Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 2-3 Exeter City

[Shrimperforlife]

Thing that got me was that Exeter looked so susceptible at the back, a rookie goalkeeper and a short defence. They looked wobbly and the ease with which Phillips scored two should have shown us the weakness and allowed us to exploit it.

But their 6 bossed the back line and controlled the game.....thought he was excellent today...

 

[Shrimperforlife]

Eastwood for Timlin - 6, chased their player down really well!![/QUOTE] very lucky not to give a penalty away.....Lino got it wrong saying outside the box...

 

[Shrimper 62]

The players appear to have come back from Portugal leggy and lacking sharpness. Second to every ball, Exeter won all the key challenges and appeared to want it more. Underwhelmed by Gomis, although this was his first sub appearance on a glue pot of a pitch. That said not sure how he gets picked before Laird, whose calmness in midfield was needed as Exeter started to take control mid way through the second half. Still concerned that most of Corr's best work takes place in midfield winning headers and tackles. Too often when the ball is played into the box there is nobody there to get on the end of it. Williams looked lively and as others have said it was noticeable how a bit of pace up front immediately started to create chances, turning the Exeter back 4. Most noticeable for me was that White made few if any of the powerful runs down the right flank that were such a feature earlier in the season. Is this because of the change in formation or perhaps he is still not 100 per cent following his shoulder injury?

 

[OldBlueLady]

..our success this season has come from Hurst and Straker playing wide off Corr...

what team have you been watching?

Yes, on good pitches that DID work. But on what we've had in the last few months it really hasn't, Hurst and Straker have consistently both failed to perform.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Including you, the biggest fence sitter on here!

Really? Have always been vocal of my dislike of Smith as a keeper and the fact I don't think Eastwood has it in him anymore. On the flip side, I have always championed Bentley, Prosser and Leonard. Is that really fence sitting? No it isn't. You need to form a decent argument before you start typing retorts.

 

[mrsblue]

Corr,Barnard and Eastwood nil Exeter won.

Simple.

 

[northlincsshrimper1]

What a shambles! If this is the sort of performance 4 days of sunshine can produce then maybe a week in the salt mines of Siberia would be more apt! The whole back four was suspect from the first whistle until the last, the midfield have run out of steam and ideas, the front two lacked pace although Corr made some effort trying to make things happen.

Bentley - 6 - Made essential saves but still making mistakes

White - 3 - Poor game, has not been he same since shoulder injury

Thompson - 5 - Lack of pace and positioning

Phillips - 4 - Scored two goals but does not look comfortable on the left side. Has lost 2 yards of pace

Midfield - 4 - All of them lack any real spark

Corr - 7 - Tried hard to create something from nothing. Should have scored

Barnard - 4 - Lack of pace, fitness and awareness meant he had a poor game

Subs - Gomis, Eastwood and Williams all 4

We should have scored 4 goals but Exeter could have doubled that. Yet another below average performance. This is where the Manager is suppose to earn his corn

 

[Massimo Giovanni]

When I saw the team sheet I thought that PB had it right and put the proper men out for the job.
The pitch was a pudding with odd bounces but generally the ball rolled ok and certainly Exeter realised it favoured running forward and not turning/backwards.
Bentley 6, error for goal 1 but some good work afterwards.
White 4, injured, leggy, conscious of shoulder and not wanting to fall/slide over on the surface.
Phillips 6, two goals and a few good tackles, knew his role but not a personality to lead & use his experience which is what he ought also to do.
Thompson, 4 shaky, nervous, missed a free header, can't deal with a runner on this type of pitch.
Coker, 5 tried but had no help from either flank midfielder.
Atko, 4 anonymous, poor game.
Timlin, 6 ran and should not have been subbed.
Leonard, 7 MOM again,
Hurst 3, no where to be seen either attacking or defending.
Corr, 7, won almost every header, all effort display and I hope his injury is not going to keep him from Tuesday's game, when he went off we lost our only outlet.
Barney 4, nothing worked and he wasn't his old combative style.

Subs; Gomis 2, looked lost and like he was always fighting to just stand up, obviously out of position and he had no idea of where that was.
Fred, 6 tried but no service, ended up as defensive midfielder.
Williams, 3 basketball? ok he controlled it with his hand and made a direct run so he may have potential and worth another run out.

PB 2, at half time I expected he would sort things out but we were awful after the break and his changes made it worse; sometimes (usually) I can guess the changes but yesterday's were ODD.
DP & GC both quiet and no help to get things going, unusually so.

The only thing is that Tuesday must be better, surely?:'(

And any worry about loosing players on pre contact terms etc will have gone if scouts were watching.

 

[Guybrush13]

What annoyed me about yesterday was everyone's first touch. It was just not there. The amount of times - especially in the center of the park - where the ball just ricochet of a players boot or shin and went back to an Exeter player was ungodly. I believe as a professional football player first touch and control is the most vital of things. What also annoyed me was the amount of times players (especially Thompson) just hoofed the ball in spaces where no one was! It was really a pathetic performance all round. Lets just hope they put it right on Tuesday.

 

[IloveShrimp]

Bentley 7, ball bobbled in front of him for goal 1, and I think he cleared it with his shin.
White 4, Seemed conscious of his injured shoulder and has been so since his return not 100% committed
Phillips 6, Two goals and was odds on for a hat trick before half time. Had we concentrated on working to get more corners he probably would have done. Out of position and it showed, legs gone a la Barker's before leaving imo
Thompson, 4 shaky, nervous, should be at right back in place of White, where he was excellent against Millwall.
Coker, 5 tried but had no help or cover from either flank midfielder.
Atkinson, 4 usual work rate had disappeared. I remain of the opinion that he works hard but with no end product.
Timlin, 5 Not a good game by his standards, should not have been subbed though especially for Gomis
Leonard, 7 quite game for him but still our best midfield player.
Hurst 2, Was no where to be seen either attacking or defending, and it has been the same for the last few games. Is he the managers best friend?
Corr, 7, MOM won almost every header, all effort display subbed as injured. Being asked to play too deep and do too much imo
Barnard 5, obviously not good enough yet (although I have to say that I didn't rate him that highly the 1st time he was here). Should not have been selected straight into the starting line up in front of those who are match fit. Sends wrong signal to those who have been waiting their turn

Subs; Gomis 2, Should not judge as 1st time I have seen him, but looked totally lost and l had no idea of what he was doing.
Fred, 6 tried but no service, as in the last few games that he has appeared.
Williams, 5 Should not judge as 1st time I have seen him, but looked more promising than Gomis

PB 2, Seems to have lost it at the moment. Sending wrong signals to players waiting for an opportunity. When Gomis is given a chance over Laird, Payne and Straker says a lot.
When BBC Essex said that he was meeting with the chairman straight after the game, I thought he may have been resigning.

This performance gave me the impression that something is not well within the camp. Perhaps the immediate introduction of Barnard, or lack of of opportunity for others, (especially as Hurst is playing so poorly and continues to get picked) Gomis' (headless chicken performance) and a youth team player's selection over those who have been trusted in the past makes me wonder what is going on?

 

[southchurchblue]

Interesting reading all the different views as to what is going wrong.I missed the game yesterday because of work.All I know is that teams we lose or draw to...are being beaten by the likes of chesterfield and Oxford etc.We need to rediscover our form and quick or its a repeat of last season, I hope I'm wrong and want to be wrong. 3 points a must on Tuesday.

 

[southchurchblue]

Look forward to your assessments of the games when I miss it because of work, Bad yesterday then.
I wonder what Ron martin said afterwards to phil Brown? Not very pleased i 'd say.

 

[Ailsa Road Shrimper]

The pitch at Roots Hall is in a terrible condition at the moment, it's very difficult to play any decent football on it. In hindsight, it would've been better if some of the games in recent weeks had been postponed, as all have been played in bad conditions, which helps the weaker opposing teams we've been playing and we haven't won any of them. The players have become more fatigued and the pitch is getting worse.

 

[Bolton Shrimper]

Split second responses to a team mates error is the difference between playing at the very top and our level.

From what I saw of the highlights.

1.Defenders not switched on enough to close space after Bentley's poor kick...............Bit harsh maybe.
2. Gomis Bedsente ? Did'nt Close the space allowing their shot unchallenged.
3. Phillips got done for pace as he always will be and no back up in the space behind him.

Every second of 90 minutes, focus, focus, focus...................Did'nt do it.
Can't wait to go to York and see if they have learnt something from yesterday and get it right.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

The pitch at Roots Hall is in a terrible condition at the moment, it's very difficult to play any decent football on it. In hindsight, it would've been better if some of the games in recent weeks had been postponed, as all have been played in bad conditions, which helps the weaker opposing teams we've been playing and we haven't won any of them. The players have become more fatigued and the pitch is getting worse.

Exeter managed it, that's no excuse

 

[Eddy Melito]

stayed away from here until now in case of knee jerk reactions (about 6 pages of them). yesterday wasnt good, but a lot of people on here seem to change their opinions with the tides! talk about fickle. the team have gone on runs all season, both good and bad. this is a bad spell, but its about due to end now and normally that seems to start on another run. at the start of the season many were saying mid table was their expectation. 7th isnt mid table, and considering its in the midst of a bad run, im sure it will only improve.

 

[Ricey]

stayed away from here until now in case of knee jerk reactions (about 6 pages of them). yesterday wasnt good, but a lot of people on here seem to change their opinions with the tides! talk about fickle. the team have gone on runs all season, both good and bad. this is a bad spell, but its about due to end now and normally that seems to start on another run. at the start of the season many were saying mid table was their expectation. 7th isnt mid table, and considering its in the midst of a bad run, im sure it will only improve.

All football fans are fickle. We are just getting fed up of the exact same happening every season. They are all the same we go on a good run have a dip after Christmas and then go on a run after that and get the play offs or just miss out. Same **** different season and it's all getting a bit boring now. The way things were going we really looked the business we haven't had an extensive list on injuries like last season but instead we have tired players and we have the back up it's just not being used.

 

[Shrimper]

Why is it we seem to lose against teams that haven't won in a while? Mansfield hadn't won at home in ages I seem to recall and Exeter were yet to win this year I believe.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Why is it we seem to lose against teams that haven't won in a while? Mansfield hadn't won at home in ages I seem to recall and Exeter were yet to win this year I believe.

Add Torquay to that list as well. All of our last 3 league defeats..

 

[bazzashrimper]

Any good side has a firm foundation. When we were playing well we had Prosser and keirnan at centre back. Now we have neither.