Deadbat
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A miserable afternoon in terms of the weather at Bramall Lane nearly ended up being doubly disappointing for the majority of the fans before United were able to salvage a point at home to Southend. Two goals down after two excellent strikes from the Shrimpers aided by more dreadful defending, United were in big trouble. However, Jose Baxter and Neill Collins scored two scrappy finishes at the Kop to restore parity despite a dismal first half performance from the home side. After the break United improved and somehow contrived to hit the woodwork three times and Billy Sharp also missed a big chance. Southend had moments of their own on the break but overall United would have been frustrated to drop two more points in a winnable game against another largely poor opponent.
Manager Adkins made changes aplenty from the game at Fleetwood in the week. He opted to play Basham and Collins at centre back and had Coutts and Hammond in the middle with Baxter out wide. Adams and Sharp got the start up top but the main surprise was his decision to drop Mark Howard from the side (at least from the last league game) and keep faith with George Long after his good performance in the week.
Southend had enjoyed a largely decent start to the season and under experienced Phil Brown would have fancied their chances at the Lane due to the home team’s nervy performances and results at the Lane.
After an impeccable minute’s applause due to the events in Paris on Friday evening, the game began in swirling wind and lashing rain. The game began even but Atkinson lashed a shot wide and then Campbell Ryce had one good run but there were few clear chances as players struggled to adapt to the weather but thankfully the new pitch seemed to be holding up better than in previous years and less players were going to ground.
Southend began to grow in confidence on the half hour won a corner which former Blade Hurst took. It came over and Long really should have caught it but on a wet day opted to use two hands to punch it away. It did go right to the edge of the box but unfortunately for him found a Southend player, LEONARD, who hit a tremendous first time finish back into the corner of the goal to stun the home side.
Soon after it was 2-0. Nice build up saw United turned around again and PAYNE was in on the angle after a neat ball from Coker and he drilled a great low shot in off the far post. It was a nice team goal and well finished but woeful defending again as United were carved open way too easily. Southend players celebrated in front of their 1,000+ visiting fans at the Bramall Lane end amidst loud boos from the remaining three sides of the stadium.
The crowd were now not happy and this frustration continued towards the officials as Harris’ cross seems to be fumbled into his net by Bentley as Adams challenged but the referee bailed him out. United had to get back into the game quickly and did do soon after.
The ball was never cleared from Coutts’ corner and as Bentley tried to get to it, BAXTER just toed it under him and into the net. At first you feared the keeper may have been fouled, as in the earlier challenge, but the lack of protest and replays after showed he never had proper hold of the ball. A scrappy goal but United were back in it.
Adams then had a good chance deflected over after good work from Baxter in the build up.
As the game entered additional time in the first half United won a corner and this was not properly cleared and came back to Baxter who sent the ball back in. The now nervy Southend defence did not react and COLLINS was able to pounce controlling the loose ball and calmly slotting it home from around the penalty spot. Incredibly United were level and after such a poor start could go again in the second half.
United began the second half with much more life and energy and were now on the front foot. They were winning tackles and now getting into the last third quicker. Still they struggled to create many chances despite Campbell Ryce continuing to look busy and draw double teams on the left hand side.
Baxter was more involved now but sadly the ball was not sticking with neither Sharp or Adams. It seemed odd that Adkins did not change his front two as Southend made a number of changes themselves to try and stem the side.
Hammond had an effort blocked as did Sharp and Campbell Ryce continued to cause problems. However, a Worrall header flicked just wide as Southend threatened briefly on the break.
United then had a series if chances to take the lead but could not convert.
Sharp was in on goal and just Bentley to beat but he made a good save at close range. He really ought to have scored and was a big chance.
Then soon after neat and tidy build up saw it finally find Baxter who placed a shot that beat the keeper all ends up but struck the post and went away.
Campbell Ryce was cynically hacked down and from the free kick from Baxter, Basham flicked it goalwards at the near post but it caromed off the other post this time and away. A real let off for the visitors.
Incredibly United hit the post for the third time in one half soon after.
Sharp initially miscontrolled it but he got it back and hit a great shot that hit the outside of the post and bounced away.
