palace fan in peace. interesting comments on Williams. He has always been very very comfortable on the ball - great touch, great passer - and he can drift by people and create a bit of space. Challenge at palace was - among increasingly strong competition - I'm not sure he ever really had much end product or created things. He scored one goal - via a deflection - on around 75 games for us. Lovely little player to watch, and - with more confidence and more game time I'm sure he'll do well for you - but the lack of an attacking cutting edge to his game is I think what has held his career back. that and loads of bad luck with injuries
The midfielders have been used to putting Grant away and then pushing up to the edge of the box in support. Now they'll have to make a few off the ball runs into the box (like Reeves for the goal).
Igor found it hard today and 2nd half didn't seem to be jumping well for crosses but I want to see him up front with Taylor before I write him off (and he'll have benefited hugely from today's 95 mins).
Fosu has never done it at home....not really. He needs to simplify his game; E.G. 1st half, he sold the full back but decided to take a 2nd man on. Tariq..... beat one then cross or shoot....youll be amazed at the results.
palace fan in peace. interesting comments on Williams. He has always been very very comfortable on the ball - great touch, great passer - and he can drift by people and create a bit of space. Challenge at palace was - among increasingly strong competition - I'm not sure he ever really had much end product or created things. He scored one goal - via a deflection - on around 75 games for us. Lovely little player to watch, and - with more confidence and more game time I'm sure he'll do well for you - but the lack of an attacking cutting edge to his game is I think what has held his career back. that and loads of bad luck with injuries
Totally agree. If he had goals with his game he'd be top Championship as a minimum.
We're hoping that our two leaders, Bowyer and Jackson, will coach some goals into him (especially at this level). He's unlikely to get two better coaches to help with that part of his game.
Frustrating game. A lot of sloppiness really, poor crosses and decision making from wide positions, the ball being given away in midfield, Bielik having a couple of casual moments, while Dillon had his least impressive match in weeks.
Sarr was excellent, Parker definitely improved us up front when he came on, though Puttington was slightly unlucky to be sacrificed.
Surprised Igor and Fosu lasted the 90 as the former was invisible, while the latter had one of those games in which everything he did seemed to go wrong. Marshall wasn't great, but at least he always gives 100%
Frustrating game today cos Southend were there for the taking but we were powder puff and they had a ten minute or so spell 75-85 mins on the clock when they looked much more likely to nick it than us incredibly . i thought the back 3 looked vulnerable on the rare occasions they came at us .
late on I don’t know who had the ball in the East Stand in the last few mins and it took ages to get it back in play but if that was a kid the parent should have ironed* the kid out and got it back to us quicker , we moan at Southend wasting time and our own fans were at it !
Nice little flicked header of Reeves’ fivehead and with half hour plus left against ten men it was really disappointing we didn’t go on and win that .
play offs are there for the taking but we’ll need to up our game massively if we wanna get promoted via them .
Edit * I didn’t mean that , well maybe a little bit
A game we territorially dominated yet, having conceded an unlucky deflected goal to go behind, we struggled to equalise against a team that had 10 men for an hour.
It really is a hard game to analyse. I felt that individually the players did well enough for the most part yet somehow their efforts didn't produce in the desired result after 96 minutes or whatever it was.
Their goalkeeper made a couple of very good saves and a few more regulation ones to keep them in it but what I described on another thread as the Grand Canyon of no Taylor or Grant became ever more evident as, firstly, we failed to equalise until Reeves' eventual glancing header from a cross where Marshall managed to get his radar right and, secondly, failed to grab the winner our pressure should have generated against 10 tiring men.
Automatic promotion has gone and even a place in the play-offs is problematic. A team with genuine promotion aspirations finds a way to beat 10 men.
Who was the idiot in the East Stand that kept the ball for an age during time added on? A rogue Southend fan I reckon!
Good to applaud the great SCP as he left the pitch at the end but I'll finish where I started.
Looked like a conscious decision to play Igor the whole game once we were chasing it although fairly sure he'd have come off if we had been comfortably ahead.
For all our neat possession in the first half, Charlton were, as we all feared, pretty toothless up front. We were unfortunate to go in a goal down at half time, although the only real saves I recall their keeper making were fairly routine ones from Marshall and Purrington efforts from very tight angles.
