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Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Reports and reaction from the 2008-09 season as Walsall finished 13th in League 1
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King Crimson
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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:32 am

Bristol Fan wrote:Undoubted highlight was Operation Forge.


Not for me. I can only describe the stewards' efforts to see if I'd smuggled a bottle top into the ground as 'invasive'. :(




:D

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Sun Mar 29, 2009 9:02 am

King Crimson wrote:
Bristol Fan wrote:Undoubted highlight was Operation Forge.


Not for me. I can only describe the stewards' efforts to see if I'd smuggled a bottle top into the ground as 'invasive'. :(

:D


Your avatar agrees. :shock:

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Sun Mar 29, 2009 1:44 pm

I don't think Gillmartin had any chance at saving the goal. Josh Craddack looked quite useful, think he should get more of a chance to show what he can do next week. Like others have said, Manny Smith was my MOTM.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Sun Mar 29, 2009 3:34 pm

cal wfc fan wrote:I don't think Gillmartin had any chance at saving the goal.


Seriously? Looked like it should have been a regulation save to me but perhaps I missed something.

On the subject of Gilmartin, while I don't think he should have let that goal in, I was very disappointed to hear the reaction from fans and our bench to his kicking, which wasn't great in any sense, but was probably better than Ince's - who rarely gets criticised for it.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:10 pm

Bristol Fan wrote:
cal wfc fan wrote:I don't think Gillmartin had any chance at saving the goal.


Seriously? Looked like it should have been a regulation save to me but perhaps I missed something.

On the subject of Gilmartin, while I don't think he should have let that goal in, I was very disappointed to hear the reaction from fans and our bench to his kicking, which wasn't great in any sense, but was probably better than Ince's - who rarely gets criticised for it.

I agree with all of that. Thought Gilmartin had more than enough time to see the shot coming, and has the height to have been able to reach it anyway. That ignores the fact that Hughes or Mattis should have closed their midfielder down in the first place, but I still think he had more than enough chance.

As for his kicking, I thought it was a positive to take from his performance. He might have sliced one kick from his hands straight into the stand, but his kicking off the ground was very good, and as you say, was certainly better than Ince's.
If we're going to moan about distribution, we needn't look any further than Palmer, Weton and Smith - none of whom could find a white shirt at all yesterday.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Sun Mar 29, 2009 7:05 pm

WFC_Rob wrote:
Bristol Fan wrote:
cal wfc fan wrote:I don't think Gillmartin had any chance at saving the goal.


Seriously? Looked like it should have been a regulation save to me but perhaps I missed something.

On the subject of Gilmartin, while I don't think he should have let that goal in, I was very disappointed to hear the reaction from fans and our bench to his kicking, which wasn't great in any sense, but was probably better than Ince's - who rarely gets criticised for it.

I agree with all of that. Thought Gilmartin had more than enough time to see the shot coming, and has the height to have been able to reach it anyway. That ignores the fact that Hughes or Mattis should have closed their midfielder down in the first place, but I still think he had more than enough chance.


Gerrard was closest to the ball and should have done better, but he's not allowed to be criticised is he?

I thought he should have done better at the time but after seeing it again, all credit to the goalscorer for me. It's easy to see the shot coming from a raised view in the stand but at ground level with a few players in the way I think he'd have seen it late and it was hit with such force it would have been difficult to react quickly enough to stop it.

The reaction of our "fans" to everything he did after that was pathetic, as ever. Funny they are not.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Sun Mar 29, 2009 8:03 pm

At the time i thought he was at fault, but seeing it on Sky i don`t think anyone could have saved it. As for his kicking in to touch i think the wind had a lot to do with that.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Sun Mar 29, 2009 10:18 pm

Magic Man Fan wrote:
WFC_Rob wrote:
Bristol Fan wrote:
cal wfc fan wrote:I don't think Gillmartin had any chance at saving the goal.


Seriously? Looked like it should have been a regulation save to me but perhaps I missed something.

On the subject of Gilmartin, while I don't think he should have let that goal in, I was very disappointed to hear the reaction from fans and our bench to his kicking, which wasn't great in any sense, but was probably better than Ince's - who rarely gets criticised for it.

I agree with all of that. Thought Gilmartin had more than enough time to see the shot coming, and has the height to have been able to reach it anyway. That ignores the fact that Hughes or Mattis should have closed their midfielder down in the first place, but I still think he had more than enough chance.


Gerrard was closest to the ball and should have done better, but he's not allowed to be criticised is he?

Gerrard's fault it is then.
Of course he's allowed to be criticised. My recollection of the goal however, was that Hughes (or maybe Mattis) should have got a block in. If, having seen the goal for a second time, you say that Gerrard was closest to the ball, then he should be given a good talking to at training tomorrow.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Mon Mar 30, 2009 6:56 am

WFC_Rob wrote:
Bristol Fan wrote:
cal wfc fan wrote:I don't think Gillmartin had any chance at saving the goal.


Seriously? Looked like it should have been a regulation save to me but perhaps I missed something.

On the subject of Gilmartin, while I don't think he should have let that goal in, I was very disappointed to hear the reaction from fans and our bench to his kicking, which wasn't great in any sense, but was probably better than Ince's - who rarely gets criticised for it.

I agree with all of that. Thought Gilmartin had more than enough time to see the shot coming, and has the height to have been able to reach it anyway. That ignores the fact that Hughes or Mattis should have closed their midfielder down in the first place, but I still think he had more than enough chance.

