Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1 Peterborough 0

[Hazey]

Nice all round report, glad the announcer was good. Cheers.

 

[RobM]

I thought Boyd looked far above anyone else on the pitch. That's because I wasn't playing, obviously.

 

[class]

Spot on about Amy too...

 

[smudgster]

Think the talk of Mildenhall being great is a bit much.

Awful punch from a corner and a few second attempt catches, although conditions were poor. Had an ok game but will need to do more than what he did today to convince me we have improved the position.

Wouldnt swap him for their highly rated keeper on todays performance. He punched poorly and didnt come for anything.

I for one felt far more confident when they had a corner or a cross into the box than when Flavs was there. Very early to say but i thought on the whole he did very well in a swirling wind and wet conditions.

 

[RobM]

Today's thoughts

A decent team performance even though the some of the team hadn't been introduced to each other!

Scannell looks full of promise, have you noticed that when a decision goes against him, he never complains?


Barnard - gives away too many free kicks by putting his arms all over the defender. Watch him next match.

Harding looked fair - nothing great but more importantly, nothing bad.

Walker looked a lot better - his first touch was far, far better than previous.

That's all folks (cue Looney Tunes music).

 

[Southminster_Shrimper]

Just to clear up one comment there

WRS knows who my favourite is....and it aint Amy either!

She was tho at the MTBD....;)

 

[Chaz SUFC]

Clarkey was superb! Will be gutted if we lose him

 

[Blue_Shrimper1959]

The New Match Announcer
For starters he is not spouting rubbish about West Ham (although the Premiership Season hasn't started yet), he was very good I liked his up beat voice and over enthusiasm for everything. He gets my seal of approval as our new match announcer.

Didn't like him personally, too over enthusiastic for me and seemed like he was a news reporter rather than a standard tannoy announcer (and where's the half time challenge gone?)
Player Ratings

Mildenhall - 8 - Second time I have seen him play and again another solid performence didn't put a foot wrong he is very commanding and coped well early on after a **** up with the defence. Very vocal again and good on set pieces.

Francis - 7 - Typical solid performence from Francis made some very good and important clearances throughout the game and was very good going forward.

Barrett - 8 - CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, can't fault this guys passion for the club after the game he bleeds blue blood! Very solid performence and made some important challenges.

Clarke - 8 - Same as Barrett really a tipped off a great performence with a well headed goal.

Harding - 7 - I like him think he is a very good player, didn't win many headers at first but got his act together and did very well. Good signing Tilly lets hope he keeps it up.

Scannell - 8 - This guy impresses me everytime I see him, was all over the place fast, tricky and could of capped off a great appearance with a goal. Suprised Tilly took him off.

Bailey - 9 - *MOM* Lot of speculation over what has happened over the past 2 days, but certainly capped off possibly one of his last ever performences with a great game. All over the place great balls, great tackling, great skill, great player and if he does decide to go he will certainly be hard to replace.

Moussa - 7 - Composed and very solid performence he is certainly getting better season by season and think he will definatly be a great asset to us in years to come as he develops.

Walker - 7 - I am not a great fan of this guy but he proved me very wrong today he was very pacy, won loads of free kicks and was just a pain in the arse to Peterborough. And his skills on the ball were brilliant some really cleaver flicks, lets hope he keeps getting better.

Furlong - 7 - Holds the ball up very well and looks like he will chip in with a couple of goals as the season carrys on, suprised me at how fit he is for his ages. Good performence.

Barnard - 8 - This bloke really is something special, gives 110% and it actually pays off unlike with some of the other players who do this. Made some excellent runs, puts pressure on the defenders and gets into some great space. He will if fit score 20 if not more goals this season.

Subs:

Betsy - 7 - Pacey, excellent crosser of the ball I think Tilly has made a cracking signing with him. For the brief period he was on I was very impressed.

Grant - 6 - Looks good but obviously didn't have enough time to make a major impact.

Revell - 6 - Same as Grant but even less time to impress.

Players, half agree. but from my point of view:

Felt Mildenhall looked solid, only really tested once, terrible punch early on and a few fumbles from crosses (which he gathered on the second attempt)

Francis- quality as ever
Barrett and Clarkey- what you expect from these two really, solid, strong, kept mclean quiet
Harding- solid, nothing spectacular, but didn't need to do anything spectacular really. would like to see him more involved in the forward play once he settles in
Walker- IS NOT A WINGER
bailey- kept the boo boy's quiet, was quality ran the game for us, hope he doesn't leave
Moussa- passing was accurate and simple, but not strong enough, and lack of movement to support others
Scannell- felt he was poor today, compared to pre-season. no end product, ran into dead ends. hopefully will see an improvement as season progresses (and fyi he didn't score, clarkey did)
Furlong- hmm, difficult really. can't see him getting many goals but with macca and some decent wingers he could be a great link up player
Barney- quality, unfortunately had nothing to latch onto but will be a big player this season

subs
grant- few neat touches, but other than that can't comment
revell- no time to influence the game
betsy- another right footed winger, looked ok but again didnt achieve a great deal

all in all a good win, and an ok performance. But the best team's pick up the points even when they're not playing their best!

