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Brentford (Home) Tuesday 27th September 05

Reports and reaction from the 2005-06 season as Walsall finished 24th (R) in League 1
Valence Finstorr
 

Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:32 pm

Another example of Paul Mersons ineptitude as a manager. Not only does he fall out with Kris Taylor before kick off, but he then plays three forwards under 5ft 11 against a defence of 6ft 2 goliaths and boots the ball in the air to them.

Mark Wright is a wimp, he wimps out of 90% of challenges and needs a radius of an empty 15 yards to be able to do anything.

One shot on target through out the game against a run of the mill league one side. A lot of huff and puff in the second half, but no end result.

The idiot that came on WM after the game completely contradicted himself - he said we played well, that we will be 'up there' at the end of the season, that wright and smith played well - then he said that we should be thankful to Ruddy for saving the game.

Huh? We've played so well that the two poorest performers get congratulated and confidence builds that something will come of this season, then says that it was all down the an 18 year old one month loanee keeper for the terific 0-0 result. God he's got brains.

Merson is a cancer on this club, for al the piss taking out of Martin Allen - I would much prefer him to our current manager. At the end of the day, Brentford will be there or there abouts at the end of the season - we wont. This season needs rescueing from Merson's inept grasp.

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:38 pm

A very decent performance first half very quiet second half big improvement bennet on the wing strange :roll: but actually dident do bad fryatt played the way he always plays did jack cack leitao man of the match for me amagine if we had a decent goalscorer to play alonge side him playoffs are a strong possibility wouldent you say :?: :wink:

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:41 pm

We are 7th in the league, fair enough but a loss and your down to 17th. We are where we are because of the failure of other teams. We CERTAINLY aint here because of our own performances. We were awful tonight!

Pead MOTM in my opinion, headed one off the line and seemed to be the only one willing to go forward. Gerrard played ok. But Chris Westwood,WHY? He dilly dallys on the ball far too long for a central defender gets caught out too much and only offers the team one thing, decent headers off corners.
I thought Smith put his weight around again tonight, ozzie was alright. Merson getting injured, maybe this will force him to retire and concentrate on "managing". Fryatt & Husbandslacked a bit of everything tonight.There keeper made one save and that was from a tame header.

7 points from SOUTHEND,SWANSEA & H'FIELD! (not the scariest of teams are they?!)

Onwards and upwards! :?

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:45 pm

I liked the ambitous start playing 4 very offensive players.

Fair play to the management because they rectified the lack of height by pushing Bennett high up the field. Those long diagnol balls then had a purpose.

I could see what we trying to do. Brentford play with a highline and work that off side trap well. We were set up to spring it and for moments in the first half it nearly worked. Bennett gave us a differant outlet and a left footed player on the left wing evened out the Mark Wright effect.

I thought our defence was immense today. Smith and Ossie looked okay as well. Jorge played like a man possessed in the second half. Matty was off the boil as was Wrighty who blew hot and cold all evening.

Ruddy was my man of the match. 2 splendid saves.

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:46 pm

Very good point there WFC_2UK, we are 7th and a loss would have put us 17th.

This sums the league up at the mon=ment. Teams will yo yo up and down.

Let's see what the situation is at Christmas.

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:53 pm

not being pedantic but i think smith passed the ball about 6/7 times in 90 mins, i might be wrong

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 9:55 pm

Valence Finstorr wrote:Another example of Paul Mersons ineptitude as a manager. Not only does he fall out with Kris Taylor before kick off, but he then plays three forwards under 5ft 11 against a defence of 6ft 2 goliaths and boots the ball in the air to them.

Mark Wright is a wimp, he wimps out of 90% of challenges and needs a radius of an empty 15 yards to be able to do anything.

One shot on target through out the game against a run of the mill league one side. A lot of huff and puff in the second half, but no end result.

The idiot that came on WM after the game completely contradicted himself - he said we played well, that we will be 'up there' at the end of the season, that wright and smith played well - then he said that we should be thankful to Ruddy for saving the game.