Wallace came on for Coutts and tried to get into the games instantly but United were now running out of time.
United – On the face of it we came back and got a point after being two down and looking dead and buried and the crowd on the backs of the side. However, it is another home game without a win and another where we did not convince. The positives are we had a lot of efforts and did hit the post three times. Unlucky or poor finishing? I would say all three were really good effort rather than bad misses. Sharp should have scored too. We played much better second half and the tempo was better. We played higher up the pitch and I felt we showed more passion.
Once again the negatives for me was the lack of pace we played it, certainly first half and also the slow languid build up saw us look quite clueless going forward and until the end with the two scrappy goals we did not create much first half. The shocking defending from us continued (they were as bad to be fair) with two poor goals and some other poor moments. I felt the overall will to win, passion and urgency was really poor first half and I did not feel we won many individual battles. In short they once again did not look arsed. Second half they showed a lot more and fair play they did come back and show some fight. It should not have to come when we are two goals down though and too many were going through the motions.
I thought individually and collectively the departments of the team were still not good enough. The defence made mistakes and the midfield gave it away often. Hammond again was a major disappointment. He gets and finds space but loses the ball constantly and him and Coutts are woefully slow and either unfit or just lack mobility/stamina to just run up and down the field (sadly this is a key facet of a midfielder – coverage of ground – especially in this division). I felt even though he gets maligned Baxter in a position alien to him, looked our main prompter to create. Campbell Ryce similarly gets a lot of criticism around me but he is our main threat of getting forward and creating crosses or getting the defenders turned. I thought both the front two were poor and I also felt he should have changed it. He has done this most of the time this season, using 2 or 3 subs well before the end but did not do anything today until Wallace came on late. It was odd.
I came away from the game frustrated again. We were not awful but we were not good and the consistency even within games is still sadly lacking. Players play well for spells, then are awful for others and the side continues to let in stupid goals and nobody takes control of the game. We continue to lack leaders and people who get games by the scruff of the neck. Sadly, as some allude to we can talk about tactics, players, formations etc but I am not sure who he picks changes things. He has changed the team a lot this season and changed how we play in terms of 4-4-2 v 4-3-3 and other formations and it has mattered little to results/performances. We still are not ultimately putting together performances or results. We have won 3 in 12 now and that is form more akin to a side in the bottom 10. Indeed the results and performances are now seeing us a long way off the top and we seem to be falling away rather than getting back in touch with the top few. To me the effort, passion and urgency of the side is one of main failings. Too much is made of who plays where and what tactics we employ. Granted we need better players but man for man we still should be doing better and even for all failings of our players, it is a side that to me if matches opponents for effort and wins battles, loose balls and shows that scrap and fight would still be better than most in this league. At the moment the side continues to fall below in this basic application area. Trouble is he brings in others and they do not do any better (See Long-Howard, Done-Sharp-Adams, Hammond-Reed-Scougall-Coutts, Harris-Wallace). It does not seem to matter who he plays, the performances remain sub par.
All we can hope is we stay in touch with the top 6 (automatic is not going to happen again without a massive turnaround – the trajectory of results and performances suggest this is not going to happen and we cannot jettison 15 players in January and bring 7 or 8 quality ones in sadly) and hope we can bring a few in after Xmas to push on and maybe end the playoff hoodoo. At the moment I would be very surprised if we were not back in this league again. Adkins has to remain and be allowed hopefully to not repeat some of his signing mistakes so far and I think questions do need to be posed about him but that we have to stick with him. If in a year we were in similar discussions and not seeing improvement then we can look at things (would hate to have to make another change). At the moment the biggest criticism I make of United and Adkins is I do not see any improvement match to match in performance in terms of effort, shape or pattern of play. If anything it has got worse since the start off the season and I am not sure he knows how to turn this around based on this drop off (moved from 3rd to 8th in last 2 months and steadily going the wrong way).
