Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-1 Bury

[Sherif H]

This squad is still as poor as the Newman/Wignall/Martin eras, the league table doesn't lie.

The league table doesn't lie...that I absolutely concur with, but to even begin to hint at comparing this squad to the wasters we entertained during the Newman/Martin and particularly Wignall eras....look around at players like Grant, Sawyer, Moshni, Barker, Corr - all talented players in their own right who I believe would be able to play at a higher level quite comfortably. Combine that with hardened, committed professionals like Coughlan and Sturrock, and add in a dash of promising younger players like Clohessey, Hall, Ferdinand and Crawford, and I think we look like we are shaping something quite tidy at Southend.

Once we gain some confidence at home (and last night's hard-earned draw and less poisinous atmosphere amongst the fans will go a long way towards that), and build on our often impressive away performances, I think we will be just fine.

Final word - there are a couple of things which are now really helping to get the fans on side...Moshni has become a cult hero overnight, and his performances, whilst jagged-edged and a little over-zealous at times, drive the whole team, and secondly, the introduction of a number of youth team players, I think, makes this feel more like a squad we can relate to once again.

 

[Kenny]

It was refreshing to see us play a different formation and not totally struggle with it, I tip my hat to Paul Sturrock last night as he made some bold tactical decisions, the main one being the "go for broke" move of putting Bilel up top. I thought Kane looked solid but instantly becomes surplus to requirements in a situation where we are chasing the game.

Great entertainment from Bilels cameo, the flying karate kick to the head of their no.4 seconds after coming on and the ruck with the goalkeeper after the whistle will stick in the memory with the goal itself. His performance put the return of Sawyer into the shade.

 

[Pubey]

Cameron Belford was like the angry little man in Elf. A keeper smaller than Darryl, with a massive chip on his shoulder for some reason.

Mohsni 7: What can you say!? He made a difference, because he wasn't just a centre half stuck up top, he actually had an awareness of where to flick the ball on to and where to position himself. You couldn't even tell he was a centre half. He needlessly got involved with Belford after the final whistle though.

Crawford /: Put himself about and created the diversion for the goal. As per Mohsni, needlessly made a point of getting involved with their angry, short arsed keeper.

At the away match in October Corr clashed heads with Belford. Belford was subbed off and claimed Corr elbowed him, so perhaps that's why...

 

[manor15]

Morris 8 Didn't have much to do but he did make some great saves when needed
Clohessy 6 Got forward well and put a few good balls in but looked sloppy at times defensively
Coughlan 7 Composure and experience made up for his usual lack of pace
Barker 7 Struggled early on but got into and won almost every header
Gilbert 5 Poor, waits too long before making a challenge and lets the winger run at him until he's in the box and rarely got forward, preferring to hoof it upfield
Easton 8 Battled well and kept going throughout
Grant 7 Got forward well but lazy when getting back
Ferdinand 7 Easily good enough for the first team, got stuck in and did his job
Hall 7 Bit quiet in the first half but went wider and more involved second half
Corr 6 Started off okay but fizzled out, particularly after picking up an injury, and was just a target man
Sturrock 6 Got back but was far too deep at times and didn't make the most of the ball
Subs
Sawyer 6 Looked a bit rusty but definitely got promise
Mohsni 9 Chased down every ball and gave it his all, surprise that he went upfront but did well as a target man
Crawford 6 Didn't have time to make an impact

TBV 9 Much better than normal, good atmosphere

 

[Chairman Trigg]

Thought we are at last looking like a team beginning to gel.Moshni showed what a difference a decent c/f would make to the side.Great to see Ferdinand looking comfortable at this level .Sawyer although thrown on towards the end made a few great passes which show what a asset he will be with his work rate.Overall pleased with the performance and begiining to feel optamistic for the first time in a long while against a team of ankle snappers and a ref who couldn't find his whistle.Just feel we need a couple more bargain signings ,and things will start to turn for us

 

[mattytheshrimper]

thought pretty much everyone did really well last night, even he did ok and nothing more i don't like sturrock on the wing but i accept there was much more options for PS. weak link for me last night by far was gilbert. he was terrible literally terrrible. backed off and off and off etc and when he did get the ball he just hoofed it and they werent even a decent hoof it ws those pathetic annoying drifted balls that are useless. would rather herd there.

other than that good entertaining 2nd half. obviously bilel is a legend!!!!

