Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 0 Newport County 0

[Jedi Shrimper]

I stated in the Coker rating. Atkinson was slow to join Coker on the wing and never looked to go past his man down the wing, he cut inside to where he seems to be more naturally comfortable which is fine with me....but I felt we needed someone on who was more likely to go down the line.
I actually felt Atkinson was better in the second half, full of running in the position he normally plays in.

Maybe the problem here is who Straker came on for....Corr would have kept the team balanced in my opinion but maybe he wanted to rest him a bit.

Barry had a head injury, and was having double vision apparently.

 

[Jam_Man]

Agree Ricey...don't know much about your budget...but really did think you might have a bit more than County...your lot being an established FL team .
In fact last time I was at Roots Hall brings back bad memories...we led 2-0 With about 15 mins left and we were singing that old favourite..." o what fun it is too see the County win away"...you know how it goes "jingle bells" and all that...anyway score at 90 mins Sarfend 4 County 2 !

Just to top it off me and my mate( 14/15 yrs old) left behind by the coach after game...spent the night at the local nic...parents not best pleased , had to send up cash to have us brought home next day...yeah Friday night games as well.

Ahhh...happy days ...must be 35 yrs ago now.

You need to read this forum or check up on that.

We have been pretty much bankkrupt since 2010. 3 seasons ago we had 4 players as we hadnt paid the team for months and most left.

Since then we have had a short period of stability followed by yet more financial restrictions and have been operating under embargo since the end of last season.

We might be established but we have achieved what we have with massive restrictions on us and were only allowed a squad of 20 until a couple of weeks ago.

 

[applelover]

I must say I'd like to see Eastwood and Barnard start together at some point, could be a very clever pairing. Corr will surely need a rest soon, he's done a fantastic job up there on his own pretty much all season.

Totally agree. I'm also not opposed to Eastwood dropping deeper to allow Brown to still play the five in midfield he seems to prefer.

Corr could do with a rest IMO.

Straker was awful today and was pretty ropey on tuesday. Please Phil, go and get Ryan Hall

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

Yet again, our lads put in a wholehearted display, but the conditions made it so hard to string passes together. It's still another point, mind, towards our target.

Bentley 7...Some good saves. Good concentration
White 6.5...Played well. Looked shattered by the end
Coker 7...Attacked more with Will in front.Delivery wasn't always great, but a decent game
Thompson 6.5...Definately looked more comfortable at CB
Phillips 6...Looked tired. 3 games in a short amount of time. We need backup in this department
Leonard...6.5 Gave everything as usual.
Timlin...7 Massive workrate. Ideal player for those conditions
Hurst 6...Hardly in the game
Atkinson...7.5 MOTM Linked well with Coker in the first half and busted a gut throughout
Corr 6...Did ok, but looked tired
Barnard...7 Did ok. Some nice touches

Subs
Straker...5 He's either awesome, or dire. Tonight was the latter
Eastwood...7 Looked really sharp and hungry. Has that extra bit of class
Clifford...6.5 Did an ok job for the last 10 mins

 

[Shrimper 62]

Newport came for a point setting out to frustrate and break up play from the start. The game, as a spectacle, was ruined by the dreadful conditions which meant the ball would not travel when played on the deck. Eastwood looked strong when he came on - Coker and Atkinson ran themselves into the ground. Really disappointed with Straker who again seemed to give the ball away constantly, particularly when in good positions. Hurst had an equally off night and like most of the players looked shattered at the end. That said, given the missed pen, this might still turn out to be a useful point.

 

[OldBlueLady]

I was there Jam and disagree totally with what OBL has to say, Eastwood was excellent when he came on and I hope he gets more game time he looked sharp and raring to fight. Barnard looked good but not great maybe in a game or two he needs to sharpen up. Corr looks tired.

Well I don't agree with the commentators then, Corr got his mark more for his defensive work which I commented on earlier in the thread, he was Prosser's replacement in that defence - strong and confident with his head, winning almost everything from corners or free kicks. I honestly thought Barney did ok considering. He was putting himself about, physically holding players off (something you never see Corr or Fred do) and being a nuisance. I absolutely agree Fred did well when he came on, I only marked him down half a point on the other two! It was good to see him featuring again.

As to County's comment on the penalty. Never a sending off in a million years so the ref got that one right. I wouldn't dispute it as a pen either. Typical Phillips.

 

[prawntobewild]

I thought it was a good effort bearing in mind the conditions & got the impression that we got tired & need a rest - that's 3 heavy pitches in 6 days - & it's taken it's toll.
Agree that the ref was good at letting the play go & calling it back but for the rest of the game reminded me of one of those wrestling referees from the 70's waving his arms about but being generally oblivious to the gamesmanship .
Couldn't see the pen but maybe he got it for a cracking swan dive.
I think's it unfair to call County poor - they were certainly hard working & if they were that poor then surely we would have beat them instead of nearly losing!
We should have scored in the first half but it didn't happen & we were'nt quite the same after the break.
I thought Fred was great - winning the ball when the odds were against him on a few occasions & a great header that no one got on the end of.
I thought our defence were ok except when Phillips gave the ball away a' la Hull & nearly gifted a goal. My MOM was Thompson who I thought did well for a lad still finding his way. The Straker thing didn't work so well but he wasn't the only one who failed to shine IMO.
Hope the guys get a bit of rest & get back on it for next week.

 

[shrimperjon]

Hard to disagree with any of the above. Team deserve credit for trying to play football on a difficult pitch in very difficult conditions and playing their third games in 6 days. Felt we needed a goal in the first half to help with our confidence. The better half of the pitch was the North Bank end and with the wind in our favour was hoping for some sort of advantage at half time. Could and should have had at least one goal with the post and keeper denying us. Thought Barney did well with some nice touches and lay offs and also decent work rate. Corr also battled hard. The likes of Barney and Fred who I thought played well will benefit from playing on much better pitches, which at this stage RH isn't. Midfield as ever worked very hard but both Leonard and Hurst looked very tired. Timlin and Wilo still full of energy, not sure why Timo seems to be subbed first. Would like to have seen Laird start, although Conor seems ahead of him based on subs used. Defence did well against a physical County, Howe is always a handful. Phillips looked shaky most the game and was defo a penalty. Thompson looked far more comfortable at CB than he did at RB on Tuesday. Look so much better and balanced with both Coker and White in the side, although White probably could do with a bit more time off, defo holding his shoulder quite a bit. If fit might as well play O'neill. As for Straker, what can you say, the guy just doesn't do it for me, I don't believe we will go up if he is a regular in the side, his touch is awful and his awareness on the pitch both going forward and in defence is non existent. He misplaced so many passes and constantly ran the ball out if play, in addition offers little cover for either full back. Love the guys enthusiasm but needs to be benched and left there for emergency use only. Ref was woeful, played advantage well but other than that was soft. As others have said it was blatantly obvious that they came for a draw and to achieve this they resorted to the most blatant time wasting you will ever see, and it should have been dealt with as should two or three synical fouls that he left unpunished. As for NC I'm staggered that a team that attempts to play no football has taken four points off us. The keeper virtually every goal kick in the second half went straight through to Bentley, clueless. As for the County fan on here, please research before you comment. I doubt there is a team in this league that has had worse financial conditions to work under than us and we too have suffered injuries like most teams do.

in the end I was happy with a point as I was Tuesdsy, although our effort and commitment probably deserved 4 points from the games. But 1 league defeat in 14 I think and 8 points clear of 8th place leaves us in a strong position. A week off will do the team the world of good and a very winnable game next week. Still lots of positives to hold on to.

 

[IloveShrimp]

I reckon this week was our blip! onwards and upwards from now.
Got to say though i think we dont break quickly enough with too many sideways or backward passes when having the opportunity to do so.

