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

[Jonny_Stokes]

How did my main man Lairddawg get on tonight? Tearing up trees in the libero role like Lothar Mattheus on acid, no doubt.

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

He didn't get on again. Competition for places at the mighty shrimpers, mate.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Gutted not to have come out of that with all 3 points, surprised no mention (as far as I can see) on the disgraceful decision not to give a foul on Lenny which led to the whole action that produced Hartlepool's goal? Shocking challenge, we should have had a free kick, instead of which off they went, Timlin makes one mistake all night and yet another superbly taken goal following on from the one on Saturday by an away team!

I counted 6 chances that, on another day, might have gone in. Their keeper must have been MOTM for them. Having said that though I thought Phillips was bloody lucky not to give away a penalty for pulling their forward back in the first half. He had a really good game last night but still has this tendency to do stupid things like that. I think Kevan Hurst's parents must have been the match sponsors last night!!! :facepalm:

Bentley - 7, more confident display
White - 7.5, back to the kind of performance we're used to
Thompson - 7, looked much more assured, unlucky not to score with that header
Phillips - 7, please stop doing stupid things, you're so much better than that!
Coker - 8, MOTM, Jason Lee style pineapple suits him better than the hairband! Great energy and crossing
Hurst - 6, fairly anonymous 1st half but improved in the 2nd. Totally overshadowed in the 1st by Straker though
Atkinson - 7, good energy, never gave up all evening. Things just never seemed to work for him though
Leonard - 7, solid Lenny type performance
Timlin - 7, so unlucky to give the ball away for the goal, another who never stopped running all night and not afraid to shoot from distance like so many of them seem to be
Straker - 7.5, excellent performance 1st half, best threat, best creativity. Faded in the 2nd which is why, I guess, he was subbed
Corr - 7, much better direction on the headers, should have had a hat trick

Subs:
Eastwood for Straker - 7, concerned to hear Brown say he'd had some bad news, came on and performed with flair and confidence.

Was disappointed that we didn't bring on Barney or Williams for the last 10 minutes because Corr looked totally bollocksed by then, and the energy of fresh legs might have made a difference at that stage. I thought the whole team looked re-vitalised in the 1st half - a totally different set of players from Saturday's debacle. We need Prosser back asap though, defence still looks lightweight without his presence.

 

[Jay_SUFC]

Timlin - 7, so unlucky to give the ball away for the goal, another who never stopped running all night and not afraid to shoot from distance like so many of them seem to be
S

Unlucky; are you serious!!!

There was nothing unlucky about it, it was a shocking mistake and a schoolboy error to clear the ball across your own goal, especially when the touchline was about 5 yards to his left.

Sorry, but he cost us 2 points last night.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Unlucky; are you serious!!!

There was nothing unlucky about it, it was a shocking mistake and a schoolboy error to clear the ball across your own goal, especially when the touchline was about 5 yards to his left.

Sorry, but he cost us 2 points last night.

I have to agree with you, you never play the ball across goal like that

 

[OldBlueLady]

Unlucky; are you serious!!!

There was nothing unlucky about it, it was a shocking mistake and a schoolboy error to clear the ball across your own goal, especially when the touchline was about 5 yards to his left.

Sorry, but he cost us 2 points last night.

By "unlucky", I meant it was the only mistake he made all night. Phillips has made mistake after mistake the last few games and got away with it often. I don't feel it's fair to blame Timlin for that last night, he should never have had to attempt that clearance because it was a clear foul on Lenny which should have been given before it!

 

[Somerset Ex-TTB]

Woken up this morning, and still can't believe we didn't cruise to at least a 5-1 win last night. We totally owned Hartlepool for pretty much all the 90 minutes. Straker hit the woodwork twice, 3 efforts cleared off the line, at least half a dozen goal mouth scrambles, that just did not fall to a Southend player, and another top corner 25 yard shot gets them a goal.

We were due a run of bad luck, and a bit of a dodgy spell of form, I just hope that the performance last night is a sign of things turning around a bit. If we perform like that week in week out, we wont fail to win many games.

15 games left, got to win at least 10 of them, and playing like last night, I reckon we could!!

 

[tia]

We played well last night and it was a massive improvement on Saturday.Straker looked dangerous and linked up well with Coker specially in the first half.We were unlucky not to win and although it was a bad mistake by Timlin it was a fantastic strike by the Hartlepool lad to finish.They broke very quickly and defended very well but we were very unlucky not to win the game.

