Milton Keynes Dons (H) League 1 Saturday 7/8/10.

[chestersaddler]

Just got back from hols.. so no prior knowledge other than the scoreline..

That looks like 442 - if so, why?!! Why play 433 all pre season and then play 442 ??

Why isn't Marshall playing? Why isn't Clayton playing ???

How long have you been away, and was it Mars you went to? Clayton retired at the end of last season :wink:

[Welsh_Saddler]

McDonald on as a sub for Lancashire in the 90th minute.... what on earth's that all about???

[chestersaddler]

Att. 4034 (698)

Surprised at that.

On that basis the £500k will remain in JW Bonser's wallet.

[BarnsleySaddler]

Lets see, we`re losing so take off a defender and replace him with a :?: :idea: defender. That`s the way to win.

[Welsh_Saddler]

Final score Walsall 1 MK Dons 2

We were outplayed in all departments according to WM :(

[Stu]

Oh well, there we go, normal service resumed, lol.

Attendances pick up from where they left off then, with about 3350 Walsall fans...

[Welsh_Saddler]

That's the first time in the last twelve seasons that we've lost our opening game...

[Neuromantic]

I am guessing these will sum up our performance..





Just been on the phone to Percie

He gave me this quote:

'Matt Richards, and I am being serious, is the worst Walsall player I have ever seen, he should never wear the shirt again. I put the loss down to absolutely diabolical management'

Interesting.. seems that the pre season positivity has been thrown away in one foul swoop...

[DanWalsallFC]

Making a defensive like for like sub on the 90th minute is shocking.. It reminds me of the Jimmy Muddle days, that does!

[DanWalsallFC]

...get rid now before we become embedded as bottom four
fodder. :(

And so it begins.. :D

[Jockey]

Shocking. Hutch failing to make a sub before the 85th minute. Lack of quality upfront.

I think I'll be posting same comments all season.

I do think the abuse at Richards is abit unfair, Taundry was just as bad today.

[Stu]

I do think the abuse at Richards is abit unfair, Taundry was just as bad today.

Oh, but Jockey, you forget, Taundry runs around a lot and is from Walsall... That therefore means he is immune to criticism for some folk.

I like the negativity already from a number of others though, its only one fricking game, lol, and we're talking about being toothless, wooden spoon, embedded in the bottom four.

FFS...

[DanWalsallFC]

Shocking. Hutch failing to make a sub before the 85th minute. Lack of quality upfront.

I think I'll be posting same comments all season.

I do think the abuse at Richards is abit unfair, Taundry was just as bad today.

Oh but Taundry gets let off because he has a special relationship with the fans and is a local lad... :roll:

[Zece_WFC]

That was such a clueless performance it wasn't even funny.....

No urgency by players or management and they just ran rings around us. The only time we played well was in the 80th when we strung about 10 passes together within 30 seconds... and that was by accident.

Richards was shocking and to blame for the first half (with a bit of a flap from Brain aswell), lord only knows how he still plays every week.

People start shouting for a substitute to no avail, and then he brings on McDonald for Lancashire in the 90th!

I'm sorry but where was all this "we'll show everyone what we did in pre season and put it to effect..." did they all sit there drinking tea or something???


Shocking shocking shocking.

[philthesaddler]

No qualms about the result, MK Dons were the better side by a country mile, they created more than we did and outplayed us.

They're reporting on the radio that the first goal was Johnny Brains fault - I think the replays will actually show that Richards played the ball away from Brain and out of his arms as he tried to tackle. (Thats not a criticism of Richards, just a fact).

The 2nd goal for the Dons was very poor defending. A poor corner that never went above 3 ft off the ground and was met by several Walsall statues.

Thought the ref was poor, he should have booked that cheat on the wing for MKD who clearly dived twice.

Once again, Hutchings refused to bring Grigg on despite Nicholls doing sweet FA all afternoon.

We missed Deeney, those who have been saying "he's not that good"...well today showed exactly what he brings to a team - someone to chase, hold up, work hard and generally do the donkey work that Byfield, Jones and Gray dont do.

[philthesaddler]

one foul swoop...

"fell swoop"

[Rich Evans]

The fact of brain allowed the ball through his arms when perhaps he should have palmed it out for a corner maybe.

