Rochdale (H) League 1 Saturday 31/12/11.

[latviancheese]

Not the greatest result, but not the worst. If you had said 4 points from those 6 you would have been happy with it.

I doubt Rochdale will be too dissapointed either.

[chestersaddler]

If we are relegated at the end of the season, look no further than today. Did enough in the first half hour to have won comfortably but woeful in front of goal.

Rochdale must have got a kick up the backside at half time and we just didn't show up for the second half.

Desperate stuff.

[boringteacher]

Should have put them away in the first 30 minutes comfortably. We then spent the next hour hoofing the ball up to dwarves. Wasted chance today, not impressed.

[Darth Vader]

Nothing game really, should have been at least 1 up come the second half but it wasn't to be, Rochdale could have netted too so a draw was a fair result I thought. Drab game, never got going...one to forget...

Poor attendance also.

[BEIRLYND]

Second half very poor. Disappointed with Smith again today. Doesn't push the team to go for the win. Should have started with either Gnakpa or Bowerman to give the team a more attacking edge.

[SWS1]

Down to earth with a bump, predictably :( , but it could have been worse :) - down the toilet would have been worse. And we are in the middle (I hope :shock: ) of a remarkable undefeated-in-play run. Will we get any quality in in January, do you think? (Is the Pope a hobgoblin :?: Do bears defecate up the Eiffel Tower :?: :( )

[Sadsfan]

Absolutely garbage today, and for me it was down to the manager. Far too long this season I have watched the back four pump long balls to the front men completely bypassing the midfield. Now, this is not just the fault of the defence as the midfield has all the movement of a photograph. Peterlin can play the short pass well but doesn't find space to receive the ball off the back four and Chambers may as well not play as he always makes sure he is being marked so he does not have to have the ball. This is Smiths fault as he should have addressed this by now and made sure the team were playing the ball through the midfield using the Patterson as a creative outlet. To be over 20 games into the season and playing a style of football that is clearly not working leaves the blame at the door of the manager, its not Bonser that will make me a stayaway next season, but it will be the awful football played under Smith.

[Sound_out]

One word - RUBBISH!

Rather than play golf, I spent the afternoon creating price lists for 2012 which I can imagine was more enjoyable than watching that shite!

[Graydon48]

Absolutely garbage today, and for me it was down to the manager. Far too long this season I have watched the back four pump long balls to the front men completely bypassing the midfield. Now, this is not just the fault of the defence as the midfield has all the movement of a photograph. Peterlin can play the short pass well but doesn't find space to receive the ball off the back four and Chambers may as well not play as he always makes sure he is being marked so he does not have to have the ball. This is Smiths fault as he should have addressed this by now and made sure the team were playing the ball through the midfield using the Patterson as a creative outlet. To be over 20 games into the season and playing a style of football that is clearly not working leaves the blame at the door of the manager, its not Bonser that will make me a stayaway next season, but it will be the awful football played under Smith.

Agree. Also is it just me or does Paterson flatter to deceive? Nifty footwork and pace but how often does he put in a decent cross?
Half term report on Smith: poor; has addressed none of our problems and some of the worst performances I have ever seen from Walsall teams. The Dagenham replay was so bad if it had been your first ever football match I doubt whether you'd go to a game again.

[Registered Saddler]

Absolutely garbage today, and for me it was down to the manager. Far too long this season I have watched the back four pump long balls to the front men completely bypassing the midfield. Now, this is not just the fault of the defence as the midfield has all the movement of a photograph. Peterlin can play the short pass well but doesn't find space to receive the ball off the back four and Chambers may as well not play as he always makes sure he is being marked so he does not have to have the ball. This is Smiths fault as he should have addressed this by now and made sure the team were playing the ball through the midfield using the Patterson as a creative outlet. To be over 20 games into the season and playing a style of football that is clearly not working leaves the blame at the door of the manager, its not Bonser that will make me a stayaway next season, but it will be the awful football played under Smith.

This.

[tinned]

I thought for spells in the first half we passed it well and looked like a half decent side. Second half and another Smith master tactician talk and we're mentally still in the dressing rooms. As soon as Macken was taken off we lost all ability to hold the ball up top.

