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

[Richard Hearn]

What happened with that handball incident second half. I see hand but not sure who's. Some around me said a pen.

I thought it was a "yellow" arm but then realised that they were all wearing short sleeves so that must have been my imagination.

Situations like this, though, would surely be easier to adjudicate if all players wore long sleeves and kept them down.

 

[Tinks]

It was great to me you to, dont be shy in future, @Tinks gob can be heard a mile away. Bless the old girl x

That creako is a cheeky old chappy and he must have been so happy yesterday being allowed out without his carer
@garner&best lovely to meet you and chat

 

[Evening Echo]

SOUTHEND United fans have their say on Saturday's 3-1 defeat to Sutton United.

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[Evening Echo]

It’s amazing,” said Morison.

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[Evening Echo]

ON-LOAN Southend United striker Bim Pepple suffered a painful afternoon against Sutton on Saturday – in more ways than one.

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[Evening Echo]

ONE step forward two steps back would arguably be the most accurate way to summarise Southend United’s fortunes in the past few days.

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[Billy Bests boot laces]

Rather than scapegoats lets try and look at the bigger picture, like the whole game. They were not the 'dirty' or 'physical' team some are claiming. Its wasn't Collins kick, Kev's subs or even the officials even though they were p*** poor. No they beat us because they did something we can't....They scored 3 goals from just two touches in our penalty area.

After just 5 minutes Sutton looked exactly like team that had just last their last few games 3-0. Any ball forward without fuss should produce a chance. A couple of NL lumps at the back who, even with bit of time, could only slice it into touch for our throw.....This could be 2-0 again by H/T so relax everyone the 3 points are already in the bag.

Its gets better. New boy Pepple with the most basic of closing down causes panic. Super Steve shows his biggest weakness, dealing with stuff outside the box and it falls to the best man in blue shirt for that chance....Luckily not one of our forwards. Not Jack Bridge who would want an extra touch, or NH who would want to beat the last defender first....NO its that goal machine GSM......With the patience and awareness to allow the ball to drop and punch teasing half volley into the empty net.

All we had to do was more of the same against a team who looked far worse than Eastleigh or Boston.....Then Sutton show as an area where they were better than both of those and better than us. They pressed with numbers and worked really hard in our half. From then on nearly every single passage of play than ended up with an attack was due to bad mistakes. Ours self inflicted from over and backwards passing. Theirs from bad control by very average defenders.

We could have easily put that game to bed before the break. Norr did well to steal the ball down our right but instead of pulling simple ball back to Moncur? he tried to do to much. Norr did exactly the same in the same position against Eastleigh. Over the two games he has spoiled good moves rather than create them.

Meanwhile we excelled in the put Collin under pressure back pass tactic. Why go back 45yds when there was guaranteed reward from the most average ball forward. Collin had no option with the the one that upset everyone in the first half. One blue shirt left and one right both tightly pressed with no one else doing the job of availability. Vital if you insist on having at least 100 passes more than the oppo each game.

Meanwhile Sutton defenders looked like a boxer with his gloves down by his waist. A straight right or left, let alone a hook would be enough. We chose to retreat to our corner. Even wasted throws and free kicks all in the name of get 5 passes in before even thinking about a delivery.

Then the game changing moment 5 minutes into first half injury time. We had then under pressure down the right with players committed in their area. The ball ends up out left at Jack Bridge's feet. All has to do is drive it in low and hard but he has another touch, poor choice of pass and they clear......Going back 800 years to days of Village football before even the Black Death. The last man in defence (Crowther) has to deal with that ball. Now in 2024 pass completion stats are king....Not Edward the Confessor. Crowther thanks Taylor will pass it back because that's what we do. Taylor thinks well maybe not this time......Credit to their lad he kept his head and made sure he punished us.

Someone said to me during half time. "Good that will wake us up" I'm thinking its more likely to wake them up. 10 minutes later we have a throw in front of the Yellows. Long and down the line is the only option because they clumsily put the last two out of play for us anyway. We chose short and and square to player under pressure from two yellow shirts. He could have read the situation and hit it deep into their half but its far better to do them the favour by putting Collin under more pressure. Its not as if they are reading our back pass game and the home crowd are growing nervous......Never mind Its not one of Collins best but it hits the halfway line. GSM is overcommitted but that's what we want and he will get back. Except their lad crosses first time, and early. Then Sutton do something we certainly don't, Use two hands on Crowther to stop him winning the header.....In the NL two handed pushes are no longer a foul and because the ball was early Gubbins is facing the wrong way and a bad 10 minutes of play becomes disaster.

