Blackpool - A - League 5th March 2005

[moaning saddler]

Geoff,

I thought you needed to be precise in your profession :

1. Walker ran up to the half-way line to complain to the ref about a disgusting tackle that had been committed on a Walsall player just inside the Millwall half. Play had been stopped while the player received treatment.
2. Every Walsall and Millwall player was lining up in the Millwall half waiting for the free-kick to be delivered into the Millwall box - we were 2-1 down and it was injury time.
3. The ref was standing on the half-way line.
4. Walker was captain and had every right to talk to the ref. He could not do this from his 6 yard box.
5. Wise was initially nowhere near the ref and Walker, but then decided to move towards Walker and offer his "opinion", which is when Walker stupidly reacted and pushed him away.

Hope you can spot where this differs markedly from your description.

[Guest]

Merson should have gone after the Slough game. We are still a piss poor team with no real leadership and the constant tripe that he comes out with is quite baffling at times. 2 year contracts for Wright and Broad is a complete joke, he moans about having a tight budget and then promptly wastes some of it on those 2. He said if he can get a couple of new payers to add to the ones hes got now we will be better next season. Wheres that 12th in the league. He should start looking below us in the table instead of thinking about next season because the way this lot are going itreminds me a lot of last season.

[geoffwhiting]

MS, where on earth did you get this idea that we "have to be precise in my profession". Maybe 25 years ago, but economics have taken over since then. Time's money, as the old saying goes. :D

You obviously saw much more of that Wakker incident than I did, so thanks for the description. Even so, if he had shown a bit more of the responsibility required of a captain, he wouldn't have reacted to Wise's taunting and shoved his hand in his face. It never fails to amaze me that players do these things so blatantly, when they know full well what Refs are required to do, and in this particular instance, as I recall, he did it while the two of them were in conversation face to face with the Ref - priceless!

I can't agree with Ernest though, Wakker can't be blamed very much for our relegation, other players (and injuries and referees) let us down far more, whereas Jimmy made up for his misdemeanours with some incredible goal-keeping that kept us in games where we would have been dead and buried but for him.

I saw the Blackpool goals and the pre-half-time scuffle on Sky last night. Re Murphy's sending-off, the strange thing was that in the video-clip they showed, the one person I did not see involved at all was Murphy, in fact I don't think he was ever in view. Reports are that he deserved to go off, so just why the video missed the crucial bits of his involvement, well who knows?

Quite honestly I don't see why it all kicked-off, it looked a clear penalty with little to complain about, OK maybe the guy went down easily, but what was Bennett doing putting in a reckless challenge near the bye-line in the corner of the penalty area? There was no real danger in their move, he could just have closed him down instead of diving in like that. It all looked very unprofessional, especially coming so soon after we'd been given a one-man advantage and we'd failed to take the initiative from the penalty spot. Second penalty too, no complaints, Emblen was beaten for pace - almost carthorse style - and his challenge was late - shame for Coleman though, he did very well to save it and was unlucky to see the ball come back so invitingly for the follow-up.

Awful first goal - awful defending - AGAIN ! Have we seriously offered Mark Wright a new two-year deal ? I find that just incredible. :?

[Neil Ravenscroft]

I didn't think either looked like pens on the tele, to be fair, but, if you are going to have a go at Murphy for his stupid reaction, also have a go at Bennett for a ridiculous and completely unecessary challenge. As for the tactics, I found them inexplicable. We are short in midfield, so what does he do? Bring in the player he's just given a two year contract offer to and who is capable of "slotting straight in" when needed, as he's such a good trainer? Does he buggery, he plays a striker there!!!!!!
He then goes on the radio and DEFENDS Murphy for his actions, going on about Parker diving, as if that justifies crass stupidity. And there was I thinking he'd had a sudden attack of common sense lately.

[SheffieldSaddler]

So let me get this right.
Paul Merson our manager and the bloke that should be installing discipline into the team, try and defends a player who raises his hands to an opponent?
Well that just about sums up the incredible stupidity of the bloke.