It's okay saying 4 points out of 6 was a good haul (it was) but after getting 3 on Monday we should be disappointed not to get all 6.

[Jolly Johnny]

I thought for spells in the first half we passed it well and looked like a half decent side. Second half and another Smith master tactician talk and we're mentally still in the dressing rooms. As soon as Macken was taken off we lost all ability to hold the ball up top.

It's okay saying 4 points out of 6 was a good haul (it was) but after getting 3 on Monday we should be disappointed not to get all 6.

Agree with all of that Dave!
Disappointing in the end. With Leyton Orient looking like they are going to beat Charlton, there is a clear bottom 7 at the moment, of which we are 1. Fortunately it is currently the top one of those 7. Hope it stays that way!

[Sadsfan]

Absolutely garbage today, and for me it was down to the manager. Far too long this season I have watched the back four pump long balls to the front men completely bypassing the midfield. Now, this is not just the fault of the defence as the midfield has all the movement of a photograph. Peterlin can play the short pass well but doesn't find space to receive the ball off the back four and Chambers may as well not play as he always makes sure he is being marked so he does not have to have the ball. This is Smiths fault as he should have addressed this by now and made sure the team were playing the ball through the midfield using the Patterson as a creative outlet. To be over 20 games into the season and playing a style of football that is clearly not working leaves the blame at the door of the manager, its not Bonser that will make me a stayaway next season, but it will be the awful football played under Smith.

This.

Not quite sure what that means!

[Welsh_Saddler]

I don't get to many matches (many more like today's and that number will decrease further!!) but here are my observations for what they're worth.

For the first ten minutes we were treated to a superb exhibition of head-tennis. It became obvious that Macken was the footballing "brain"; he could receive, control, and lay the ball off with accuracy. Paterson had a couple of early attempts from Macken lay-offs but they were both wide of the mark.

Rochdale exerted some pressure, and from a corner Walker made a good save (15 minutes). We then had a couple of corners taken by Taundry, and from one we had a header which smacked their crossbar (Nicholls?). After 30 minutes the Rochdale keeper had to be substituted - I didn't see what happened to him, but all of a sudden he was knelt down in his area calling for the ref. The sub keeper looked for all the world as though he'd been let out of school early (age-wise) but he went on to have a good game.

More corners from Rochdale's left-hand side - totally wasted. Paterson chased down a "lost cause" and thereby won a free kick near the corner flag. That led to a shot by Peterlin which went very close. As the half drew to a close I have to say that Rochdale looked the more likely to score. They were keeping it on the ground, and generally passing it accurately - they had men in space much more often than we did.

As the second half progressed we persisted in hoofing the ball long range out of defence, which generally led to its immediate return. Paterson did try an ambitious long shot which was well saved by the keeper. Rochdale then had a shot which clipped our crossbar, but I really couldn't see where a goal was coming from. Rochdale did get the ball in our net after 65 minutes, but it was so obviously offside. As we attacked down the left wing a Rochdale player went down just near the centre circle, and just as with their keeper I didn't see any contact made, and it was certainly nowhere near the play. Play stopped, of course.

Somebody (Smith?) played a superb ball through to Bowerman, who had come on for Macken. Bowerman's left foot shot brought a good save from the keeper. Gnakpa came on for Taundry, played one or two tricky party pieces but did very little else apart from give away a needless free kick in a dangerous position.

What else? Oh yes, Bowerman got himself booked chasing a ball that the keeper was coming for, very late on. Some contact must have been made, the keeper made the most of it and Bowerman received a yellow card. By that time Beevers had already been booked for shirt-pulling (the Rochdale player's sleeve!!).

My match notes conclude with the phrase "neither side deserved to win". Can I mention Taundry though...... much has been said on this board about his shortcomings, but he had a decent game today. He did play some wayward passes, but he also made some accurate ones, and he certainly puts a shift in (unlike one or two others).

My other specific mention is for Andy Butler - what a gem he is. All right, he does "hoof" the ball occasionally, but only when there is no alternative, when the situation is not calling for pretty football. He and Smith were both massive. I don't know who got the "man of the match" but I would choose Butler on today's performance.

