Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-1 Bristol Rovers

[Clinton Baptiste]

Brown trying to alienate the players one by one. No wonder no one else but Ron gave him a job. The sooner he goes the better.

 

[DTS]

Thoughts the comments on Phillips were poor given that he basically sacrificed himself for the team last year at home go orient. Played through with a broken toe and probably cost him his Wembley appearance.

 

[sufc_dave]

Thought Tilson made some bad decisions tonight, Tilson and Brush out! Should have won.

 

[MilkeySUFC]

Just a few points, Marc P was in pain and not wimping out; Fred had a tweeked hamstring. Hence both subs. An average game which we should have won with a better finishing, lady luck and a pen. And a game we could have lost at the end when Luke daydreamed and got mugged by Harrold. Another goal conceded at a set piece; incidentally one where BC was told to stay on the half way line and not defend............strange idea! Most players get a 6/7 with Leonard an overall M of M and Hirst being close behind him with a contender for goal of the month. This game illustrated that Straker isn't an ideal left back and that Luke needs to get closer to his man and concentrate for the full 97 minutes. Payne/Atkinson worked hard. White does his bit but needs to be assertive if he is to keep the captain's armband. Thompson had an OK game.

We classing throw-on's as set pieces now? It was a short throw, their player got to the goal line and crossed it in. In my opinion, Thomson was at fault, woeful positioning left Harold as easy a header 5 yards out as you're every likely to see.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Those comments from Brown on Phillips are simply laughable. As DTS said, Phillips sacrificed his own prospects of playing at Wembley to help send the rest of his team there, so any suggestion that he isn't "man enough" to be doing a job for us at the moment is insulting. Singling out a man who'd be captaincy candidate for many, and one of our longest serving players, is sheer idiocy.

 

[united we stand]

I echo what many have said. Its a great site and I don't know what I would do without it. Ota especially important for lower league clubs who are not in the press much anq for those of us who don't know anyone in the 'know' and don't have fellow shrimper mates to share their love of Southend with

Good luck

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Poor comments from Brown about Phillips. Has he not been following the Di Canio situation? Tool. I wasn't at the game but didn't Phillips substitution mean Payne came on, who according to Brown himself was one of best players and should have got a penalty? Brown had started to win me round but his comments in the last week or so have done more to damage his position in my eyes than the recent bad run, especially as early on this season our teamwork & spirit was what was most impressive, now he's single handedly destroying what he created.

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

A few quotes via CP:

Brown: "When you’re down to your last four defenders and you lose one of your main centre-backs it’s frustrating."

Brown:Phillips wanted to come off but as far as I’m concerned he’s a man & he should stay out there until he can no longer walk."

Brown: "Bristol Rovers came for a point and they got one so fair play to them."

Brown: "It wasn’t for the want of trying that we didn’t win. We need a bit more quality in the final third and a bit of lady luck too."

Brown: "Jack’s a young lad, he’s not a cheat. He hasn’t been taught to dive so why would he go down? It was an unbelievable decision."

Brown: "Fingers crossed we can one or two in this week."

From that we can see he is yet again questioning the player's characters and has criticised Phillips' commitment. Again saying we "lacked quality" and didn't have any "luck". Ends with a typical throw away comment saying he looks to bring in one or two, bet that turns out to be zero. Yet again he doesn't accept responsibility for the draw and the "Bristol came for a point" just sounds like sour grapes.

I read the quote concerning Phillips, in disbelief. Then, casting my mind back to the 'bunch of children' comment last week, I suddenly had a very strange and completely mad idea. Does Phil Brown want out? Is this a deliberate ploy to alienate, the majority of supporters and players?? Is he hoping to bring about a situation where Ron will ask for his resignation???
.............................................................OK, I'll go and take my pills now. :smile:

 

[Rick Parsnip]

Phillips isn't the type to want to come off, unless in pain with a problem. Very insulting from Phil Brown. And then to not even have the sub ready. God knows how aggravated the injury would be if he carried on like Brown wanted him to. Could have put him out for Months.
Gone down in my estimation, acting like a no brain.

Hang on a minute, we should not forget that Ben Clarkson is a first class physio and he treated Phillips on the pitch and allowed him to return. If he had any doubt that the injury was serious don't you think he would have had him off?

With the current position of having a smallish squad and with injuries to key players they would no way have risked another serious injury to a player, especially through neglect. Clarkson has his professional reputation to consider as well.

Let's see how bad the injury to Phillips turns out to be before we slag people off.

 

[Smiffy]

Brown's method of slating the players individually and as a group in the media, clearly isn't working. Time for him to shoulder some of the blame, or keep his comments in house.

Morale appears very low indeed. Not good.

 

[eastling]

Slagging off players in public is one of biggest no nos for me in football. It does not reflect well on him.

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

I enjoyed the game. We're definately missing something up front, which I think is someone with a bit of pace to get in behind their centre backs. BBBC, Freddy and Cauley seem to be doing ok but defenders seem happy to see us play in front of them. I thought the lads really busted a gut tonight and provided they keep doing that i'll keep roaring them on...

