Rovers v Southend

[aldoes mustache]

come on you shower of xxxxxxxxxxxx load of rubbish

 

[Boz]

We started badly and Southend don’t look as bad as their current placing might suggest. Rovers midfield struggling to get in many tackles and we lack height against a team of relative giants.

 

[aldoes mustache]

mm needs ti kick ass bloody rubbish

 

[Boz]

Think Micky needs to change something. Might even be worth sticking a defender into midfield where Perkins and Danns seem well below par.

 

[Boz]

Improved 2nd half showing and we deserved a point, but a lot of below par performances tonight.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

A disappointing performance, but crucially we did not lose. I thought we really missed the composure of Potter and Banks in midfield tonight and we never really got a passing game going at all. Our play was pretty ragged throughout, with too many punts into the channel. There was an understandable lack of protection for the defence from midfield as well; Perkins clearly was not fully fit and was blowing out of his bum by the sixty minute mark, and Southend had a number of chances on the counter attack.

In hindsight, it was probably also a mistake to play both of the youngsters, although I would have done the same in MM's position. I thought Hepburn Murphy did ok, but CBT showed his inexperience, and it was only when Mullin and Jennings came on that we started to look coherent in the attacking third. However, to give the players credit, we kept battling and it was a great penalty by Mullin to equalise, particularly given the gamesmanship from the opposition players.

Individually, I thought Morris was our best player, while Payne worked very hard up front but with very little service or support. Ridehalgh had another solid game, but the centre halves were very stretched at times, probably because of the lack of midfield protection.

The reality is that we are not good enough at the moment to go on storming winning runs, particularly given the injury situation. However, four points from the last two games is a reasonable return.

 

[Sparky]

Spot on RLC. If you’d offered a point at Coventry and a win tonight I would have taken it. But like Shrewsbury at home and Coventry away, the performance was poor.

Payne totally isolated first half. Mullin definately better as an impact player. Once again we went a goal down but showed good character to keep going - but we didn’t deserve anything other than a point and the shrimpers will feel hard done by.

two things that I might complain to the club about.
massive queues on borough toad again. Against Shrews only 2 of 7 turnstiles were open but it was 4 tonight. A decent attendance tho so I’ll just have to get there earlier.

no burgets ready at half time. No onions for the hot dog which was cold. Bloody ridiculous

 

[Ian]

Glad we got a point out of that as it wasn't a great performance in all honesty. We have to grind out results and that's exactly what we did tonight. Second half we definitely increased the pressure and they buckled a few times but I thought it was going to be one of those night when the ball wasn't going to go in. Great penalty by Mullin and I would agree he is definitely an impact player.

Looked like a decent attendance tonight.

 

[keep the faith]

to be honest it was that poor I couldn,t wait for the whistle, we were pedestrian made them look a different class they seemed fitter & faster, not sure whether perkins was fully fit but it was the worst I have seen him play, going to be a long season IF we end up relegated fair enough but let,s at least have a go,

 

[Mungy's Hairdresser]

Attendance over 7k, & the injury woes continue. Agree with all of the aforementioned re- team selection without the benefit of hindsight of course. Danns also tweeted about going to sleep off the jet lag now, not ideal about him & Perkins’ lack of fitness tonight but that’s all we had available centre mid wise which again comes back to the injuries. Taking the 2 points off Southend might prove to be more important than the one gained come the end of the season but the one point is also valuable. You do wonder if we’ll earn more points this season counter attacking against the better opposition.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Looked like a decent attendance tonight.

There were more Scandinavians at Prenton Park tonight than I have ever seen before. It felt more like Bergen than Birkenhead !

Must be because of Liverpool v United.

 

[Ian]

I know. One of them was sitting in my seat!

 

[ONIGP]

Overall very disappointing tonight against a poor team who will struggle to avoid relegation unless they improve significantly. It was an error strewn performance by us with a worrying lack of cohesion. Of course there are mitigating factors in the long injury list and the continual change of personnel that has subsequently resulted. Two (relatively) old men in the engine room, one who wasn't fully match fit and one who had been collecting air miles for fun, was hardly an ideal scenario either. That said, MM must still be scratching his head over selection since the 2 senior pros who came on changed the game significantly by just doing their jobs. It seems to be a bit of a recurring theme this season that as somebody wins a shirt in a formation that works, they then fail to consistently deliver. While ultimately grateful for our ability to battle out a draw tonight, the team we were able to put out should still have been capable of collecting maximum points. It is a weird situation when 12 games into a season we don't really know which of our squad could make the best starting XI and in which formation(s) they could play! The football gods are certainly not being kind to us at the moment! I thought the SWA were fantastic in the second half tonight and made a major contribution towards salvaging the point. Onwards and upwards.

 

[Boz]

I agree that it was right to start with the 2 youngsters on the strength of the Coventry game. Had reservations about a Perkins-Danns midfield combo and it was compounded by their lack of fitness for different reasons. We missed a Potter for the calm control he exerts from that area and the creativity a Banks or Gilmour could offer. Despite the injury crisis, I don’t think it had to be that pairing in central midfield, could have looked at deploying Jennings or Morris there for example. Southend’s dominance in the first half was helped by their control of midfield, meaning the defence were starved of protection and the forwards had to create their own chances.

Poor performances were across the park. Manny Monthe made a couple of uncharacteristic errors, which nearly led to goals. Caprice’s reluctance to take on a man and some very poor distribution and crossing initially made me amazed that one of the sponsors had given him MoM. He did link better when Morris was switched to the right. Davies fumbling the ball and nearly conceding a second. Neither CBT or RHM had good games. Rushian’s first touch and control was better than Corey’s but you felt the latter was more of a goal threat. However, despite some better ball into the box during the 2nd half, it seemed that only a freak goal or penalty would get us back in the match and so it proved. I was surprised Mullin was the penalty-taker rather than CJ, but he held his nerve well during the interminable gamesmanship from Southend to convert. Our only shot on target and just about a deserved point, though definitely a point gained after the poor opening. The visitors played quite well, but their failing to put the game to bed may explain their lowly position.

I was surprised the crowd number was that high, there were a lot of regulars missing in my section of the Paddock. Good vocal support from the SWA after h/t too.

MoM One of the sponsors got it right in my view with the selection of Kieron Morris. Got boxed in a lot, but kept battling away despite the lack of an out ball in the first half. Some good attacking play and blocking/ tracking back as the game progressed. Don’t think any of the starting xi came close to his performance.

 

[Ian]

I'm starting to feel a little sorry for Payne who puts a good shift in but we don't seem to be playing the right way. He spends most of his time either chasing lost causes or harrying their defenders (although one of them nearly came off when he blocked the keepers kick and it went just over). I think he would be more productive if the ball was played to his feet. He seems quite good at trapping it and laying it off but not so much in the air.

He also has a decent shot on him which we hardly see as he rarely has moments where he can face the goal and get off a shot.

 

[ADD]

Well safe to say that was I thought an abysmal first half and not that much better second half (could not have been worse)! It felt to me whilst watching last night we were looking at 2 of the nailed on relegation teams.
I can cope with us playing badly but as we all saw and as MM said in his post match interview the lack of intensity in the first half was truly embarrassing for me as a fan.
Injuries are hampering us for sure but these players should still be able to pass the ball to each other once in a while and they should be capable of winning some of the second balls. Perkins and Danns both not fit/ tired clearly so will excuse them but the rest no excuses. Manny had an awful game - their goal when you watch it was comical - 1 up against 2 centre backs and it wafts over Manny's head who was in no man's land and then Ray was so left for dead it was bad. If Nelson is fit he should have started in my book. RHM and CBT both have a lot to learn - just too raw despite their undoubted talent - will take a while for MM to mould them.
I get that we got 4 points this week which is arguably 1 better than we may have expected but we were completely outplayed by Coventry and we were poor against a very poor side.... could easily have been no points....
Not yet time to panic but the results don't lie - if we had been drawn to play Bolton late on in say December rather than early when they were playing the kids we would likely now be in deep trouble. MM has a battle on his hands to turn this round....

 

[ADD]

One other thing - comments elsewhere about dressing room divisions and arguments - rumours I appreciate but anyone know if any truth in them?

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

In fairness, I don't think the phrase 'turn things around' is appropriate. Given all of our obvious difficulties in terms of resources and injuries, we are in a relatively healthy position in the league, along with a pack of other clubs. We have not been cut adrift and recent results are reasonable; the football may not always be scintillating to watch, but we look competitive and we are grinding out results. Could we realistically be doing much better ? I am not convinced we could.

 

[aldoes mustache]

not a great game to off the pace in first half . better in the second . payne chasing and working his socks off but needs help . . i don.t eat at the ground . but not to have the burgers ready and on onions and cold hot dogs . is not good i would be kicking off . its the only way they will learn

 

[ADD]

In fairness, I don't think the phrase 'turn things around' is appropriate. Given all of our obvious difficulties in terms of resources and injuries, we are in a relatively healthy position in the league, along with a pack of other clubs. We have not been cut adrift and recent results are reasonable; the football may not always be scintillating to watch, but we look competitive and we are grinding out results. Could we realistically be doing much better ? I am not convinced we could.

RLC I get that. Points wise we are doing ok as you say and yes maybe that is close to as good as can be expected. My concern is I don't think that will continue if we carry on playing like we did yesterday and with so little intensity as the first half. MM will have torn into them last night I expect!!