Peterborough United (H) League 1 Tuesday 2/11/10.

[philthesaddler]

Just when I thought I couldnt lose anymore respect for you, you class Nolan as a 'Great' midfielder :D

7 goals in 10 games this season. Talismanic. Captain. Hard Working. What a midfielder should be, err, but Matt Richards is better.

[Mal]

Just got back and what can you say other than if they had brain in goal we could have been three up before they scored . My view on the players is a little different to what has been posted I felt going forward as the game was so open we put in our best display at home all season bar Plymouth however defensively we are poor. The manager needs a centre midfielder so signs another forward brings off Macken who was playing well off Dickinson and allows Richards to playdeeper and deeper leaving Taundry to cover 100's of yards of space. I felt Gray played well and deserved his goal although it was two yards offside and mom was deserved. Where next well taxi for Hutchings hope some money left for the next man and fingers crossed we finish fifth from bottom! I am dreading Saturday!

[Casual D]

Just when I thought I couldnt lose anymore respect for you, you class Nolan as a 'Great' midfielder :D

7 goals in 10 games this season. Talismanic. Captain. Hard Working. What a midfielder should be, err, but Matt Richards is better.

Apparently quite a nice landlord too. Seems like his 'digs' are agreeable to Andy Carroll anyway.

[saddlerJP]

Couldn't see muich of the 3rd goal but couldn't blame wacka for the first 2, Mcgivern had a complete mare but kept plugging away, goal or no goal Julian Gray is a lazy sack of cack, richards was toss, taundry wasn't much better but he at least tried, only players with any quality on the pitch were Macken, Reid and Devainey.

HUTCH OUT

[DanWalsallFC]

Just when I thought I couldnt lose anymore respect for you, you class Nolan as a 'Great' midfielder :D

7 goals in 10 games this season. Talismanic. Captain. Hard Working. What a midfielder should be, err, but Matt Richards is better.

Are you about 12 years old?

[Jockey]

Phil how the hell can you slag the club off as much as you do but yet your seen shaking hands with Mr Whalley. You would have had his pants down if he wasnt wearing a belt. Dont hide behind a keyboard slagging them off and then kiss their ass when your up close :)

[Delves Saddler]

Just when I thought I couldnt lose anymore respect for you, you class Nolan as a 'Great' midfielder :D

7 goals in 10 games this season. Talismanic. Captain. Hard Working. What a midfielder should be, err, but Matt Richards is better.

Are you about 12 years old?

I think he's quite funny to be honest. I genuinely laughed at his Matt Richards summary (in a good way Phil). I'll be honest, I'm not going to completely slate Richards and presume he is a god awful player but for the majority of last season and the 1 time I've been this season (Uni commitments amongst other things) I can't ever recall Richards playing well. So I kind of agree with Phil from what I know of him, yet every time I read a summary of a game I've not attended he has supposedly been our best player 9 times out of 10.

I don't know if that is just sod's law or not. You've also got to admit, he makes a good point about Nolan, though I wouldn't describe him as great, he is still one of my favourite players :)

PS: Taxi for Hutchings, I'm even tempted to pay his fare if it will get him out the door quicker!

[Sadders]

That was better, we just cannot defend. Smith and McDonald are absolutely dreadful as a partnership and if we continue to use them we'l be relegated before mid April. Why, oh why did he take Macken off (3rd time running) when he clearly was one of the only ones looking interesting that had a bit of quality. Dickinson put in one of the worst centre forward performances i've seen in a while, looked un-interested, lazy, didn't win a header, didn't look like scoring, didn't link play, slow, clumsy and he couldn't stay on his feet.

Devaney was MOTM imo, works hard, pacey, skins a man for fun and has a lot of energy. Sign him up if we can. Thought Gray was better tonight, looked like he wanted to be there, worked hard and looked genuinely like he enjoyed his goal. Richards and Taundry were decent, Richards the better of the pair. McGivern got well forward, but struggles actually defending.

Walker 7 - Couldn't do much about the muppets infront of him. Good tip over the bar from a long range effort in the 1st half.

Mcgivern 6 - Got forward well, has a nice left foot and went on a lovely run in the first half. Still looks dodgy at the back though and he's part of the defence that keep conceding.

Smith 3 - Gets worse and worse, the new Roper but less sufficient and even worse with a ball at his feet

McDonald 2 - Worst player on the pitch, not sure whats happened to him but clearly he isn't going forward under Hutch.

