Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1 - 3 Eastleigh

[Supershrimper]

Have I missed a change in the rules. I thought if you got treatment (bar the goalkeeper) then you had to go off until the ref instructed you back onto the field of play.

Twice the Eastleigh players got treated but never went off.

 

[Whispering Bob]

We started off quite brightly, and pinged the ball around well. But we didn’t get the ball into the box quickly enough (no targets?). They defended aggressively and broke quite well. They celebrated their fluke opener as if it was a worldie (while taunting our fans - a’la the away game). I had no problem with Blondy going for the cross, it was positive at least, but he failed to get a good contact on the ball. Need to see their second again, but it looked ugly as far as our keeper was concerned and the third went through him (tho my boy reckoned it took a slight deflection). It was a good battle between Bridge and their young right-back. Kensdale was the pick of the defenders for me, Taylor the midfield and Cardwell did well when we did get the ball to him. More aggression next time please Blues.

 

[LBBlue]

Have I missed a change in the rules. I thought if you got treatment (bar the goalkeeper) then you had to off until the ref I strutted you back onto the field of play.

Twice the Eastleigh players got treated but never went off.

I thought the same - the chap sitting next to me said if the player causing the injury is shown a yellow then the injured player is allowed to stay on the pitch -

Made me feel right stupid !

 

[leeblue]

Midfield were woeful today, couldn't pass water today.
Why Maher persists with Ralph I do not know, serial loser to the core.
Having a keeper as bad as blondy will always put the defence on edge.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Well - yet another poor performance against a scummy team whose main attributes are being big strong and athletically quick and can run and run and run and get 10 men back behind the ball before we have thought where we are going to pass the ball.

They also are much better than us at cheating, the pulling and blocking off. You then always get the ref who can’t cope and panics at their theatrics. Just 2 minutes added time in the first half.

I think Taylor’s booking for what looked to me that he played the ball and their guy was late upset our concentration.

But having said all that they were much better at doing what they do than we were at what we do.

Of course Blondy didn’t have the best of games but - for the first goal could we have got the ball out in the pin ball? The third goal hit a divot and bounced over his hands - not a lot he could do about that. Rather they ran the ball from their box to ours unchallenged because we aren’t physically strong enough. Cardwell stopped chasing at the half way line.

How many saves did their keeper make? I’m struggling to think of one.

Our game needed Murphy and Hyde on earlier - Powell just hasn’t got the guile for what we are trying to do. We started to look more of a threat when Murphy came on.

Bridge had loads of the ball but far too late and far down the pitch - when he come to cross it their box was always packed.

Can’t afford to concede the first goal. Oh well there’s always next week.

Wouldn't have said that Eastleigh were dirty though they were certainly much more phsyical than us -generally within the rules of the game I thought.
Unless and until we can work out how to play against this sort of side -and be a bit more like them when necessary we'll stay in the NL -IMO.

 

[Reefs]

Few observations for what it's worth...

1 - Blondie is woeful but the third would never have happened had Harry Taylor made a tackle on their left winger as opposed to holding his hands in the air and simply letting him run past unopposed - he is lightweight as they come. Really don't understand the obsession some have with him.

2 - You can't play a powderpuff midfield against a strongarm team like Eastleigh - we needed a proper tough tackling ball winner in the centre, and we needed decisiveness in attacking areas - what we got was ponderous and predictable movement backwards and sideways and very little threatening creativity.
Whoever was responsible for Husin's MOM award must have been smoking some seriously strong crack.

3 - The entire front line needs to be taught when to pull the trigger, rather than taking an extra touch or three and nullifying the threat altogether.

4 - We got bullied the same way at their place and we set up in a manner which screamed the same was going to happen again - surely the definition of insanity?

5 - I can't for the life of me understand why Kev keeps playing a system to accommodate Nathan Ralph - another player who hasn't shown me any reason why he should be shoehorned in to a mostly winning side with Hobson in a back three.

 

[tommy tucker]

Blondie can go back to stoke .He cost us the game today and has made far to many mistakes .If we have to bring in an emergance keeper pleae look eles where kevin .

 

[Cricko]

The youngest of my grandsons attended his first game at the hall today supporting the Blues. The West stand is literally falling apart at the seams now.

Poor sod.

 

[Evening Echo]

SOUTHEND United boss Kevin Maher knows the Shrimpers must start to find a way to beat side's spoiling tactics.

Read more on this story


Help with Echo links

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

I’ve got to say I agree on Ralph. I hate, really hate calling out individuals but the bloke has been in how many relegation sides?! Play to our strengths and stop trying to accommodate Ralph. I won’t say any more about Blondy, we need our two lads back ASAP. I’m also not going to moan about the ref, we know the refs are **** in the NL, we should’ve played better. End of story.

The thing is he looked so much better in those relegation sides (and even last year) than he does now. He’s so hesitant and reluctant to get forward. He was more confident then in terrible teams than he is now!

 

[JD]

The pitch is also going to be a problem with all the re-arranged fitures coming up thick and fast.I'be be suprised if at least one of our upcoming games isn't postponed.

The pitch played a huge part in that today. It was stodgy and bumpy and the roll of the ball caused issues.
Eastleigh were dogged and made it very hard. Their 23 was excellent. Other than that a very average team, who on pitches like that, and in battles like that, thrive.
Mark my words - that pitch will kill our season off.

 

[Strykr]

Few observations for what it's worth...

1 - Blondie is woeful but the third would never have happened had Harry Taylor made a tackle on their left winger as opposed to holding his hands in the air and simply letting him run past unopposed - he is lightweight as they come. Really don't understand the obsession some have with him.

2 - You can't play a powderpuff midfield against a strongarm team like Eastleigh - we needed a proper tough tackling ball winner in the centre, and we needed decisiveness in attacking areas - what we got was ponderous and predictable movement backwards and sideways and very little threatening creativity.
Whoever was responsible for Husin's MOM award must have been smoking some seriously strong crack.

3 - The entire front line needs to be taught when to pull the trigger, rather than taking an extra touch or three and nullifying the threat altogether.

4 - We got bullied the same way at their place and we set up in a manner which screamed the same was going to happen again - surely the definition of insanity?

5 - I can't for the life of me understand why Kev keeps playing a system to accommodate Nathan Ralph - another player who hasn't shown me any reason why he should be shoehorned in to a mostly winning side with Hobson in a back three.

Good points.

Imo we've needed a battling midfielder to take charge in the middle ever since kev took over.

It really baffles me kev cant see it as thats the type of player he was!!! .

Agree about ralph as well, he is a serial loser sadly, and we have a much stronger squad then in previous years, so nothing should be shoehorned around him.

 

[Shrimper]

The youngest of my grandsons attended his first game at the hall today supporting the Blues. The West stand is literally falling apart at the seams now.

Poor sod.View attachment 24487

The West Stand toilets are an absolute state.

 

[Fairport]

There seems to be another issue creeping into the modern game, how on earth only 2 minutes of time was added in the first half was beyond belief. Eastleigh were guilty of time wasting and there were times when free kicks took over a minute to be taken. I doubt if more than 30 minutes play took place in each half. The game could follow the example of rugby where the clock is stopped periodically. The World Cup seemed to resolve this issue but it hasn't progressed into our game.

 

[Cricko]

There seems to be another issue creeping into the modern game, how on earth only 2 minutes of time was added in the first half was beyond belief. Eastleigh were guilty of time wasting and there were times when free kicks took over a minute to be taken. I doubt if more than 30 minutes play took place in each half. The game could follow the example of rugby where the clock is stopped periodically. The World Cup seemed to resolve this issue but it hasn't progressed into our game.

Add to that 10 mins over a throw in after sneaking 10 yards,10 over a goal kick and what is all this running to the far corner when teams score, so it takes 10 mins to kick off again. I agree the world Cup had it right.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I can't believe how much the ref was sucked in and how much he let go. Keeper going down holding his leg when nobody was near him and we were trying to take a free kick was a joke. Kicking the ball away as we are about to take a free kick and the ref doing nothing. Lopata being held and pulled about in the box, calling the lino to watch it happening and it being totally ignored. Cardwell going for a header, their player not bothering to challenge, instead bending over so Cardwell goes over him and the ref gives the Eastleigh player a free kick. The list goes on and on

 

[Ailsa Road Shrimper]

The level of cheating and in particular time wasting in the NL really is unacceptable. Ultimately people attend football for entertainment, I don’t see how anyone can enjoy prolonged periods of time with the game stopped even if you are on the winning team. Even in the dour old days of league two a lot of teams were long ball or would park the bus, though it wasn’t pretty to watch at least it is a legitimate tactic and challenge to overcome.

It was obvious what we were in store for as soon as the first goal went in and suddenly their striker’s shoelaces became untied. Boreham Wood are still probably the worst I have ever seen for cheating but Eastleigh ran them close today, similar to the playbook Bromley and Woking operate from. Maybe it is more than coincidence these are all more traditional non league teams rather than ex league clubs.

I don’t know how they only came up with five minutes stoppage time in the second half, there were four separate substitutions and three goals, all those other stoppages must have barely counted for anything (especially for the goalkeeper’s farcical ‘injury’).

The authorities really need to be doing more to clamp down on this time wasting as it really is ruining games. I’m glad we have not resorted to the likes of Boreham Wood, Eastleigh et al. Kev has done a great job in difficult circumstances in the past 15 months, however his constant berating of the fourth official every game lets him down and is tedious. It all seems to add to the general misery that the spectacle of our games at this level are.

 

[Maldon Shrimper]

Yes we can blame the ref who was weak
Yes we can blame Blondie for some of the goals.
However our play is too predictable and easy to defend against.We continually play into Bridge no plan b dont vary our play hardly tested the keeper.

 

[Willis]

How Blondy gets a game in NL I’ll never know. He wouldn’t even make the Rayleigh Town bench.

Correction: having considered this, I think he’d struggle in Rayleigh Boys u8

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

The youngest of my grandsons attended his first game at the hall today supporting the Blues. The West stand is literally falling apart at the seams now.

Poor sod.View attachment 24487

He needs a hair cut!.