Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 3-3 Fleetwood Town

[duncan bulgaria]

2 poor goals conceded , centre mid is a huge problem for us , we let their 8 and 15 just run the whole game today , Mantom was sitting right on the centre backs toes all game and offered nothing in the way of protection, the 8 just passed it round him and had acres to expose our full backs .
We have a long way to go to get out of this mess , without Humpfreys we are a very poor side .

Oxley 6. 2 good saves , 2 poor goals conceded
Elvis 6. Lots of energy but was left exposed at times and they got behind us to often
Lennon 5. Average
Kiernan 5 as above
Blackman 4 unfit
Mantom 5 An honest pro , tries hard but is not what we need at this moment in time
Hamilton 5. Hmmmm just don’t see what he brings I’m afraid , is he a ball winning CM or an engine, on today’s performance his not going to unlock oppositions defences .
Hutchinson 5 . Never in the game today
Macca 6.5 worked hard today and showed some glimpses of quality on the ball
Cox 5 one great through ball in the first half but wasn’t his best game today
Humpfreys 8 where would we be without him

Subs 6 looked better for the changes

Fleetwood looked a good side and was very impressed with their one touch football at times , their 3rd goal was a great team goal and they had some clever set pieces up their sleeve

 

[Tombstone Blues]

Agree with most of that apart from....

“Cox 5 one great through ball in the first half but wasn’t his best game today”

Pretty sure this was a ball Hutchinson played through to Humphrys?

 

[Mr Browns Ghost]

Is it our defenders or is it the midfield that exposes the defence or a combination of the 2.

my take on it is this..

its the central midfield partnership that have since the start of last season and through to now been totally non existent, they neither create chance or pick their man up and stop the runs.. that in itself makes it like trying to win games with a 9 man team,Im sorry Manton is absolutely shocking.. he would be better off being a Blue Bell at half time. My only hope is that Milligan in potentially not such a ridiculous deep link role will be able to be the holding anker type player? Id that is the case we may have a chance.. I would be inclined to try Milligan and Hutchinson in the central pair, lets honestly face it they cant be worse that the current central pair.

Oxley we know is a weak minded keeper hes never going to go 'in where it hurts' and that also is a massive negative for us too. It was lovely to see us play with wingers today and actually try to use them, instead of putting 20 passes together in our own 18 yard box then losing it. Today had much more fight, and more importantly the players are speaking very positively about Waddock, I can only assume he is not Cox's first choice of manager though as I thought he was absolutely awful today, I would be surprised if he scores again for us (i'm a huge fan, but clearly something isn't right)

 

[Rayleigh boy]

Oxley. 5.
One goal down to him. 2 good saves

Elvis - 8 we are over reliant on him. He needs to add a bit of craftiness into his game.

Blackman 5.
Tired - but competent for 60 mins.

Kiernon - 8 - thought he looked like he had leadership and ability

Lennon - 6 - was keeping it simple !

Hutchinson - 5 not ready for this level. Not combative and lost his man - which cost us a goal.

Mantom 7. He is always trying to do 2 men’s work

Hamilton - 6 just struggled against a good midfield - looked lightweight in a league 1 battle

Macca - 8 - good stuff from Macca - all game offering threat, good goal and always does his defensive shift

Cox - 6. Maybe he just had an off day, maybe his pre season injury has screwed him, maybe he loved Bond, maybe he’s had enough...

Humphrys - 9.9 - this boys s diamond and proper wants it.

Goodship - 7 done his job
Demetrius 7 done his job
Ladukdu 5 - he has to do defensive

Waddock - wants it ... and has got the players believing. A lot of the fancy dan ideas are gone and the players seem to have more confidence.

Fleetwood were a good league one team and I think with some beef in midfield we will be ok..

We need to be playing Dieng Mantom Hamilton and Macca in middle ..

Hump plus one up top -,

Could be a good season if they can learn to hold a winning position

 

[united we stand]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1172916396726071302

That says a lot to me! Don’t think Bond was liked by the players.

It’s well worth listening to the whole interview, He doesn’t say anything about bond directly but implies a lot

 

[Evening Echo]

GARY Waddock was pleased to start his spell as Southend United’s caretaker manager with an entertaining 3-3 draw against Fleetwood Town at Roots Hall.

More...

 

[Harry Bullocks]

Blackman & Hutch caught out too many times today...inexperience of playing together....youth .??
Unsure on this one; but isn't Hutch's "best" position CM - not LM >??

 

[Tombstone Blues]

Blackman & Hutch caught out too many times today...inexperience of playing together....youth .??
Unsure on this one; but isn't Hutch's "best" position CM - not LM >??

He played right mid. He was over that side with Blackman once and it was following our corner to save Macca from trying to get back across...looking at it on the replays neither he Blackman or Hamilton cover themselves in glory

 

[BARNETBLUE]

Is it our defenders or is it the midfield that exposes the defence or a combination of the 2.

Combination of the two IMO

 

[Harry Bullocks]

Macca played well, he was up for it...great free kick.
Elvis was really impressive today...got caught once by Evans, otherwise excellent
Humph...2 goals....confidence levels climbing..
Ox several good saves to keep us in it, one fumble?? couldn't see it allowed them in

Happy days...TBV in full voice, West pleasantly buzzing...one point, thought that we'd won the league !!

One point of concern; end of the 1st half, in injury time and 1-2 down...playing "you take the throw in, no you do it"....surely go for bloody goal and possible equaliser ….hmmmmmmmmmmm

Anyway; belated Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa x 3

 

[Harry Bullocks]

Oh yeah....many thanks Tokyo Blue & RHB for the travel tips.....a great run to "The Hall" and back...

 

[rayleigh dan]

I think the comments so far are a bit harsh on Hutchinson, yeah he was naive defensively and burned himself out ball chasing, but in the attacking third he was decent in that good first half hour.

He made some good runs into the box and had the initial shot when Macca hooked the rebound over, plus he played a neat ball through for Humphrys 1 on 1.

He's definately a 'work in progress', but I for one would play him over Ndukwu. He's shown even less defensively, and again today gave up on a defensive run back at the half way line, leaving us completely exposed. Yet somehow Ndukwu got more votes than Hutchinson to start in the pre match thread, and some have called for him to start on Tuesday.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

Agree with most of that apart from....

“Cox 5 one great through ball in the first half but wasn’t his best game today”

Pretty sure this was a ball Hutchinson played through to Humphrys?

It was in the inside left channel , maybe mistaken but pretty sure it was Cox

On another note I was closer to the pitch than normal today and not vocal enough across the whole field , how no one on the pitch can organise the midfield is worrying .

As a CB I would be screaming at Mantom to go right on his man and press when need be .

 

[Shrimpergonzo]

Blackman 3.
Tired and incompetent for 60 mins.

Corrected that for you....

 

[rayleigh dan]

Oxley 6 - Mixed bag, made some great saves but looked rooted to his line for Fleetwood's first, plus perhaps could have done better with the initial shot for their second.

Bwomono 7 - Pick of the defense again, kept things simple and did little wrong.
Kiernon 6 - Looked very impressive early on, but perhaps understandardly faded, and struggled at times in the second half.
Lennon 5 - No howling errors, but looks nervous. He doesn't convince me at all and we still haven't won a league game when he's started.
Blackman 3 - Not good enough. Looks what he is, a non league player, out of position constantly in the second half and should have been subbed far earlier.

Hutchinson 6 - Good going forwards, poor defensively (see my earlier post). Ran out of steam badly.
Mantom 5 - Tried his best but chasing shadows for much of the game.
Hamilton 5 - Better in regards to effort, a couple of nice touches. Otherwise chasing shadows like Mantom.
McLaughlin 7 - Best game for ages, great free kick. Faded after the break.

Cox 5 - Decent enough early on, but did very little after Fleetwood's equaliser. Somehow doesn't look the same player who's top scored for 3 years. Is it fitness, age, or something else?
Humphrys MOM 8 - Missed a decent chance in the first half but made up for it in the second. Horribly isolated, yet still scored two, he's a real talent.

Subs
Demetriou 6 - Did okay, no glaring errors. Much better than Blackman anyway!
Goodship 5 - Found it hard to make an impression.
Ndukwu 5 - Won an early corner, otherwise ditto Goodship. Poor tracking back too.

 

[wiggy]

Macca played well, he was up for it...great free kick.
Elvis was really impressive today...got caught once by Evans, otherwise excellent
Humph...2 goals....confidence levels climbing..
Ox several good saves to keep us in it, one fumble?? couldn't see it allowed them in

Happy days...TBV in full voice, West pleasantly buzzing...one point, thought that we'd won the league !!

One point of concern; end of the 1st half, in injury time and 1-2 down...playing "you take the throw in, no you do it"....surely go for bloody goal and possible equaliser ….hmmmmmmmmmmm

Anyway; belated Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa x 3

.......keepers are there to make saves....unfortunately he has given them the impetus yet again by not claiming a cross, unchallenged two yards out.....what Lee Harisson works on i really can't work out?

 

[rayleigh dan]

It was in the inside left channel , maybe mistaken but pretty sure it was Cox

On another note I was closer to the pitch than normal today and not vocal enough across the whole field , how no one on the pitch can organise the midfield is worrying .

As a CB I would be screaming at Mantom to go right on his man and press when need be .

I thought it was Hutchinson too?! Guess we'll have to wait for the highlights.

 

[wiggy]

...and before you say it, Flavs was rubbish on crosses but was 5ft 10..... Oxley is 6ft 4 but is a Corbyn chicken!

 

[OldBlueLady]

Really enjoyed the game, nice to have some butterflies of anticipation rather than feelings of dread.

I don't know how many times I have to say that our problems all stem from an inadequate central midfield. I know Bond was offered the chance of Timlin but didn't want him, well, if Waddock is in the role for any time then I'd be snapping his hand off to get him in and teach our CMs how to play the role. Hyam has the capability if he'd stop poncing around with his shorts rolled up and was able to stay fit, but none of the others do.

After the criticism of McLaughlin on another thread, I was delighted to see him come in with such clear determination to do well - what a huge difference he made in the 1st half. Thankfully Stevie Humphrys also looked to be at his most forceful today and the two of them, along with Elvis, were our star performers.

Kiernan and Lennon look to be our best defensive pairing, and I think generally, they did ok. People who say Harry can't play the ball with his feet should look at an excellent pass out to Ndukwu in the 2nd half, and other passes out to the wings rather than passing the ball 15 times across the pitch. The problem defensively was LB. Blackman's defensive work was dreadful, out of position so often and causing others to be pulled out of position to cover. Ox made a few great saves but still needs to be braver and to release the ball quicker.

Coxy looked a bit off the pace to me today but still seemed to be playing well with Humps, which was good as I'm sure I'd read of issues between them on here recently. Mantom is so ordinary it's untrue and I think Hamilton needs someone much stronger alongside to work with. Hutch looked a bit out of his depth.

Great to have our first point of the season, now it's time to build from that.

Oxley - 5
Bwomono - 7
Kiernan - 6
Lennon - 6
Blackman - 4
Hutchinson - 5
Hamilton - 6
Mantom - 5
McLaughlin - 8
Cox - 6
Humphrys - 8, MOTM

 

[Rayleigh boy]

Roots Hall moaners, manic depressives, very unhappy people, 1.

The "hes ****e" "he effing useless" "he doesn't try" brigade 2.

The people enjoying a good game of football. 7