Southend – They were decent first half and had a real go and played quite an open game. They scored two good goals and played some decent stuff. They attacked us down both flanks and got both full backs overlapping. They also were hard working in the middle of the field. I do not feel they had any real stand out players up top but they seemed a fairly hard working side. However, they looked as bad as us at the back and even the highly rated keeper did not convince. The two goals they conceded were awful. After the break they defended and time wasted and seemed content to play on the break. They did have a few chances but overall would have been delighted to get a point when we hit the post three times and controlled most of the second half. A much smaller squad than ours and one that has a lot of injuries too; I did feel after a decent start today they looked quite poor for long spells, giving it away and defending deeper and deeper.
Sadly, our forwards had an off day and we did not quite do enough to get the win we probably deserved. Brown has bounced back from a few difficult years when he managed higher up and to be fair to him he has managed to get them up after having to start again personally at the bottom. They will do enough to stay in this league and when they get some players back will be even better. They will probably finish around mid-table. The fact we then could not beat them is of course a concern. Still with the resources and crowds they have in comparison to use that would be a great achievement.
Opponent man of the match: Ryan Leonard. Hard working, passed the ball well and scored a great goal. The lad Payne was also decent and I felt they all worked hard. More of a team performance than any individuals.
Opponent Weak link: White. The right back struggled all game with Campbell Ryce and how he did not get booked was beyond me for numerous fouls on him.
SUFC Player Ratings –
Long 6/10 – I have to be honest and say that he should have done better on the first goal. He did get it to the edge of the box but he was unopposed and should have caught it really. It was unfortunate it was sent back into the net; a great finish really, but he has to take some blame. Some may say he got it to the edge of the box but it should have been caught or punched properly out wide. He had no chance on the 2nd goal and the defence did not help him at all in general play. Aside from the goals he kicked it a lot better than Howard and actually even though I get very nervous when he plays; he was no worse than the highly erratic Howard. I actually don’t think either is good enough but Long at the moment might even be better than Howard. That shows how bad our keeping situation is. You could play either and I am not sure they would be good enough. Both routinely make a mistake a game and sadly often costs us a goal.
Freeman 6/10 – Steady-ish but they often exploited the fact he tried to come forward and with Baxter coming inside it made for some gaps down this side and the full back came forward quite a bit. He played ok but was slow at times to react to danger defensively. Going forward he was alright. A decent footballer who tries to pass it and get us going forward but does lose concentration at times. He is still one of our better players most weeks. However, he will be disappointed on the goal when they got in on his side quite easily. One silly flick nearly led to a goal for them second half. His average performance that are seen as better than most sums up how bad the rest of the defence is.
Harris 6/10 – Another very erratic performance. He was slow to react at times and I felt on the ball he was really mixed with some really poor crosses and passes and some ok moments. More than anything I just felt he was very slow in general play and they had a lot of moments/chances due to him just not reacting. Not sure he is any better than Kieran Wallace who was doing ok at that position. Harris was shocking in both playoff games and unsure he has moved on much from there since his injury. Another player that is just distinctly average.
Collins 6/10 – Real mixed bag. Scored a decent goal (and has s cored quite a few this season) but he also had some horror moments when he miskicked or miscleared. He gives it all but is incredibly limited on the ball. Kicked it against his own foot twice today. He is generally quite poor and a player who does put effort in but he is just simply not good enough. The fact he is a mainstay of the side sums up how bad we are. He has made 200 appearances for the club. That is frightening. He was not one of the worst players today and actually showed a decent level of commitment but his continued backpedalling sees the defence come back constantly. He had his usual tirade at the rest of the team after the goals seemingly never taking responsibility himself.
Basham 6/10 – Steady defensively for the most part but he like Collins made some poor mistakes and also was sloppy in his distribution. I am not sure he is actually good enough either in midfield or defence. A very ordinary player who is not great at passing, not dominant in the air and does not really offer much leadership to say he is captain. A player for me that sums up a lot of SUFC at the moment. Weak, slow and lacking drive. Had his head in his hands after a few misplaced passes.
Coutts 6.5/10- He was ok but again looked shattered after only 15 minutes. He is decent on the ball when gets it and is nice and neat and tidy but does he affect in the game in any kind of way? He cannot cover much ground due to his limited mobility and also fitness which is still lacking. He plays it sideways and backwards but rarely goes forward. He does not carry the ball much or do much defensively. Like Basham just a very ordinary player who does not do enough to impact games in our favour. I saw him play a few square balls and that was it.
