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Colchester Utd (H) 14th January 2006 - League

Reports and reaction from the 2005-06 season as Walsall finished 24th (R) in League 1
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concretehippo
 
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 1:14 pm

Square pegs round holes.

The new players all seem up to the job but looked they were given no instructions and there wasn't a leader in the middle.

(Largely because no one was given the role of leadership and as they were all new boys no one could take the initiative. Maybe Leary should have been given the captain's armband to make him in charge of the other new players.)

Taiwo would be useful in a 4-4-2 but looked lost on his own and when the midfield were driving forward they had no one to release the ball to.

James will become a crowd favourite, the first player this season or even longer to have interacted with the crowd to try to increase the volume.

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sj
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 1:22 pm

James was tracking back all the time, his cover for Fox was often beyond the call of duty. Wright on the other hand was woeful, when it came to defending.

Yesterday was a really good game, we will never get the "perfect performance"

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Magic Man Fan
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 1:42 pm

Stu wrote:
Jorge14 wrote:James and Wright were causing no end of trouble, often switching flanks, and giving us a width we haven't had all season, even with Ishmel (who was left out of the squad again today, and rightly so in my opinion).


How long do you want to punish the lad for?

I can't agree on James and Wright... They only looked good when they were playing on the right flank, both looked completely ineffective when stuck on the left.

Sorry, but we desperately missed a left winger yesterday and if Merson continues to play two right footed wingers, we'll be worse off for it.


Don't worry Stu, some people will defend Merson whatever he does. I hope you never become a manager one day Jorge because with that attitude you will fail miserably. Managers in any trade have to make the most of what is made available to them and Merson isn't doing that.

Whether you like it or not Ishmel has been one of our star performers this season. We are not Chelsea, we don't have another alternative to replace him if he is petulant (which he has been), mainly because Merson hasn't got a clue about having a balanced squad.

A manager who had a clue how to handle players would have nipped the Ishmel situation in the bud as soon as it started and would be telling him to prove him wrong by putting in performances on the pitch. They don't have to like each other or even respect each other but Merson should be playing the best players in the right positions and Ishmel should be wanting to put in best performances to get away from the clown and get signed up. End result the club benefits both ways through a bit of decent management. This all stems back to the awful treatment he got at Forest which I said at the time was uncalled for, especially Kinsella's reaction.

We are in danger of losing one of the most talented wingers we've had at the club for years because of mis-management.

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Neil Ravenscroft
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 1:58 pm

Bernie wrote:Decoding the match report:

Merson unsurprisingly decided to give home debuts to all his signings, but it probably turned out to be at least one change too many.
Mm, one change too many. I wonder whom Neil thinks should have been included instead.

There was little creativity coming from the central midfield pair. Timm? Always tried too much and was almost completely ineffective.
Really, that's about the direct opposite of what I saw. What on earth is causing Neil to think that?

The centre backs were not getting enough cover from midfield
Ah, I think I have got it now. Where Merson went wrong yesterday was leaving out the mighty Osborn.

I could not disagree more. Yesterday we saw the best performance from a Walsall midfield this season. Timm is a tremendous player and with a forward who has football intelligence he will create many goals. Plenty of chances were created and great passes made, but unfortunately we did not have the forward to make use of them. As far as defence being overrun, Colchester hardly created a chance all match from open play.


Actualy, Bernie, it was bringing Constable back in I was on about! As for Timm, the match report clearly says he was getting hold of the ball in the second half, but I still think he was a complete waste of space in the first 45 minutes.

I also said that defence was not over run, but that was no thanks to the midfield, especially THE TWO WINGERS, who were giving the full backs no cover.

That's why I have to disagree about the midfield yesterday, as it is their job to defend as well as attack.

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Jorge14
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 2:37 pm

Magic Man Fan wrote:Don't worry Stu, some people will defend Merson whatever he does. I hope you never become a manager one day Jorge because with that attitude you will fail miserably. Managers in any trade have to make the most of what is made available to them and Merson isn't doing that.