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

No, really disagree - I thought it was quite an even match, we had the better of the first half, and they did the second. What Bury were very good at was making the quick break which they did throughout the game, I just thought our midfield coped better with it in the first half (no doubt due to Kane, and also Hall making some very good tackles and interceptions). That annoying little ladyboy on their right wing was ripping us apart.

Can't believe you said that. That's somebody's son/daughter you're referring to.

 

[Kris]

It was refreshing to see us play a different formation and not totally struggle with it.

I think we did struggle with it, to be honest. The shape of the team was chaotic at times, there was very little width and no-one seemed to know where they were supposed to be playing, to the point where at one point Barry Corr found himself in the right-back slot. I'm also baffled at the deployment of Ryan Hall, who has a great left foot but was continually in-field and had no space to utilise it. I'm a fan of Sturrock in general but he does over-complicate things sometimes and at this level players struggle to adapt to anything other than 4-4-2.

In fairness I thought the team battled superbly against a very physical Bury side but I think we were a bit lucky to get anything. Fair play to Sturrock for bringing on Mohsni, though; he caused chaos although not just for Bury. I love him to bits and he's already a legend but he still worries the hell out of me - he's a total nutcase and will pick up a fair few needless suspensions.

 

[dtrave]

The crowd around me in the East were positive, i think there is now more empathy with the boys wearing the shirt. They are no longer a team of strangers to themselves and us. TBV sounded good and even the East started the odd chant.

Not the prettiest game but the 11 gave 100%, the work ethic typified with Halls chase and thumping challenge on the edge of our box as their man was pulling the trigger. They got the result they deserved, and there a few finer feelings than a 95 min equaliser.

More of the same Tuesday one and all please.

 

[Rob Noxious]

Friday nights at the Hall ... :bluebelles:(sigh) ... this thread has got me all nostalgic, particularly as it seems like we've got some good spirit amongst the team and the fans again. It also sounds like it was a hugely entertaining and happy ending. :clap:

 

[ibwiajwa]

It's funny how the happyometer goes up and down on these threads... The team (and the thread!) started and ended well but we lost our direction in the middle. Had we taken one of the chances we got early on (Grant, Easton and Sturrock all missing reasonable chances) it might have been a different story but you could see the home hoodoo beginning to prey on their minds. I felt that quite a few of our players were underpar today.

Morris: Solid performance
Clohessy: The system didn't allow him to have the impact he sometimes has. When the subs came on he began to assert himself. He is surprisingly good in the air.
Barker: Struggled, particularly early on, and wasn't as assured in possession as normal.
Coughlan: Did reasonably well but his lack of pace is always a worry.
Gilbert: If we've dropped Herd because he is error prone then the phrase "Out of the fireplace into the fire" springs to mind. Herd is better going forward too. Lovely assist for the Bury forward.
Hall: Set up the goal and offered a lot of dynamism. Needs to find Corr more consistently with free kicks.
Easton: Although he broke up many Bury moves, he was quite profligate in possession.
Ferdinand: Some nice touches and confident play but needs to improve his distribution.
Sturrock: Was at his most effective defensively, where he made a lot of key clearances. Wasn't as influential going forward, although he got in a good position for his missed chance.
Grant: Was very involved. I was not surprised to read in the programme that he has won more fouls than anyone else in the league (80) but it was a shame that the referee didn't seem to have heard of the advantage rule. Sometimes I want Grant to get to his feet and stop faking. Made a LOT of mistakes.
Corr: Hmmm. He was rather isolated today, but some of that was to do with poor positioning on his part. He had some nice touches but Mohsni showed him the way that the big man up front should be done! I know he took a knock, but I do feel that Corr seems to lose heart quite easily. Terrible miss in the second half.

Subs:
Sawyer: I thought he did pretty well considering the level of football that he's been playing recently. Had one lovely pass down the right wing that is surely a sign of things to come.
Mohsni: Can we get him down to a cloning laboratory so we can play him in every position?

 

[Strike Force]

Can't believe you said that. That's somebody's son/daughter you're referring to.

Really shocking comment there I must agree.

 

[TravellingBlue]

Don't really know what I watched last night. The first half came and went it was particularly poor and I thought Bury out muscled us and out fought us all over the pitch. I thought young Ferdinand was particuarly good with some great saving tackles. Defensively we looked worried and unsure, midfield we were out fought and up front I think was the worse I have seen for many a game.

Second half wasn't really that much better. Bury will be kicking themselves that they didn't take all three points. Mohsni was superb and the last four or five minutes we finally woke up and started putting balls in the area - something Hall failed to do all night.

I am overjoyed with another battling point, but completely underwhelmed by the performance. The hype and utter rubbish that was on BBC Essex after the game last night was driving me to distraction! We scrambled another point in the last minute folks we didn't win the league!!

IBWIAJWA - we have not agreed much in the past about selections, performances etc but I think you make some very valid points in your surmation.

For me, we ARE starting to look more of a team. Tactically we weren't there, heart and soul we are

Morris 7 Not much to do
Clohessy 6 Felt he was very restricted
Barker 6 Hesitant at times
Gilbert 5 Herd for me is just a better option
Coghlan 6 Good in the air, but was caught for pace constantly
Hall 6 Sorry, but his first seven crosses were awful, he has talent, loads of it, but he needs to work on his delivery
Grant 7 Battled
Easton 7 Battled
Ferdinand 7 Battled
Corr 5 Sodje had him in his back pocket, looked unfit and I think he may have injured his back again
Sturrock 4 As good as he was last week, he was particualry poor and just didn't get into the game

Sawer 5 Looks a little lightweight to me and the game passed him by
Mohsni 8 Thought he was going to start fighting with the centre back, but took his goal brilliantly - iconic display

Sturrock 6/10 I know there's a flu bug going through the squad and he left it to the last minute to pick the team, but tactically I just didn't get it!

 

[Welly7]

I think we did struggle with it, to be honest. The shape of the team was chaotic at times, there was very little width and no-one seemed to know where they were supposed to be playing, to the point where at one point Barry Corr found himself in the right-back slot. I'm also baffled at the deployment of Ryan Hall, who has a great left foot but was continually in-field and had no space to utilise it. I'm a fan of Sturrock in general but he does over-complicate things sometimes and at this level players struggle to adapt to anything other than 4-4-2.

Totally agree. Hall's deployment on the right confused the hell out of me. Wouldn't have minded had he and Sturrock swapped over from time to time, but Hall stayed on the right until Moshni came on. When Hall moved over to the left he set-up the goal. Found that decision, and a few others, strange from Sturrock last night.

 

[leeblue]

My thoughts...............please play 4-4 pi55ingg 2, bury were toilet and if we had stretched em out wide with wingers im sure three points would have been there for us. Saying that a little more composure at certainn times in the box and we could have won. Moshni is a god/legend/hero/ pick one, such an insane talent im not sure i have ever seen the like of in 30 years. hall put in a real shift with plenty of hard graft. Kane ferdinand looks like he has a future in the game

 

[wiggy]

What a crock of sh it. Sawyer came on and every touch, awareness and movement was on a different planet. Having read your comment and rating on him i will assume that the rest would be a waste of time reading!

 

[leeblue]

i also have to get one thing off my chest, I support the players 100% during the game and i can not fault one player for there effort and commitment, BUT PLEASE GILBERT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE GILBERT STOP HOOFING THE ****ING BALL WE PLAY IN BLUE AND YOU ARE ALLOWED TO TRY A PASS LESS THAN 30 YARDS TO SOMEONE IN A BLUE SHIRT. thank you that is all

 

[flame]

yes wait for him to settle in become a playmaker lets face it the more times he gets the ball given to him early the percentages of a creative descent pass coming from him will be higher yep he might hit a few stray ones but he dont give it away cheap like i said earlier protect him give him the ball an if he does lose it now and then so what provided he battles and works hard as well!

 

[borientater]

morris
coughlan bilel barker
clohessy hall
grant easton sawyer
corr crawford

the team that finished friday , should start next tuesday ! we may have stumbled upon our best side , playing this way gives the option of pushing bilel up front if we need him up there to rescue us again .
Play offs here we come :smile:

 

[Angell Delight]

What a crock of sh it. Sawyer came on and every touch, awareness and movement was on a different planet!

Have to say wiggy I fully agree, Sawyer looked class when he came on.

Two things though Mr Sturrock (who I believe is doing a fantastic job I might add) please please please play Hall down the LEFT. There's no point having an extremely effective targetman like Barry Corr if he isn't going to receive quality deliveries. Hall gives excellent service from the left hand side as proved by the cross for the goal on Friday. The amount of deliveries he produces from the right were somewhat limited.

One other thing, we definitely need a new left-back in the summer because Gilbert and Herd are liabilities - left back has been a weak link for us all season.

That is all.