Bristol City 2nd January

[Bristol Fan]

Here'e today's team - "Merson's team"

Murphy
Pead Gerrard Westwood Bennett
Leitao Kinsella K Taylor Harkness
Nicholls Constable

Sorry - but that's a team that would lose to most teams in the conference. A centre back playing at left back, a left back playing left wing, a striker playing right wing, a kid who is nowhere near ready for the first team playing all 90 minutes up front, an ageing has-been in the midfield holding role.

If that is truly the best we can pick from our squad then we are in serious, serious trouble, especially since one of the better ones, Leitao, probably won't kick a ball for us again. We've got the biggest squad in the league and more than half of it is nowhere near good enough. A squad with ten fewer bodies but a lot more quality is what's needed and would provide ample cover for injuries (four first-teamers injured today - Fryatt, Roper, Fox, Wright - we should be able to cope with that with ease). Our thick manager doesn't realise it though.

[Karate Hamster]

Ok just got back, METFAN here.

I along with the rest of the 'backrow' started along with the chaps to the left (mmf) of us the very vocal merson out chants, only to have some stupid clueless braindead gimps to tell us to shut up.

Loudest i have heard it, and i wonder why? anyone who belives in paul merson being our manager for me now is clearly insane. end of.

[Geordiesaddler]

I'm really glad a few people who are obviously sensible people but who don't normally travel away have been today and are seeing things the way they realy are. Believe me its been this bad for over a whole year. We are beyond woeful away from home and I'm also glad some folk had the balls to chant Merson Out today, GOOD ON YER I say, let's hope some people have the balls to start chanting it at home so we can get rid of this tit.

[Karate Hamster]

It had to be done mate, i took the liberty along with gary ell, joly, locksa, mmf etc. time to stand up and fight.

[BathSaddler]

Bristol fan had it pretty much spot on. We were, frankly, appalling. I have never felt so embarrassed at a perfprmance. It is hard to assess whether Bristol City are any good or not, because we did not turn up. Our performance warranted a 6/7/8-0 thrashing. The home side never, I mean NEVER got out of second gear. It was a complete stroll for them. We did improve a little in the early stages of the second half, but by the end we were as pathetic as we had been throughout the first half. And that's the word: Pathetic.

Kinsella is a disgrace. I cannot remember a tackle, a pass, an interception, nothing. Kris Taylor was not much better. Osborn and Standing did improve that area in the second half, but it would have been hard not to. It is unfair to slate Harkness because as far as I could see he was playing left midfieldish. Hard to tell though. Now, since when has he been a midfielder? Is'nt he a fullback or central defender? He had a decent debut against Stockport in the final game of last season but why play him so out of position?

Harkness, like Nicholls and Constable looked out of their depth today but they had little or no support. Equally, Daryl Taylor, though he tried hard, is just not upto it at present.

Gerrard, despite the odd mistake, was commitment personified. Westwood improved in the second half but seems to have lost the fans. His remonstrating with Gerrard did not help his cause. He is club captain, but he was barking at the wrong person there. I think he could be an asset for us, but is suffering from a lack of decent man management. A good player, as he undoubtedly has been, does not deteriate that much in such a short space of time.

Its a pity Jorge had to go off, and, frankly, we missed his effort. After that, there was no coming back.

There are times when the result becomes irrelevent, and in the second half today this was one of those occasions. It was not about losing 3-0. It was the fact that that we were clueless tactically, clueless organisationally and generally lacking in heart. To be honest, as stated earlier it may have been better to lose more heavily than we did. Maybe that would have given the club the wake up call it needs. But that is how desperate things have become.

MOSOC more than ever.

[Stu]

Where on earth did Westwood think he was playing today, and who was he supposed to be marking? Obviously no-one had told him, because he wasn't marking anyone most of the afternoon and largely contributed to their first goal through his inept play and passing.

Very surprised to read that, as I've heard off 2 different folk that Westwood had a good game today and one of those was a Brizzle fan that I play footy with. There is also a City fan on Rivals saying if it hadn't been for Westwood's performance it could have been 5.

And neither Kearns/Wilford attributed any blame to Westwood for the first goal. They gave that honour to Kinsella for giving the ball away, Bennett for then waiting for the ball to come to him and then Leitao for not tracking Murray as he came in from the wing.

[WFC_Rob]

Where on earth did Westwood think he was playing today, and who was he supposed to be marking? Obviously no-one had told him, because he wasn't marking anyone most of the afternoon and largely contributed to their first goal through his inept play and passing.

