Uncle Leo
This cook is an anti-semite
BRAVE BLUES BUCKLE AS CUP RUN ENDS
Southend’s wonderful Carling Cup adventure ended at White Hart Lane tonight, but they can be immensely proud of the performance they put in against the Premierships in-form team.
Tottenham had won their previous 10 home games and had dented Manchester City’s home record at the weekend, but Southend doggedly kept them at bay and the gulf in class rarely showed.
In a slow start, both sides played decent football through the midfield but chances were at a premium. Then, after 20 minutes, Southend found themselves penned back in their own half. The best chance fell to Mido, whose snapshot from a Defoe cross smacked against the underside of the bar before bouncing to safety,l although Darryl made two other fine saves to keep Southend in it.
Spencer Prior limped out of the action to be replaced by Peter Clarke, who showed exactly why Tilly brought him to the club. He was in his proper position and stood up to Defoe and Mido manfully, putting in a very impressive performance.
Southend’s cutting edge – or lack of it – was evident as time and time again a visiting player found themselves within shooting distance of the goal but instead of testing Robinson, they chose to play the ball wide or square. Campbell-Ryce found it hard to cope against the sheer size and stature of the Spurs defence, yet it was he who had the best Blues chance of the first half. Eastwood’s shot was blocked but the ball ran to JCR, who appeared to be on his own 15 yards out, but seemingly out of nowhere a defender slid across to block. Gower, enjoying his return to the lane, shot wide in the final action of a first half where the home fans had been strangely subdued.
I missed the first few minutes of the second half having spent the vast majority of the interval queuing for the toilets. Seriously, how disgraceful is that? It’s not as though that was a one-off big crowd as they get that every week. Poor show Tottenham.
Fortunately I didn’t miss much and it was Southend who had the better of the second period. Tottenham hardly showed at all and Southend began to look a little more threatening. Eastwood and Bradbury were kept fairly quiet, but Gower, JCR and McCormack imposed themselves on the game, eclipsing their more illustrious midfield opponents. Defensively Blues were magnificent to a man, and with a little more luck Southend could have won it in normal time. JCR had a late shot deflect wide past a wrong footed Robinson, and Sodje had a header that literally dropped inches the wrong side of the post with the keeper beaten.
It was Flahavan though who guaranteed extra time with a superb reflex tip over from Mido’s header that at least equalled anything he had produced to deny Ronaldo in the previous round. Just writing that sentence has again made me realise just how far we have come in the last few years. We have kept 2 clean sheets (over 90 minutes, anyway) against two of the best sides in the country. Amazing.
In extra time Southend were really out on their feet but still battled manfully and Spurs were restricted to long range efforts. The home crowd were deathly silent, no doubt wondering how they were going to win a penalty shoot out against a team that had converted their last 26 spot kicks! But with 6 minutes left and just seconds after the introduction of Hooper for JCR, Mido and Berbatov linked up and a square ball across the box was prodded home from close range by an offside Defoe. Ironically if JCR had still been on the pitch he would have been in the area where the move started and it may have been prevented but that is not to be critical of Hooper in any way. Immediately after the restart he did something that no Southend player had done in the match before by getting behind the defenders to the bye line and fizzed a low cross across goal that was inches away from a sliding Bradbury. Freddy picked up the loose ball and at last fired in a shot that stung Robinsons hands.
That was that though, and despite winning a couple of free kicks in potentially dangerous areas, Southend’s weary heroes could not find a way through and the cheers from the home fans were more of relief than delight.
For me, our problems are now crystal clear. We are clearly playing in the wrong division. We have the worst defensive record in the Championship but have yet to concede a goal in normal time to a Premiership side. We play better against the better sides and our next four fixtures against Birmingham, Norwich, Coventry and WBA give us the chance to put that theory to the test. We will be the underdog on every occasion, with no pressure. My only concern is that last nights massive effort may have taken it’s toll on players like McCormack who is probably not yet match fit. But the players should have their heads held high after a superb run, and should use this to enforce the belief that they can get out of the predicament they are in at the bottom of the CCC.
Ratings –
Flahavan – 8.5 – Made several good saves but some of the place kicking was stragely awry.
