Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 3 - 1 Millwall

[ms brush]

Well, I wasn't expecting a game or a win like that yesterday! Roots Hall was rocking for the first time in ages, the atmosphere was terrific and I got to see the current Southend team play as I have suspected they can, strong at the back and attacking with passion and gusto. I was expecting us to lose horribly, so more than pleased we pulled in a shift like that and looked dangerous on the attack which I haven't seen in quite a while.

i thought Oxley was terrific, and barring one or two fairly minor mistakes I can see now why he is a decent no 1, it could have been a very different story without that early save. Coker was better than I have seen in a while, and he is consistently one of our better players, McLoughlin was terrific and Mooney looked like a totally different player, much more like the Mooney we thought we were getting from the outset! If nothing else, the confidence that will come from a win at home, where everyone gave 100% and more can only be a good thing.

positives for me - I am struggling to decide an my MOM for the right reasons for once! And I can't decide between all 11 of the starting line up... Outstanding performances all round.

I have no inside knowledge or evidence beyond a gut feel that something has shifted fairly fundamentally behind the scenes, and I suspect that a certain captain has had a lot to do with that. I noticed that PB and Coughlan spent very little time together or talking to one another during the game as they have done previously. I noticed that Barrett came across a few times to have a quick word with one or the other of them, and PB particularly seemed to be listening not talking, which is a difference. I noticed that the midfield were pushing forward more without being encouraged by Barrett to do so.

I also thought it a bit odd that Brown wasn't visibly celebrating the third goal along with everyone else... And listening to Browns post match interview, whilst he sounded very positive and said many of the right things about the team and particularly praising Barrett, I noticed a lack of passion and fire in his voice, which for me was interesting when contrasted with the ColU boss, who was much more upbeat despite them throwing away 2 points in the dying seconds (Shame 😄), and the Braintree boss who is having a horrible time, but is still enthusiastic and full of praise for a side that is just not good enough at that level this season. We have proved today that we are much better than "good enough", and that our team has the ability to beat anyone when the mental attitude is right, so I am just wondering why I am not feeling the love from PB right now...?

 

[RHB]

i thought Oxley was terrific, and barring one or two fairly minor mistakes I can see now why he is a decent no 1, it could have been a very different story without that early save. Coker was better than I have seen in a while, and he is consistently one of our better players, McLoughlin was terrific and Mooney looked like a totally different player, much more like the Mooney we thought we were getting from the outset! If nothing else, the confidence that will come from a win at home, where everyone gave 100% and more can only be a good thing.

positives for me - I am struggling to decide an my MOM for the right reasons for once!

Before the game Worrell was interviewed and commented that he was looking forward to a battle with Ben Coker. I don't think he won any of the battles he had with Ben yesterday who was back to near his best.

 

[Always a Shrimper]

Well what a joy to watch. Fight, commitment and skill was there for all to see. After the Fleetwood game, me and my friends were down and not at all hopeful. In fact, in the car on the way to Roots Hall, our opinions where we were most likely to lose by 3 or 4 goals. How wrong we were, our old Southend United was back. Mooney was the footballer I had heard about but seldom seen. Keep it up lads, if you do the Roots Hall roar will grow and grow. We know you will never win every game but if you give 100% we will support you always.

 

[RHB]

Interesting match report from a Millwall Fans Board. I've posted it because of the view of Jermaine McGlashan and to a lesser degree the 'bald headed defender'. Be warned, it's a bit long.

After nearly a three hour journey which involved queuing at the Dart crossing for 45 minutes and spending another 20 minutes finding somewhere to park I arrived at Roots Hall with 5 to spare. I’ve been looking forward to this game, after witnessing our demolition of Southend last season and their indifferent start I felt sure we could mop up 3 points again. I also like the ground in a retro sort of way, the old school four corrugated sheds encompassing the pitch, and being on top of the play takes me back to my youth.

