Player ratings v Southend

[Skaville]

Kuipers - 5 - Should have done better for the first goal. He's just not agile enough
El-Abd - 5 - Not a full back
Lynch - 7 - Some good moments
Elphick - 8 - Great prospect
Butters - 7 - Solid
Martot - 6 - Too early to tell what he might offer
O'Callaghan - 7 - Just what the doctor ordered
Hammond - 5 A Lampardesque performance - did nowt, but popped up in the box once in each half, unlucky not to score in the first half, did in the second.
Cox - 5 - Poor today
Forster - 8 - The last 15 minutes showed what he is capable of with some service. Always looked dangerous and unlucky not to get a hat trick. Quality.
Revell - 5 - Hapless

Rents - 6
Robinson - 6 - Seems to always overcomplicate things but some sublime moments
Savage - 8 - Had the midas touch. We were watching him warm up before the game and bemoaning his first touch etc. Proved us wrong.

 

[dougdeep]

Not sure about that I thought he actually took his eye off the ball, seemed to run across the goal from one post to another and was in mid harangue when he suddenly realised an innocuous grasscutter had evaded about 20 pairs of legs and went into the middle of the goal with him to far too the right.

Surprised nobody picked up on the fact that Elphick let his man get in front of him for the second, he was certainly having a go at himself for it in the immediate aftermath.

Watch ITV at 10am.

 

[Simon Morgan]

Kuipers - 7 : Possibly at fault for their first goal, but apart from that didn't put a foot wrong.

El-Abd - 6 : Seemed to get better as the game went on, but didn't totally convince.
Elphick - 8 : A good display and some awesome headers in the closing stages.
Butters - 7 : A lot better than he was against Northampton. Disappointed to get subbed but it turned out to be the right decision.
Lynch - 8 : We look such a better team with him in it.

O'Callaghan - 8 : Showed real quality in midfield with his great close control and simple passing.
Hammond - 5 : Didn't have a great game, seemed a bit off the pace, but the winning goal may just be a turning point in our season.
Martot - 5 : Again, wasn't very convincing, but managed to get into a few goalscoring opportunities.
Cox - 5 : He's not the kind of player you want to drop, but does he need a rest?

Revell - 6 : Really should have scored twice in the first half, two free headers. However, worked hard as ever and sent in a few nice crosses. Needs to be sacrificed for Savage IMO.
Forster - 7 : As already mentioned, didn't have much joy in the first 70 mins ( mainly due to isolation and lack of service IMO) but from then until the end of the game he got 3 chances. He scored 2 of them, exactly what we have been looking for.

Subs:

Rents - 6 : Linked up well with Robinson on the left.
Robinson - 8 : Caused the defence real problems. Their RB (who, incidentally, is an Arsenal player) gave nothing away against Cox, but Robinson had a lot more joy down the left side.
Savage - 9 : Absolute class. People are finally starting to realise he is not just a huge presence, he showed that he does have ability as well. Went on some awesome runs and had a similar impact to what he contributed when he came on against Northampton. Has to come in for Revell.

 

[WATFORD zero]

I am stunned if their RB is an Arsenal player as even Jake managed to shoulder him off the ball !!

I thought O'Callaghan was excellent today, simply because of his confidence. I saw him try a few things that didn't come off today, but he didn't let his head drop and kept wanting the ball.

Its fairly obvious that some of our younger players are lacking in confidence and don't take chances as they are constantly worried about making mistakes. O'Callaghan accepts he will make mistakes but believes he will do more right than wrong. It is now a question of whether his confidence can effect the younger players more than the whiners of withdean.

Oh and Baz was class.

 

[maidstoneseagull]

Cox being on the left is the problem as he has to check and the same goes for Robinson too when he plays there. Hard to flow forwards when you have to come inside.

 

[blockhseagull]

Think there are some very high ratings on here for such a poor first hour or so

Kuipers 6
El-Abd 6
Elphick 7
Butters 7
Lynch 6
Martot 6
O'Callaghan 8
Hammond 5
Cox 3
Forster 6
Revell 6

Robinson 8
Rents 6
Savage 10 !!!

 

[NMH]

Original post by Jimmy Saville; (BOLD IN BRACKETS BY ME)

Kuipers - 5 - Should have done better for the first goal. He's just not agile enough (SAW IT LATE, BALL CAME THROUGH A CROWD)
El-Abd - 5 - Not a full back (SAVED US SEVERAL TIMES, 1 ON 1 v THEIR ATTACKER)
Lynch - 7 - Some good moments (AND PART OF A TEAMWORK)
Elphick - 8 - Great prospect (DITTO, AND BLED FOR THE TEAM)
Butters - 7 - Solid (DEFENDED MANY ATTACKING BALLS, SOLID HEADERS)
Martot - 6 - Too early to tell what he might offer (AGREED. COULD BUILD ON HIS CONTRIBUTION v SOUTHEND, MUST KEEP RESOLVE)
O'Callaghan - 7 - Just what the doctor ordered (COOL HEAD, LOOKS TO BE EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED AND WHERE WE NEED IT)
Hammond - 5 A Lampardesque performance - did nowt, but popped up in the box once in each half, unlucky not to score in the first half, did in the second. (A TEAM PERFORMER)
Cox - 5 - Poor today (AS USUAL, THEIR PLAYERS TRIED TO BULLY HIM - HE STOOD UP WELL AND STAYED IN THERE. SKILLED PLAYER, DESERVES MORE PRAISE)
Forster - 8 - The last 15 minutes showed what he is capable of with some service. Always looked dangerous and unlucky not to get a hat trick. Quality. (OCCASIONALLY A PASSENGER, PROBABLY GOT A LITTLE MORE FAITH FROM THE WAY THIS MATCH TURNED OUT)
Rents - 6 (DID OKAY, TOOK A LITTLE WHILE TO SETTLE INTO THE GAME)
Robinson - 6 - Seems to always overcomplicate things but some sublime moments (STRIKERS TEND TO DO THAT, WHEN IT WORKS PEOPLE APPLAUD IT AS TALENT, WHEN IT DOESN'T THEY GET PILLORIED)
Savage - 8 - Had the midas touch. We were watching him warm up before the game and bemoaning his first touch etc. Proved us wrong (RIGHT PLAYER TO DISTURB AND DISRUPT THEM AT THE BACK. AS WITH JAKE, WHEN IT WORKS, THEY ARE HEROES

 

[The Large One]

Kuipers 7 - Did good. I thought the ball got a deflection. Good communication with the defence.

El-Abd 7 - Wobbly first 20 minutes. Did a sterling job with little support.
Elphick 7 - The boy's getting better with each game. Hinsh's return to the starting XI is by no mens guaranteed.
Butters 7 - Didn't really do anything wrong. Could understand the nature of the substitution.
Lynch 7 - Better at centre-half. OK at LB aside from his distribution. Sound familiar?

Cox 5 - Stroppy. Needed to buck his ideas up.
Hammond 3 - Until the goal, the most inept, anonymous 'what-the-f***-am-I-doing-here?' display I've seen from him, and that includes when he played alongside Carpenter.
O'Callaghan 8 - Did his job (and Hammond's) neatly and tidily. Good signing.
Martot 5 - A bit off the pace, but some nice touches.

Revell 6 - Seen better, but seen worse.
Forster 4 - How do you give a double goalscorer 4/10? Weird, innit? Like the Northampton game, not alive to Revell's or Cox' work. Too much time asleep, waiting for the ball to come to him. Too ready to fall over.

Subs
Rents 7 - Better gogin forward, but then, that was what was required of him.
Robinson 7 - Good stuck in. Looked lively.
Savage 9 - The substitution to end all substitutions. Bas is the man.

Ref 4 - Look at me, me, me. ME.
Lino with yellow flag (the black guy) 3 - Doesn't know the rules about throw-ins.
Lino with red and yellow flag 6 - Got it about right.

Crowd 4. Except for at the end - 7.


Considering we played the game for 80 minutes with 10 men, I thought we did pretty well.

 

[pasty]

cant be bothered with ratings but cant help wondering if any one noticed we were shit for over an hour, only o'callaghan worth more than a 6 over the entire game,everyone over 7 for the last 15- Bas worth 10.5

Well said that man.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I can't help feeling most people's ratings would be at least one or two points lower per player had we not nicked that last minute goal.

I think the win was deserved on the chances we created compared to Southend, who had plenty of possession but had only two worthwhile efforts, scoring from both. But it wasn't the sort of inspiring performance to merit all the 8s and 7s some people are giving out.

O'Callaghan, fair enough. Savage, likewise. Elphick did OK again. But the rest were no more than average, 6/10 type performances, one or two below that even.

Still, I'll take a win however it comes...

 

[Domino]

He IS an attacking player!!!

O'Callaghan - 8 - thought he was an attacking player? Either way, he was very good, strong tackler, good passer, good control
:

Have a look at this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRynx3BmuXg


And if you thought that goal was good look at the last one in this collection

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0itRual5XAc

He is actually a centre forward who in his last season with Cork City FC started to drop off the first two.... variously Kevin Doyle (now with Reading),Neale Fenn (ex Spurs) and Roy O'Donovan (now with Sunderland). Kevin Doyle has said in numerous interviews that George is the best ball player he has ever played with. If he is still with Brighton when you play Port Vale it could be interesting as from his days with them he made such an impression there that their No1 Fan claims to be his No1 Fan.........

 

[Turkey]

Pretty impressive! Need to get him taking our free kicks.