[matt-thesaddler]

Hutchings OUT





:mrgreen:

[WFC_Jimmy]

Brian- Didnt do a lot wrong, made a good save in the first half, kicking was good, however it was his and richards fault for first goal

Lescott- Played well, good positional play
Lancashire- Got caught out a few times- Mcdonald should be playing instead
Smith- MOTM- Solid performance, good goal
Mcgivern- Very tidy player, made a cracking last gasp tackle in the 2nd half

Jones- Plugged away but wasnt used enough
Taundry- Didnt do a lot, didnt have the ball enough
Richards- Woeful, can only go backwards and he can just about do that!
Gray- Stood around, didnt do a lot

Byfield- Tried but with no success
Nicholls- He might have done nothing, but what do you expect when you pump the ball to him time and time again when he is shy of 6ft!

Subs- What are those?

[philthesaddler]

The fact of brain allowed the ball through his arms when perhaps he should have palmed it out for a corner maybe.

Err, No, he was trying to collect the ball. The ball wasn't travelling fast enough to "palm it out". Richards was tracking back, and at the moment brain was about to grab the ball, Richards slid in and knocked the ball away from Brain and in to the path of Chadwick (I think) who then set up Baldock.

[Graydon48]

We missed Deeney, those who have been saying "he's not that good"...well today showed exactly what he brings to a team - someone to chase, hold up, work hard and generally do the donkey work that Byfield, Jones and Gray dont do.

Don't know about Deeney but there was a guy on MK Dons bench who could do that for us.

[philthesaddler]

We missed Deeney, those who have been saying "he's not that good"...well today showed exactly what he brings to a team - someone to chase, hold up, work hard and generally do the donkey work that Byfield, Jones and Gray dont do.

Don't know about Deeney but there was a guy on MK Dons bench who could do that for us.

Yes, Jabo could do a job, but he's not as good as Deeney was/is.

[wednesburysaddler]

well i know were only 1 match into season but my god its going to be a long hard season at that.
the team looks so threadbare lack of creativity just usless hoofing up the pitch which there defenders mopped up all 90 mins.
then the rare time we played the ball on the floor we couldnt seem to make more than 3 passes before any kind of move was thwarted.
some very dissapointing performances throughout the whole team today and backed up by a tactically inept manager.
a like for like substitution in the 90th minute didnt do anything to get the crowd going.
i think were going to be relegation candidates unless we get all of that 500k deeney money and bring a striker and midfielder in.
brain looks like a very poor league 2 goalie very nervous and will cost us loads of points.

all in all a very dissapointing lacklustre start to the season and me thinks we will need a miracle to finish anywhere near safe

[Rich Evans]

The fact of brain allowed the ball through his arms when perhaps he should have palmed it out for a corner maybe.

Err, No, he was trying to collect the ball. The ball wasn't travelling fast enough to "palm it out". Richards was tracking back, and at the moment brain was about to grab the ball, Richards slid in and knocked the ball away from Brain and in to the path of Chadwick (I think) who then set up Baldock.

Phil you are wrong. I saw The ball went through his arms plain as day as did the others around me It was quite pathetic.

[Bernie]

The defence played well, and despite MK having the vast majority of possession they had few clear cut chances, and this is thanks to some very good and hard work by the back four.

If Nicholls had been a new signing making his home debut today he would be receiving the same stick that Andrew Barrowman,Per Cederqvist, Carlos Carneiro and Sam Parkin got after their debuts. He runs around a lot after lost causes and tries hard, but is clearly not a striker good enough to play up front at league level. Yet his performance was no different to any of the other dozens of occasions when he has been played up front, so what on earth is he doing as a striker? He is a mediocre winger who could perhaps hold down a place in a poor League Two side, but he is not and never will be a striker. How many more matches is it going to take before something that is obvious to anyone watching him play once is going to be accepted by the Walsall management?