As I didn’t hear the teams announced it takes me a few minutes to realise that Thompson hasn’t started, I had to guess that it was Butcher in the middle of the park with Williams, eye site failing to read the name on the shirt. Initially he looked sluggish, a big frame that didn’t have the energy and buzz of Ben, oh well, I suppose our summer signing was due a start. In the early exchanges we looked good, pushing Southend back, crosses coming in from both sides but with no end product. It was probably only their second attack, this one down the left, Worrel and Romeo allowed their tricky number 17 to ghost past them to the by line inside our area, his accurate cross is struck past static defenders and Archer. We made that look remarkably easy for them, a bit of shock really, I thought we had started positively, no worry we’ve got all game to come back into this.

What I didn’t realise was that their tricky 17 was going to influence the game to the extent that he did, think of an upgrade on Fred, or Fred with skill, that is this lad. He was constantly switching wings, when he didn’t have Romeo for pace he switched sides to try his luck against Martin. Now, I quite like Martin for his heart and honesty, he has his limitations and picks up too many yellows, this is offset by a few goals, I think he got two here (goals) last season. However today he got well found out by their trickster, Martin had already had a couple nibbles at him before he look him out with a waist high challenge, the Southend players and crowd were baying for a red, their players berating the ref, a yellow was probably correct. However any decent pro would now target and pressure the carded one, trickster duly did.
We got back into the game a bit, Morrison was doing his normal leading the line with just scraps to live off of. Butcher came into his own a bit, he is a deceptive player, doesn’t appear to be quick, he does have a full range of passes though, he makes the short link passes look simple, the shame of it is that the long ball over midfield negates that bit of skill. Nevertheless there was a clean bit of interplay and he looked to be clean through, 25yds out only to be chopped down, no card, the free kick was wasted by Williams. At this point I need to comment on the referee, I’m not one of those that believes we get **** refs that are almost instructed by the FA to go against Millwall, today though this bloke seemed to let every body check and foot left in by Southend players go, and there was plenty of it. They fell over-free kick, we get knobbled-play on. Half an hour in, I think it was Webster floating a ball in from inside our half, Morrison rising with a trade mark flick with Any Other Business stabbing home, I was at the other end of the ground so I use the word stabbing advisedly.

This first half was a scrappy disjointed affair, very little flowing football, our long ball ploy was and is a blunt instrument to unlock teams, their bald central defender was happy enough. Trickster was causing further problems, he skipped past Martin who clumsily caught his foot, Tricky made the most of it with a theatrical dive, more pleading from the Southend players for another card, not to mention the rest of the ground. A bit of a finger wag from the ref was all that he got. NH made the sensible or only decision he could, sub him off before he gets sent off. Gregory comes on, great, AOB to left mid, hmm, Fergie to left back, hmm again as Tricky would continue to plough that channel.

At half time I thought we would turn this around, surely NH would sort out the tactical errors and with Gregory on we could get into our stride? No, completely the opposite, we folded I think it was 20 mins in before we had a sniff at their goal by which time we were behind. Ben came on to give some energy, it took a good 10 before he started to have any impact, I would have liked to see him partner Butcher to see if this could bring something of a understanding. We huffed and puffed, had a short spell of pressure that amounted hardly any goal bound chances, indeed I think it was Craig with a clean header that went nearest.

We had no man of the match, we had no one that stood out as being truly awful, although Williams getting caught in possession would be a candidate.

My early optimism turned to disappointment long before the third goal went in, was it disappointment or just acceptance of this is how we play? The thing is I remain convinced we have better players than most in this division, why can’t we turn this into a winning formula? It’s easy to blame the management, I don’t know where else to look, our achievement or over achievement of last season has raised expectation. The fundamental is the game plan, or the fact that we only seem to have the one, again I believe we have the players to go beyond the one dimensional knock it long.

Puffs out cheeks and thinks maybe next week…..

Driving back towards the Dart crossing my mood is bleak, as bleak as the boring flat landscape of the scruffy fields that break into the industrial colon of the Thames near estuary that makes SE16 and Zampa Road look like the garden of Eden.