Huh? We've played so well that the two poorest performers get congratulated and confidence builds that something will come of this season, then says that it was all down the an 18 year old one month loanee keeper for the terific 0-0 result. God he's got brains.

Merson is a cancer on this club, for al the piss taking out of Martin Allen - I would much prefer him to our current manager. At the end of the day, Brentford will be there or there abouts at the end of the season - we wont. This season needs rescueing from Merson's inept grasp.


I'm not sure if you were watching the same match as me tonight mate but either way I think you're being more than a tad harsh. Brentford are more than run of the mill and I think our players to a man gave it their all tonight. I agree Merson's tactics are up for debate as always but we could have won that match through guts and determination and that is cause for optimism, as is the clean sheet against a very lively attacking force.

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:03 pm

Can't fault any of the lads tonight - OK Wright and Fryatt had quiet games but they never stopped working and Matty was still closing the keeper down in second half stoppage time. We won't play many sides as well drilled as Brentford and without a strong ref we did really well to compete with them physically. We've obviously learned something as Owusu was far less effective than Goater/Allison and we didn't concede a goal from a cross, our Achilles heel all season. Many Walsall sides I've watched down the years would have lost that game, but we didn't allow ourselves to be bullied and Pead, Gerrard, Ossie and Leitao kept fighting and harrying for the full 90. In fact, as a consistent performance over the whole game, cutting out basic errors and losses in concentration, that was the best I've seen us play this year. If we could show that sort of fight and desire against the likes of Chesterfield and Yeovil rather than just the top sides (Brentford, Forest) we would win far more matches than we are at the moment. This division is all about consistency and putting a run of results together. 4th place and the relegation zone are separated by six points. The teams which get on a roll will be up there for the majority of the season. We really need to take confidence from the last two games and look to take maximum points on Saturday.

Quick word on the strangest decision of the night - playing Bennett on the left wing. I would be interested to find out whose idea it was as it worked out rather well. I don't imagine it was Merson's because he was probably receiving treatment at the time. Jules put in 2 or 3 half decent crosses and got the defence worried - they were doubling up against him within minutes of him coming on. Worth persevering with in my opinion as having a natural left footer on that side of the pitch gave us much better shape in the second half.

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:17 pm

Good call Valence Finstorr, awful performance, terrible team selection and substitutions. The cabbage on WM by the name of Richard [I prefer it shortened to Dick] was probably a converted Dingles fan, his cliche ridden comments bore no relation to the performance or for that matter the team. It is a pity that I cannot buy a radio that filters out all interviews with life forms with the intelligence of a woodlouse and while I'm on the case, include Scottish football and horse racing results. I know I'm repeating myself from an earlier thread but I have a theory that stupid people like our manager have the unfortunate advantage that they don't know they are stupid and therefore carryon making the same mistakes ad nauseum. For anybody that expects Paul Merson to learn from his mistakes just re-read my theory, now do you get it?
I suppose I'll have to go to Port vale on Saturday, after all perhaps I'm just stupid :shock:

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:18 pm

It was a good performance against a useful side that knew how to intimidate, defend, and fight. Smith is starting to look fit and will add some needed aggression to the team. I would have liked to have seen Larossa, or any striker, on the bench as a fresh pair of legs in the last 20 minutes might have made the difference. Hopefully Merson will recover quickly and realise that he needs to organise things from the touchline not the pitch. I wouldn't like to see Bennett on the wing permanently, it was an experiment that the decision maker (Staunton/Osborn/Kinsella/McManus) got away with. Ruddy will be more confident now and none of the players can be faulted for effort.
We would have lost this game last year just as we would have lost the Bournemouth game last year.

Ace
 

Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:20 pm

As i said to Dave in the SC after the match... could've been better, but it could've been worse 8)

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:24 pm

Foxy wrote:It was a good performance against a useful side that knew how to intimidate, defend, and fight. Smith is starting to look fit and will add some needed aggression to the team. I would have liked to have seen Larossa, or any striker, on the bench as a fresh pair of legs in the last 20 minutes might have made the difference. Hopefully Merson will recover quickly and realise that he needs to organise things from the touchline not the pitch. I wouldn't like to see Bennett on the wing permanently, it was an experiment that the decision maker (Staunton/Osborn/Kinsella/McManus) got away with. Ruddy will be more confident now and none of the players can be faulted for effort.
We would have lost this game last year just as we would have lost the Bournemouth game last year.


Surely Bennett playing wide left was out of necessity if we presume that Husbands was injured? The only others on the bench were Staunton (only ever a defender) and Kinsella (another "holding" midfielder). At least he was a left footed player playing on the left so there is some logic to it balance-wise.
What is the story with the absence of Kris Taylor?

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 10:45 pm

Cully wrote:Good call Valence Finstorr, awful performance, terrible team selection and substitutions. The cabbage on WM by the name of Richard [I prefer it shortened to Dick] was probably a converted Dingles fan, his cliche ridden comments bore no relation to the performance or for that matter the team. It is a pity that I cannot buy a radio that filters out all interviews with life forms with the intelligence of a woodlouse and while I'm on the case, include Scottish football and horse racing results. I know I'm repeating myself from an earlier thread but I have a theory that stupid people like our manager have the unfortunate advantage that they don't know they are stupid and therefore carryon making the same mistakes ad nauseum. For anybody that expects Paul Merson to learn from his mistakes just re-read my theory, now do you get it?
I suppose I'll have to go to Port vale on Saturday, after all perhaps I'm just stupid :shock:

Yes, Cully, I also heard that caller on WM - Dick by name and dick by nature - what was he on? He was obviously not at the same game as me. A dreadful game but I know we can play better (but will we?) whereas I would hate to watch Brentfiord every week - offside trap, big boot route one football, physical intimidation and cheating at every stoppage in play.

However, there is one quality in "Mad Dog's" team that we would do well to copy - WORK. Until we get some young legs in midfield and start moving the ball forward quickly, we will continue to under-achieve. I have said it before and I will say it again, we can only carry one of the quartet of Osborn, Merson, Smith and Kinsella (aggregate age=136) in the team, at a time. The time it took for us to get players up into attacking positions tonight just enabled Brentford to get men back behind the ball, closing off routes to goal and forcing us to resort to their "hit-and-hope" tactics for which we are entirely physically unsuited.

....and, yes, Cully, I'm as stupid as you. I'll be at Vale Park on Saturday, too! :D

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Tue Sep 27, 2005 11:35 pm

Ah well. I disagree with most of the above. I've been highly critical of Merson the manager and Merson the player, but tonight I thought he got things pretty well right. I cringed when I saw the team selection, but I honestly thought we played quite well. We offered little going forward, but Brentford are a "good" side (I use the inverted commas because I would hate to have to watch them every week, but they are effective and stick to the task at hand and are sure to be in the top few at the end of the season) and they have one of the meanest defences in the league, so I guess that's to be expected.

For all the criticism of Merson I've made in the recent past - we missed him when he went off injured, we really did. He was causing them a lot of problems and the fact that his injury occured in our own penalty area shows that he was working harder than usual to bring some discipline to his play. After he went off we had very little creativity, constantly relying on Osborn to thread inch-perfect passes through the middle, but it didn't come off for him tonight. Playing Bennett on the left wing seemed bizarre at the time and seems bizarre now, but Husbands was a waste of space and it needed to change and given who was on the bench, there was no real other option. Yes, blame Merson for picking who was on the bench, but I imagine the backup plan for if Husbands turned out to be a waste of space was to bring Wright on for him; you can't legislate for Merson getting injured as well.

I'd have taken a point before the game and am happy with it now. We were as good as Brentford, who were top of the league for a long while, and I take some heart from that. Merson presumably being unable to play for some time might be a kind of blessing in disguise as well, cruel as it is for him. I'd still much rather we had a proper manager, but I think some of the criticism of tonight's performance has been rather OTT. We were solid-as-can-be at the back, Osborn and Smith played well in the middle - it's on the wings where we're lacking. We knew that before the season and we still know it now. It's the one area we still desperately need to sort out. If/when we do, we'll be a real force to contend with.

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 12:25 am

A hard-earned point tonight against a team that would drive me away from football if they represented the normal state of the game today. If they are towards the top at the end of the season, then watch out "The Championship", apply thick shinpads and get ready for a battle that has little to do with the beautiful game.

Typical no-nonsense Martin Allen style "kick it if it moves" tactics, call it effective if you will, but I'd rather call it parasitic football. Fortunately it did not prevail, fortunately the Ref seemed to get it right first-half, but unfortunately second-half he seemed to lose his grip and came up with a string of bizarre decisions.

With 15 minutes to go I decided I was happy with a point and no serious injuries - if PM's groin strain (which was no-one's fault) keeps him out, well much as I wish him no ill-will, if it prevents him making us play with the equivalent of ten men, that may have done us a service.

Again I question his team selection - against a team that was always going to be over-physical, why would he choose himself as a starter ? Truly bizarre !

Overall, happy with a 0-0, we worked hard for the point, but I just hope Brentford's style and tactics do NOT prevail in League One this season - if they do, then football is the loser!

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 6:16 am

The one thing I'd question is what do we do in training every day? They were first to every loose ball, were quicker over 5 yards, generally quicker over 50 and won every 50/50 ball. The only reason we ended up with a clean sheet was a wonder save from the keeper (who I'm surprised hasn't had a mention), whereas theirs didn't have a real save to make (despite looking very shaky every time he came for a cross). If only we'd had a left winger, as the only way to beat the packed midfeild was to go round it and we didn't have the personnel!

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 6:20 am

Thought we wacked a few players tonight and scored a bundle in a high morale, too bad indeed with a zip-zip turnout. I suppose we will get back on track after Fryatt committed himself toward the club. Good go in all! Stay sharp and let's get back to Championship this year, come on you all!!!

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 6:29 am

Neil Ravenscroft wrote:Having been proven right on Saturday about the players pulling Merson's nuts out of the fire, I would imagine our stupid inconsistency will see no more than a point.


By the way, my record seems to have improved all of a sudden

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 7:14 am

Positives: We lost to Brentford twice last year because (and Merse said this) they 'beat us up'. They tried again last night, but we seem to be made of sterner stuff this season. Much more resilient.
Two great saves by Ruddy. We'd have lost without them. Back line looked solid.

But: Smith and Ossie were unable to impose themselves on the game and we played too much long ball against massive defenders who could have dealt with it all season, let alone all night.
I don't buy the Bennet on the left option. A few decent touches, but several major gaffs too. You can't question the lad's commitment, but if the jury is still out as to whether he can play left back, surely he's even more unsuited to left midfield? In my opinion, I would have preferred to see Bennet drop in at left back and push Fox on to midfield (if those are the personnel to deploy). I felt the bench lacked options (hence Bennett). To have Staunton and Bennett on the bench seemed excessive to me. Where was Standing or Taylor, to give us some penetration through the middle? We didn't get enough of the ball.

Brentford were everything we knew they were. Disciplined, big, strong and workmanlike. All the qualities you need to get out of this division (ask Luton). Geoff, I'm with you. Football was the loser last night, and it will be if this, rather than pace, skill and guile are the recipe for success in League One. :cry:

Oh, and the ref spoilt what little entertainment there was.

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 7:32 am

I agree with what you said Neil, but I did think we played a lot better. Love them or hate them, Brentford will be right up there throughout the season, and we contained them very well. The challenge - and this is what has been missing throughout Merson's reign - is to learn the lessons from the game (ie don't play Leitao on the left wing, use Husbands as a substitute to come on when we're chasing a game, not play him from the start) and to maintain the high standards.

Last year's trip to Port Vale was one of the most miserable I can ever remember. It was towards the end of our terrible run and we were simply terrible. Ever since Merson has been manager, poor spells which seem like they're going to cost him his job are followed by blips of good form. Can he now, for the first time, turn that blip of good form into a sustained period? Saturday will tell us.

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 7:40 am

Match report now on line.

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 7:53 am

The other thing I would mention is we won't come across another side like Brentford this season. Any other team which tries to play their way can't do it anywhere near as well. I always have confidence we can open up sides which are less physical and less organised but we have ended up losing those matches because a lack of discipline/concentration/fight in defence. I thought there was some resilient defending by us yesterday which should be the pattern for every week, not just when we feel like it or when Merson's job is on the line.

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 8:18 am

geoffwhiting wrote:A hard-earned point tonight against a team that would drive me away from football if they represented the normal state of the game today etc etc etc


You're not the same Geoff who wrote this before the Scunthorpe the other day are you?

geoffwhiting wrote:Wouldn't bother to go if Merson paid me - they don't come to see me when I'm bad !

He can shove the Brentford game too, I've had it up to the neck with Merson !!

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 8:41 am

Neil Ravenscroft wrote:Match report now on line.



Yes, and in my opinion its more than a little harsh, to say the least!

Neil you do a fantastic job for this site, and I often find it hard to disagree with your reports, but, I must've been watching a totally different game last night!

It was a hard fought game between two teams that should be there or there abouts at the end of the season.
Granted, it wasn't the prettiest game you'll ever see, but it was a roll-your-sleeves up battle. The type of game we often got in the Graydon era.

At the end of the game, I came away fairly satisfied in that I had got my moneys worth and that every player had given their all.

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 8:48 am

Exactly spot on Neil.

I dont know what game some people were watching last night but the performance was poor, we were second to every ball, especially Mr Fryatt and Mr Wright and we never looked as organised as Brentford.

The fact we drew has stopped people from moaning. If it had been 1-0 to Brentford you would have described it as the worst performance of the season because frankly for the whole 90 minutes we failed to match Brentford.

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 8:59 am

wfc_2uk wrote:The fact we drew has stopped people from moaning.



COULD'VE FOOLED ME!!!!

:twisted: :evil: :twisted:

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 9:04 am

wfc_2uk wrote:Exactly spot on Neil.

I dont know what game some people were watching last night but the performance was poor, we were second to every ball, especially Mr Fryatt and Mr Wright and we never looked as organised as Brentford.

The fact we drew has stopped people from moaning. If it had been 1-0 to Brentford you would have described it as the worst performance of the season because frankly for the whole 90 minutes we failed to match Brentford.


Just shows what a strange game footbal is that people can watch the same match and have such differing opinions of it.

Whilst i was very dissapointed that we did not create enough scoring chances i thought that we stood up to Brentfords physical approach and scrapped well for the whole 90 mins.

We defended better as a team and stood up for each other when the going got tough.

It was always going to be a battle and like it or not this physical game is what is required to get anywhere in this division.

We can play good attractive football at times but tonight we rolled our sleeves up and showed a bit of fight.

We are not the biggest or strongest but we showed a bit of determination, Brentford were never gonna let us play.

As for Fryatt, he had a bit of a kicking but still went looking for the ball and working for the team.

All in all a dissapointing game but i fear that we will see plenty more of the same as the season goes on.

Big strikers. long balls and hard tackling. We have to learn to stand up to it. And tonight i think that we did unlike the 2nd half against Chesterfield.

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 9:10 am

Good post, Toffo. I was disappointed we didn't really work their keeper, but their giants at the back deserve some credit for that. I still think a Taylor or Standing would have made us more comfortable on the ball. Wright is too lightweight (which is presumably why he started on the bench). A dogged rather than a good performance.

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 9:24 am

I dont understand how people can say we are a "small" team. Gerrard,Westwood,Smith and Jorge aint the smallest and weakest of players are they? I thought Westwood was too scared to make challenges last night Gerrard had to cover his back far too many times.

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Wed Sep 28, 2005 9:32 am

We missed 1 possible solution to the left wing problem yesterday, when Lloyd Dyer joined QPR on loan.

However, folks, I promise it can get much worse. I can't do midweek games coz of the distance, so I went to the big Northamptonshire derby. Rushden vs Northampton.

My god, if we get relegated its worth hanging yourself now as both sides were absolutely awful. Only difference was that Rushden's defence didn't really seem to be playing the same match as everyone else.

Hoof, hoof, hoof, hoof, hoof.

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