It has to be said that our inability to get a half decent ball into the box in the final third was a major factor. In this respect, I do not have the words adequately to express my frustration with Tarique Fosu - is he suffering a crisis in confidence, with a complete loss of football intelligence, or is he somehow ‘playing for himself’ in the hope of securing a Championship contract in June ? I hope it is the former because this sort of display is going to see him slipping down - rather than moving up - the leagues.
Lee Bowyer made a very sensible change at half time, going three at the back and introducing Josh Parker. We were better in the second half and it looked like the winner was coming after Reeves got us back on terms, with a flick from his Bart Simpson forehead. However, a combination of hopeless final balls - with Marshall particularly culpable - a couple of good saves, some good defending and repeated shameless time wasting from Southend enabled them to salvage a point.
We had a mad five or so minutes towards the end, when we kept giving the ball away and gifted Southend a couple of decent chances. Replacing Reeves with Reeco (who didn’t seem to know where he was supposed to be playing) wasn’t perhaps the smartest move, especially when Igor had contributed very little.
I thought that Jonny Williams was our best player and that Bielik also played well, notwithstanding one or two eccentric moments. Josh Cullen kept things nicely ticking over in midfield and Parker had a good second half, adding some much needed aerial ability, physical presence and general know how.
In the end, however, too many players had an off day and we just didn’t do enough against a pretty poor and basic Southend side.
Hopefully, the return of Taylor and a decent crowd against Blackpool next Saturday will inspire a decent performance and enable us to consolidate our place in the top 6.
A game we territorially dominated yet, having conceded an unlucky deflected goal to go behind, we struggled to equalise against a team that had 10 men for an hour.
It really is a hard game to analyse. I felt that individually the players did well enough for the most part yet somehow their efforts didn't produce in the desired result after 96 minutes or whatever it was.
Their goalkeeper made a couple of very good saves and a few more regulation ones to keep them in it but what I described on another thread as the Grand Canyon of no Taylor or Grant became ever more evident as, firstly, we failed to equalise until Reeves' eventual glancing header from a cross where Marshall managed to get his radar right and, secondly, failed to grab the winner our pressure should have generated against 10 tiring men.
Automatic promotion has gone and even a place in the play-offs is problematic. A team with genuine promotion aspirations finds a way to beat 10 men.
Who was the idiot in the East Stand that kept the ball for an age during time added on? A rogue Southend fan I reckon!
Good to applaud the great SCP as he left the pitch at the end but I'll finish where I started.
Frustration! frustration! frustration!
Peterborough are now 6 points behind us, and are in terrible form. Indeed Pompey above us are in terrible form as well. I'd be very surprised if we don't make the playoffs though the Blackpool game is perhaps now quite important as they are 8th and in good form
A game we territorially dominated yet, having conceded an unlucky deflected goal to go behind, we struggled to equalise against a team that had 10 men for an hour.
It really is a hard game to analyse. I felt that individually the players did well enough for the most part yet somehow their efforts didn't produce in the desired result after 96 minutes or whatever it was.
Their goalkeeper made a couple of very good saves and a few more regulation ones to keep them in it but what I described on another thread as the Grand Canyon of no Taylor or Grant became ever more evident as, firstly, we failed to equalise until Reeves' eventual glancing header from a cross where Marshall managed to get his radar right and, secondly, failed to grab the winner our pressure should have generated against 10 tiring men.
Automatic promotion has gone and even a place in the play-offs is problematic. A team with genuine promotion aspirations finds a way to beat 10 men.
Who was the idiot in the East Stand that kept the ball for an age during time added on? A rogue Southend fan I reckon!
Good to applaud the great SCP as he left the pitch at the end but I'll finish where I started.
Frustration! frustration! frustration!
Peterborough are now 6 points behind us, and are in terrible form. Indeed Pompey above us are in terrible form as well. I'd be very surprised if we don't make the playoffs though the Blackpool game is perhaps now quite important as they are 8th and in good form
Having seen Fosu score a hatrick at Fleetwood last season and knowing what ability he has I can only come up with one conclusion. He knows his contract is up in the summer and his agent has told him he has offers from championship clubs because he is playing like he just doesn't care at the moment.
Not sure agree with you Stevie.The Fosu of that game at Fleetwood(I was there with you) seems a distant past.-I remember talking to Konsa on the train on the way home how Grant just needed a confidence boost - look what's happened to him.The same could/can be said for Fosu - he has the talent.Bad today but don't write him off yet!