 

[shrimperjon]

Woken up this morning, and still can't believe we didn't cruise to at least a 5-1 win last night. We totally owned Hartlepool for pretty much all the 90 minutes. Straker hit the woodwork twice, 3 efforts cleared off the line, at least half a dozen goal mouth scrambles, that just did not fall to a Southend player, and another top corner 25 yard shot gets them a goal.

We were due a run of bad luck, and a bit of a dodgy spell of form, I just hope that the performance last night is a sign of things turning around a bit. If we perform like that week in week out, we wont fail to win many games.

15 games left, got to win at least 10 of them, and playing like last night, I reckon we could!!

I have to agree with you, dont think we could have done much more and were extremely unlucky not to score two of three at least, although Bentley also pulled off a couple of very good saves, one in each half at least. My only concern was that despite all the pressure and balls pinging around in the area etc, we had no one like a fox in the box to finish the chances. Even the efforts cleared off the line were weak, we kept saying that if someone had put their foot through the ball we would have scored two of three more instead there was no conviction in the efforts. Even Freddy near the end, created the space and scuffed his shot from 12 yards. Cant help thinking that this may cost us in the run in. But all in all a much improved performance and certainly the formation is the one that suits this side the best.

 

[lapper's flat top]

The ball just wouldn’t run for us last night. a improved performance from the weekend, but its still a concern that we just don’t seem to know how to closes these type of game’s out. After Hartlepool scored we need to hold on the ball to take the wing out of there sales, especially after conceding to late goals at the weekend. But we don’t seen to be holding on to possession of the ball at the moment, I think that may be were we have come unstuck in the last couple of weeks.

 

[madaboutblues]

Decent game and a really good performance by our boys. 4-5-1 suited us much better. The lads had a better shape and understanding. The defence looked much more solid, but may have been due to the extra protection in front of them. I feel for the players as they worked their buns off tonight. Had 3/4 changes cleared off the line and let in another worldy. Deserved the 3 points.Bentley 7...A couple of great saves. No chance with their goal Coker 7.5 MOTM Good on the ball and linked up well with StrakesWhite 7 Much better from the skipperPhillips 7 Also much better than Saturday.Thompson 7 Distribution isn't great, but defended solidlyTimlin 7 Mistake for their goal, but nobody expected the guy to smash it into the top corner. Worked soooo hardLeonard 7 Much better than Saturday. Sprayed some lovely passes around and grafted hardAtkinson 7 Worked hard and drove forward. BetterHurst 6.5 Doesn't seem in top form to me. Drifted in and out of the gameStraker 7 Looked dangerous. Can be such a good player when he makes the right decisions. Faded in the 2nd halfCorr 7.5 Lead the line well and unlucky not to get a second Subs Eastwood 7...Looked quite sharp. He's not finished yet.

Agree 100% with all the above ratings. Last night was so much better than Saturday, I can't believe all these people on here moaning. It wasn't that we couldn't score, it was that Hartlepool did everything to stop us. It was a proper lesson in parking the bus in my opinion. Timlin worked hard all night and I really felt for him when he made that mistake. He was right in front of us in the West and looked so upset. Keep playing like that and we will be ok, not everyone's back line is that good.

 

[hamiltonblue]

Thought we played well tonight, midfield three makes such a difference to the way we play. Have absolutely no idea how Kev has come away with MOTM, thought of anything he was one of our quieter players tonight. Straker back in the side gives us a great outlet for when the game gets stretched, unsure as to why he was subbed. Best game from Corr ive seen in a few weeks too.

Should have won, but didn't, which is slightly concerning. Positives out there for sure, however.

Hurst is definitely off form, perhaps a rest on the bench would help? Put Leonard in his place and bring Laird or Payne into the middle?

I have no doubt that Hurst will come good but he's not creating the number of assists (and goals) of which we know he is capable of.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Gutted not to have come out of that with all 3 points, surprised no mention (as far as I can see) on the disgraceful decision not to give a foul on Lenny which led to the whole action that produced Hartlepool's goal? Shocking challenge, we should have had a free kick, instead of which off they went, Timlin makes one mistake all night and yet another superbly taken goal following on from the one on Saturday by an away team!

I counted 6 chances that, on another day, might have gone in. Their keeper must have been MOTM for them. Having said that though I thought Phillips was bloody lucky not to give away a penalty for pulling their forward back in the first half. He had a really good game last night but still has this tendency to do stupid things like that. I think Kevan Hurst's parents must have been the match sponsors last night!!! :facepalm:

Bentley - 7, more confident display
White - 7.5, back to the kind of performance we're used to
Thompson - 7, looked much more assured, unlucky not to score with that header
Phillips - 7, please stop doing stupid things, you're so much better than that!
Coker - 8, MOTM, Jason Lee style pineapple suits him better than the hairband! Great energy and crossing
Hurst - 6, fairly anonymous 1st half but improved in the 2nd. Totally overshadowed in the 1st by Straker though
Atkinson - 7, good energy, never gave up all evening. Things just never seemed to work for him though
Leonard - 7, solid Lenny type performance
Timlin - 7, so unlucky to give the ball away for the goal, another who never stopped running all night and not afraid to shoot from distance like so many of them seem to be
Straker - 7.5, excellent performance 1st half, best threat, best creativity. Faded in the 2nd which is why, I guess, he was subbed
Corr - 7, much better direction on the headers, should have had a hat trick

Subs:
Eastwood for Straker - 7, concerned to hear Brown say he'd had some bad news, came on and performed with flair and confidence.

Was disappointed that we didn't bring on Barney or Williams for the last 10 minutes because Corr looked totally bollocksed by then, and the energy of fresh legs might have made a difference at that stage. I thought the whole team looked re-vitalised in the 1st half - a totally different set of players from Saturday's debacle. We need Prosser back asap though, defence still looks lightweight without his presence.

You NEVER go across your own goal. You get taught that at U8's. Drop-able offence.

 

[OldBlueLady]

You NEVER go across your own goal. You get taught that at U8's. Drop-able offence.

Sigh...:zzzzz:

By "unlucky", I meant it was the only mistake he made all night. Phillips has made mistake after mistake the last few games and got away with it often. I don't feel it's fair to blame Timlin for that last night, he should never have had to attempt that clearance because it was a clear foul on Lenny which should have been given before it!

 

[madaboutblues]

You NEVER go across your own goal. You get taught that at U8's. Drop-able offence.

If no-one ever made a mistake, we would be in the Premiership playing Barcelona in the Champions League!! I'm positive Timlin knows not to play over his own goal and if he'd had more than a split second to think about it, he wouldn't have. If he was dropped for that after playing the other 90 minutes with so much energy and determination it would be very wrong.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I couldn't afford to go last night, but of course listened to it on BBC Essex. Straker sounded like he was at his best first half, they just couldn't deal with him. With 4 attempts off the line and hitting the underside of the bar, that really has to go down as players trying their nuts off, but just unlucky.
Only negatives for me was Laird not starting again, has he shot Phil Brown's cat or something? and it sounds like, and from what I have seen for myself this season, that Freddy Eastwood is almost finished. He has lost that yard that enabled him to get his shots in. Not only is he not scoring a saving goal when he comes on, as you'de expect with his quality now and again, but he is hardly having a shot at goal nowadays
It used to be so sharp and quick feet, but now it's like it's in slow motion, and easily read by the defenders.

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

I couldn't afford to go last night, but of course listened to it on BBC Essex. Straker sounded like he was at his best first half, they just couldn't deal with him. With 4 attempts off the line and hitting the underside of the bar, that really has to go down as players trying their nuts off, but just unlucky.
Only negatives for me was Laird not starting again, has he shot Phil Brown's cat or something? and it sounds like, and from what I have seen for myself this season, that Freddy Eastwood is almost finished. He has lost that yard that enabled him to get his shots in. Not only is he not scoring a saving goal when he comes on, as you'de expect with his quality now and again, but he is hardly having a shot at goal nowadays
It used to be so sharp and quick feet, but now it's like it's in slow motion, and easily read by the defenders.

NO! You are SO wrong about Fred, last night he moved, passed, a few blocked shots etc and did everything reasonably expected of him. He worked left side of the box and is far from a spent force.
And with Laird I would like to see him play again but the three in the spot last night did nearly everything well and deserve to retain their spots, (so different from Saturday it is impossible to understand).

 

[TrueBlue]

You NEVER go across your own goal. You get taught that at U8's. Drop-able offence.

I agree you should never do it HOWEVER dropping him will do his confidence no good and lets be fair hartlepools goal was a screamer

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

NO! You are SO wrong about Fred, last night he moved, passed, a few blocked shots etc and did everything reasonably expected of him. He worked left side of the box and is far from a spent force.
And with Laird I would like to see him play again but the three in the spot last night did nearly everything well and deserve to retain their spots, (so different from Saturday it is impossible to understand).

Fair enough, that's how it sounded on the radio. Also from what I have seen. He looked O.K. The start of the season and I had hopes for him getting near as possible to his best, but since the injuries and all the knee trouble, he looks average and a bit slow.

 

[LennySUFC]

This will end up like last season. We will lose out on promotion one way or another and lose our best players in Leonard, Bentley, Hurst (although hes been poor of late)