Very surprised to read that, as I've heard off 2 different folk that Westwood had a good game today and one of those was a Brizzle fan that I play footy with. There is also a City fan on Rivals saying if it hadn't been for Westwood's performance it could have been 5.

And neither Kearns/Wilford attributed any blame to Westwood for the first goal. They gave that honour to Kinsella for giving the ball away, Bennett for then waiting for the ball to come to him and then Leitao for not tracking Murray as he came in from the wing.

Remember though Stu, Westwood is now a scapegoat - just like Gary Birch, David Zdrilic etc, regardless of whether or not things are his fault.

[Karate Hamster]

your taking the mick arent you?

If you call miss placing pass after pass, letting the city forwards walk through the centre of the defence unhindered, giving a rollicking to ant G for no reason, being positionally inept a good performance then something is wrong.

[Stu]

I wasn't there to see it, I'm just repeating what I was told by 2 seperate sources neither of whom have any bias. Not saying they're right, just what they thought.

[sj]

I've just got back after ending up in Weston-don't ask.

I tell ya lads I'm P*ssed off big ways. We were shite from whistle to whistle. Today was the first time in my life I left before the game was over. We had nothing and we did even less with it.

I'm off to the pub there goes my New Years resolution :evil:

[Neil Ravenscroft]

I'm amazed by the match report on the front page of this site which implies we did well in the second half. We didn't. There was a five minute spell at the start of the half in which we dominated, but other than that the improvement was minimal. Apart from a 5-minute spell we were simply awe-inspiringly bad.

It implies we did better second half - which wasn't hard.

[WFC4Eva]

Absolute shambles, to many changes to the side again. no wonder we can never take our home form into away games as it is a totally different team!

We were to lightweight upfront, no offence to Nicholls or Constable but going to places like Bristol City we need to have an experienced head upfront to hold the ball up. We had nothing in midfield especially in the centre, the game passed Kinsella and Kris Taylor by all to easily in the first half. Bennett wasn't on the pace of the game at all and Westwood was his usual self - crap!

Time for Merson to go!!!! :x

Im not sure how many more away games im going to waste my money on going to at the moment, as I agree with Pedro, away games use to be good days out, now they are just becoming more depressing game by game!

[Geordiesaddler]

I've just got back after ending up in Weston-don't ask.

I tell ya lads I'm P*ssed off big ways. We were shite from whistle to whistle. Today was the first time in my life I left before the game was over. We had nothing and we did even less with it.

I'm off to the pub there goes my New Years resolution :evil:

SJ I've been to well over 1000 Saddlers games in my rather sad life and last Wednesday was only the second time ever I've walked out, it really is appalling to watch, almost unbearable infact. the home games are made bearable by the fact that the opposition are somewhat unfathomably worse than us, how they manage this is their problem. We are utter, utter tripe to watch, and that's an insult to a cow's stomach lining.

[Cheesebag]

That was a shambles, the only person to gain ANY kind of credit was Gerrard, without whom it would have been 6.

Merson, Time to Go.

[YGA Saddler]

Well now I can bring myself round to comment on todays performance, here goes...

When I heard the starting line up I turned round to my mate and said im going because we have lost already. Just hearing the names Westwood,Kinsella,K.Taylor and Bennett all in the same team just made me cringe. Just what is his f-in problem with constantly changing the team?! OK we have played four games in a week but Bristol C didnt seem to be bothered about playing a near full strength side. This proves what a complete joke our training regime is!

Onto the game, first half the team looked like they had never played together. We were dire. Long balls hoofed up the left hand side for Nicholls/Constable that were never there! Bennett and Westwood looked a pair of pillocks today. Both moaning at each other for mistakes. PLAY YOUR HEARTS OUT FOR THE CLUB!! Couldnt believe Westwood turning around and having a go at Gerrard when he had just cleared the ball! :x

Second half we were better, but passing the ball around your back line of defence isnt going to get you many goals especially when your 2-0 down away from home.

The MERSON OUT chants were much louder today than on any other occasion. I just hope Bonser listens to the fans or else a few more empty seats will be at Bescot very soon.

MOSOC

[Codsall Saddler]

First away match for while and it was depressing. Couldn't work the formation out-even after 10 minutes. What was the point of playing Harkness left midfield-not his fault but fish out of water.

Yet again we make an average team look like world beaters. They had one good player in Murray, the rest poor. Even their own fans cheered ironically when their centre forward won a header.