Hammond 5/10 – Really disappointing yet again. He does show for the ball but often when he got it he just played it sideways or backwards. He rarely goes forward and is really slow. He gave it away today as much as he kept it and when he was chasing he often was second best. I thought he would stand out at this level but he looks actually worse than what we have in midfield. He is so slow to react to anything and looks a player that seems to think he has forever on the ball when in reality he has very limited time. His loan has not improved us. If anything it has made us worse and Coutts/Wallace/Reed/Scougall alongside Baxter would be no worse. He does not offer anything in particular.
Baxter 7/10 – Some terrible passes where he telegraphed balls and often tried some stupid passes but at least he tried to go forward and play balls into the last third. He was his usual frustrating self with some decent balls mixed in with silly flicks and overplay but he still put one or two decent balls out. He is frustrating as hell but is still better than many other options. Hit the post with a decent effort and also involved in most of our good stuff second half. He was involved in many of the decent efforts either by free kicks or corners or playing people in. He also assisted on the first goal so contributed more than most today. Not sure playing in a wide position really helped him.
Adams 5.5/10 – First half he was lively and showed his strength and ability on the ball and I felt looked our main threat. He was mobile and industrious. Second half I felt he regressed badly and his touch was off and I felt he did not contribute enough and the ball came off him a lot to the opposition too much. He tried to do too much and the game got away from him. Really surprised he stayed on as I felt Sammon or Done may have been given a spell.
Sharp 5/10 – He seems untouchable in the league in the sense that Adkins will not drop him or take him off. Today I cannot recall much he did right. He hit this post but his overall contribution was poor. His first touch was mostly awful and the ball kept pinging off him or shooting away. He spent too much time trying to wrestle others and not focusing on his own game. He looked very languid and leaden footed. He should have come off but as I have said Adkins seem loathe to ever not play him. He also missed yet another golden chance. The goals have dried up for him and his overall performances are sadly distinctly average at the moment. Even the work rate we saw earlier in the season is not quite there at the moment.
Campbell Ryce 7.5/10 – Once again our best player. He put a few crosses behind and at times overplayed but again as with last week at least tried to be aggressive and get at the defence. He was also looking to prove and try and get in the box and he was the one outlet that I felt gave us hope. He put in a few decent crosses and shots and was the one source of penetration. It is worrying that a mid 30’s hit and miss journeyman is our main threat most weeks but that is where we are at sadly at the moment.
Subs
Wallace J – Came on for the final 5 minutes and was mixed with a few good balls and then a few giveaways too. He is at least fit so to me should play as he is a better player than Coutts and Hammond. We may aswell milk him while it lasts even if we know the inevitable injury will be coming soon.
Manager – Adkins 6/10 – Another home game, another without a win. We were 2-0 down and fortunate to even be level at the break. I felt we were slow, lacking tempo once again and no one in the side took initiative. We got level but even after the break despite us hitting the post x 3; not sure we actually created that much. We lack drive, passion and hunger to really go out and beat teams at the Lane. I also felt like that we had that same kind of ‘go through the motions, whatever happens, happens, type performance.’ Adkins had not got this side using home advantage, has not got us organised or cohesive. It is just a real slow, lethargic side that lacks effort and steel. We got a draw today via 10 minutes of effort just before half time and some better effort post break but overall it was a mostly slow and unadventurous performance again. We are 8th and some way off the top due to these same lethargic performances where too many players lose own individual battles.
Ref – Fine. He tried to let things flow and sometimes he played on too much. We had a few times where we got felled and he should have blown up but opted to play on. He booked just one player, Weston at the end for a bad foul on Harris but could have booked a few of their defenders for some late and poor tackles. The goal we had disallowed I was not sure on but I think if had been the other end we would have gone mad if he had not given a foul and they do tend to be given but I am not sure Adams did a lot wrong. Overall he was ok though and did not have any real adverse impact on the game.
Crowd – Another 19,000 + crowd. Southend brought a decent following of maybe just over a 1,000+ and they got behind their team well. The Blades fans were incredibly frustrated and when we went two down, there were a lot of boos and groans. Fortunately, we got level quite quickly and were right back in the game so the fans frustrations did not properly kick in. Second half the fans got behind the side but the woodwork denied United and the crowd were unsure how to react at the end as on the surface it was another game without a win but United had come back to get level and were improved in the second half.
Manager Adkins made changes aplenty from the game at Fleetwood in the week. He opted to play Basham and Collins at centre back and had Coutts and Hammond in the middle with Baxter out wide. Adams and Sharp got the start up top but the main surprise was his decision to drop Mark Howard from the side (at least from the last league game) and keep faith with George Long after his good performance in the week.
Southend had enjoyed a largely decent start to the season and under experienced Phil Brown would have fancied their chances at the Lane due to the home team’s nervy performances and results at the Lane.
After an impeccable minute’s applause due to the events in Paris on Friday evening, the game began in swirling wind and lashing rain. The game began even but Atkinson lashed a shot wide and then Campbell Ryce had one good run but there were few clear chances as players struggled to adapt to the weather but thankfully the new pitch seemed to be holding up better than in previous years and less players were going to ground.
Southend began to grow in confidence on the half hour won a corner which former Blade Hurst took. It came over and Long really should have caught it but on a wet day opted to use two hands to punch it away. It did go right to the edge of the box but unfortunately for him found a Southend player, LEONARD, who hit a tremendous first time finish back into the corner of the goal to stun the home side.
Soon after it was 2-0. Nice build up saw United turned around again and PAYNE was in on the angle after a neat ball from Coker and he drilled a great low shot in off the far post. It was a nice team goal and well finished but woeful defending again as United were carved open way too easily. Southend players celebrated in front of their 1,000+ visiting fans at the Bramall Lane end amidst loud boos from the remaining three sides of the stadium.
The crowd were now not happy and this frustration continued towards the officials as Harris’ cross seems to be fumbled into his net by Bentley as Adams challenged but the referee bailed him out. United had to get back into the game quickly and did do soon after.
The ball was never cleared from Coutts’ corner and as Bentley tried to get to it, BAXTER just toed it under him and into the net. At first you feared the keeper may have been fouled, as in the earlier challenge, but the lack of protest and replays after showed he never had proper hold of the ball. A scrappy goal but United were back in it.
Adams then had a good chance deflected over after good work from Baxter in the build up.
As the game entered additional time in the first half United won a corner and this was not properly cleared and came back to Baxter who sent the ball back in. The now nervy Southend defence did not react and COLLINS was able to pounce controlling the loose ball and calmly slotting it home from around the penalty spot. Incredibly United were level and after such a poor start could go again in the second half.
United began the second half with much more life and energy and were now on the front foot. They were winning tackles and now getting into the last third quicker. Still they struggled to create many chances despite Campbell Ryce continuing to look busy and draw double teams on the left hand side.
Baxter was more involved now but sadly the ball was not sticking with neither Sharp or Adams. It seemed odd that Adkins did not change his front two as Southend made a number of changes themselves to try and stem the side.
Hammond had an effort blocked as did Sharp and Campbell Ryce continued to cause problems. However, a Worrall header flicked just wide as Southend threatened briefly on the break.
United then had a series if chances to take the lead but could not convert.
Sharp was in on goal and just Bentley to beat but he made a good save at close range. He really ought to have scored and was a big chance.
Then soon after neat and tidy build up saw it finally find Baxter who placed a shot that beat the keeper all ends up but struck the post and went away.
Campbell Ryce was cynically hacked down and from the free kick from Baxter, Basham flicked it goalwards at the near post but it caromed off the other post this time and away. A real let off for the visitors.
Incredibly United hit the post for the third time in one half soon after.
Sharp initially miscontrolled it but he got it back and hit a great shot that hit the outside of the post and bounced away.
Wallace came on for Coutts and tried to get into the games instantly but United were now running out of time.
United – On the face of it we came back and got a point after being two down and looking dead and buried and the crowd on the backs of the side. However, it is another home game without a win and another where we did not convince. The positives are we had a lot of efforts and did hit the post three times. Unlucky or poor finishing? I would say all three were really good effort rather than bad misses. Sharp should have scored too. We played much better second half and the tempo was better. We played higher up the pitch and I felt we showed more passion.
Once again the negatives for me was the lack of pace we played it, certainly first half and also the slow languid build up saw us look quite clueless going forward and until the end with the two scrappy goals we did not create much first half. The shocking defending from us continued (they were as bad to be fair) with two poor goals and some other poor moments. I felt the overall will to win, passion and urgency was really poor first half and I did not feel we won many individual battles. In short they once again did not look arsed. Second half they showed a lot more and fair play they did come back and show some fight. It should not have to come when we are two goals down though and too many were going through the motions.
I thought individually and collectively the departments of the team were still not good enough. The defence made mistakes and the midfield gave it away often. Hammond again was a major disappointment. He gets and finds space but loses the ball constantly and him and Coutts are woefully slow and either unfit or just lack mobility/stamina to just run up and down the field (sadly this is a key facet of a midfielder – coverage of ground – especially in this division). I felt even though he gets maligned Baxter in a position alien to him, looked our main prompter to create. Campbell Ryce similarly gets a lot of criticism around me but he is our main threat of getting forward and creating crosses or getting the defenders turned. I thought both the front two were poor and I also felt he should have changed it. He has done this most of the time this season, using 2 or 3 subs well before the end but did not do anything today until Wallace came on late. It was odd.
I came away from the game frustrated again. We were not awful but we were not good and the consistency even within games is still sadly lacking. Players play well for spells, then are awful for others and the side continues to let in stupid goals and nobody takes control of the game. We continue to lack leaders and people who get games by the scruff of the neck. Sadly, as some allude to we can talk about tactics, players, formations etc but I am not sure who he picks changes things. He has changed the team a lot this season and changed how we play in terms of 4-4-2 v 4-3-3 and other formations and it has mattered little to results/performances. We still are not ultimately putting together performances or results. We have won 3 in 12 now and that is form more akin to a side in the bottom 10. Indeed the results and performances are now seeing us a long way off the top and we seem to be falling away rather than getting back in touch with the top few. To me the effort, passion and urgency of the side is one of main failings. Too much is made of who plays where and what tactics we employ. Granted we need better players but man for man we still should be doing better and even for all failings of our players, it is a side that to me if matches opponents for effort and wins battles, loose balls and shows that scrap and fight would still be better than most in this league. At the moment the side continues to fall below in this basic application area. Trouble is he brings in others and they do not do any better (See Long-Howard, Done-Sharp-Adams, Hammond-Reed-Scougall-Coutts, Harris-Wallace). It does not seem to matter who he plays, the performances remain sub par.
All we can hope is we stay in touch with the top 6 (automatic is not going to happen again without a massive turnaround – the trajectory of results and performances suggest this is not going to happen and we cannot jettison 15 players in January and bring 7 or 8 quality ones in sadly) and hope we can bring a few in after Xmas to push on and maybe end the playoff hoodoo. At the moment I would be very surprised if we were not back in this league again. Adkins has to remain and be allowed hopefully to not repeat some of his signing mistakes so far and I think questions do need to be posed about him but that we have to stick with him. If in a year we were in similar discussions and not seeing improvement then we can look at things (would hate to have to make another change). At the moment the biggest criticism I make of United and Adkins is I do not see any improvement match to match in performance in terms of effort, shape or pattern of play. If anything it has got worse since the start off the season and I am not sure he knows how to turn this around based on this drop off (moved from 3rd to 8th in last 2 months and steadily going the wrong way).
Southend – They were decent first half and had a real go and played quite an open game. They scored two good goals and played some decent stuff. They attacked us down both flanks and got both full backs overlapping. They also were hard working in the middle of the field. I do not feel they had any real stand out players up top but they seemed a fairly hard working side. However, they looked as bad as us at the back and even the highly rated keeper did not convince. The two goals they conceded were awful. After the break they defended and time wasted and seemed content to play on the break. They did have a few chances but overall would have been delighted to get a point when we hit the post three times and controlled most of the second half. A much smaller squad than ours and one that has a lot of injuries too; I did feel after a decent start today they looked quite poor for long spells, giving it away and defending deeper and deeper.