Hunt – 8 – A great performance in his more natural position
Hammell – 8 – Looked comfortable and was always an outlet for Darryl and Maher
Prior – 7 – Looked solid enough until he had to go off injured
Sodje – 9 – MOM – A phenomenal performance against that quality. What a player for us and surely it is no co-incidence that since his return from injury we have tightened up the defence considerably
Gower – 8 – Enjoyed his return to the Lane and came close in the first half
Maher – 6 - The only disappointing midfield performer for me. There were too many “league 2” balls dinked in the air to no-one in particular.
McCormack – 8.5 – Gave everything, ran himself into the ground and demonstrated to Maher what he should be doing. Cramped up repeatedly and was subbed with 3 minutes to go.
JCR – 7 – People will no doubt be critical of the fact that he didn’t produce the final ball but against the quality of opposition and the fact that there was no-one in the box to receive it he was faced with few options. Interesting that the Spurs fans also gave him generous applause when he was replaced by Hooper.
Eastwood – 6.5 – Showed some nice touches but if he wants to play in the Premiership he’ll have to do a lot better than he did last night.
Bradbury – 6.5 – Not given a look in by Davenport or Dawson although he did hold up play well on a few occasions in the second half. Otherwise anonymous.
Subs –
Clarke – 8.5 – Nearly a MOM performance and hopefully this will highlight exactly what he can do. Whist he has had a few shockers, this game proved that he was well worth the money spent.
Hooper – 7 – Lively when he came on
Francis – 6 – Not on long enough to make an impact
The ref – Mr Dowd – 5 – Gave Spurs more than he gave us. The goal was offside and the assistant missed it. Obviously miles better in terms of letting the game flow than some of the jokers we have had this year but how we ended up with 2 players booked I don’t know.
The Stadium – 5 – Good view, good atmosphere. I’d like to be in it when it was an end-to-end match and really buzzing. However – pathetic toilet facilities that were more worthy of the Conference than the Prem and why did it take so long to get out by car? The roads were gridlocked. Surely they don’t have to put up with that every week? I’m glad I don’t.
Southend’s wonderful Carling Cup adventure ended at White Hart Lane tonight, but they can be immensely proud of the performance they put in against the Premierships in-form team.
Tottenham had won their previous 10 home games and had dented Manchester City’s home record at the weekend, but Southend doggedly kept them at bay and the gulf in class rarely showed.
In a slow start, both sides played decent football through the midfield but chances were at a premium. Then, after 20 minutes, Southend found themselves penned back in their own half. The best chance fell to Mido, whose snapshot from a Defoe cross smacked against the underside of the bar before bouncing to safety,l although Darryl made two other fine saves to keep Southend in it.
Spencer Prior limped out of the action to be replaced by Peter Clarke, who showed exactly why Tilly brought him to the club. He was in his proper position and stood up to Defoe and Mido manfully, putting in a very impressive performance.
Southend’s cutting edge – or lack of it – was evident as time and time again a visiting player found themselves within shooting distance of the goal but instead of testing Robinson, they chose to play the ball wide or square. Campbell-Ryce found it hard to cope against the sheer size and stature of the Spurs defence, yet it was he who had the best Blues chance of the first half. Eastwood’s shot was blocked but the ball ran to JCR, who appeared to be on his own 15 yards out, but seemingly out of nowhere a defender slid across to block. Gower, enjoying his return to the lane, shot wide in the final action of a first half where the home fans had been strangely subdued.
I missed the first few minutes of the second half having spent the vast majority of the interval queuing for the toilets. Seriously, how disgraceful is that? It’s not as though that was a one-off big crowd as they get that every week. Poor show Tottenham.
Fortunately I didn’t miss much and it was Southend who had the better of the second period. Tottenham hardly showed at all and Southend began to look a little more threatening. Eastwood and Bradbury were kept fairly quiet, but Gower, JCR and McCormack imposed themselves on the game, eclipsing their more illustrious midfield opponents. Defensively Blues were magnificent to a man, and with a little more luck Southend could have won it in normal time. JCR had a late shot deflect wide past a wrong footed Robinson, and Sodje had a header that literally dropped inches the wrong side of the post with the keeper beaten.
