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

[amsemp]

Fantastic result and really enjoyable game! Special mentions for Deme and Yearwood who were both excellent but the overall team performance was great. The Chris Powell effect seems to have infected everyone now and it’s really pleasing to see players like Timlin returning to their best after a long spell of being a shadow of his former self - I was convinced Timlin was a spent force at one point, so it’s great to see him with some bite again.

Dru will be one hell of a player, although he’s not half bad now! He’s taken over the box to box play from Lenny and gives us what Payne never did - an output at both ends of the pitch. Exciting to see how he progresses over the rest of this season. I actually don’t think Macca was too bad today. His assist for the second goal was very good and did his share of defensive work once again. Was a little too ambitious at times and tried things which didn’t come off but I’m alright with that.

Still not convinced by Ladapo yet though. Thought it was a tad harsh on MAF to lose his place and I don’t think Ladapo did too much to keep hold of the shirt. Doesn’t win much for a big man, very heavy first touch and didn’t make too much impact. SCP made the right change getting him off for MAF first. Hopefully he’ll settle in a bit more, get used to the league and team and start showing us a bit more of what he’s capable of.

Ref had a good game. I recognised him as a Premier League ref straight away and it showed as he was miles better than some of the absolute clowns we’ve had in the middle this season. Portsmouth fans were class, but they normally are anyway. Came in big numbers and were vocal throughout. Thought it was really poor show that some decided to sing “there’s only one John Terry” at Anton when he’d had a bit of a spat with them. Not acceptable and classless.

All in all, I’m in love with SCP and it’s an absolute pleasure going to Roots Hall at the moment. The rapport he has with the players already is amazing to see. He hugged, encouraged, laughed with and congratulated every player leaving the pitch today. We’re incredibly lucky to have him here.

 

[Sleaford Shrimper]

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:

From your literal and somewhat odd translation into English of 'par hazard', I suggest that your immersion into the French language is at a very advanced stage. Well done!

 

[AndyT]

Couldn't have written it better myself 'amsemp'! :thumbsup:

 

[Welly7]

Thought today was Yearwood's most assured and confident performance yet. Not his best, but his most assured. Looked so comfortable out there and played like he felt he really belonged. Fantastic stuff from one so young.

 

[geoffmundo]

First game for a long time, but even allowing for the tribulations of taking a train to Ingatestone then rail replacement busses to Shenfield and then another to Billericay before catching the train to Southend Vic and walking to meet my younger son for a couple of beers in the sun in Hamlet Court Road, it was worth it! As was the journey back.

Thank goodness for the early goal(s). I thought until we scored that Portsmouth had looked the more threatening. Having said that I thought Harrison and Lapado were a handful for the Pompey defence causing the guy who looked like Ibrahimovic all sorts of problems. Cox too was showing all his class in holding the ball up and lay offs, not to mention the cross for the second goal. From my view I thought Harrison had chipped for the first, but somehow willing the ball to go in plays tricks and so it may have been an OG. No doubt about the second though.

We then appeared to ease off and Portsmouth perhaps flattering to deceive always looked like they had a goal in them and I had said to my son about 5 minutes earlier that I can see them scoring and they did. It looked like the type of goal we conceded under Brown, we had a few opportunities to stop/block/clear, but were unsuccessful and the ball was in the net.

2nd half I thought Portsmouth again huffed and puffed and moved the ball around quickly and one of their players fired in a shot that I fully expected to see fly in, but it missed. The sending off came at the right time and rather than having a nail biting last 10 minutes or so, the 3rd made it comfortable.

I thought Turner, Harrison, Dru and Demetriou were very good today, although I thought that a couple of times Dru overdid it and should have released earlier. I thought McLaughlin tried, but nothing really worked for him. I'm not sure about Anton. He looks uncomfortable and wooden in his movements, but his stumble in the first half did enough to put off the Portsmouth attacker before we had scored.

I was interested in seeing Pitman. One of the leagues top scorers (and looked like an old fashioned striker), but he didn't have much of a sniff today.

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

An amazing impact by Powell. He seems to have unleashed some of our players attacking prowess and just got 100% out of everyone. Why can't we get in the play offs we look unbeatable.

 

[* ORM *]

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

How good was Evans Cricko?

