Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 3-2 Hartlepool

[OldBlueLady]

Missed both Hartlepool goals from talking to our young man attendant, so completely unable to comment on those.

Totally different perspective from normal for me, and maybe a better view of certain people, anyway, here goes:
Mildy - 6, looked a little less assured, whether that was cos it was slippy, yet another different defensive line up or just getting excited at the thought of all the Guinness later I'm not sure
Jeff - 6, I love Jeff, but he's not a right back, he looked comfortable enough when Franny was in front of him but kept drifting into the middle
Morrison - 8, MOTM, agree with the sponsors today, the lad was immense, reminded me a lot of Dervite, best performance so far by a mile
Barrett - 7, good, brave performance from the Skip and lovely to see young Harrison out there as a mascot
Malone - 6, few shaky moments but still think he has something to offer us in this position
Laurent - 8, I hope that injury isn't too bad, he is going to be the difference for us this year, can't wait for Boxing Day when he dances all over the Ewes and destroys them
Macca - 8, saying no more except there's another assist and two decent shots just wide
Grant - 6, why? Just didn't get it
Moussa - 6, nope, still off form
Ibehre - 6, still does nothing for me other than that he's strong
Barney - 8, please don't go

Subs:
Scannell for Laurent/Walker for Grant - 7, options but no conviction

Ref:
Did well I thought, 7

Crowd:
Heard a lot of Hartlepool in 1st half and considering there was about 27 of them that was pretty amazing! Then started to hear TBV - much better!

 

[ibwiajwa]

Someone who had borrowed my mate's season ticket was sitting behind me - he never stopped moaning throughout which spoiled my enjoyment of an unusual game.
In the first half it looked as though Laurent needed to go it alone all the way to goal because every time that he set someone up to score through his outstanding wing play, they failed to even get it on target. Barnard, Macca and Moussa were all guilty of this.
The movement was poor, with hardly anyone running into gaps to make themselves available, so most of the passing went sideways. After the break we woke up.
Mildenhall: 7 Tidy enough game but weak distribution.
Malone: 7 Terrible set plays in the first half but got better and better, getting into lots of space. Put a peach of a ball into the box in the second half for Barnard's shot against the bar.
Barrett: 7 He and Laurent were our most direct attacking players in the first half! Needs to stay on his feet more in defense but a solid performance.
Morrison: 7 I like this lad. I think he has good positional sense and is a solid calm presence. Keeps his passing simple but rarely gives the ball away. Decent in the air too.
Christophe: 7 Linked up well with Laurent and Iberhe. Can cross quite well.
Moussa: 7 Committed performance. Played better than he has recently.
Macca: 6 Horrible error led to the first goal. He gave the ball away a lot in the first half but got much better in the second half. I just wish he could at least get the ball on target when he has a shooting chance.
Grant: 8 Very unlucky for their second goal. He reads the play really well and brought off a wonder tackle in our box in the second half to deny a goal scoring opportunity. I couldn't understand why he got a yellow when they were practically having to commit murder to get a booking. The tackle on Malone was cynical and got nothing. My only problem with him in the Makelele role is that the combination of him and Macca offers insufficient guile in attack.
Laurent: 9 Merveilleux.
Iberhe: 7 Holds the ball up well but he and Barnard need to play closer together.
Barnard: 9 Worked his socks off. Good movement. Well taken goals. Led by example.
Scannell: 7 Really good cross. Their left back was poo.
Walker: 6 Runs fast but to little purpose.

 

[timeveritt]

Mildenhall - 7 - Not too much to do, couldn't do anything about their goals, kicking not great today
Christophe - 8 - Great performance out of position, linked up well and put a great display in
Malone - 6 - Weakest player by a mile. But delivery ok at times.
Barrett - 8 - Commanding today. Solid performance.
Morrison - 8 - Getting better - didnt think he was MOM though, was solid enough.
Grant - 7 - Didnt see too much of him, but tidied up let macca push forwards
McCormack - 6 - Thought he was a bit disappointing today overall however saved by great work for goal.
Moussa - 7 - Looked good, solid in defence and good in attack.
Laurent - 9 - MOM - most creative player shame he went off injured, great header for the goal and so talented when he can be bothered.
Ibehre - 6 - Held ball up well in the second half but terrible miss and looked poor.
Barnard - 7 - two goals but looked off key in first half, especially that miss. Still committed performance from him

Scannell - 8 - Good not as good as laurent but good.
Walker - 7 - Looked sharp - first ive seen of him since hes come back

Ref - 7 - Average, better than usual.

Top team performance - thought even in first half our passing was good. As soon as we got one back we were onto a winner.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Tale of two halfs if ever there was one. First half, while I was confident we'd get back into it, we were pretty clueless. Nobody could seem to retain possession and we were devoid of any kind of creativity.

Mildenhall: 7 Not really at fault for the goals and looked dominant.
JFC: 6.5, Looked a little sluggish, but more than good enough to fill in at right back.
Barrett: 6, Did well but lost possession a few times.
Morrison: 8. Agreed with the MotM award, assured display.
Malone: 6, Did alright, no better than Herd whatsoever.
Laurent: 8. As good as he was, he's out most frustrating player by a mile. If he could cross, he'd be deadly.
Moussa: 7. Had a shocker playing out wide, but you literally saw him glow when he was brought inside. Ran the midfield and pulled all the strings with his passing range.
Grant: 7. Average display, put out fires all over the place.
Macca: 5. Got an assist, but criminally gave the ball away for their first goal, dwindled on the ball and gave away possession cheaply. Can't pass water.
Jabo: 6. Pretty average, held the ball up well but not much else.
Barnard: 7.5, took his goals well.

Tilson: 9. Changed the game with some truly effective substitutions.

Scannell: 7. Positioning is still questionable but posed no end of trouble to their left back and wipped in a beauty of a cross for the winner.
Walker: 6. Made a few runs, not much else.


Macca will get some good ratings because he got an assist and looked busy, but I was personally furious with his first half showing. Was directly responsible for their first goal and everytime he got the ball, the move broke down. Granted, he was much improved, as they all were, after half time but it doesn't disguise just how poor he was in the first half.

Hartlepool were **** poor, but we made hard work of it and should've won the game 3-0.

 

[Welly7]

Firstly Christoph was great at right back. Maybe he has finally found his place in the team. Stayed when he needed to and went forward to support when required.
He also remembered the most important thing in that position and that is to defend. He won pretty much everything that came down that channel and played some decent balls in. Take note Simon Francis.

Really? Thought Jeff did ok, but nothing more. Surprised he started at full back because the way we play our full backs do see a lot of the ball and I don't see Christophe being too comfortable in possession. Often he didn't seem confident enough to whip the ball in first time and the first touch enabled him to be closed down. He did well there, but I don't see him as a serious alternative to Franno.

 

[Andy_S]

Has nobody mentioned the fact that the referee had an absolute nightmare for Hartlepool and gave Clark his first booking when it should've been Humphreys? He only should've had one booking and therefore not been sent off.

A crazy game and the first half again showed up our central midfield. It's our main weakness at the moment and why we're insisting on playing one behind the other I have no idea because we're getting overrun. I'm still not understanding why Christophe played right back instead of Grant, who had a real off day. Christophe did 'ok' but positionally was all over the shop on more than one occasion and against a better team would've been punished. It didn't help that he got a nosebleed everytime he went over the halfway line.

Laurent? Incredible. He's got bags and bags of talent and on his day is too good for this league, but are we now starting to see just a little bit of consistency? Hopefully so. On the subject of right wingers I thought Scannell did exceptionally well when he came on. Walker was a headless chicken though, which is a shame because he's really improved and impressed me since he came back from Hereford.

Ratings:

Mildenhall 7: Beaten by a wonder strike and a fluke he did everything else with his hands very well, but his kicking was dreadful once he starting feeling his leg after a knock in the first half. Claimed some very difficult crosses in a dominant and commanding manner.

Christophe 6.5: Did ok on the whole but I found it a strange decision to play him there. Struggled terribly when attempting to go forward and on more than one occasion got sucked too far in and left his man completely free on crosses, but got away with it.

Morrison 7: Was solid enough and Barrett could pick up a few tips.

Barrett 6.5: Still can't get through 5 minutes without giving away a needless foul by hugging or wrestling his man, but due to Hartlepool's lack of cutting edge he got away with it on the whole.

Malone 6: If he's better than Herd then I'm from Mozambique.

Laurent 8: Fantastic. Ripped them to bits on his own in the first half and got a goal that he deserved. Hopefully he'll shake off pain from that nasty cut to his leg and be available for Exeter because he's our key player at the moment. Yes, even more than Barnard.

Grant 6: Had a bit of a mare. Struggled from the outset, both with playing in this new deeper position and seemingly with fitness as the bench asked more than once if he was alright. Guilty with McCormack for their first goal and Moussa straight away slotted in better when he moved inside. Still think he should've played right back.

McCormack 6.5: He goes up .5 for the assist for the second goal. But I'm sorry, you do not, I repeat do not try a cushioned header like that on the edge of your own box normally, but to do it when one of your own team mates has just been caught dallying in the same position makes it even more criminal. As usual he bombed around the pitch making anyone and everyone nervous that he was going to do something silly, gave the ball away more often than not and bullied Moussa everytime he did something wrong. That will really help Franck's confidence. I will give him praise for his assist though.

Moussa 6.5: Again he seemed to struggle on the left, not helped by the continual berating he got from his anger management needing Irish team mate, but he improved once he moved into the middle. Did try to make things happen though by running with the ball, but unfortunately too much is not coming off for him at the moment.

Ibehre 6.5: Will always be a handful for teams, but I think his first 3 games for us have summed up his career. Against Norwich he looked very impressive indeed, yet today he kept tripping over his own feet and laying the ball off to non existent team mates. And just how did he miss that guilt edged chance? Worked hard and always provided an outlet though.

Barnard 6.5: Missed 2 very good chances but then put 2 away. Other than that it was the usual from Barney - he ran around a lot, tried to link things up but at the end of the day there was a lot of huff and puff without being a star performer. That's the reason why I'd be surprised if a bigish Championship team came in for him, yes he gets goals but his all round game doesn't make him stick out.

Subs:

Scannell 7: I thought he was very impressive when he came on. As well as the superb cross for the winner, he worked hard and caused Hartlepool lots of trouble.

Walker 6: Ran around like a headless chicken without really doing much other than that dreadful shot that found Christophe by the corner flag.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Macca will get some good ratings because he got an assist and looked busy, but I was personally furious with his first half showing. Was directly responsible for their first goal and everytime he got the ball, the move broke down. Granted, he was much improved, as they all were, after half time but it doesn't disguise just how poor he was in the first half.

Hartlepool were **** poor, but we made hard work of it and should've won the game 3-0.

You really need to stop having such a downer on him, outsiders come to our matches and rate him, unfortunately supporters of his own team fail to see what he contributes.

 

[chapperzUK]

Laurent was superb. Even when they paired up against him, he still got through and fully deserved his goal

 

[Suffolk Shrimper In Dorset]

Thought there was a good turnout today given poor run of form and 'attraction' (for the hen pecked and criminally insane) of Xmas shopping.

Poss something to do with the idea of giving some scholls a cut on the ticket price if they sold tickets which I thought was an excellent idea.

 

[EastStandBlue]

You really need to stop having such a downer on him, outsiders come to our matches and rate him, unfortunately supporters of his own team fail to see what he contributes.

No, I actually don't. He was dreadful in the first half today, he certainly contributed something for Hartlepool in providing them with their first goal and possession everytime he was given the ball. Ripped Moussa to shreds everytime he made a mistake, perhaps if he spent as much time concentrating on his own game he'd have a leg to stand on when dishing out the criticism.

 

[Andy_S]

You really need to stop having such a downer on him, outsiders come to our matches and rate him, unfortunately supporters of his own team fail to see what he contributes.

It does work both ways though. For instance you need to realise when he doesn't play well, which was most definitely the case in the first half today. And his public slagging off of Moussa was nothing short of appalling.

 

[C'mon you Shrimpers]

You really need to stop having such a downer on him, outsiders come to our matches and rate him, unfortunately supporters of his own team fail to see what he contributes.

very true, but few of the "experts" on here will agree. Thank God Tilson recognises his strengths.

 

[Andy_S]

Thought there was a good turnout today given poor run of form and 'attraction' (for the hen pecked and criminally insane) of Xmas shopping.

Poss something to do with the idea of giving some scholls a cut on the ticket price if they sold tickets which I thought was an excellent idea.

Yep, I was staggered at the size of the crowd today. I thought given the time of year, the way we've been doing and the fact it was a game against a mid table side, that we'd be lucky if we got just over 6,000.

 

[Magnum PI]

very true, but few of the "experts" on here will agree. Thank God Tilson recognises his strengths.

Tilson has hardly had any other choice lately has he?

 

[OldBlueLady]

It does work both ways though. For instance you need to realise when he doesn't play well, which was most definitely the case in the first half today. And his public slagging off of Moussa was nothing short of appalling.

My perspective didn't indicate a particularly bad first half though, and that's nothing about being biased, it just really didn't

 

[CyrilSneer]

I've scanned over the other reports. Of course we were simply outstanding second half. For me Malone was the biggest transformation. Awful defensively and position wise first half. Second half I thought he was brilliant. No way should we have been 2-0 down at half time. A poor header from Grant let Boyd hit a swinger for the first, and the second a poor header from Morrison allowed Monkhouse a shot which took a massive deflection. Barnard should have scored 2 in the first half no question. The second opportunity was created by Laurent who was simply unplayable. Second half, we were brilliant. Barnard put his chances away this time, and ironically we may not have scored the third if Laurent has been on the pitch. Laurent is a better player than Scannell, but he isnt a crosser of the ball. Scanell crossed first time for Barnard who put it away with a great header. It isn't often you come back from a 2-0 half time deficit. From memory Darlington at home was the last time we did this. Overall a great 3 points that we so needed.

 

[class]

My perspective didn't indicate a particularly bad first half though, and that's nothing about being biased, it just really didn't

Other than an assist for the away team? M-O-T-M for sure!!

 

[OldBlueLady]

Other than an assist for the away team? M-O-T-M for sure!!

I refer you to Cyril Sneer's post above!

 

[united we stand]

I dont usually post on the match report threads, but i would like to say a few things.

Firstly Christoph was great at right back. Maybe he has finally found his place in the team. Stayed when he needed to and went forward to support when required.
.

A

appart from a moment in the first half when he found himself in the left wing - don't know what theat was all about, Going forwards I felt he was far less effective than Francos- but he did improve the longer the game went on. Would be OK seeing him there again

 

[GBJ]

No, I actually don't. He was dreadful in the first half today, he certainly contributed something for Hartlepool in providing them with their first goal and possession everytime he was given the ball. Ripped Moussa to shreds everytime he made a mistake, perhaps if he spent as much time concentrating on his own game he'd have a leg to stand on when dishing out the criticism.

I heard he and Moussa had to be pulled apart by Barrett in the 1st half, as Macca was giving moose a real earfull for an earlier shot?

This is the part of Macca that annoys me the most. He did it several times in pre-season with Laurent, and has been upto the same antics today. The guy needs to change his attitude. He has no god-given right to lambast other team mates, when his own performances have been very below standard this season.