 

[kentblues]

Well, I wasn't expecting a game or a win like that yesterday! Roots Hall was rocking for the first time in ages, the atmosphere was terrific and I got to see the current Southend team play as I have suspected they can, strong at the back and attacking with passion and gusto. I was expecting us to lose horribly, so more than pleased we pulled in a shift like that and looked dangerous on the attack which I haven't seen in quite a while.

i thought Oxley was terrific, and barring one or two fairly minor mistakes I can see now why he is a decent no 1, it could have been a very different story without that early save. Coker was better than I have seen in a while, and he is consistently one of our better players, McLoughlin was terrific and Mooney looked like a totally different player, much more like the Mooney we thought we were getting from the outset! If nothing else, the confidence that will come from a win at home, where everyone gave 100% and more can only be a good thing.

positives for me - I am struggling to decide an my MOM for the right reasons for once! And I can't decide between all 11 of the starting line up... Outstanding performances all round.

I have no inside knowledge or evidence beyond a gut feel that something has shifted fairly fundamentally behind the scenes, and I suspect that a certain captain has had a lot to do with that. I noticed that PB and Coughlan spent very little time together or talking to one another during the game as they have done previously. I noticed that Barrett came across a few times to have a quick word with one or the other of them, and PB particularly seemed to be listening not talking, which is a difference. I noticed that the midfield were pushing forward more without being encouraged by Barrett to do so.

I also thought it a bit odd that Brown wasn't visibly celebrating the third goal along with everyone else... And listening to Browns post match interview, whilst he sounded very positive and said many of the right things about the team and particularly praising Barrett, I noticed a lack of passion and fire in his voice, which for me was interesting when contrasted with the ColU boss, who was much more upbeat despite them throwing away 2 points in the dying seconds (Shame ), and the Braintree boss who is having a horrible time, but is still enthusiastic and full of praise for a side that is just not good enough at that level this season. We have proved today that we are much better than "good enough", and that our team has the ability to beat anyone when the mental attitude is right, so I am just wondering why I am not feeling the love from PB right now...?

Some have said already that his post match interview was one of the best he has given? He will never satisfy everyone. Suspect if he had been to 'over the moon' the criticism would come for over celebrating and one swallow does not make etc. I thought the balance was right, sufficient praise but job not yet done by far...

 

[ms brush]

Some have said already that his post match interview was one of the best he has given? He will never satisfy everyone. Suspect if he had been to 'over the moon' the criticism would come for over celebrating and one swallow does not make etc. I thought the balance was right, sufficient praise but job not yet done by far...

i actually agree that is was one of his best post match interviews. :clap::clap:

I notice small things, and I have spotted a shift of thinking somewhere, and I am not sure where this has occurred, whether it is the players, PB or anyone else I really can't say. All I was trying to do was just making the contrast between his usual style, which is passionate but has recently been somewhat negative and critical in light of recent performances and results, yesterday's fair, measured and balanced but far less exuberant interview where there was so much to praise and comparing this against his opposite numbers, who were still passionate and full of praise even in the face of a much bigger pile of brown stuff. Braintree because they really are neck deep, and ColU just because...

 

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

Interesting match report from a Millwall Fans Board. I've posted it because of the view of Jermaine McGlashan and to a lesser degree the 'bald headed defender'. Be warned, it's a bit long.

After nearly a three hour journey which involved queuing at the Dart crossing for 45 minutes and spending another 20 minutes finding somewhere to park I arrived at Roots Hall with 5 to spare. I’ve been looking forward to this game, after witnessing our demolition of Southend last season and their indifferent start I felt sure we could mop up 3 points again. I also like the ground in a retro sort of way, the old school four corrugated sheds encompassing the pitch, and being on top of the play takes me back to my youth.

As I didn’t hear the teams announced it takes me a few minutes to realise that Thompson hasn’t started, I had to guess that it was Butcher in the middle of the park with Williams, eye site failing to read the name on the shirt. Initially he looked sluggish, a big frame that didn’t have the energy and buzz of Ben, oh well, I suppose our summer signing was due a start. In the early exchanges we looked good, pushing Southend back, crosses coming in from both sides but with no end product. It was probably only their second attack, this one down the left, Worrel and Romeo allowed their tricky number 17 to ghost past them to the by line inside our area, his accurate cross is struck past static defenders and Archer. We made that look remarkably easy for them, a bit of shock really, I thought we had started positively, no worry we’ve got all game to come back into this.

What I didn’t realise was that their tricky 17 was going to influence the game to the extent that he did, think of an upgrade on Fred, or Fred with skill, that is this lad. He was constantly switching wings, when he didn’t have Romeo for pace he switched sides to try his luck against Martin. Now, I quite like Martin for his heart and honesty, he has his limitations and picks up too many yellows, this is offset by a few goals, I think he got two here (goals) last season. However today he got well found out by their trickster, Martin had already had a couple nibbles at him before he look him out with a waist high challenge, the Southend players and crowd were baying for a red, their players berating the ref, a yellow was probably correct. However any decent pro would now target and pressure the carded one, trickster duly did.
We got back into the game a bit, Morrison was doing his normal leading the line with just scraps to live off of. Butcher came into his own a bit, he is a deceptive player, doesn’t appear to be quick, he does have a full range of passes though, he makes the short link passes look simple, the shame of it is that the long ball over midfield negates that bit of skill. Nevertheless there was a clean bit of interplay and he looked to be clean through, 25yds out only to be chopped down, no card, the free kick was wasted by Williams. At this point I need to comment on the referee, I’m not one of those that believes we get **** refs that are almost instructed by the FA to go against Millwall, today though this bloke seemed to let every body check and foot left in by Southend players go, and there was plenty of it. They fell over-free kick, we get knobbled-play on. Half an hour in, I think it was Webster floating a ball in from inside our half, Morrison rising with a trade mark flick with Any Other Business stabbing home, I was at the other end of the ground so I use the word stabbing advisedly.

This first half was a scrappy disjointed affair, very little flowing football, our long ball ploy was and is a blunt instrument to unlock teams, their bald central defender was happy enough. Trickster was causing further problems, he skipped past Martin who clumsily caught his foot, Tricky made the most of it with a theatrical dive, more pleading from the Southend players for another card, not to mention the rest of the ground. A bit of a finger wag from the ref was all that he got. NH made the sensible or only decision he could, sub him off before he gets sent off. Gregory comes on, great, AOB to left mid, hmm, Fergie to left back, hmm again as Tricky would continue to plough that channel.

At half time I thought we would turn this around, surely NH would sort out the tactical errors and with Gregory on we could get into our stride? No, completely the opposite, we folded I think it was 20 mins in before we had a sniff at their goal by which time we were behind. Ben came on to give some energy, it took a good 10 before he started to have any impact, I would have liked to see him partner Butcher to see if this could bring something of a understanding. We huffed and puffed, had a short spell of pressure that amounted hardly any goal bound chances, indeed I think it was Craig with a clean header that went nearest.

We had no man of the match, we had no one that stood out as being truly awful, although Williams getting caught in possession would be a candidate.

My early optimism turned to disappointment long before the third goal went in, was it disappointment or just acceptance of this is how we play? The thing is I remain convinced we have better players than most in this division, why can’t we turn this into a winning formula? It’s easy to blame the management, I don’t know where else to look, our achievement or over achievement of last season has raised expectation. The fundamental is the game plan, or the fact that we only seem to have the one, again I believe we have the players to go beyond the one dimensional knock it long.

Puffs out cheeks and thinks maybe next week…..

Driving back towards the Dart crossing my mood is bleak, as bleak as the boring flat landscape of the scruffy fields that break into the industrial colon of the Thames near estuary that makes SE16 and Zampa Road look like the garden of Eden.

That's the sort of thing I saw from tricky(McGlashan). I thought he was superb. He was skipping past players for fun. He was bursting a gut to get back when we lost the ball, sometimes winning the ball back himself. It's really nice to see genuine pace in a Southend shirt, something we have been crying out for.

 

[fbm]

I loved the Millwall fans getting all angry and berating the ball boy in the second half when he - in their opinion - didn't give the ball to Oxley fast enough.