I wondered whether I'd be called a happy clapper for supporting Merson's approach to Ishmel, I'm surprised though that it has taken this long.

I am not defending Merson for whatever he does, I thought you would have recognised that by now MMF, infact, I'm surprised that you are suggesting that I do. Whilst I'm not as anti-Merson as many people on here, the last thing I can be accused of is defending him no matter what. God knows I have criticised him for the awful, awful displays we have seen this season. But in my opinion, he has handled Ishmel in the way Ishmel deserved to be handled. By fining him two weeks wages, I feel that he had to be exiled from the squad for two weeks. Ishmel made his bed, and he had to lie in it. (no pun intended...)

Now, though, that two weeks is up, and Ishmel has the chance to prove himself again to the people he let down at Bristol. He has the chance to play in the FA Cup, and he has the chance to show Merson how much he wants to make it up to him.

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Magic Man Fan
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 2:42 pm

So how do you explain the fact that last week we played a centre half in Ishmel's position in a game where I think if he'd have played we'd have won and yesterday we played a right winger in his position and lost 2-0? If Ishmel had played yesterday we'd have had James to play down the middle and give us the pace we needed and to get on the end of Timm's passes which Constable couldn't do.

How is that helping the team?

Merson's job is to make Walsall FC successful, end of. That's his job description not to punish players to the detriment of the team. He hasn't handled it correctly at all and if you were a manager or even at a workplace you'd know.

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sj
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 2:48 pm

Above I told you that the talk yesterday was that Ishmel is on his way out, to a club down South.

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Magic Man Fan
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 2:54 pm

sj wrote:Above I told you that the talk yesterday was that Ishmel is on his way out, to a club down South.


Yep, and as I've said on another thread, all due to the fact that Merson cannot handle him because of his poor man management skills. We are due to lost one of the most talented wingers that we have seen at the club for years.

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Jorge14
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 2:57 pm

Magic Man Fan wrote:So how do you explain the fact that last week we played a centre half in Ishmel's position in a game where I think if he'd have played we'd have won and yesterday we played a right winger in his position and lost 2-0? If Ishmel had played yesterday we'd have had James to play down the middle and give us the pace we needed and to get on the end of Timm's passes which Constable couldn't do.

How is that helping the team?

Merson's job is to make Walsall FC successful, end of. That's his job description not to punish players to the detriment of the team. He hasn't handled it correctly at all and if you were a manager or even at a workplace you'd know.


The age thing then...students can't comment on anything they don't have experience of!
How then do so many people on here reach a conclusion on managing a football team, surely not many people have experience of that? :wink:

Merson's job description is also to MANAGE his players. Some of that has been shambolic, such as his handling of Ian Roper's testimonial meal - one player turned up to that. That was disgraceful, and personally, I don't think Merson has ever been made to be held to account to that.
I do maintain though that Ishmel let Merson down, and no matter how good he is, he needed to be punished for it, and not just in the pocket. Ishmel should not have been attacked in the national media for it, and Merson should have made a greater attempt to 'cover' what had actually happened to protect Ishmel. For me, that is the only place in this whole saga where Merson has explicitly let anyone down.

However, none of us know the character that Ishmel is. I agree that IF he had have played at Barnsley then the game would have been different. However, alternatively he could have been affected by the attention the saga had attracted and he could have reacted as he did at Forest, or he could have hidden and been ineffective.

What I do know is that we got a draw at Barnsley, which we would have taken with or without Ishmel, so we can write that game off as 'satisfactory'.
Yesterday was disapointing in that we lost the cut-and-thrust that we had shown when Timm came off. Had Ishmel played, or been on the bench (which I expected him to be, to be fair. I didn't expect Merson to be able to play the 'hardman' disciplinarian. I was surprised when I heard both he and Nicholls played in the youth team that morning), then we wouldn't have been so affected by the subsitutes that came on in place of Constable and Timm, and perhaps Atieno would have impressed more had he have had James playing off him instead of Standing.