It was Flahavan though who guaranteed extra time with a superb reflex tip over from Mido’s header that at least equalled anything he had produced to deny Ronaldo in the previous round. Just writing that sentence has again made me realise just how far we have come in the last few years. We have kept 2 clean sheets (over 90 minutes, anyway) against two of the best sides in the country. Amazing.
In extra time Southend were really out on their feet but still battled manfully and Spurs were restricted to long range efforts. The home crowd were deathly silent, no doubt wondering how they were going to win a penalty shoot out against a team that had converted their last 26 spot kicks! But with 6 minutes left and just seconds after the introduction of Hooper for JCR, Mido and Berbatov linked up and a square ball across the box was prodded home from close range by an offside Defoe. Ironically if JCR had still been on the pitch he would have been in the area where the move started and it may have been prevented but that is not to be critical of Hooper in any way. Immediately after the restart he did something that no Southend player had done in the match before by getting behind the defenders to the bye line and fizzed a low cross across goal that was inches away from a sliding Bradbury. Freddy picked up the loose ball and at last fired in a shot that stung Robinsons hands.
That was that though, and despite winning a couple of free kicks in potentially dangerous areas, Southend’s weary heroes could not find a way through and the cheers from the home fans were more of relief than delight.
For me, our problems are now crystal clear. We are clearly playing in the wrong division. We have the worst defensive record in the Championship but have yet to concede a goal in normal time to a Premiership side. We play better against the better sides and our next four fixtures against Birmingham, Norwich, Coventry and WBA give us the chance to put that theory to the test. We will be the underdog on every occasion, with no pressure. My only concern is that last nights massive effort may have taken it’s toll on players like McCormack who is probably not yet match fit. But the players should have their heads held high after a superb run, and should use this to enforce the belief that they can get out of the predicament they are in at the bottom of the CCC.
Ratings –
Flahavan – 8.5 – Made several good saves but some of the place kicking was stragely awry.
Hunt – 8 – A great performance in his more natural position
Hammell – 8 – Looked comfortable and was always an outlet for Darryl and Maher
Prior – 7 – Looked solid enough until he had to go off injured
Sodje – 9 – MOM – A phenomenal performance against that quality. What a player for us and surely it is no co-incidence that since his return from injury we have tightened up the defence considerably
Gower – 8 – Enjoyed his return to the Lane and came close in the first half
Maher – 6 - The only disappointing midfield performer for me. There were too many “league 2” balls dinked in the air to no-one in particular.
McCormack – 8.5 – Gave everything, ran himself into the ground and demonstrated to Maher what he should be doing. Cramped up repeatedly and was subbed with 3 minutes to go.
JCR – 7 – People will no doubt be critical of the fact that he didn’t produce the final ball but against the quality of opposition and the fact that there was no-one in the box to receive it he was faced with few options. Interesting that the Spurs fans also gave him generous applause when he was replaced by Hooper.
Eastwood – 6.5 – Showed some nice touches but if he wants to play in the Premiership he’ll have to do a lot better than he did last night.
Bradbury – 6.5 – Not given a look in by Davenport or Dawson although he did hold up play well on a few occasions in the second half. Otherwise anonymous.
Subs –
Clarke – 8.5 – Nearly a MOM performance and hopefully this will highlight exactly what he can do. Whist he has had a few shockers, this game proved that he was well worth the money spent.
Hooper – 7 – Lively when he came on
Francis – 6 – Not on long enough to make an impact
The ref – Mr Dowd – 5 – Gave Spurs more than he gave us. The goal was offside and the assistant missed it. Obviously miles better in terms of letting the game flow than some of the jokers we have had this year but how we ended up with 2 players booked I don’t know.
The Stadium – 5 – Good view, good atmosphere. I’d like to be in it when it was an end-to-end match and really buzzing. However – pathetic toilet facilities that were more worthy of the Conference than the Prem and why did it take so long to get out by car? The roads were gridlocked. Surely they don’t have to put up with that every week? I’m glad I don’t.