All in all, a disappointing game. Rochdale were obviously trying to impress their caretaker-manager by showing their ability to play proper football, and I thought they always looked the more likely side to score. We CAN play like that, but too often we CHOOSE not to. That's down to Dean Smith.

[brackley]

"3 POINTS TOSSED AWAY"

Agree with much of Sadsfan's post...........

Having been encouraged by the opening 20-25 minutes I dared to be filled with optimism and in the back of my head 'I believed' ........ believed we would coast to a comfortable victory over probably the worst opposition I have personally seen this season. :roll:

As already commented, we had a few openings in the first half where we should have walked in atleast 2 goals to the good at half-time but as on so many previous ocassions we lacked the cutting edge to mak'em count and allowed them to regroup at half-time with honours even-stevens.......

I have to say, I didnt see the second half performance coming quite in the way it did.......as once again we managed to turn in to the perverbial Jekyl and Hyde side and to use an olde cliche .........it certainly ended up a game of two halves! ......The 2nd half being as poor as i have witnessed and so very disappointing considering their were 3 points for the taking, which were dangling right at the end of our very noses....... but some how we managed to turn them into forbidden fruit and almost did our damndest to self-capitulate and hand them all 3 on a plate :evil:

........For the very first time in 34 years, I took my seat in the upper tier after some confusion with the very attractive blonde at the ticket office who clearly had me flustered and struggling to explain where i actually wanted to sit..........anyhow, who cares it gave me a brief moment of festive cheer :D .........before she cast me aside and bellowed 'NEXT' through the glass window just as i was going to ask if she would like to pull my cracker :cry: :lol:

What is the purpose of my rambling I hear you ask...........well, very simply the panaramic view from the gods painted a very clear picture to me after witnessing the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half and I found myself imagining Deano's half-time team-talk, which went something like this;

"....right lads, a decent first half and desparately unlucky not to be sat here atleast 2-0 up. Theyve not caused us any real problems and when weve taken the game to them and moved the ball around we are creating chances and its only a mattter of time before we grab a deserved lead.........we cant afford to be complacent though and start the 2nd half sloppy and we need to focus from the whistle, lets be on top of our game from the off and lets get at'em.........its a difficult surface, lets not get caught by a sucker punch, midfield behind the ball - this is a must win game .......same again lads"

The reason this started to resinate in my head was that almost from the off we looked as if we had 8 defenders at times and we just conceded ground at will and the midfield were so far off of their man we started to make them look like world beaters as they found acres of space to play in .......... I'm sorry, Rochdale were complete sh*te and when we did manage to snuff out their powder puff advances; because we were so deep we had no option but to launch it up field and concede posession again and again and again and again .........Macken was fighting a losing battle as he was doing a bloody good impression of the lone-ranger with nicholls looking as if he had necked too much Xmas pud and was struggling to move....

Ive got to say the pitch looked like a cow-field............and yes it was the same for both sides but by the 2nd half Macken, Paterson and Nicholls seemed to get leggy fairly early doors as we just failed to make the impression that we did in the first period........

I have harped on about this on previous posts but Macken your days are numbered fella as your legs have gone and apart from a bit of huff and puff you offer very little else, particularly on heavy pitches........... why he does not stick Gnakpa as a target man who has a bit of pace, plenty of muscle and not afraid to run at players - I just do not know, it seems blindingly obvious to me and when he does bring him on he sticks him wide - we already know from previous outings he just dont cut it out wide :roll: ............ one redeeming feature was that Grigg wasnt on the bench :D

Got to say Taundry as remarked by one or two did put in a decent shift but against a very poor Rochdale side...

For me our 2nd half performance reflected a half-time team talk that perhaps rammed home a bit too much of not conceding...............to the point that psycologically every flamin player took the field thinking they were gonna be up against it rather than in the ascendancy. Our whole set-up in the 2nd half rang grave alarm bells to me and fear had clearly taken hold of the players.........rather like the sand-timer had been turned over and all of a sudden panic had set in with time running out and the fact we hadnt got our noses in front.

Winning breeds confidence for sure and we would have all liked to think that following last weeks performance our fortunes were about to take a turn for the better........ I have to say a packed bezza with a highly charged atmosphere as with last week versus sub-4,000 where you could here a pin drop dont help............ :(

Glad to see the back of 2011 - Happy New Year to all on UTS and hold on to your seats come May..........