Merson's excuses are wearing thin. Yes we are down to the bare bones, but we are not fit or motivated. He asked us to judge him on his players, his team. Most of those out today were signed or broke thru under him. Have no confidece that we will go anywhere but down under this shambolic clown and his band of cronies. Bonser should act now and let somebody competent spend the Fryatt cash.

[Pedro]

Bonser loves Merson to much . He is star struck with him

Shame all the hard work Nicholl,Sir Ray,Colin Lee did changing this club around Merse has managed to take it back to the Hibbitt days in just over 12 months in charge

I really do hope bonser wakes up soon , as I cannot take this cack for much longer , I've given up the aways games . Home games may be next

MERSON OUT

[Marty]

Todays line up should have been a 3-6-1 with the likes of Harkness, Constable and Nicholls on the bench. Maybe we had no choice with Harkness being thrown in as we are short on wide men. But so many young players in the line up we were always going to get slaugted.

Murphy

Westwood Bennett Gerrard

Pead Harkness

Kinsella K Taylor Osborn

Standing

Leitao

[WFC4Eva]

merson is on WM tommorow at 8pm

I'll be listening

Me to, listen to a few more excuses of his!

[Welsh_Saddler]

I mentioned in my previous post the seeming lack of commitment, and that Zigor Aranalde would have been very welcome in today's Walsall team. Just look at who scored twice (yes, scored........) for Carlisle at Grimsby today - Zigor, bless him.

As to the future management at Walsall, one or two people at Ashton Gate today were wondering what Alan Buckley is doing at present.

[RobboH89]

I mentioned in my previous post the seeming lack of commitment, and that Zigor Aranalde would have been very welcome in today's Walsall team. Just look at who scored twice (yes, scored........) for Carlisle at Grimsby today - Zigor, bless him.

As to the future management at Walsall, one or two people at Ashton Gate today were wondering what Alan Buckley is doing at present.

he even scored with his head, not one of the better parts of his game? if i remember rightly? :lol:

[Stu]

he even scored with his head, not one of the better parts of his game? if i remember rightly? :lol:

Think your memory is playing tricks on you, I'd have said his strength in the air was one of the best aspects of his game.

[dler]

Yep - always good in the air was Zigor. Just his positional play was a little, er, awry.

[Walsall Supporter]

I mentioned in my previous post the seeming lack of commitment, and that Zigor Aranalde would have been very welcome in today's Walsall team. Just look at who scored twice (yes, scored........) for Carlisle at Grimsby today - Zigor, bless him.

As to the future management at Walsall, one or two people at Ashton Gate today were wondering what Alan Buckley is doing at present.

Nice to see people realising how at times we still miss Zigor!! I am pleased he is doing well at Carlisle, but would love to have him playing still in a Walsall shirt

[Bitter Tree Hugger]

You can't beat us for total ineptitude - equalise in the 90th minute and still lose 3-1 :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Welsh_Saddler]

Just to clear up a little point about Zigor - yes, his heading ability is certainly one of his strengths...... but 999 times out of 1,000 it would only be seen when clearing his lines. For him to be even in the position of having a far post header to the opposition goal is something I simply can't visualise !!!

Carlisle are doing well from ex-Saddlers, with Karl Hawley being their routine matchwinner.

My sympathy goes out to BTH by the way - when I got home and saw on teletext that his team had actually equalised in the 90th minute and still gone on to lose by two clear goals I thought "that's the kind of thing only we could do". It strikes me that the ginger whinger has a lot in common with Merson - got the players, got the necessary facilities, but can't translate that into performance. And if PM is saying things like "It's all down to the players once they get on to the field" then I'm sorry, but he's utterly wrong; Ray Graydon had (on paper) a much weaker squad than PM has today, but the majority of Ray's team played themselves into the ground because of his management. As far as yesterday's game at Bristol City is concerned, I can only single out Joe Murphy and Ant Gerrard for acceptably professional performances. Jorge ran his legs off for 10 minutes, even tracking back to defend when it was obvious that he was carrying an injury - I suppose Pead, Harkness, Constable and Nicholl could be said to be "triers", and Constable will certainly improve when he learns to be more aware of straying into off-side positions. The rest of the team were anonymous, and in Westwood's case detrimental to the cause. His conduct in arguing with both Gerrard and Murphy did him no favours - if he's the captain then the team spirit in the dressing room must be dire.

Merson is on record as saying that deadwood will be cleared out in January.... I would without hesitation get rid of Merson and half of yesterday's team. I really don't mind losing 3-0 as long as the players have done their honest best - yesterday they didn't, and it showed.