Westlake 5 - Did okay, stil lumps it alot and looks suspect to pace.

Devaney 8 - Motm, pace, trickery, energy, skins a man for fun, good vision and looks like he wants it. Sign him up whatever the cost.

Richards 7 - Covered every blade of grass as per, started alot of attacks, kept possession, picked it out of the back 4 and spread it either way. Not as bad as people make out and it does my head in when people set a complete boo boy mentality against a player before actually watching what's infront of them.

Taundry 6 - See above, just doesn't get involved as much and his ball retention can be poor at times.

Gray 7 - Better from him, infact probably his best performance of the season up to date. Still doens't look as good as he did toward the end of last season though.

Macken 7 - Worked hard, ran the channels, built up play with his back to goal. Could have scored in the 1st half and is one of the only players we have that are of any quality.

Dickinson 2 - Guano. Did absolutely nothing for the team and clearly has a poor attitude.

SUBS
Jones, looked poor and didn't really get involved with the game.
Reid, did okay when he came on, put himself about. Better than his terrible display at Huddersfield saturday.

If we could learn to defend, i honestly think this team has enough quality to finish somewhere around the mid table mark. Peterborough are in the playoffs and scored with 3 of 4 shots. 1 other thing that annoyed me tonight was the booing of players in particular. There's a difference between wanting Hutchings out and then booing the players that actually worked hard and put on a decent display tonight. Can't imagine what it did to Gray's confidence to be booed for being MOTM, when he was having his best game for a while.

Underdogs saturday in my books.

[adjisaddler]

desperate times... tony cotee did say that it was end to end though

[saddlerken]

guano

[post moderated, predictably]

[Lone Striker]

Said it before and will say it again - two of the worst centre halves ever to wear Walsall shirts. Cannot defend correctly, no communication between the two of them, and hoof it distribution and last ditch defending due to poor positional play every game they play. Both of tonights centre halves have gone backwards big time in the last twelve months and would not get into many Division two/Conference teams on current performances. Add to that up until last Saturday a goalkeeper who instills no confidence then you start to get to the route of the problem, not wholly but a large part of it. If we had started the season with two average centre halves at Division one level suggest we would be mid table and be competitive in more games than we currently have been. Succesful teams are built around a strong spine, with goalkeeper, centre halves, good midfielder and a striker, sadly we currently tick non of these boxes and until addresed will continue to struggle. We have been unlucky losing Andrew Davies to injury but the time has got to be right to do something different at centre half, Lancashire must start on Saturday simply because he cannot be worse than what I witnessed tonight, who plays alongside him is anybodys guess,however,the only combination not tried so far is Lancashire and Macdonald so must be worth trying until Davies is fit again.
Baffled again by the substitution of Macken for Reid, however, at least Reid played facing goal rather than with his back to it as per last Saturday and looked a better player for it without ever being totally convincing.
Not sure what will happen in next 48 hours, but just have a feeling that we will have a new man in charge before Fleetwood.

[PT]

People are right when they say that going forward we played some really nifty stuff. Their keeper made four blinding saves.

BUT, you can't gift three goals at any level and expect to get away with it. It was shocking. All three goals were gift-wrapped by a defence that seems so under-practiced it is embarrassing to call them professionals because that word suggests that it is actually their job to be competent at some really basic stuff. Individual mistakes, pah, they just aren't drilled and that is the manager and caching staff.

Nice to see Jimmy, but didn't feel he had a good game and his miscommunication with Mcdonald lead to a needless corner that lead to their third goal. I hope his patting of the badge means that he loves our club and as such he stops being this awful manager's mouthpiece this week.

[BEIRLYND]

Improved performance I felt, but the defence just too inexperienced, average about 20. McGivern a liability at times. Hutchings to blame, squad HE assembled inadequet from the start, hence the loans. He should go tomorrow, PLEASE.

[Brandon Flowers]

We actually played OK going forward but the errors that Smith, McDonald & McGivern make defensively would be punished at any level never mind league 1.

2 x centre halves needed quickly....

[WFC_Rob]

Sadders has given the best account so far. We're abysmal at centre half, but the rest of the side, in the main, is decent.

Dickinson was poor, but had barely met the players, let alone played with them before.

Phil, you're as big a disgrace as some of the players.

Would post more, but the BB is difficult to type on.

[Bristol Fan]

That was better, we just cannot defend.

That's all that needs to be said, really. But I'll say more anyway.