BRACKLEY

[SaigonSaddler]

Absolutely garbage today, and for me it was down to the manager. Far too long this season I have watched the back four pump long balls to the front men completely bypassing the midfield. Now, this is not just the fault of the defence as the midfield has all the movement of a photograph. Peterlin can play the short pass well but doesn't find space to receive the ball off the back four and Chambers may as well not play as he always makes sure he is being marked so he does not have to have the ball. This is Smiths fault as he should have addressed this by now and made sure the team were playing the ball through the midfield using the Patterson as a creative outlet. To be over 20 games into the season and playing a style of football that is clearly not working leaves the blame at the door of the manager, its not Bonser that will make me a stayaway next season, but it will be the awful football played under Smith.

This.

Not quite sure what that means!

That.

[Cheesebag]

oh.... for a Matt Richards in the middle.

[brackley]

oh.... for a Matt Richards in the middle.

Totally agree mate............. whilst not a bad player, Chambers just struggles to lead the midfield and stamp his authority on it and for a bloke with his supposed experience he should be able to sort out what was happening in the 2nd half - for me he just aint a leader on the pitch!

[Duke]

We would have taken 4 points from the last 2 fixtures before both games kicked off .
Although disappointing we struggled against a team below us in the table .

[brackley]

We would have taken 4 points from the last 2 fixtures before both games kicked off .
Although disappointing we struggled against a team below us in the table .

Very true..........although I'm sure that very few would have predicted the way in which we secured the 4 points in the end, which is what makes this all the more frustrating..........we all know you should never look a gift-horse in the mouth and one presented itself yesterday without any question.

Yesterday was embarrassingly poor in the 2nd half when we should have brushed them aside - they were poo :evil:

[Ancient Moaner]

We would have taken 4 points from the last 2 fixtures before both games kicked off .
Although disappointing we struggled against a team below us in the table .

Very true..........although I'm sure that very few would have predicted the way in which we secured the 4 points in the end, which is what makes this all the more frustrating..........we all know you should never look a gift-horse in the mouth and one presented itself yesterday without any question.

Yesterday was embarrassingly poor in the 2nd half when we should have brushed them aside - they were poo :evil:

And, to make matters even worse, we will be brushed aside by Bury on Monday, as I have said before, we are an 'easy peasy'
three pointer to anyone in this Division, always on the back foot waiting for the inevitable goals to hit the back of the net.
This is a 'mindset' problem, and the 'ginger one' does not seem to be able to dispel thier belief that they are 'there for the taking' :(

[Codsall Saddler]

First home game since Bury and little has changed with the main problem being the lack of presence and craft in the central midfield. Peterlin is willing but limited and Chambers is a huge disappointment as he neither defends well nor creates anything. The E&S reports that we are looking at strikers, but midfield has to be the priority. Up front, Macken has to fight off scraps rather than being able to link play and Nicholls simply has no footballing brain. He does not anticipate or create anything, merely reacts, usually too late, to what is going on around him.

Positives were the back four, with Beevers being transformed into a decent right back, and Taundry. Paterson was good in the first half but faded in the second.

That said, we should have won comfortably as Dale were especially poor. I suspect we'll meet them again next season but in a different division.

[chestersaddler]

We would have taken 4 points from the last 2 fixtures before both games kicked off .
Although disappointing we struggled against a team below us in the table .

Very true..........although I'm sure that very few would have predicted the way in which we secured the 4 points in the end, which is what makes this all the more frustrating..........we all know you should never look a gift-horse in the mouth and one presented itself yesterday without any question.

Yesterday was embarrassingly poor in the 2nd half when we should have brushed them aside - they were poo :evil:

And, to make matters even worse, we will be brushed aside by Bury on Monday, as I have said before, we are an 'easy peasy'
three pointer to anyone in this Division, always on the back foot waiting for the inevitable goals to hit the back of the net.
This is a 'mindset' problem, and the 'ginger one' does not seem to be able to dispel thier belief that they are 'there for the taking' :(

The last time that we lost in 90 minutes was 11 games ago, incidentally against Bury. We are not at all easy to beat, rather, easy not to lose to, I would contend.

