Southend v Rovers

[Rockford's Love Child]

You wonder if it was a bit negative given Southend’s poor home form altho a few draws recently. Rochdales win shows a bit of a gap developing.

A shame CBT didn’t start after his second half at Watford.

In reality, I think the final relegation place will be between us and Wimbledon.

 

[bigmart]

You wonder if it was a bit negative given Southend’s poor home form altho a few draws recently. Rochdales win shows a bit of a gap developing.

A shame CBT didn’t start after his second half at Watford.

that we there first clean sheet at home this season

 

[Sparky]

A striker is a priority. As good as Ferrier has been, he got 4 last season for Walsall and isn’t guaranteed to score regularly. Payne and Mullin aren’t up to it. Miller has gone and ponticelli was a waste of a signing.

The problem is Micky prefers one up front so can he bring in a striker who will get us some goals??

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Ferrier was very poor today and I agree we need more up top, particularly if Jennings is out. However, a better striker might not be achievable.

 

[bigmart]

We could also do with a decent Wideman as well as only Morris has played well outside this season. Disappointed with the formation today and surprise surprise woods injured again

 

[Sparky]

More rumours we’re looking at Danny rowe but surely not the answer

 

[bigmart]

More rumours we’re looking at Danny rowe but surely not the answer

He has also been linked with ipswich

 

[Ian]

For a team that has conceded an incredible 65 goals already it’s disappointing that we couldn’t at least put one past them. We simply do not secure enough goals and are lacking serious quality up front.

 

[bigmart]

For a team that has conceded an incredible 65 goals already it’s disappointing that we couldn’t at least put one past them. We simply do not secure enough goals and are lacking serious quality up front.

We are desperate for a decent striker and winger if we are to have any chance of staying up

 

[Brightonian]

One positive was Clarke seems to have added some organisation and determination to the defence, thought he had a good game and more mobile than expected. Woodward for me had a very mixed game, too early to judge but sometimes tried the clever tricks when the safe option may have been wiser. Somehow I haven't seem Ferrier before except on Tv and despite his efforts achieved very little and was disappointing.
It wasn't hard to see why both teams are at the wrong end of the table.
Wonder if you feel Ollie Banks will getting a starting place soon? I know he can be a bit frustrating but having someone driving forward maybe is what we lack and he is always likely to produce that bit of magic which we didn't have much of today.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

A disappointing, poor quality game, but not the catastrophe some are suggesting.

I thought we were bright in the first twenty minutes, creating three or four chances, at least one of which should have been converted. However, in the middle of the half we lost our way. Southend are clearly scrapping for everything under Campbell, and their high press and closing down disrupted us, and our decision making on the ball was poor for the majority of the rest of the game. I don't think the 532 formation helped either, as a number of players seemed uncomfortable with the system and our most creative player, Morris, was wasted as a wing back in a match that was crying out for quality in the final third. The injury to Jennings disrupted us further. That said, I thought we continued to make the better chances, the best of which were for Jennings at the end of the first half and Danns midway through the second.

The positives for me were the performances of Clarke and Woodyard. Clarke gave us the organisation at the back we have lacked all season and won the majority of balls into our box, and I don't think it is any coincidence we picked up a clean sheet on his league debut. Similarly, I was impressed with Woodyard's energy and running and his ability to win back possession, and he was also tidier on the ball than I expected. We look a more solid side with the addition of those two.

However, pretty much everybody else was below par and some individual displays were pretty awful. Ferrier did not do his job of holding up the ball and laying it off, and Mullin was no better when he came on. Monthe was booked early on and seemed to lose his composure and put in an erratic performance. Caprice was very poor and I am still not convinced by Woods (he is injured again anyway). Perkins and Danns actually looked tidier and more comfortable with the assistance of Woodyard in midfield, but as Brightonian says, there was a real lack of creativity in the centre of the pitch, something Banks (or A.N.Other) can perhaps improve. Chapman was terrible, gifting Southend their two best chances of the game through poor clearances and dubious decision making. He was reluctant to come off his line all afternoon, and Clarke had to bail him out on a couple of occasions. Hopefully Scott will be back soon. Jennings played well before going off.

A disjointed performance, but Southend have improved under Campbell, drawing with Burton, Rotherham and MK Dons recently, and it was never going to be easy to walk away with three points today.

 

[Sparky]

Thanks for the reports. Morris at wing back baffles me and it drove me mad against Coventry. Up until recently he’s been player of the season for me with goals and assists. His left foot is lethal. I’m not sure whether perks, Danns and Woodward all playing together gives us enough attacking threat from midfield.

I’m not convinced banks will be the saviour than some people are making out. He’s not someone we can rely on week in week out at this level imo.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I’m not convinced banks will be the saviour than some people are making out. He’s not someone we can rely on week in week out at this level imo.

I agree. Which is why I think we should always play Morris in an advanced role, because without him there is not much creativity.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Trying desperately hard to find the positives.
1. Friendly ground.
2. Clean sheet!!
3. Clarke and Woodyard played solidly and now know their teammates better. They can both hit long balls accurately.
4. I suspect Tuesday was on the mind of the players and they were not taking one game at a time.

Both sides had chances to win. Our best was when Ferrier broke free and fired wide with only the keeper to beat. For most of the time he was isolated and well shackled by a home defence which unbelievably had shipped 65 goals already this season. Fortunately, the Rovers defence was equally resolute, although two or three misunderstandings in the first half would have been punished by better strikers.

I was impressed with Chapman, who stayed cool under pressure, as did my MoM, Kieron Morris. Danns looked lively in his new forward role but was lucky to stay on the field when on a booking he petulantly kicked the ball away in protest at a throw-in call. Our midfield was often caught in possession by a determined Southend team and the final ball too often went astray. I was not the only one who thought CBT should have been brought on earlier to give the home defence something to think about, but when he appeared it was too little too late.

The excellent SWA, all 392 of us, got increasingly frustrated and many expressed their feelings at the end. I had forgotten how much quicker League One football is, so the game was never boring. However, technically it was the worst Rovers game I've seen since my last 0-0 draw - at Boreham Wood in our middle season in the NL. We then went on a record run of away games without defeat. I fear that is unlikely to happen this time.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

CBT is carrying a hamstring injury and was only fit enough for a cameo role apparently.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

CBT is carrying a hamstring injury and was only fit enough for a cameo role apparently.

That explains it, but Micky must have been desperate enough for a win to risk him. He is a key player for Tuesday's replay.

 

[ADD]

I must have watched a different game to BBTC - Chapman was terrible IMO and how the ref didn't give a penalty when their player was pushed to the deck by him was a mystery - refs may be awful at this level as TRFC Radio keep on moaning about but sometimes it cuts both ways and for sure if there was VAR they would have had a penalty! Also Clarke was perhaps lucky to avoid a sending off for his elbow in the first half - I noticed the Southend player was going on about it to him and the ref after the final whistle.
Organisationally I agree 442 would have been better from the off but the reality to me is that today confirms we simply are not good enough. Individually Woodyard and Clarke did pretty well as did Perks and Danns. Caprice terrible again, and worse than that Woods is injured AGAIN so we have no options there. Ferrrier I thought was given no help by the ref and no support but contributed little and Mulin was anonymous - I would have brought Payne on. Looks like the order has reversed and Mullin is now second choice of the 3 out and out strikers god help us.
A point as RLC says is not a disaster and I have to say I was surprised how well Southend did considering they only got paid a day before the game... They were much better than I expected but we need points and we should have been able to win.
I also wonder how many players had an eye on Tuesday night. Not good enough pure and simple.

 

[Brightonian]

To be honest I didn't see any signs of holding back a touch with half an eye on Tuesday. The performance may have been disappointing but there was no lack of effort. Agree with RLC that Southend were closing down and harrying with great gusto and this did disrupt our play.
Having reflected overnight there were times when some of our football on the deck was quite decent but in patches. However not being a settled side in a well rehearsed system does show with play so often breaking down.

 

[Sparky]

I think as ADD says we’re just not good enough. Perks was let go by a struggling L1 side last season. Danns has done ok but how many L1 teams would he get into? Others like Caprice and Manny haven’t played at this level. Ferrier can be good but had a poor L1 season last year. Add to that some signings that haven’t worked (Ray, Payne, etc) and a few inexperienced youngsters who are inconsistent like RHM and CBT, it all adds up to a team not good enough.
I’ve alway thought we may have enough to stay up but after yesterday I’m having serious doubts.

the questions is whether Palios will roll the dice by either throwing money at it or changing the manager. I doubt either will happen. Also whether Mickey will ever change his ways and be more positive playing two strikers up top as we’re not getting enough goals with just one

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

While I agree that the squad is not really good enough, which is largely down to financial constraints, there is no justification for 'rolling the dice' and firing the manager. We can't on the one hand berate the poor quality of the squad, which is largely down to finances, and then scapegoat the manager who has not really been given the tools to keep us in the division. It would be unethical and counter productive. If we did go down, which manager available to us has a better record than Mellon of taking teams out of League Two ! Rotherham and Burnley are just two examples of clubs that stuck with a good manager after relegation with positive results. We can all disagree with formations and team selections, but I see no evidence Mellon is being consistently outhought by opposing managers. The quality simply does not exist in the squad to win many games.