Sadly, our forwards had an off day and we did not quite do enough to get the win we probably deserved. Brown has bounced back from a few difficult years when he managed higher up and to be fair to him he has managed to get them up after having to start again personally at the bottom. They will do enough to stay in this league and when they get some players back will be even better. They will probably finish around mid-table. The fact we then could not beat them is of course a concern. Still with the resources and crowds they have in comparison to use that would be a great achievement.
Opponent man of the match: Ryan Leonard. Hard working, passed the ball well and scored a great goal. The lad Payne was also decent and I felt they all worked hard. More of a team performance than any individuals.
Opponent Weak link: White. The right back struggled all game with Campbell Ryce and how he did not get booked was beyond me for numerous fouls on him.
SUFC Player Ratings –
Long 6/10 – I have to be honest and say that he should have done better on the first goal. He did get it to the edge of the box but he was unopposed and should have caught it really. It was unfortunate it was sent back into the net; a great finish really, but he has to take some blame. Some may say he got it to the edge of the box but it should have been caught or punched properly out wide. He had no chance on the 2nd goal and the defence did not help him at all in general play. Aside from the goals he kicked it a lot better than Howard and actually even though I get very nervous when he plays; he was no worse than the highly erratic Howard. I actually don’t think either is good enough but Long at the moment might even be better than Howard. That shows how bad our keeping situation is. You could play either and I am not sure they would be good enough. Both routinely make a mistake a game and sadly often costs us a goal.
Freeman 6/10 – Steady-ish but they often exploited the fact he tried to come forward and with Baxter coming inside it made for some gaps down this side and the full back came forward quite a bit. He played ok but was slow at times to react to danger defensively. Going forward he was alright. A decent footballer who tries to pass it and get us going forward but does lose concentration at times. He is still one of our better players most weeks. However, he will be disappointed on the goal when they got in on his side quite easily. One silly flick nearly led to a goal for them second half. His average performance that are seen as better than most sums up how bad the rest of the defence is.
Harris 6/10 – Another very erratic performance. He was slow to react at times and I felt on the ball he was really mixed with some really poor crosses and passes and some ok moments. More than anything I just felt he was very slow in general play and they had a lot of moments/chances due to him just not reacting. Not sure he is any better than Kieran Wallace who was doing ok at that position. Harris was shocking in both playoff games and unsure he has moved on much from there since his injury. Another player that is just distinctly average.
Collins 6/10 – Real mixed bag. Scored a decent goal (and has s cored quite a few this season) but he also had some horror moments when he miskicked or miscleared. He gives it all but is incredibly limited on the ball. Kicked it against his own foot twice today. He is generally quite poor and a player who does put effort in but he is just simply not good enough. The fact he is a mainstay of the side sums up how bad we are. He has made 200 appearances for the club. That is frightening. He was not one of the worst players today and actually showed a decent level of commitment but his continued backpedalling sees the defence come back constantly. He had his usual tirade at the rest of the team after the goals seemingly never taking responsibility himself.
Basham 6/10 – Steady defensively for the most part but he like Collins made some poor mistakes and also was sloppy in his distribution. I am not sure he is actually good enough either in midfield or defence. A very ordinary player who is not great at passing, not dominant in the air and does not really offer much leadership to say he is captain. A player for me that sums up a lot of SUFC at the moment. Weak, slow and lacking drive. Had his head in his hands after a few misplaced passes.
Coutts 6.5/10- He was ok but again looked shattered after only 15 minutes. He is decent on the ball when gets it and is nice and neat and tidy but does he affect in the game in any kind of way? He cannot cover much ground due to his limited mobility and also fitness which is still lacking. He plays it sideways and backwards but rarely goes forward. He does not carry the ball much or do much defensively. Like Basham just a very ordinary player who does not do enough to impact games in our favour. I saw him play a few square balls and that was it.
Hammond 5/10 – Really disappointing yet again. He does show for the ball but often when he got it he just played it sideways or backwards. He rarely goes forward and is really slow. He gave it away today as much as he kept it and when he was chasing he often was second best. I thought he would stand out at this level but he looks actually worse than what we have in midfield. He is so slow to react to anything and looks a player that seems to think he has forever on the ball when in reality he has very limited time. His loan has not improved us. If anything it has made us worse and Coutts/Wallace/Reed/Scougall alongside Baxter would be no worse. He does not offer anything in particular.
Baxter 7/10 – Some terrible passes where he telegraphed balls and often tried some stupid passes but at least he tried to go forward and play balls into the last third. He was his usual frustrating self with some decent balls mixed in with silly flicks and overplay but he still put one or two decent balls out. He is frustrating as hell but is still better than many other options. Hit the post with a decent effort and also involved in most of our good stuff second half. He was involved in many of the decent efforts either by free kicks or corners or playing people in. He also assisted on the first goal so contributed more than most today. Not sure playing in a wide position really helped him.
Adams 5.5/10 – First half he was lively and showed his strength and ability on the ball and I felt looked our main threat. He was mobile and industrious. Second half I felt he regressed badly and his touch was off and I felt he did not contribute enough and the ball came off him a lot to the opposition too much. He tried to do too much and the game got away from him. Really surprised he stayed on as I felt Sammon or Done may have been given a spell.
Sharp 5/10 – He seems untouchable in the league in the sense that Adkins will not drop him or take him off. Today I cannot recall much he did right. He hit this post but his overall contribution was poor. His first touch was mostly awful and the ball kept pinging off him or shooting away. He spent too much time trying to wrestle others and not focusing on his own game. He looked very languid and leaden footed. He should have come off but as I have said Adkins seem loathe to ever not play him. He also missed yet another golden chance. The goals have dried up for him and his overall performances are sadly distinctly average at the moment. Even the work rate we saw earlier in the season is not quite there at the moment.
Campbell Ryce 7.5/10 – Once again our best player. He put a few crosses behind and at times overplayed but again as with last week at least tried to be aggressive and get at the defence. He was also looking to prove and try and get in the box and he was the one outlet that I felt gave us hope. He put in a few decent crosses and shots and was the one source of penetration. It is worrying that a mid 30’s hit and miss journeyman is our main threat most weeks but that is where we are at sadly at the moment.
Subs
Wallace J – Came on for the final 5 minutes and was mixed with a few good balls and then a few giveaways too. He is at least fit so to me should play as he is a better player than Coutts and Hammond. We may aswell milk him while it lasts even if we know the inevitable injury will be coming soon.
Manager – Adkins 6/10 – Another home game, another without a win. We were 2-0 down and fortunate to even be level at the break. I felt we were slow, lacking tempo once again and no one in the side took initiative. We got level but even after the break despite us hitting the post x 3; not sure we actually created that much. We lack drive, passion and hunger to really go out and beat teams at the Lane. I also felt like that we had that same kind of ‘go through the motions, whatever happens, happens, type performance.’ Adkins had not got this side using home advantage, has not got us organised or cohesive. It is just a real slow, lethargic side that lacks effort and steel. We got a draw today via 10 minutes of effort just before half time and some better effort post break but overall it was a mostly slow and unadventurous performance again. We are 8th and some way off the top due to these same lethargic performances where too many players lose own individual battles.
Ref – Fine. He tried to let things flow and sometimes he played on too much. We had a few times where we got felled and he should have blown up but opted to play on. He booked just one player, Weston at the end for a bad foul on Harris but could have booked a few of their defenders for some late and poor tackles. The goal we had disallowed I was not sure on but I think if had been the other end we would have gone mad if he had not given a foul and they do tend to be given but I am not sure Adams did a lot wrong. Overall he was ok though and did not have any real adverse impact on the game.
Crowd – Another 19,000 + crowd. Southend brought a decent following of maybe just over a 1,000+ and they got behind their team well. The Blades fans were incredibly frustrated and when we went two down, there were a lot of boos and groans. Fortunately, we got level quite quickly and were right back in the game so the fans frustrations did not properly kick in. Second half the fans got behind the side but the woodwork denied United and the crowd were unsure how to react at the end as on the surface it was another game without a win but United had come back to get level and were improved in the second half.
