Brief Synopsis!!!

Do you write this during the actual game?

He is always quick and it is much appreciated.

My ratings.

Mccormick - 7 - did nothing wrong, clean sheet.

Mellor - 6 - woeful first half, great second.

Hartley - 7 - Solid

Nelson - 7 - Solid.

Mchugh - 7 - Solid.

O'connor - 7 - does the simple things well.

Cox - 8 - Class act to me.

Lewi - 7 - lively, good finish.

Banton - 6 - up and down for me.

Reid - 7 - much better second half.

Morgan - 8 - had a point to prove and did, rightfully got a standing ovation.


Thomas - Na - one good run and effort.
Harvey - 6 - effective enough.
Norburn - 6 - same as above.

Ecstatic with the points but wasn't overly impressed, first half awful enough to send you to sleep, second half started the same until the goal..
Alessandra and Mellor both played well second half, Banton looked sharper and more up for it, defence still look dodgey luckily nothing for McCormick to do.
Onwards and upwards but still must play better if we're to challenge this season.

Entertainment 5/10.

Phil Sloggett":oipmvu5l said:

Do you write this during the actual game?

Click to expand...

I appreciate the synopsis but I wouldn't sit there during the game typing it up on my mobile.

Oh and a mention for Morgan 10/10 for effort!

We' scored the same number of goals but conceded one more than both of the top two in the league. Shame we are 6pts worse off.

Awful first half , much improved second .

Happy with the 3 points , need to be much better though if we are to achieve anything this season.

A strange sort of game.

We started well with Morgan having his best 15 minutes of his Argyle career, the sending off changed the game and it suited Southend more than us, we now looked a very average team devoid of ideas.
The second half brought a change of formation and we took the game to Southend; scoring two very good goals and should have had more.
Huge credit should go to Sheridan for changing the formation and winning the three points plus a clean sheet.

Morgan made a rare start in a 4-4-2 formation and with Reid now finally having some help up front we looked a good team.
It was Morgan who took the game to Southend, he had a battle against defender Bolger and was easily winning the battle. Bolger could only stop him by fouling which received an early yellow card.
Argyle were camped in the Southend half but couldn't force a clear chance.

Bolger again fouled Morgan but got away with it, the whole ground knew it was only a matter of time for the red card, and earlier than expected Bolger brought down Morgan again and off he went, cheerio! :wave:

Southend reorganised and it was their middle three of Atkinson, Clifford and especially Leonard (all ex-Argyle players) who were now running the show, our midfield couldn't cope with them.
The sending off stopped our momentum and we ended up defending the counter attacks from Southend. Our defensive midfield two of Cox and O'Connor were now both on yellow cards, at this stage we needed a more attack minded central midfielder.

Sheridan changed the formation for the second half into 4-2-1-3 with Banton having a free role behind Morgan, Reid and Alessandra, he must have also kicked a few backsides because now we looked a better team and showed more urgency.
The full-backs, especially Mellor came more into the game and now Southend actually looked like a team with ten players.

The first goal early in the second half was due to great play from Mellor, he had just had a barracking from the crowd for not getting forward but now went on a jinking run which included his little step over, he beat two players and looked to have a great chance to shoot but chose to pass inside to Alessandra who passed the ball into the far corner. A great goal and just what we needed.

Norburn, who was about to come on, sat back down in the dugout.

Everyone, included the players, breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. We started to pass the ball around and tire out the Southend players.

The second goal was due to great link up play between Alessandra and Mellor, the cross reached Reid at the far post and he headed down and back across goal to finish off another good team move.

Game over and we deserved more goals, including one where the Southend keeper made a brilliant save from McHugh.

The players do look a team that needs confidence and belief before they start playing and passing it around.
O'Connor was chasing shadows for much of the first half but once the goals went in he got on the ball and passed it around.
Morgan was a revelation upfront, good in the air but even better on the deck, he took a lot of the workload off Reid.

Reid had one of quieter games and yet still managed to score. Five goals before August is finished is phenomenal.

The defence didn't have much Southend pressure to face, McHugh did ok, no alarms. Mellor was our best attacker in the second half.

Overall, a game we had to win because of the ten man situation and in the end we were deserved winners due to Sheridan changing his formation and giving the players belief. If we didn't win the knives would have been out.

If you include two of the goals against Exeter we now have scored four cracking goals - one an excellent free-kick and three team goals.

Credit to Southend who look a good team, Leonard, Clifford and Atkinson would walk into any League Two team.

With Sheridan stating he wants a home and away team will he change a winning team to face Luton?

Entertainment 8/10.

McCormick 7, Mellor 8, Nelson 6, Hartley 6, McHugh 6, Banton 7, O'Connor 7, Cox 5, Alessandra 7, Reid 6, Morgan 8, Harvey 6, Norburn 6, Thomas 6.

Happy with the 3 points but until Sheridan can get us competing for 90 minutes then I'm still going to have my doubts about his managerial capabilities. First half was truly awful. A groanfest. Did I see their 10 men had 66% of the possession first half? Sheridan talked about playing with tempo in the programme but Argyle played at a funeral march tempo. Lethargic. No confidence. Little possession. Awful awful awful.

Second half started much the same. Twice an easy pass went into touch and the groans recommenced. Then Mellor who seemed terrified of the opposition's half crossed the half way line and after a run and some lovely footwork put Lewi in 1-0. The subs who were just about to come on were told to put their bibs on and a Sheridan stuck with the 11 on the pitch.

The spluttering engine then seemed to run a bit more smoothly. Argyle played with much more confidence and Mellor decided the opposition half wasn't to be feared after all. Created a few opportunities for us.

