Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 2-0 Oldham Athletic

[AndyT]

Spot on 'OBL'. :thumbsup:

As I mentioned last week, nobody should have to explain their ratings to anybody.

I think it's fair to take a general view (e.g. maybe a poster emphasizing that a player had a better game than some felt. Like 'OBL' has with Kightly), but to pick out a single person's report and start dissecting it is a bit too personal, IMHO.

Choosing to use or not use the 'like' button is there for that. Simples!

 

[ms brush]

So, yesterday... it is coming together nicely now. You can see the quality across the field, and for me there is a real sense of just being on the edge of something pretty special being about to start.

i thought Oldham looked like they have the potential to be a really decent side, but they are not there yet. Like us, I get a sense that they are better than yesterday's performance. Glad we played them now, not when they hit their stride. Mind you, lovely to see that MAF was giving Peter Clarke the runaround, which kept him far too busy to pop up and score against us, which I had thought was inevitable.

didnt really see what happened for our penalty, but I couldn't watch when Demi picked up the ball, so I didn't see it go in either! :omg:
Their penalty looked like one of those only given around 10% of the time, so maybe a bit unlucky. I think Cox knew something, judging by his quick conversation with Oxley, and Ox got that spot on, with a fabulous save that changed the game completely in our favour. It was a lovely team performance yesterday, and I think the goals will come - they need to, as even at 2-0 we are not infallible, and had Oldham been a bit better, we could easily have been caught out. Defensively, thought it was no coincidence that Anton played better with a proper LB next to him, he could concentrate on his own job rather than try to cover the wing as well every time Timlin went missing in action!

oxley 8 - for that save alone. He didn't really have much else to do, looked assured and confident. A very safe pair of hands.
Demitriou 7.5 - typical performance from Jason, very good going forward and good positional sense. Obviously has a cool head, given our recent penalty taking record, takes confidence to put yourself in that position! Unlucky to give away their penalty, not sure it warranted a booking either.
Turner 8 - impressive. Dominant, more mobile than I expected from a big man, and looks very solid.
Anton 7.5 - looked much better today. As I say, no coincidence he played much better with decent coverage on the flank. I think he has has a torrid time recently, but the good player who was always there is back firing on all cylinders, which is good to see.
Hendrie 8.5 - a very good performance under immense pressure for him personally. As per my last post, for this reason he has proved the point beautifully and is my MOM.
Kightly - 7 was having a good game until he got injured, but not really getting through. Hope it isn't too much of a problem and he went off as a precaution.
Wright 8 - looks good out wide, links well with Demi. Beautifully taken goal.
Lenny 8.5 - typical Lenny performance, trouble is it is now normal to see such strength courage and commitment. Looked in a lot of pain after the challenge in the last few minutes. Hope nothing serious.
McLaughlin 8 - definately getting back to the form he was in last season. Thought he might have had to go off after the free kick took him out, he will have a headache after that!
Cox 8 - didn't stop running. Still going a bit deep to try and get the ball. Can't fault his commitment and determination, glad to have him in the side, the goals will come!
MAF 8.5 - just, wow! This man has magic feet. Such a special talent, oozes class, deserves to be starting and keeping Ranger out.

Subs
Wordy 7 - good to see him back. Looked a bit off the pace at times unsurprisingly, which will improve and he brings something special to the mix
Ba - not on long enough to judge, looked keen and lively. Obviously all about giving him match time and experience.

pitch - think the moles have moved back in. Looks awful. Never seen the pitch at Roots Hall look so bad.

 

[AndyT]

BTW, did anyone get a good view of that incident early on with their keeper and Coxy?

Looked like the keeper aimed a punch at him.

 

[united we stand]

Why have you not even mentioned Anton Ferdinand in your match report :winking:

For accuracy “ why have you mentioned Antons performance in previous games on this MATCH thread, but haven’t mentioned his performance in the actual match everyone is on here to discuss “:winking:

 

[rigsby]

Agree with pretty much all of the above 'JTSB', though I think at 2-0, we had to game manage for a period.

Gardner was making some very positive runs with the ball from deep for them and if we'd have pressed on too much, we could have been exposed a bit more than we were.

I certainly agree that Oldham were not poor. They missed their chances, especially the penalty. Thought we were just a touch better than them in our team play with the ball and work-rate without it.

Think they are a team in transition. The fella sitting next to me yesterday was working and making notes for Oldham and said they are trying to play a different and more positive style of play than under the previous two managers, so it's a work in progress for them.

Agree that Oldham were not as bad as some are claiming. Gardner looks a real good player. Their work in progress was spoiled by our work rate yesterday with a few of our players having their best games so far this season.

I even thought Kightly looked much sharper than his previous few games, so real shame about the injury. Lets hope its just a minor, check-a-trade missing one.

 

[rigsby]

Spot on 'OBL'. :thumbsup:

As I mentioned last week, nobody should have to explain their ratings to anybody.

I think it's fair to take a general view (e.g. maybe a poster emphasizing that a player had a better game than some felt. Like 'OBL' has with Kightly), but to pick out a single person's report and start dissecting it is a bit too personal, IMHO.

Choosing to use or not use the 'like' button is there for that. Simples!

Yes they should if you praise Anton Ferdinand. Without at least slagging him off for pervious games or predicting he will be useless at Bristol.

Oh and all follow up reports, to explain ones actions, should be presented in a timely fashion. You have to remember AndyT that this man took the place of AB.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Something I do want to add is how disappointed I was to hear some boos from some of our supporters when Clakey was subbed. Here's a man who never failed to give 100% for us, including THAT goal at Stamford Bridge and was always a great guy on and off the pitch - what on earth did people think they were doing booing him? I'm glad that plenty of others gave him a rousing round of applause as he left the pitch. Save your boos for those that deserve them!

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Something I do want to add is how disappointed I was to hear some boos from some of our supporters when Clakey was subbed. Here's a man who never failed to give 100% for us, including THAT goal at Stamford Bridge and was always a great guy on and off the pitch - what on earth did people think they were doing booing him? I'm glad that plenty of others gave him a rousing round of applause as he left the pitch. Save your boos for those that deserve them!

He got a massive cheer and was clapped off from me and those around me in the East Stand.

 

[IloveShrimp]

I watched Anton yesterday, he was so much better than what he had been and didn't put a foot wrong. Whether that was because he had an actual left back alongside him or not, I don't know. What I do know is that he knew he'd been poor in recent games and obviously made a big effort this week to turn that around.

I thought he was by far the better of the central defenders this week, that's not to say Turner was poor at all, just that Anton was better, hence one point difference in their markings. I also thought Kightly was doing just fine before having to go off.

As I said in my report, I thought Fortune was pretty anonymous first half but much better in the second - coincidentally when they had taken Peter Clarke off, who had mopped up everything aerially. Demetriou has to be marked down a little for conceding the penalty, and Ba looked energetic and made a nuisance of himself when he came on. My marks show a good team performance so I'm not sure why I'm being called out to explain them! :stunned:

Apologies OBL for giving you the impression that I was 'calling you out'. That was not my intention, I was only curious. I am the first to complain about posters who do not accept that others are entitled to their opinion!

 

[AndyT]

Good honest response 'iloveshrimp'.

THAT'S how you do it on a forum! :thumbsup:

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

The whole team were great. Fortune had a fantastic game, awesome as Americans would say. Hendrie had his best game. He was where he should be when defending, and also got forward to put in some dangerous crosses. Wright had a great game, not only his clever passing and quick brain, he also bust a gut a few times to win the ball back. The penalty save by Oxley has to go down as in the top three ever for me. Incredible save considering how hard it was hit. I had to watch it again a few times last night on the tele, it just confirmed how good it was.

 

[AndyT]

Another thing impressed me about Hendrie is that he handled the covering role well, when Turner and Ferdy went up for the corners.

A couple of times, he got a good header or a foot in, to stop a break developing from the halfway line.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Apologies OBL for giving you the impression that I was 'calling you out'. That was not my intention, I was only curious. I am the first to complain about posters who do not accept that others are entitled to their opinion!

Apology accepted. We all have our own perspective which makes for a difference of opinions.

Something else I noticed yesterday was how Wright, Lenny and McLaughlin collectively all dropped quickly into defensive positions to cover our defenders who'd been caught on the break from one of our corners. Real team awareness and responsibility.

