Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers

[Cricko]

A win is a win, but very hard to judge the team yesterday against **** poor opposition.

 

[Cricko]

OBD I saw your dad having a chat with Alison Moyet, she said to me who was that old man ;)

 

[DTS]

Felt very positive yesterdays after a fairly decent performance against a pretty poor Wycome side.

Belford 7 Not generally a huge fan but did all we asked of him today
Sean C - 7 used to dislike him but think he has grown into a really reliable player.
Cresswll - 8. Immense and dominant and the back and set up the goal. Fantastic display.
Phillips. - Solid and reliable as always
Prosser 5 - missed two vital tackes in quick succession 2nd half and could have cost us

Hurst 6 - looked ok in few mins he played
Spicer 7 classy on ball, worked hard but should really have scored
Timlin - 7 can't understand criticism of him? Bit erratic but covered so much ground and won so much ball
Leonard 6 - nothing wrong but created nothing. Surely we can do better

Tomlin - 7 great foil for Brit and worked hard but dosent look like scoring - like him
Britt 9- strong fast powerful , scored WOW

Straker 7 - some great tackles and supported well. Bt of a poor touch but overall did well.

 

[shrimperjon]

Again, who are you to tell me what to do? I'll have whatever opinion I want, and there's absolutely **** all you can about it

Intelligent response!!!!

 

[GBJ]

Intelligent response!!!!

No problem sweetie

 

[Tommy2holes]

Good game yesterday and for the first time in a while it was quite entertaining.

So much better to have feet target men than head target men and didnt both Tomlin and Britt show great strength to hold off there markers and bring others in to play.

Really impressed with spicer yesterday. Thought he was terrific in breaking and making the play. He just showed a lack of composure infront of goal.

Wycombe are one of the favourites to get promotion and were dire, but alot of that was down our workrate both in defence and up top.

We are still a team very much in transition , but give it a month or so to get the squad settled and find out who is staying/playing and if we bring in some loanees then we can get cracking at pushing into the top 7.

As for the ratings:

Belford 6.5 Had nothing to do but look calm when handling and distributed well.

Clohessy 7 Solid at the back and supported well

Phillips 7 Was again solid but struggles against pacier players

Creswell 8 Was impressive and just destroyed anything that resembled an opposition attack

Prosser 7 I am no a fan at all of prosser , but he did well yesterday and his distribution was markedly improved

Hurst 7 Really unfortunate to have to off as he was having a good game

Timlin 6 Picked up another foul and showed good energy , but failed to make a mark on the game

Spicer 7.5 Looked composed got stuck in and should have had 2 goals. Impressed

Leonard 6 Solid but unspectacular. Will not be first choice when we have a fully fit squad , but gives his all and is still young enough to improve

Tomlin 7 Great touch and quick feet. Always looking to break and beat a man and will be a useful aquisition.

Assombalonga 9 This kid looks quality. Pacey powerful and tricky. Basically gave there defenders nightmares and scored a real poachers goal. Hope we can get him for the season on loan.

Subs

Straker 6 He is not a right back and is much better suited when getting foward, so a wing position might be better for him. He just seems to lack confidence , but im convinced there is a good player in there somewhere.

Harris 6 Not on long enough


I personally beleive that a fully fit squad with one or two additions including ryan hall coming back in will see us finish top 6

My main concern is will we ever have a fully fit squad and will we get anyone in.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Could have predicted there would be 3 main targets today - Prosser, Leonard and Straker! As it goes, I thought all 3 had decent enough games. Prosser made two mistakes all game, one, a misjudged clearance and two, a poorly timed tackle. Other than that, he was committed, confident and covered when Cresswell got pulled out of position. Leonard, now, poor old Ryan got the short straw of playing the Elliott Benyon/Blair Sturrock role of being the target man from goal kicks. Why a right back, playing at right mid, after having a spell at centre mid is now being asked to play the role of a striker, I have no idea. But it was obvious that he was going to get criticised here because people were judging against people who actually should be classed as strikers. He also covered naturally for Clohessy when he went forward - and that for me, is the beauty of the Clohessy/Leonard partnership down the right. Leonard also allows both centre mids to get forward as he covers the defensive position - so many different roles being required of someone who is a youngster and more importantly, a right back initially! Straker looked to be invigorated when he came on for Hurst, I thought he was running forward well and getting in good positions. He's never going to be a goal scorer, but he has natural speed which is always a threat against teams like Wycombe.

