Not sure what's going to upset me more, the result or some of the illiterate reactionary guff that is bound to follow, so here goes.....
Not for the first time of late i come away not angry, but utterly despondent as once again we seemed to lose all semblance of a side. Brighton, a team in the relegation mix, pretty much bossed the game, first to most 50 / 50s, the bulk of the 2nd ball's, and also played the better football. When they attacked, they had verve and direction, while we appeared pedestrian and limited for options.
As a back four we really struggled as a unit to cope with both their wide men, and equally two central strikers that had good movement and pulled Llera and Dailly all over the place. Llera performed a lot better with the ball than most, but put a nippy striker on him thats going to pull off his shoulder and angle runs and he is lost.
Our midfield never got a grip of the game. Would Semedo have been a better option on a dodgy pitch ? I don't know. I think we can nit pick regarding selection, the bottom line is virtually no one performed individually and collectively we were a mess.
Akpo livened things up when he come on, but never gave off any more confidence than the others that the net was going to be bulged until the last minute. We are really struggling in the final third in my opinion. I've argued all season we've missed a certain type of striker, and i think it is going to prove to be our achilles heel.
All in, i'm thoroughly miserable. Yet another wasted opportunity to build on anything.
Are we massively underperforming, or are we simply not that good ?
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Comments
What is your considered, balanced view on Parky AFKA? Stick with him & hope things get better or bring in a fresh but experienced face to try & inspire a dramatic turnaround over the last dozen or so games?
Sadly I have a ticket for Friday and millwall ha ha!
The management and the players.
The tactics - well I couldn't spot any.
The substitutions - No idea.
The basic ability to pass to a team mate - How many times do we either pass the ball out of play or give it to the opposition.
When did we last have a decent striker ?
Thoroughly depressed and the table does not read well.
We could be out of the play-off positions very soon and anybody who has us to play soon must be rubbing their hands with glee.
I'll be at Southend cheering them on as I have been for the past 35 years and I'll carry on going as always but bloody hell they need a huge kick up the arse.
Sam again for me tonight puts us under so much pressure
Akpo looks like every ball hits him not that he tries to control it he heads to another striker or player 9 times of of ten instead of going for it his brother is deadly and mistake ridden if bailey doesnt drive us on no one does and we have a man at the helm not fit for purpose
Brighton were clearly better than Yeovil, but we were awful - and reminded why Akpo, Mooney and Reid are considered surplus to requirements at their own clubs.
I keep trying to remember that we are a third division team, and so can't expect top tier performances, but the way Brighton were able to get the ball down and play with a bit of pace and purpose exposed our own limitations again.
I'm even nervous looking at the playoffs now with Huddersfield and Millwall around. We are 6th if everyone wins their games in hand.
Plain and simple, nobody was good enough, it wasnt as if Brighton created a host of chances and Robbie had to be at his best or anything - it was just an average, nothing game. Boring.
Reid and Sam were anonymous, Bailey is playing far too deep with the showboater Racon in the team and as soon as Burton went off we missed him and nothing, apart from the mud, was sticking up top.
As for Parkinson and the tactics, I applaud him trying something different with the 3 at the back but as soon as their second went in (good goal) eveything just went out of the window.
I thought Llera and Dailly had ok games but that was it.
Eh?
WELL SAID HE IS F---ING CLUELESS.
i am ashamed to support them tonight
I'm Despondent and as bereft of solutions or alternatives as the tonights team were of ideas or invention.
Glass of wine tastes sour, want to go to bed and forget it all but know the result and performance plus the very frightening consequences of not going up will play on my mind.
A
We have no goals in us as at all yet the one bloke who scores goals sits in front of the back four sweeping up.
The quality of football is totally diabolical and after the great night I had with my lad as mascot (the staff were bloody great and deserve medals for being so dedicated) the players frankly can do one as I refuse to let them ruin his night.
Its just bloody terrible to watch. Simple as that.
I cant decide whether we only went into this game with complacency or if we just have no answers left. I hope it's the former and Parky can get us playing again.
We have him until the end of the season no matter what from here, and anyone who thinks otherwise is living in cloud cuckoo land, in my opinion. I feel we are a club teetering on the brink and if we were to change managers now it would seriously be the final throw of the dice which if failed, would ultimately be a disaster.
People say they blame Parky for tonight, but Parky is not the reason 11 individuals who played well on Saturday all played shite tonight.
That being said, the one thing i thought we would get out of Parky over this 12 months has been a side that maybe did not play the best football, but rarely got outworked. I thought he instill and insist on players that would give the grit needed for this league and what has been missing the last few years. But it hasn't materialised.
I know finances haven't been there, and i know he has had to bring loans and freebies, but the first focus on this season should have been finding a striker to score the goals. Goals win games, and if you're going for promotion then it is essential. We haven't had a goal threat all season, and i think it is our downfall as teams can play a slightly higher line against us as they know there is little realistic threat behind them.
So summary, so far i think he is a nice guy who probably has the right idea and says the right things to the players, but ultimately hasn't been able to shape a side i would have expected from him, or one that seriously gives opposition something to worry about. Teams come to us and play not with fear, but with either freedom or tenacity, and we haven't imposed ourselves on any opposition team, since around September.
I see getting on his back now as pointless and self-defeating, particularly with things still to play for, but i'm disappointed.
I thought all our best players were midfielders in this squad but none of them were any good tonight. We had chances in the second half but Akpo and Mooney fluffed them. We didn't play as a team - how many times did people give the ball away taking too many players on, instead of passing?
And we just don't pressure teams when the oppo has the ball. I can't say it's a lack of effort but a lack of cohesion. I still clapped them off at the end because they tried and have red shirts on. If Sodje A had taken his first chance I believe we would have gone on to win. But he didn't and we got aimless and desperate. Christ, suddenly Big Mig looks like our best outfield player!
Could Llera play the holding role? He was only one to get it down and try to pass it, but he can't handle a quick striker. He's a decent footballer though.
And what is up with Bailey's passing????
We have 13 games to save the medium (maybe even long) term future of the club. Not going up means potential oblivion. We have been shyte since the new year and have not been convincing in the slightest. Maybe it's best that someone comes in for those last games, shakes things up a bit and at least gives us a last throw of the dice to save our future.
We were pondering a similar position at the bottom of the championship last season and opted not to act. We all know what happened. Can we afford not to do anything now and meekly watch our club slide into obscurity and possibly worse?
Parky is a nice guy etc., but he has never quite been inspiring enough and we are like a terminally ill patient at the moment - truly painful to watch. To act would cost money and that may mean selling some of our prize assets - but the way things are going we are going to lose them at the end of the season anyway, so what does everyone think?
I think that I have lost faith in Parky, and I was willing to give him a chance...
like many of us mate
I THINK YOU HAVE SAID WHAT MANY FANS ARE FEELING.
SORRY NSS YOU SAID IT 1ST SON
Just sub off who you want Parky, thats just what we want to see.. everyone looked clueless and fairplay to Gus' lot as they knew how to beat us and it worked. We're going to struggle for play offs if nothing changes. :-(