[Darth Vader]

"3 POINTS TOSSED AWAY"

Agree with much of Sadsfan's post...........

Having been encouraged by the opening 20-25 minutes I dared to be filled with optimism and in the back of my head 'I believed' ........ believed we would coast to a comfortable victory over probably the worst opposition I have personally seen this season. :roll:

As already commented, we had a few openings in the first half where we should have walked in atleast 2 goals to the good at half-time but as on so many previous ocassions we lacked the cutting edge to mak'em count and allowed them to regroup at half-time with honours even-stevens.......

I have to say, I didnt see the second half performance coming quite in the way it did.......as once again we managed to turn in to the perverbial Jekyl and Hyde side and to use an olde cliche .........it certainly ended up a game of two halves! ......The 2nd half being as poor as i have witnessed and so very disappointing considering their were 3 points for the taking, which were dangling right at the end of our very noses....... but some how we managed to turn them into forbidden fruit and almost did our damndest to self-capitulate and hand them all 3 on a plate :evil:

........For the very first time in 34 years, I took my seat in the upper tier after some confusion with the very attractive blonde at the ticket office who clearly had me flustered and struggling to explain where i actually wanted to sit..........anyhow, who cares it gave me a brief moment of festive cheer :D .........before she cast me aside and bellowed 'NEXT' through the glass window just as i was going to ask if she would like to pull my cracker :cry: :lol:

What is the purpose of my rambling I hear you ask...........well, very simply the panaramic view from the gods painted a very clear picture to me after witnessing the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half and I found myself imagining Deano's half-time team-talk, which went something like this;

"....right lads, a decent first half and desparately unlucky not to be sat here atleast 2-0 up. Theyve not caused us any real problems and when weve taken the game to them and moved the ball around we are creating chances and its only a mattter of time before we grab a deserved lead.........we cant afford to be complacent though and start the 2nd half sloppy and we need to focus from the whistle, lets be on top of our game from the off and lets get at'em.........its a difficult surface, lets not get caught by a sucker punch, midfield behind the ball - this is a must win game .......same again lads"

The reason this started to resinate in my head was that almost from the off we looked as if we had 8 defenders at times and we just conceded ground at will and the midfield were so far off of their man we started to make them look like world beaters as they found acres of space to play in .......... I'm sorry, Rochdale were complete sh*te and when we did manage to snuff out their powder puff advances; because we were so deep we had no option but to launch it up field and concede posession again and again and again and again .........Macken was fighting a losing battle as he was doing a bloody good impression of the lone-ranger with nicholls looking as if he had necked too much Xmas pud and was struggling to move....

Ive got to say the pitch looked like a cow-field............and yes it was the same for both sides but by the 2nd half Macken, Paterson and Nicholls seemed to get leggy fairly early doors as we just failed to make the impression that we did in the first period........

I have harped on about this on previous posts but Macken your days are numbered fella as your legs have gone and apart from a bit of huff and puff you offer very little else, particularly on heavy pitches........... why he does not stick Gnakpa as a target man who has a bit of pace, plenty of muscle and not afraid to run at players - I just do not know, it seems blindingly obvious to me and when he does bring him on he sticks him wide - we already know from previous outings he just dont cut it out wide :roll: ............ one redeeming feature was that Grigg wasnt on the bench :D

Got to say Taundry as remarked by one or two did put in a decent shift but against a very poor Rochdale side...

For me our 2nd half performance reflected a half-time team talk that perhaps rammed home a bit too much of not conceding...............to the point that psycologically every flamin player took the field thinking they were gonna be up against it rather than in the ascendancy. Our whole set-up in the 2nd half rang grave alarm bells to me and fear had clearly taken hold of the players.........rather like the sand-timer had been turned over and all of a sudden panic had set in with time running out and the fact we hadnt got our noses in front.

Winning breeds confidence for sure and we would have all liked to think that following last weeks performance our fortunes were about to take a turn for the better........ I have to say a packed bezza with a highly charged atmosphere as with last week versus sub-4,000 where you could here a pin drop dont help............ :(

Glad to see the back of 2011 - Happy New Year to all on UTS and hold on to your seats come May..........

BRACKLEY

:lol: I love your reports Brackley.