 

[Amwell Blue]

What people seem to forget is that football changes during the season. In August the pitches are hard and fast, then turn into swamps during the winter, and then (hopefully) at some stage dry out and become fast with a bit of give in the ground. Therefore, teams that play football will struggle during the winter, but improve again in spring (just think about Crewe last season...). So if we can maintain our momentum we will start picking up wins again and we will get automatic promotion.

 

[silentshrimper]

What people seem to forget is that football changes during the season. In August the pitches are hard and fast, then turn into swamps during the winter, and then (hopefully) at some stage dry out and become fast with a bit of give in the ground. Therefore, teams that play football will struggle during the winter, but improve again in spring (just think about Crewe last season...). So if we can maintain our momentum we will start picking up wins again and we will get automatic promotion.

I think this is the case! At least we are still picking up points where in past seasons we would have lost. Also it is nice to see brown trying to keep us playing the same way.

 

[eastling]

I think this is the case! At least we are still picking up points where in past seasons we would have lost. Also it is nice to see brown trying to keep us playing the same way.

The other thing that will hopefully work in our favour is that we haven't had that many postponements. We have two rescheduled games this month because of the FA Cup run but that's it. Hopefully in the Spring months we will have more time to recover from games.

 

[Jonny_Stokes]

What people seem to forget is that football changes during the season. In August the pitches are hard and fast, then turn into swamps during the winter, and then (hopefully) at some stage dry out and become fast with a bit of give in the ground. Therefore, teams that play football will struggle during the winter, but improve again in spring (just think about Crewe last season...)

Excuses, excuses. Good teams find ways to win no matter what the conditions.

 

[united we stand]

I don't have a lot more to add. I only got to see the second half ( bot sure if I actually got a result:sad:)) it was very difficult to play football in those conditions. Straker was dire ( but at least he was trying stuff) and I think him and Hurst suffered most from the conditions although that doesn't excuse his positional awareness. We clearly missed prosser and corr. I am not one of the Eastwood lovers, I judge on what's in front of me, not from the past. Bearing that in mind I thought he was simply excellent last night. He won loads of balls that were less than 50/50 and looked dangerous. Based on second half our best player on the pitch

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

As for NC I'm staggered that a team that attempts to play no football has taken four points off us.

They didn't play like that at their place. They tore us to shreads, and we were poor

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Eastwood was class when he came on, maybe feeling he has a little point to prove. Almost scored within 10 seconds of coming on. His first touch is better than anyone else in this league.

As for the game, frustrating. Lenny Pidgeley is a good keeper at this level and kept them in it first half but as the conditions worsened it was only going to benefit Newport.

Special mention to their penalty taker, I still don't think that's landed!

 

[southend4eva]

A real bore draw.
A good firsthalf, as we were really bothersome and should have scored.
Secondhalf, perhaps the conditions took their toll, but rather forgettable.
Thank goodness the penalty was a miss.
Best players for me: Bentley, Coker (MOM IMO), Lenard, Atkinson and Timlin were the standouts.
Should've rested Corr and started Eastwood IMO and maybe a good game for Laird to be given a start.
The ref was fairly useless most of the time and quite aggravating in his stubborn refusal to award blatant fouls.
Like the Dagenham game, quite relieved to walk away with the point.

 

[tia]

Draw was right result i thought,neither team did enough to win.Conditions were very bad and we looked a bit jaded.Newport have not played much lately so should have been fresher than us.Time wasting tactics were frustrating but as we are near top of the league we are going to have to get used to teams coming to our ground looking to slow game down etc .If we had opened scoring early doors Newport would than have had too adopt a different approach to the game.Keeps our run going and could prove to be a important point come May.Keeps a nice gap between us and play off pack.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I think we looked sharpest when Eastwood came on. (Yes I know :omg:) He held the ball up and looked like he really wanted it. That's the best I've seen him play in a long time

 

[Kevin Hogg]

As someone said earlier in the thread - we are going to be more effective on good pitches. We are picking up points where we would once have been beaten and are very much in the mix.
With teams we are very capable of beating to come, the rain must stop at some point and pitches dry out.
We can do it!