Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 1 v Port Vale 3

[bootsja]

GK Morris 6 – couldn’t be faulted for the goals and everything else he did was fine.

RB Clohessy 2 – easy to see why Gillingham ditched him and he was playing non-league last year. Clueless.
CB Coughlan 2 – Looked every one of his 35 years. Slow and drawn out of position repeatedly
CB Prosser 0 – a passer by must have killed Prosser the footballer before the game and worn his kit. That’s the only reason I can think of for surely one of the most inept performances in a Blues shirt by anyone ever!
LB Barker 2 – large slow and lumbering.

RM Soares 2 – had loads of the ball and singularly failed to use it intelligently once
CM Grant 4 – tried hard but dominated by a large lad in P Vale midfield
CM Easton 3 – couldn’t see a pass if it hit him between the eyes. Powderpuff
LM Aboub 4 – started brightly but fade even more quickly

S Sturrock 4 – ran a lot but really lacks any finesse
S Patterson 3 – out of his depth

Subs
D Phillips 3 for Prosser HT – another passer by must have killed Philllips the footballer before the game and worn his kit. Total donkey
S Spencer 3 for Sturrock – anonymous
S Corr 2 for Aboub – must have been preparing for a 12 round bout later on.

 

[tice_18]

Morris - 7 - Best player out there, kept it reasonable with a few good saves and looked solid.

Clohessy - 6 - thought he looked good going forward, a couple of good interchanges with Soares, defensively shaky though.
Coughlan - 3 - Awful, the 2 CBs were dragged out of position and split so easily it was unreal.
Prosser - 3 - ^^
Barker - 4.5 - Barely Noticeable going forward, defence were awful.

Soares - 5 - Got in good positions, made some good runs, but didnt take advantage of it.
Grant - 4 - Probably one of his worst performances I've seen. Begging the ref for a card all game.
Easton - 5 - Made a few good tackles, but passing was poor.
Zaboub - 4 - Went missing.

Sturrock - 4 - Very Poor hold up play. Just looked for the foul all game, which wasnt coming.
Paterson - 4 - Provided nothing.

Phillips - 3. No better than the other 2 CBs.
Spencer - 5 - Opened up the game slightly when he came on.
Corr - 5 - Held the ball up so much better than sturrock.

 

[billy best was god]

Paul Sturrock should donate his wages away as well as the rest. Why were the two classiest players Simpson and Mohsni left out? Secondly, Prossers replacement Phillips put in the biggest donkey performance i have ever seen at Roots Hall!

hope you were not the person in the south upper stand making donkey noises at our players in the second half, because if i hear it again i will give you some much needed advice. What a great way our suppoters (loose term) help our team when things are not going right. As i have said before support your team or simply do not come again...... please.

 

[Chairman Trigg]

Oh to see some passing football on the floor .As expected hoof ball has returned to RH!!. The worry is today we looked totally clueless at times ,and out of our depth against a average side .Can,t believe how badly Grant is playing,should be a class act in this poor division leading from the from the front.Could have easily been 5-0 down at half time if not for Morris.Back four badly out-paced,crying out for Moshni at h/t,but left on bench.I know its early days but our display today was a backward step.Even more worrying was the front men who are not linking up and I can't see any partnerships forming.Just hope PS can find the missing link asap ,before we are left behind the leading pack

 

[EastStandBlue]

We played hoofball for the majority of last season, too... In fact, we haven't passed it well for some time now. Not since we got rid of our midfielders capable of actually passing the ball.

 

[wiggy]

hope you were not the person in the south upper stand making donkey noises at our players in the second half, because if i hear it again i will give them some much needed advice. What a great way our suppoters (loose term) help our team when thinks are not going right. As i have said before support your team or simply do not come again...... please.

Wouldn't do that at the ground. That's what this place is for to exchange views and i repeat, Phillips was the most clueless, unbalanced centre half i have seen for a long time and he replaced the second worst!

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

Not much to add - very disappointing performance by a "team" of other people's cast offs who don't know each other very well and didn't have much of a pre-season together.

Patience is what we need, but us Southend fans are not known for it. FWIW here are my ratings:

Morris 7 - made some high class saves, looks a good signing to me.
Clohessy 6 - I thought he was the best of the back 4 today, put some nice crosses in
Prosser 4 - went to pieces after a clumsy mistake
Coughlan 5 - looks past it to me
Barker 5 - sadly not a patch on his previous performances
Soares 4 - still yet to fulfil his promise
Grant 5 - poor game by his standards
Easton 4 - was he playing?
Zabooub 4 - looks overweight and unfit to me, couple of glimpses of quality though
Sturrock 6 - clearly a target for the boo boys, but he look OK to me
Paterson 5 - hmmm. not sure about him, one mazy run and not much else

Subs:

Phillips 5 - better than Prosser, not hard though!
Corr 5 - didn't do much
Spencer 5 - shaven head has made him even more lightweight!

 

[ms brush]

We looked like a team with potential against Stockport. Have I woken up and gone to the Roots Hall in a parallel universe today?

Well, if it wasnt the third game of the season with a new manager and a still forming squad that hasnt played together much, I'd be shredding my season ticket and going to watch Braintree Town instead!! Except, it was the third league game of the season, and the equivalent of still in pre-season for this team, so its only really to be expected. That said, we were shocking :scared:

For what its worth, here goes.

Morris- 7 Scary when you lose 3-1 and your keeper puts in the best performance. Good job he did, it should have been at least 3-0 at half time! My Man of the Match, for what its worth.


Clohessy- 4 Looked strong but out of position. Best of a sub standard defence.
Barker- 3 Seen better when I watched my brother's pub team!
Coughlan- 4 Seemed all over the place today.
Prosser- 3 Oh dear, not the best day at the office today!
Soares- 3.5 Looked like Laurant on a bad day. Flashes of brilliance, but lots of cack for most of the game.
Zaboub- 5 Good off the ball movement. Just as well, those wayward passes needed a satnav to find him!!
Easton- 4 Can someone explain why Easton is the Captain?? Didnt see any leadership attributes today.
Grant- 5 Easily the most talented player on the pitch, but like taking a racehorse to a donkey derby, he just looked out of sorts. Not his best performance, but sadly I will be very surprised if he is still a Southend player in September.
Sturrock- 5 Got a bit of a hard time, but thought he did okay. Strong in the air and created space by holding the ball up well. Not his fault that the rest of the team didnt do anything useful.
Pato- 5 Much the same as Sturrock. Strikers will only perform if they get the service, and there was no danger of that today!! And what the hell was PS thinking, sticking him out on the left wing in the 2nd half...??

Subs
Phillips- 5 defence improved when he came on. Well, it still wasnt good. It went from PV slicing through melted butter in the first half, when Phillips arrived, was a bit more like solid butter with a hot knife!
Corr- 5 Didnt get much opportunity in such a shoddy overall performance
Spencer- Where has his all his gorgeous curly hair gone?? Hope he isnt like Sampson, where the hair defines the performance. Again, no service = ineffective.

Overall, Port Vale gave us a lesson in league 2 football today. They were not great, just a bit bigger, a bit faster and a bit better at finding each other and the back of the net. We need to do better if we have any chance of not getting dumped out to the Conference.

 

[Swiss Tony]

hope you were not the person in the south upper stand making donkey noises at our players in the second half, because if i hear it again i will give them some much needed advice. What a great way our suppoters (loose term) help our team when thinks are not going right. As i have said before support your team or simply do not come again...... please.

Your Kim jong-il and i claim my 5 pounds.

 

[bluebrian]

ha ha haah aaa hhaaaa Aldershot?

you clueless buffoon, since i started watching in 85 I last week wrote that that was the worse southend team I have seen (and as per normal got slated by no doubt blinkered fools like yourself) I went today my mate had a spare

The goal keeper was good a real good by and what we were crying out for last season instead of that useless oaf Mildenhall

him aside, and I genuinly thing he is a bloody good goalie the rest were absoluetly awful, I am not going to call tehm a disgrace because if they are playing to there best ability then they are not disgacing themselves, but simply as anyone with half a brain would already bee aware of clearly not up to the pro game, useless has beens, donkey journey men, and rejects that cant get a game elsewhere, The thing you would hope from these old cronies is that they would have a bit of dog fight about them abit of roy mcdonough in them,??? no chance as crap as that as they are at football, I wouldnt like to have any of those soft arses guttless nomads with me in a trench!! bullied and beaten up all afternoon, really was men against boys for the second week now!! It must be totally un nerving for them as well because as a player you must have confidence in your ability, if you are having abit of a bad patch then tehre are 10 more around you to pull you together but no its like the blind leading the blind not a captain amongst them, far less a footballer!!! and who is at fault then?? they cant be blamed for there ability if a team of players is signed that lack the ability not for championship, or league 1 and 2 but League football, yet we are still charged £16?? then the buck needs to stop with someone?? well last year you called for tilson to be hung from the floodlights as he couldnt sign any players not by his fault and couldnt motivate players that were playing without being paid, you got your wish he was sacked!!!! so now the players are being paid, and are all the new managers siginings ( and I genuinly feel sorry for the bloke, what ever happens it will all massivly end in tears) then he must be to blame surely??? if on the bais it was tilsons fault last year??? luckily I didnt and still dont blame the managers or players of this club but I do blame someone I blame that person very much for what I saw today I was to young to watch the blues in the troubled Bobby Moore days but Im sure I am witnessing the same sort of thing!!!

RIP Southedn United

what goes around comes around Ron Martin, and it will come around...

Thank you for those kind words - I thought my post was quite objective actually - but hey what would I know - I have only been watching them since 1975- clearly doesnt compare to your 1985. One quick question for you - have you ever had a positive thought about anything? I tell you what - keep hold of your post and lets see who is the 'clueless buffoon' at the end of the season. Don't worry I wont rub it in - I don't believe calling people names is a worthwile past time. As always looking forward to your next post.................

 

[Fairport]

One of the worst home Blues performances for many a day watched by the lowest crowd for years.

Morris 6 Not really convinced by this guy but he was by no means one of the worst performers today
Clohessy 7 Just about our best (or least worst player this afternoon)
Barker 5 Looks slow and overweight
Prosser 4 What a shambles
Coughlan 4 Looks what he is, a 35 year old rejected by Shrewsbury. Slow, his legs have gone. Seems to be a good talker, similar to when Rob Newman was playing but this guy is way past his sell by date as a player
Soares 3 One of the worst wingers I have seen in a blues shirt, lazy, hardly goes past anyone etc. (To think that I and others used to moan about people like Betsy!!)
Grant 6 Not his best performance but has more quality than most of the others put together, same he cant shoot though.
Easton 5 Hardly seemed to get involved
Zaaboub 3 Overweight, lazy and similar to Soares
Sturrock 6 Worked hard, holds the all up OK but will never score many goals
Paterson 6 Tried his best but does not seem a 20 goals a season man

Subs: Corr 6 Similar to Sturrock
Spencer 4 headless chicken
Phillips 4 Did not look comfortable

When compared to the side that got out of this division last time (at Cardiff) How many of todays team are an improvement on that side? 0 or 1 ??

We are a million miles away from getting promotion from this division.
While RM continues to ruin this club I can see only more depression on the way.
Although I admire optimism I am amazed how some people on here sound so upbeat given what has gone on and is going on at our club

 

[Pak Power]

Oh to see some passing football on the floor .As expected hoof ball has returned to RH!!. The worry is today we looked totally clueless at times ,and out of our depth against a average side .Can,t believe how badly Grant is playing,should be a class act in this poor division leading from the from the front.Could have easily been 5-0 down at half time if not for Morris.Back four badly out-paced,crying out for Moshni at h/t,but left on bench.I know its early days but our display today was a backward step.Even more worrying was the front men who are not linking up and I can't see any partnerships forming.Just hope PS can find the missing link asap ,before we are left behind the leading pack

I think you mean before we are left behind 22nd

 

[bazzashrimper]

This was my first game of the season due to holidays so my first chance to see these players. I haven't read other ratings before posting...

Morris 8 - Made 2 excellent saves in the first half to keep us in it, kicking looked good and I don't think he could have done anything with any of the goals - although I didn't have a good angle to comment on the 3rd.

Clohessy 5 - Didn't look great to me - heading was exceptionally poor and cost us the second goal. Going forward was OK, but Francis is (understandably) going to be missed.

Coughlan 7 - Thought he looked pretty good, marked well and won a couple of crucial headers. Looked to get the ball down and play. Did well to come back on after his injury.

Prosser 2 - Simply woeful. Contiually allowed players to turn in and around the box and get shots away, aimless hoofball whenever he got the ball and obviously slipped to allow richards 2 one on ones. At least when he headed the ball he got good distance.

Barker 5 - Looked ok in places, but lacked pace. A couple of good crosses in the first half. Im sure he's better than that given his previous reviews.

Soares 6 - Couple of excellent passes and got in great positions on the right. One very poor cross however when in acres of space.

Easton 7 - Neat and tidy player, got us moving and spread the ball well.

Grant 6 - Not as good as last season, but he's learning to play with new players too. Ran with the ball well and tackled hard

Zabooub 6 - Was excellent for 30 mins, sweet left foot and then was knackered.

Paterson 5 - Never got into the game, but a few nice touches.

Sturrock 5 - Held the ball up well, passed well, but like paterson didn't get involved enough for me.

Subs:

Phillips 5 - Better than Prosser, but poor touch
Corr 5 - Battled hard, but didn't seem to fall for him
Spencer 5 - Couple of bits of skill, but on one occasion should have put soares clean through, but shot instead.

All in all, we got the ball wide and are a goal poacher away from scoring some goals. Midfield was OK for me. We won't defend like that every week and if Port Vale are one of the better teams in this division, I thought they were dreadful, we should hopefully get some points soon.

 

[fbm]

On 28th December 1974 I witnessed the worst Southend United performance I have ever seen. Bad games rarely live long in the memory but that one is still fairly vivid, especially the appalling period of play in the second half when we just kept giving the ball to an opposition player every time we got it. That day we lost 3-1 to Port Vale and today was serious deja vu. I thought I was watching a re-run at times. 3-1 flattered us today.

But wasn't this our worst nightmare? Our hastily gathered squad brought in by our hastily appointed management team. No proper pre season, the obvious notion that the team is going to have to play together for some time before they gel... we KNEW this was likely but Sturrock's late equaliser v Stockport, a gargantuan and unexpected performance v Bristol City and a gutsy but unrewarded foray against Aldershot clouded the issues and convinced many that actually we would be ok.

Tonight that belief lay in tatters after the Roots Hall horror show witnessed by the lowest league crowd for some considerable time - Shrewsbury in the snow, Feb 2005 was the last sub 5000 league gate - and Sturrocks painful and frank post match interview said so much. He had pre warned us and now hopes some of us will be realistic.. the players we have are here for a reason... we are a league 2 club now... he made the wrong team selection... but he will get it right.

Morris was the only player to come out with any credit.

Ratings for Pringello -

Morris - 7 - Handling excellent, blameless for goals

Clohessy - 6 - started ok, lightweight and got bullied
Coughlan - 6 - Hard worker but past it
Prosser - 2 - Prosser the T*sser as I believe he has been referred to as. As bad a game as I've ever seen from a CB... on a par with Peter Clarkes nightmare v Cardiff on the box in the CCC which at that time was the worst CB performance I'd ever seen
Barker - 4 - Disappointed - thought he was better than that

Soares - 5 - Good set piece delivery but that is all he gives to the side
Easton - 4 - Ineffective and too easily bypassed. Anonymous and as skipper needs to be more inspiring
Grant - 3 - Looked disinterested and worst game I've seen him have for some time.
Zaaboub - 5 - Put some quality balls in first half but not fully fit

Sturrock - 5 - Up against some L2 oafs and struggled to lay it off meaningfully
Paterson - 5 - You can see there's something there but he doesn't show it very often


Subs -
Phillips - 4 - Was surprised he didn't start until he came on in the second half and then i saw why
Corr - 6 - Should have played from the start
Spencer - 4 - Far, far too lightweight

 

[tallboyblue]

Hardly surprising really -most of the signings no-one wanted anyway. Let`s hope Sturrock can make a silk purse out of a sow`s ear. If not it`s going to be a long hard season.

 

[Maidstone Shrimper]

A truly awful performance today, but I'm not about to start slitting my wrists just yet as this was pretty much the same starting line up that had so many of us raving about the Bristol City game. Sturrock Snr will know one thing after today - this is not his best XI. Our wide players were totally ineffective and anonymous, not moving to make themselves available and being downright incompetent when they did get the ball. Hence a game of long aimless punts to our outmuscled/shoved forwards. I'm not writing off our season yet -my hopes/expectations don't extend beyond mid table and I'm giving Mr Sturrock a lot more time to get things right.

Morris 8 Saved us from even more humiliation (along with some woeful Port Vale finishing first half)
Clohessy 4 Had some good moments going forward but was poor positionally in defence and looks a tad slow for a young fullback
Coughlan 3 Obviously going to be caught for pace but included to organise the defence - failed.
Prosser 3 Perhaps got nervous in front of Micky Adams - couldn't control simple passes/throw ins to him and rightly was subbed
Barker 5 - Best of a bad defence - looked OK at CB while Coughlan was off
Soares 3 Still looks as if he thinks he should be playing at a higher level, but obviously shouldn't
Grant 3 A few well timed important challenges but was stupid and reckless in the first half and deserved, almost demanded, his booking
Easton 5 Pick of the awful midfield but had few options for passing
Zabouub 2 Contributed zilch, never made himself available
Paterson 4 Grafted, a few good touches but still a lot to learn
Sturrock 4 Got a rough deal from the ref first half but didn't have any other plan than look hard done by.

Subs

Phillips 5 More composed than Prosser - just.
Corr 6 Thought he offerd more than Sturrock, looked more lively, won a free kick in a dangerous position (duly wasted) but missed a good chance to score from a header

Spencer 4 Much running to no purpose. Perhaps adjusting to his lack of hair.

Ref 3 Weak and ineffectual, easily conned - his assistants? might as well not have been there.

Sturrock Snr 3 Well his post match comments show he knows what's wrong but since it's his responsibilty to put out a decent starting XI but didn't, well he has to take the flack.

 

[Southend Neil]

My goodness, what a horrific performance that was. The dark league 2 days and are back, very reminiscent of the early part of this decade. Actually I thought that we were pretty inept in the 1st game as well, it was just the fact that Stockport looked woeful as well that hid our deficiencies to an extent. Thats 2 games in which we haven't forced the keeper into a proper save.

Clearly we have to get a settled back 4 in place and I'm hoping that Bilel will improve things although dont know who he should play with as the other 3 dont look convincing. Maybe Grant could play there.

I really dont like Easton and Grant together in the midfield, no creativity whatsoever and if Grant is your attacking midfielder then that is worrying as his passing is woeful and his shooting even worse. I fear we may be stuck with Easton as he is the captain but he looks completely ineffective to me, lightweight and his passing which I assume is meant to be his strength is not exactly penetrating. Just to think some on here said last week that Moussa wouldn't get in the current side, how ridiculous. Zaaboub looks the only player with any sort of class to me but clearly not fit.

I was amazed that Corr didn't start, looks the best forward to me which isn't much admittedly. At least he looks a threat in the air, brings people into play and puts himself about. I didn't think that Sturrock was any worse than Paterson but he looks ineffective to me, no pace, no aerial presence and no goal threat either. I also dont see why Paterson is so highly rated by some, again doesn't win much in the air and is very slow. However what on earth was PS thinking about, putting him on the wing, ludicrous.

However no club signs 17 new players in a close season if things are rosy so it is clearly going to take alot of time to gel and gain some teamwork to get anywhere near to punching our weight. So we need to be patient but its going to be tough. As was said earlier, not one of this team would get anywhere near to the side that got out of this league last time so we are miles away.

 

[West Stand Benfleet Blue]

One of the worst games I have ever watched. There was no shape to theh side no one seemed to know what their position was or where they should be.
Wolves must be shaking with fear!!!!!!!!!!
Clohessy- 4 Looked good going forward but terribkle in defence.
Barker- 2 for turning up Did nothing right!
Coughlan- 4 Seemed not to know what to do.
Prosser- 3 Had not got a clue
Soares- 3 Disappeared.
Zaboub- 4 Out played every where
Easton- 4 To slow no leadership example
Sturrock- 4 Knocked off the ball too easily.
Patison Off day to say the least
Grant - 6 Best palyer but dropped in and out all game
Corr 5 Didnt get much opportunity

All in all very poor I feel a longhard season coming on.

 

[Winkle]

On 28th December 1974 I witnessed the worst Southend United performance I have ever seen. Bad games rarely live long in the memory but that one is still fairly vivid, especially the appalling period of play in the second half when we just kept giving the ball to an opposition player every time we got it. That day we lost 3-1 to Port Vale and today was serious deja vu. I thought I was watching a re-run at times. 3-1 flattered us today.

Flashback *Boston ,21/10/2003* I still wake up in cold sweats as "Graeme Jones" smashes the ball past darryll for a 0-2 thumping. Still feel dejected about it now

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

. As was said earlier, not one of this team would get anywhere near to the side that got out of this league last time so we are miles away.

Substitute 'miles' for 'seasons' and thats the reality of the situation.