Lewi then put a perfect cross in to Reid and with a good header .... he couldn't miss.

For me all the old shortcomings remain. Left back is a weakness. We can't play 2 good halfs of football. Banton is still off the boil.

Positives : Morgan had his best game in an Argyle shirt. Mellor was my MOM.

I think Purrington for Mc Hugh and Thomas (who is desperate to show what he can do - and nearly scored with his first shot) FOR Banton would improve us.

An entertaining game with the result we all wanted. Both goals were well-taken. I was particularly impressed by Alessandra, Morgan and Reid. Mellor's first half performance was woeful but his attacking side was useful to us in the second and was involved in both goals. One complaint though, we seriously struggled in the first half against 10 men and we could've been looking at a very different result if it wasn't for such a pivotal red card early on.

PL2 3DQ":2w2mgw7h said:

A strange sort of game.

We started well with Morgan having his best 15 minutes of his Argyle career, the sending off changed the game and it suited Southend more than us, we now looked a very average team devoid of ideas.
The second half brought a change of formation and we took the game to Southend; scoring two very good goals and should have had more.
Huge credit should go to Sheridan for changing the formation and winning the three points plus a clean sheet.

Morgan made a rare start in a 4-4-2 formation and with Reid now finally having some help up front we looked a good team.
It was Morgan who took the game to Southend, he had a battle against defender Bolger and was easily winning the battle. Bolger could only stop him by fouling which received an early yellow card.
Argyle were camped in the Southend half but couldn't force a clear chance.

Bolger again fouled Morgan but got away with it, the whole ground knew it was only a matter of time for the red card, and earlier than expected Bolger brought down Morgan again and off he went, cheerio! :wave:

Southend reorganised and it was their middle three of Atkinson, Clifford and especially Leonard (all ex-Argyle players) who were now running the show, our midfield couldn't cope with them.
The sending off stopped our momentum and we ended up defending the counter attacks from Southend. Our defensive midfield two of Cox and O'Connor were now both on yellow cards, at this stage we needed a more attack minded central midfielder.

Sheridan changed the formation for the second half into 4-2-1-3 with Banton having a free role behind Morgan, Reid and Alessandra, he must have also kicked a few backsides because now we looked a better team and showed more urgency.
The full-backs, especially Mellor came more into the game and now Southend actually looked like a team with ten players.

The first goal early in the second half was due to great play from Mellor, he had just had a barracking from the crowd for not getting forward but now went on a jinking run which included his little step over, he beat two players and looked to have a great chance to shoot but chose to pass inside to Alessandra who passed the ball into the far corner. A great goal and just what we needed.

Norburn, who was about to come on, sat back down in the dugout.

Everyone, included the players, breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. We started to pass the ball around and tire out the Southend players.

The second goal was due to great link up play between Alessandra and Mellor, the cross reached Reid at the far post and he headed down and back across goal to finish off another good team move.

Game over and we deserved more goals, including one where the Southend keeper made a brilliant save from McHugh.

The players do look a team that needs confidence and belief before they start playing and passing it around.
O'Connor was chasing shadows for much of the first half but once the goals went in he got on the ball and passed it around.
Morgan was a revelation upfront, good in the air but even better on the deck, he took a lot of the workload off Reid.

Reid had one of quieter games and yet still managed to score. Five goals before August is finished is phenomenal.

The defence didn't have much Southend pressure to face, McHugh did ok, no alarms. Mellor was our best attacker in the second half.

Overall, a game we had to win because of the ten man situation and in the end we were deserved winners due to Sheridan changing his formation and giving the players belief. If we didn't win the knives would have been out.

Credit to Southend who look a good team, Leonard, Clifford and Atkinson would walk into any League Two team.

Entertainment 8/10.

McCormick 7, Mellor 8, Nelson 6, Hartley 6, McHugh 6, Banton 7, O'Connor 7, Cox 5, Alessandra 7, Reid 6, Morgan 8, Harvey 6, Norburn 6, Thomas 6.

Click to expand...

Great summary of the game, not 8/10 for entertainment for me though I gave a 5, first half was very dull and stop start.

A very decent win against a side who will be right up in the mix at the end of the season.

Southend had the majority of the ball in the first half, but their number 15 was on a different planet. The referee was brave enough to book him inside 10 minutes after Morgan flicked the ball around and has bundled over, only minutes passed when he done it again - in fairness to the referee i do think Marvin had hold of his shirt before the ball reached him, but again in fairness to the referee he took Morgan and their centre back to one side and i assume made it clear to cut out the stupid stuff. 60 seconds after that he decides to clatter into Morgan.Second yellow. As sometimes happens it inspired the 10 men, Conor Clifford was excellent and Southend were very composed and knocked it around like a really good side.

We made a few tactical switches at HT (credit to Sheridan) and were rewarded for it. Mellor exposed the large area's of space allowed to him to set up Allesandra and Reid finishing after good work down our right side.

Their keeper made one superb save from McHugh, which wont be bettered all year and despite them having large chunks of possession Luke was never troubled.

They showed enough to suggest they will be challenging, which makes the result more pleasing. Personally thought Nelson was MOM, strong and composed and improving rapidly into a very good player.

Great result and better second half. Surely we must have a plan when the opposition go down to 10 men, we had 4 at the back marking their lone striker. We should have gone three at the back and pushed a full back up into midfield. Consequently we looked woeful after sending off and we appeared to be a man short.

The team needs a leader for sure and someone who can drive us forward when we come becalmed.