 

[leeblue]

thought Mildenhall was good today claimed plenty out of the air(some second attempts I know) kicking looked good

 

[Hazey]

He never said Scanell scored, he said he could of.

 

[Blue_Shrimper1959]

He never said Scanell scored, he said he could of.

my badm, one too many pints i think ;)

 

[Hazey]

Understandable lol

 

[Andy_S]

The New Match Announcer
For starters he is not spouting rubbish about West Ham ;) (although the Premiership Season hasn't started yet), he was very good I liked his up beat voice and over enthusiasm for everything. He gets my seal of approval as our new match announcer.

Can't agree with that. He's getting right on my tits already. We don't want a radio show mate, we want you to do the general football announcing. Talk, talk, talk. Shut up for 5 mins please.

Agree that Peterborough look well over hyped though. All this arrogance and we want to win the league nonsense looks well unjustified. Better get spending some more of that dirty Irish money methinks.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Might as well give this a go. Overall I thought we were slow out of the blocks and this sort of re-emphasises to me the importance of getting players in to have at least one friendly together. The main problems were Moussa not really knowing what he was doing in midfield and the Harding/Walker combo suffering from both not knowing each other and one not being familiar in the situation. Peterborough held possession as though they were the home team to start with but the defence held firm at the right time and at least Mildenhall came for the one he tried to punch away.

The second half we improved greatly when Bailey and Moussa started to show an understanding. Moussa reminds me of myself in that position in that he looks pretty good on the ball but doesn't have the positional instinct and doesn't have the instinct to put the boot in either. I think Tilson spoke specifically to the middle two at half time and they improved vastly. With a spine to build on we kept the ball better and managed to bring the full backs in to the game as an attacking force as well as opening up space for the wingers by getting the ball to them quicker.

I think we fracitonally deserved the win but only for possession in their third and the number of corners we had. They definitely showed some lovely passing moves but only two or three and we stifled them for most of the match. I'd have taken a draw but this is ideal to get the season going. I would say we could still do with a defender and (pending Bailey) a midfielder or two.

Ratings:

Mildenhall - the one he missed the punch for and the one he dropped in the box didn't inspire confidence and there's some generous praise around this above. However, he did things that keepers are trained to do from a young age like dominate his six-yard box. I think Lewis looked better to be fair but a clean sheet is a clean sheet. 6.5

Francis - He's reducing the errors but still a few around such as the ball he let go behind him when he really could have cut it out. If MacLean had been slightly better with his pass this may have cost us the game. As an attacking player, I still say that there are none better than him in the league. 7
Harding - For someone who signed a few days ago this was promising. Set pieces were a little hit and miss but we scored from one that was right on the money. This was a better debut than Mulgrew in a fairly physical contest and I think he will be better in the season ahead. Mulgrew's set pieces were amazing though. 7
Barrett - Seemed to be tasked with looking after MacLean most of the time and with the ref allowing a more physical game, he shut the small forward down. With this sort of referee, Barrett really is a superb player at this level. 8.5
Clarke - Really not sure about the man of the match shout as he seemed to be the only one allowing the Peterborough front men any joy but he did have a good game and reacted well for the goal. As with Francis, he dangerously let the ball go behind him but got away with it. 7.5

Scannell - I was expecting a bit of a Kightly style promising but not really anything there but I was very pleasantly surprised. He has very good feet and isn't afraid to draw in players before skipping away. With so little professional football behind him, I think the best is ahead and coming back from an injury too. Not so much end product today but probed all game. 7.5
Walker - Not sure what to say of him really. Worked hard but little spark and was obviously unwilling to shift on his left because he doesn't have the ability to wrap his foot around the ball. Difficult to dispossess though and he created our best opening skipping between two players albeit with a disappointing final ball. Hard to say whether he'll get much better there but needs to I think. We can't have another stopgap solution for a whole season a la Black. 6
Bailey - Boo him if you will but apparently it doesn't matter. Whatever you think of his career-building, he was superb today as soon Moussa decided to help out in midfield. Anticipation excellent as ever and he was right on their toes to keep us on top. Bollocks to all you saying let him go if he wants to - if he plays like that he can say what he wants. 8.5
Moussa - REALLY struggled with his positioning in the first half but I'm certain this is down to a lack of games in his career in that role. Again he demonstrated his excellent close control, technique and range of passes but he has to improve the defensive half of his game to hold his place. I think Grant would struggle similarly so Moussa should be fine for us until McCormack's back. 6.5

Furlong - I was actually quite disappointed with him today. He has a calm head and will be an asset but his touch seemed to be lacking today. No real threat I'm afraid but gets up well. Quite a marked improvement on Goater, I'd say and looks fit enough, easily, to play a season at this level. 6.5
Barnard - I love the way he goes lookign for the ball if the midfield isn't doing its job. As with all he took time to get going but he was a keen worker even if he had little to work with. Still looks like such a sound acquisition. 7.5

Sub -
Betsy - seemed a little bit of a simple player but simplicity got a few balls in the box. Should get a longer run out next time depending on Scannell's recovery from injury.
Grant - I still think he'll be useful but as mentioned before needs to pick a position and specialise to avoid being the next Lewis Hunt.
Revell - Tried to make an impact on the game but didn't get anywhere near.