 

[Bratislava Blue]

Walking home quick points
Turner was my MOM harsh on demi but he was amazing at the back today
Lapado played very well today

Agree with your selection. He was the player that we expected to have when PB signed him. The knockers out there who were slagging him off before he had the chance to perform regularly now can silently sit and just admire... UTB:happy:

 

[OldBlueLady]

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.

Actually he did, a couple of times, which is why I have Anton higher rated than Turner today. That is to be nit picking though, I think the spine of our team worked and was worked incredibly hard today. Ferdinand and Turner showed every bit of experience they have, Timlin and Cox in front of them also. I thought Tims was terrific, Dru possibly trying too hard - he wasn't as good as in previous home games and I did get the feeling that they were trying to lay him a goal on a plate for his birthday. Demi though was on another level, defensively not so good but boy, did he get himself forward.

Spoke to Johnny White, Woody and Ted before kick off, everyone was enjoying the sunshine! Love the fact that Lenny came back to see us today, and presumably, was quite impressed by Dru. Hope the lads are taking him out for an 18th birthday celebration to remember this evening.

Ox - 7, didn't have a huge amount to do but wound the Pompey crowd up
Demi - 8, two goals - from a full back!
Turner - 8, loving the partnership he's formed with Anton, great header of the ball
Ferdinand - 8.5, one of Anton's best games for us
Coker - 7.5, worked hard dealing with their #18
McLaughlin - 7, felt sorry for him, was deemed to be the only outlet throughout the 2nd half and they need to look at that, put him under a lot of pressure. Also feel it's not right for a winger to be dropping back into a full back position as much as he needed to
Yearwood - 7.5, the lad is growing in stature, much as Lenny did before him
Timlin - 8, the General continues to impress, to make good tackles and to improve the performance of others around him
Harrison - 8, thought the lad was immense in the 1st half and then we didn't use him as much in the 2nd. Has the ability to make a name for himself
Cox - 9, my MOTM, he so needs a goal! Worked incredibly hard, kept trying to set up goals for others
Ladapo - 7.5, he's really not a target man but he did ok, more so in the 1st half

Subs:
Fortune for Ladapo - 7.5, did ok when he came on, he is our best "holder up of the ball"
Wright for Cox - 7, good to see him back
Bwonomo for Demetriou - n/a

Officials:
I'm no fan of Lee Probert but I thought he did ok today in allowing play to continue

 

[DCC]

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:

Hopefully it’s better than the first Rotherham game!

 

[onceknownasrab]

Well. What can I say? A Shakespeare game for sure. Portsmouth were 'Much ado about nothing', both teams made enough unforced **** ups to be a 'Comedy of errors' and the result was 'As you like it.'
Did not know for sure until late that I would get there for this game and so ended up in the West stand, 'S' block. A pesky pillar put paid to seeing bits and pieces of the game but despite that I found the match to be thoroughly entertaining.
Portsmouth came with a game plan and they intended to really bring it to us and get in our faces. They closed down well and made it a tough afternoon. Unfortunately much of what Pompey won was down to us giving it away to them with some very wayward passing and first touches that gifted them the ball.
I don't think we were on it as much as we have been of late, but regardless of that, we put in a shift and we edged it for me.
McL was uncharacteristically way off his game and even Cokes made a fair few gaffs. Ladapo, for me, had an improved game. Much of what he did was in the channels and I think that was probably the plan and he would not have been expected to win much furrowing through the centre with the two big CB's to deal with. Their number 5 and 6 were big units and the 6 looked like Mohsni's older brother but they did not look all that.
Harrison started brightly but he has to learn that he can't take longer than an egg timer when he is on the ball. Timlin appeared to be more the Captain and was marshaling all about him. Dru had a steady but quieter first half and came into it far more after the break.
Cox worked his nuts off as usual and Demi was right up for it. Our two CB's knew they were in a game but snuffed out the Pompey threat. Poor old Oxley must have thought he had the day off. He should have brought a deckchair and sat in the sunshine like the spectator he was. Mind you, he gives of the air of confidence and instills the belief about him that he would deal with anything if it had arisen. Fortune came on and looked the part as usual. Wright had no input in the game and nor did Elvis in his cameo appearance.

