Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-2 Cheltenham Town

[The Big Shrimp]

Southend's star player!!

Albert Ross :whistling:

 

[ian180]

Evans 4
clohessy 5
herd 6
Coughlin 5
barker 7
soares 5
hall 7
easton 5
Ferdinand 5
sturrock 5
corr 7
grant 7
patterson 6
migeul comminegues 6

 

[Maroon Blue]

Obviously, Evans cost us two goals and therefore the game. We're not a side who can come back from conceding two like that as we don't have the players to do so IMO. Not enough genuine pace or creativity within our squad to chase games and get back on level terms, expecially against a decent league two side. Thought Coughlan was man of the match today.

We are but not when playing at home, as obviously a percentage of the crowd got on the players backs. As a result they resorted to hoofball into the box and all the nice play at Oxford, when they played with the freedom of not carrying halve the crowd on their backs was gone. Its a big enough task to win at home as it is at the moment, but when 2 down after 5 mins, we did not have any hope but still almost got a point.

 

[DTS]

Positives were Barker and Coughlan were excellent at times. Herd also had a decent game. Man of match was Barry Corr who I thought was dangerous.

Negatives were Evans looking so shaky, Soares being totally crap and Clohessy looking like he had transformed into Martyn Booty.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

Ticket office - 0

Got to the West Stand 10 minutes before kick off to find a queue that was stretching some way up the road and getting longer. Then some guy in a suit (Jobson?) comes over and starts shouting that they've run out of tickets in the ticket office and someone was coming across the ground bringing some more, which took ages. :

And this farce happens with a crowd of under 5,000!. Incredible, thank god another 1,000 did'nt turn up wanting to sit in the West Stand, or the queue would have been back to fairfax drive!.

 

[EastStandBlue]

We just didn't show up in the first half. For a side to find themselves 2-0 down inside five minutes on the back of two determined away wins must be gut wrenching, and it showed as the team just couldn't piece anything together in the first half. Our defensive shape went awry and Coughlan and Barker were chasing the same man, which directly created the chance for their second.

Evans will have to accept responsibility for both goals. The first, from where I was sat, was a routine save that Evans made a pig's ear of and the second went right through his grasp, although definitely not helped by those in front of him. Personally, I thought it was incredibly harsh on Ferdinand to be subbed off so early on, as he actually looked one of our tidiest players in the opening exchanges. I would've preferred Coughy to make way, with Ferdinand dropping back into his natural position as Cheltenham didn't have a boisterous centre-forward, but I appreciate Sturrock wanting to keep a "leader" on the pitch for the squad to battle back.

Second half was much better, with the midfield being driven forward by Grant and we looked a lot more threatening with Comminges on the right, allowing Clohessy to run further forward and get the delivery in. Dropping Comminges into that right-sided role could prove to be an astute signing, as he looked to divert attention away from Clohessy allowing the cross, rather than taking the ball and driving into a dead end like Soares. Hall was largely inconsistent, some great deliveries (including one for our goal) and some absolute pies. He's quick and tricky, yet you wouldn't believe it as he doesn't either... and He needs to develop some self belief and start attacking his full-back.

Speaking of full-backs, I understand Herd had a good(ish) game against Oxford, well today he was pretty much useless. Failed to stop the winger getting his cross in on each occasion he was actually tested, his decision making is still poor (half-arsed closing down of a player without fully committing, allowing the winger to skip past him) and his distribution was awful... Failing to meet a blue shirt with just about every forward pass. He's learnt from Gilbert how to be a hoofball merchant, except he's worse.

Up top, Sturrock was not at the races. He looked tired to me and was a yard short of where he has been for us in the past, producing some tired efforts towards goal... Things weren't coming off for him and he probably should have made way at half time, but that's not to say he deserves the level of abuse from the stands. It's nothing short of a disgraceful and those responsible should be ashamed of themselves. You're not supporters. Pato looked sharp and like he actually wanted it, but he still lacks basic qualities to have an impact. Him and Corr have been at the same club for several months now, so why can't Pato read a single lay-off from Corr? If he could, he might have found himself in a goalscoring position.

Corr was terrific from the start. He won the vast majority of headers, forced two fantastic saves out of the 'keeper and and was a general thorn in the opposition's side. Deserved his goal and probably deserved another. I'll stick my neck on the line and say he's probably one of the best centre-forwards in the division on this form.

Ratings -

Evans - 4 - Not marked down just for his two howlers, but his kicking was horrendous.
Clohessy - 7 - Solid enough from the lad and looked to get forward in search of an equaliser
Coughlan - 5 - Looked well off the pace initially.
Barker - 7 - Calming influence, class throughout other than one lapse.
Herd - 4 - We're playing in blue, Johnny.
Soares - 5 - Few good runs, lacked any consistent threat
Ferdinand - 6 - Didn't deserve to be hauled off... Played one delightful ball over the top to Sturrock who was flagged, but he wasn't offside.
Easton - 6 - Tried to keep things ticking over
Hall - 6 - Inconsistent.
Sturrock - 5 - Not at the races today
Corr - MOTM 8 - Brilliant display... If others learnt to read off his knock-ons we could've pipped Cheltenham today.

Subs

Grant - 7 - Solid second half performance, engine in midfield and turned his marker on a number of occasions.
Comminges - 6 - Had a good enough impact to warrant inclusion on Saturday.
Pato - 6 - Looked like he wanted it, needs to read Corr's knock-ons to be truly effective.

 

[Maidstone Shrimper]

Two goalkeeping errors cost us dearly. Apart from that it wasn't an awful display by the Blues and if we hadn't gifted those two early goals we'd probably have nicked three points against a mediocre Cheltenham side. As it was, we didn't have enough guile or ruthlessness in the box to get back in the game.

Evans 2 Cost us the game, but gets a couple for doing OK second half
Clohessy 4 Poor game today, poor crosses, poor passing
Herd 7 Thought he did well, apart from being skinned once
Coughlan 6 Caught for pace as you'd expect but used his experience to good effect at times
Barker 7 Solid
Soares 3 Contributed nothing again. Turned his full back a couple of times but couldn't deliver a decent cross
Hall 6 Poor first half, better second especially with cross for our goal
Easton 6 Grafted, some good passes and tackles but some not so good
Ferdinand 5 Not on long enough to really rate
Sturrock 4 Some good touches but at home we desperately need more than that ..... more pace and a goal threat alongside Corr
Corr 6 Worked hard, scored but loses a point for missing a first half chance that could have changed the game

Grant 6 Flattered to deceive, lots of eye catching running with no end product. Looked rusty and not fully fit
Paterson 5 A few good moments but usual lack of urgency/committment in his play
Comminges 6 OK, nothing great, nothing terrible

Ref 7 Not keen on his style of refereeing but thought he got most decisions right (unlike the West Stand lino ... as usual)
Crowd 3 Do we want our team to lose? Ironic cheering of Evans every time he touched the ball, abuse of Blair Sturrock. Crazy. Let's do the opposition's work for them shall we? No wonder the team are more comfortable away from home.
​

 

[Mick]

Yep I bet no one at the club bothered to even read what was in the match report before 'pasting' it onto the official site. Just seen the picture of the first goal as well on the official site next to the match report. An official club match report would not have been so harsh on Evans, well at least there is some truth on the official site for once.

This is rather poor. Not only is it copied and pasted, but the mistakes and errors are also copied.

 

[MattLloyd]

As said by everyone else a crap first five minutes, sturggled to half time and it wasn't until we made the two substitutions that we really got going.

Felt sorry for young Kane, but needs must, Grant was good, but I really don't think his heart is in. Easton again showed what a battler he is and got stuck in. I'm afraid that Soares should have now played his last game for us. Blair needs a rest and Clohessy looked a bit tired to.

I don't get this Pato bashing, he was brills when he came on. Finally we had mobility on the front line, something sadly lacking when playing Blair and Corr together and as for Pato not reading Corr's knock downs, Corr failed to read at least two of Pato's that would have put him through on goal. Stop knocking the lad, he drove us forward with some great runs and superb passing, he was very unfortunate not to get a goal and was thumped in the back when a penalty should have been given.

Evans 2 Poor first five minutes. Some poor kicking throughout the game. Had at least two very good saves.
Clohessy 4 Looked tired.
Herd 7 Thought he played well again, so much better than Gilbert.
Coughlan 6 Excellent in the air, but really slow on the ground.
Barker 7 Solid
Soares 2 If he gets another start, then Sturrock has lost his marbles!
Hall 6 One good cross all game, needs to get past his man.
Easton 7 Battled
Ferdinand 3 Not on long enough to really rate
Sturrock 3 As good as he was Saturday he had a poor game today.
Corr 6 Looks off the pace, missed an absolute sitter.
Grant 6 Showed little, lots of huff and puff, no end product.
Paterson 7 Excellent runs, shots on target and some great passes, did well.
Comminges 6 OK

Ref 5 Average
Crowd 3 Poor support today.

 

[Mick]

Pato looked sharp and like he actually wanted it, but he still lacks basic qualities to have an impact. Him and Corr have been at the same club for several months now, so why can't Pato read a single lay-off from Corr? If he could, he might have found himself in a goalscoring position.

Perhaps the fact that he has only been on the pitch with Corr for 83 minutes combined all season and none at all since September could contribute to this?

 

[southendkid]

evans 4 - Cost us the game, doesn't help when the crowd are on your back
clohessy 6 - Not as good as usual
herd 6 - Did alright, looks shaky defending still
coughlan 7 - I don't know why people are complaining, people give fouls away all the time just because it led to a goal doesn't warrant a low score, after first ten minutes he looked solid
barker 7 - Solid as always
soares 6 - Better than usual, still not really saying much
hall 7 - If only he could cross more consistently he would be our star player
easton 7 - Decent performance, starting to go forward a bit more, not sure if thats good for us defensively or not
Ferdinand 6 - Unfortunate to go off early, but from what I've heard he's too defensive for the situation we were in
sturrock 5 - Poor game today, funny how SZ gives him high ratings away from home where he isn't booed by idiots who act like every small mistake makes him the biggest waste of space on the pitch
corr 7 - Got a goal, had some headers which would have gone in against a poorer keeper
grant 7 - Sometimes tries too hard, should stop shooting first time, especially when there's time to control the ball
paterson 6 - Looks to be getting better, based on his cameo performence we should keep him
comminges 6 - Didn't do much but controlled the ball well, lucky Corr scored after he scuffed a shot from a couple of yards out
People booing - 0
​

 

[silentshrimper]

Christ, I know these are all opinions on player ratings, but as someone who didn't go to the game and is trying to find out how our lads did, I am still bloody clueless after reading them.

The only consistent ratings seemed to be Evans and Corr and possibly Grant.

 

[Manchester Shrimper]

Ticket office - 0

Got to the West Stand 10 minutes before kick off to find a queue that was stretching some way up the road and getting longer. Then some guy in a suit (Jobson?) comes over and starts shouting that they've run out of tickets in the ticket office and someone was coming across the ground bringing some more, which took ages. By the time I made it into the ground, Cheltenham had scored twice. Had I known as much, I wouldn't have bothered going in and would have gone shopping with the family.

Would have thought they'd have learned their lesson after the Port Vale game in August when exactly the same thing happened in the main office and those of us in the queue got in 15 minutes late as a result. I thought it was a bit mickey mouse at the time but to hear it happened again is just ridiculous.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Perhaps the fact that he has only been on the pitch with Corr for 83 minutes combined all season and none at all since September could contribute to this?

So they don't train together? I know familiarity is truly bred on the playing field, but it's as if they've only just met.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

This is rather poor. Not only is it copied and pasted, but the mistakes and errors are also copied.

As you quoted recently re the ticket offices way out of date messages etc, unfortunately the clubs admin in everything they do is so second rate it is pathetic. I get the impression that no-one higher up gives a damn or these matters would be addressed accordingly?. As Al Murray (The Pub Landlord) says... 'shame on you'.

 

[blue pilot]

The biggest problem with our current crop of players is (with a few exceptions) they are just not 'intelligent' footballers. Too many aimless balls , not looking up for a blue shirt, failure to track back / pick-up opponents movements, standing in the wrong place. Watch Grant's body language - he 's always 10 yards and 2 passes ahead of the rest of them and when the move breaks down you can see it with his reaction. Have to pin a lot of this on Sturrock I'm afraid. Can only hope he's gonna turn it round in the transfer window, ship out some of the under-performers and panic buys and pick up a gem or two. I shant hold my breath.

 

[Southend Neil]

More horrible league 2 fair I'm afraid. Thats the reason why the place is like a morgue, it was the same under Martin, Little and Newman, nothing to do with off field issues, thats just the way it is when we are in the bottom half of this league.

First of all a horrendous piece of selection from Sturrock, leaving out Grant in favour of Ferdinand, Easton and Soares is just scandalous. I'm not his biggest fan but he offers more than those 3, at least he had the balls to realise he had got it wrong so early.

Quite clearly we lost the game with 2 horrrible goalkeeping mistakes from Evans, however I still dont know if he is worse than Morris, these things can happen for a keeper and I would still give him another go. Im afraid we aren't set up to win games at home and to go 2-0 down was a complete disaster, we have very little creativity or pace in the team.

I sincerely hope Soares has played his last game, still has produced nothing this season, has no brains, no pace, cant cross or shoot. While he has produced nothing, Easton has produced next to nothing. What does he do, what are his qualities? He isnt a hard man and he makes Maher look like a creative genius, shame he is the captain.

I hope the Corr doubters are enjoying their humble pie, nothing wrong with him at all and 10 goals in a poor team is an excellent return. I dont like Paterson at all but without doing much, we did seem more of a threat when he was on. However its a different matter when you start a game but I would give him a go in the next game and put Blair on the right. It would reduce his need for goals, he is a good crosser, works hard and cant be any worse than Soares who must be a candidate for the all time worst X1.

With what he inherited,I still think Sturrock has done a fine job in getting us to 15th, dont think anyone could have done better and hopefully we may be able to make a push for promotion next season once he gets his own men in.

 

[EastStandBlue]

The biggest problem with our current crop of players is (with a few exceptions) they are just not 'intelligent' footballers. Too many aimless balls , not looking up for a blue shirt, failure to track back / pick-up opponents movements, standing in the wrong place.

That's not a problem indicative of just Southend, I'm afraid... If Fabio Capello can't get the supposed best players in the country to play intelligent, intuitive football, then what chance has Paul Sturrock got working with a squad assembled on a whim? The first 45 minutes was a very bad day at the office and some of these players obviously won't be here in a fortnight.

 

[TravellingBlue]

As torturous as the first half of this match was, I left the ground yesterday feeling robbed that we didn't at least get a draw. I thought the last half an hour was exciting stuff and once we got one I thought we could go on and get the second. 6 points out of nine in the last three games is a huge boost for us, we cannot let yesterday dampen our enthusiasm.

There is a problem with the fan base at home, we don't seem to get behind the players and are more likely to abuse them than support them. Evans and even Blair were unceremoniously picked on yesterday, disgraceful.

I am going to salute young Paterson (surprise, surprise!). Thought he came on and started looking for the ball and running at the Cheltenham defence, this gave us forward momentum and led to the spirited last half hour. The lad looked sharp - considering he's played about 12 seconds of first team football in the last couple of months! Cheltenham didn't like his diagonal runs, and he created bags of space for both our wingers to finally start putting balls into the box. Corr again took his goal well and Pato was unlucky with a good shot which their keeper saved very well. I was sure there was a penalty in there as well when Pato again was shoved in the back? Both Blair and Corr looked tired, but so did many of our players including EAston and Clohessy.

Evans 4 At fault with the first goal, couldn't much about the second
Clohessy 4 Looked very tired
Barker 7 Again the rock, but had to work hard at it
Coqulan 5 Not got the legs for two games in two days
Herd 7 Excellent game, drove us on, well done
Ferdinand 3 Not on long enough, right decision to bring him off
Easton 6 Battled but looked tired
Hall 6 Disappointing that he just doesn't beat his man often enough, one good cross in the whole match
Soares 2 Should be his last start
Corr 8 Another goal, but also missed a sitter and looked tired, still worked tirelessly
Blair 3 Not his day, off the pace and headless at times, needs a break.

Subs:

Grant 7 Lots of bluster but no end result, shooting was way off the mark.
Comminges 6 Already looks to offer more than Soares
Paterson 7 Finally movement on the front line, excellent half an hour and looks to have goals in him

Ref 5 Very average

Support 3 Not good, it's about getting behind the team when they are on the pitch. I leave my negative opinions for this messageboard!!!:smile:

 

[Supa Shrimpa]

Evans 4 Made some good saves 2nd half, but the early goal cost us the game.
(I'm afraid verbal abuse is part of being a professional footballer, when you're team is 2-0 down in 6 mins. I think he got off lightly with ironic cheering !)
Clohessy 5 Good player. Just had one of those days. I hope it's a one off.
Herd 7 Thought he was one of our best players. Kept pressing forward. Get's done by the body swerve, but it'll come.
Coughlan 6 I'm with MattLLoyd - Excellent in the air, but really slow on the ground.
Barker 7 Solid and dependable
Soares 4 Poor. This isn't a one off. Wouldn't get a game for Shrimperzone FC.
Easton 6 Plugged away. Not bad
Hall 5 One decent cross. Didn't read Johnnies runs. I'd keep him, though.
Ferdinand 6 Annoyed he went off, but can see why PS did it.
Sturrock 5 Not at the races. Looked tired.
(As with Evans..but it's harder if you're the manager's son. The only way to shut up the boo boys is on the pitch, which he didn't do)
Corr 7 Battled hard. Our best striker by far.
Grant 6 Grafted and probed forward.

Paterson 7 Looked up for it. Had a few runs and tried to make things happen.
Comminges 6 OK. Probably better at full back mind.