusiasm to more appropriate cheering that would have been better. It does sound like he was probably a few prawns short of a full sandwich though so perhaps keeping schtum was a better option in this case.

 

[shrimperjon]

That'll be why he went down after one tackle holding his ankle then, will it? At the end of the day it is still a pre-season friendly, and no-one wants to pick up an injury. I'll not join in with those saying he wasn't committed last night. On the long throws, with the record we have with them, is it any real wonder we've dropped them?!

So what, thats about the only tackle he made. Timlin, Dru even Kightly were still trying to put a foot in and the Brighton players certainly did lack bite in the tackle. Stop trying to make excuses for him, as others have mentioned, he clearly doesnt want to be here, his mind certainly isnt with us and he simply didnt put a shift in. I live the guy, but if this is anything to go by (added to saturdays performance) he is a waste off a salary and place in the team. Re the long throws, they have never worked, shoudl have been ditched years ago

 

[shrimperjon]

Fair enough, that's totally unacceptable - agreed. If he could channel his enthusiasm to more appropriate cheering that would have been better. It does sound like he was probably a few prawns short of a full sandwich though so perhaps keeping schtum was a better option in this case.

Also added to the fact that he stood at the top of the stairs the whole game when in an all seater ground. Im amazed it took the stewards until the 72 minute to intervene. He was loud, rude, disrespectful and homophobic. Actually dont think he was even that drunk, certainly not the first half

 

[Blue]

Here you go chaps!

I'm posting on behalf of Trade Price cars, we are doing a match report after each game this season, not a minute by minute but more of a general feel of the game and any stand out performers along with content from the players we sponsor.

enjoy & would love to hear your feedback.

http://blog.tradepricecars.com/2017/07/26/brighton-hove-albion-friendly/

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

^^^^^^^^^ re Blue #37
Thank you for your report of the game.
John White as M of M; fair enough and he rarely has a poor game IMO: AND I believe we may see a fair bit of him this season, in a variety of positions and being a regular Mr Utility across the back.:thumbsup:

I also, sadly, suspect that he will become, for some, this season's target for the Boo Boys and any and all errors by him will be over killed and slated repeatedly. :sad:

 

[Blue]

^^^^^^^^^ re Blue #37
Thank you for your report of the game.
John White as M of M; fair enough and he rarely has a poor game IMO: AND I believe we may see a fair bit of him this season, in a variety of positions and being a regular Mr Utility across the back.:thumbsup:

I also, sadly, suspect that he will become, for some, this season's target for the Boo Boys and any and all errors by him will be over killed and slated repeatedly. :sad:

Exactly that, reliable wherever he is asked to play but last night I thought he was particularly commanding at centre half. Not the easiest to play right side of a centre back pairing when demetriou goes wandering either (not that he did last night tbf.)

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

Exactly that, reliable wherever he is asked to play but last night I thought he was particularly commanding at centre half. Not the easiest to play right side of a centre back pairing when demetriou goes wandering either (not that he did last night tbf.)

Well, that's the thing about getting a reasonably settled back four - for me it counts for a lot.

Knowing how and what the other players do (and don't do) counts for a lot ............ and sometimes it is best to pick the 4 with the best "common understanding" rather than the best 4 individuals. (I hope that makes some sort of sense).