Rochdale (H) League 1 Saturday 26/2/11.

[cumbria-saddler]

That was one of the most boring matches i've seen in a long time.

It wasnt the worst i've seen us play this season, we passed it around well at times, especially in the first half.

I think the thing was today, when we had the ball, we tried to do the passes that werent always the right ones to play. A lot of the time the ball got to the player it was meant to, but it didnt get the ball where we needed it to be. There were too many diagonal balls across the pitch, when there were shorter passes on to players in ok positions.

Walker - didnt have a lot to do, made one or two decent saves though.
Lescott - best game i've seen him play, much more solid than i've seen him.
Lancashire - Ok
Butler - good performance again, won just about every header. He did a great challange on one of their strikers who was through in the first 20 minutes, made sure he got the ball and went straight through the player :)
Williams - Looks Ok, did ok going foward too, and looks to have more pace than Lescott does. Linked up well with Gray at times
Nicholls - Quite poor, but there were a few moments in the first half when he got it and ran at their fullback
Taundry - Made a few good tackles, but apart from that, poor too. Gave the ball away a few times aswell.
Richards - Poor performance from him, gave the ball away like Taundry. Made a few good balls though.
Gray - Looked out best player going foward, but not at his best.
Price - Didnt win a header all afternoon, looked Ok when he had the ball at his feet at times, but apart from that, slow and cant head the ball.
Grigg - didnt do much, apart from miss a few good chances.

Paterson - looked Ok i thought, when he had the ball he looked more lively than Grigg and Nicholls did.
Byfield - When he gets match fit again, he will be like a new signing. Like Paterson, did more in his 20 minutes than Price and Grigg did all game
Marshall - Not a lot of time to do anything really.

One thing i noticed today, was that in the 5/6 games i think ive seen this season, i havent seen us loose yet, which considering our league position, is quite impressive.....or lucky. Anyone want to buy me a ticket for the rest of our games :mrgreen:

[DanWalsallFC]

In any other predicament a point against an in-form Rochdale would be good, but ideally we needed a win yesterday.
I can't help but notice that Dag & Red are in some good form too, hopefully that last minute winner for Bournemouth will dent confidence.
I think if we lose to Swindon we'll go down..

[latviancheese]

I think if we lose to Swindon we'll go down..

Ditto, unfortunately.

[boringteacher]

I think if we lose to Swindon we'll go down..

Ditto, unfortunately.

Concur - if Swindon stay up, we'll probably be down.

[ShropsSaddler]

Nicholls - Quite poor, but there were a few moments in the first half when he got it and ran at their fullback

Interesting you say that because that, more than anything, is what frustrates me about Nicholls. Time and time again he gets the ball out wide and not ONCE does he try and beat his man, take it to the byline and put a cross over. He has the pace, he can do it, but he just doesn't have the desire to do it.

[cumbria-saddler]

Nicholls - Quite poor, but there were a few moments in the first half when he got it and ran at their fullback

Interesting you say that because that, more than anything, is what frustrates me about Nicholls. Time and time again he gets the ball out wide and not ONCE does he try and beat his man, take it to the byline and put a cross over. He has the pace, he can do it, but he just doesn't have the desire to do it.

I found that when he did run at their fullback though, he would get to them, then take it inside and try to take it across the edge of the box more often than beating his man and crossing it though. But i know what you mean about him being frustrating.

[Bernie]

Interesting you say that because that, more than anything, is what frustrates me about Nicholls. Time and time again he gets the ball out wide and not ONCE does he try and beat his man, take it to the byline and put a cross over. He has the pace, he can do it, but he just doesn't have the desire to do it.

I am not a fan of Nicholls, but I wonder if any talent that Nicholls may have had at beating a man has been coached out of him during the five years he has been the first team squad. For some reason players who lose the ball through poor control or by a bad pass (e.g. most of the time that Price and Grigg ever see the ball they lose it), but if you try to beat a man and it does not come off you get blasted by the manager, whoever happens to be in charge.

