Shrewsbury (H) League - Boxing Day

[Matt'sdad]

I shall look forward to the comments of those who went to the match - we seem to be making hard work of it at the moment, yet still getting the results. Finish this year off with at least 4 points in the next two games get some new blood in to strengthen the team and let me grow my finger nails again. Still pleased with the result :D :D

[CSFC]

Talksport and Sky both say Westwood, but thats the only information I'm going on.

It was announced as Westwood - but was most certainly a left-footed Mark Wright cross that curled (or bobbled, take your pick :wink: ) in off the far post.

[Geordiesaddler]

I shall look forward to the comments of those who went to the match - we seem to be making hard work of it at the moment, yet still getting the results. Finish this year off with at least 4 points in the next two games get some new blood in to strengthen the team and let me grow my finger nails again. Still pleased with the result :D :D

We already have some new blood in Cederqvist and Lyall both of whom are available from next Monday. Sam now has an opportunity to impress on Saturday, knowing there is immediate competition for his shirt. James Constable also scored again for Kiddy today so is bang in form - excellent management from DD. A replacment for Kinsella (the player) would be highly desireable but that's about all, and only if the correct player is available as I don't think its entirely necessary from a results point of view, and that's all that matters to DD.

[philthesaddler]

First half we were very poor, we made salop look a decent side. Wrights sending off looked harsh because you've seen them given yellows before but oh well.

First half we didnt create anything, Bedeau looked poor, so did Dobson, Fox and Wright, in fact, the whole midfield were terrible.

Tommy Wright has a pretty poor disciplinary record, but DD plays him. The generally accepted reason for Ishy not playing is his disciplinary record. It doesnt make sense to me, especially since Tommy Wright hasn't been bringing much to the team recently.

Anyway, we failed to keep the ball, couldnt get in behind them, balls played to Butler were played at head or chest height, given him little or no chance of doing anything with them.

2nd half we started to keep the ball more, and one thing I noticed was we started trying to stretch their defence, Wrighty and Westwood started overlapping, Pead came on for Bedeau and made a difference in the middle because he gave us more energy. We started creating chances. Wrighty's goal was a fluke, his first decent cross of the afternoon and it creeped in at the back post. He did produce one other decent cross though, so two in one day is pretty decent.

I really don't see why we are starting with Fox in centre midfield, that lad isn't a central midfielder, just like Mark Wright isn't a footballer. Pead looked far better in central midfield, he was keen to get forward, and has got much quicker feet than Fox. All in all I thought Fox was very very poor, Wright was ok, but only because the collective improved.

Kris Taylor as man of the match bemused most people. For me Ian Roper, or perhaps Pead for the difference he made.

[sj]

I THINK IT WAS A SHOT BY WRIGHT BECAUSE THERE WAS NO OTHER PLAYER NEAR THE FAR POST.

That was a good game of football wright and westwood were immense in the 2nd half. This is a side with a fine spirit and good legs-- Winners :D

[Neuromantic]

Strange Game. The 'sending off' was a yellow card, but of course officials lack football common sense.

Tale of two halves yet again, looked much better second half, craid pead has to start in midfield against bristol rovers. Foxy did well when he switched to the left i thought, we looked more solid and resilient. If the mwas claim that mark wrights goal was a shot then im a stoat. Although he played betetr after he scored. Dobbo was ok, so was the rest to be honest, Bedeau was crap. Butler worked his socks off.

All in all, brilliant win, backs aginst the wall and we came up trumphs.

UTS

[Geordiesaddler]

First half we were very poor, we made salop look a decent side. Wrights sending off looked harsh because you've seen them given yellows before but oh well.

First half we didnt create anything, Bedeau looked poor, so did Dobson, Fox and Wright, in fact, the whole midfield were terrible.

Tommy Wright has a pretty poor disciplinary record, but DD plays him. The generally accepted reason for Ishy not playing is his disciplinary record. It doesnt make sense to me, especially since Tommy Wright hasn't been bringing much to the team recently.

Anyway, we failed to keep the ball, couldnt get in behind them, balls played to Butler were played at head or chest height, given him little or no chance of doing anything with them.

2nd half we started to keep the ball more, and one thing I noticed was we started trying to stretch their defence, Wrighty and Westwood started overlapping, Pead came on for Bedeau and made a difference in the middle because he gave us more energy. We started creating chances. Wrighty's goal was a fluke, his first decent cross of the afternoon and it creeped in at the back post. He did produce one other decent cross though, so two in one day is pretty decent.

I really don't see why we are starting with Fox in centre midfield, that lad isn't a central midfielder, just like Mark Wright isn't a footballer. Pead looked far better in central midfield, he was keen to get forward, and has got much quicker feet than Fox. All in all I thought Fox was very very poor, Wright was ok, but only because the collective improved.

Kris Taylor as man of the match bemused most people. For me Ian Roper, or perhaps Pead for the difference he made.

So just to summarise Phil, we were generally shyte. The bloke who scored/created the goal isn't a footballer, the midfield which by the sounds of the commentary protected the back 4 admirably shouldn't have been selected in the manner that it was, and if only Ishy had played....

For goodness sake change the record. Thank goodness DD picks the team and chooses the tactics. We've just beaten one of our most hated rivals with 10 men to retain a 4 point lead at the top of the table and yet you can find about 6 negatives and barely a positive.

You make Ebeneezer Scrooge sound cheerful

[philthesaddler]

First half we were very poor, we made salop look a decent side. Wrights sending off looked harsh because you've seen them given yellows before but oh well.

First half we didnt create anything, Bedeau looked poor, so did Dobson, Fox and Wright, in fact, the whole midfield were terrible.

Tommy Wright has a pretty poor disciplinary record, but DD plays him. The generally accepted reason for Ishy not playing is his disciplinary record. It doesnt make sense to me, especially since Tommy Wright hasn't been bringing much to the team recently.

Anyway, we failed to keep the ball, couldnt get in behind them, balls played to Butler were played at head or chest height, given him little or no chance of doing anything with them.

2nd half we started to keep the ball more, and one thing I noticed was we started trying to stretch their defence, Wrighty and Westwood started overlapping, Pead came on for Bedeau and made a difference in the middle because he gave us more energy. We started creating chances. Wrighty's goal was a fluke, his first decent cross of the afternoon and it creeped in at the back post. He did produce one other decent cross though, so two in one day is pretty decent.

I really don't see why we are starting with Fox in centre midfield, that lad isn't a central midfielder, just like Mark Wright isn't a footballer. Pead looked far better in central midfield, he was keen to get forward, and has got much quicker feet than Fox. All in all I thought Fox was very very poor, Wright was ok, but only because the collective improved.

Kris Taylor as man of the match bemused most people. For me Ian Roper, or perhaps Pead for the difference he made.

So just to summarise Phil, we were generally shyte. The bloke who scored/created the goal isn't a footballer, the midfield which by the sounds of the commentary protected the back 4 admirably shouldn't have been selected in the manner that it was, and if only Ishy had played....

For goodness sake change the record. Thank goodness DD picks the team and chooses the tactics. We've just beaten one of our most hated rivals with 10 men to retain a 4 point lead at the top of the table and yet you can find about 6 negatives and barely a positive.

You make Ebeneezer Scrooge sound cheerful

No, like I said, we were much improved in the second half, but in the first half we were terrible. I've never seen Dobson so bad, nor have I seen Fox so slow, and Bedeau was back to normal, and Wright was nothing short of poor.

Like I said, Pead came on, gave us more energy in the middle, Fox was still poor, Wright scored a jammy goal, and they hit the bar. We didn't exactly thrash them. Like it or not, we aint brilliant, and we need to improve.

Listening to WM [with Mick 'Brains' Kearns and Daz 'Dumbass' Hale] isn't the best way to get an impression of what happened. Afterall they thought we were on equal terms when we were 2-1 down at Huddersfield two years ago.

[Didier Tholot]

First half we were very poor, we made salop look a decent side. Wrights sending off looked harsh because you've seen them given yellows before but oh well.

First half we didnt create anything, Bedeau looked poor, so did Dobson, Fox and Wright, in fact, the whole midfield were terrible.

Tommy Wright has a pretty poor disciplinary record, but DD plays him. The generally accepted reason for Ishy not playing is his disciplinary record. It doesnt make sense to me, especially since Tommy Wright hasn't been bringing much to the team recently.
Anyway, we failed to keep the ball, couldnt get in behind them, balls played to Butler were played at head or chest height, given him little or no chance of doing anything with them.

2nd half we started to keep the ball more, and one thing I noticed was we started trying to stretch their defence, Wrighty and Westwood started overlapping, Pead came on for Bedeau and made a difference in the middle because he gave us more energy. We started creating chances. Wrighty's goal was a fluke, his first decent cross of the afternoon and it creeped in at the back post. He did produce one other decent cross though, so two in one day is pretty decent.

I really don't see why we are starting with Fox in centre midfield, that lad isn't a central midfielder, just like Mark Wright isn't a footballer. Pead looked far better in central midfield, he was keen to get forward, and has got much quicker feet than Fox. All in all I thought Fox was very very poor, Wright was ok, but only because the collective improved.

Kris Taylor as man of the match bemused most people. For me Ian Roper, or perhaps Pead for the difference he made.

I actually thought Fox was the pick of our midfield first half; won more tackles than anyone else and what little play we had all went through him. Certainly don't see why he was "very very poor", different kind of player to Pead (who impressed again when brought on) but more than capable of doing a job in centre mid. Second half performance the best I have seen us for some time - looking forward to Jan when we can strengthen and push on again.

[philthesaddler]

First half we were very poor, we made salop look a decent side. Wrights sending off looked harsh because you've seen them given yellows before but oh well.

First half we didnt create anything, Bedeau looked poor, so did Dobson, Fox and Wright, in fact, the whole midfield were terrible.

Tommy Wright has a pretty poor disciplinary record, but DD plays him. The generally accepted reason for Ishy not playing is his disciplinary record. It doesnt make sense to me, especially since Tommy Wright hasn't been bringing much to the team recently.
Anyway, we failed to keep the ball, couldnt get in behind them, balls played to Butler were played at head or chest height, given him little or no chance of doing anything with them.

2nd half we started to keep the ball more, and one thing I noticed was we started trying to stretch their defence, Wrighty and Westwood started overlapping, Pead came on for Bedeau and made a difference in the middle because he gave us more energy. We started creating chances. Wrighty's goal was a fluke, his first decent cross of the afternoon and it creeped in at the back post. He did produce one other decent cross though, so two in one day is pretty decent.

I really don't see why we are starting with Fox in centre midfield, that lad isn't a central midfielder, just like Mark Wright isn't a footballer. Pead looked far better in central midfield, he was keen to get forward, and has got much quicker feet than Fox. All in all I thought Fox was very very poor, Wright was ok, but only because the collective improved.

Kris Taylor as man of the match bemused most people. For me Ian Roper, or perhaps Pead for the difference he made.

I actually thought Fox was the pick of our midfield first half; won more tackles than anyone else and what little play we had all went through him. Certainly don't see why he was "very very poor", different kind of player to Pead (who impressed again when brought on) but more than capable of doing a job in centre mid. Second half performance the best I have seen us for some time - looking forward to Jan when we can strengthen and push on again.

The pick of our midfield? I thought he was terrible. So did Money by the looks of his half time change.

[coxy_saddler]

1st half there was nothin at all!

2nd half was a diffrent story..we was up for it..winning most things..like phil said we strecthed there defense..which helped out alot. The goal well i thought it was going wide until it just hit the post and rolled over the line..They all count :lol:

Great win which is what we needed with swindon and mk and lincoln winning! We have reached over the 50 point mark by december! Great performance 2nd half.

UTS :D

[Matt'sdad]

Boring, boring Walsall...... 1-0 to boring Walsall. Stop moaning at look at the league table :shock:

[saddlesore]

First half was poor although I've heard the commentators on WM giving post match comments saying what a good tempo we had in the first half..........maybe... but far too my long hopeful balls for me.
Tommy Wright's tackle was a straight red for me(sorry folks) Studs showing & a lunge through the air thought he was long jump!!!!!!!!! Also worthy of note was the elbow from fortune west on Ropes in the second half!!
Second half we actually played the ball to feet & had some movement & interchange.I'm not going to moan about young Dann because him & Ropes were awsome at the back but his distribution was dire.
Pead was like a tiger in midfield when he came on at the beginning of the second half for Bedeu who looked half interested for once.Pead chased & harried & got forward whenever possible to support Butler who once again ran his heart out for the cause.I really hope DD bring a creative ball carrier for the midfield in January.

Interesting to note the attendance 8,345....I wonder if todays peformance will sway the armchair supporters?

Was also looking forward to having a closr look at the female assistant ,but alas she never changed sides

[Whitti Steve]

First half was dire - as others have said - we made Salop look good. Sending off looked very harsh - but I was t'other end of the ground. D'urso has always been a crap ref though. I though they did well once down to 10 men to keep the ball as much as we did - and hope DD would inspire at HT.

He did. Second half was much better, as someone said above, Pead could easily have got MOTM on his second half appearance and surely must get a start soon - and Beddeau should be dropped (from a great height :lol: ). Keates & Wrack are "almost there", Keates probably available for Saturday - but not Wrack - therefore I would play Pead. I thought Westwood and Roper were great - especially second half. Butler looked up for it again - and worked hard with little reward.

All in all - a good way to break the Manager of the Month curse - but still not good enough for 90 minutes! That is not a moan - as I am still happy with our position, just know we can do better.

[sid swifty]

First half was unbeleivably bad...for a team who are top of the league we were embarrassing...and i felt sorry for shrewsbury who at least attempted to make a game of it..and looked dangerous when then went forward...second half was comparitively entertaining but we really need an injection of new players in january...specially an attacking midfielder or 2 if possible.

[Geordiesaddler]

I think the best impression at times is to take a step back from all the whys, wherefores, ifs, buts, and maybes that seem to characterise every match thread on here, usually surrounding the old chestnuts of our alleged lack of creativity, why Ishy isn't playing, and the impending desperate search to bring in re-inforcements in Jan. Then realise that of the 23 teams in this league only 2 have managed to beat us, reason being that DD sets us up to be hard to beat, and very difficult to defend against for 90 minutes thanks largely to our set-pieces. That's the way we are set up, and with absolutely no reason whatsoever to change it to any great extent that's the way we are going to stay as we go in search of the approximate 12 or 13 wins out of 22 games that will likely secure us promotion. Of the 92 teams in the league none has more points than us. As a Walsall supporter I doubt I will ever be able to say that again in my lifetime as the season ticks into its second half.

Big well done to the lads today - all of them for making me a very happy Saddler, both today specifically, and this season generally.

[Matt'sdad]

I think the best impression at times is to take a step back from all the whys, wherefores, ifs, buts, and maybes that seem to characterise every match thread on here, usually surrounding the old chestnuts of our alleged lack of creativity, why Ishy isn't playing, and the impending desperate search to bring in re-inforcements in Jan. Then realise that of the 23 teams in this league only 2 have managed to beat us, reason being that DD sets us up to be hard to beat, and very difficult to defend against for 90 minutes thanks largely to our set-pieces. That's the way we are set up, and with absolutely no reason whatsoever to change it to any great extent that's the way we are going to stay as we go in search of the approximate 12 or 13 wins out of 22 games that will likely secure us promotion. Of the 92 teams in the league none has more points than us. As a Walsall supporter I doubt I will ever be able to say that again in my lifetime as the season ticks into its second half.

Big well done to the lads today - all of them for making me a very happy Saddler, both today specifically, and this season generally.

More posts like this please :D

[dancingsaddler]

I would have loved to be there today, I can imagine the echoes of "We've only got 10 men" when that goal went in!!

Saddlers I love you!! :lol:

[Lilsnappa]

It was just as you imagined (followed by a bit of 'you're not singing anymore!!!')

[matty_walsall4eva]

1st half we was CRAP, had no midfield, dobson was running around in circles adn doin nothing as per ususal

2nd was much better, the introduction of pead in centre midfield worked wonders, we started to get some control in the game, meaning we could mount pressure.

overall still not our best performance of the season but it is promising and if we can keep improving on that we will brush teams aside.

i dont know what DD said to the lads at half time but he got the players motivated and they played for each other, no player in the 2nd half had a bad game.
i thought that our players would bottle the big game again like swindon but the character they showed in the 2nd half was excellent.

roll on bristol rovers

[Geordiesaddler]

Just to add another positive note, should another 6000+ gate descend on Bescot on Saturday it will be the first time since 1961 that we have achieved that for 3 successive home games in the League's bottom division.

[Whitti Steve]

Just to add another positive note, should another 6000+ gate descend on Bescot on Saturday it will be the first time since 1961 that we have achieved that for 3 successive home games in the League's bottom division.

Blimey - I wouldn' have thought that long? That is a mark of how far we have come in 6 months!

[BathSaddler]

Great win, against the odds. UTS.

[matty_walsall4eva]

Just to add another positive note, should another 6000+ gate descend on Bescot on Saturday it will be the first time since 1961 that we have achieved that for 3 successive home games in the League's bottom division.

excellent lets hope we can have a big attendance again, and we have proved the extra walsall fans that came to the game 2day why they should come again

[Aldridge_saddler]

Not going to say anything about the first half as we know very poor indeed.

Second half was excellent, Defence well the usual.
Pead (in a sense playing to save his career at walsall) was everywhere, seems to play well when we only have one up front.
Dobson when tracking back, drops back way too far and thus creating just one line of defence not the two we should have.
Taylor and Fox linked up well. Wright and Westwood we also excellent, may i point out that Shrewsbury where playing 3-5-2 so had no real attacking threat down the wings and thus no cover when Wright came bombing down them.
Butler led the line like a legend, very unlucky not to have a goal from Pead's cross.

Positives- showed real grit and determination in the second half. I havent enjoyed seeing Walsall really so this was a relief.

Negatives- Centre of midfield is becoming more and more of a problem with Dobson's immobileness( is that a word? ) We need deano back asap!

[Saddler4Life]

1st half - we was dire, wright, dobson, bedau(not as bad as usual) and T.wright was the most of the bunch, but no one stood out in the first half with us! We definatley needed the change around!

2nd half - a much better performance than the first and a whole lot better then what ive seen in recent weeks! Pead should play there every week, much better in mid, alot better then Dobson and Bedau and fox (left back for fox!) Pead certainly changed the game when he came on! MOTM for me Pead!
the goal by Wrighty was cetainly a fluke, not meaning to go in at all, but oh well, still went in and won us the game, well done Wrighty! after he scored he played great alot lot better then he has been doing!
Certainly made my xmas!, 3 points today, still 4 points clear, and we are back to winning ways and hopefully broken the curse of MOM for good!

WELL DONE YOU REDS!

[geoffwhiting]

Absolute triumph for ability over adversity, after Andy Durso's customary gaff. Why this guy doesn't take a few seconds to think before he acts I just don't know, but the reasons for his relegation from the Prem/Championship were all on full view today - he picked out Wright for very little reason early on, ignored worse challenges, and couldn't wait to follow up his earlier lecture with an unwarranted red card when a yellow was more than sufficient. This was a local derby, they get heated, has anyone ever told him to expect a bit of extra passion, commitment and bite in such games? IDIOT.

