Bolton (H) Carling Cup 2nd Round- 19/09/06

[LancsSaddler]

1. why are we still not leaving anyone up when the opposition have a corner! it cost us the 2nd bolton goal today. For the free kick just before bolton scored hector sam stayed on the half way line and was marked by Campo and AN Other. but from the resulting corner sam dropped back allowing campo to enter the box and score a goal. surely it is better to decongest the box and keep some of their players in their half!!

Totally agree. The only mistake made by DD.

2. why is everyone suddenly loving mark wright. i will admit that he is playing far better than he was last season (not hard :wink: ), and has finally learnt how to cross a ball. but today he was playing against a centre back/midfileder playing at left back and not once did he beat him and get to the byline?? he did play well but the way people are talking you would have thought he had beat campo every time he got the ball. Wright still just runs at people and hopes he gets past them, i just wish he could get the confidence to belive in himself a bit more, as every so often he will get some confidence from somewhere and skin a couple of players!! (ps:i dont hate wright, i really want him to do well! he just irritates me by being so inconsistent!)

Totally disagree. In a night when everyone did really well Mark Wright was Man of the Match. Why do people pick on him?

[/quote]

because hes the most overated player ever, he might run at people but when does he ever run past them?? and dont get me started on his lack of strength and tackling. im suprised the blades of grass dont trip him up!! (ok maybe bit harsh :lol: )

[Pedro]

Great performance lads from everyone

MOTM - Mark Wright just getting it from Westwood or Butler

We need to build on this know on sAturday , we tore Bolton to bits in some parts of the game

Bring on Bristol Rovers come on :D

[geoffwhiting]

Absolutely totally proud of what the lads achieved tonight. But for some wayward finishing and some diabolical refereeing, we might have nicked it, but it wasn't to be.

Every one of those players deserves our 100% support, admiration and encouragement. To a man they were awesome against opposition from three divisions higher, God did we give 'em a fright.

I just CANNOT believe that ANYONE of you could still be criticising Mark Wright tonight - if you are you should be ashamed - you are WELL out of order.

Tonight he scared the sh*t out of Bolton, got involved in the game more than anyone, never hid, ran at them, put over some quality crosses, created chances that others missed, and for me was MoM by miles.

Whoever nominated Dobbo for MoM, sorry, misguided. Everyone played well, but Mark Wright stood out for his involvement, effort and creativity.

The result ? Just plain ridiculous, I forecast 3-1 but NO WAY was that deserved, and I'm sure that Sam Allardyce will admit as much tomorrow.

I'm gutted that we lost without even getting the extra-time which was the minimum that our efforts fully deserved, but I'm so happy to come away from Bescot having witnessed an awesome, entertaining performance that did us and League Two proud.

It's a long time since I felt this good about being a Saddler, especially after losing a game, but we have got our pride and self-respect back, and we can well and truly thank Dicky Dosh and the lads for that.

Awesome, just awesome, tonight I am as proud as I could ever be about Walsall FC !

[Pedro]

Geoff your not going to be a yga and start to cry are you mate ? :wink:

[Neuromantic]

Whoever nominated Dobbo for MoM, sorry, misguided. Everyone played well, but Mark Wright stood out for his involvement, effort and creativity.

Sorry i think your misguided mucka, Dobson was absolutely brilliant, does the job nobody notices as well as spraying some brilliant balls out wide. mark wright played for one half. the second. very good as well. But Dobson was far and away our best player. also Pead i thought was outstanding as well as westwood n ropes, Foxy had a good game too.

[Duke]

On WM , Boyden had Fox down as MOTM.
Did,nt go last night looks like i missed a great game .
Very Very proud of the team super performance ,flattering result for Bolton.

WE'VE GOT OUR WALSALL BACK

UP THE SUPER SADDLERS

[Neil Ravenscroft]

Match report now on the front page

http://www.steveroy.com/walsall/

[sj]

Good report Neil.. I think what you said about the boys keeping their shape when Bolton were trying to pull us all over the place was the key to last nights fantastic performance.
And Wright and Westwood of course.


