Welcome. This site is an archived version of the previous UpTheSaddlers forum (December 2004 to May 2018). To visit the new UTS website, please click here.

Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Reports and reaction from the 2007-08 season as Walsall finished 12th in League 1
User avatar
bangsection
Site Addict
 
Posts: 3951
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2005 7:28 pm
Location: York

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:13 pm

Be interesting to see what Dickie has to say about Fox. Any reports from those of you who are lucky (sic) enough to get WM gratefully received!

And well done to Sonko. Let's hope this marks a consistent return to the form he showed earlier in the season.

User avatar
sid swifty
Glitterati
 
Posts: 702
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2005 9:24 pm
Location: Walsall

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:24 pm

just got back from the match....good game of football...Swindon were superb in midfield and we were full of fight and never looked to be in any danger really until those 2 very quick goals....and i thought both Wrack and Bradley were poor in our midfield....sonko got 2 goals and sponsors man of the match....but i would still get rid of him....but all in all pleased with a draw.

philthesaddler
Site Addict
 
Posts: 5371
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 3:13 pm
Location: Bescot Stadium, 'the stadium that never closes'. Opening hours Mon-Fri 10am-4pm

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:47 pm

Really good game of football, good tempo, lots of 'swings' during the game, and another good advert for our young and limited squad.

Thought Taundry was excellent, Sonko was better, but not brilliant. Gerrard and Dann did well until they came up against Roberts' pace. Bradley was ok, look his usual combatent self, impressed with Holmes although the pitch wasnt the best and probably not what he's used to.

Nicholls and Deeney fought and fought up front, but neither are quite 'ready' yet, and we just didnt have that cutting edge upfront.

We also lacked that killer instinct, for times in the 2nd half we played like the away team, something I hate when we're at home. We could and should have killed that game off with a 2nd goal, but missing Mooney and Ricketts made that very difficult. Can't complain too much though when you consider our line up had 7, yes 7 players under 21 years old. Thing is if we're serious about promotion I really feel we do need to address that balance - it's good to have so many youngsters in the team, but for promotion to be a possibility, we really need some players who already have the quality and aren't still learning the trade. I'd say 2 players, a striker and a midfielder, and we can really push.

User avatar
Neuromantic
Site Addict
 
Posts: 6548
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2004 2:11 pm
Location: Rotate!

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:50 pm

Right then. I thought we were poor today bar a few. Still, we showed the courage and determination to get back in it.

Ince - Awful i thoguht today, his worst of the season

Weston - Good first half but dropped his standard second.
Dann - his worst of the season.
Gerrard - Marginally better than Dann but still caught out.
Taundary - my MOTM, superb player.

Sonko - 2 Goals, but how he won motm I have no idea. He was abysmal. He will do one thing which is brilliant then follow it up with something atrocious. Like I said to some at half time, he goes from the sublime to the ridiculous in 3 seconds.
Bradley - Did ok, but didnt get a grip, made some good forward runs.
Wrack - Crap, sorry but his recent good form dropped considerably today, bring back Dobbo.
Holmes - Brilliant debut, showed why he has played so high up.

Deeney - worked his socks off, cannot fault the lad for effort, however....He had not one single effort on target, and didnt look like he would threaten the goal, needs a goal I think.
Nicholls- Superb forward play, held it up and ran over the top, looking better each game.

Subs:

Ishmel - Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I am starting to think he needs to go out on loan or something because he was appalling today, absolutely rank. He had no motivation, he didnt track back, he lost the ball, his deliveries were crap, he just didnt do anything, quite controversial I know, but this guy needs to buck his ideas up, Holmes (same age) showed him up, I cant see where he will start again this season.

We missed a striker who can finish so much today, I think we would have scored 3 or 4 if we had. I will be extremely disappointed if we dont invest in a top quality forward, be that Ricketts or anyone else.

Registered Saddler
UTS Legend
 
Posts: 1699
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2005 12:24 pm

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:03 pm

Therein is the conundrum though, isn't it? We have got two top-quality forwards in Mooney and Ricketts but then what happens when they are both unavailable for the same game? We do need that experience and knowhow, even allowing for the excellent result at Yeovil. But I don't think we have the wherewithal to keep three players of that calibre on the books at the same time.