I haven't marked players because it was a real team performance. they were not at their very best, but as a unit they grafted hard and earned the result. There is something very reassuring when the side, not at its best, show they have the togetherness to still get the required result. Excellent.

Congrats to the players, CP et al. UTB

 

[Strykr]

Working all day..... but so good to log in to the zone and see the score, and feeling we can be safe, really dont want to go back to div 4!

There will be many ups n downs im sure under Chris's tenure, as there were with Sturrock and Brown but as it did with Tilly it just feels right again.
UTB

 

[Jai]

I think Iain Macintosh summed it up best in his fantastic article for All At Sea, but I am bursting with pride to have Chris Powell as our manager. The first five games couldn't really have gone better but it is more than that. The decorum he conducts himself with, the respect he has for his players and the fans, and the clear admiration they have for him in turn.

The honeymoon period won't last forever but clubs in towns like ours where the local club is sometimes an afterthought, it is nice to have a genuine ambassador in charge that might just encourage a few more through the gate. He's certainly encouraged a lot of my friends back, they felt alienated under Brown, not just for the results but they felt the way he conducted himself.

As for today, the damage was done to the opposition within 15 minutes, we were so quick out of the blocks. They worked their way back in and without the red card, at a time when they were pushing for a leveller, it could have been a different story.

We are generally terrible on the break and whenever we get a three on two situation, we generally fluff it. We did just that in one very promising situation in the second half involving Macca and Cox. But with Yearwood bursting forward at the death, he had the composure and quality to play a perfectly weighted pass to Demetriou to finish things off. I actually didn't enjoy the goal as much as I should as, there being no celebration from the players due to the injury I thought the whistle had gone for a foul.

Turner superb, Demetriou had his best game under Powell and was ruthless, Timlin broke up play very well and Cox just ran his heart out and links things so well. But want to save a word for one incident. There were 10 mins in the 1st half when things weren't going his way, his head dropped a little and he was trying to hard. With the ball out for our goal kick, Anton Ferdinand walked back with Dru, put his arm round him and gave him a little pep talk. Dru listened, reciprocated with an arm round Anton, and then proceeded to have an absolute stormer. Whatever you said Anton, fair play. And not such a bad game yourself.

 

[Jai]

I was interested in seeing Pitman. One of the leagues top scorers (and looked like an old fashioned striker), but he didn't have much of a sniff today.

This week's Will Grigg/Jack Marriott.

 

[Parold]

Curious game and I'm not sure that I agree with the apparent love in for Timlin and Yearwood yesterday. I thought that they both gave the ball away far too easily and were overrun at times. I actually felt the team were fairly average to a man; had it been a month or so ago, they would have been getting a fair bit of stick during the last 15 of the first half and the first 15 of the second. Thankfully a new manager has brought patience to the crowd. Turner, as most have suggested, was excellent in the air but he made a couple of woeful attempts at challenges that saw him being ghosted past. Thankfully Pompey had no real cutting edge and the sending off came at the right time for us.

The character of the team is something that did shine through and everyone gave 100% which is all I ask for.

 

[Tommy2holes]

Curious game and I'm not sure that I agree with the apparent love in for Timlin and Yearwood yesterday. I thought that they both gave the ball away far too easily and were overrun at times. I actually felt the team were fairly average to a man; had it been a month or so ago, they would have been getting a fair bit of stick during the last 15 of the first half and the first 15 of the second. Thankfully a new manager has brought patience to the crowd. Turner, as most have suggested, was excellent in the air but he made a couple of woeful attempts at challenges that saw him being ghosted past. Thankfully Pompey had no real cutting edge and the sending off came at the right time for us.

The character of the team is something that did shine through and everyone gave 100% which is all I ask for.

Agree to a certain degree but you seem to be neglecting the teams work off of the ball. To a man we work so much harder off of the ball now than the team did under Brown.

As an aside. It makes a big difference to our midfield when we have two wingers on there game to have a pass outlet.

Mclaughlin had a poor game and Harrison is not a winger. I think that effected the passing from midfield.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Mclaughlin had a poor game and Harrison is not a winger. I think that effected the passing from midfield.