I think Patterson could be a useful player, and that he could become very good at carrying the ball past defenders, but after his first lengthy appearance Smith told the press that he tried to do too much, blamed it on his inexperience, and no doubt told him not to try to dribble in future. How is a young player going to develop his skills and learn how to dribble in those circumstances?

[brummie saddler]

Interesting you say that because that, more than anything, is what frustrates me about Nicholls. Time and time again he gets the ball out wide and not ONCE does he try and beat his man, take it to the byline and put a cross over. He has the pace, he can do it, but he just doesn't have the desire to do it.

I am not a fan of Nicholls, but I wonder if any talent that Nicholls may have had at beating a man has been coached out of him during the five years he has been the first team squad. For some reason players who lose the ball through poor control or by a bad pass (e.g. most of the time that Price and Grigg ever see the ball they lose it), but if you try to beat a man and it does not come off you get blasted by the manager, whoever happens to be in charge.

I think Patterson could be a useful player, and that he could become very good at carrying the ball past defenders, but after his first lengthy appearance Smith told the press that he tried to do too much, blamed it on his inexperience, and no doubt told him not to try to dribble in future. How is a young player going to develop his skills and learn how to dribble in those circumstances?

i love his positivitey, i remember him coming off the bench for the first time and really going for the full back and sometimes doing himself in the process but that will be sorted out with good coahing and experience, he can be one for the furture, his crossing was ok hit them in with some pace, i think he will have the beating of many league 1 defenders when he matures and will be an asset

[Magic Man Fan]

Nicholls - Quite poor, but there were a few moments in the first half when he got it and ran at their fullback

Interesting you say that because that, more than anything, is what frustrates me about Nicholls. Time and time again he gets the ball out wide and not ONCE does he try and beat his man, take it to the byline and put a cross over. He has the pace, he can do it, but he just doesn't have the desire to do it.

It's frustrating. Nicholls knows he can't beat a man from a standing start with the ball at his feet, so doesn't try anymore.

However when in motion he has the pace and strength to burst past defenders. All he has to do is kick the ball into space and chase after it. I can't believe he, or more importantly our coaches and managers have never picked up on it.

There were at least half a dozen occasions on Saturday when a ball was played to him and all he had to do was take a quick first touch to knock it into space and run onto it. Instead he collected the ball, and then either ran into the defender or passed it backwards so the opportunity and space had gone.

[Fray Bentos is God!]

Not much I'd disagree with there, PT.

Think me and my lad followed you and yours up from the concourse at HT today. There was certainly the hint of a scouse accent, and in my lad's case more than a hint. Two scousers so close together? FBIG would have certainly deemed it a matter for the police (or pest control).

You should have chanced your arm and said hello.

Even FBIG admits that when it comes to social niceties, I'm an absolute delight. :)

I thought I could smell something funny. If you had another criminal lover with you, I'd have had you all executed for attempting a protest of an impromptu minute's silence or whatever gash you people come up with.

About the game - I think it's a point won, but very poorly won. A bit more zip about our play and I think we could've really got at them. Midfield apart from Gray was pretty dire.

[Magic Man Fan]

Not much I'd disagree with there, PT.

Think me and my lad followed you and yours up from the concourse at HT today. There was certainly the hint of a scouse accent, and in my lad's case more than a hint. Two scousers so close together? FBIG would have certainly deemed it a matter for the police (or pest control).

You should have chanced your arm and said hello.

Even FBIG admits that when it comes to social niceties, I'm an absolute delight. :)

I thought I could smell something funny. If you had another criminal lover with you, I'd have had you all executed for attempting a protest of an impromptu minute's silence or whatever gash you people come up with.

About the game - I think it's a point won, but very poorly won. A bit more zip about our play and I think we could've really got at them. Midfield apart from Gray was pretty dire.

And he had his worst game for weeks.

[bangsection]

There were at least half a dozen occasions on Saturday when a ball was played to him and all he had to do was take a quick first touch to knock it into space and run onto it. Instead he collected the ball, and then either ran into the defender or passed it backwards so the opportunity and space had gone.

Correctamundo. Contrast this with Gray who found himself in a similar position only once in the whole second half but beat his man and put in our only decent cross. So frustrating when Nicholls seemed to see so much more of the ball yet created almost nothing. When's Devaney coming back?

[ShropsSaddler]

I'm afraid that the reason this team is in the predicament it is (putting aside the manager!) is down to three faults to be found in too many of our players;

i) They lack a football brain and therefore are always a yard behind where they need to be - Nicholls and Taundry spring to mind in particular

ii) They lack the determination which would see them get that extra yard on the opposition - Nicholls again springs to mind!!

iii) They lack control of the football, which means they never get time on the ball - Taundry, Nicholls, Gray at times, Price, Grigg, Lescott are all perfect examples. And perhaps it's only when you see someone like Macken control it perfectly first time that you realise how bad the rest are!

Put those three together and you have a team that can look relatively pretty at times, but never quite get the end result.

That statistic about the last time we got a penalty seems to have been talked about this weekend. The simple reason we don't get penalties is that we hardly have a single player who has the brain, drive and determination to make a telling run into the box and coax a penalty out of a defender.

[Pedagogue]

I'm afraid that the reason this team is in the predicament it is (putting aside the manager!) is down to three faults to be found in too many of our players;

i) They lack a football brain and therefore are always a yard behind where they need to be - Nicholls and Taundry spring to mind in particular

ii) They lack the determination which would see them get that extra yard on the opposition - Nicholls again springs to mind!!

iii) They lack control of the football, which means they never get time on the ball - Taundry, Nicholls, Gray at times, Price, Grigg, Lescott are all perfect examples. And perhaps it's only when you see someone like Macken control it perfectly first time that you realise how bad the rest are!

Put those three together and you have a team that can look relatively pretty at times, but never quite get the end result.

That statistic about the last time we got a penalty seems to have been talked about this weekend. The simple reason we don't get penalties is that we hardly have a single player who has the brain, drive and determination to make a telling run into the box and coax a penalty out of a defender.

I agree with your post, SS, but not the emboldened bit. Did you watch the Dagenham match? Macken's first touch was bloody awful - almost as bad as that of Price, in fact. The majority of his lay-offs failed to reach a Walsall target, mainly due to his heavy first touch.

[Magic Man Fan]

I'm afraid that the reason this team is in the predicament it is (putting aside the manager!) is down to three faults to be found in too many of our players;

i) They lack a football brain and therefore are always a yard behind where they need to be - Nicholls and Taundry spring to mind in particular

ii) They lack the determination which would see them get that extra yard on the opposition - Nicholls again springs to mind!!

iii) They lack control of the football, which means they never get time on the ball - Taundry, Nicholls, Gray at times, Price, Grigg, Lescott are all perfect examples. And perhaps it's only when you see someone like Macken control it perfectly first time that you realise how bad the rest are!

Put those three together and you have a team that can look relatively pretty at times, but never quite get the end result.

That statistic about the last time we got a penalty seems to have been talked about this weekend. The simple reason we don't get penalties is that we hardly have a single player who has the brain, drive and determination to make a telling run into the box and coax a penalty out of a defender.

I agree with your post, SS, but not the emboldened bit. Did you watch the Dagenham match? Macken's first touch was bloody awful - almost as bad as that of Price, in fact. The majority of his lay-offs failed to reach a Walsall target, mainly due to his heavy first touch.

It only takes one decent lay-off/assist though, and Macken managed it. Generally his hold up play is ok, whereas Price has had one good game, his first, when he was trying to impress and win over fans.

[latviancheese]

Jason Price appears to be as agile as a bag of rubble. Watching him try to run makes my knees hurt.

Jon Macken is at least more agile than that.

[Jorge14]

Having seen the majority of our games since the new year, I'd say Macken has been our stand-out performer. He is our only attacking player who consistently makes the opposition defence have to think about their game. We saw on Saturday that other than one occasion - an occasion wasted by Nicholls' poor vision - the back four was never pulled out of position, never challenged, never made to do anything out of their comfort zone. Macken takes a centre-back with him every time he drops deep, I think he'd have taken their number four for a ride on Saturday; Nicholls exploited the space this creates against a very poor Bristol Rovers, dare I hope that Ledesma might exploit this against better organised outfits?