Wrexham (A) League - Saturday 16/12/06

[WarsawPact]

DD reckons it's 2 points dropped.

Dobson has been in bed for 2 days with flu.

Keates still suffering with thigh strain.

Gerrard was brought in, in the event that Ropes got suspended.

Ish wasn't brought on because DD "didn't think it was his sort of game"

Thinks the Boston game will be our toughest away trip so far.

[Matt'sdad]

Good result.
Isn't this what this league is all about, grinding out the results. Probably not very pretty but effective. Because of where I live I don't get to see many matches but I must give credit to all those who are giving their support at away matches. :D
I saw the match at Plymouth and was impressed with the way that the team was set up i.e a rigid 4-4-2 system designed not to concede many goals, but not going to impress the 'non-partisan fan'.
Following the matches on BBC text, we always appear to give away possession for most of the game. Not being there I cannot confirm or deny, probably someone willl enlighten me.
However it is the results and accumulation of points that count and if we manage to get out of this league , I for one will not complain.

UTS :D

[SaigonSaddler]

Good result.
Isn't this what this league is all about, grinding out the results. Probably not very pretty but effective. Because of where I live I don't get to see many matches but I must give credit to all those who are giving their support at away matches. :D
I saw the match at Plymouth and was impressed with the way that the team was set up i.e a rigid 4-4-2 system designed not to concede many goals, but not going to impress the 'non-partisan fan'.
Following the matches on BBC text, we always appear to give away possession for most of the game. Not being there I cannot confirm or deny, probably someone willl enlighten me.
However it is the results and accumulation of points that count and if we manage to get out of this league , I for one will not complain.

UTS :D

I agree, an away draw so I'm happy with it.

What is a pity is that there's 4 teams going for three auto places. Hmmm maybe the season isn't over yet :?

[Jorge14]

Ish wasn't brought on because DD "didn't think it was his sort of game"

I agree in a way. Althought it was crying out for him to be on there, Wrexham came out in the second half and bullied us. They kicked, shoved, swore, pulled our shirts. The normal tempers and bigger lads couldn't necessarily handle it...Ishy wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes. Also, he's a knob if the rumours that were circulating today are true.

It was a game of two halves. We were impressive in the first half, playing some decent stuff against a side I was quite impressed with. We could have gone in at half time 2 up, but could equally have gone in behind or level.
We were abysmal in the second half though. We never came out, there was no pace or direction. Why does Anthony Gerrard feel the need to hoof the ball 50 yards all the time? Roper I can understand, he has no particular ability with the ball at his feet - Gerrard CAN knock some decent balls.

We lacked a midfield. Wright played 70 minutes on the left and out of position, and Pead and Fox were exposed as not being central midfielders. Nothing much else we could do about that though. Tony Bedeau I thought turned in comfortably his best performance for us. He really gave the left back a torrid time, and I thought he was unlucky to go off unless it was injury related.

Hector Sam and Martin Butler worked very hard again for very little service. Tommy Wright missed an absolute sitter at 1-1.

I'd have taken a point before, and based on our second half performance, I'd take a point now. A win next Saturday and in our two home games is a must.

[ShropsSaddler]

Jorge - agree with your assessment re Demontagnac.

Very disappointing that we didn't come out for the 2nd half but fully agree that we were bullied out of it and not protected at all by a referee who gave one of the most bizarre displays I think I have ever seen. Just HOW did he miss the Wrexham player CATCHING the ball in midfield in the 2nd half?

First half - good performance and we should have gone on to win it.

Assessments;

Ince - did everything he had to and had no chance with the goal which was a cracker of a shot
Westwood - probably MoM, played their dangerous left winger very well
Taylor - had a very good game. Put in some fierce challenges and generally frigthened the young right-winger
Roper - solid game.
Gerrard - made some good interceptions. Ended up bloodied by the Wrexham no.21 who lead with his elbow all game (totally unpunished!). Poor distribution.
Bedeau - very dangerous at times. Worked hard at times as well. So why does he still look so uninterested at times? His best game for us though..disappointed he went off
Wright - I thought, first half, he was part of the reason we did so well. Provided width, an outlet going forward and played some football. 2nd half? Woeful!! Should have been taken off.
Pead - he can't play the midfield unless there's a solid defensive midfielder next to him (eg Dobson). There were times he wasn't in the game, and too many times he was out of position, leaving huge gaps through the middle.
Fox - pretty anonymous game really. Not a central midfielder, to be fair to him. Did link quite well a few times in the first half but, like Pead, went missing in the 2nd half leaving acres of space for Wrexham to work in.
Sam - had an excellent game. Scored one, nearly got another and was a handful. In fact, I even saw him chasing and closing down defenders!!
Butler - was clearly frustrated by both his lack of service and a referee who seemed to determined to give no fouls in his favour but penalise the slightest contact by Butler. Deserved to be booked, frustration got the better of him. Had one decent chance which he should have done better with. Gave 100% as ever.
T Wright - looked ok but then missed THAT chance at the end :-(
Bradley - again, looked ok, but not up to a physical match like that.

Referee? 1 out of 10. I could list the catalogue of errors if I had time/inclination. A few choice ones;
i) Booked Butler for a late challenge, failed to book Wrexham forward for flattening Roper after the ball had gone
ii) Booked Pead for, presumably, daring to be in the way when the Wrexham player swung his fist! Whatever happened to "if you raise your arms to another player, you're going to get sent off"?
iii)Booked Fox when he won the ball
iv) Failed to even give a foul for a vicious, studs-up "tackle" on Taylor
v) Continually watched the Wrexham 21 go into challenges with elbow/hands raised and did nothing.
vi) Not forgetting the linesman who gave offside against Wright when a ball was played into Butler's feet, Butler being a good 15 yards onside!
vii)THAT handball incident - the referee indicated he'd taken it on his chest!!
That said, he did give us some very soft fouls as well but, on balance, he favoured the home team.

The other clear point I would make about today is how much we miss Dobson when he's not there. For all those doubters, the biggest thing he does is keep some SHAPE in the midfield. How many times do you see Dobson out of position on the wing, too far forward etc as the other team breaks? 2nd half we gave Wrexham the freedom of the midfield at times with no Walsall player anywhere near. Dobson AND Kinsella - masters of the art of holding the midfield in shape. And playing the simple pass for that matter - and we were crying out for that at times in the 2nd half.

[WFC_Rob]

We were disappointing in my opinion, but that was hardly surprising given the midfield we had on show. Our central midfield was given the runaround for the best part of 90 minutes, and despite Bedeau having a pretty decent first half, Wright again had a shocker. Yes, as always, people will come on here and make more excuses - we know he was playing 'out of position' today, but the manager selects him in that role because he believes Wright has the qualities to be able to play there. Giving the ball away under no pressure, failing to beat their right back at all, and generally doing diddly squit defensively have nothing to do with him being played out of position. And the irritating thing is, he does the same when he's playing on the right.

I'd like to mention Bedeau's first half performance today. I thought he did everything that was asked of him. He kept the ball, beat his man a few times and put in at least 3 decent crosses, mas well as doing the things that every footballer is expected to do - pressurise the man on the ball, win headers and tackle where necessary. I'd like to know what Money's reason was for taking him off not long into the second half, when he'd been so much more involved than Wright, or any of our other midfielders for that matter. He could have made a straight swap - Ishmel for Wright. In my eyes, it shows that Money still doesn't trust Ishmel. On the radio the other night, Money said he thought Ishmel now trusted him, however, the feeling doesn't seem to be mutual.

Westwood had a very decent game, as did Dann. Roper didn't play too badly, and would have probably played better had he not have been booked so early on for something that didn't deserve a caution. Taylor was Taylor - did a job.
I thought Butler played just as he's been playing for weeks now - feeding off scraps. We'll miss him next week, but having said that, now probably isn't the worst time for him to have a suspension - hopefully he'll come back feeling a bit more fresh.

A point away from home isn't such a bad result, especially when you've got a couple of first team players missing.
One thing's for sure though - if we don't sign 2 midfielders in January, we won't win the league.

[Neuromantic]

Dann didnt play rob ;)

Ahh well, a true tale of two halfs, now people can see what Bedeau offers us. I thought he was very good first half, taken off due to injury.

Thought Gerrard was woeful, as was wright, as was fox. Roper was poor again for me, front two worked their socks off, i was very impressed by hector today. looked very sharp.

All in all, im happy with a point! UTS, as rob said though, we need two midfielders and a left winger.

[WFC_Rob]

Dann didnt play rob ;)

:oops:
Gerrard does look quite similar to Dann though. :wink:

[Cully]

Good post Shrops, in particular your observations on the referee, uneven with his treatment of both teams. I was fearful of a penalty late on should any of the Wrexham players fallen over in the box.
Quite enjoyed Danny Foxs contribution to the atmosphere at the game with his hand signal to the Wrexham fans in the bendy roof stand far more effective and entertaining than the boring sheep shaggers chants, England etc etc.

[SheffieldSaddler]

Dann didnt play rob ;)

:oops:
Gerrard does look quite similar to Dann though. :wink:

My god, how on earth can you get mixed up between Gerrard and Dann!
Frightening!

[sid swifty]

Dann didnt play rob ;)

:oops:
Gerrard does look quite similar to Dann though. :wink:

well to be fair Rob...they do wear the same coloured shirts... :D

[Kiansmom]

I didn't think Gerrard was woeful, he put in a a few good tackles :lol:

[WFC_Rob]

Dann didnt play rob ;)

:oops:
Gerrard does look quite similar to Dann though. :wink:

well to be fair Rob...they do wear the same coloured shirts... :D

Let's just get things straight - I was fully aware that Gerrard was playing. I just wasn't thinking when I was writing my post. Must be something to do with all the Christmas excitement! :wink:

[Duke]

Considering Wrexham's recent good home form , as MMF pointed out , most of us would have taken a point before kick off . Nice to hear Bedeau is impressing a few fans . a 5 point is lead is still healthy onward and upwards .

[Red Adair]

I thought the police at Wrexham were a little "over zealous" to put it mildly. They were very agressive and I think it is a little "over-the-top" to have police dogs for a few hundred Walsall fans. A fan next to me was threatened with arrest because of "racial abuse". I didn't realise that the Welsh are a race, they are barely a nationality.

With five unsolved murders in Suffolk, 1 in 3 cars on the road either not taxed or insured, rampant street crime I would have thought that the police had better things to do than threaten innocent football fans.

[sid swifty]

I thought the police at Wrexham were a little "over zealous" to put it mildly. They were very agressive and I think it is a little "over-the-top" to have police dogs for a few hundred Walsall fans. A fan next to me was threatened with arrest because of "racial abuse". I didn't realise that the Welsh are a race, they are barely a nationality.

With five unsolved murders in Suffolk, 1 in 3 cars on the road either not taxed or insured, rampant street crime I would have thought that the police had better things to do than threaten innocent football fans.

"I thought the police at Wrexham were a little "over zealous" to put it mildly"
Maybe it has something to do with the walsall "FANS" being a bit over zealous last time...i dont blame the police...they have a job to do...i can remember the 70s-80s when the police hadn't got a clue about crowd control...and i wish they had been more over zealous then when i was trying shelter my 2 very young lads from a rampaging group of away "FANS".

[Fray Bentos is God!]

the police looked like ninja turtles in black with all their silly stuff on

[Jorge14]

the police looked like ninja turtles in black with all their silly stuff on

I saw Robocop...I would have asked for his autograph, but he might have beaten me with his truncheon.

Oo-er... :shock:

[philthesaddler]

I thought we really played well in the first half, its such a shame we couldnt or wouldn't do anything in the 2nd to stamp our authority on the game.

When you consider that in the whole of the 2nd half we only had 2 attempts on goal, that really is shockingly bad. Wrexham weren't that good a side, but once again, our midfield just hadn't got the legs or skill to compete.

I've read Neil's report, obviously he weren't there, but how the Fat Controller thought Mark Wright had a good game is beyond me - he was terrible again. Bedeau on the other hand, had a really good game. He created more danger on our right in the first 45 minutes than Mark Wright has in the past 6 games.

I asked Jo just to pick out the best and worst players, from a fresh perspective. She picked out No6 [Roper] out as the best as he "stops everything that comes towards him" and No14 [Wright] as the worst as "everytime he gets the ball he seems to give it away, and he seems scared" Not my words!!!

And Ishy's 20 second run out looked like a bit of a punishment for his behaviour the night before.

We didn't lose, but once again, we played at a worryingly average level and Wrexham could, and maybe should have beaten us.

I saw the stats from the Bristol City match, and they had 30 odd attempts on goal. That's what we should be doing. We are top of the league, we should be peppering their goal with attempts, yet their keeper only had one, maybe two saves to make. I know we are top of the league and all that, but I dont do complacency, and I think we will struggle unless we find our early season form of creating chances. Earlier in the season you could have argued that Wrighty and Fox were effective, but I think that is not the case now, we've been found out, and it's starting to show in recent matches.

[Magic Man Fan]

I thought the police at Wrexham were a little "over zealous" to put it mildly. They were very agressive and I think it is a little "over-the-top" to have police dogs for a few hundred Walsall fans. A fan next to me was threatened with arrest because of "racial abuse". I didn't realise that the Welsh are a race, they are barely a nationality.

With five unsolved murders in Suffolk, 1 in 3 cars on the road either not taxed or insured, rampant street crime I would have thought that the police had better things to do than threaten innocent football fans.

Perhaps you should have been there last year or previous years.

Wrexham weren't a brilliant side but were better second half. We grinded out the 1-1 which is all away games are about, especially with such a depleted team. The important thing is that we didn't lose again after last week. If we start losing consecutive games it could knock the confidence but that hasn't happened so this is a plus.

The main thing is to maintain the 2 points a game lark so 3 points will be welcome against Boston but it won't be easy, especially now Ropes and Butler are out.

We missed some good chances but so did they so I can't agree with DD that it was 2 points dropped.

One things annoyed me, all the @rse kissing of Ant Gerrard from the weeners every time he players. He's NOT Steven Gerrard, he's Anthony, judge him on what he does, not his cousin. :roll:

All you could hear at the end was "He's big, he's scouse, he'll rob your f****** house"....well so is Scott Dann, except Scott Dann probably wouldn't drop the DVD and TV on the way out of the house he's robbed. :roll:

His distribution was awful and he kept gifting Wrexham possession in the second half which let them mount the pressure. We can't afford that alongside Roper, because he's too similar. Scott Dann plays the ball out which means we keep possession and can build attacks. There is no way he deserved to be dropped (whatever DD's reasons) after his performances over the last 6 weeks.

PS - Daz, Bedeau has now had one good game. Shall we just give him player of the season award now? Just because you don't like Mark Wright doesn't mean Bedeau has been great all season. That was his first good game. End of.

[saddlerken]

Agreed Mark

Gerrard is comfortably the worst of our centre defenders IMO

Worse distribution than Ropes and that is saying something

[big baz 1]

dd didnt think it was ishys type of game what the **** is he on about i wish he just play he can a big weapon away from home just look at the impact he made coming on at hereford. DD views on ishy is the only thing i disagree with dd on .

[Duke]

Have to agree with MMF, can't believe Dann was dropped for Gerrard .
Not sure if its due to the hectic Christmas / New year programme , I feel Roper and Dann are our best centre backs.

[philthesaddler]

dd didnt think it was ishys type of game what the **** is he on about i wish he just play he can a big weapon away from home just look at the impact he made coming on at hereford. DD views on ishy is the only thing i disagree with dd on .

Thing is, it's all very well DD coming out with great insights like "it's not Ishy's type of game"... But what exactly is his type of game?

If we're losing, he's too much of a risk
If we're winning, he's too much of a risk
If we're drawing, he's too much of a risk

I think the way Ishy isn't being used says a lot about DD's negativity. Yes, with him on the pitch we stand more chance of conceding fouls, but then again, with Ishy on the pitch, we're going to create 10 times more chances for our forwards and we're going to worry their defence. Swings and roundabouts, but if you don't create chances you don't win games.

[Magic Man Fan]

dd didnt think it was ishys type of game what the **** is he on about i wish he just play he can a big weapon away from home just look at the impact he made coming on at hereford. DD views on ishy is the only thing i disagree with dd on .

If Ishy was a weapon, he'd shoot himself. :roll:

He's not being played for a reason, they're enough hints on here to realise that. People should get over it and realise until his attitude changes he won't be used unless absolutely necessary.

[saddlerken]

No point in hanging on to him then, time to get rid

[Registered Saddler]

dd didnt think it was ishys type of game what the **** is he on about i wish he just play he can a big weapon away from home just look at the impact he made coming on at hereford. DD views on ishy is the only thing i disagree with dd on .

If Ishy was a weapon, he'd shoot himself. :roll:

He's not being played for a reason, they're enough hints on here to realise that. People should get over it and realise until his attitude changes he won't be used unless absolutely necessary.

In which case why is he on the bench? If he's never going to be brought on because of his attitude then what's the point of him being in the 16 at all? I don't buy this school of thought that DD won't play him - he's played some part in half of our games so far. It's not really fair on him to say that he has behaved badly so he won't be starting but not badly enough that he gets left out the squad altogether. That just doesn't make sense.

[philthesaddler]

dd didnt think it was ishys type of game what the **** is he on about i wish he just play he can a big weapon away from home just look at the impact he made coming on at hereford. DD views on ishy is the only thing i disagree with dd on .

If Ishy was a weapon, he'd shoot himself. :roll:

He's not being played for a reason, they're enough hints on here to realise that. People should get over it and realise until his attitude changes he won't be used unless absolutely necessary.

In which case why is he on the bench? If he's never going to be brought on because of his attitude then what's the point of him being in the 16 at all? I don't buy this school of thought that DD won't play him - he's played some part in half of our games so far. It's not really fair on him to say that he has behaved badly so he won't be starting but not badly enough that he gets left out the squad altogether. That just doesn't make sense.

Exactly. DD must see some use in Ishy to have him on the bench, but exactly which scenario would he get a chance? Like I said above whether we're losing, winning or drawing, DD always feels scared to bring Ish on.

[Magic Man Fan]

dd didnt think it was ishys type of game what the **** is he on about i wish he just play he can a big weapon away from home just look at the impact he made coming on at hereford. DD views on ishy is the only thing i disagree with dd on .

If Ishy was a weapon, he'd shoot himself. :roll:

He's not being played for a reason, they're enough hints on here to realise that. People should get over it and realise until his attitude changes he won't be used unless absolutely necessary.

In which case why is he on the bench?

Because we have little else choice at the moment. That's why. This may change in the transfer window.

And unlike other managers DD won't cut his nose off to spite his face.

[Neil Ravenscroft]

dd didnt think it was ishys type of game what the **** is he on about i wish he just play he can a big weapon away from home just look at the impact he made coming on at hereford. DD views on ishy is the only thing i disagree with dd on .

If Ishy was a weapon, he'd shoot himself. :roll:

He's not being played for a reason, they're enough hints on here to realise that. People should get over it and realise until his attitude changes he won't be used unless absolutely necessary.

In which case why is he on the bench?

Because we have little else choice at the moment. That's why. This may change in the transfer window.

And unlike other managers DD won't cut his nose off to spite his face.

Agreed, Mark. People need to face up to the fact that he struggles to gte into the 16 when we're at full strength and, in fact, he's not as good as some people seem to think he is. He's a kid, not the answer to all our problems.