User avatar
yoda
Site Addict
 
Posts: 3092
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:06 pm

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:03 pm

Taundry can put a mean cross in the box. Think its VERY unfair to say negative things about Ishy considering he didnt get much time. I thought he wasnt his usual self but certainly wasnt bad

Loving Whallys rant in the programme! Without mentioning names he goes on about how unfair it is people dont pay creditors, but then splash the cash on players! didnt know he had it in him.

User avatar
sj
Site Addict
 
Posts: 2847
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 2:59 pm
Location: The Pleck

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:20 pm

Todays was yet another fantastic game of football. End to end for most of the afternoon, I just dont know how anyone can moan at that game.But they do.

Sonko-- is good on the ball and he sees the pass early. He likes litle one-twos and flicks ,and he is good at that part of his game. Defensivley he lacks a little, but hey guys all in all he is good.

User avatar
Whitti Steve
Past UTS Benefactor
 
Posts: 5703
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 9:33 am
Location: Here

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:20 pm

I dont think anyone played as badly as some are pointing out. I thought Swindon were one of the best teams I've seen this season, and mostly we coped well against them. I think the defence were not as good as they have been recently and perhaps dwelt on the ball a little too much on a very sticky pitch. Dann wasn't his usual class act. Sonko bagged 2 goals and looked good to me - but I am not surprised that people are still moaning about him :roll: if he plays like that and gets a goal or 2 every week some people will still whinge!

As others have pointed out, we do lack a bit of depth, especially an older head or two - Dobson might be the calming influence we need once fit.

Positives for me were Holmes debut - looked very good, and Taundry was lively again. The main thing is that the unbeaten run goes on.

UTS

User avatar
Whitti Steve
Past UTS Benefactor
 
Posts: 5703
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 9:33 am
Location: Here

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:22 pm

Forgot to say - that the entire game was a joy to watch IMHO - great passing ans moving on a dodgy pitch by 2 teams who wanted to play football. Random ref at times - but he did let it flow most of the time.

User avatar
Duke
Site Addict
 
Posts: 7793
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2005 8:03 pm
Location: Aldridge

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:29 pm

Enjoyed the game great entertainment , very impressed with Taundry , bit concerned about Dann looked off his game today .
Gerrard usual rock Weston looks quality.
Our main problem for me was in midfield Bradley appeared over worked , Wrack never got involved .
Upfront our inexperienced showed at times but we can't fault Deeney and Nicholls for effort and work rate , thats the best i've seen Deeney . Holmes very promising all in all the kids done us proud

fensaddler
UTS Veteran
 
Posts: 228
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:21 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:45 pm

Ye Gods but the Swindon fans got over-excited. I don't think I've seen a bunch like them since we played Chesterfield in a promotion derby about 12/13 years ago and feared that the away end might be systematically demolished... Quite a few seemed on the verge of spontaneous combustion, and several were lucky not to be thrown out and/or arrested.

fensaddler
UTS Veteran
 
Posts: 228
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:21 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:47 pm

This board is wierd. I post a comment starting 'Ye Gods' only to find it rendered 'yes Gods'. I go back and check on the edit function, and it is still as I typed and intended, but is still rendered as nonsense. Is there some hidden spellchecker?

fensaddler
UTS Veteran
 
Posts: 228
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:21 pm
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:48 pm

And its done it again. My post should read Y-E G-O-D-S... :evil:

User avatar
yoda
Site Addict
 
Posts: 3092
Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 8:06 pm

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:49 pm

How swindon had the b**s to sing "can you hear Walsall sing?" i dont know. I never heard a peep out of them until they they scored, then at 2-2 it was back to silence. Our home support eclipsed them.

Another really entertaining game - tho shame we arent neutrals! ive been loving the games but would prefer the first Bescot win of 2008. (please note, im not moaning, im complimenting the football style!)

dinkydotsaddler
UTS Regular
 
Posts: 123
Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:44 pm

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:04 pm

philthesaddler wrote:Really good game of football, good tempo, lots of 'swings' during the game, and another good advert for our young and limited squad.