Talking of Wycombe, Denis Oli, Jo Kuffour and Gareth Aynsworth? They should be scoring goals for fun but fortunately they couldn't really advance enough to test Belford. They looked much more dangerous once Aynsworth came on though.

Belford - 7, confident handling, and I don't just mean of TrueBlue!
Clohessy - 7, standard game from Sean
Phillips - 6, the weakest of the back 4 for me
Cresswell - 7.5, starting to see why others have raved about him - Adam Barrett on steroids!
Prosser - 7, good, solid defending, and excellent heading of the ball
Leonard - 6, playing an unfamiliar role and did ok
Spicer - 6.5, looked dangerous at times but at other times, you barely noticed he was out there, couple of excellent strikes though
Timlin - 7.5, typical powerhouse in the middle, got to learn to watch those flying in tackles though or he'll be seeing more red. Some good set piece delivery
Hurst - 7, was impressed with what I saw, corners looked much better than what Hall's been taking recently, real shame he had to go off
Tomlin - 7.5, fantastic work rate, am sure that first goal won't be too far away, seems to be a more natural wide player so reckon Freddy will do well with him
Assombalonga - 8, MOTM, really impressed with the young man, caused a real nuisance and loved seeing him left up for some of Wycombe's corners. Been crying out for this, and with players with the natural speed and ability of Tomlin and Assombalonga, we should utilise this much more. Wycombe's keeper kept them in the game, we should have had 3 or 4 easily.

Subs:
Straker for Hurst - 7, really energetic sub's performance
Harris for Leonard - n/a, not on long enough to rate, felt he should've come on earlier, Leonard was shattered!

Ref: Not great, only good thing was playing the advantage well. Now, by my reckoning, there were about 6 or 7 good calls for handball yesterday, which, ok, from the stands you're not best placed to see, but 3 were in the penalty area (2 for us, 1 for them - all at the North end), anyone with a better view care to comment? Inconsistent and not very well supported by the assistant on the West line, I felt the East one was better.

Luggy - got the tactics about right yesterday. At least it proved that we can function perfectly well without Hall, in particular, and Mohsni and Kane to a lesser extent. Now with the first win on the board, let's hope we can move onwards and upwards, and get Assombalonga's loan extended too, he could rip this division up quite easily with good service!

 

[silentshrimper]

Wasn't at the game, but sounded like the Accrington game but with the correct result?

Nice to see Tomlin getting credit in the games he has played in, even when not scoring, some fans on here find it hard to credit a striker who isn't scoring....
Timlin/Spicer sounds like a good combination to me, could do with a back up, did anything happen with Kalala in the end, he is decent enough cover.

Don't like how we ended up with 2 wide midfielders for the most of the game, who are really full backs, but credit to them for doing the job still.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Wasn't at the game, but sounded like the Accrington game but with the correct result?

Nice to see Tomlin getting credit in the games he has played in, even when not scoring, some fans on here find it hard to credit a striker who isn't scoring....
Timlin/Spicer sounds like a good combination to me, could do with a back up, did anything happen with Kalala in the end, he is decent enough cover.

Don't like how we ended up with 2 wide midfielders for the most of the game, who are really full backs, but credit to them for doing the job still.

Tomlin also won the Trust's Player of the Month award, which shows people indeed DO recognise his efforts.

Kalala was back in France as reported during the week, still recovering from his surgery.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I think we look more of a unit without Hall. As good as he is, Hall does like to be the start of the show and tends to do too much on his own.

What we had yesterday was a team all working together with no big star. Plenty of crosses rather than lots of cutting in and wayward lashing.

I'd love to see Tomlin on the wing once Eastwood is fit and have Eastwood up top with Assombalonga. Hurst on the other wing. Loved Hurst's corners yesterday, Wycombe had no idea how to deal with them.

We get everyone fit and we have a strong squad.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Incidentally, someone might like to tip Scriv the wink that he has the same photo as nos. 1 and 2 on his gallery of yesterday's match! :facepalm:

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

Incidentally, someone might like to tip Scriv the wink that he has the same photo as nos. 1 and 2 on his gallery of yesterday's match! :facepalm:

Yes, unfortunately N°2 was also supposed to be the photo of Assombalonga's goal........will have to wait a bit longer to see it on BP highlights..............if they work!

 

[fbm]

Good game yesterday and for the first time in a while it was quite entertaining.

So much better to have feet target men than head target men and didnt both Tomlin and Britt show great strength to hold off there markers and bring others in to play.

Really impressed with spicer yesterday. Thought he was terrific in breaking and making the play. He just showed a lack of composure infront of goal.

Wycombe are one of the favourites to get promotion and were dire, but alot of that was down our workrate both in defence and up top.

We are still a team very much in transition , but give it a month or so to get the squad settled and find out who is staying/playing and if we bring in some loanees then we can get cracking at pushing into the top 7.

As for the ratings:

Belford 6.5 Had nothing to do but look calm when handling and distributed well.

Clohessy 7 Solid at the back and supported well

Phillips 7 Was again solid but struggles against pacier players

Creswell 8 Was impressive and just destroyed anything that resembled an opposition attack

Prosser 7 I am no a fan at all of prosser , but he did well yesterday and his distribution was markedly improved

Hurst 7 Really unfortunate to have to off as he was having a good game

Timlin 6 Picked up another foul and showed good energy , but failed to make a mark on the game

Spicer 7.5 Looked composed got stuck in and should have had 2 goals. Impressed

Leonard 6 Solid but unspectacular. Will not be first choice when we have a fully fit squad , but gives his all and is still young enough to improve

Tomlin 7 Great touch and quick feet. Always looking to break and beat a man and will be a useful aquisition.

Assombalonga 9 This kid looks quality. Pacey powerful and tricky. Basically gave there defenders nightmares and scored a real poachers goal. Hope we can get him for the season on loan.

Subs

Straker 6 He is not a right back and is much better suited when getting foward, so a wing position might be better for him. He just seems to lack confidence , but im convinced there is a good player in there somewhere.

Harris 6 Not on long enough


I personally beleive that a fully fit squad with one or two additions including ryan hall coming back in will see us finish top 6

My main concern is will we ever have a fully fit squad and will we get anyone in.

Correct. He's a left back.
:winking:

 

[JoshC]

Ref: Not great, only good thing was playing the advantage well. Now, by my reckoning, there were about 6 or 7 good calls for handball yesterday, which, ok, from the stands you're not best placed to see, but 3 were in the penalty area (2 for us, 1 for them - all at the North end), anyone with a better view care to comment? Inconsistent and not very well supported by the assistant on the West line, I felt the East one was better.

Can only remember 2 penalty shouts, both of which weren't penalties, their one came off of cresswell's chest who had pulled his arm behind his back. The Doherty one looked like it hit him in the chest after it bounced up awkwardly, wouldve been harsh in my opinion.

 

[Shrimper95]

I don't think Hurst felt he did very well yesterday judging by this tweet.

Kevan Hurst ‏@KevanHurst14
Thank you for your messages of concern! And sorry about being wycombes best player for 10 minutes of the game it wasn't on purpose!!

 

[bazzashrimper]

Its probably a reference to the fact that he couldn't see properly for 10 mins.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Correct. He's a left back.
:winking:

In which case ,why not play him instead of Prosser?:unsure:

 

[davewebbsbrain]

In which case ,why not play him instead of Prosser?:unsure:

Have you seen him at LB?

He doesn't play there because he is probably the worst LB I have ever seen in a Southend shirt and can't really believe he is even a pro footballer

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

the oldest cliche of the lot but football is indeed a funny old game

I've been quite vocal in my criticism of Straker, Timlin and Prosser but thought all 3 were more than adequate yesterday .. each more than playing their part in a deserved if somewhat laboured win against a surprisingly poor Wycombe outfit

 

[Napster]

Belford 7 - dealt with everything well
Clohessy 7 - defensively good, linked up well with Leonard
Phillips - 7 - solid, quiet game]
Cresswell - 8 - magnificent
Prosser - 7 - actually did better than I expected.
Hurst - 5 -anonymous
Timlin- 7 - passed the ball well, ordered people about. Couple of excellent balls
Spicer - 6 - needs a bit of confidence - not really a battler, but technical ability is there
Leonard - 6 - wants the ball in the air, rarely won it. But kept play wide, and did a decent job
Tomlin - 7.5 - some great movement, held the ball well.
Assombalonga - 8 - He will be a great player- wonderful raw talent.

Sub: Straker - 6 - bless him, he tried.
Harris - 6 - not on long enough

I thought we played very well. Kept it on the deck when needed, intelligent running and movement; most of all, very impressed with the defence. Cresswell is a beast. I think if Hurst steps up a bit, and we get someone alongside Tomlin when Assombalonga goes, we will be there or thereabouts.

Ref was ***** by the way.