Good for Kev, for once he makes double sub before the 60minute mark. We all know why he didn't start with two forwards and Pepple is doing OK so a defender for an attacker with Bridge going out left in 4-4-2 should keep everyone happy. After all who hasn't said "may as well lose 3-1 but have at least have a go"
They only debate here is who instead of Morton. My personal choice would have been Norr.

Plan B works because we created some good chances even for the subs Bonne heads over. KAF hits it straight at Arnold. Which was the theme all day, over the bar or straight at.....In fact that's what it has been so far all season. That bizarre tackle in the first half from Pepple ended up with this seasons only decent low shot from outside the box.

With frustration mounting over the ref assisted time wasting, they break again and do another thing we can't. A blind first time cross to dangerous area.......Somone should be there and they were. Its 1-3 and they have made sure to punish us.

Deep down we all know any chance of even a point has gone because we are a poor team if we concede. To come from behind in the new time wasting is rewarded world you need have the power game. Teams don't get out of the NL without it. Make every set piece count, throw it long and deliver from anywhere. Even from 10 yds inside your own half. 10 half chances are better than 100 passes when time is running out.

Good luck to anyone heading up to Fylde. I will see you all at Solihull

Brilliant post, sums up the whole game. Chris Phillip's should be looking over his shoulder!.

 

[Whispering Bob]

A big factor for me was that our three central midfielders do not seem to be able to play two games in a week. Moncur, it is well documented that he is working his way back to match-fitness. Noor, not long back from an injury lay-off. Morton, probably not used to 2 x 90 minutes in such a short space of time.
Our tracking back was poor on Saturday and they found spaces at will on the counter (even desperate clearances always seemed to fall to a yellow shirt).

 

[rigsby]

I thought it was a "yellow" arm but then realised that they were all wearing short sleeves so that must have been my imagination.

Situations like this, though, would surely be easier to adjudicate if all players wore long sleeves and kept them down.

Not sure if its still the rule but Keepers have to wear long sleeve's for that reason

 

[Dutch Branch]

Brilliant post, sums up the whole game. Chris Phillip's should be looking over his shoulder!.

Excellent sir

 

[CrippsCorner]

Thought most keepers wear short sleeves these days?

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

Ralph needs to go back into the middle, Bridge out left wing back, gubbins back on the bench and still need another body in the midfield. Bonne and Moncur are some way off being able to play 90 let alone two or three games in a week.

 

[LBBlue]

Not sure if its still the rule but Keepers have to wear long sleeve's for that reason

Nick Pope doesn’t wear long sleeves.

 

[Cricko]

Nick Pope doesn’t wear long sleeves.

He does i have seen him in the Spread with one on..IYKYK

 

[Jonny_Stokes]

George has shown how good he can be when on his game, but he was done by 60 yesterday and didn't have anything in the tank to track runners or defend at all.

Sounds familiar. Can’t remember where I’ve heard it before…

 

[ThurrockShrimper]

As an aside, seeing more and more Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool tops at Roots Hall. Bit of a joke, think they should be turned away

This really makes my blood boil.... Granted, there are people who will ultimately support Southend as a 'second team' and our gates would drop (I don't think 'considerably', but enough that it would be noticeable) if they didn't turn up. If it's a little kid wearing a (insert prem team shirt), that doesn't bother me. But when a 35 year old glory hunting Arsenal/Chelsea/Liverpoool etc 'fan' from Shoebury makes their bi-yearly visit to The Hall (because whoever aren't on the dodgy stream that day) wearing their teams shirt, I certainly don't agree with that at all. More than anything, it is just sheer disrespect for lower league clubs. And they're the exact sort of people that will spend the entirety of the match moaning about the 'quality of football' and 'how much of a ****hole Roots Hall is' etc.

****ers.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Appreciate that, but he makes me nervous every time we play the ball back to him. He’s not comfortable at all and we go back to him a lot when IMO it’s not necessary.

Bingo. That’s the issue. We need outfield players doing a better job of providing options so that we don’t need to keep going back to Collin and worst of all, going back to Collin where he has no one open for a pass.

This compounded by playing one up front so hitting it long to Bim isn’t a realistic option to retain possession.

I honestly believe Collin has the makings of a top keeper but I do feel his all round game is having it's weaknesses exposed by the way we are set up to play. We require good distribution across the whole defence unit and it is obvious this is an area Collin needs to develop. I remember when Simon Royce came into the first team his kicking and distribution was not his strongest aspect but it improved but the whole goalkeeping set up at the time was chalk and cheese to what the Club has to offer these days. For me even though he has a lot of games under his belt, at his age he shouldn't have the unchallenged mantle of 1st choice keeper. We need an experienced keeper with strong all round abilities that will challenge Collin as 1st choice and ideally assist in his development. My concern for Collin is without the stimulation of real competition for his place and not just the presence of a non contract injury back up, his development will stagnant or indeed go backwards especially if he becomes a 'boo boys' target.
The last thing I want to do is lose an exciting young prospect like Collin but I genuinely believe the team and Collin would benefit from recruitment in this area.

The issue here is with the rest of the team rather than the keeper. Note how this has suddenly become a big issue once Crowther replaced Kensdale in the side…

If a game was won on the number of sideways and backward passes in our own half we would be storming this league.

If a game was won on the number of sideways and backwards passes York would be top of the table. Oh wait, they already are!

Over the years that we have been stuck in the NL time and time again we have failed to deal with physical, in your face, man marking teams like Sutton, Boreham Wood, Bromley etc and until the coaching staff address this we will never get out of this league

Hopefully we don’t get out of the division the same way that physical in your face team Boreham Wood did.

The most physical team in the division last year was relegated.

Meanwhile the best footballing teams are usually right up there. This year the division seems even more passing/possession orientated than ever.

Having had 24 hours to reflect, I still think that was a rancid performance from 40 mins onwards. This myth that we’re a good defensive side needs to go too. The reason we keep so many clean sheets is because we control the games against the inferior teams in this league and reduce them to nothing. As soon as Sutton smelt blood yesterday they started pushing bodies forwards and could’ve had 5/6 with better decision making. Our attacking play is also poor. As many have pointed out, we keep the ball well enough and spray it about but don’t create nowhere near enough clear cut chances.

And the reason we control games is that we pass it around the back rather than launching it long.

 

[BEERMONSTER]

Bingo. That’s the issue. We need outfield players doing a better job of providing options so that we don’t need to keep going back to Collin and worst of all, going back to Collin where he has no one open for a pass.

This compounded by playing one up front so hitting it long to Bim isn’t a realistic option to retain possession.



The issue here is with the rest of the team rather than the keeper. Note how this has suddenly become a big issue once Crowther replaced Kensdale in the side…



If a game was won on the number of sideways and backwards passes York would be top of the table. Oh wait, they already are!




Hopefully we don’t get out of the division the same way that physical in your face team Boreham Wood did.

The most physical team in the division last year was relegated.

Meanwhile the best footballing teams are usually right up there. This year the division seems even more passing/possession orientated than ever.


And the reason we control games is that we pass it around the back rather than launching it long.

My observations on Collin were more directly about his current all round goalkeeping strengths and the fact that he is a young goalkeeper who shows every sign of being able to play at a higher level. He has had to deal with being put in the position of 1st choice keeper and my concern is that given our limited goalkeeping dept these days, a poor shadow of what coaching support we have had in the past, his all round development and improvement may become stunted without the stimulus of a realistic challenge to the No.1 spot.
I did say that to play the way we set up to play the whole defence unit has to have a pass in them so I definitely am not advocating Collin is just the issue here. Personally I think we do need to recruit an experienced centre half to replace Kensdale, but given the modern approach to playing the game you know Kev & Co will be only attracted to a certain type of player and a good old fashioned 'stopper' is not getting a look in.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Personally I think we do need to recruit an experienced centre half to replace Kensdale, but given the modern approach to playing the game you know Kev & Co will be only attracted to a certain type of player and a good old fashioned 'stopper' is not getting a look in.

If we want someone who can play the modern style I think we’re more likely to find it with a younger player who has grown up playing that way.

Kensdale was comfortably the best at playing out from the back I’ve seen in a Southend shirt and he wasn’t considered experienced.

 

[Leigh_Seasider]

You need a player who is comfortable on the ball, also not bullied off the ball. Players like Morton and Crowther look way too lightweight for me and Sutton found them out .. that's not to say they won't improve this side of their games. It's a big step up. Also having the experience to not panic - the panic even spread to Taylor on Sat. Definitely need to recruit there even if a loan I feel (though Kev isn't keen on loans).