[Registered Saddler]

Absolutely garbage today, and for me it was down to the manager. Far too long this season I have watched the back four pump long balls to the front men completely bypassing the midfield. Now, this is not just the fault of the defence as the midfield has all the movement of a photograph. Peterlin can play the short pass well but doesn't find space to receive the ball off the back four and Chambers may as well not play as he always makes sure he is being marked so he does not have to have the ball. This is Smiths fault as he should have addressed this by now and made sure the team were playing the ball through the midfield using the Patterson as a creative outlet. To be over 20 games into the season and playing a style of football that is clearly not working leaves the blame at the door of the manager, its not Bonser that will make me a stayaway next season, but it will be the awful football played under Smith.

This.

Not quite sure what that means!

It means that there was no point me posting any more than that one word because I'd just be repeating what you said to the letter! I am in total agreement.

It worries me that fans can see quite obvious tactical mistakes and Smith seems to laud them as a virtue. It worries me that the players and Smith go on about our 'unbeaten run' when all it means is that we've failed to beat utter garbage like Exeter, Rochdale, Dagenham and Chesterfield.

[We-ARE-Walsall]

Absolutely garbage today, and for me it was down to the manager. Far too long this season I have watched the back four pump long balls to the front men completely bypassing the midfield. Now, this is not just the fault of the defence as the midfield has all the movement of a photograph. Peterlin can play the short pass well but doesn't find space to receive the ball off the back four and Chambers may as well not play as he always makes sure he is being marked so he does not have to have the ball. This is Smiths fault as he should have addressed this by now and made sure the team were playing the ball through the midfield using the Patterson as a creative outlet. To be over 20 games into the season and playing a style of football that is clearly not working leaves the blame at the door of the manager, its not Bonser that will make me a stayaway next season, but it will be the awful football played under Smith.

This.

Not quite sure what that means!

It means that there was no point me posting any more than that one word because I'd just be repeating what you said to the letter! I am in total agreement.

It worries me that fans can see quite obvious tactical mistakes and Smith seems to laud them as a virtue. It worries me that the players and Smith go on about our 'unbeaten run' when all it means is that we've failed to beat utter garbage like Exeter, Rochdale, Dagenham and Chesterfield.

Seeing as they seem to count Dagenham as a draw as it was a draw after 90 mins, so the Exeter win counts the same, we have won 1 game in 14, if he wants to talk about a run of form.

[Exile]

Match summary on the front page.

http://upthesaddlers.com/wp/archives/20 ... -rochdale/

Hard to beat? Hard to watch, by the sound of it, SDan.

[latviancheese]

We are generally dross, im convinced the draws will keep us up though.....

Im also convinced there is a bunch of 7-8 teams who will be scrapping, and we arent in the bottom four of those. If we can keep up the solid back four.

UTS.

[Exile]

Not even two pages on UTS? Now there's a rubbish match...

Disappointing draw from my point of view. Thought the last match would give us some belief... If we can nail the top sides, why can't we do it against the bottom?

[chestersaddler]

Absolutely garbage today, and for me it was down to the manager. Far too long this season I have watched the back four pump long balls to the front men completely bypassing the midfield. Now, this is not just the fault of the defence as the midfield has all the movement of a photograph. Peterlin can play the short pass well but doesn't find space to receive the ball off the back four and Chambers may as well not play as he always makes sure he is being marked so he does not have to have the ball. This is Smiths fault as he should have addressed this by now and made sure the team were playing the ball through the midfield using the Patterson as a creative outlet. To be over 20 games into the season and playing a style of football that is clearly not working leaves the blame at the door of the manager, its not Bonser that will make me a stayaway next season, but it will be the awful football played under Smith.

This.

Not quite sure what that means!

It means that there was no point me posting any more than that one word because I'd just be repeating what you said to the letter! I am in total agreement.

It worries me that fans can see quite obvious tactical mistakes and Smith seems to laud them as a virtue. It worries me that the players and Smith go on about our 'unbeaten run' when all it means is that we've failed to beat utter garbage like Exeter, Rochdale, Dagenham and Chesterfield.

Your ability to be selective with your FACTS is Sheffesque :D

Just for balance, I'll throw in Charlton, Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday.