Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1-2 MK Dons

[Blues 'n twos]

Cox I thought played well and deserved his goal. Really creative but we just didn't do anything from there.

Ferdy was clearly nursing an injury through the game today. Thought ranger did ok, although if his heading was better he would have had a hatrick.

Their gamesmanship was pretty extreme. I don't think that the ref got too many decisions wrong (linesmen did) but his player management was poor. If he dealt with the timewasting by a yellow then Robinson wouldn't have felt the need to take the rules into his own hands.

And a word on Ben Reeves on returning to his former club. Played really well, scored a goal, didn't over celebrate it and even jogged off when subbed to show a bit of respect to his former club. I believe his contract runs out in the summer.... would love to see him leave that scumbag of a club, and better still to have him back here.

Think our lads still thought Reeves was one of us the amount of space they gave him!

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

Not a good game, but to me it looked like a team running on empty after a long season, with a lot of games recently and a lot of niggling knocks rather than any lack of effort or passion. First half I thought we were the better side despite not being on it, second half MK Dons came more into it, and took a couple of chances, which was pretty much the only difference between the two sides. I thought we had little luck, nothing seemed to want to fall for us and when it did we hit the post and the ref gave everything bar the penalty MK's way. We've two games left, and hopefully a bit more time for the players to recover anything can still happen.

Thought Leonard, Cox & Robinson all played pretty well. Ferdinand didn't look fully fit but battled through.

I'm not going to be as critical as others, we've had a really good season and anything could still happen in the next two games, plus Bury @ home could be my last game for a long, long time as we're moving away in the summer so I'm trying to just appreciate being able to go to Roots Hall while I can.

 

[rayleigh dan]

It all sounds like " CHOKED under the pressure when a massive opportunity presented itself ".............................AGAIN !!!

Absolutely this! Yes the ref was poor but let's not hide behind that, we bottled it! Some of our defending second half was schoolboy, back to the shambolic standards of August/September sadly. We were perhaps unlucky going forward, nothing seemed to fall for us today, but you can't excuse that defending, MK could easily have scored a couple more, sorry but it's not good enough :thumbdown:. Millwall losing almost makes it worse, a draw today and we'd be favourites to make the play-offs:sad:.

Walton 5 - Made a couple of good saves, perhaps could have done better with their first :unsure:. The second was a fairly routine save that if he couldn't have held he should have pushed wide. He did the same against Charlton for their offside 'goal'. One flaw that needs stamping out.

Demetriou 4 - Decent going forward in the first half. Second half he was atrocious, terrible error in the build up to their second and looks poor every time anyone runs at him. He is good going forward but is that enough? Personally I think right back is one position we need to look at getting a replacement in for, a defender who can't defend is a problem.
Thompson 6 - Best of the defense, luckily the useless ref didn't penalise his constant shirt holding.
Ferdinand 4 - I love Anton but he had a shocker today! Is he fully fit or was it just a (rare) off day? Couldn't have asked for a worse time to have one too.
Timlin 4 - They targeted him from the off, early on he stood up fairly well but second half he was found out. We got away with it earlier in the season but he's no left back and It showed today.

Atkinson 6 - Looked good first half, I thought Brown was a bit premature when he subbed him. Demitriou was badly exposed after Atko came off.
Leonard 7 MOM - Great to see him back, excellent first half, second he had less influence but wasn't helped by our long ball tactics after we conceded.
Wordworth 6 - Like Lenny had a good first half but was fairly anonymous after the break.
McLaughlin 5 - Still looks below his best and wasted a few good opportunities in the first half.

Cox 7 - Kept trying, work rate first class and on another day he would have scored more than one.
Ranger 5 - A bit sub par today though still looked a thread at times, a couple of his offsides were Mooney-esqe in sloppiness.

Subs:

Theo and Glash 5 - Neither really made an impact. I wish Theo had showed the same passion in general play as when he 'encouraged' their sub to leave the pitch - I did enjoy the sentiment though! Shame the ref didn't, he should have booked both players really.
Fortune 6 - Did his best to make difference, it was a shame some of his one touch passes didn't come off, though I'd argue this was more down to his teammates.

Finally why did we resort to hoofing long after going one down? So predictable and we showed at times in the first half how well we can play on the floor. Was it Brown's decision or just a lack of patience from the players? Either way it's so frustrating!:angry:

 

[RobM]

Think our lads still thought Reeves was one of us the amount of space they gave him!

He needed a Deegan moment...!

 

[buffalowolf]

Just watched the 13 minute highlight package on UTUBE,my impression from it was that SUFC were lacking in tactics, ball out to the wings and a soft floated cross into the centre, also the players still have no idea how to beat a packed defence.Too many long ball throw ins,Tactically i think PB was out thought.This i say is only what came to my mind watching the highlights on UTUBE.:thumbdown:

 

[buffalowolf]

Also may i add ,what a great turnout of supporters , pity the players couldnt do the right thing and turn up also,you can all be proud off yourselves,i loved that part of the highlights ,to see so many at Roots Hall, BLOODY TERRIFIC FELLAS :thumbsup:

 

[SHRIMPERPETER]

Nothing ever comes of from Lennys long throws so why keep bloody doing them?!!! 9 times out of 10 the opposition seem to get their heads to the ball ,the same as with corners:angry:!

 

[Tony Allen]

Bottled it - rubbish
We are the 7th best team in this league at the moment and might still make the playoffs. The first 12 games of the season with a somewhat different team has a bearing on this as we couldn't have too many off days from then on. Convenient labels are just wheeled out to fit all occasions.

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Absolutely this! Yes the ref was poor but let's not hide behind that, we bottled it! Some of our defending second half was schoolboy, back to the shambolic standards of August/September sadly. We were perhaps unlucky going forward, nothing seemed to fall for us today, but you can excuse that defending, MK could easily have scored a couple more, sorry but it's not good enough :thumbdown:. Millwall losing almost makes it worse, a draw today and we'd be favourites to make the play-offs:sad:.

Walton 5 - Made a couple of good saves, perhaps could have done better with their first :unsure:. The second was a fairly routine save that if he couldn't have held he should have pushed wide. He did the same against Charlton for their offside 'goal'. One flaw that needs stamping out.

Demetriou 4 - Decent going forward in the first half. Second half he was atrocious, terrible error in the build up to their second and looks poor every time anyone runs at him. He is good going forward but is that enough? Personally I think right back is one position we need to look at getting a replacement in for, a defender who can't defend is a problem.
Thompson 6 - Best of the defense, luckily the useless ref didn't penalise his constant shirt holding.
Ferdinand 4 - I love Anton but he had a shocker today! Is he fully fit or was it just a (rare) off day? Couldn't have asked for a worse time to have one too.
Timlin 4 - They targeted him from the off, early on he stood up fairly well but second half he was found out. We got away with it earlier in the season but he's no left back and It showed today.

Atkinson 6 - Looked good first half, I thought Brown was a bit premature when he subbed him. Demitriou was badly exposed after Atko came off.
Leonard 7 MOM - Great to see him back, excellent first half, second he had less influence but wasn't helped by our long ball tactics after we conceded.
Wordworth 6 - Like Lenny had a good first half but was fairly anonymous after the break.
McLaughlin 5 - Still looks below his best and wasted a few good opportunities in the first half.

Cox 7 - Kept trying, work rate first class and on another day he would have scored more than one.
Ranger 5 - A bit sub par today though still looked a thread at times, a couple of his offsides were Mooney-esqe in sloppiness.

Subs:

Theo and Glash 5 - Neither really made an impact. I wish Theo had showed the same passion in general play as when he 'encouraged' their sub to leave the pitch - I did enjoy the sentiment though! Shame the ref didn't, he should have booked both players really.
Fortune 6 - Did his best to make difference, it was a shame some of his one touch passes didn't come off, though I'd argue this was more down to his teammates.

Finally why did we resort to hoofing long after going one down? So predictable and we showed at times in the first half how well we can play on the floor. Was it Brown's decision or just a lack of patience from the players? Either way it's so frustrating!:angry:

He definitely wasn't fit with two injuries. But A, he's Captain and a massive player for us, and B, Barrett gone, Inniss, White and Coker injured, and a midfielder at left back, they took a risk.

 

[amsemp]

Felt like it was a mixture of: bad day at the office, down on our luck, poor ref, players didn't care.

I know the latter probably isn't true, but we were so frustrating to watch in the second half. It was mostly very uninspiring football and we looked like we had completely run out of ideas towards the end - it looked as if we had almost accepted we weren't going to get anything from the game in the last 5 or so minutes. We seemed very sluggish and lethargic whilst Franchise FC nipped at our heels and played like they wanted it a hell of a lot more than we did. Really frustrating as we're so much better than that and we're usually the ones with the tireless workrate.

Brown made reference to Luggy wheeling guys out in the big games even though they might not be 100%. It showed today as Ranger, and especially Ferdinand, looked well out of sorts. Felt for Anton as his kids were out there with him and Rio was in the directors box, but wasn't a comfortable afternoon for him. Demetriou's unfortunate individual mistake cost us dearly and you kind of knew it wasn't going to be our afternoon when Ferdy hit one against the post when it would have given us a real chance had it gone in.

Ref was pretty poor, as were his assistants. Lino on our side (east stand) waved a couple of incredibly debatable offsides and they all missed Franchise FC playing basketball on at least three occasions in the first half. He let a huge amount of very blatant time wasting go unpunished and then booked Theo for trying to hurry off one of their subbed players. Work that one out.

I hate MK Dons anyway, simply for being a total joke of a football club, but they were unbearable to watch. Not a very good side by any means, but made worse by the blatant diving, cheating, time wasting and unsportsmanlike behaviour. It was embarrassing at times and I'd be ashamed if I saw us doing that.

I think it would be fair to question whether Walton could've done better for both goals, Thompson and Lenny were the pick of the bunch and thought MAF made a good impact when coming on. He should have arguably started instead of Ranger as he definitely looked a bit fitter.

Need to draw a line in the sand now and stop the rot. Still every chance to make the playoffs and I've got faith in Brown to keep the heads up and keep their minds on the prize. **** happens - on to the next!

 

[Maidstone Shrimper]

I think today showed us just who we are. We have a good starting line up when all are fit. Sadly in that line up we have Anton Ferdinand who is fantastic when 75% fit but today he was well below that and I'd guess may not have started if John White had been available. We gambled on playing our best 11 but with Anton, Nile, Atkinson and Wordy all running on near-empty we didn't have the energy to break down a team that's lacking in quality but was well organised. Luck wasn't with us with the shots that hit the post but we could have easily conceded more than two. The ref was pretty inept but equally inept for both sides. Maybe we should have started with Fortune or O'Neill or Robinson .... hindsight is wonderful. All we can do now is get the best 11 out for the next few games and get the results we need and hope for a Millwall malfunction. This has been a season when we've gambled on players like Ferdinand, Ranger, Cox, Fortune being able to produce the goods despite their age/fitness. It's worked in that we're up at the business end come the end of the season rather than the squeaky bum end that looked so likely back in September. That we're still in with a shout is a reason to be cheerful.

 

[Shrimper]

Anyone else see the driver after the game seemingly attempt to run a group of kids over? Shocking driving. I know someone on the 1st page did.

 

[mrsblue]

Some of the players cannot play 2 games in 3 days..Has Fortune committed robbery?why he only had 15 minutes is poor selection as Ranger was blowing after 45.

Where was Frank?.....bizarre signing and giving him 15 at CA was embarrassing,since then he hasn't been seen,this stage of the season we need guys fresh and ready to step in,yet we sign old duffers who ain't doing nothing.

Yesterday we were ordinary and deserved exactly what we got....too many running on empty.

The amazing thing is despite losing 3 in 4 we are still there.

 

[AndyT]

We definitely seem to only be able to compete when our energy levels are high. The 5 games in 16 days, half-fit players and a bit of a flat atmosphere, just allowed MK Dons to ease into the game.

Ben Reeves was the stand-out player for them, in the end, but for 35 minutes or so, we pushed them back and limited them to the odd half-chance.

However, they should have been 1-0 at half-time and did make it count in the second half. In truth, they could have scored more.

I was level with the second goal, in the East Blues and I'm not convinced the original ball in wasn't from an offside position. Particularly as the lino missed a handball right in front of him and Kieran Agard was definitely offside, a second time and he missed that as well.

Crystal Waters will be disappointed with the first goal, but I definitely wouldn't fault him for the second goal.

We haven't performed at home for some time and have been saved by a late surge in games, inspired by the energy of the substitutions, but yesterday just didn't happen.

We needed to score in that opening 20 minutes. As the game wore on, though, you sensed there wasn't any coming back.

Walton 6, Demetriou 6, Thompson 7, Ferdinand 5, Timlin 5, Leonard 7, Atkinson 6, McLaughlin 6, Wordsworth 6, Cox 7, Ranger 5 ... McGlashan 6, Robinson 5, Fortune 6

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

I think Brown hit the nail on the head in one of his post-match interviews (can't remember if it was yesterday or a previous game) when he said that the temptation when Nile is playing is to knock it long to him all the time.

With hindsight I think Fortune should have started yesterday and Nile rested, we could have then used his height as an alternative tactic for the last 20 minutes if we needed it.

Anyway, onwards an upwards - at least we've got a few days to patch up the walking wounded before Shrewsbury and a win on Saturday will make the last day of the season interesting.

 

[Harry Bullocks]

On a Sunday morning moment...who's all going to Shrewsbury....fancy dress is optional

 

[RobM]

I'm going, train from Watford.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Too many players had an off day when we really didn't want them to. One of the worst RB performances all season from Demetriou, Ferdinand clearly not fit (and possibly put off by all the attention for his brother!!!), Nile out of sorts, all mixed in with a weak set of officials.

Yes, we all saw the ref tapping his watch to show he was adding time, but DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, man!!! :angry: Get those cards out for it - the keeper was doing it from the 1st minute and he was never actually spoken to once! So, so frustrating.

Add to our poor performance the fact that Lady Luck wasn't on our side (hitting the same point on the upright twice) and we were on the back foot for most of the game. Did I imagine it or was there a handball in the lead up to their first goal too?

Walton - 6, would have to see the highlights (which I've not yet) but felt he could have done better for the goals
Demetriou - 3, yes, we know he can get forward and into scoring positions, but that's not his job and I would rather he learnt how to defend and let the midfielders get into those positions rather than covering his RB position
Thompson - 7, my MOTM, the only one of the defence to emerge with any credit
Ferdinand - 5, clearly not fit
Timlin - 6, they did a job on him and he tried hard and produced an absolutely text book tackle late on in front of the East
Atkinson - 6, thought he'd done ok first half, and tend to think we missed him when he was subbed. I understood why the subs, but I think I'd have left Will on a bit longer and brought Theo on a bit later. Fortuné for Nile was the sub that should have happened at that time
Wordsworth - 6, hit the post and instrumental in most of the forward play, also cleared a few from defence so not as bad as some are saying, but another who was carrying the knock from Friday
Leonard - 7, just missed out on my MOTM, gutsy performance
McLaughlin - 5, thought he was lucky to start Friday, he's not been on form for some time
Cox - 6, kept trying
Ranger - 5, looked out of sorts

Subs:
McGlashan for McLaughlin - 5, having brought him on, we barely passed him the ball!
Robinson for Atkinson - 6, looked strong, silly boy for getting involved
Fortuné for Ranger - 6, should have come on earlier. MK were a short side, and we should have dominated them aerially, not being able to do so, we should have played ball to feet which Fortuné is great at

Officials:
Poor. Weak. Ineffective.

MK Dons, well, no surprise Ben Reeves was their MOTM. Didn't like the booing for him, he played fairly, didn't over celebrate and also posted a really nice tweet afterwards. Would love to have him back. I thought O'Keefe also did ok, and with Tilson in the Directors' Box, he was probably a little more pumped than normal. Other than them, dreadful tactics, time wasting and throwing themselves to the floor all the time (I won't include the penalty box one having seen the video), which the ref gave every time.

It's still highly possible that we'll make the Play Offs so we just have to keep believing and hope Browny can instil some of this belief back in the boys as some of them looked a bit bereft of it.

 

[dannypav]

Too many players had an off day when we really didn't want them to. One of the worst RB performances all season from Demetriou, Ferdinand clearly not fit (and possibly put off by all the attention for his brother!!!), Nile out of sorts, all mixed in with a weak set of officials.

Yes, we all saw the ref tapping his watch to show he was adding time, but DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, man!!! :angry: Get those cards out for it - the keeper was doing it from the 1st minute and he was never actually spoken to once! So, so frustrating.

Add to our poor performance the fact that Lady Luck wasn't on our side (hitting the same point on the upright twice) and we were on the back foot for most of the game. Did I imagine it or was there a handball in the lead up to their first goal too?

Walton - 6, would have to see the highlights (which I've not yet) but felt he could have done better for the goals
Demetriou - 3, yes, we know he can get forward and into scoring positions, but that's not his job and I would rather he learnt how to defend and let the midfielders get into those positions rather than covering his RB position
Thompson - 7, my MOTM, the only one of the defence to emerge with any credit
Ferdinand - 5, clearly not fit
Timlin - 6, they did a job on him and he tried hard and produced an absolutely text book tackle late on in front of the East
Atkinson - 6, thought he'd done ok first half, and tend to think we missed him when he was subbed. I understood why the subs, but I think I'd have left Will on a bit longer and brought Theo on a bit later. Fortuné for Nile was the sub that should have happened at that time
Wordsworth - 6, hit the post and instrumental in most of the forward play, also cleared a few from defence so not as bad as some are saying, but another who was carrying the knock from Friday
Leonard - 7, just missed out on my MOTM, gutsy performance
McLaughlin - 5, thought he was lucky to start Friday, he's not been on form for some time
Cox - 6, kept trying
Ranger - 5, looked out of sorts

Subs:
McGlashan for McLaughlin - 5, having brought him on, we barely passed him the ball!
Robinson for Atkinson - 6, looked strong, silly boy for getting involved
Fortuné for Ranger - 6, should have come on earlier. MK were a short side, and we should have dominated them aerially, not being able to do so, we should have played ball to feet which Fortuné is great at

Officials:
Poor. Weak. Ineffective.

MK Dons, well, no surprise Ben Reeves was their MOTM. Didn't like the booing for him, he played fairly, didn't over celebrate and also posted a really nice tweet afterwards. Would love to have him back. I thought O'Keefe also did ok, and with Tilson in the Directors' Box, he was probably a little more pumped than normal. Other than them, dreadful tactics, time wasting and throwing themselves to the floor all the time (I won't include the penalty box one having seen the video), which the ref gave every time.

It's still highly possible that we'll make the Play Offs so we just have to keep believing and hope Browny can instil some of this belief back in the boys as some of them looked a bit bereft of it.

Yep a million times over.
I know he was injured yesterday , but John White must wonder what he's done wrong this season.

 

[mrsblue]

We were stunned when Ranger re emerged for the second half...we were then double shocked when he had a further 30 minutes before the hook,Fortune should have replaced him at ht without question.