As for his kicking, I thought it was a positive to take from his performance. He might have sliced one kick from his hands straight into the stand, but his kicking off the ground was very good, and as you say, was certainly better than Ince's.
If we're going to moan about distribution, we needn't look any further than Palmer, Weton and Smith - none of whom could find a white shirt at all yesterday.


And the main reason for that was exactly the same as it has been most of the season, when Mattis and Hughes are in central midfield, the back four don't have anyone to pass to. Bradley's absence and the return of Hughes proved yet again that he and Mattis are too alike and too immobile. We might was well have had two statues in the centre of the park, although both did well on the few occasions they actually got possession. However, it was also noticeable that neither got in front of the strikers at any point either, something else Bradley gives us.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:13 am

WFC_Rob wrote:
Magic Man Fan wrote:
WFC_Rob wrote:
Bristol Fan wrote:
cal wfc fan wrote:I don't think Gillmartin had any chance at saving the goal.


Seriously? Looked like it should have been a regulation save to me but perhaps I missed something.

On the subject of Gilmartin, while I don't think he should have let that goal in, I was very disappointed to hear the reaction from fans and our bench to his kicking, which wasn't great in any sense, but was probably better than Ince's - who rarely gets criticised for it.

I agree with all of that. Thought Gilmartin had more than enough time to see the shot coming, and has the height to have been able to reach it anyway. That ignores the fact that Hughes or Mattis should have closed their midfielder down in the first place, but I still think he had more than enough chance.


Gerrard was closest to the ball and should have done better, but he's not allowed to be criticised is he?

Gerrard's fault it is then.
Of course he's allowed to be criticised. My recollection of the goal however, was that Hughes (or maybe Mattis) should have got a block in. If, having seen the goal for a second time, you say that Gerrard was closest to the ball, then he should be given a good talking to at training tomorrow.


Haven't seen the replay, but it wasn't in Gerrard's area of the pitch to close down (way too far out, especially from a free kick). A centre half (and probably our best header of the ball) can't come haring out of the defensive line to close down a possible shot from that distance. If the ball's chipped into the box instead then he's horribly out of position. That's a midfielders area to close down - and if Gerrard was the closest then that just means that Mattis and Hughes were positioned shockingly badly - and that was their mistake, not Gerrard's.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:47 am

Plastic Hawk wrote:Haven't seen the replay, but it wasn't in Gerrard's area of the pitch to close down (way too far out, especially from a free kick). A centre half (and probably our best header of the ball) can't come haring out of the defensive line to close down a possible shot from that distance. If the ball's chipped into the box instead then he's horribly out of position. That's a midfielders area to close down - and if Gerrard was the closest then that just means that Mattis and Hughes were positioned shockingly badly - and that was their mistake, not Gerrard's.


I agree with that. The position from which the free kick was taken must have been 35 yards out.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Mon Mar 30, 2009 1:02 pm

King Crimson wrote:
Plastic Hawk wrote:Haven't seen the replay, but it wasn't in Gerrard's area of the pitch to close down (way too far out, especially from a free kick). A centre half (and probably our best header of the ball) can't come haring out of the defensive line to close down a possible shot from that distance. If the ball's chipped into the box instead then he's horribly out of position. That's a midfielders area to close down - and if Gerrard was the closest then that just means that Mattis and Hughes were positioned shockingly badly - and that was their mistake, not Gerrard's.


I agree with that. The position from which the free kick was taken must have been 35 yards out.

Yep.
Having seen it again on Virgin Media, there was no midfield whatsoever. I think we'd just assumed they were going to lump the ball into the box, which meant that Artus found himself with enough time to pick his spot.
Hughes was nearest, but that's hardly the point - we should have been more organised and less naive.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Mon Mar 30, 2009 4:01 pm

the goal was unstoppable, i was behind the goal and it dipped so much in the last second, if gilmartin saved it it would of been save of the season!

fair enough we wasnt organised but who would of really shot from there!

great goal in my opinion

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Tue Mar 31, 2009 2:48 am

I dont think anyones complaining that it wasnt a good strike, it was a fantastic goal.

Fact is, we had about ten men in our own box, so they just though "oh look no ones anywhere near us, here you are frankie, go forward a few yards and then whack the thing"

Awful defending.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:56 am

scott_powell wrote:the goal was unstoppable, i was behind the goal and it dipped so much in the last second, if gilmartin saved it it would of been save of the season!

fair enough we wasnt organised but who would of really shot from there!

great goal in my opinion


Almost any pro footballer would fancy his chances of at least hitting the target from there when the ball's virtually still and on the ground and he's under no pressure at all. - as was the case on Saturday.

Which is why you close down - not necessarily to get a block in but to rush the player on the ball and make it more likely that his technique will fail. The reason that you don't see many shots from that range is that the ball's usually bouncing around a bit (but it was from a short free kick on Saturday) and the opposition isn't usually so stupid as to give anyone a free shot from that range (a wall for a free kick closer in, or closing down one from there that's advanced a few yards like Cheltenham did).

I still haven't seen the replay so I wouldn't like to comment too much on Gilmartin (initial impression was that it wasn't right in the corner, so he might have done better - but it did swerve, it was only just under the bar and he was probably unsighted so maybe that's harsh). Key point, though, is that there shouldn't have been a shot for him to save at all.

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Re: Cheltenham Town (H) League 1 Saturday 28/3/08.

Tue Mar 31, 2009 9:28 am

Just seen the highlights and the shot was over 35 yards out - it did dip wickedly and perhaps he should have been closed down by the midfield faster but in my book there is only one person to blame when you are beaten from that range and that is the keeper.

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