I thought Harrison did perfectly ok first half down the wing, our problem was that, with no Kightly, most stuff went through McLaughlin - and by his own gestures (the amount of times he had to hold his hand up in apology) - he'll know he didn't have the best of games. What I will say though is that he is working far harder defensively than some give him credit for, and had to drop back a number of times when Demi was caught up the pitch.

 

[onceknownasrab]

I thought Harrison did perfectly ok first half down the wing, our problem was that, with no Kightly, most stuff went through McLaughlin - and by his own gestures (the amount of times he had to hold his hand up in apology) - he'll know he didn't have the best of games. What I will say though is that he is working far harder defensively than some give him credit for, and had to drop back a number of times when Demi was caught up the pitch.

Two reasonable points. Harrison did ok and McL covers back well. With Harrison, and one game on the wing tells us nothing, he looked out of place. He was willing and showed some touches but he dwelt on the ball, was second to react to much and was lightweight in the tackle. However, and this goes a long way, he appears to have the makings of a good footballer and much of it depends on what he learns from what has gone.

McL really did have a mare but he was willing, and as you say he tracked back, he worked hard and it was just an off day at the office.

What I did note, again, was Yearwood. His confidence and ability seem somewhat precocious and he really looks a fine prospect. He took one or two too many shots to try and give himself a birthday present but he has the tools. A low centre of gravity, no slouch and a brain as fast as his feet. I have said it before but the last person I saw with that turn and fast feet was Cadette and I swear Dru should consider being a fox in the box.

 

[Parold]

Agree to a certain degree but you seem to be neglecting the teams work off of the ball. To a man we work so much harder off of the ball now than the team did under Brown.

As an aside. It makes a big difference to our midfield when we have two wingers on there game to have a pass outlet.

Mclaughlin had a poor game and Harrison is not a winger. I think that effected the passing from midfield.

I'm not necessarily neglecting the work off the ball, I just don't think that they were worthy of the excessive praise yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I feel both Tims and Dru have been magnificent of late, I just felt that yesterday they weren't.

 

[wildheart]

Oxley 7 - didn't really have much to do but got a tackle in well at the end when their striker got through

Demitriou 8 - a few people were questioning whether his attacking attributes were overstated earlier in the season but he's shown how good he can be going forward today, had a good game defensively as well.
Anton 7 - Looked solid again although lost his man a couple of times
Turner 8 - Wins everything in the air
Coker 7 - Typical performance from him, although I thought he dithered for their goal and probably could have helped out his teammate.

McLaughlin 5 - Thought he had an off game today, very little came off for him aside from his assist and his crossing was wayward.
Yearwood 8 - Looked fantastic again, thank god we've got him on a long term contract because clubs higher up the pyramid are going to be looking at him soon.
Timlin 7 - he might not be a LB but he's a very good defensive midfielder, given how shaky our defence has been at times this season he's helped ease the pressure on them a lot.
Harrison 7 - looks very skillful but clearly isn't a winger, seemed to always need someone else to cross it for him and he didn't do much defensively. I'd rather see him in the middle because he looks a real threat that could make centre backs very uncomfortable.

Cox 7 - really needs to work on his long shooting because it was poor today but he held the ball up well and played some lovely balls.
Ladapo 6 - his touch is far too heavy for my liking and doesn't play the sort of intelligent balls our other 3 strikers can do. Does look powerful in the air to win 50/50s but I'm not sure whether he suits a style where we're playing a few passes along the ground before we take a shot.

Subs

Fortune 7 think he steadied the ship when we were starting to look a bit uncomfortable, held the ball up well as usual.
Wright 6 - didn't really get involved in his cameo
Elvis na

I agree with all your scores other than Harrison, he was no better than 5. I think yesterday was a welcome to pro football for him. He was caught time & time again in procession and faded very fast in the second half. Cox was working so hard when Pompey got on top after half time, the sending off knocked the wind out of their sails. Jamel Lowe was looking really dangerous. Winning ugly is something that Chrissy Powell is introducing, Harrison for me is at best a sub at the moment. He’s a bit too light weight, for the mud and guts of February in Division one. Having said that McLaughlin was awful and needs to get involved more, he just went missing? A great hard earned victory well deserved. Yearwood MOTM for me, brilliant talent!