Issy still nees to learn how to make space and intelligent runs off the ball. If he doesn't he will not reach his full potential

[Pedagogue]

A good report, Neil. However, I would take issue with you on a couple of individual issues. Firstly, your choice of "men-of-the-match":- I thought that, by his own, admittedly very high, standards, Butler was not as good as usual. He fluffed a few chances he might have been expected to convert and he frequently gave the ball away in midfield with a poor first touch or a sloppy lay-off (Mind you, he was still better than the donkeys we fielded as strikers over the previous six months! :x ). Wright had his best game of the season but I still can't get carried away by the current ridiculous, over-the-top wave of adulation that appears to be washing over him at the moment. One good cross in six is NOT good enough and remember that he was being marked by a ponderous, midfield player (Campo) who was playing out of position and who, remember, was not covered back by Wright at the corner when he (Campo) scored - and Wright has played many times at right-back!

While it seems a little unfair to pick out a man-of-the-match in such an excellent all-round team performance (yes, including the aforementioned Wright!) I would say that if there were to be any individuals mentioned then, for me, the plaudits would go to Roper and Westwood who, I thought, were magnificent against Anelka and Vaz Te.

Certainly, IF we can maintain that level of performance, for the rest of the season, then promotion will be a formality - but, then again, this is Walsall we're talking about! :D :twisted:

Finally, Neil, why was Andy D'Urso's performance "bewildering"? It wasn't perfect, by any means, but I would be more than happy to see that level of performance from a referee, every week (See my post on the match thread).

[Exile]

Finally, Neil, why was Andy D'Urso's performance "bewildering"? It wasn't perfect, by any means, but I would be more than happy to see that level of performance from a referee, every week (See my post on the match thread).

erm, this is the match thread. Are you having a senior moment? :mrgreen:

[saddlerken]

because hes the most overated player ever, he might run at people but when does he ever run past them?? and dont get me started on his lack of strength and tackling. im suprised the blades of grass dont trip him up!! (ok maybe bit harsh :lol: )

I reckon yourself along with quite a few others are just anti Wright, either that or you're blind, he is a fanny, he's clearly scared of getting his little legs broken but he has been excellent going forward and crossing in the last half dozen games.

Lot's of critisism of Wright yet no comments about Fox? Who has been the better winger this season?

[fez_the_saddler]

fez-the-saddler
my avatar is better than yours :lol: :P :lol:

lol

lol no mine is better

[Pedagogue]

Finally, Neil, why was Andy D'Urso's performance "bewildering"? It wasn't perfect, by any means, but I would be more than happy to see that level of performance from a referee, every week (See my post on the match thread).

erm, this is the match thread. Are you having a senior moment? :mrgreen:

Alright, you nit-picking, hair-splitting semi-Kiwi, you :lol: - I meant the "Tonight's Match" topic in the "All about Walsall" section - as you well know!

[YGA Saddler]

How many fast tricky wingers actually make hard crunching challenges??... answers on a postcard.

Lay off Wrighty.

BTW Geoff, was that your lad Chris that I spoke to last night walking back from the ground?

[Exile]

BTW Geoff, was that your lad Chris that I spoke to last night walking back from the ground?

Not if his surname was Peacock :wink: :wink: :wink: :shock:

[Whitti Steve]

:lol: Just remembered the "block of the night". Anelka (I think) hit a right old powerblaster of a shot which hit Ropes on the edge of the area and almost went back to their keeper. Nearly crippled Ropes! The was one hell of a block!

[WFC_Rob]

Lot's of critisism of Wright yet no comments about Fox? Who has been the better winger this season?

Personally, I think that's a ver difficult question to answer. In my eyes, that left hand side has been one of the major plus points of the season so far.
Apparently I'm one of Wright's biggest critics, but I did think he played very well tonight. He had no defending to do throughout the match, which is probably a reason for this, but that's not his fault so we have to give him credit where it's due. I just wish he'd have a look in the box before he crosses the ball sometimes.
For me, Fox or Westwood were MOTM. In the first half, I thought Fox was one of our only players who wasn't afraid to get stuck in and not show their players too much respect. He also got forward well on a number of ocassions and is definitely improving as a midfielder. His standing ovation when he was substituted was fully deserved.
Westwood has to keep Gerrard out of the team if he continues playing this well. I also think as a defence, we benefit from having Westwood at centre half because he is the best reader of the ball at the football club (apart from Butler, perhaps). I often think Gerrard and Roper get caught too flat sometimes which means that one ball over the top could be dangerous, but Westwood drops off early - a skill which possibly prevented Anelka from scoring 2 in the first half last night.

[Neil Ravenscroft]

Excellent summing up of Westwood's game, Rob. I thought he was superb last night and handled Anelka really well.

[Exile]

Back to what Hartlepool said about him when he signed, which led to the ongoing joke on Rivals, about him needingsomeone who could actually head the ball next to him, leaving to play his natural game on the floor. Height + Westwood = good defence at this level.

I wouldn't keep playing him if we got promoted though.

[Duke]

We are seeing the best of Westy now , I always said he'd come good .

[WFC_Rob]

I wouldn't keep playing him if we got promoted though.

Things will be a lot different if we get Promoted this year though. He's the sort of player who benefits from working thigs out on the training ground - something we clearly didn't do last year. Another consideration is the fact that he's out of contract at the end of the season. Personally, on his showings of late, I would like to see us keep hold of him.

[KJC]

What a great performance by the lads. As Neil has said in his report, we kept an excellent shape and were very well organised all night.

- Ince made some superb saves, the only downside was a couple of handling "errors", but they were mopped up easily enough so never cost us anything.

- Roper and Westwood were both outstanding, I know that Westy has been singled out by some as being a MOTM contender, but I thought Roper wasnt too far behind either!!

- Pead gave the ball away a little too often, but was defensively sound.

- The Fox and Taylor partnership was very good again, nothing flashy, but were strong and consistant all night.

- Dobbo and Keates gave an excellent, physical and energetic perfomance in the centre they never let their opposite numbers settle, all night.

- Butler and Sam had very good games, with Sam holding the ball up really well and Butler making some superb runs aswell as being unlucky infront of goal... on another night he could've had a hattrick.

- Mark Wright was my MOTM though... scared Compo half to death!
He put across some cracking balls that on another night, may have been put away by the strikers.


All in all, one of the best matches I've been too in ages.... the lads can hold their heads up high this morning... a cracking performance!

An absolutely fantastic game, Bolton can consider themselves very lucky to be in the draw for the next round.

UP THE SADDLERS!!!!! :D

[Stu]

I must admit, I'm a little puzzled by those playing down Wright's performance because Campo was out of position at left back.

I mean, its not as if Ivan Campo is some dodgy old foreigner with no pedigree.

- Originally a centre-half, only recently convered to defensive midfield, so left back is hardly unknown to him
- 100 Premiership starts
- Valencia paid £12m for him when they signed him (according to Wikipedia)
- Played 60 times for Real Madrid
- Won the Champions League
- 4 International Caps

What the bloody hell do you expect a 24 year old League 1 / 2 ability winger to do to him? Stitch him up like a kipper and leave him flat on his arse 99 times out of a 100?

I despair sometimes, I really do.

[Fray Bentos is God!]

The MWAS moves on, the CWAS is about to get started.

I love being a Walsall fan sometimes. Its bloody bostin'!

[YGA Saddler]

I must admit, I'm a little puzzled by those playing down Wright's performance because Campo was out of position at left back.

I mean, its not as if Ivan Campo is some dodgy old foreigner with no pedigree.

- Originally a centre-half, only recently convered to defensive midfield, so left back is hardly unknown to him
- 100 Premiership starts
- Valencia paid £12m for him when they signed him (according to Wikipedia)
- Played 60 times for Real Madrid
- Won the Champions League
- 4 International Caps

What the bloody hell do you expect a 24 year old League 1 / 2 ability winger to do to him? Stitch him up like a kipper and leave him flat on his arse 99 times out of a 100?

I despair sometimes, I really do.

abso-f***ing-lutely spot on again Stu. The criticism of Wrighty is getting tiresome and boring. He's well and truly sticking two fingers up at the doubters.
He's a winger, hes there to take players on, cross the ball and run defences ragged- all of which he has improved greatly this season IMHO. All you can do as a player is improve your game and wrighty is doing that.
When Wracky comes back and slots in on the right, running around like a headless chicken chasing every ball but failing to get to the byline to cross, you will all be grovelling for the return of Marky Wright.

[Fray Bentos is God!]

I must admit, I'm a little puzzled by those playing down Wright's performance because Campo was out of position at left back.

I mean, its not as if Ivan Campo is some dodgy old foreigner with no pedigree.

- Originally a centre-half, only recently convered to defensive midfield, so left back is hardly unknown to him
- 100 Premiership starts
- Valencia paid £12m for him when they signed him (according to Wikipedia)
- Played 60 times for Real Madrid
- Won the Champions League
- 4 International Caps

What the bloody hell do you expect a 24 year old League 1 / 2 ability winger to do to him? Stitch him up like a kipper and leave him flat on his arse 99 times out of a 100?

I despair sometimes, I really do.

abso-f***ing-lutely spot on again Stu. The criticism of Wrighty is getting tiresome and boring. He's well and truly sticking two fingers up at the doubters.
He's a winger, hes there to take players on, cross the ball and run defences ragged- all of which he has improved greatly this season IMHO. All you can do as a player is improve your game and wrighty is doing that.
When Wracky comes back and slots in on the right, running around like a headless chicken chasing every ball but failing to get to the byline to cross, you will all be grovelling for the return of Marky Wright.

Join the MWAS with me and Percival, do it! You know you want to!

[King Crimson]

Having read the thread, I think there's only one poster who's made criticisms of Wright. Almost all say he did really well.

[Magic Man Fan]

Absolutely brilliant game. End to end stuff from start to finish. Even though we created more chances in the first half they really stretched us by using the full width of the pitch but all of our players worked their socks off to get back and cover to make it hard for them to create a chance.

I thought we'd fade in the second half because they'd worked us so hard but the first 30 mins of the second half we were awesome, absolutely brilliant with Wright involved in all our goods stuff again. He had the beating of Campo at will and I noticed at the end Campo walked straight past a couple of other players to congratulate Wright and shake his hand....which should be good for his confidence . I just felt that we should have bought Ishmel on during that spell because even Sam was making Hunt look weak on the other side.

Dobbo had his best game since Stockport, I thought Fox probably had his best game for us, Westwood was excellent again. I just feel the front two, especially Butler in the first half let us down. 5/6 times the ball came into him and he gave possession away too easily. It was as if he didn't want to hold onto the ball in case he got fouled. Either that or he and Sam knew they didn't have the pace to get beyond them which is a shame because I think they did.

Bring on Saturday and lets start winning some away games.

[DawleyDick]

Could not get to the match as I am holiday in Spain. I had to put up with Merson's commentary on Sky Sports. He found it difficult to say anything decent about Walsall. It really choked him to say that the result flattered Bolton. What was the gate last night?

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Could not get to the match as I am holiday in Spain. I had to put up with Merson's commentary on Sky Sports. He found it difficult to say anything decent about Walsall. It really choked him to say that the result flattered Bolton. What was the gate last night?

6250 ish