[Bristol Fan]

Just as an indication of the progress we've made over the last 12 months, here's the side which won 1-0 at City last season:

Murphy
Wright Emblen Roper Aranalde
Wrack Osborn Surman K Taylor D Taylor
Leitao

[King Crimson]

Have to agree with Bristol and Bath for their summaries.

On the one hand, if you were to imagine an injury crisis, who would you put on that list? Fryatt, Jorge, Fox, Roper, Wrack (and probably Gerrard) as players we would really miss. BUT, the team selection was nothing short of SHOCKING.

Question: We are away, our away form is lamentable, we are playing a team that has really hit some form, and we have 1 experienced striker to call upon (i.e. Jorge). The squad was crying out for a packed midfield and a 4-5-1 formation, in my view. Instead we play two promising but raw front men, with less than a handful of starts between them, and a young lad in midfield who hasn't featured in the 16 for months.

My player ratings:
Murphy: O.k. 7

Pead: Fair 6

Westwood: 6 (a real victim of the boo boys from the first whistle, not played in a while and made some errors. Second half much better, and saved Gerrard's skin when he carelessly gave the ball away - no boos for him though!)

Gerrard: 8 A couple of gaffes, but solid and spirited display. My MOTM

Bennett: 4 I'm sorry (MMF), but he is NOT A LEFT BACK. Guilty for the first goal, his positioning and distribution was poor, and he seemed to sulk all afternoon. 1 good challenge in the box. He improved second half because he was further away from me!

Harkness: 4 Totally anonymous, out-thought and out-classed. Shame for the lad, because in my view he could take nothing from that game, even as a learning experience. What Merse was thinking of is beyond me.

K Taylor: 6 Ran around a lot, and made some good tackles, but few outlets for him, and he had limited impact.

Kinsella: 4 Poor. The game passed him by. Merse was right to bring him off.

Jorge: - Some promising runs and a few blocks, then off.

Nicholls: 6 Tried, but lacked composure in the limited opportunities he had. Not ready for such a tough fixture.

Constable: 7 Closer than Nicholls to first team, and some good awareness, but didn't really threaten

D Taylor: 7 Worked really hard, but (as is so often the case), there was no end product.

Osborn: 6 Better than Kinsella, steadied the ship, but seemed to fade towards the end. It is clear he is still not match fit.

Standing: 6 Some penetration, and tried to support the forwards, but limited impact.

As said already, we have a big squad, but no strength in depth. In my view, we could lose ten players off the wage bill and feel no different when it comes to the players. We were really poor, and the 'Merson Out' chants were growing loud. It's a shame they'll fall on deaf ears. :(

[Mike B]

[quote="King Crimson"]Have to agree with Bristol and Bath for their summaries.



Westwood: 6 (a real victim of the boo boys from the first whistle, not played in a while and made some errors. Second half much better, and saved Gerrard's skin when he carelessly gave the ball away - no boos for him though!)


quote]

I agree with your assesments although i feel that Westwood was dreadful and his distribution of the ball was amatuerish to say the least. Bennet was in a league of his own even playing out of position and Constable will be a good striker when he gets aclimatised to league football. Other than that Walsall were appaling particularly in the first half. There again BCFC did play well.

[King Crimson]

Bennet was in a league of his own even playing out of position.

I hope that was meant as a joke.

After MMF and I discussed the merits or otherwise of Julian Bennett, I decided to give the bloke a break, and was delighted to see that, without Fox, he would be playing. I hoped I had been too harsh on him (I really WANT him to do well, because he has the heart and courage to be a valuable asset to us) and so watched him throughout the game (my own live version of PlayerCam, if you like).

He was awful! Their first goal was because he was caught flat-footed by Kinsella's ball, and then proceded to keep it in (while he fell into touch), enabling their winger to get the ball, from which Bristol scored.

He took numerous throw ins, two of which fell to our players.

He allows the ball to bounce and then find himself under un-necessary pressure.

He kicked the ball into touch, without being under pressure on numerous occasions and only in the second half did he contribute anything at all (the odd triangle with Osborn and Harkness) going forward.

He made a good sliding tackle mid-way through the first half in the box (with his centre-half hat on).

He sulked with the referee, and also argued incessantly with Westwood, Gerrard, Harkness (bless 'im), and Nicholls.

I don't come on here to slag off players, and I always try to find things to praise and give credit where it's due. But, I do wonder what game you were watching if you think that is how to play left back.

Bristol City were good, but if you were Gary Johnson and you could see a rookie out on the left, shielding a centre-half at left back, you'd think it was Christmas again - and you'd be right! :evil: