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

[yogi bear up the cagire]

By hazard, a five weeks ago, I booked a trip back to England, taking in the Rotherham game. That just could be a very mouth watering prospect, come next month.:smile:

 

[Oakley1]

Good win, enjoyable game onwards to the next

just one word though away from the game, I hope the person getting the medical treatment in the West Stand is all ok

 

[fbm]

Well, three games in a week takes it's toll.

I think result the score and result flattered us but Oxley didn't have a great deal to do. They were a good side, and I don't think anyone could have moaned if we had drawn.

But this is the sign of a good team - to win when not playing well - and we absolutely are a good team. We are now getting a bit of luck, the decisions are going for us, the team is battling like they haven't battled before. The effort is exceptional.

Ratings -

Oxley - 7 - Not much to do.

Demetriou - 8.5 - MOM - Two goals and our top scorer. A fine defensive performance as well.
Coker - 7 - Good from the skipper, I don't think the knock affected him that much fortunatley
Ferdinand - 8 - Solid and classy performance.
Turner - 8 - Clever, linked up well with Ferdinand.

McLaughlin - 6 - ok, could have been more involved I think. Poor shooting.
Timlin - 7 - Not quite as good as he has been but still better than for a long time
Yearwood - 7.5 - Haooy 18th, clearly wanted a goal, but made a terrific pass for JD to get the 3rd
Harrison - 6 - Ok. Missed a clear header, good energy and clearly has attributes, but needs to learn the game at this level

Cox - 7 - Tireless performance for little reward
Ladapo- 7 - Good strength and pace, should have scored

Subs

Fortune - 8 - Made a difference
Bwomono - Not on long enough

 

[IronMike]

Cracker that. Myself and son in family enclosure loved it. My first of the season, great value for money at a packed Roots Hall. £25 incl programme. Powell must really gee up the lads in the dressing room the way they came out. Mind you there are plenty of leaders in the team. Stand out players for me, the back four and Yearwood. He really impressed me today, on his 18th birthday. Bloody hell. Fantastic. Reminded me of Kantè / Makalele in so many ways. Of course his marauding runs through the middle are so positive but it's the little things he does in front of the defence that impressed me the most. Nothing scares him, he wants the ball and gets himself out of what looks like tricky situations. Got a good boy there Southend. Their best player was Lowe who looked so dangerous in the first half, setting up the goal. McGlaughlin wasn't too clever and I thought Fortunè should have started instead of Ladapo. Ref was very good, you can see why he's Premier League because you don't really notice him. Did anyone see their skipper, the no.6 lump Burgess throw out an arm early in the first half? It was in front of us in the West corner... the lino said something to the ref in his speaker thing and for a moment I thought he was gone. 4 wins from 5 when it looked like relegation after Fleetwood. Now it's only upwards and a possible play off place, arriving in form....
I say go with the ride and positivity with Powell, a wonderful start from a very likeable, honest and respected man, another reason why I made it our first match today. Brown and Southend ran it's course, what a breath of fresh air now. :thumbsup:

 

[The Big Dady]

Stats

Goals: Home 3 Away 1
Possession: Home 55% Away 45%
Shots: Home 13 Away 7
Shots on Target Home 6 Away 1
Corners Home 2 Away 1
Fouls Home 8 Away 8

 

[Chairman Trigg]

Team tired as the game went on,and we weren't at them like the Wigan game.Ladapo looked shot after about 40 mins,and tackles by a couple of our important players went missing. Lost width and started to look like a PB team until MAF came on and seemed to re balance the team..Positives the run continues ,were scoring

 

[ExiledShrimpa]

All I will say is I'm looking forward to watching the extended highlights!

 

[leeblue]

Team tired as the game went on,and we weren't at them like the Wigan game.Ladapo looked shot after about 40 mins,and tackles by a couple of our important players went missing. Lost width and started to look like a PB team until MAF came on and seemed to re balance the team..Positives the run continues ,were scoring

Spot on about the width...harrison out of position to be fair and macca not at the races today.