Thought Taundry was excellent, Sonko was better, but not brilliant. Gerrard and Dann did well until they came up against Roberts' pace. Bradley was ok, look his usual combatent self, impressed with Holmes although the pitch wasnt the best and probably not what he's used to.

Nicholls and Deeney fought and fought up front, but neither are quite 'ready' yet, and we just didnt have that cutting edge upfront.

We also lacked that killer instinct, for times in the 2nd half we played like the away team, something I hate when we're at home. We could and should have killed that game off with a 2nd goal, but missing Mooney and Ricketts has made that very difficult. Can't complain too much though when you consider our line up had 7, yes 7 players under 21 years old. Thing is if we're serious about promotion I really feel we do need to address that balance - it's good to have so many youngsters in the team, but for promotion to be a possibility, we really need some players who already have the quality and aren't still learning the trade. I'd say 2 players, a striker and a midfielder, and we can really push.


As usual good post phil, I didn't go today but I totally agree with you that playing youngsters is great and I'm sure that we all want to see us bringing on young players and forming a good young team that we can build a future on. However, we are meant to be mounting a promotion challenge (something I didn't think I would be saying this season) and in reality we need some experienced players to support and compliment the youngsters. We need Mooney and/or Ricketts back or failing that we need to sign a striker before the window closes. It would be such a shame if we failed to make the play-offs just down to the lack of one or two players. We all know that our away record is better than our home so it's not the end of the world and personally I can live with draw-win-draw-win until the end of the season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Registered Saddler
UTS Legend
 
Posts: 1699
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2005 12:24 pm

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:19 pm

fensaddler wrote:This board is wierd. I post a comment starting 'yes Gods' only to find it rendered 'yes Gods'. I go back and check on the edit function, and it is still as I typed and intended, but is still rendered as nonsense. Is there some hidden spellchecker?


y.e (without the full stop) is changed to 'yes' with the auto-correct thinking 'y.e' is some kind of text speak. I've never heard a 13-year-old chav use the word y.e before but there you go, shows how out of touch I am.

User avatar
Sadders
UTS Legend
 
Posts: 1931
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2006 9:16 am
Location: Rugeley, Staffordshire

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:20 pm

What a fantastic game of football. Pleased with the point in the end. Ince looked a bit rocky, as did dann and weston wasn't as good as i would have expected today either. Deeney and nicholls were the definition of tireless workrate, sonko was better and found a little confidence however still isnt the player that played at doncaster,huddersfield and tranmere.Bradley did ok, holmes was very impressive indeed, made some good runs, put a few good balls across and had the ability to beat the man. Stand out message to all thoose wrack fans, the effort was there today but he's simply just passed it, and in my personal opinion would profit from being dropped for a while, IF and a very big if at that we do get promoted wrack will be the first out of my door. Ishy seems to be lacking after an excellent first half of the season, i had big hopes for this lad but week by week he is doing the business. We missed a bit of experience today, dare i say dobbo, mooney and perhaps ricketts. A strange game really the ebbed and flowed, one way of seeing it is- we came from behind against on the day a team that looked decent, another is - 1 point against a team 13th simply wont be enough for promotion.

We'll need to improve defensively for tuesday night.

User avatar
Duke
Site Addict
 
Posts: 7793
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2005 8:03 pm
Location: Aldridge

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:20 pm

2 more things i enjoyed today , the matchday programme coverage of the famous Arsenal victory , and the way Gav introduced the lads , " the pride of the midlands your super saddlers " great stuff.

User avatar
SaigonSaddler
Site Addict
 
Posts: 10825
Joined: Thu Oct 06, 2005 1:23 pm
Location: In Bonser's Grotto

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:49 pm

A great game and the opponents worthy of the draw.

User avatar
tinned
Site Addict
 
Posts: 10023
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:49 pm
Location: Same poo, different day!

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:51 pm

Jolly Johnny wrote:Disappointing to see that only 5449 were there today (according to BBC stats). :(

Wonder how many Swindon fans made it?

After a great run up the table and so many positives, you'd be hoping for a consistent 6000ish at home. :?


Do you want me to say the obvious?

