Carlisle United (H) League 1 Saturday 20/11/10.

[Lone Striker]

Following Tuesday's game I made the point that of the two Cenre Halves, Lancashire had to start today in preference to Smith, however, I doubted that our manager would make that decision. First thing to say is well done for at last getting the selection right today and our win was in no small way due to the performances of Butler and Lancashire who missed very little all afternoon and we did look a lot better organised than in previous weeks, supported by Westlake who is improving each week, and Lescott who had a steady game.
In midfield again we lack quality, not disputing the energy level displayed by Taundry but this will only get us so far and a midfield two of Taundry and Marshall does not fill me with great confidence for the remainder of the season. We got away with it today and I hope they prove me wrong, but they do not have the quality to impose themselves on games and we should be looking to improve in this area of the pitch if we want to dominate in games. In the wide areas Nicholls again frustrates, some good mixed in with some dross, for me Jones is a better option but difficult to argue when we have just won. Re Matt Richards, two quality goals and despite playing in a wider role still is influential in our style of play, as I have said previously he always looks to pass the ball and keep it simple, playing wider makes this more difficult as all his square passes have to be inside and unfortunately this limits us going forward down the left side, hopefully, with the return of McGivern on Tuesday he may give us more going forward with his overlapping runs.
Up front the partnership of Macken and Reid is probably the best we have at the moment and both worked hard for the cause without many chances, in the current situation they should be given a run together to establish a partnership.
Just nice to come home with three points and hope that we may have turned some kind of corner.

[latviancheese]

Is this the same Marshall and Taundry whos 3 game run as a central midfield partnership has yielded 2 wins and a draw?

I dont know why Phil gets so much abuse, at least hes backing up his opinions with decent facts like this.

Footballs a game of opinions but when someones able to back up there views like this, they deserve to be heard out.

Because if you disagree with him your either a ***** or you know nothing about football. Its rather tiresome.

[Fray Bentos is God!]

I thought the midfield played well today. We have a shite midfield but they all did well today.

If players who do nothing score two goals, then why are we bottom, Phil?

Phil is more tiresome than Sheff.

[Fray Bentos is God!]

On a slightly different note (sorry Phil) Where did that gate come from? Was there a special offer on? did Carlisle bring about 2,000? I just cannot understand, when the Saddlers are at thier lowest ebb in thier history, we suddenly find another
1,000 Walsall fans to turn up, at what appears to be another 'certain defeat' just can't fathom the Walsall public at all.

Season ticket holders bringing a mate for a fiver.

[Shad]

I wondered where all of the people came from today, I'm pretty sure that many people couldn't have had a change of heart after a lucky result against Fleetwood?

Anyway, it was great to see players actually putting effort in today.

Confusing starting line-up & it was clear to see with Lescott & Richards as the left side pairing where Carslile were going to score from.... however I thought Lescott had one of his best games today (he actually realised that defenders need to tackle) and I suppose Richards did get both the goals. (But please Hutch- move him back into the middle)

Two great freekicks, after seeing the second one it did clear up that they do have training afterall.I do however worry that both of he goals came from set-pieces. Without these I can only think of one occasion when we looked like scoring (Dickinsons run and ball across towards the end), still need that creative midfielder.!!!

One performance doesn't change too much - were still bottom and we'll still be down by March is Hutchins isn't gone. But it was a nice feeling to be leaving the Banks's with a win!

[saddlerJP]

Walker - did what he had to do - dealt sensibly with their aerial bombardment - nearly prevented their goal
Westlake - my MotM - calm and composed in a way that belied his teenage years
Lancashire - steady performance - won nearly everything in the air
Butler - a steadying influence at the heart of the defence
Lescott - still our weakest player but was never exploited by Carlisle - played sensibly within the limits of his ability
Nicholls - a much improved performance - put in some good crosses and was a constant threat
Marshall - quietly efficient but still does not impose himself on the game - "flitted in and out" of play
Taundry - an energetic captain's performance - not the headless chicken that so many people choose to call him
Richards - took both goals superbly but his general play left a bit to be desired - it doesn't help having Lescott behind him (MotM - joke!)
Macken - toiled industriously and was fouled frequently - kept their defence occupied but never really looked like scoring, himself
Reid - as Macken - his pace should have been used to exploit Michalik
Dickinson - brought on (late, of course!) to replace the tiring Macken - one great run to lay on a chance for Grigg
Grigg - also a late sub (for Reid) - might have scored in the dying minutes but he failed to connect with Dickinson's cross

Agree with that completley. I very very very rare well done to hutch for dropping smith. Still want him out though

[cumbria-saddler]

Great win, superb performance by the absolutely useless Richard Taundry, and a decent game from Paul Marshall, who according to saddlerken is the worst player to wear a Walsall shirt.

Westlake and Butler had good solid games too.

Nicholls and Lancashire both deserve credit for digging deep and playing well.

Richards, despite his two excellent free kicks did absolutely nothing - he was the main reason why they scored, as the replays will show. He let his man stroll past him, his man then was left free to shoot, which was saved well, but ricocheted and the 2nd shot went in.

IMO Richard Taundry deserve MOM today, he was excellent, really got stuck in, whereas I think Richards only touched the ball 4 times in the 2nd half, and was quite frankly awful in the first, so to give him MOM is quite ridiculous. You cannot justify having a player in the side on the strength of scoring 3 or 4 freekicks per season, especially when he's responsible for conceding more goals than he scores. It also shows how weak a player Richards is that we now haven't lost a game when Richards has either been assisted by a 3rd central midfielder, or been pushed out to the left.

Reid disappointed me a bit, after scoring two the other night, you'd think he'd be buzzing and would be shooting at every oppurtunity, but he looked like he didnt want to shoot today, he really should have had a goal.

Carlisle looked a poor side for their league position.

Still a lot of work to save this season, and this win has probably bought Hutchings another 5 games.

I wasnt at the game, and i havent seen the goals so i dont know what theres was like (so im taking this from what youve said on this thread), but if Carlisle's goal was completely Richards fault because he wasnt marking his man, does that mean that it was also all down to him for us winning because he scored both of our goals?

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Great win, superb performance by the absolutely useless Richard Taundry, and a decent game from Paul Marshall, who according to saddlerken is the worst player to wear a Walsall shirt.

Westlake and Butler had good solid games too.

Nicholls and Lancashire both deserve credit for digging deep and playing well.

Richards, despite his two excellent free kicks did absolutely nothing - he was the main reason why they scored, as the replays will show. He let his man stroll past him, his man then was left free to shoot, which was saved well, but ricocheted and the 2nd shot went in.

IMO Richard Taundry deserve MOM today, he was excellent, really got stuck in, whereas I think Richards only touched the ball 4 times in the 2nd half, and was quite frankly awful in the first, so to give him MOM is quite ridiculous. You cannot justify having a player in the side on the strength of scoring 3 or 4 freekicks per season, especially when he's responsible for conceding more goals than he scores. It also shows how weak a player Richards is that we now haven't lost a game when Richards has either been assisted by a 3rd central midfielder, or been pushed out to the left.

Reid disappointed me a bit, after scoring two the other night, you'd think he'd be buzzing and would be shooting at every oppurtunity, but he looked like he didnt want to shoot today, he really should have had a goal.

Carlisle looked a poor side for their league position.

Still a lot of work to save this season, and this win has probably bought Hutchings another 5 games.

I wasnt at the game, and i havent seen the goals so i dont know what theres was like (so im taking this from what youve said on this thread), but if Carlisle's goal was completely Richards fault because he wasnt marking his man, does that mean that it was also all down to him for us winning because he scored both of our goals?

Don't talk sense, mate. You should know better.

The goal they scored was a shocker, three different people could've cleared it (including Richards, who had a big part to play) but didn't.

[Wyrley_saddler]

Good win today against what is a good Carlisle team, but whom we made look average. For once, we defended well. It was scrappy at times but Butler organises the defense well. I think the likes of Lancashire and Westlake benefit from this greatly. It was a team performance today, we looked solid all over the pitch.

Walker - 7: Didn't realy have much to do. Made a good save, which the rebound wasn't cleared and they scored from.

Westlake - 9: Another great performance from him. My MOTM.
Lancashire - 8: Did well to be fair.
Butler - 9: Dominant performance and organises the defence well. Close runner-up for motm
Lescott - 7: One of his better matches.

Nicholls - 6: Not realy effective on the wing.
Marshall - 7: Played well, and was quite good in the air.
Taundry - 6: Dives in too much and never stands up. Everything tends to be rushed when he has the ball. Can't fault his effort though as usual.
Richards - 8: Two cracking goals and generally a solid performance.

Macken - 7: Did well against Michalik who seemed to be determined to pull Macken's shirt off.
Reid - 5: Waste of space today. Several times he could've been through but spent more time complaining about the slightest of shirt pulls. Also should have been booked for the most blatent of dives.

SUBS
Grigg - 7: Did well, could've scored but was unlucky that Dickinson's ball was slightly behind him. Put the defenders under pressure.
Dickinson - 7: Not on for long, but did well. Had a chance to score, which he fluffed and also made a good run which nearly set Grigg up.

Overall, important 3 points which is much needed. Hopefully we'll turn the corner now.

[cumbria-saddler]

Great win, superb performance by the absolutely useless Richard Taundry, and a decent game from Paul Marshall, who according to saddlerken is the worst player to wear a Walsall shirt.

Westlake and Butler had good solid games too.

Nicholls and Lancashire both deserve credit for digging deep and playing well.

Richards, despite his two excellent free kicks did absolutely nothing - he was the main reason why they scored, as the replays will show. He let his man stroll past him, his man then was left free to shoot, which was saved well, but ricocheted and the 2nd shot went in.

IMO Richard Taundry deserve MOM today, he was excellent, really got stuck in, whereas I think Richards only touched the ball 4 times in the 2nd half, and was quite frankly awful in the first, so to give him MOM is quite ridiculous. You cannot justify having a player in the side on the strength of scoring 3 or 4 freekicks per season, especially when he's responsible for conceding more goals than he scores. It also shows how weak a player Richards is that we now haven't lost a game when Richards has either been assisted by a 3rd central midfielder, or been pushed out to the left.

Reid disappointed me a bit, after scoring two the other night, you'd think he'd be buzzing and would be shooting at every oppurtunity, but he looked like he didnt want to shoot today, he really should have had a goal.

Carlisle looked a poor side for their league position.

Still a lot of work to save this season, and this win has probably bought Hutchings another 5 games.

I wasnt at the game, and i havent seen the goals so i dont know what theres was like (so im taking this from what youve said on this thread), but if Carlisle's goal was completely Richards fault because he wasnt marking his man, does that mean that it was also all down to him for us winning because he scored both of our goals?

Don't talk sense, mate. You should know better.

The goal they scored was a shocker, three different people could've cleared it (including Richards, who had a big part to play) but didn't.

I wasnt saying that i believe he on his own made us win. I meant it in the sense that if a player gets slated for a cock up which caused us to concede, should he not get praise/credit (or at least not slated) for making up for it by scoring the two goals that win us the game, whether they be free kicks or not.

(Not sure if that makes sense, but i know what i mean in my head :) )

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Great win, superb performance by the absolutely useless Richard Taundry, and a decent game from Paul Marshall, who according to saddlerken is the worst player to wear a Walsall shirt.

Westlake and Butler had good solid games too.

Nicholls and Lancashire both deserve credit for digging deep and playing well.

Richards, despite his two excellent free kicks did absolutely nothing - he was the main reason why they scored, as the replays will show. He let his man stroll past him, his man then was left free to shoot, which was saved well, but ricocheted and the 2nd shot went in.