 

[RHB]

Good win, enjoyable game onwards to the next

just one word though away from the game, I hope the person getting the medical treatment in the West Stand is all ok

He is a steward in the West. We checked with the head steward and it turns out he was suffering from high blood pressure, but because he collapsed he was taken to Southend A&E as a precaution. He is expected to be back for the next home game. We talk to the lad regularly before games and he is a really nice bloke, hopefully he will be fine soon.

 

[Tinks]

Am enjoying the football again and it is clear to see the confidence oozing from the players. Also how they are talking to each other and not ranting at each other. Confidence is a major factor.
Was good to see Wright back 9n (albeit for only a few minutes).
I love to see us win in front of a good crowd as often we seem to falter.
Long may it continue

 

[RobM]

Demitriou top scorer - a full back! Lat time that happened was Jimmy Evans (1932?) with 10 and they were all penalties.

 

[Shrimper]

Great game, sold out of programmes though :(

 

[RHB]

Goals, they say, win games, and once again we scored three, including two early doors and they didn’t. I have to say that the opening exchanges were pretty equal and Portsmouth were looking lively and dangerous. Luckily their predatory instincts in front of goal were less than honed and as a result our early goals gave us the cushion and the confidence to boss the game for the majority of the half. It was an interesting experiment to put Harrison out on the left in Kightly’s place, and I did wonder whether it would be a successful experiment. The fact that he worked his nuts off, chased back and pushed forward capping his first half display with the first goal gave me my answer.

Once again Yearwood and Timlin were hustling and snapping at the Portsmouth team in the middle but we were still struggling a little as McLaughlin didn’t play as well as he has recently. Don’t get me wrong, the effort was there, but the touches and wriggling runs didn’t cause much pain to the Pompey defence.

At the back Turner and Anton showed what a good pairing they are becoming. Both were dominant in the air and I didn’t once see any toblerone head impersonations from Anton, and I was watching closely. He also shrewdly mixed up the long ball clearances and cushioned short balls forward. Turner displayed all of his experience at higher levels. He just didn’t put a foot out of place the whole game. In amongst my ramblings I need to mention that Demetriou won’t strike a sweeter goal this season than our second goal, and once again, just like the Wigan game, when they were starting to probe and put us under the cosh, we scored our third, courtesy of Demi.

So although we ended up winning 3-1 I’m not sure that it was up to the standard of the previous two home games but you can’t argue with the score line. Nine goals for in the last three home games, nice. We had a couple of incognito Portsmouth supporters sitting behind us and because they were both a couple of really nice chaps, and because they coudn’t get a pint at the Crooked Billet before the game as the place was rammed, I resisted the need to go into smug mode when we scored, although it did leak out a bid when we scored our third I’m ashamed to say.

I thought the Pompey support was first class throughout the game until the sending off. For some reason that totally eludes me they booed Coker after Thompson had attempted assassination on him earning a straight red card in the process.

 

[RHB]

I did think about offering up my views on Ladapo but I have decided I need to see more of the bloke before I do that.

 

[tottenham541]

Just to point out today I thought Portsmouth were very poor, great performances from yearwood, anton, Cox and Timlin today, good to see Wright back also.

 

[Austin the Shrimper]

Great result today. Thought we became bit sloppy after first 20 minutes. Wow what a first 20 minutes though...almost had 3. I actually thought Harrison was great on the wing would keep him there until Kightly is fit.youcan see he is a quality player with a great touch and not afraid to be on the ball. McLaughlin had a off day and nothing seemed to come off for him. Loving Dru, grows with confidence every game,maybe ran with it the second to long on a couple of occasions when he should of shot or passed. Anton scares me still but was better than he has been. Lapado hustled and bustled and did a job, but never really got into a scoring position. Demi has found his form again and Turner is looking a lot more solid. Chrissy Powell.. just keep doing what you are doing. Not enjoyed the football at roots hall Like this for some time.. long may it continue UTB

 

[E for B and Billy Best]

My head is still in the clouds. That's 13pts from 15pts under SCP, after the Shrewsbury game I looked at the fixtures and surrendered 12 of those points. Happy to be wrong and really pleased for SCP and his staff and players.

 

[Stan33]

How can u write Portsmouth were poor ?

 

[Maidstone Shrimper]

Fortune favours the brave and it was a brave team selection by SCP opting for Harrison as a replacement for Kightly - a real statement of attacking intent.. I thought the young lad did well. He's no winger but he got into good positions and caused Pompey real problems typified by the first badly needed goal. Shame he didn't bury that second half header just after the sending off. We got the rub of the green today but we deserved it through our attitude, effort and some quality on the ball. We didn't play as well as we have in previous games under the new boss but still came up with 3 goals and 3 points, what's not to like. I thought Portsmouth were too direct for their own good - played to our strengths. Maybe they'd researched the pitch and thought that was the way to go.

Oxley 6 Not a high rating as he had little to do. One poor kick under pressure 1st half, one good "tackle" 2nd half
Demetriou 8.5 Joint MOM for obvious reasons
Turner 8.5 Joint MOM Massive presence at the back
Ferdinand 7.5 Mopped up really well alongside Turner
Coker 7 Did well defensively despite having an enthusiastic but inexperienced Harrison in front of him
Timlin 7.5 Won a lot of important challenges but missed out on a few more than he has recently but so important to us.
Yearwood 7 Grew in stature as the game went on. Some good runs ending in the wrong decision to shoot (on his birthday of course he wanted to shoot) then a good run and a perfect pass for the third killer goal
Macca 6...Nothing came off for him today, well apart from that all important assist for our second. Never stopped working though.
Harrison. 7 Did well in an unfamiliar role, worked his socks off tracking back but missed a sitter
Cox 7 What a work rate, good touches. Really deserves a goal.
Lapado 7 Hold up play not as good as Fortune but brings something different, better aerial ability and pace. Seems to be getting used to League 1 football

Fortune 7 Did just what was required when he came on.
Wright Not really on long enough to warrant a rating but was very tidy and effective.

The new manager effect shows no sign of fading. What a joy it is to go to Roots Hall these days.

 

[AndyT]

Another good win. Spirit and commitment driving us through.

Portsmouth were a very tidy side. Chaplin and Lowe were outstanding for them and the two centre-halves were strong and had Ladapo and Cox covered pretty much all game, but our new found confidence of shooting from outside the box, resulted in the crucial second goal.

At the other end of the pitch, Turner and Ferdinand were outstanding for us. Brett Pitman hardly got a kick, although he did have a hand in their goal.

Top drawer effort all round from everyone.

Ratings wise :-

Oxley 7, Demetriou 8, Turner 9 MOM, Ferdinand 8.5, Coker 7.5, McLaughlin 7, Yearwood 8.5, Timlin 7.5, Harrison 7.5, Cox 7.5, Ladapo 7

I gave MOM to Turner. He won every single header, but had so much calm assurance on the ball, as well. Just a quality player really hitting top form. Ferdy was the same. The pair of them work so well together. One attacking the ball and the other dropping off 5 yards or so to sweep.

Midfield wise, a lot didn't come off for us, but it shouldn't be forgotten that that was their main area of strength. Yearwood had a superb game and was always there snapping away and getting a tackle in, but he does so much with the ball now. Just growing game by game and as I've mentioned before, when he runs with the ball he causes so many problems. As Lowe did for them.

Macca, as others have said, didn't have everything his own way today, but was always there on the edge of our box covering and clearing to safety. Got some great tackles in, as well. Harrison has a lot of tricks and did well in an unfamiliar role. I think SCP asked him to drift inside more, to cover and double up on Chaplin and Lowe.

Coxy worked hard, but I think struggled with having a new partner upfront. As for Freddie, I'm not 100% sure. Seems to be one of those irritating players who reacts to things instead of being a yard ahead of the move. Also had several opportunitites to hold and turn with the ball, but laid it back. Just like to see him use his strength a bit more and go for goal, rather than taking the safe option. Maybe this will come with time. For the moment, I would prefer MAF and Cox upfront.

Overall, we won and deservedly so. That's four wins against sides above us in the table.

Top effort! :thumbsup: