Southend - Torquay

[westbaygull]

Hmm, an alternative to a match day thread - a post match thread starter...

Just a reminder really that we featured on the FL Show last night, it's now on iplayer at about 35 mins, I think. Good to see us on primetime (!)tv, just a shame about the result...

[Fletch]

I think "The Curse of Clem" was more to blame than the board being back up in all honesty. Quite a good segment though.

Oh Jane! Did you spent loads of time keep rewinding it to where they were tucking into their sundaes after their dinner?

[SuperNickyWroe]

I think "The Curse of Clem" was more to blame than the board being back up in all honesty. Quite a good segment though.

think you are right there fletch re clem :x

anyway it was a nice piece and the players looked comfortable and relaxed. you could tell there was a good bond within the squad.

any coincidence with mr lee leaving perhaps????

pity about the 1st half, but watching sky sports, they really should have taken a point after a good 2nd half performance.

[Enzo]

This was a game too far after a long week for our brave boys! For an hour we looked like a team who had played three tough away games in a week with extra time thrown in having spent long periods on the coach rather than the training pitch. We looked leggy and sluggish all ove the park and Southend were certainly sharper to the ball than us and for long periods won all the 50/50 balls. It is great to see Wayne back, but he did not appear match fit on yesterday's evidence - we were pretty weak across the whole of the middle of the park - we can't afford to carry both he and Stevens when they both have off days.

Up front the ball just was not sticking - Benyon and Zebs control let us down and when they did get hold of the ball there were never on the same wave length. It took two great strikes for Southend to score, but I felt our defence and Bevs to a degree looked shaky from the off. Their second goal was a very decent strike, but the guy had time because Branston and Manse had taken each other out! I thought Ellis and Branston's distribution was pretty poor throughout. Nicho continues to prove himself at this level and I thought he was pretty good.

First time I have seen us play this season and in the context of our start to the season was very disapointing. However, in the context of my hopes for the season this was ok. We played badly and could have snatched a draw late on with Wroe and Gritts going close - we hit the bar twice too. We looked solid enough for me not to worry about going down - and with our forward line we have two distinct styles which we can call on. The neutrals I went with were complimentary about Gritts when he came on a a target man. It is just not happening for Kee at the moment, but hopefully that will change. Good to see Buckle accept that we were not at the races from the off today and the interview I saw him give was a pretty fair summary.

Sturrock has made some decent signings. At the start of the season I thought both us and Southend would be battling relegation - I think both sides have enough about them to be mid table. Anything above that would be a real bonus. One other observation made was that one or two of our players look a wee bit chunky! May be tight shirts!

[JamieE]

On the balance of play they deserved to win, but even then it was two great strikes that did for us, we still haven't conceded from a clear cut chance like a tap-in or a cross. Considering we couldn't keep possession or put any pressure on Southend until Gritton was on, we did well again defensively to keep it down to 2-0 and give us a chance of a point in the closing stages.

Bucks, in hindsight, would have played a different system but no-one will begrude him for sticking with the winning system. It may be a cliche but it is the reality check the manager and the players needed. They have been absolutely brilliant so far, and hopefully the week's break can represent a fresh start.

[Gulliball]

We were very poor for the first 70 mins, and 2-0 was a very fair scoreline. Maybe on another day it might have plodded along at 0-0 because Southend didn't create an awful of of chances, but two great goals gave them the result that reflected the play.

For the last 20 mins we threw everything at them, and pulled one back. Nicky Wroe then missed a great chance a minute later when he should have equalised and we hit the woodwork a couple of times. On another day we might have got something, but we can't complain with the score because we deserved to lose.

Hopefully now we can go back to the shadows, as the underdog without attention and pressure on us. We should be good enough to float around the top half for the rest of the season, and fingers crossed we can finish somewhere in the top 7.

[Fletch]

think you are right there fletch re clem :x

anyway it was a nice piece and the players looked comfortable and relaxed. you could tell there was a good bond within the squad.

any coincidence with mr lee leaving perhaps????

pity about the 1st half, but watching sky sports, they really should have taken a point after a good 2nd half performance.

Could be right with the CE leaving Barns.
Of course, it could be the fact that we've been stringing good results together, compared to looking over the shoulder at the bottom 2 places last season. It must make for a happier squad being in a "winning team" than struggling each week for so long?

[eastyorksgull]

2 good posts from enzo and jamie we all know that teams are going to be after us now bring it on i am so confident about the season ahead for us

[Jeff]

Bit of a shame yesterday, but I think we can all accept that we've had a great run and it was going to end one way or another. I can see the benefits of it being over, as now we go back to being "just another team" rather than having any sort of record.

We were pretty awful to start off, both the Southend goals were great hits - although we should have dealt with the second in the midfield before he got the shot away. Our passing and control was simply embarrassing in the first half, wheras Southend rarely wasted anything. We played ugly football second half but it started getting us somewhere. Could have snatched a point but it wasn't truly deserved.

Will be interesting to see how we react on Saturday against Stanley. They haven't conceded yet on the road (or scored!) so its bound to be tight. Their squad doesn't look anything too special, but we'll have to be on our game to beat them. Hard to work out what we should do with the starting XI next week. Benyon had a poor game on saturday, but when it clicks for him he's lethal. If I was feeling daring you could perhaps drop Benyon for Gritton and go 2 up front. I'd maybe look at Stevens position too as he still has the hit-and-miss tendancies. Might just be a case of picking horses for courses next weekend.

[Gulliball]

386 away fans btw, a very good number for such a long trip. Made a good level of noise too, although it did get a bit quieter in the middle for obvious reasons.

[Colorado Gull]

Wanted to go to this one but good job I didnt! Listened to us on gulls player and it sounded like we were asleep for 75 mins of the game! But just a slip up, we'll be back on the top . And we'll swap places with the scum next year !! YELLOW ARMY!!

[westbaygull]

Oh Jane! Did you spent loads of time keep rewinding it to where they were tucking into their sundaes after their dinner?

Mmmmm, the full English did it for me, actually...

<Fletch hasn't noticed the egg stains on my shell suit smilie>

[shaunicus]

Not too concerned with yesterday's result. It was our third away game in a week and we must have ran up over 1000 miles in the process so I'm not too surprised we fell a bit short. In a way this defeat should reduce the pressure and spotlight on us - the media has been all over us recently with the Guardian, Sky and the Beeb all covering us and I think I prefer it when there's less expectation and we can quietly go about our business.

Accrington Stanley (H), Stevenage (A) and Macclesfield (H) coming up and there's a chance of a good return there imo.

[yellow]

Listening to Gulls World yesterday I was struck by Dave Thomas s groan as Danny Stevens lost possession for what appeared to be the umpteenth time.

A question to those of the 386. Just how bad was he? (on a scale of 1-10 with 5 being average).

[Gulliball]

Pretty awful. Nothing happened for him at all, and it showed up all the negative aspects of his game (and physical nature). I'd give him a 2, because he did at least try and make things happen, even if we never once managed to beat the first man.