IMO Richard Taundry deserve MOM today, he was excellent, really got stuck in, whereas I think Richards only touched the ball 4 times in the 2nd half, and was quite frankly awful in the first, so to give him MOM is quite ridiculous. You cannot justify having a player in the side on the strength of scoring 3 or 4 freekicks per season, especially when he's responsible for conceding more goals than he scores. It also shows how weak a player Richards is that we now haven't lost a game when Richards has either been assisted by a 3rd central midfielder, or been pushed out to the left.

Reid disappointed me a bit, after scoring two the other night, you'd think he'd be buzzing and would be shooting at every oppurtunity, but he looked like he didnt want to shoot today, he really should have had a goal.

Carlisle looked a poor side for their league position.

Still a lot of work to save this season, and this win has probably bought Hutchings another 5 games.

I wasnt at the game, and i havent seen the goals so i dont know what theres was like (so im taking this from what youve said on this thread), but if Carlisle's goal was completely Richards fault because he wasnt marking his man, does that mean that it was also all down to him for us winning because he scored both of our goals?

Don't talk sense, mate. You should know better.

The goal they scored was a shocker, three different people could've cleared it (including Richards, who had a big part to play) but didn't.

I wasnt saying that i believe he on his own made us win. I meant it in the sense that if a player gets slated for a cock up which caused us to concede, should he not get praise/credit (or at least not slated) for making up for it by scoring the two goals that win us the game, whether they be free kicks or not.

(Not sure if that makes sense, but i know what i mean in my head :) )

I know, I was just having a laugh at Phil's expense. His problem is that he has no objectivity and this comes out in his match report.

As I say, you're talking sense, but to Phil, that is wasted.

[longdogs]

Following Tuesday's game I made the point that of the two Cenre Halves, Lancashire had to start today in preference to Smith, however, I doubted that our manager would make that decision. First thing to say is well done for at last getting the selection right today and our win was in no small way due to the performances of Butler and Lancashire who missed very little all afternoon and we did look a lot better organised than in previous weeks, supported by Westlake who is improving each week, and Lescott who had a steady game.
In midfield again we lack quality, not disputing the energy level displayed by Taundry but this will only get us so far and a midfield two of Taundry and Marshall does not fill me with great confidence for the remainder of the season. We got away with it today and I hope they prove me wrong, but they do not have the quality to impose themselves on games and we should be looking to improve in this area of the pitch if we want to dominate in games. In the wide areas Nicholls again frustrates, some good mixed in with some dross, for me Jones is a better option but difficult to argue when we have just won. Re Matt Richards, two quality goals and despite playing in a wider role still is influential in our style of play, as I have said previously he always looks to pass the ball and keep it simple, playing wider makes this more difficult as all his square passes have to be inside and unfortunately this limits us going forward down the left side, hopefully, with the return of McGivern on Tuesday he may give us more going forward with his overlapping runs.
Up front the partnership of Macken and Reid is probably the best we have at the moment and both worked hard for the cause without many chances, in the current situation they should be given a run together to establish a partnership.
Just nice to come home with three points and hope that we may have turned some kind of corner.

Excellent summing up. That's how I see it too. Only thing I'd add is that Dickinson and Grigg coming on late on both caused Carlisle problems.

Season ticket holders bringing a mate for a fiver.

Lots of cheap tickets to schools for this one too. Praise the lord for the fact that, for once, they saw a good game. Maybe they'll come back.

[Cully]

Sorry about the delay I've just been analysing my notes.

Matt Richards performance - over 94 mins

Successful passes forward - 12 inc 3 leading to a chance on goal [Reid twice once in 1st half and 2nd within 30 seconds of start of second half]
Successful passes sideways or backwards - 9
Unsuccessful passes - 7 [2 very poor!]
I haven't included minor involvements ie short passes between own players, throw ins, receiving and giving the ball back over a couple of yards etc

Shots on target - 3 [2 goals and 1 blocked start of 2nd half after he had put Reid through]
Shots blocked - 1 [outside area, not sure of direction :roll: ]
* Shots off target -1 [1st half about 40mins that went just wide of the goal]

Tackles including blocking player and winning the ball - 3
Unsuccessful tackles [attempting to win the ball or being outpaced] - 9

Beating players with the ball - 9 occasions
Losing ball whilst trying to beat players - 3 occasions

Headers won - 2
Beaten to the ball in the air - 9

Clearances in own area - 3 inc 1 which rebounded back to a Carlisle player which I think led to their goal?

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Sorry about the delay I've just been analysing my notes.

Matt Richards performance - over 94 mins

Successful passes forward - 12 inc 3 leading to a chance on goal [Reid twice once in 1st half and 2nd within 30 seconds of start of second half]
Successful passes sideways or backwards - 9
Unsuccessful passes - 7 [2 very poor!]
I haven't included minor involvements ie short passes between own players, throw ins, receiving and giving the ball back over a couple of yards etc

Shots on target - 3 [2 goals and 1 blocked start of 2nd half after he had put Reid through]
Shots blocked - 1 [outside area, not sure of direction :roll: ]

Tackles including blocking player and winning the ball - 3
Unsuccessful tackles [attempting to win the ball or being outpaced] - 9

Beating players with the ball - 9 occasions
Losing ball whilst trying to beat players - 3 occasions

Headers won - 2
Beaten to the ball in the air - 9

Clearances in own area - 3 inc 1 which rebounded back to a Carlisle player which I think led to their goal?

That sounds about right, seal-culler. He was definitely involved with their goal with an unsuccessful clearance.

[Cully]

Firstly, honour your original bet

Secondly, take my new bet then

Thirdly, go get a life, loser.

I wouldn't bother wasting your time ken, he's obviously doesn't want to put his money where his mouth is. Probably a very successful business man away from this board, I'd guess at a second hand car salesman or perhaps a football commentator like Paul Franks or maybe a top manager like Chris Hutchings. His judgement on football matters is beyond question which is probably why he thinks that Mark Wright is not playing league football 3 1/2 years after he left Walsall.

An honest person would honour a bet, how about it Phil or are you the loser?

[longdogs]

Celebrations after Richards' first. What the hell's going on on the left side of the pic - Reid seems to be strangling Marshall!! :lol:

[Cully]

Celebrations after Marshall's first. What the hell's going on on the left side of the pic - Reid seems to be strangling Marshall!! :lol:

Don't wish to be picky but it was Matt Richards who scored :wink:

[matt-thesaddler]

After Marshalls first?

[longdogs]

Celebrations after Marshall's first. What the hell's going on on the left side of the pic - Reid seems to be strangling Marshall!! :lol:

Don't wish to be picky but it was Matt Richards who scored :wink:

Indeed, apologies. Multi-tasking issue!

[WFC_Rob]

Saw today's game in the same way as Lone Striker - much more solid than we've been so far this season, but still room for improvement.

Firstly, I was delighted to see Lancashire and Butler at centre half before the game even started. For whatever reason, Smith has been poor so far this season & persisting with him at the heart of our defence was doing us more harm than good. What Lancashire and Butler give us is a pairing with a bit of nouse and intelligence. They'll look to pass the ball where possible, without compromising on winning a lot in the air. Butler was probably my man of the match today.
Futher to that point, two half decent centre halves made the fullbacks look better too. Westlake was very good again, and Lescott was better, if still iffy.

Moving onto the midfield, what impressed me was our pressing of the opposition player on the ball. Marshall and Taundry were good at closing their opposition down today, which meant that we were forcing mistakes rather than just allowing them to cut through us (as even Fleetwood managed to do).
Whilst bith might suit this approach, they both have a limited range of passing and for all Taundry's heart and passion, his first touch too often means that his second touch has to be a desperate tackle. It's like some sort of 'two steps forward, one step back' approach. Marshall was excellent for the first half of the second half, but quiet for the rest. I'm not having a go at them by any means, but fear that there will be a fair few midfields who'll just pick them off at will in future matches. Nicholls compunds this problem too - not too bad in the right areas, and seems to have improved his crossing to be fair to him, but basic control lets him down a lot.
Richards was excellent, despite being in an isolated wide position. Any through balls to our strikers' feet came from him and he even managed two cracking goals.

I thought the front two looked like a proper partnership and linked up fairly well. Macken didn't look match fit, so did well considering, and Reid's pace just gave them something else to think about. Today was the perfect example of how pace can be a threat in the final third - I thought their big centre half looked scared stiff when facing his own goal, as Reid was constantly on his case.

A big pat on the back from me to both the team and the manager to a certan extent today. I'm not going to claim we've turned a corner, but we at least looked like a League One side today. Who knows whether Carlisle were bad, or whether we were particularly good - all I'm bothered about is the three points come 5pm on a Saturday.

[Cully]

After Marshalls first?

First what? First time he broke the 2mph barrier?

Re. Marshall 1st half performance:- gave the ball away more times than he won it and was the usual ineffective midfielder we have witnessed this season however his game improved dramatically in the second half and appeared to win a few headers, find his own team mates including nicholls with one decent pass which led to a good chance. Actually burst into life for about 15 minutes in the 2nd half :shock: Certainly not the answer IMO.
Taundrey :- Absolute dross as usual but his 'high energy' [running around after the opposition after the ball has passed him by] appears to convince some that he is 'excellent' and deserved MOM because he 'got stuck in'.
Sadly, getting stuck in, looking at people in a funny way, making crude challenges, running into people and lacking any ability to pass the ball doesn't really help unless you have other basic football skills or talent for those technically minded. Not sure why he was made captain, he doesn't appear to be a leader or command the respect of the other players, I never see him trying to 'resolve' issues with the referee or attempt to try to organise and galvanise his own team. I have read a number of other posters comments about him on this board and would appear that apart from the 'advantage' of being a local lad he doesn't have much to offer in this division. Perhaps he might realise his own level next season in the 4th division or perhaps non league but certainly not any higher on the evidence so far.

He is the football equivalent of cannon fodder.

[matt-thesaddler]

After Marshalls first?

First what? First time he broke the 2mph barrier?

Commenting on Longdogs photo.

[andy22]

A hard-earned but deserved 3 points today. None of the 13 players used played badly although some were better than others! :D Carlisle's midfield looked quite slick at times (yes, I know, they were up against our midfield :) ) but, luckily for us, there was no end-product to their attacking play. Their goal even had an element of luck about it, being their first shot on goal, totally against the run of play (and one of only two on target from them in the first half). Full marks to our lads for not being downhearted by this setback and deservedly levelled before half-time and then took the decisive lead after the interval. This finally kick-started Carlisle out of their lethargy and we rode our luck on a couple of occasions but, for all their possession, they rarely threatened.

I couldn't make up my mind where I had seen their centre-back, Lubomir Michalik, before. It was either as an understudy for King Kong or as Lurch the butler in the Addams Family. What a donkey! He spent most of the game trying to pull Macken's shirt off and he had the turning circle of an oil tanker. Naturally, he won everything in the air but, on the ground, I've seen milk turn faster. We should have exploited this more. To think that he has 4 full caps for Slovakia (I'm not sure in what sport, though :D ).

Walker - did what he had to do - dealt sensibly with their aerial bombardment - nearly prevented their goal
Westlake - my MotM - calm and composed in a way that belied his teenage years
Lancashire - steady performance - won nearly everything in the air


Butler - a steadying influence at the heart of the defence
Lescott - still our weakest player but was never exploited by Carlisle - played sensibly within the limits of his ability
Nicholls - a much improved performance - put in some good crosses and was a constant threat
Marshall - quietly efficient but still does not impose himself on the game - "flitted in and out" of play
Taundry - an energetic captain's performance - not the headless chicken that so many people choose to call him
Richards - took both goals superbly but his general play left a bit to be desired - it doesn't help having Lescott behind him (MotM - joke!)
Macken - toiled industriously and was fouled frequently - kept their defence occupied but never really looked like scoring, himself
Reid - as Macken - his pace should have been used to exploit Michalik
Dickinson - brought on (late, of course!) to replace the tiring Macken - one great run to lay on a chance for Grigg
Grigg - also a late sub (for Reid) - might have scored in the dying minutes but he failed to connect with Dickinson's cross

After two consecutive wins, can we build on this - or will it be another false dawn?

Pretty much agree with you there Pedagogue except thought Macken was pretty Anonymous and Reid was excellent except tired towards the end and should have been sub'd earlier.

[windowman]

think macken and reid went off injured.jm was holding his groin,rr was telling the bench he needed to come off :?:

[King Crimson]

Macken was pretty Anonymous and Reid was excellent except tired towards the end and should have been sub'd earlier.

The problem with that is that with possible victory hanging by a knife-edge, CH would get so much stick if we threw the points away following substitutions. Whether they contributed to a change in our fortunes or not, there will always be people who would say "If only we'd kept Reid on, he'd have taken that chance" etc.

[Neil Ravenscroft]

phil dont you think the fact that richards as replaced gray that this could have something to do with us winning

Probably more to do with having two proper players in central midfield rather than carrying Richards.

Richards did absolutely nothing today apart from two set pieces, and I repeat, that is not enough to warrant being in a team.

Phil, you are beginning to sound absolutely ridiculous. Taundry gives the ball away countless times and should have got man of the match, Richards misplaces two or three, scores two superb goals and was useless?

Butler should have got MoM, by the way, he was magnificent - at both ends.

[Neil Ravenscroft]

Match reaction:

http://upthesaddlers.com/wp/archives/20 ... eaction-2/

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Must say that Richards should've cleared the ball. Instead, he hoiked it to their player.

Just watched the goals though and look who was following Grella. Be careful though, because while Grella is hunting in the box, this player is nearly out of shot.***

*** This does not excuse Richards' terrible clearance. I thought I'd pop it in for fair balance, which for some, is completely missing for Mr Richards.

[Neil Ravenscroft]

Must say that Richards should've cleared the ball. Instead, he hoiked it to their player.

Just watched the goals though and look who was following Grella. Be careful though, because while Grella is hunting in the box, this player is nearly out of shot.***

*** This does not excuse Richards' terrible clearance. I thought I'd pop it in for fair balance, which for some, is completely missing for Mr Richards.

Also in the interests of fairness, Richards was the only one to react when the ball dropped to Grella

[bleed_red_n_white]

Great win, superb performance by the absolutely useless Richard Taundry, and a decent game from Paul Marshall, who according to saddlerken is the worst player to wear a Walsall shirt.

Westlake and Butler had good solid games too.

Nicholls and Lancashire both deserve credit for digging deep and playing well.

Richards, despite his two excellent free kicks did absolutely nothing - he was the main reason why they scored, as the replays will show. He let his man stroll past him, his man then was left free to shoot, which was saved well, but ricocheted and the 2nd shot went in.

IMO Richard Taundry deserve MOM today, he was excellent, really got stuck in, whereas I think Richards only touched the ball 4 times in the 2nd half, and was quite frankly awful in the first, so to give him MOM is quite ridiculous. You cannot justify having a player in the side on the strength of scoring 3 or 4 freekicks per season, especially when he's responsible for conceding more goals than he scores. It also shows how weak a player Richards is that we now haven't lost a game when Richards has either been assisted by a 3rd central midfielder, or been pushed out to the left.

Reid disappointed me a bit, after scoring two the other night, you'd think he'd be buzzing and would be shooting at every oppurtunity, but he looked like he didnt want to shoot today, he really should have had a goal.

Carlisle looked a poor side for their league position.

Still a lot of work to save this season, and this win has probably bought Hutchings another 5 games.

What a ridiculious statement, I am by no means Richards biggest fan but to say he did nothing all games shows what a deluded fool you are, are you Hutchings in disguise.