 

[Andy_S]

Think the talk of Mildenhall being great is a bit much.

Awful punch from a corner and a few second attempt catches, although conditions were poor. Had an ok game but will need to do more than what he did today to convince me we have improved the position.

The miscued punch was totally down to the extreme wind he had to cope with in the first half. That was his only small blip. Other than that he was totally faultless, dealt with balls into the box and to be honest I'm happier seeing him in the goal than Flahavan.

 

[Andy_S]

Can't be doing with giving my views on all of them tonight, but a few tidbits from me.

Mildenhall - As per my above post, a very decent debut.

Harding - Looks a good signing. Very assured.

Bailey - 1st half his passing was all over the shop and was probably dreaming of the bright lights of Charlton, but 2nd half he picked up.

Scannell - He's been fantastic in pre season so why oh why did we not give him more service? He barely saw the ball. Unfortunate to be subbed IMHO.

Walker - Not a winger and barely saw the ball for the first half an hour. Looks to be improving though and his run in the 1st half was fantastic. Goal of the season if he'd have got that in.

Furlong - Didn't think he was too great today to be honest. Won very little in the air and when he did it went nowhere near Barnard. Huffed and puffed though and worked hard.

Betsy - Wore the wrong boots for a start, but showed some nice touches and buzzed around well. Would be nice to see him and Scannell start on Tuesday night.

Grant - Did very well in his short spell on the pitch and seemed to be amused by the shouts of Snoop from the Greens as he came on.

Revell - I know he wasn't on for long at all, but he won every header that came his way.

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

I didn't have the advantage of being there today but it sounded as if we did grind out a good win. I wasn't surprised that we were a bit shakey in the first half but after the break we did seem to improve and you could feel the pressure mounting towards the moment when we scored our goal.
Peterborough arrived full of confidence after their promotion and with a largely settled side. Their supporters must of heard the problems we were going through and surely felt that we were there for the taking..........of course that makes victory all the sweeter! As we know, moving up a division is not easy and it takes time to adjust. I wonder whether the likes of McLean are going to find it a tad more difficult this season.
As for us, the disruption of the past few days, hasn't eased the path to the first match and we have a number of new faces to assimilate into the squad. We are going to need a bit of time to gel and starting off with a win is very encouraging.
One can't take anything away from a clean sheet however one got the impression, on the commentary, that the defence is not yet the finished article. Midfield, it would seem that Bailey got his head out of the clouds and turned in a good performance, happily it appears that he wasn't booed that much. It is nice to know that we are viewed on here by the powers that be and our concerns are sometimes responded to, however perhaps we need not to be swept away by our own self importance and remember that shrimper zone is not the hub of Southend football club. By the angry thread last night you start to assume that the whole of Roots Hall was going to be on Bailey's back. I would wager that the majority of our supporters today probably hadn't even heard anything about the turmoil surrounding Bailey.
It seems to me that we will have a bit of a problem if Bailey does leave, particularly whilst Macca is side-lined. I think that Scannell and the Moose will both improve during the year......but it may take a bit of time. Is there any reason why our starting line up could not include both Scannell and Betsy?
I feel that the forwards will improve in relation to how those behind them perform and the service to them gets better.
On the whole I'm pretty happy and feared far worse today. With two or three loan signings I feel that we could be on the way to a half decent squad, although I fear that our disruptions may not have totally ended this month.

 

[sufcintheprem]

Agree that Peterborough look well over hyped though. All this arrogance and we want to win the league nonsense looks well unjustified. Better get spending some more of that dirty Irish money methinks.

To be fair, taking our team and comparing it against last season I'd say:

Mildenhall > Flahavan
Walker < Gower
Scannell > Black
Furlong >~ Walker
Harding >~ Mulgrew
Moussa < McCormack

Overall I think we looked better than most of the games I saw last season and on that basis, Peterborough did ok to run the game in the first half. If they look on a par with our team then I think it stands them in good stead for the season. Some of their pass and move football was reminiscent of Doncaster and the front two have a very good understanding. Our central midfield outplayed them second half, mind.

 

[maninasuitcase]

The miscued punch was totally down to the extreme wind he had to cope with in the first half. That was his only small blip. Other than that he was totally faultless, dealt with balls into the box and to be honest I'm happier seeing him in the goal than Flahavan.

Apart from when he dropped a cross in the second half under no presure you mean.

 

[Andy_S]

Yeah they looked a decent enough side, but not one that's deserved them to spout such self righteous rubbish. Barry Fry said in the interview in the programme that they probably have £10m-£12m worth of talent in their squad. What utter tosh. McLean £4m? Give me a break!