Millwall (H) F.A.Cup 3rd Round Saturday 5/1/08. kick off 2pm

[dinkydotsaddler]

Agree with everything you said - bar one! Bonser's wallet has far more than a combination lock - it has more security than Fort Knox!!!!! I bet it's like Gringot's (Harry Potter) - dragons etc. etc. The chances of DD getting past the very first item on any shopping list is about as likely as Leeds' United paying the tax that they owe!!!(allegedly - just to be safe in case Mr. Bates reading - Hi there Ken) :D :D :D

[Burnside]

As many have already said, this game really exposed our lack of depth in the striker department. Without Mooney or Ricketts (and neither of those two could honestly be described as prolific scorers) we are clueless (© MMF 2007) in front of goal. I feel sorry for Nicholls and Deeney, two young lads with excellent attitudes, apparently. Nicholls is very quick but, unfortunately, the number of his shots that have been on target, this season, can be counted on the fingers of one hand - bags of promise but zero end product. He is not frightening any goalkeepers, yet. Similarly with Deeney, you get lots of hard graft but his first touch is poor and his finishing predictable and devoid of quality. He has another two and a half years on his new contract. I hope that the WFC coaching staff can work miracles with him.

We are also lacking goals from other areas. Bradley oozes class but he has "blown hot and cold" recently - understandable in view of his tender years and inexperience. He should be scoring more goals. I would say the same about Demontagnac. Inexperience is an excuse not available to Wrack. His shooting is diabolical I hope that Joke Shitty are knocked out of the Cup, tomorrow (but I doubt it) and then the Clayheads may let us play Sweeney in the replay. He should be contributing to our goal tally from midfield. I reserve judgement on "Little" Brittain - he needs a lot more games. I was sorry to hear of Sonko's problems - all the more reason to take the pressure off him, I would have thought, and give him a run in the Reserves which might help him to regain his confidence. I have to admit that I have not heard any barracking of him (I'm glad to say) which would have been the fate of other players, in the past.

I'm sure that DD has a "shopping list" which includes a striker, near the top. Now, if only Uncle Jeff could remember the number to the combination lock on his wallet! :twisted:

Leeds ?

[Pedagogue]

As many have already said, this game really exposed our lack of depth in the striker department. Without Mooney or Ricketts (and neither of those two could honestly be described as prolific scorers) we are clueless (© MMF 2007) in front of goal. I feel sorry for Nicholls and Deeney, two young lads with excellent attitudes, apparently. Nicholls is very quick but, unfortunately, the number of his shots that have been on target, this season, can be counted on the fingers of one hand - bags of promise but zero end product. He is not frightening any goalkeepers, yet. Similarly with Deeney, you get lots of hard graft but his first touch is poor and his finishing predictable and devoid of quality. He has another two and a half years on his new contract. I hope that the WFC coaching staff can work miracles with him.

We are also lacking goals from other areas. Bradley oozes class but he has "blown hot and cold" recently - understandable in view of his tender years and inexperience. He should be scoring more goals. I would say the same about Demontagnac. Inexperience is an excuse not available to Wrack. His shooting is diabolical I hope that Joke Shitty are knocked out of the Cup, tomorrow (but I doubt it) and then the Clayheads may let us play Sweeney in the replay. He should be contributing to our goal tally from midfield. I reserve judgement on "Little" Brittain - he needs a lot more games. I was sorry to hear of Sonko's problems - all the more reason to take the pressure off him, I would have thought, and give him a run in the Reserves which might help him to regain his confidence. I have to admit that I have not heard any barracking of him (I'm glad to say) which would have been the fate of other players, in the past.

I'm sure that DD has a "shopping list" which includes a striker, near the top. Now, if only Uncle Jeff could remember the number to the combination lock on his wallet! :twisted:

Leeds ?

Yes - I posted this before I read the "Sweeney to Leeds" thread (cheating Yorkshire scumbags!) but I still hope that the Clayheads lose!

[Burnside]

I thought you may have known something I didn't.

I.e when his loan deal actually ended and if he had to see out a certain period before moving.

We could always hope he fails the medical....

[Deano_Saddler]

Ince - the usual, made a superb save in the 1st half.

Fox - Looked as if he wasn't bothered, very poor at times.
Ropes - He Looked very very dodgy at times, not the Ropes i'm used to.
Dann - Normal game superb, had to cover for Roper at times aswell.
Weston - Definite MOTM, absolute superb all game.

Ishmel - Tracked back well and made a few really good tackles but at times wasn't in the game.
Wrack - I thought he looked comfortable with the ball but same again sometimes didn't get involved enough.
Bradley - Same as Wrack
Deeney - I think he is alot better on the wing. Didn't threaten their defence at all when he moved upfront.

Ricketts - Looked as if he was injured from the minute the game started.
Nicholls - He was very lively but sometimes ran around not doing much. A terrific solo run at the start of the 2nd half.

Subs:
Brittain - Didn't impressed me today but give the lad time to settle in and see what he is like then.
Sonko - Didn't make much of a difference to the game.

[aaaae]

I don't really think anyone in the team deserved criticism today. Ropes for example hasn't played for most of the season, was constantly fouled (unpunished) by Milwall's centre forward and yet Milwall hardly threatened our goal. Sonko was fine, and Deeney and Nichols up front may have lacked confidence, but they can only grow with this kind of experience.

Unfortunately the size of our squad is being found out now. Thank goodness the youngsters who are thrown into the deep end are proving to be so resilient.

The more I see of Bradley, the more I am impressed. If Fox is worth £750,000 he must be worth well over the £1m mark.

Burnside - please don't criticise Metfans "reflections of a player" - his inspirational insight into how the England manager should operate - "I always find it best when the manager tells me to do what I feel" kept me amused for days.

[Asps]

Deeney ain't never going to get the goals for us - he just isn't good enough/sharp enough.

All we needed was 1 goal today and job would have been done. There wasn't one finisher on the pitch once Rickeets went off.

We need a good forward, otherwise this season will peter out

[cal wfc fan]

Some of you people are unbelievable...we didn't loose the game yesterday, ok we couldn't find a goal, but it's still what, 16 games unbeaten?
Yes I agree we need a goal scorer to back up Rickets and Mooney, but some of you are talking as if our season is over!! If we were still in the bottom 4 then I could understand some of your concerns, but we are much higher in the table than most would have expected..wish some people would get a grip and trust the manager...rant over.

[cyclothymic]

Well the knocks havent helped our cause have they?

What was up with there being 2 man of the match awards? i know there were 2 sponsers but they should make them agree on a player. it devalues the award

They always have two (not sure if they are always announced though) - the sponsors vote for one (part of their Sponsers package) and the Swifts club for the other (part of their package for paying loads to join the Swifts club). Often these are given to two different players.

Yesterday I agreed with the Sponsors wrt Weston - had a great game. Still - MOTM will always be subjective. The sponsers like to have their photo taken with the MOTM and have a chat with them post game and that helps to generate revenue.

[cal wfc fan]

Missed the game today :( doesn't sound like I missed much. I've already done one trip to Millwall this season so looks like the replay is a no go either.

You missed some fancy footwork from Scott Dann..got a woo-woo from the crowd :lol:

[ws4saddler]

Deeney ain't never going to get the goals for us - he just isn't good enough/sharp enough.

All we needed was 1 goal today and job would have been done. There wasn't one finisher on the pitch once Rickeets went off.

We need a good forward, otherwise this season will peter out

Deeney had a fair game, he was one of a number of youngers players on display yesterday. There was another MOTM on the field yesterday. He was their number 6, Whitbread. He got everthing in the air and stifled all our attempts in front of goal. Without him we would have surly won with a canter.

[Kiansmom]

Missed the game today :( doesn't sound like I missed much. I've already done one trip to Millwall this season so looks like the replay is a no go either.

You missed some fancy footwork from Scott Dann..got a woo-woo from the crowd :lol:

Everything he does gets a woo-woo from the crowd :twisted:

[WFC_Rob]

Missed the game today :( doesn't sound like I missed much. I've already done one trip to Millwall this season so looks like the replay is a no go either.

You missed some fancy footwork from Scott Dann..got a woo-woo from the crowd :lol:

It did indeed get a woo-woo from the crowd - it was a sight to behold. He followed it by giving the ball away though. :?

[Graydon48]

Fox wasn't bad, but didn't play to his best, possibly due to the pressure of having Stuart Pearce there watching him. :|

Interesting. Did anyone speak to Pearce or are we just guessing that he was there to see Fox? Surely he would have been impressed by Dann, too. Excellent news for Fox (with Scotland U-21s also sniffing round) but also for us, as a call up would add greatly to any tribunal valuation.

Well, others have suggested Pearce was there and I saw an envelope at the ticket office marked 'The FA - Stuart Pearce' which seems to add up.

How did you see an envelope, was it cellotaped to the Ticket Office window ?

[sid swifty]

Why do they have to announce their arrival....why dont they just pay to get in and just sit quietly and watch the match....instead of insisting on the "Red carpet treatment"?

[Ned_Kelly]

Fox wasn't bad, but didn't play to his best, possibly due to the pressure of having Stuart Pearce there watching him. :|

Interesting. Did anyone speak to Pearce or are we just guessing that he was there to see Fox? Surely he would have been impressed by Dann, too. Excellent news for Fox (with Scotland U-21s also sniffing round) but also for us, as a call up would add greatly to any tribunal valuation.

Well, others have suggested Pearce was there and I saw an envelope at the ticket office marked 'The FA - Stuart Pearce' which seems to add up.

How did you see an envelope, was it cellotaped to the Ticket Office window ?

Just a shot in the dark here, but perhaps he looked through the glass covering the opening and read the front of 1 of the envelopes that are left there for people to collect :roll: :wink:

[Ned_Kelly]

Why do they have to announce their arrival....why dont they just pay to get in and just sit quietly and watch the match....instead of insisting on the "Red carpet treatment"?

:?: :?: :?: Red carpet treatment ! For who... Pearce ? Hwe collected his ticket, signed a couple of autographs, went upstairs, then for some reason went down to the dressing rooms. Hardly red carpet treatment if your following on from the "Pearce was here" bit

[King Crimson]

Deeney had a fair game, he was one of a number of youngers players on display yesterday. There was another MOTM on the field yesterday. He was their number 6, Whitbread. He got everthing in the air and stifled all our attempts in front of goal. Without him we would have surly won with a canter.

The lad was a Liverpool trainee and (I think) was part of their side that won the FA Youth Cup. He was head and shoulders above his mates at the back, and we really needed an experienced, 'handful' of a striker to give him a real test. Mooney had him for breakfast in the league game, which is why we won 3-0. He is a very good player though, I agree.

[aaaae]

Deeney had a fair game, he was one of a number of youngers players on display yesterday. There was another MOTM on the field yesterday. He was their number 6, Whitbread. He got everthing in the air and stifled all our attempts in front of goal. Without him we would have surly won with a canter.

The lad was a Liverpool trainee and (I think) was part of their side that won the FA Youth Cup. He was head and shoulders above his mates at the back, and we really needed an experienced, 'handful' of a striker to give him a real test. Mooney had him for breakfast in the league game, which is why we won 3-0. He is a very good player though, I agree.

Yes he won everything in the air, but I think we did tend to play a little too much to his strength, especially with Nicholls and Denney up front. Another thing that occured to me was the Nicholls "penalty" in the first half. I was too far away to get a good view in the FTGL, anyone nearer the incident get a better view?

[bangsection]

Report on the match in today's Observer. More detailed than one might expect because Millwall are the team they have adopted in their Road to Wembley feature. Which means their allegiance will switch to us if we beat Millwall in the replay.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/ ... 28,00.html

[yoda]

Kick in the teeth that of ALL the ties we were only 1 of 2 that ended goalless.


Reserving rights for Stoke V Newcastle

[aaaae]

Report on the match in today's Observer. More detailed than one might expect because Millwall are the team they have adopted in their Road to Wembley feature. Which means their allegiance will switch to us if we beat Millwall in the replay.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/ ... 28,00.html

"It was the Millwall fans - more than 500 of them - who brought the atmosphere. The home crowd looked on in eerie silence as the 'Bermondsey Male Choir' - a handy euphemism - introduced themselves with a familiar anthem: 'We are Millwall. No one likes us we don't care.'"

I thought we were pretty good yesterday!

[tinned]

I moved and sat by Cueball & Over The Moon in Upper Block 3 for the last 5 minutes yesterday. At the final whistle a bloke behind stood straight up, flicked the V's, booed loudly and marched out. Now I'm all for free opinion but I just couldn't understand the logic behind it. We were obviously stretched to our barest resources and although we didn't set the world alight, it was hardly the most depressing performance seen at the Banks's in recent memory. Very strange :shock: :? :roll:

[King Crimson]

I moved and sat by Cueball & Over The Moon in Upper Block 3 for the last 5 minutes yesterday. At the final whistle a bloke behind stood straight up, flicked the V's, booed loudly and marched out. Now I'm all for free opinion but I just couldn't understand the logic behind it. We were obviously stretched to our barest resources and although we didn't set the world alight, it was hardly the most depressing performance seen at the Banks's in recent memory. Very strange :shock: :? :roll:

True, Exclude Ince (dow really count) and I wonder what the average age of our team was at the final whistle. 22? 23?

[Duke]

Quote Richard Money from this mornings Sun.
"We did everything but score . It was an outstanding performance from a team that keeps getting younger and keeps getting better "

[Exile]

Quote Richard Money from this mornings Sun.
"We did everything but score . It was an outstanding performance from a team that keeps getting younger and keeps getting better "

IF we get to Wembley in the playoffs, everyone HAS to go dressed as a baby!

[Plastic Hawk]

Quote Richard Money from this mornings Sun.
"We did everything but score . It was an outstanding performance from a team that keeps getting younger and keeps getting better "

Yeah, he said that on WM after the game. I'm not sure that I agree with him really (for me we were not all that good in the first half, good but not outstanding in the second) but I can see where he's coming from if you link the "outstanding" bit and the "younger" bit. It was a fairly inexperienced team (especially after Ricketts went off, although Roper in for Gerrard meant it was not much different from the last few games even though Nicholls came in for Sonko) and I can see why he wanted to talk the performance up to give the youngsters confidence in their ability to compete with other League 1 sides. I did think he went a bit over the top though.

Also, while I'm delighted that we've got so many good young kids coming through, I don't think that a "young side" is, of itself, necessarily a good thing. In our case it probably is (as all the youngsters are able to compete at this level), but I am a little concerned that sometimes DD talks as though that's a goal in itself, rather than a means to an end. Maybe there's still a lot of the youth team coach in him. It'll be better all round if a couple of experienced players come in and helps the youngsters take us up to the Championship rather than a team full of kids finishes 7th.

[Exile]

No offence, PH, but he's already tried the old heads, and look what that got us!

[Plastic Hawk]

No offence, PH, but he's already tried the old heads, and look what that got us!

Oh, I agree. That's not what I'm saying. I think that in our case it is absolutely correct to play the kids. But you play them because they're the best option as far as getting results, not just because they're young. Sometimes the way DD talks I get the impression that he wants to have his cake and eat it: select the best side to get results, but get extra credit because many of them just happen to be young.

I guess what I'm saying is that he's playing the kids in order to get the results (and getting the results because he's playing them) but trying to make out that is a handicap and we're getting results in spite of playing a lot of youngsters.

[aaaae]

Quote Richard Money from this mornings Sun.
"We did everything but score . It was an outstanding performance from a team that keeps getting younger and keeps getting better "

Yeah, he said that on WM after the game. I'm not sure that I agree with him really (for me we were not all that good in the first half, good but not outstanding in the second) but I can see where he's coming from if you link the "outstanding" bit and the "younger" bit. It was a fairly inexperienced team (especially after Ricketts went off, although Roper in for Gerrard meant it was not much different from the last few games even though Nicholls came in for Sonko) and I can see why he wanted to talk the performance up to give the youngsters confidence in their ability to compete with other League 1 sides. I did think he went a bit over the top though.

Also, while I'm delighted that we've got so many good young kids coming through, I don't think that a "young side" is, of itself, necessarily a good thing. In our case it probably is (as all the youngsters are able to compete at this level), but I am a little concerned that sometimes DD talks as though that's a goal in itself, rather than a means to an end. Maybe there's still a lot of the youth team coach in him. It'll be better all round if a couple of experienced players come in and helps the youngsters take us up to the Championship rather than a team full of kids finishes 7th.

I know where you are coming from PH, but I am not sure I agree 100% (probably 99.99%). One of the things you have to accept as a Walsall fan is that we aren't following the team for the silverware. One of the things that keeps me going is the prospect of seeing young local lads coming through and doing well in the first team and (inevitably) moving on to greener pastures. I keep banging on at the moment to anyone who will listen, family, friends, colleagues about Mark Bradley. On Saturday my main motivation in going to the match was going to watch him (and Scott Dann) play, not Walsall getting through to the fourth round, after all you know we will only go and draw Huddersfield away in the next round