Bentley..6.5 Has goen a bit quieter of late. Good save at the end, though.
White...7 Solid performance. Kept things simple
Phillips...6.5 Took a bad knock. No way he could have carried on, and shouldn't have been expected to..
Prosser...6.5 Decent game. A little hesitant on a couple of occassions but stuff to his task
Thompson...6.5 Much better that when I saw him at Wycombe. A lot more dominant in the air.
Hurst...7 First half 6, second half 8. Became a real threat late on and scored a great goal
Atkinson...7 Great first half. Worked tirelessly and made some good runs
Leonard...8 MOTM. The lad is starting to adjust well to CM. The long balls didn't always come off, but his workrate was immense. When others were tiring near the end he came into his own, and bossed the midfield for the final 20 mins.
Straker...6.5 Did ok, but I don't like him at the back. Sometimes makes the wrong decisions, and at back, it could be costly.
Corr...7 Won several headers and gave the Rovers defence a tough time, but needs a pacy striker to feed off him. Everything was being held up and laid back into midfield
Eastwood...7 Battled hard when surrounded by several defenders. Shame he got injured as he was just getting into the game

Subs:
Payne...7 I like this lad. As soon as he came on, is enthusiasm lifted the players and his mazy little runs drove us forward. Well done young man
Woodrow...7 Some lovely touches. A similar player to Freddy, which is why it probably doesn't work when they play together. He should be pleased with his performance

Special mention to the W Block singers. Great support for our heroes throughout the match. Kept the chanting positive and helped keep the players heads up. Well done all.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Hang on a minute, we should not forget that Ben Clarkson is a first class physio and he treated Phillips on the pitch and allowed him to return. If he had any doubt that the injury was serious don't you think he would have had him off?

With the current position of having a smallish squad and with injuries to key players they would no way have risked another serious injury to a player, especially through neglect. Clarkson has his professional reputation to consider as well.

Let's see how bad the injury to Phillips turns out to be before we slag people off.

You make some fair points, but, the whole World and his dog could see that Phillips couldn't carry on. He has a history of injuries, some long term. It's not just about lets see how bad the injury is now, it's about how bad it would have been if he were to carry on like Brown wanted. We have a small squad, that is short of defenders through injury and suspension. So why risk putting our best centre back out for Months.

 

[NZamba Legend]

Those comments from Brown on Phillips are simply laughable. As DTS said, Phillips sacrificed his own prospects of playing at Wembley to help send the rest of his team there, so any suggestion that he isn't "man enough" to be doing a job for us at the moment is insulting. Singling out a man who'd be captaincy candidate for many, and one of our longest serving players, is sheer idiocy.

Yep, and it's especially idiotic to insult your best defender when-in the same breath-you are also complaining about not having enough defenders at your disposal.

 

[Dick Bate's Protege]

Pathetic comment regarding Phillips, he is really beginning to get on my tits with his slating of players. Beginning to think that Yorkshire Blue called this right from the off; a horrifying thought...

I'd love to know what is going through Uncle Ron's mind at the moment.

 

[Southend Pier]

I read the quote concerning Phillips, in disbelief. Then, casting my mind back to the 'bunch of children' comment last week, I suddenly had a very strange and completely mad idea. Does Phil Brown want out? Is this a deliberate ploy to alienate, the majority of supporters and players?? Is he hoping to bring about a situation where Ron will ask for his resignation???
.............................................................OK, I'll go and take my pills now. :smile:

Your theory may have some legs in it but not in order for him to resign. if he resigns he gets nothing. If he is sacked then the remainder of his contract will have to be paid up.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Best moment of the game was when Brizzie has a corner in the first half, Brunt was leaning a bit on Bentley on the line so Straker just went through him and knocked Brunt to the floor. Made my night

 

[Fairport]

The most worrying thing to come out of that game was the after match comments of Brown regarding Phillips, totally wrong to slate players in public. As for the performance, it was similar to most matches this season, just the better side and played some decent football at times. The problem seems to be at the crucial ends of the pitch where we are missing too many chances and also still having major problems defending crosses. Thought Hurst and Woodrow played very well last night.

 

[Jam_Man]

I read the quote concerning Phillips, in disbelief. Then, casting my mind back to the 'bunch of children' comment last week, I suddenly had a very strange and completely mad idea. Does Phil Brown want out? Is this a deliberate ploy to alienate, the majority of supporters and players?? Is he hoping to bring about a situation where Ron will ask for his resignation???
.............................................................OK, I'll go and take my pills now. :smile:

Why would Brown want to be unemployed with another sacking on his record ?

He wont resign as he wont get paid as Southendpier says above.

Mad idea indeed:smile:

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Thought it was a very close call last night between Hurst and Leonard for MOTM. RL really is maturing into a fine central midfielder.

I thought Freddy was working hard too although he was clearly struggling. I've been critical of Woodrow and not really saw what he brought to the table but he impressed me last night. A goal could do that kids confidence the world of good, just look at Tomlin last season.