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sj
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 2:58 pm

There is something wrong with this club. We can't keep our players they seem lonely and isolated once they move to the Midlands.

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Magic Man Fan
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 3:03 pm

Sorry Jorge but if you're not prepared to read what I have said several times on this issure then I'm not prepared to continue the debate.

Nowhere have I said Ishmel doesn't deserve just punishing with fining him of 2 weeks wages. Dropping him from the team doesn't help the club. There are several other ways of punishment.

It's got nothing to do with your age you just don't understand management and you won't until you start working. If someone humiliates you, you don't respond, it's not a management technique. I have studied motivation. Do some research on it.

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Neil Ravenscroft
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 4:11 pm

Magic Man Fan wrote:So how do you explain the fact that last week we played a centre half in Ishmel's position in a game where I think if he'd have played we'd have won and yesterday we played a right winger in his position and lost 2-0? If Ishmel had played yesterday we'd have had James to play down the middle and give us the pace we needed and to get on the end of Timm's passes which Constable couldn't do.


And indeed, that's why I thought we were set up worng yesterday. The midfield should have been either Wright, Leary, Smith Demontagnac, or Wright, Leary Osborn, Smith, with James up top. More continuity

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Sun Jan 15, 2006 5:11 pm

Bernie wrote:
The centre backs were not getting enough cover from midfield
Ah, I think I have got it now. Where Merson went wrong yesterday was leaving out the mighty Osborn.

People underestimate Osborn. He may not be the most gifted footballer we have at the club, but we have nobody else who plays in his role. The fact that he plays in the space just in front of the defence means that he sees a lot of the ball which I feel he uses well and also means that the opposition do not have that space to run into. I think Leary could do that job leaving Smith to attack a bit more but I don't think we can afford to give him the time to get used to the role.

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Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:35 pm

Sorry but I just can't agree that we played well yesterday.We did in patches of 5 or 10 mins here and there but overall I'd give us 5 maybe 6 out of 10.

We only created a couple of clear cut chances all game (Constables header and Gerrards run) and a couple of near misses (Timms deflected shot and Smiths shot).I just dont think that is good enough in 90 minutes.

I can understand the posters earlier saying Colchester mugged us etc but I just dont agree.Their manager had the balls to stick with their gameplan to the end where as ours decided to change his and consequently changed the game in their favour.

The fact they scored from two corners really doesnt matter.You know in EVERY game you will have corners to attack and defend so why not prepare for them.How many goals have we scored from corners this season?It's probably not as many as 2 yet they managed it twice in 12 minutes but then again thats what training does for you.

On the substitution of Constable , He wasn't having a great game but he does appear to be a finisher and might just have been the one to anticipate when the ball was pinging around the box from James's crosses.

After the last 4 home performances I just cannot be confident about Tuesday , penalties anyone???

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Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:14 pm

I thought yesterday was easily one of our best performances of the season, a million miles better than the majority of the games we won.

Most of the problems that have blighted us over recent months were eradicated. We were quite strong at the back (though the full backs were very poor), and finally we had some real bite and graft in midfield. I didn't quite recognise it at first, but I swear I saw both Smith and Leary running from one box to the other, making tackles, showing some fine skill as well, doing exactly what we have needed midfielders to do, but with the exception of Osborn in the first dozen games or so, just haven't. Timm was just a revelation. I rarely disagree with Neil but I don't know which game he was at judging by his comments. I've rarely been so energised at seeing a player in a Walsall shirt for the first time as I did with Timm yesterday. The first game with Boli and Peron was probably the last time.

Sadly, we rectified most of the things we've been doing wrong, but removed the one thing we've been doing right. So many times one of the midfielders looked up to make the killer pass up front but Constable was standing miles away, making the wrong runs, winning nothing in the air, and fluffing the gaping open goal which faced him in the first half. I like a lot of what I've seen of him so far and he's clearly a natural goalscorer, but he's still some way from being ready for the first team very often, and it's sad that circumstances have conspired to put him in the team far too soon. I hope supporters are patient, but I doubt it. It's completely unfair to compare him with Fryatt so I won't. But I can only shudder to think at how many we would have won by yesterday if Fryatt had been playing for us. He managed to score 14 this season with a very weak midfield behind him. With the strong midfield we now seem to have, he would have a field day.

Still, I was hugely encouraged by yesterday's display, with the proviso that we desperately need a striker or two, very soon.

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Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:16 pm

I forgot to say that I thought Colchester were excellent, putting in a classic Graydon-style away performance. We were desperately unlucky to lose, but they were very good indeed, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them go up.

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Neil Ravenscroft
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:21 pm

I'll gladly stand by my comments about Timm first half. Hardly made a pass and continually ran up blind alleys.

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geoffwhiting
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:21 pm

stig231 wrote:We only created a couple of clear cut chances all game (Constables header and Gerrards run) and a couple of near misses (Timms deflected shot and Smiths shot).I just dont think that is good enough in 90 minutes.


Bizarre. Were you in the loo a lot yesterday stig ? :lol:

We got through and round the back of their defence and created more chances yesterday than we have in the last 4-5 home games put together.

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Magic Man Fan
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:24 pm

I really don't remember us creating many clear cut chances Geoff, not where you'd expect us to score. A couple of good crosses across the 6 yard box waiting for someone to poke in isn't a chance in my book. A few Mark Wright one on ones isn't a good chance of scoring in my book either! :D

Gerrard's was the only real chance I thought we should have scored from, or can anyone list some to remind me?

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geoffwhiting
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:28 pm

Neil Ravenscroft wrote:I'll gladly stand by my comments about Timm first half. Hardly made a pass and continually ran up blind alleys.


Bizarre. Were you in the loo a lot yesterday as well Neil ? :lol:

First half Timm played a fair few intricate patterns with inter-passing with his fellow midfielders, and he impressed me from the start. His ball control and trickery looked exciting and entertaining, and I thought the decision to take him off was another giant Merson cock-up! I realise you have given him credit for the second-half, but for me he was never bad in the first, and certainly didn't strike me as losing possession enough to be worthy of comment ahead of some of his less-able colleagues.

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geoffwhiting
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:32 pm

Magic Man Fan wrote:I really don't remember us creating many clear cut chances Geoff, not where you'd expect us to score. A couple of good crosses across the 6 yard box waiting for someone to poke in isn't a chance in my book. A few Mark Wright one on ones isn't a good chance of scoring in my book either! :D

Gerrard's was the only real chance I thought we should have scored from, or can anyone list some to remind me?


Quite a few, too many to list for me, but Constable missed a sitter with his head first half, and I call those two crosses by James great chances, not to mention Mark Wright shooting straight at the keeper at least twice, and was it Smith whose shot was deflected wide from that great shooting chance on the edge of the box - he did nowt wrong really, just unfortunate with the deflection, so all we got was a corner from that.

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Neil Ravenscroft
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 9:34 pm

geoffwhiting wrote:
Magic Man Fan wrote:I really don't remember us creating many clear cut chances Geoff, not where you'd expect us to score. A couple of good crosses across the 6 yard box waiting for someone to poke in isn't a chance in my book. A few Mark Wright one on ones isn't a good chance of scoring in my book either! :D

Gerrard's was the only real chance I thought we should have scored from, or can anyone list some to remind me?


Quite a few, too many to list for me, but Constable missed a sitter with his head first half, and I call those two crosses by James great chances, not to mention Mark Wright shooting straight at the keeper at least twice, and was it Smith whose shot was deflected wide from that great shooting chance on the edge of the box - he did nowt wrong really, just unfortunate with the deflection, so all we got was a corner from that.


Actually, Geoff, to be honest, you're both right. They were good chances, but I didn't expect us to score from any of them, if you see what I mean.

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Neil Ravenscroft
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Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:27 am

Now Albert on Rivals has seen the light, he's making some pertinant comments. On "we would have won if we'd had a striker":-

"We might have won with a goalscorer, but he'd have needed to score a hat trick".

And, of course, there aren't many of them around.

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