:wink:

Good game today. A draw the deserved result. Can't compalain when our team resembles a creche. Ac previosuly mentioned, we need a couple of older heads to steady the game. Sometimes today we looked a bit "one hundred miles an hour" and needed an experienced head to calm things down a bit.

User avatar
Plastic Hawk
UTS Legend
 
Posts: 1593
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:24 pm
Location: Thames Valley

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:58 pm

tinned wrote:
Jolly Johnny wrote:Disappointing to see that only 5449 were there today (according to BBC stats). :(

Wonder how many Swindon fans made it?

After a great run up the table and so many positives, you'd be hoping for a consistent 6000ish at home. :?


Do you want me to say the obvious?

:wink:

Good game today. A draw the deserved result. Can't compalain when our team resembles a creche. Ac previosuly mentioned, we need a couple of older heads to steady the game. Sometimes today we looked a bit "one hundred miles an hour" and needed an experienced head to calm things down a bit.


I agree. Today was the first time this season that I did find myself wishing we had a few more older heads in there. The facts that (a) it's taken until mid-January for me to think that and (b) we still didn't lose the game - against a very experienced and organized side - and are on a 18 game unbeaten run speaks volumes for the quality of the younger players. Once they do have a bit more experience (and they're picking it up every week) they'll be very, very good.

User avatar
King Crimson
Poet Laureate
 
Posts: 8345
Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:45 pm
Location: In the Wake of Poseidon

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:03 pm

FAO: Bernie.

Just need some more assists now. That bet looks more realistic now. :wink:

User avatar
cyclothymic
UTS Legend
 
Posts: 1462
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:29 pm
Location: Nothing is True [:~:] Everything is Permitted

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:36 pm

First half we were by far the better side, but their half-time talk must have been good because they really came at us in the second half.

Overall I guess a point each was a fair result - they have a number of good players (their right back was class as was Ifil) but played as you would expect a team to play when faced with uncertainty due to financial mismanagement.

The fight we are showing at present makes me proud of every player on the pitch - they were really up for it again today and the come-back second goal really showed that.

Taundry was absolute class today.

Nichols was also class.

No poor performances as far as I was concerned - a great game of football.

BUT we must stop drawing if we want automatic promotion :P

User avatar
ws4saddler
 
Posts: 25
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 10:11 pm
Location: Shelfield

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 8:53 pm

A great game of football today.We should have finished them off before half time. It looked like a penalty to me when Deeney was pushed in the box. The team have been playing well for a while now but we are suffering by having a small sqad. Since Boxing Day ,after the injury to Mooney and the injury problems with Ricketts, we have had to rely on the young lads.The congestion of fixtures over the past weeks to my mind has taken its toll. I think todays second half was very tough we seemed to be over run in midfield by a very strong Swindon midfield. The two lads up front cannot be faulted with their work rate but their finishing could be better. As said by others the defence looked a bit shaky at times , its a pity the lads cant have a bit of a rest. Before the window closes can we please have another big striker so that the batteries can be recharged. One more thing, I saw Mel Eves in the crowd today he had a tall black bloke with him watching the game, any ideas?

User avatar
Goose277
Glitterati
 
Posts: 1095
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2007 3:27 pm
Location: One morning I shot an elephant in my pyjamas. How he got in my pyjamas, I don't know

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:09 pm

Great game of football today with both teams looking for the win. I thought they had the better of the midfield (especially second half) and seemed first to every ball. I thought we could have and should have finished them off in the first half but a draw is a fair result. Taundry and Nicholls stood out for me and Deeneys work rate was phenomonal, I've no doubt the end product will come for him sooner rather than later. We missed Mooney today both as a striker and a captain and I'll be very glad when he's fit again.

Holmes looks a quality player and, considering he was thrown straight in at the deep end, will surely get better when he gets used to his teamates. Ishy let himself down with a couple of poor decisions and I really hope Holmes' arrival has the right affect on him.

18 games unbeaten is quite remarkable. Long may it continue.

User avatar
Jolly Johnny
Site Addict
 
Posts: 3796
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 6:31 pm
Location: Lovely Liverpool!!

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:50 am

tinned wrote:
Jolly Johnny wrote:Disappointing to see that only 5449 were there today (according to BBC stats). :(

Wonder how many Swindon fans made it?

After a great run up the table and so many positives, you'd be hoping for a consistent 6000ish at home. :?


Do you want me to say the obvious?

:wink:


Go on then Dave, let's hear it!! :wink:

User avatar
Purple Toucan Saddler
 
Posts: 94
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 10:23 am
Location: To infinity (and beyond)

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:33 am

Full credit to the ref for the match though letting the game run - a couple of dodgy decisions, but far better standard then a lot we have seen.

Did anyone else notice how virtually every player on the pitch went up to shake his hand at the end, and he was in the centre circle for ages

User avatar
Maverick
UTS Veteran
 
Posts: 556
Joined: Sat Mar 11, 2006 10:21 pm
Location: Wednesbury

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:05 am

Goose277 wrote:Great game of football today with both teams looking for the win. I thought they had the better of the midfield (especially second half) and seemed first to every ball. I thought we could have and should have finished them off in the first half but a draw is a fair result. Taundry and Nicholls stood out for me and Deeneys work rate was phenomonal, I've no doubt the end product will come for him sooner rather than later. We missed Mooney today both as a striker and a captain and I'll be very glad when he's fit again.

Holmes looks a quality player and, considering he was thrown straight in at the deep end, will surely get better when he gets used to his teamates. Ishy let himself down with a couple of poor decisions and I really hope Holmes' arrival has the right affect on him.

18 games unbeaten is quite remarkable. Long may it continue.


What about the rest of the squad, the manager and everyone else involved. :evil:

You would have thought his train of thinking would have been,"a couple of signings in the last week'',"possibly in my position"let's show everyone what I can do in the 20 minutes that the manager sends me on for.

Then what. :(

User avatar
Ned_Kelly
UTS Legend
 
Posts: 1852
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2006 9:38 am
Location: #1 in the UTS pool world

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:21 am

Maverick wrote:
Goose277 wrote:Great game of football today with both teams looking for the win. I thought they had the better of the midfield (especially second half) and seemed first to every ball. I thought we could have and should have finished them off in the first half but a draw is a fair result. Taundry and Nicholls stood out for me and Deeneys work rate was phenomonal, I've no doubt the end product will come for him sooner rather than later. We missed Mooney today both as a striker and a captain and I'll be very glad when he's fit again.

Holmes looks a quality player and, considering he was thrown straight in at the deep end, will surely get better when he gets used to his teamates. Ishy let himself down with a couple of poor decisions and I really hope Holmes' arrival has the right affect on him.

18 games unbeaten is quite remarkable. Long may it continue.


What about the rest of the squad, the manager and everyone else involved. :evil:

You would have thought his train of thinking would have been,"a couple of signings in the last week'',"possibly in my position"let's show everyone what I can do in the 20 minutes that the manager sends me on for.

Then what. :(


But we are talking about Ishy, forward thinking and common sense are not his strong points

H
 
Posts: 71
Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2006 6:41 pm

Re: Swindon Town (H) League 1 Saturday 12/1/08.

Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:46 pm

This was one of the better games I ve seen at the Banks's in recent times.

I thought the difference today defensively was that Gerrard and Dann struggled against their front two. This happened at Port Vale over Xmas and just shows how much we rely on them. It was also interesting to see the number of crosses they swung to the back post 2nd half, missing out Clayton who had come and collected everything in the first 45 minutes.

Taundry was excellent and it makes me wonder if he will eventually end up in Midfield, as he does possess realy quality on the ball.

Sonko was a mixture of the sublime to the frankly appalling. However he never once hid and was always available. There was a glimmer of what he s capable of but some of the times when he miscontrolled the ball or simply sliced it out of play was frankly embarassing.

Thought we missed Dobson today - especially in the air. Whether he will replace Wrack when fit.......

IMO Deeney struggled today - thought Nicholls looked far more dangerous and would he choose him with Ricketts whilst Mooney is out.

Holmes looked promising and was prepared to chase back and seemed to have some quality on the ball. Ishy was disappointing when he came on mixing occasional piece of class, with some utter garbage.

Good performance overall - thought we looked a bit lightweight on occasions but the young lads should be persevered with and it makes my proud to be a Saddler.

PreviousNext
Return to 2007-08 Season

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests