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Blackpool (h) - League - 18th December 2004

Reports and reaction from the 2004-05 season as Walsall finished 14th in League 1
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Sat Dec 18, 2004 11:34 pm

I don't want to put the curse of Bamber on the lad, but in Marvin Robinson, I think we've got ourselves a real 24 carat striker. Big, strong, fast and good in the air, he looks like what we've needed for a long time. Not vintage stuff, and far too often we appeared to be playing against 12 men (the referee won't be on my Christmas card list), but Blackpool look a better side than many we've seen this season, and better than their league position suggests, and I'm not arguing with three points. Emblen deserved his MotM, and Wright was very good indeed - a player I've rated for some time, despite vehement disagreement from quarters close to Sheffield, and others. Some festive defensive cover is now a must, however...

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WarsawPact
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Sun Dec 19, 2004 2:42 am

Was that the least amount of timewasting you've ever seen anyone cautioned for, when Murphy got booked?

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Sun Dec 19, 2004 8:05 am

I'm really pleased with that win, really pleased. I didn't think we'd get much out of the game, but now I feel a lot prouder to be a saddler. Well done the boys.

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Neil Ravenscroft
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Sun Dec 19, 2004 8:45 am

Warsaw, the ref had, to be fair, actually warned Murphy twice.

(By the way, that's not defending the ref, whio wa shocking - for both sides. And before you gone on about we could have had two penalties, so could they. In fact one was stone cold, when Wrack pulled somebody's shirt as he went for a header!)

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tinned
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Sun Dec 19, 2004 10:08 am

The only way that ref. was going to give us a free kick for hand ball was if they started dribbling it like a basketball, then I'd still be surprised if he gave it !

It says a lot when a referee is booed off the pitch by the winning teams supporters.

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Sun Dec 19, 2004 1:13 pm

Thought yesterday was an excellent result but average performance but better than recent home performances. This has to be encouraging though as we keep winning. Thought we looked sharp up front and Jorge seems to be enjoying partnering Robinson. Oh dear to those writing Robisnon off before he'd been given a chance. Told you he'd be good! Listen to MMF!

I thought we were good in defence. Mark Wright deserves special praise for his second half performance with 3/4 crucial challenges. Emblen was fantastic and even chipped in with some showboating! Up front we looked sharp and actually got on the end of some crosses! However, midfield was very poor today. With Kinsella, Standing and Wrack all below par, although Wrack did improve later on. They all conceded possession far too many times.

I agree about Bennett, sheer stupidity that could cost us valuable points, especially arguing about what was a clear bad challenge from Kinsella. It was nothing to do with him so should stay out of it.

Was impressed with all subs, Broad looked lively as did Taylor and Osborn reacted in the right way to the booing by getting stuck in although my main gripe with him is always passing to the opposition too often which he did again a few times yesterday. Every time he does it it always nearly leads to us conceding a goal which makes it worse.

The refs decision making was terrible. Yes he let the game flow which was good but clearly doesn't understand the rules as he was missing several easy decisions for both sides.

I must admit I wanted to sing Paul Mersons barmy army but didn't want to be hypocritical after some of the things I said after Slough etc but I think now is the time we should all get behind the team. We were more vocal yesterday and I think it was a better game as a result.

I think we can go to Sheff Wed now, make lots of noise and cheer the lads onto a win then carry on our sparkling home form with a win against Tranmere.

P.S. Told you Zigor would be good Neil! :shock: He was up against probably the best player we've seen this season though to be fair.

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Sun Dec 19, 2004 7:27 pm

Thought it wasn't a great performance but it was against a decent looking side. Surprised they're where they are in the league. Player by player;

Murphy - solid game, one good save. Did anyone else notice Merson having a go at him after the free-kick went in? Ridiculous management - it was a superb free-kick.
Wright - best game for Walsall. Started a bit iffy but just got better and better.
Aranalde - against a good player but looked very poor at times. Why oh why does he back off so much. How many goals has that cost us over the last couple of seasons?
Emblen - superb game
Bennett - great game, stupid booking
Kinsella - not a great game by his standards but I still think he was doing a good enough job to stay on
Standing - very poor game, seemed unable to pass to a player in red at times
Wrack - poor game, came into a bit later on but he's one of the players who has the ability to make things happen and he didn;t show that when we were down in the game
Merson - involved in all 3 goals! That said, I thought too many fancy flicks instead of simple passes early on. In addition, I continue to wonder whether we can afford to have a player in the team who watches an opposition player go past him and then stands with his hands on his hips instead of chasing back. I'll probably be shot down in flames for saying it and I know he's involved in our goals but at times, it's like playing with 10 men.
Leitao - huffed and puffed but personally I didn;t think he had a great game. A better game but not a great one.
Robinson - outstanding contribution. What a difference having a player prepared to put himself in where it hurts. Really dispels the "Birch is a good player" myth. If only Birch had half the desire to meet crosses etc that Robinson does.

As for the subs, the booing of Osborn was ridiculous but, that said, his first 4 passes didn't manage to find a Walsall player. I feel sorry for him, he's having an awful time of it and it's surely up to the manager to take him out of the side altogether. It's not a lack of effort and for that reason, noone should be booing him.

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Sun Dec 19, 2004 7:53 pm

ShropsSaddler wrote:Murphy - solid game, one good save. Did anyone else notice Merson having a go at him after the free-kick went in? Ridiculous management - it was a superb free-kick.


You obviously missed the bit where Merson was asking Murphy how many he wanted in the wall and where he wanted it positioned and Muprhy replied by shrugging his shoulders and holding his hands out as if to say I don't know....which he obviously didn't. It was a good save but one he shouldn't have had to make.

Bear in mind exactly the same thing happened just minutes before from a free kick they scored from, which again was a poorly positioned wall. That time Wrack had asked where the wall should be and Murphy didn't know then either.

Poor management? No. A well deserved kick up the @rse, yes.

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Sun Dec 19, 2004 7:58 pm

Murphy - not much chance with the goal but there was another shot later which he just watched go by and it was desperately close.
Wright - good game, thought he was going to get skinned after a weak start but he recovered and defensively, this was easily the best I've seen him
Aranalde - didn't think he was as bad as others have said - certainly seen him worse - and put a couple of good crosses in
Bennett - stupid, stupid booking, but otherwise good
Emblen - great game - deserved MOTM
Kinsella - quite poor, but like his midfield colleagues improved as it went on
Wrack - more than "quite" poor, can't fault the workrate but at times he tries to be Merson with the fancy footwork and it doesn't come off - had a disaster for their first goal which, had it been by one of his less popular colleagues, would have attracted some real booing
Standing - worst game for ages, frequently gave it away and never did much going forward - looked quite weak and lightweight like he did in his first few games for us
Merson - yes it's a bit like playing with 10 men but when he turns it on, he wins games for us, and he did it yet again yesterday - wouldn't swap him for any other player in the league
Robinson - what can you say!? Played like Birch but with a predatory instinct. Exactly what we needed
Leitao - generally poor, not the Jorge of old, but it was good to see him score again

Broad - didn't do much after coming on
Osborn - better than the three midfielders who started the game, but he still found time to give the ball away a couple of times - beautiful ball through to MErson for his late chance and he should have scored, but of course he has no left foot
D Taylor - couple of runs, but his early promise has pretty much evaporated for me

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Sun Dec 19, 2004 10:18 pm

did no one else find murphy entertaining though?

agreeing with the reff then taking the *** when his back was turned

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Mon Dec 20, 2004 12:58 am

Big holiday period coming up now though. Get 6 points from the next three games and we will realy be on the way up I reckon

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Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:21 am

ShropsSaddler wrote:Thought it wasn't a great performance but it was against a decent looking side. Surprised they're where they are in the league. Player by player;

Murphy - solid game, one good save. Did anyone else notice Merson having a go at him after the free-kick went in? Ridiculous management - it was a superb free-kick.


I had to listen to net commentary on Saturday as I had to be in London for a mates birthday party at 5.30 on Saturday night, so I had the pleasure of Kearns again.

Kearns actually felt Murphy could and should have done better with the goal. Saying that not only did he organise his wall very well, but that he also took up a poor position and was then completely flat flooted.

Said he'd got too many people in the wall, so he couldn't see, but was too flat footed to react anyway.

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Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:21 am

MMF - no I didn't notice the situation with the wall and Merson. That explains the reaction then. I stand corrected. I couldn't understand it at the time because the free-kick was a beauty and wherever the wall was positioned, he wouldn't have got to it. But yes of course a keeper's job is to organise the wall so poor show by Murphy there.

Bristol - your defence of Osborn is commendable. I'm a fan who thinks that Osborn does have some useful qualities and he's had some excellent games for us at times but Saturday was awful. The first 4 passes he played all went to opposition players. Yes, he then played a sublime through ball for Merson but 1 in 5 isn't good enough.I really hope he can discover his form but I don't think he's up to it at the moment. Agree with you about Wrack though. He's not one of my favourite players so I tend to temper my criticism a little bit so as to appear rational:-) The fact was that for most of the game, he was appalling. Yes he ran around in circles very well but this is a player who's capable of destroying the opposition through his running with the ball and his runs off the ball and he's not doing it.

As for Merson, I'll stick my head above the parapet again and say I don't think we can afford to play the vast majority of every match with 10 players. Football is a physical team game these days and all 11 players need to be working hard, putting in challenges, tracking back and generally looking interested. Merson is a luxury which I don't believe we can afford. The whole team has been built around him for the last season and a half and I believe that's been our downfall.

I also worry about the effect his attitiude on the pitch has on other players, especially the youngsters. There was one instance on Saturday where he was back near our goal area (remarkable in itself!) and an opposition player went past him,heading for goal. He made NO effort to stop him, put his hands on his hips and started to walk upfield. Sorry but that is not good enough.

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Mon Dec 20, 2004 9:32 am

I also liked the way Robinson could see dangersous runs being made and went with the runner. We haven't had a striker with that kind of vision for a little while.

I saw Murphy take the p*$$ out of the ref as well - very funny.

Why on earth would a Walsall supporter boo a Walsall player before he has even touched a ball ??? Time to look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you are a decent fan !!!

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Mon Dec 20, 2004 12:21 pm

I'll add one thing about Marvin. He's got a lot of plaudits for two goals, but Fryatt could just as easily have taken those two chances, as could, I hate to say it, Birch. What he has got, though, is a brain. Despite his first touch being no more than OK, he keeps it simple. He gets the ball, holds it, then gives it and moves. He deserves praise for his leading of the line on Saturday and, if our midfield had been playing well, we would have murdered them with that quality of possession. He looks a very good signing for that reason.

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Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:41 pm

ShropsSaddler wrote:As for Merson, I'll stick my head above the parapet again and say I don't think we can afford to play the vast majority of every match with 10 players. Football is a physical team game these days and all 11 players need to be working hard, putting in challenges, tracking back and generally looking interested. Merson is a luxury which I don't believe we can afford. The whole team has been built around him for the last season and a half and I believe that's been our downfall


Shropshire, I agree in a way but nearly every goal we've scored for weeks/months has been created by Merson. In that respect we can't afford NOT to rely on him I'm afraid. There was a 2/3 game spell where teams realised that if you stopped Merson you stopped us and we didn't play well. If that happens again then we'll be in trouble but the positives that Merson contributes far outweight the negatives such as conceding possession instead of playing a simple pass.

I'm thinking off the top of my head but I'll say that Merson has created/played a major part in every one of our last 10 goals. I can't be bothered to check but I'm sure someone will :lol:

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Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:43 am

I agree that he's involved in almost every goal MMF. What I wonder is "if he weren't playing, would we score goals through another route?". I know some will say that we've seen the answer to that already in matches where he hasn't played but we haven't really. A Merson-less team would need 4/5 matches to gel together. I'd agree that now probably isn't the time to do it. We're on a roll, you can't change a formation that's working at the moment. I just don't think most Saddlers fans are fooled by the current run. We're certainly more resilient than we were but the performances have not been great.
I'm still probably thinking aloud in saying it but I'll continue to think we might be a better TEAM without Merson. The only comparison I can draw off the top of my head is the Everton situation. Everything went through Rooney and he is a supremely gifted player. Everton sold him and everyone expected them to crumble.Instead, they've built a much better team where they no longer rely on one player. Could we be the same?

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Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:38 am

We'll find out next season, if we don't find out sooner, as I'm not sure if he'll go on for another year.

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Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:36 pm

I'm sure thats why we've got Herivelto in, to cover for Merse when he's not playing and take over from him for next season.

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Neil Ravenscroft
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Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:21 pm

Or even on Boxong Day. Merson knows that he needs to rest himself at his age and away from home is the time to go 4 4 2.

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Tue Dec 21, 2004 11:11 pm

Would you play Harry in a 4-4-2 away from home?

I used to really like him, but he couldn't defend for toffee.

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Neil Ravenscroft
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Tue Dec 21, 2004 11:51 pm

That's on the assumption he'd be thinking of Kinsella and Osborn as the central two. That, at least, would be solid. He probably doesn't know much about Harry's defending, either!

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Thu Dec 30, 2004 12:12 pm

Marvin looks like he could be a good talent.

I have seen players make good starts before then tail off. I hope he keeps it up.

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