[geoffwhiting]

Neil, I think you'll find I HAVE had a go at Bennett over that stupid challenge in my previous post. Totally unnecessary in that area of the penalty box.

I haven't seen what Murphy did, but everyone seems to be condemning him so I guess there's little doubt that he was stupid and deserved the red card.

I thought both looked like penalties Neil - I am usually first to have a go at Refs, but if I'd been the man with the whistle yesterday - and bearing in mind I've only seen the incidents on TV once - my first reaction would have been to give them. Bennett's challenge looked wild and clumsy, and Emblen looked like a carthorse - both got skinned and got late challenges in.

[MrC]

Bring back Colin Lee ay Sheff? :wink:

[sj]

Neil I think that Merson has a point , I think it was Parker(number 8) who caught Murphy just outside the box and he was mixing it and diving all afternoon. The blood was up and that was down to Blackpool's tactics in part.

Bennett is a liability in that type of situation, he is not a thinking defender.

The number of away fans was fantasic, we seemed to fill all of the one side of the ground. problem for me was I has to sit next to a few nutters singing that Pope and IRA song. Middleaged skinheads causing trouble with thier own fans by tacking the p*ss out of them as they walk past them. Near the end of the game I thought there was going to be a fight, silly buggers.

And the ground was very poor

[Neil Ravenscroft]

Of course he was right about Parker, but there's no way that could excuse Murphy!

[Stu]

My god, if I hadn't been there myself I'd have thought we lost 12-1 to 9 men.

I thought we played alright and I wasn't duly concerned going in to half time 0-0.

The two mins before were shambolic. What should been 1 up against 10 men, ended 0-0 with 10 men each and them having a key advantage. When it was 10 vs 10, I'd much rather have been in their position than ours bearing in mind players lost.

Joe Murphy wants crucifying, fined two weeks wages, locked in a blacked out room and force fed rabbit food, then made to walk back to West Brom where he can carry on rotting. Not content with gifting far more goals to teams than Mark Paston did, he also was the primary reason for us losing to another mediocre, yet in form team.

Kiegan Parker was out of order, and I think he was taken off for his own safety in the end, but he is a bloody good player.

I thought a 2-0 scoreline was harsh, but when you don't take your chances then you get punished.

Coleman looked very handy, what impressed me most was the way he came and took a couple of corners cleany. That showed a bit of confidence as most young kids would have been glued to their goalline.

I though we missed Osborn/Kinsella desperately, and to resort to Standing in that deep lying role wasn't great. I'd have thought Broad would have adapted better there to be honest.

Was there any trouble after the match, as it was 'interesting' to see a good 40/50 of the Burberry lot & co leave the match with over 20 minutes left, a couple making barclays signs to those singing "loyal supporters". I presumed there was a pre-arranged ruck?

Sheff, stop talking such bollox will you. You weren't there, you didn't see anything with your own eyes and you've already admitted that you've got it in for Merson regardless of what he does, spouting such crap is just downright annoying and patronising to those who did go.

[Magic Man Fan]

Mixed feelings about yesterdays game. We never really looked like scoring or creating in my opinion which was worrying but as Stu says we've seen worse performances this season.

I must admit I'm starting to get worried after the two recent home draws. We all thought that we had enough to stay up last season and I still think that now but I'll be much happier when we get to 55 points and asap please! As people have already mentioned Walker got sent off last year when we didn't have a goalkeeper and regardless of the circumstances we are now in that position again so I hope the rest of the season doesn't follow suit like last season.

In response to the loyal supporters chant yesterday I would like to clear something up. There was about four of us left a but early yesterday because our minibus driver hadn't parked by the ground so we needed to go and find him so we could make a quick exit. Unfortunately at the same time from a different part of the stand some of the burberry boys left so it looked like we were with them. Some Walsall fans took delight in singing "loyal supporters" towards us because we decided to leave early. Well if you were singing at us then I suggest you turn up to most away games and think before directing your chants at people. Loyal supporters are the ones like us who were amongst the few hundred at Orient, Luton, Bristol City etc, not the ones who turned up yesterday to their first away game and are suddenly loyal supporters because they stayed till the end of a game. Very loyal that, so think before you speak and start making hand gestures towards us.

So sj before you blame one of the guys with us for making gestures back you should have seen what was made towards us first. And I am not a shaven headed thug thank you. Granted, I am losing a bit of hair and had had a few drinks (us loyal supporters tend to as away games aren't worth going to for the football alone) but I don't appreciate your generalistion.

Sorry Geordie if I was rambling, at least I had an excuse for drinking being my birthday on Friday!

[geoffwhiting]

Nice to have reports from two very reliable sources, Stu and MMF. Seems it may not have been as bad as some reports have suggested, and what came over on Saddlers World/WM was that we could have won this one, so I guess that's reasonably consistent with you two.

What I'm angry about is the sheer unprofessionalism from just before half-time onwards. Just hope Dean Coleman's early promise is continued in the next three games - so thanks Joe Murphy - FOR NOTHING !

[Stu]

Sounds like Saddlers World were not far off.

I can understand the fears of some, we've suddenly slipped back into the mire a little.

But folk seem to be forgetting that prior to the Luton match, we were still very close to the play off mix.

Even worse, before the Blackpool game a lot of folk were giving Merson some credit and saying he was starting to learn from his mistakes and may yet make a decent manager, me included.

So I won't let one bad day, where we put in an 'medicore' performance but 3/4/5 teams below us all win, put the blinkers on my opinion.

It was one day where the results didn't go in our favour. I'd have been far more worried had we played abjectly and being played of the park.

[Magic Man Fan]

I agree Stu. It shows how we miss the "dreadful" and useless players like Osborn and Zigor though as this performance wasn't in the same league as Bristol City or Luton as you'll know yourself.

It wouldn't be so bad if our home form hadn't suddenly deserted us which is my main concern.

We MUST win on Saturday.

[SheffieldSaddler]

Of course Merson should go.
However we played, or did not play yesterday, it does not matter, becuase overall this season we have under achieved.
Thats the plain and simple fact of the whole season.
I wont even responed to Stus post because it does not deserve a response. F*cking cheek is all I can say.

[geoffwhiting]

Have to agree with you MMF about the home form taking a slide - and by the way isn't that THREE recent home draws on the trot, not two as you said above - I make those Wrexham, MK Dons & Bradford.

Hopefully we can get those points on the board quickly, preferably by the time we've played the next three home games, because if I recall correctly 4 of the 5 teams immediately below us have games in hand, and MK Dons in particular seem to have hit a run of decent form. I'm not really expecting a relegation tussle if I'm honest, but I'd much rather get those nagging doubts out of the way a.s.a.p.

I really do find it incredibly disappointing to have to be thinking this way - how the hell did we come to this ? (Rhetorical question - no answer required) :D

[derbysaddler]

I really do find it incredibly disappointing to have to be thinking this way - how the hell did we come to this ? (Rhetorical question - no answer required) :D[/quote]

Lee, merson, bonser , whalley, rotherham, wacka, newbon, ballboys, osborn, the bloke who seats in seat 97 purple stand, bin laden..........etc

did I mention osborn? :D

[philthesaddler]

Right, before i start, i haven't read other posts as i prefer to produce my independant opinion, and then read others, so forgive me if i go over old ground, but this is my opinion.

Went to the game. In fact, went for the weekend. Was quite pished at the game as we started drinking in the foxhalls at around midday.

Firstly, the ground will be nice, when it is finished, but it was a pretty awful and bleak place to watch a match.

Our line up: Well, noticably too young in midfield. I found myself strangely admiting that we missed osborn, because we did. Taylor, Taylor, Surman, Standing and Leitao [on the left wing] were just far too lightweight and no where near combatative enough.

Upfront, Fryatt struggled with the ball being booted up to him, but he looked very off, and seems to be lacking strength and speed, especially for a youngster.

At the back, Bennett struggled at left back.

But on the whole, we barely showed up. Even though we were 0-0 at half time, we'd barely had any impact on the game. Bennetts header would have gone in, leitao had one cleared off the line. Nethertheless ive have honestly never seen us play a 90 mins with less positives to take.

Fitness wise: awful, our players are second to everything, too weak, too slow. This wasn't just today, this is the whole season long, It's evident that our coaching team is poorly staffed.

Tactics / Team Selection: 4-5-1 away from home is sensible, and although its an inherently defensive way of playing, we had no outlet upfront, and we ballwatch far too much at the back. They created a dozen good chances in the first half, and murphy made three good saves before he lost his head. They still created all those chances, they got in behind us, they challenged at corners and they used the wings - three things we simply do not do.

team selection; Mark Wright is piss poor. I'll keep saying it cos he is. Bennett struggled at left back, is obviously a natural central defender, but still thats not excuse. Midfield was too young, Surman 18, Taylor 18, Taylor 21, Standing 24, Leitao - not a midfielder.

We seemed to play the first half lerching from given the ball away in a failed attack, to letting them attack and waiting for the ball to be given back, and so forth. We simply let them play, ok, but we offered nothing when we did have the ball - no movement, no effort, and simple errors.

Then, after 43mins, we put a decent cross in, bennett would have scored, and wellens was rightly sent off. Fryatts penalty was well saved, but he looked off all afternoon, and him missing it didnt surprise me. He's looking a bit too soft. He needs toughening up.

Then, 30 secs later, parker goes down far too easily, like he did all afternoon, and the ref was obviously very keen to even things up and award a penalty.

What then happened was idiocy. Murphy lost his head, when he was clearly incensed by the decision, but he deservedly got sent off. Why some of our fans booed when he got sent off is beyond me. He ran 19 yards, and grabbed the fella by the neck, and what ensued was a ruck and more punches were thrown. Murphy had no need to get involved.

Although for 3 of the last 10 games we have no choice, i feel young dean should be first choice, not only because of his performance when he came on, but because of murphy's idiocy.

The lad came on, and what a dream moment, first touch in league football is saving a peno. Good stuff. DEANO!

There is no doubt, in hindsight that those two mins were the turning point of the match. Lots of what if's, what if fryatt had scored, what if murphy hadn't gone over, what if the ref hadnt awarded a dubious penalty?

Nethertheless, we were the team who settled best with 10 men. the first 10 mins of the second half, we ran the show, we started to open them up, and on another day may have scored.

Obviously they then got to grips with the game, and started playing the same way they did in the first. Especially exploiting Mark Wright who was abysmal again. Once they got the goal, our heads dropped and we got worse. Even merson couldn't make things happen.

The second penalty was again 50:50, but it was roper, so im inclined to agree with the ref on that one as ropes is clumsy at the best of times.

the bottom line:
- we have players who aren't good enough. Wright for one. K Taylor played better at left back than bennett has, and aranalde has.
- we're unfit. we're weak. we don't pose a physical threat. we don't do simple things right. we're slow.

There are so many things wrong with the team, we simply can't bear with merson. We need someone to come in and crack the whip. Get the players fit, fighting fit.

We haven't got the slightest clue how to play. Mark Wright and D Taylor have to be the worst pairing on the right hand side ive ever seen - theyre not footballers. They have poor first touch, poor positional sense.

This season has been a complete waste, a disaster. We're driving fans away. I gave merson a chance, but like ive been saying for several months, I see nothing to suggest he has either the tactical, coaching or motivational ability to get an average squad up this league table. The team is unsettled, our signings this season have, on the whole been awful, and the prospects for next season are not bright.

How many times does this have to be said:

We need a proper manager!

Ive travelled the length of the country following WFC, and it is my honest opinion that we are simply dreadful at the moment. At the end of the day, the buck stops with Merson, and this season is one to forget, and we may still get relegated. I'm so depressed with the way we're playing at the moment, im convinced we have to cut all ties with Merson and move on with a proper manager. But ive been saying that for a long time now. There will still be the pro merson camp who will have the same old excuses, but you make your own luck, you dont win if you dont score, you dont score if you dont shoot, every good side is built on a solid defence. Just a few footballing manta's, but we dont abide to any of them.

The sooner we cut ties with Mers the better.

[sj]

Sorry Magic.

[Magic Man Fan]

No offence sj! Just wanted to make the situation clear.

[philthesaddler]

I'm not saying this to victimise mers, cos other players do it, but, did anyone notice merson do the barclays sign to the player that caught him late just after he'd come on.

Mers had the ball right by the centre line on the walsall fans side, he passed to ball, the player caught him, then mers turned round and had a bit of banter with the chap, then did the barclays gesture. Made me laugh anyway.

Coleman did look confident for a debutant. I certainly noticed that.

Stu, I have serious issues with Mersons management, not because of one result this weekend, but because of the way we play. He simply isn't good enough Stu, and although we all support the team through thick and thin, sometimes blind optimism and blind support for all employs of WFC isn't good for us. It happens that people make mistakes. Certain people simply aren't good enough at doing stuff, and rather than sit here and make excuses for his piss-poorness, i'd rather express my honest opinion on the tenets of his management.

[Stonnall_Saddler]

Joe 'Cheesebuger' Murphy is a complete waste of space for doing what he did, send him back

glad to see my joe ''cheeseburger'' murphy quote has been used, good on you METFAN mate.

on a lighter note i did manage to score in blackpool 8) these two fit blondes offered me a a threesome!!!!!!!! they both got the stonnall experience all night long 8)

[MrC]

Joe 'Cheesebuger' Murphy is a complete waste of space for doing what he did, send him back

glad to see my joe ''cheeseburger'' murphy quote has been used, good on you METFAN mate.

on a lighter note i did manage to score in blackpool 8) these two fit blondes offered me a a threesome!!!!!!!! they both got the stonnall experience all night long 8)

Good for you kid...

(I have a mental picture of you and these "fit birds"...ah, the old memories of acne on girls...)

[geoffwhiting]

Jammy sod Stonnall !

But let's just hope that, amongst what you brought back with you from Blackpool, there's nothing that'll require treatment at the local surgery ! :lol:

[Stonnall_Saddler]

Jammy sod Stonnall !

But let's just hope that, amongst what you brought back with you from Blackpool, there's nothing that'll require treatment at the local surgery ! :lol:

now come on geoff I always take my durex friends with me where ever I go, next time geoff maybe me n you can hit the clubs of blackpool next time we play, i know your getting on about now but I bet you could teach me a few moves on the dance floor, and hey maybe you will score a few goal if you get me drift :wink:

[Cully]

Just wondering Stonnall; these two fit blondes that you were alluding to, were they male or female or both?

[derbysaddler]

just hope they didnt get a punchure. :shock:

[Stonnall_Saddler]

I have a strange feeling Cully that you are also Mr.C :roll:

in reply to your question they were two FEMALE blondes.

[Stu]

Phil,

By no means do I have blind faith in Merson.

In fact, you'll find that I've already called for him to resign 3 times this season, Slough, Orient and Colchester. I've also said many a time, even when I've said "I'll give him some time" that if he'd resigned, I wouldn't be very bothered.

So its not blind faith by all means.

But folk are making out Saturday was a diabolical performance. It wasn't by any means, we've seen much worse. And were it not for 1 kick, yes, just 1 kick, we'd have been 1 up with a 1 man advantage at half time. Instead, it was 0-0 with no man advantage.

When folk look to turning points, what better turning point could anyone point to than the 43rd minute on Saturday.

If Merson resigns tomorrow, I won't give a stuff. It won't be a great loss. However if he stays, then I'm fine with that as he has shown signs of improvement and encouragement in the last 4 weeks. I won't let one result to lead to a knee jerk reaction, thats all I'm saying.

PS: Did you by any chance have a red Walsall top over a grey cardigan/jumper on Saturday? There was a young-ish lad standing just behind me, dressed in that attire, who really moaned a lot, even when Emblen stubbed his foot as he went to take a free kick. Just wondered if it was you? lol

[sj]

Derbysaddler You made me laugh this morning, thanks for that. Set me up for the day thanks mate. :D

Stonnall at the back of Stonnall there is a field with a single tree on a hill have you done it there yet? The feild by the garage on the main road to Streetly