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Posh 1, Southend 2 - Posh all at sea against the Shrimpers
Football phone-ins are the natural home for shallow thinkers with a tendency to over-react.
Football phone-ins are the natural home for shallow thinkers with a tendency to over-react.And that's just the presenters. Some of the 'fans' who call in are either speaking stupidly out of turn in the heat of the moment or actually are completely certifiable.
It's true that Posh ran out of ideas long before the end of this dreadfully disappointing performance, but sacking the manager, dropping the 21-goal striker and never playing the ball above knee height, as suggested on one programme on Saturday night are straight from Baldrick's school of cunning plans.
Anyway now is not the time for knee-jerk reactions. Calm heads and cool thinking are required for the final 12 matches, while a settled defence would also come in handy if second place is to remain a realistic Posh target.
Posh lost this match because they missed chances when they were on top at the start of the game and then conceded two goals which were ridiculous for different reasons.
Match facts:
Posh 1
Keates (pen, 6 mins)
Southend 2
Christophe (27 mins), Blackett (og, 63 mins).
Referee: Alan Haines 5.
Attendance: 7,441
Yellow cards:
Posh - Keates (foul), Boyd (foul).
Southend – Christophe (foul).
Player ratings on next page
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The manager can't score the goals and nor can he possibly legislate for long-range overhead kicks that fly into the net or for centre-backs slicing carelessly into their own goal.
True, Darren Ferguson did appear eccentric with his regular tactical switches of formation and personnel as he chased the game, but, to paraphrase the Prime Minister, to do nothing would have been worse as Posh were appalling in the second half even before Shane Blackett's embarrassing 63rd minute howler (worryingly he did the same thing the last time he started a match).
Unfortunately on this occasion nothing worked for the Posh manager or team, not even the rare sightings of the lesser-spotted Sergio Torres and Big Ben Wright, who was given five minutes to make a lasting first impression, although leaving George Boyd on the left-wing for 90 minutes might have been a wiser move given the way he started the match.
Still everyone's an expert after the game and Posh were actually quicker out of their blocks than Usain Bolt.
Unfortunately they plodded to the finish like Paula Radcliffe, bereft of confidence, tired and looking more than a little sick - an incredible turnaround when the opening 25 minutes are reviewed.
The penalty awarded when Boyd went down in the area between Anthony Grant and Osei Sankofa in the sixth minute looked soft (and judging by the rest of the referee's performance it was probably an awful decision), but Dean Keates stroked the ball home with ease to effectively put Posh second in the table.
Nothing in the next stage of the game happened to change that promising view as Posh looked to have too much pace and power for opposition that looked over-awed and outclassed.
Boyd teased and toyed with his markers, while Charlie Lee, restored to midfield in the absence of Paul Coutts, drove the rest of the side forward.Aaron Mclean clipped one excellent shot just wide of a post from the edge of the penalty area after a smart corner routine and Craig Mackail-Smith sent the ball over the bar from six yards following a sweet move involving Lee, Chris Whelpdale and Mclean.
But the game turned on one dazzling piece of skill from a player who had spent the previous 25 minutes giving the ball away.
Posh were slow to push out after clearing a corner, but few could have anticipated an overhead kick from the edge of the area by Jean-Francois Christophe which flew into the bottom corner of the net.
Posh still looked the better side for the rest of the half, but only one burst from Lee which finished with a shot deflected wide by a defender threatened danger.
Unfortunately Southend keeper Steve Mildenhall was only forced into action once in the second half when clawing away Mclean's six-yard header from a Tom Williams cross as Posh faded away despite moving from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 and then to 3-4-3.
Too many high balls were launched towards big defenders who were rarely flustered. Too many simple passes went astray or were over-hit, while Southend's tactic of smashing the ball as far as possible proved surprisingly effective against a much-changed back four.
Only Russell Martin at right-back of the defenders would probably get into the first-choice starting line-up and it showed as this back four were rarely in unison.
Physio Keith Oakes has a vital role to play now. Clearly the Posh first XI is good enough to finish second – too many of them are currently sitting in the stands, possibly resisting the urge to phone their local radio station.
Next page: Player ratings on next pagePlayer ratings:
Posh
Joe Lewis 6
Spent most of the afternoon kicking the ball clear
Russell Martin 7
Appears to have lost some of his attacking confidence
Shane Blackett 5
Clumsy own goal ruined a battling, committed effort
James Chester 5
Hasn't looked at home at all when confronted with long-ball football
Tom Williams 5
Understandably looked rusty on his return, a mixed bag of passing
Charlie Lee 6
Looked in prime form again in the early stages, tired badly before the end
Chris Whelpdale 5
Hardly seen before his substitution
Dean Keates 7
Star play - Another cool penalty conversion capped another strong tackling display
George Boyd 6
Dazzled when Posh were at their best, disappeared after the interval
Craig Mackail-Smith 5
Missed the best open-play chance and made some strange decisions
Aaron Mclean 6
Deadliest marksman needs more chances, only man to make keeper work
Substitutes:
Sergio Torres: (for Whelpdale, 65 mins).
Ben Wright: (for Williams, 86 mins).
James McKeown: (not used).
Danny Blanchett: (not used).
Dominic Green: (not used).
Southend
Steve Mildenhall 7
Osei Sankofa 7
Adam Barrett 7
Peter Clarke 7
Dorian Dervite 7
Anthony Grant 6
Alan McCormack 7
Franck Moussa 6
Jen-Francois Christophe 6
Theo Robinson 5
Lee Barnard 5
Substitutes:
Simon Francis: (for Barnard, 88 mins).
Kevin Betsy: (for Robinson, 90 mins).
Johnny Herd: (not used).
Ian Joyce: (not used).
Stuart O'Keefe: (not used).
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