Shrewsbury were poor, but physical as expected. WE didn't get to grips with that in the first half, but with ten men it was always going to be tough.

Second half, the one-man shortage never showed, we were still better than them by a distance, and they were fortunate to survive a couple of barrages when shots rained in and their defenders were lucky to get bodies in the way.

Wright's goal was never an intentional shot - sj says no one was near the far post, but since when did that make any difference to MW's crossing?Sweet goal though, and in the circumstances, it was pure justice.

Could have scored more after that, a 1-0 did not flatter us at all, and Shrewsbury went home with what they deserved - nowt!

[Jolly Johnny]

doh

[Casual D]

Fantastic second half performance today. They never looked like beating us (except for the crossbar moment at the end!) even though they had the extra man, thanks largely to our back 5 and midfield keeping their shape with real discipline when ever they had the ball. The frustrated moans from their fans as they tried to find a way in was a sure sign of this. All they could do in the end was pump crosses in which Ince plucked out of the air time after time.

Not too sure how taylor was man of the match, though his one accurate far post cross (and move leading to it) was the highlight of the first half for me.
Personally, i'd say MOM was one of: Pead (made a visible difference when he came on, and looked the fittest and most energetic man on the pitch), Butler (ran his socks off to give the midfield someone to pass to in the 2nd half) or Westwood (who looked the most solid of our defence and contributed attack wise in the 2nd half).

We all have a wide variety of opinions on what DD should do, who he should pick etc. but he obviously knew what he had to do at half time. As Geordie points out, if the league table and results are anything to go by, we should just leave him to it!

[ShropsSaddler]

Geoff - spot on about the ref. He was looking to send Wright off for something.

Not quite sure what people are expecting from the team. The first half was not "unbelievably poor", it was a typical close local derby match with plenty of commitment but little composure. But we more than held our own and showed we could battle.

Second half, down to ten men, we would surely have been more than happy to take a point? Instead, Mr Money got his tactics spot on by bringing the energy of Pead into midfield and we played some superb football at times. I thought we deserved to win by 2 or 3 clear goals and we frustrated Shrewsbury to such an extent that their own fans were booing them! A perfect job done by a team who showed all the characteristics of a promotion-winning side.

Player by player;

Ince - superb as usual, The benefits of having a tall goalkeeper claiming the ball in the air are plain for all to see
Westwood - superb
Taylor - superb, some poor distribution first half but some excellent attacking play 2nd half and some solid defending
Roper and Dann - put up with all sorts of challenges from the Shrews front two, who lead with elbows more often than not
Bedeau - can't justify his inclusion at all, he was poor.
Wright - some frustrating moments but also some excellent attacking play and, despite the fact that he rarely tackles, some superb chasing after the man in possession in the 2nd half
Dobson - all these people who criticise, WATCH what his role is in the game. He's the defensive midfielder who's there to break up the opposition's play. He did it superbly today. Not spectacular, no surging runs forward, just a brilliant defensive midfield display.
Fox - now I've been is biggest critic and I admit I don't like him.....but I have to eat my words this evening. I thought he was our best player first half and he played really well 2nd half as well. Showed some real passion in some of his challenges. Again, how ANYONE can criticise him today I do not know.
T Wright - hadn't done much, didn't deserve to be sent off from what I could see
Butler - an absolutely amazing display of running, graft, cunning etc etc. I only wish he'd got a goal, he deserved it.
Pead - fantastic! An inspired sub and, as someone else said, must deserve a chance to start soon.

Look at the facts, we were down to 10 men for an hour of the match, we were playing a Shrewsbury team who are no mugs......and yet we won, deserved to win, made Shrewsbury look very poor and remain top of the league.

Roll on Saturday......