 

[LBBlue]

He got a massive cheer and was clapped off from me and those around me in the East Stand.

Agreed! A great pro who is only few games short of 700 first team starts in his career with over 50 goals from centre half.

 

[Firestorm]

Ba didnt get enough of the bsll to judge him fully , but his movement off the ball, albeit in a short period, impressed me. Thete were at least two occasions whete he made a short sharp run accross the 18 yard box which created space for a pass to be made in front of a midfield player coming in from deep. Really opened up a tiring back four.
Personally , at the time ,I would have preferreb McGlashan to replace Kights, largely as the pace and width on both flanks was spreading Oldham across the pitch and opening up the CM area . Whereas Wright had a tendency to drift in, especially without the ball, and compress the middle more. That said it gave Demi more room to attack and Wright does cover when the FB goes forward .

 

[LBBlue]

A good solid hardworking performance and our biggest home win since we beat, ehm Oldham 3-0, 14 matches ago.

Oldham started very brightly moving the ball quickly with short sharp passing and great movement - and got some decent efforts in - everything went through Jack Byrne - we took a bit of time to a settle. Luck and fortune does even out over a season and we got a penalty after just 17 minutes from their point of view was a stupid unnecessary foul.

Demetriou struck it home with aplomb. The game was pretty even without any one on either side threatening to score.

For their penalty I thought Demetriou won the ball fairly with a robust tackle - the ball went the way he played it and justice was done when Oxley brilliantly saved it. On another day a more pedantic ref would have ordered a retake as we had at least 4 players encroaching in the box before the penalty was struck.

Kightly went off with yet another hamstring injury- why do we get so many? And Wordsworth first two one-touches shows what he brings to the game.

In the second half we get them quite quiet and Byrne had less and less influence on the game and Fortune came into his own with some excellent hold up play. His control and keeping of the ball is exceptional and he slipped a ball through which McLaughlin just managed to catch before it crossed the dead ball line and cross first time pulling the ball back for Wright to knock home.

We managed to see the game out relatively easily with Oldham missing two great chances in the final quarter.

Oxley - Brilliant penalty save but not much else to do.

Demetriou - excellent I don't understand why people want him out of the team - he has as much energy as Leonard - he has quick feet and good control - can use both feet and works extremely hard. Lots of our forward movement comes from him which is why we rarely have anyone playing on the right wing.

Hendrie did well -he had oceans of space in front of him and go forward well - will be interesting to see how he does if he has someone attacking him - like Ricky Holmes.

Leonard excellent again - covers the centre halves a lot - his one weakness - failed again to connect with a header in the six yard box. Got taken out in time added on by the frustrated Doyle who should have seen red.

McLaughlin - second game running has put in a shift and looking more like the player of the start of last season. Needs to get to the line and pull crosses back more often.

However I don't think we should be bigging up this performance too much - we had less shots than them with only 2 on target. I'm not sure their keeper actually saved a shot in anger. It was our turn to win yesterday and nice to get it. The crunch starts in two weeks time.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Most entertained I've been since Blackburn. Oldham wanted to play out from the back and after the first goal kick from their competition winning keeper we nullified that straight away.

Massive performances all over the pitch and there was genuinely about 5/6 contenders for MOTM.

I'd personally have gone with JD, that's the best I've seen him play. He was everywhere yesterday and seemingly the only one who had the "Cojones" to take that penalty after everyone else walked away.

I was so pleased for Hendrie. He started a little nervously but he really grew into it and put at least 3 superb crosses in their box just begging to be buried. There was also a moment in the second half where he made a crunching tackle on their winger and you could just tell from the facial expression that he wanted that so much, he really grabbed his chance and being part of a side that kept a clean sheet has made it surely impossible to be dropped.

Ferdinand looked like a new man, even his body language looked totally different to me. His shoulders had been slumped a lot recently but he and Turner gave Doyle and Davies absolutely nothing!

What a season Oxley is having in the sticks. I honestly don't think he's doing anything that Dan Bentley wouldn't be doing. I'm pretty confident he's going to save any pen now, isn't that 4 out of his last 5 he's saved?

That save yesterday came at such a crucial time keeping it at 1-0 just before the half time whistle. I'd have feared for a Doncaster-esque 2nd half had we gone in 1-1

Finally, Fortune... absolutely ridiculous performance for a man of his age. Incredible fitness levels, much like JD, that's his best game in a Southend shirt imo


Oxley - 7

Demetriou - 9 MOTM
Turner 8
Ferdinand 8
Hendrie 7

Kightly - 6
Leonard - 7
Wright - 7
McLaughlin - 8

Cox - 7
Fortune - 9

Something I do want to add is how disappointed I was to hear some boos from some of our supporters when Clakey was subbed. Here's a man who never failed to give 100% for us, including THAT goal at Stamford Bridge and was always a great guy on and off the pitch - what on earth did people think they were doing booing him? I'm glad that plenty of others gave him a rousing round of applause as he left the pitch. Save your boos for those that deserve them!

I don't know where you're situated Kay but from where I was in the East there was a lot of applause for Clarke. Anyone booing him probably wasn't going to Southend games before 2009!

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

Something I do want to add is how disappointed I was to hear some boos from some of our supporters when Clakey was subbed. Here's a man who never failed to give 100% for us, including THAT goal at Stamford Bridge and was always a great guy on and off the pitch - what on earth did people think they were doing booing him? I'm glad that plenty of others gave him a rousing round of applause as he left the pitch. Save your boos for those that deserve them!

No boos from our part of the West Stand.
I noticed Oldham fans applauding Oxley when he came down their end 2nd half. He was on loan a couple of seasons ago for them.

 

[rigsby]

A good solid hardworking performance and our biggest home win since we beat, ehm Oldham 3-0, 14 matches ago.

Oldham started very brightly moving the ball quickly with short sharp passing and great movement - and got some decent efforts in - everything went through Jack Byrne - we took a bit of time to a settle. Luck and fortune does even out over a season and we got a penalty after just 17 minutes from their point of view was a stupid unnecessary foul.

Demetriou struck it home with aplomb. The game was pretty even without any one on either side threatening to score.

For their penalty I thought Demetriou won the ball fairly with a robust tackle - the ball went the way he played it and justice was done when Oxley brilliantly saved it. On another day a more pedantic ref would have ordered a retake as we had at least 4 players encroaching in the box before the penalty was struck.

Kightly went off with yet another hamstring injury- why do we get so many? And Wordsworth first two one-touches shows what he brings to the game.

In the second half we get them quite quiet and Byrne had less and less influence on the game and Fortune came into his own with some excellent hold up play. His control and keeping of the ball is exceptional and he slipped a ball through which McLaughlin just managed to catch before it crossed the dead ball line and cross first time pulling the ball back for Wright to knock home.

We managed to see the game out relatively easily with Oldham missing two great chances in the final quarter.

Oxley - Brilliant penalty save but not much else to do.

Demetriou - excellent I don't understand why people want him out of the team - he has as much energy as Leonard - he has quick feet and good control - can use both feet and works extremely hard. Lots of our forward movement comes from him which is why we rarely have anyone playing on the right wing.

Hendrie did well -he had oceans of space in front of him and go forward well - will be interesting to see how he does if he has someone attacking him - like Ricky Holmes.

Leonard excellent again - covers the centre halves a lot - his one weakness - failed again to connect with a header in the six yard box. Got taken out in time added on by the frustrated Doyle who should have seen red.

McLaughlin - second game running has put in a shift and looking more like the player of the start of last season. Needs to get to the line and pull crosses back more often.

However I don't think we should be bigging up this performance too much - we had less shots than them with only 2 on target. I'm not sure their keeper actually saved a shot in anger. It was our turn to win yesterday and nice to get it. The crunch starts in two weeks time.

In future please don't spoil a good report with NFL nonsense. Last twenty or 'late doors' etc is the correct format. Otherwise before you know it we will have the word Soccer splashed all over the forum. :thumbsup:

 

[LBBlue]

In future please don't spoil a good report with NFL nonsense. Last twenty or 'late doors' etc is the correct format. Otherwise before you know it we will have the word Soccer splashed all over the forum. :thumbsup:

There's no pleasing you is there. Were you not brought up reading Soccer Star?

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