Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 2-0 Tamworth

[Shrimp and two veg]

Shattered, done a days work, watched the Shrimpers win and then joined our crew in the parade at Southend Halloween down the seafront.
I saw Cricko out the back of the West, he called me Mr Positivity after my recent postings this week. Every reason to be after that display, let alone Eastleigh, Rochdale and Alder****.
Not sure about Collin's reason given for missing out today, but if it was tactical it worked a treat.
Oli Coker, oh he's on fire already, better than before he got injured and one of of our own indeed.
Hats off again to Adam, he certainly stood the test once again, a colussus next to the machine that is Taylor. Even making Ralph raise his game. Those three are proving irresistable game on game.
Gussy i thought unlucky not to get a stray bounce his way at the back post, Mr Lurkio was there waiting to crash them in, but no luck today.
Kev looked a bit more cockahoop at the end, lets see him throw some fistpumps, maybe if he pulls off a very unlikely win next week.

Oh its great to be a Shrimper again, 7 days of loveliness.
Standing in the keeper's face has to be the most bizarre thing ive seen at Roots Hall, other than Alex Revell's miss to put us 2 nil up against Chelsea.
Funny old game.

 

[SUFCbaldy]

Noticed at the end of the game when Collin came on to the pitch he appeared to be limping. Could be that he was stiff after sitting on the bench

 

[rayleigh dan]

It’s all about opinions. I thought Bonne had really decent game today. Having had no pre season, or a start to the season for that matter, he is to me showing what he can do. Many positive comments on here, and by both Kev and Paul Clark after the game.

So your comment “Bonne had a wretched first half ” I really, having sat there and watched his performance closely, don’t understand. As I say all opinions but to me he deserved his ovation when he came off.

That said is the rumour that he ran over your cat true?

Agreed on Bonne, he was far from wretched first half IMO. In fact he thought he played pretty well, won every header, and looked lively. He did of course miss a sitter, and another decent chance in the second half, but he showed the desire and work rate that had previously been lacking.

I’ve been as critical as anyone before today, but he showed promise and I hope he can build on that.

 

[Medway Blue]

He basically lumped it long with reasonable accuracy. Don’t know if that was in instruction (big change) or because at Lincoln they still go route one and he didn’t understand the proposed approach. Actually it worked well and we should let Collin do the same. Get it in their final third then compete.

We still played out from the back in general play.

Collin has been allowed to do the same for months and months now. Problem is, when he does, he seems incapable of putting it down the middle of the pitch and often actually finds touch.

 

[Medway Blue]

Indeed he found touch far more than Collin does. And Collin gets crucified on here for that.

Going to have to pull you up here, because I don't believe thats actually true...I think I only counted once!

 

[Medway Blue]

I am blown away by the number of positive comments about Jeacock's kicking.

We were the better team but the bar was very low today. All the players won their individual battles and seemed really up for it.

Today is possibly the first time since 22/23 season we had no teenagers on the bench. Great day.

Maybe it's not a high bar, but it was definitely more effective than Collin's. Long, high and generally straight.

 

[sammy666]

Another season first - when Bridge was subbed it was the first time this season we had XI on the pitch with no players who had played for the Academy.

In the first half apart from missing a sitter, the headers he won went to no-one, he misplaced passes and numerous moves broke down once they involved him. Things weren’t coming off for him. I said it to give context to his second half when he kept going and didn’t hide and played better.

I think you are pretty much on your own on this one

 

[Holy Joe]

Going to have to pull you up here, because I don't believe thats actually true...I think I only counted once!

Nah defo more than once

 

[Chairman Trigg]

A good hardworking team display with a good result. My only wish is Kev would get out the old videos of Eastwood and Stan and realise in Pepple he has a player who can play in that style. Instead of 10 man defending leave him on the halfway line and aim for quick clearances instead of current system which invites pressure.

 

[WestyReturns]

Really liked what was done yesterday. From the outset it looked like we'd done our homework on Tamworth and knew exactly what to expect. We mixed it up by playing direct occasionally and didn't over pass it in our own third when we didn't need to which is where both goals came when we got the ball forward quickly. Kev got it right!

Pepple was brilliant at getting behind them and that led to them being unable to push up high and us then having more space and time on the ball for Bonne and the midfield.

New keeper looked good and felt gave the team confidence. He's judgement on when to come and catch/punch/kick short/long was spot on.

Bonne involved a lot more today. Can see he is seriously lacking in confidence. He desperately needs a goal or two.

Really solid good performances from the rest of the team.

Tamworth were poor and seemed intent on trying to bully us and cheat but we dealt with it well.

A much desperately needed win at home!

 

[OldBlueLady]

Sitting in bed in a room in a very old pub in Kent where we drove to after the match! This will be shorter than usual as a result.

Apart from not scoring I thought Bonne had a very good game, some great hold up play, got in some great positions and worked really hard defensively with some excellent defensive headers. Just needs that goal and then I'm sure the floodgates will open.

Impressed by the new keeper. Thought he was assured and comfortable, showing a range of methods. Couple of awry kicks but also some pretty decent ones.

Pepple was outstanding, and worked well with Bonne. A goal and an assist is just what you want from your strikers. Clear MOTM for me.

All 3 midfielders were on their game with Oli Coker my pick of them, runner up as MOTM.

Defensively, not bad, Crowther does need to stop the wrestling but it was being done to him as well. Taylor and Ralph their usual solid selves. Seen some criticism of Bridge but I thought he was good, much more his old self with some good interchange play. Gus, bless him, gets so cross and will talk himself into a few cards!

Lovely to see Cav get a bit of time, he'd said he was targeting the end of October.

Couple of things, their #20 snatched the ball off one of the ballboys, late in the 2nd half. Got told off by the ref, but credit to Voldemort (#4), who made sure the ballboy was OK. Took the banter from W block well too.

Before the game, one of my new flagbearers got upset and was crying as he was nervous. I had a quick word with George Moncur and he came and spent some time talking to him, and was excellent. My flagbearer was happy as Larry after, so big thank you to Moncs for cheering him up.

 

[londonblue]

A few observations:

1. Tamworth's only threat, and I really mean only threat, was their long throws. They literally offered nothing else. When their no. 4 went off they had nothing. I know this is going to sound arrogant, but to me they looked like a pub side.

2. Those ball boys should be spoken to. They were there to retrieve the ball, nothing else. They should not be trying to affect the game by time wasting. That said, their number 4 showed a bit of class when one of his teammates snatched the ball from the ball boy in front of the west stand. He patted him on the head as if to say "don't worry about it".

3. If an opposition player had faked an injury in the same way Bonne did we'd be apoplectic. We should be doing the same here. Apart from that, and other than the obvious, he played well. It was probably his best game for us.

 

[rigsby]

Despite our 3 clean sheets away from home their was areal air of expectation for a convincing win at home...And rightly so. Then again they were above us in the table and had better recent form including beating Gateshead and draw with Yeovil.

A few on here will always dismiss the oppo as rubbish every time we win but that was great performance. Bim won it with two great moments. How often have we seen others get in a real mess and we don't punish them. We did yesterday and of course could have had more. Pepple easily MOM for me. Coker has looked good since his return and put a real shift in yesterday. Thoroughly deserved his goal.

The name Tamworth sounds like they should be real c**p. Tactics of spoil at all cost are why fans turn their back on football. Even their shorts looked like something from the Hitler Youth Surplus Store. Add p**s poor, weak ref and that could have another day of real frustration at the Hall. The saver was we were 2-0 up.

The answer is not to play into their hands with over passing until they get shove or foot in. Go more direct and test their defenders when they are isolated. Or cash in on the basic mistakes. Great ball from Morton for the first and Ralph for the second. We never learnt that lesson against Sutton or Fylde. Two teams who also couldn't deal with any basic long ball. Who cares if they dive and waste time when your 2-0 up.

Bonne had his best game for us. His miss wasn't the 'sitter' some are claiming. As someone else has already pointed out, Gus delayed it too long and Bonne had to hook it from behind. Rather than have choice of either corner along the floor like Coker did. He had to try and lift it but got touch on it.

Most of us were expecting Tamworth to have a go second half but they had no interest. They accepted 0-2 and just decided to spoil from then on. Like a kid who takes hid ball home or kicks the board game in the air.
The tactic of trying to block a keepers view when lining up the wall was embarrassing. Made to look worse by the village standard of free kicks wich followed.

Anyway victory and clean sheet. Hands up who isn't thinking we now have change v Charlton. Make sure your there and lets get the Hall rocking. Forget the PL clubs, the FA cup is still a great for us. Don't forget that.

 

[LennySUFC]

Solid win in which we didn’t really get out of second gear against arguably one of the worst sides I’ve ever seen at Roots Hall. The worst part is you can see how they pick up points despite being a dreadful footballing side.

That was the first time we’ve really seen what Bonne can offer and hopefully it’s a step in the right direction as his fitness gets closer to where it should be. He won a number of flick ons, played some nice stuff with Pepple (lovely touch around the defender to put Pepple in at 2-0) but obviously we need him to get that first goal. Something that’s not really been mentioned was his defensive work, he won a number of headers from Tamworth corners which is something Cardwell used to do and we’ve really missed ever since. Positives for sure.

Pepple - for a player who we signed and I thought why have we done that, he’s proving to be a handful. The chest and strength for the first goal is incredible, the strength for the second is great and he ran them ragged all day. He’s my MOTM. Coker and Taylor also excellent, Taylor is just so reliable.

Hopefully we can take these positives from the last four into Charlton on Saturday.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

A few observations:



2. Those ball boys should be spoken to. They were there to retrieve the ball, nothing else. They should not be trying to affect the game by time wasting. That said, their number 4 showed a bit of class when one of his teammates snatched the ball from the ball boy in front of the west stand. He patted him on the head as if to say "don't worry about it".

They are told to do that. My son was a ball boy a few years ago and when we went 1-0 up they were told to take their time, slow the game down.

 

[Swiss Tony]

Pathetic tactics.

Indeed but any club that fills it’s team full of light heavyweight boxers and it’s only form of attack is from bomb throws is of no surprise, Boringwood mk2.

 

[Holy Joe]

Nah defo more than once

Actually I'll expand. I'm not disappointed with jeacocks kicking, guess I'm just pointing out the imho harsh treatment of Collin. Afterall pretty much every player on the pitch will miss place a pass so why keepers are highlighted I'm not sure.

The other thing is that we've only seen him play once, that might have been the best he's ever kicked, the worst or average - we simply don't know.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

 

[Blues4LifeDan]

The zone is always an interesting place post-match. So many differing opinions about exactly the same match. From the keepers kicking to Bonne's performance, it's why we love it.

My take was it was a comprehensive, solid win that should have been more convincing. Anyone who says it wasn't a sitter for Bonne is doing so because they are trying to positively back Bonne, which is what we should be doing, but it was a sitter. However, it doesn't take away what he did for the rest of the game. I felt he was playing for his shirt for the Charlton game and Maher has a tough decision to pick him or Walker. It was his work at the back that impressed me most and his ability to bring others into play. It's just nice to have a choice of which striker to pick.

We are just so much better with Coker in the midfield and that gave Husin a little bit more license to play a little bit more like his normal self.

Pepple is really starting to shine and I'd love to get him tied down to a permanent deal! His pace, power and intelligence is becoming frightening. His infectious passion is something Kev loves for the dressing room too. I really hope we don't lose him in Jan.

Overall a great performance and sets us up nicely for Charlton. I just hope most fans see that it's a bonus game and don't start moaning if we lose. 4 points off playoffs now with a great chance to real Yeovil in with a win against them. Utb!

P.S. Is anyone else still annoyed that autocorrect keeps changing Pepple to people?!!!!

 

[Whispering Bob]

Currie & Bentley different class today, Just Saying!!

Noticed Currie look up to the directors Box a couple of times for direction.