And this from them who, when winning at home matches, keep the ball by throwing it around the stands and then, when the second ball comes out, throwing the first one back so that it stops the game again. I wish something would be done about that!

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Well, I wasn't expecting a game or a win like that yesterday! Roots Hall was rocking for the first time in ages, the atmosphere was terrific and I got to see the current Southend team play as I have suspected they can, strong at the back and attacking with passion and gusto. I was expecting us to lose horribly, so more than pleased we pulled in a shift like that and looked dangerous on the attack which I haven't seen in quite a while.

i thought Oxley was terrific, and barring one or two fairly minor mistakes I can see now why he is a decent no 1, it could have been a very different story without that early save. Coker was better than I have seen in a while, and he is consistently one of our better players, McLoughlin was terrific and Mooney looked like a totally different player, much more like the Mooney we thought we were getting from the outset! If nothing else, the confidence that will come from a win at home, where everyone gave 100% and more can only be a good thing.

positives for me - I am struggling to decide an my MOM for the right reasons for once! And I can't decide between all 11 of the starting line up... Outstanding performances all round.

I have no inside knowledge or evidence beyond a gut feel that something has shifted fairly fundamentally behind the scenes, and I suspect that a certain captain has had a lot to do with that. I noticed that PB and Coughlan spent very little time together or talking to one another during the game as they have done previously. I noticed that Barrett came across a few times to have a quick word with one or the other of them, and PB particularly seemed to be listening not talking, which is a difference. I noticed that the midfield were pushing forward more without being encouraged by Barrett to do so.

I also thought it a bit odd that Brown wasn't visibly celebrating the third goal along with everyone else... And listening to Browns post match interview, whilst he sounded very positive and said many of the right things about the team and particularly praising Barrett, I noticed a lack of passion and fire in his voice, which for me was interesting when contrasted with the ColU boss, who was much more upbeat despite them throwing away 2 points in the dying seconds (Shame ��), and the Braintree boss who is having a horrible time, but is still enthusiastic and full of praise for a side that is just not good enough at that level this season. We have proved today that we are much better than "good enough", and that our team has the ability to beat anyone when the mental attitude is right, so I am just wondering why I am not feeling the love from PB right now...?

Well spotted, I wonder if anyone else noticed and are wondering why?

 

[Medway Blue]

Well, I wasn't expecting a game or a win like that yesterday! Roots Hall was rocking for the first time in ages, the atmosphere was terrific and I got to see the current Southend team play as I have suspected they can, strong at the back and attacking with passion and gusto. I was expecting us to lose horribly, so more than pleased we pulled in a shift like that and looked dangerous on the attack which I haven't seen in quite a while.

i thought Oxley was terrific, and barring one or two fairly minor mistakes I can see now why he is a decent no 1, it could have been a very different story without that early save. Coker was better than I have seen in a while, and he is consistently one of our better players, McLoughlin was terrific and Mooney looked like a totally different player, much more like the Mooney we thought we were getting from the outset! If nothing else, the confidence that will come from a win at home, where everyone gave 100% and more can only be a good thing.

positives for me - I am struggling to decide an my MOM for the right reasons for once! And I can't decide between all 11 of the starting line up... Outstanding performances all round.

I have no inside knowledge or evidence beyond a gut feel that something has shifted fairly fundamentally behind the scenes, and I suspect that a certain captain has had a lot to do with that. I noticed that PB and Coughlan spent very little time together or talking to one another during the game as they have done previously. I noticed that Barrett came across a few times to have a quick word with one or the other of them, and PB particularly seemed to be listening not talking, which is a difference. I noticed that the midfield were pushing forward more without being encouraged by Barrett to do so.

I also thought it a bit odd that Brown wasn't visibly celebrating the third goal along with everyone else... And listening to Browns post match interview, whilst he sounded very positive and said many of the right things about the team and particularly praising Barrett, I noticed a lack of passion and fire in his voice, which for me was interesting when contrasted with the ColU boss, who was much more upbeat despite them throwing away 2 points in the dying seconds (Shame ��), and the Braintree boss who is having a horrible time, but is still enthusiastic and full of praise for a side that is just not good enough at that level this season. We have proved today that we are much better than "good enough", and that our team has the ability to beat anyone when the mental attitude is right, so I am just wondering why I am not feeling the love from PB right now...?

Is that because it's a little bittersweet for him? He's delighted we won, but he can't really take the credit for the boost to motivation. Barrett and to a lesser extent Cocko struck the chords last week and this week. Those 2 do the talking and finally the team do what Brown has been trying and failing to get them to do for months. Is it a realisation at last that he alone can't motivate them and get them to do what he wants?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rayleigh dan]

Great performance that I certainly didn't see coming, I was expecting a heavy defeat if I'm honest. The fighting spirit was back, I was pleased with how the team reacted to Millwall's goal, previously this season they've collapsed like a pack of cards, not yesterday .

Oxley 7 - Best performance to date, good stop early on, if I'm nit picking I'd like him to catch the ball more often, he punched a couple of times in the first half when under little pressure.
Demetriou 7 - Looked better playing further forward, very good on the ball.
White 7 - Excellent for the most part, perhaps beaten too easily in the air for Millwall's goal.
Thompson 8 - Much improved, defended really well.
Barrett 8 - Ditto, one excellent lunging block in the first half too.
Coker 7 - Awful first ten minutes but improved immeasurably. In the second half the old Coker was back, great cross for the third goal.
Leonard 8 - Huge improvement, work rate second to none. His throws actually looked threatening today too, has a added a bit more pace to them?
Atkinson 7 - Defensively very good, didn't offer much going forwards but did play a part in the build up to the first goal.
McLaughlin 8 - Looked a threat throughout, fantastic volleyed goal, I hope the reason he went off wasn't injury related.
McGlashen MOM 8 - Best performance by a country mile, Millwall just couldn't cope with his pace.
Mooney 8 - See Mooney you can do it if you try. When he went down far too easily under the first challenge I thought 'here we go again'. Then something changed, he got stuck in, competed for every 50-50, scored a great goal and even won his fair share of headers. Deserved standing ovation when subbed, long may it continue.

Subs - all 7's, pleased for O'Neill getting the third goal.

The key now will be maintaining the improved level of performance, if they do Brown may yet prove myself and many others calling for his head wrong. I await next Saturday's game with interest.

 

[Rattus Norvegicus]

Well spotted, I wonder if anyone else noticed and are wondering why?

Plenty of sides have a management team where the assistant stands and shouts to the team as the game progresses and the manager observes and looks at the game as a whole.

In fact I would prefer that Brown and Coughlan work in this way. And given Brown's recent behaviour in the "technical area" (whatever that is supposed to be) anything that stops Brown from being "rash" is a good thing, isn't it?

 

[USAShrimper]

Hey Yank they could make a film in Hollywood with that garbage.

I think you've misunderstood. I'm English from Southend and supported the "Blues" avidly for 45 years.
Felt this gave me the right to voice my opinion. Just disappointed, but not surprised anymore, that 4 or 5 games into a new season, a "fresh start" if you will. There are an element of our support that wants to sack the manager, berate almost every player "not worth the shirt" mentality and all around put everything about the club down.

Call me old fashioned, but want to support my club through these frustrating times and play my part. That way, when things turn around, you can feel part of it. Still 38 league games to go, lots of football to be played.
Time for me to focus on supporting SUFC, nothing else. COYB !!!

 

[OrangeyBrown]

Well spotted, I wonder if anyone else noticed and are wondering why?

Honestly I didn't notice this at all. At one point they were having a laugh together as one of their players picked up the ball before the ref even blew for a foul! They were together for most of the game, I was sat almost directly behind them.

There did seem to be less 'notepad' tactical discussions though, either because of the new system we played is a lot simpler (Brown said in his interview that it "makes decisions for you") or because we were playing so well that no changes were really needed.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

I couldn't be bothered with ratings last night but I'll have a go now.

Overall I thought for formation was fluid which seemed to me to be a 442/433 but also flexible enough to be 343 at times. this worked so well - White tucked in tight at the back and didn't get forward. Demetriou sat in front of White and that worked really well. Coker got forward well on the other side but defended well too.

McLaughlin played predominantly on the left and McGlashan played sort of up front and sort of around wherever he was needed.
We didn't play great technically but we were all heart, work and determination.

Millwall pumped it long and were as dirty as you could believe, proper cheating *******s. And we could really do with someone like Morison, but to that later.

Oxley - 8. Looked a totally different player to the one seen previously. He made a massively important save after about 2 minutes that saved the game for us. That aside me made strong saves and commanded his area more than I've seen him do before. Fair play and much credit due to whatever/whoever has helped bring that about.
Shocking for their goal though to be fair, looked like he bottled it. I assumed the whistle would go coz he looked like he gave up. He and all defenders lose one point each for the manner of the goal.

White - 7 solid, defended really well.
Thompson - 7 as above. Really did well, refused to be bullied and showed why Brown rates him. I've not been sure but he did well today. When he and Barrett headed the ball they rarely found someone but they made sure they got distant on it.
Barrett - 9 battled, won everything. He lead the determined and physical response. At one point he was grabbing one of their players round the neck at a set piece but it was the type of game where that was needed. As above with refusing to be bullied and really getting his head through the ball when heading it. A real leader's performance.

Demetriou - 8. I like this guy. What's impressed me is his work rate and his willingness to try to move things forward. He drives the team on but tracks back and kept a lid on his man.

Coker - 8. Back to his best. He kept Worrall quiet and whoever else was in his area at the time. He won the ball, defended solidly and got froward to good effect.

Leonard - 8. Complete midfield performance. He's not the greatest passer in the world but he worked hard, stole the ball off their players and drove through the middle very well.
Atkinson - 7. Does the dirty work. We miss Deegan but Atkinson works so hard, and is increasingly making the best use of his energy.

McLaughlin - 9. Unbelievable work rate, he sprints around to close people down, put mad blocks in and looked like he got injured by putting his body on the line again and again. He scored a quality goal too and gave everything. MOTM
McGlashan - 9. He worked so hard. He closed people down, he drove forward, he attacked the space. Absolutely superb. Drew two fouls which should have seen their No 3 sent off. First one was waist high and deserved a red on its own, second would have been a second yellow if the ref wasn't a bottle job. Also, I think, was the bloke pulled down for what should have been a pen if the ref wasn't a bottle job.

Mooney - 9. Worked really hard, closed down, tried to win headers, quality goal. He is limited, especially physically and we didn't play to his strengths but he did well.
Towards the end we really missed a big, tough target man with a big bum to hold the ball up. For about 10 minutes we dropped really deep, just like the bad old days.

Millwall had possession but created no clear chances, unlike us. At the start of the second half that goal was coming coz we penned them in and put them under so much pressure. Our 3rd goal killed the game and we saw it out easily enough.

It was as good a performance as I've seen for a long time.

 

[sufclee]

Cox dropped to the bench, is there an attitude issue? Unless i'm mistaken he shot off down the tunnel as soon as the final whistle went whilst everyone was celebrating on the pitch.

 

[Mick]

"Driving back towards the Dart crossing my mood is bleak, as bleak as the boring flat landscape of the scruffy fields that break into the industrial colon of the Thames near estuary that makes SE16 and Zampa Road look like the garden of Eden."

Nothing, nothing at all, not even Beirut on a bad day, makes Zampa Road look like the Garden of Eden.

 

[RHB]

Nothing, nothing at all, not even Beirut on a bad day, makes Zampa Road look like the Garden of Eden.

He obviously had to cling to something after getting stuffed 1-3.

 

[C V Shrimper]

Cox dropped to the bench, is there an attitude issue? Unless i'm mistaken he shot off down the tunnel as soon as the final whistle went whilst everyone was celebrating on the pitch.

I don't recall seeing any of the unused subs celebrating, I think they always go straight down the tunnel at the whistle.

 

[Ironshrimper]

OMG.... so many sucked in by this win? Saying we are working as a team.... it's Brown out then Brown in.... one swallow......