My observations from yesterday

It seems my other post regarding strength in depth has been misconstrued as me saying we're ****. Definitely not what I was saying.

I thought as usual, we had the lions share of chances, and on another day, would have got something out of that game. Which speaks volumes because I thought Southend were probably the best team to come to Oakwell so far this season. Very well organised with several stand out players.

The first goal. It's not too clear to see from the replay, but Marc Roberts gets a massive elbow in the face in the build up. Sadly he stops to complain to the referee and a combination of Mawson and Connolly should have done better.

It was a similar game to earlier on in the season, there were some defensive frailties which highlighted the lack of experience that back 4 has. And we were on the back foot and chasing the game from the start.

Whilst we were nowhere near our best, we were a little unlucky on several occasions. There was a big shout for a penalty when their centre half seemed to dive in front of a Marley Watkins shot and used his arm to shield his face from the ball. That's one of those situations where pace of the shot and distance shouldn't have to come into it, as the lad clearly raised an arm towards the ball. There was another good effort from Chapman in there too. Looking back at the penalty which was given, I now think, having seen the replay that the referee got it right not to send the keeper off. Fletcher run is going closer to the corner flag than the goal. He would have had to reposition his body before shooting by which time there would have been 2 covering defenders.

However had the keeper not been booked for that foul, I certainly think he would have been booked for the blatant time wasting. One particular occasion that sticks out, was when he was taking a free kick and the referee prompted him to take it 3 TIMES before he actually did. Their was an instance in the 2nd half of blatant play acting in front of the linesman too which went unpunished. The referee was abysmal.

They had a couple of chances in the 1st half, such as the one which hit the bar and the follow up to that one. Both were clear chances.

2nd half, was an improvement, but again, they sat behind the ball and didn't allow us the room to run at them which has proved to be very fruitful during this spell.

I hope that this is just a blip and that we can get back to winning ways next week at Fleetwood. Let's at least end the season on a high, to at least build some momentum for next season regardless of the league we're in.

George Williams was my man of the match. Not a foot wrong again being played on the opposite side to where he is used to.

Sent from my I-Oven using the internets

 

I really admire Paul Heckingbottom and his assessment of our situation. After last week's extremely impressive victory over Walsall, he refused to get carried away. His post match comments yesterday were that we weren't as bad as some have claimed. In fact, last week he made a point of being indifferent towards the praise being levelled at us, saying as soon as we lose a game, the knives will be out again. He was bang on.
http://www.thestar.co.uk/our-towns-...ool-despite-reaching-play-off-place-1-7777005
I believe we can bounce back from yesterday's defeat and still be in with a chance of the Play Offs under him and with this group of players. Our second defeat since Christmas, following eleven victories and one draw in the previous thirteen league games, does not alter my opinion.

 

Agree. The application of the time wasting law by referees is pathetic. There's either a rule, or there isn't - but most refs just let it go all game before throwing out a token yellow at the end of the game, or in this case let it go all game. You can't blame Southend, but it's just ludicrous the gamesmanship that refs let go.

And my other perennial annoyance is how opposition players are allowed to just pick up the ball after conceding a free kick and wander 10 yards the wrong way with it before aiming a looped throw back to the free kick taker. Why isn't football like rugby where if you concede a free kick then the onus is on you to retreat, if you prevent the free kick in any way then you're penalised again.

 

13 wins, 2 draw and 4 defeats from our last 19. Promotion form every day of the week.

Incredible considering we had 11 defeats in our first 17 games of the season.

It's all about how we dust ourselves down and take the next game now. I still believe Paul is the man for the job, long term, yet we're going to have days like yesterday. It's down to the team to make sure it's a one off and not 9 in a row like previously.

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As I said, mate, I have every confidence in Paul Heckingbottom & this squad of players will get it right.

 

We lost...I don't think we need to overanalyse, we gifted them the joke early goal from a keeper assist..we were lucky not to concede again in that first 15 mins before we got into the game...missed a pen , which would have made Southend come out rather than put 10 behind the ball..which they did well, and pressured them for the last 45 mins..Nothing would quite drop for us...it happens. Still a good side , nothing to panic about but also a few lessons to be learnt.