Dreadful performance almost all round. I think the only players to come out of this with any credit are Parker, Culle and Reeves. Don't get the favourable comments for Williams. Very clever at times but he is supposed to be our most creative player at the head of the diamond. Did he create anything whatsoever? Marshall's crossing was dreadful although he did get an assist for the goal. Fosu is so frustrating, so no more. Vetokele probably the most overrated player we have had in the last 20 years, way off the pace. RHF miles away from being ready. Bielek and Sarr both a hairbreaths away from disaster on many occasions. Hope Taylor and Parker can quickly build up a relationship to make up for a highly overated midfield who will no doubt continue to look pretty but totally toothless
I swear some folk watch a different game from me. Sarr was head and shoulders better than any other player and didn't make any mistakes, even when he had to be CB, LB and join the attack he was superb.
The game was exactly as I expected. No Taylor, Grant or Aribo and we score 1 at most.
I'm just relived we scored 1 after their lucky deflected goal.
Reeves has been really good in most home matches I have watched and as today the most likely mid fielder to score when Joe Aribo isn't playing.
Williams, Reeves and Cullen are good players... the three in front of them - Igor, Marshall and Fosu are poor... need Taylor and Aribo back in the side...
I didn’t think Fosu was as bad as most are saying. First half hour I thought he was looking ok and they only resorted to bringing him down. Admittedly 2nd half he disappeared. Don’t agree with the bashing though
palace fan in peace. interesting comments on Williams. He has always been very very comfortable on the ball - great touch, great passer - and he can drift by people and create a bit of space. Challenge at palace was - among increasingly strong competition - I'm not sure he ever really had much end product or created things. He scored one goal - via a deflection - on around 75 games for us. Lovely little player to watch, and - with more confidence and more game time I'm sure he'll do well for you - but the lack of an attacking cutting edge to his game is I think what has held his career back. that and loads of bad luck with injuries
This was always my read on him. I was surprised when Bowyer talked him up as having a cutting edge to break teams down when we signed him. The ability to get past players and keep play ticking over, but not exactly one to play the killer ball or score the vital goal.
Unfortunately, Reeves, Fosu, and Cullen all have problems with one (Reeves and Fosu--killer ball) or both (Cullen) of those as well.
Certainly a very, very good player at this level, but needs a little more end product. It does not help that he gets kicked pillar to post every game.
What a frustrating afternoon. I thought we started well and played some attractive passing football without an end product but as soon as Southend scored they started immediately to waste time and and spoil the game. I assume that was a tactic from their management which surprised me, given one of my favourite people in football is Chris Powell!
Shocking play acting, time wasting and cynical fouling not helped by a weak referee---I must admit some of my Powell admiration has taken a hit!!
Having said that, we are struggling without Taylor and Grant although, based on his second half performance, I'm amazed that Bowyer didn't start with Parker who looked sharp when he came on and quite good in the air which was totally lacking in the first half.
For me, Sarr was by far the man of the match.
I know this sounds over the top but after watching that game and the cynical time wasting and blatant fouls by the Southend players I felt quite depressed when I left the ground and questioned whether football at this level is worth watching. I'll probably get over it as I've been going to the Valley for over 65 years and I'm sure I've seen worse, but I can't remember when!
Sadly when I saw the team sheet I feared we'd actually lose.
Fosu as I've been saying for ages shouldn't be in the team or even squad, lacks footballing intelligence and we can't afford to wait and see if 1 minute in every 540 he might just hit a stunner, he's a dead weight. He's consistent, consistently makes the wrong decision time after time after time.
I like Marshall, but he's just a step behind now, don't know if confidence or age but with his experience he can beat a man but rarely gets a decent cross in (although credit fo the assist for the goal).
I thought the back four looked good. Who'd have thought 2 years ago Nabby would be pretty much along with solly first name on the team sheet. Thought he looked very good today.
So many times this season we've just not been able to penetrate teams despite the possession. Not enough creativity.
I thought taking off Reeves was a mistake, he started to take control of the game and at least told Cullen to stay away from corner duty (with good reason).
Igor was poor today.
On another day we'd have sneaked that, their keeper made two excellent saves.
But overall disappointing, but it's why we are a 3-6th (hopefully) rather than a top two side.
Time wasting tactics, slowing the game down, injury feigning, are part of the game. But if you were head of marketing football you’d say it damages the product. If I paid £20 odd quid for that as a neutral I wouldn’t be back. For how much of the 90 minutes was the ball in play. 60 minutes? They need to do something about it.
Time wasting tactics, slowing the game down, injury feigning, are part of the game. But if you were head of marketing football you’d say it damages the product. If I paid £20 odd quid for that as a neutral I wouldn’t be back. For how much of the 90 minutes was the ball in play. 60 minutes? They need to do something about it.
Totally agree. If the ref had booked the keeper or, in particular, the left back for time wasting in the first half we would have seen a better game.
What a frustrating afternoon. I thought we started well and played some attractive passing football without an end product but as soon as Southend scored they started immediately to waste time and and spoil the game. I assume that was a tactic from their management which surprised me, given one of my favourite people in football is Chris Powell!
Shocking play acting, time wasting and cynical fouling not helped by a weak referee---I must admit some of my Powell admiration has taken a hit!!
Having said that, we are struggling without Taylor and Grant although, based on his second half performance, I'm amazed that Bowyer didn't start with Parker who looked sharp when he came on and quite good in the air which was totally lacking in the first half.
For me, Sarr was by far the man of the match.
I know this sounds over the top but after watching that game and the cynical time wasting and blatant fouls by the Southend players I felt quite depressed when I left the ground and questioned whether football at this level is worth watching. I'll probably get over it as I've been going to the Valley for over 65 years and I'm sure I've seen worse, but I can't remember when!
Me too (not the 65 years bit, the leaving the game depressed bit). Great post sir.
Comments
The midfielders have been used to putting Grant away and then pushing up to the edge of the box in support. Now they'll have to make a few off the ball runs into the box (like Reeves for the goal).
Igor found it hard today and 2nd half didn't seem to be jumping well for crosses but I want to see him up front with Taylor before I write him off (and he'll have benefited hugely from today's 95 mins).
Fosu has never done it at home....not really. He needs to simplify his game; E.G. 1st half, he sold the full back but decided to take a 2nd man on. Tariq..... beat one then cross or shoot....youll be amazed at the results.
We're hoping that our two leaders, Bowyer and Jackson, will coach some goals into him (especially at this level). He's unlikely to get two better coaches to help with that part of his game.
Sarr was excellent, Parker definitely improved us up front when he came on, though Puttington was slightly unlucky to be sacrificed.
Surprised Igor and Fosu lasted the 90 as the former was invisible, while the latter had one of those games in which everything he did seemed to go wrong. Marshall wasn't great, but at least he always gives 100%
i thought the back 3 looked vulnerable on the rare occasions they came at us .
late on I don’t know who had the ball in the East Stand in the last few mins and it took ages to get it back in play but if that was a kid the parent should have ironed* the kid out and got it back to us quicker , we moan at Southend wasting time and our own fans were at it !
Nice little flicked header of Reeves’ fivehead and with half hour plus left against ten men it was really disappointing we didn’t go on and win that .
play offs are there for the taking but we’ll need to up our game massively if we wanna get promoted via them .
Edit * I didn’t mean that , well maybe a little bit
Frustration! frustration! frustration!
A game we territorially dominated yet, having conceded an unlucky deflected goal to go behind, we struggled to equalise against a team that had 10 men for an hour.
It really is a hard game to analyse. I felt that individually the players did well enough for the most part yet somehow their efforts didn't produce in the desired result after 96 minutes or whatever it was.
Their goalkeeper made a couple of very good saves and a few more regulation ones to keep them in it but what I described on another thread as the Grand Canyon of no Taylor or Grant became ever more evident as, firstly, we failed to equalise until Reeves' eventual glancing header from a cross where Marshall managed to get his radar right and, secondly, failed to grab the winner our pressure should have generated against 10 tiring men.
Automatic promotion has gone and even a place in the play-offs is problematic. A team with genuine promotion aspirations finds a way to beat 10 men.
Who was the idiot in the East Stand that kept the ball for an age during time added on? A rogue Southend fan I reckon!
Good to applaud the great SCP as he left the pitch at the end but I'll finish where I started.
Frustration! frustration! frustration!
What a desperately frustrating game.
For all our neat possession in the first half, Charlton were, as we all feared, pretty toothless up front. We were unfortunate to go in a goal down at half time, although the only real saves I recall their keeper making were fairly routine ones from Marshall and Purrington efforts from very tight angles.
It has to be said that our inability to get a half decent ball into the box in the final third was a major factor. In this respect, I do not have the words adequately to express my frustration with Tarique Fosu - is he suffering a crisis in confidence, with a complete loss of football intelligence, or is he somehow ‘playing for himself’ in the hope of securing a Championship contract in June ? I hope it is the former because this sort of display is going to see him slipping down - rather than moving up - the leagues.
Lee Bowyer made a very sensible change at half time, going three at the back and introducing Josh Parker. We were better in the second half and it looked like the winner was coming after Reeves got us back on terms, with a flick from his Bart Simpson forehead. However, a combination of hopeless final balls - with Marshall particularly culpable - a couple of good saves, some good defending and repeated shameless time wasting from Southend enabled them to salvage a point.
We had a mad five or so minutes towards the end, when we kept giving the ball away and gifted Southend a couple of decent chances. Replacing Reeves with Reeco (who didn’t seem to know where he was supposed to be playing) wasn’t perhaps the smartest move, especially when Igor had contributed very little.
I thought that Jonny Williams was our best player and that Bielik also played well, notwithstanding one or two eccentric moments. Josh Cullen kept things nicely ticking over in midfield and Parker had a good second half, adding some much needed aerial ability, physical presence and general know how.
In the end, however, too many players had an off day and we just didn’t do enough against a pretty poor and basic Southend side.
Hopefully, the return of Taylor and a decent crowd against Blackpool next Saturday will inspire a decent performance and enable us to consolidate our place in the top 6.
Marshall's crossing was dreadful although he did get an assist for the goal. Fosu is so frustrating, so no more.
Vetokele probably the most overrated player we have had in the last 20 years, way off the pace. RHF miles away from being ready.
Bielek and Sarr both a hairbreaths away from disaster on many occasions.
Hope Taylor and Parker can quickly build up a relationship to make up for a highly overated midfield who will no doubt continue to look pretty but totally toothless
The game was exactly as I expected.
No Taylor, Grant or Aribo and we score 1 at most.
I'm just relived we scored 1 after their lucky deflected goal.
Reeves has been really good in most home matches I have watched and as today the most likely mid fielder to score when Joe Aribo isn't playing.
Unfortunately, Reeves, Fosu, and Cullen all have problems with one (Reeves and Fosu--killer ball) or both (Cullen) of those as well.
Certainly a very, very good player at this level, but needs a little more end product. It does not help that he gets kicked pillar to post every game.
Never a penalty
Shocking play acting, time wasting and cynical fouling not helped by a weak referee---I must admit some of my Powell admiration has taken a hit!!
Having said that, we are struggling without Taylor and Grant although, based on his second half performance, I'm amazed that Bowyer didn't start with Parker who looked sharp when he came on and quite good in the air which was totally lacking in the first half.
For me, Sarr was by far the man of the match.
I know this sounds over the top but after watching that game and the cynical time wasting and blatant fouls by the Southend players I felt quite depressed when I left the ground and questioned whether football at this level is worth watching. I'll probably get over it as I've been going to the Valley for over 65 years and I'm sure I've seen worse, but I can't remember when!
Fosu as I've been saying for ages shouldn't be in the team or even squad, lacks footballing intelligence and we can't afford to wait and see if 1 minute in every 540 he might just hit a stunner, he's a dead weight. He's consistent, consistently makes the wrong decision time after time after time.
I like Marshall, but he's just a step behind now, don't know if confidence or age but with his experience he can beat a man but rarely gets a decent cross in (although credit fo the assist for the goal).
I thought the back four looked good. Who'd have thought 2 years ago Nabby would be pretty much along with solly first name on the team sheet. Thought he looked very good today.
So many times this season we've just not been able to penetrate teams despite the possession. Not enough creativity.
I thought taking off Reeves was a mistake, he started to take control of the game and at least told Cullen to stay away from corner duty (with good reason).
Igor was poor today.
On another day we'd have sneaked that, their keeper made two excellent saves.
But overall disappointing, but it's why we are a 3-6th (hopefully) rather than a top two side.
But if you were head of marketing football you’d say it damages the product. If I paid £20 odd quid for that as a neutral I wouldn’t be back. For how much of the 90 minutes was the ball in play. 60 minutes?
They need to do something about it.