[Louise]

Well just returned from a very disappointing opening game.
No qualms about the result - the MK Dons deserved their victory - they were a lot better than us in all areas.
First half we were very poor - got no second Balls, just lacklustre.Jones in partic did nowt.
Second Half started better - great goal by Manny.Then we seemd to lose any tempo and let them dictate the game.
Richards was dire - just awful. Nicholls ran around a lot but got no service.
We are desp in need of a holding Midfield Player who can put his foot on the ball, look up and spray it around. No creativity at all from the centre .
One Sub with a Minute to go is patently ridiculous when you are 2-1 down - Hutchings needs to sort that out.
Overall I am concerned - with our Main striker gone its gonna be a long hard Season if we play like today. :(

[WFC_Rob]

We just looked very rigid today, against a side who looked sharper all over ther pitch.

In terms of the system we played, we were hindered from the off by the fact that Nicholls and Byfield isolate themselves up front. They just can't play together as they both look to run along the opposition's back four - neither drop in the hole to get the ball to feet.
As a result of our limits up front, we proceeded to boot it from the back, and hoped that chasing shadows would get us somewhere. I felt for McGivern, who offered himself as an option for Brain to roll the ball to a number of times, but was just waved away as we booted the ball down the middle.

Criticism of Richards is completely misplaced now I'm afraid. He was the only one of our midfield who went looking for the ball, and at least tried to keep the ball on the floor. No, he's not the quickest and he won't dominate things in the air, but he's so limited by what's around him, it's untrue. Taundry battled, just as he always has and probably always will.
Unfortunately, we didn't get the ball to Jones and Gray enough either. Last season showed that they're potentially our best players going forward, yet we kept forcing things down the middle. Without a striker to hold the ball up, that's a complete waste.

Just to re-inforce the point I made earlier, Byfield and Nicholls can't play together, and as Bernie has already said, if Nicholls had been a new signing (like Parkin this time last year), there'd be calls for him to never wear the shirt again. He keeps getting the benefit of the doubt, but he looks completely lost most of the time. I only have so much time for players who base their entire game on chasing defenders down, and that's all he seems to have.

The positives were that Lancashire and McGivern looked decent, whilst Lescott didn't do too badly. That said, as a defensive unit, we need to look at those two goals. The two centre backs had instances where they didn't appear to be marking anyone, which meant that MK Dons were able to play the ball with ease in our half. In contrast, at the other end, we literally just chased shadows.

Hutchings post match comments were interesting. Those 2 or 3 new signings could be make or break.

[WFC_Rob]

The fact of brain allowed the ball through his arms when perhaps he should have palmed it out for a corner maybe.

Err, No, he was trying to collect the ball. The ball wasn't travelling fast enough to "palm it out". Richards was tracking back, and at the moment brain was about to grab the ball, Richards slid in and knocked the ball away from Brain and in to the path of Chadwick (I think) who then set up Baldock.

Correct.
It was just a complete mix-up and I can only assume Brain didn't do enough to make sure our defenders allowed him to come & claim the ball. In the end, it was a simple tap-in.

[Cannock]

I went to the match today hoping to see some attacking football. It simply didn't happen. The fact we lost doesn't concern me but the manner in which we lost most certainly does.

The central midfield area was quite simply dreadful. Time and time again MK had a man spare due to the full back and central defender offering themselves available and thus waltzed past Taundry and Richards. When we did gain possession we attempted to launch it to our huge forwards. Needless to say we never won a ball all afternoon.
We are in desperate need of a box to box midfielder. One who can tackle, win the ball and then pass and move. Simple really.

Out wide Gray seemed particularly ineffective and Jones obviously prefers to be on the opposite flank. Each time Jones received the ball he tried to cut inside and lost possession.

Up front, playing the way we did, Byfield and Nicholls didn't have a prayer of doing anything. A big strong centre forward is needed.

Out of the new boys both Brain and Lescott acquitted themselves well but i'm afraid Lancashire was particularly poor. Several times man of the match Manny Smith had to do the job of two men as Lancashire went awol.

Overall, a very poor performance in terms of effort, tactics and doing the basics. An inability to hold onto the ball, pass and move was very concerning. Richards, Lancashire and Gray not up to scratch on this showing. Neither was Hutch and O'Connor i'm afraid.

I did get quite excited for two 30 second passages of play but out of 90 minutes that simply is not good enough.

[BathSaddler]

Disappointing result. Disappointing performance. Disappointing attendance.

On the 'crowd', I reckon it is the worst opening Saturday home attendance since 1993 [3,324, v Torquay].