It was a vast improvement over recent home games, but we really can't defend. The problem today was the same problem as in virtually every game - Matt Richards is having to play on his own in midfield. It doesn't matter who is in goal, who's playing at centre-back or full-back, if you have a midfield set up as we do then you will concede loads of goals. Taundry just runs as fast as he can towards wherever the ball is. That's it. All he does. He's a parks footballer with a massive heart and he's doing the best he can, but that's not League One level. Gray drifts around showing the odd moment of magic but that's it. Devaney works harder and is skilful going forward but again offers little protection. So you've got Richards, who frequently has to operate as a kind of sweeper because neither of our central defenders can pass the ball, then he's a holding player because Taundry's gone AWOL again, then he's going forwards trying to create because nobody else is doing it, then he's getting slagged off by our thick fans. We can sign as many strikers and as many defenders and goalkeepers as we want but until we sign a midfielder capable of playing at League One level alongside Richards (who is by no means great, but is literally the only midfielder at the club capable of playing consistently at this level), we will lose most matches we play.

Hutchings thinks the defenders are to blame. It's just like Merson used to think. Concede three goals - must be the defenders' fault. Only of course it isn't, it's the midfield. McGivern hasn't become a dreadful player (which is how he's looked for a while now) overnight. Neither's Manny Smith. They're made to look bad because as a team they are not being coached how to defend properly. The opposition is able to run through us at will because Taundry's nowhere to be seen and the wingers aren't protecting the fullbacks. It's basic stuff, being done wrong. It's Paul Merson all over again.

Hutchings out.

[tinned]

Where these posts that say we played better are coming from I don't know. We are clueless, absolutlely clueless. It's like 11 of us blokes having a game and being told "go and have a kick about". How the freaking hell was that better?

DOGFACE OUT, NOW!

[Salop Saddler]

A performance indicative of a club raped of all decency by its current owner. A man whose perspective of football club ownership, and the responsibility which goes hand in hand with it, such as the debt of gratitude he owes to the clubs supporters, and the legacy he chose to take on, has become lost in a mire of his own self interest.

The whole spectacle is now a perverted, rotten pantomime. When the old mantra of “but Jeff saved the football club”, is trotted out, ask yourself this....”yes, but exactly what was it saved for”. This isn't Walsall as I knew it, it's like a total stranger masquerading as someone I once knew. Oh, yes...almost forgot...Hutchings...do one

[LancsSaddler]

That was better, we just cannot defend.

That's all that needs to be said, really. But I'll say more anyway.

It was a vast improvement over recent home games, but we really can't defend. The problem today was the same problem as in virtually every game - Matt Richards is having to play on his own in midfield. It doesn't matter who is in goal, who's playing at centre-back or full-back, if you have a midfield set up as we do then you will concede loads of goals. Taundry just runs as fast as he can towards wherever the ball is. That's it. All he does. He's a parks footballer with a massive heart and he's doing the best he can, but that's not League One level. Gray drifts around showing the odd moment of magic but that's it. Devaney works harder and is skilful going forward but again offers little protection. So you've got Richards, who frequently has to operate as a kind of sweeper because neither of our central defenders can pass the ball, then he's a holding player because Taundry's gone AWOL again, then he's going forwards trying to create because nobody else is doing it, then he's getting slagged off by our thick fans. We can sign as many strikers and as many defenders and goalkeepers as we want but until we sign a midfielder capable of playing at League One level alongside Richards (who is by no means great, but is literally the only midfielder at the club capable of playing consistently at this level), we will lose most matches we play.

Hutchings thinks the defenders are to blame. It's just like Merson used to think. Concede three goals - must be the defenders' fault. Only of course it isn't, it's the midfield. McGivern hasn't become a dreadful player (which is how he's looked for a while now) overnight. Neither's Manny Smith. They're made to look bad because as a team they are not being coached how to defend properly. The opposition is able to run through us at will because Taundry's nowhere to be seen and the wingers aren't protecting the fullbacks. It's basic stuff, being done wrong. It's Paul Merson all over again.

Hutchings out.

best post ive seen in a long time! i get mad when i hear some idiot behind me slagging off richards all game. he spent last season on the left wing which is just not his position and is now playing centre mid by himself. what we need is a strong combative, powerful good in the air player to play next to him. a Mattis style player Hutchings, remember releasing him?! last season we had no wingers and this year we have one centre mid. Its called building a balanced squad Hutchings you muppet!

[Exile]

A performance indicative of a club raped of all decency by its current owner. A man whose perspective of football club ownership, and the responsibility which goes hand in hand with it, such as the debt of gratitude he owes to the clubs supporters, and the legacy he chose to take on, has become lost in a mire of his own self interest.

The whole spectacle is now a perverted, rotten pantomime. When the old mantra of “but Jeff saved the football club”, is trotted out, ask yourself this....”yes, but exactly what was it saved for”. This isn't Walsall as I knew it, it's like a total stranger masquerading as someone I once knew. Oh, yes...almost forgot...Hutchings...do one

Top post. Love the afterthought!

[Exile]

One reason we may have looked good is that Posh had lost 4 out of their last 5, had their skipper banned for last night's match, their top targetman banned for last night's match and have massive injury problems.

Still didn't stop them getting lucky though.

[brummie saddler]

1st game of the season for me, so I am hoping I am going to bring some luck with me

who cares about the score? I'm going to see JW's "well-upholstered" bum again :mrgreen:

That's better. :mrgreen:

:twisted: he aint put that much weight on!

he did seem abit chunk an his arse looked huge, im totally straight by the way

[brummie saddler]

after watching the first half, i was really excited to watch the kids penalty shootout, was nice to see some quality

[Graydon48]

Phil how the hell can you slag the club off as much as you do but yet your seen shaking hands with Mr Whalley. You would have had his pants down if he wasnt wearing a belt. Dont hide behind a keyboard slagging them off and then kiss their ass when your up close :)

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Phil loves Roy.

[Whitti Steve]

IT really doesn't matter anymore how well we played. We need results. The position we are in is I would suggest almost impossible to recover from now. I know that is a sweeping statement, bu I cannot see a Hutchings team (as witnessed over the past couple of seasons) putting enough wins together to get out of it. League 2 here we come.

I also think the fact that Bonser doesn't attened anymore is a major worry... if the owner is a stayaway, why should anyone else bother. PATHETIC WALSALL - WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE

[philthesaddler]

Phil how the hell can you slag the club off as much as you do but yet your seen shaking hands with Mr Whalley. You would have had his pants down if he wasnt wearing a belt. Dont hide behind a keyboard slagging them off and then kiss their ass when your up close :)

I spoke to Roy, asked him when he was going to do the decent thing and sack Hutchings, he smiled and said it's not his job anymore. I shook his hand and wished him a good evening. He knows the score, he's not a bad bloke, but he also knows we've got an idiot of an owner, thing is, he can't freely admit like we can.

[philthesaddler]

I think he's quite funny to be honest. I genuinely laughed at his Matt Richards summary (in a good way Phil). I'll be honest, I'm not going to completely slate Richards and presume he is a god awful player but for the majority of last season and the 1 time I've been this season (Uni commitments amongst other things) I can't ever recall Richards playing well. So I kind of agree with Phil from what I know of him, yet every time I read a summary of a game I've not attended he has supposedly been our best player 9 times out of 10.

I don't know if that is just sod's law or not. You've also got to admit, he makes a good point about Nolan, though I wouldn't describe him as great, he is still one of my favourite players :)

PS: Taxi for Hutchings, I'm even tempted to pay his fare if it will get him out the door quicker!

Thank you. I wouldn't be so harshly critical of Richards if there werent so many people who - like you say - give him 9 out of 10 for at best average performances. It's like those people have forgotten what a midfielder should do.

I've read one post on this page that says Richards "covered every blade of grass". That made me laugh out loud - he barely moves!

[Mal]

For jonty's sake Richards is a LEFT BACK and a liability in midfield, he can go with Hutchings as the new Joe Broad!

Can you not see he hides and plays deeper and deeper in a role where he cannot commit himself, no tackles, no quality, no vision no nothing!


[modded - do not avoid the swear filter]

[philthesaddler]

For flip's sake Richards is a LEFT BACK and a liability in midfield, he can go with Hutchings as the new Joe Broad!

Can you not see he hides and plays deeper and deeper in a role where he cannot commit himself, no tackles, no quality, no vision no nothing!

He's not a left back! He was so bad at left back that he got move further forward!

Ever wondered why he never gets injured or booked?

[Zippy]

Just had a live phonecall with Percie - could hear a lot of anti-club and Hutchings singing - don't know how loud it is ?

Aren't all phonecalls live.

Or do you have pre-recorded phonecalls in Bangor.

:lol: