Brentford (A) League 1 Saturday 14/1/12.

[geoffwhiting]

Sounded like Nicholls could have permed any one from three in the closing stages, and missed the bloody lot. Based on league positions, a point is a good result there today, but all these draws can easily send us down, and there's no sign of any real bite amongst the "strikers", if that's what they're supposed to be called (and earn their wages for).

Yeovil won against Tranmere, so I guess we're back in the bottom four thanks to utterly inept efforts in front of goal.

No, just got the table on Sky, and we're still 5th from bottom, but now only on goal difference. Still a major disappointment that we're getting plenty of chances and chucking them all away.

[Darth Vader]

We desperately need a finisher, chances were created today, and fluffed.

[Casual D]

Congrats to a certain Mr. Walker on a clean sheet tho..... :D

[belgiansaddler]

Congrats to a certain Mr. Walker on a clean sheet tho..... :D

Well said.

[boringteacher]

well done lads, pity we couldnt nick the winner but we never win at Brentford.

Apart from last season

But was that under Hutchings? I prefer not to think of those as real walsall games :evil:

and congrats to wakka

[fatboyslim]

Nicholls finishing is probably his worst attribute. Should have put Grigg on instead of Jarvis. He will be hungry to prove himself after not playing in last 5-6 games!!

[WFC_Rob]

Really pleased for Jimmy - from a personal point of view, celebrating his 530th appearance with a clean sheet is what he would have hoped for. It's just a shame we don't have the quality in the final third to win games like this. If we'd even turned a quarter of our draws so far into wins, we'd be comfortably clear of the drop zone.

The 'Nicholls played really well' comments which are sure to follow from those who went to today's game don't wash any more. His finishing is persistently atrocious.
That said, glad to see our best back five back together and doing what they do best - pity their counterparts at the opposite end are letting them down.

[Darth Vader]

Nicholls finishing is probably his worst attribute. Should have put Grigg on instead of Jarvis. He will be hungry to prove himself after not playing in last 5-6 games!!

Bowerman should be ahead of both, but he isn't. :?

[Registered Saddler]

Intensely frustrating that our last four clean sheets have come in 0-0s. If we knew how to keep a clean sheet when we are in front then we'd be a much better side.

[Darth Vader]

Bees' views - http://www.griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=96815&page=1

[Darth Vader]

243 Walsall by the way.

[WFC_Rob]

Bees' views - http://www.griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=96815&page=1

So it seems even when your front two is Alexander and Donaldson, you still need to sign a striker.

And they think they've got problems...

[latviancheese]

Bees' views - http://www.griffinpark.org/forums/showthread.php?t=96815&page=1

So it seems even when your front two is Alexander and Donaldson, you still need to sign a striker.

And they think they've got problems...

CLUELESS!!!

It also proves no matter how much you pay for em, they can still be a heap of steaming.

[Addis Saddler]

It was Jimmy's day today, and rightly so (great to see the team wearing Wacka 530 T-shirts when warming up and to see JW chatting to the fans at the end) but it was Andy Butler's 90 minutes. A superb defensive performance, throwing himself in the way of any player or shot that looked dangerous. Praise to Manny Smith too - they are an impressive pairing at the moment. In fact the whole back 4 look solid.
Good first half performance and we should have been ahead at the break. Brentford were pretty disappointing for a side who have been challenging for the play-offs, it must be said. But, and this is the story of our season, we created very little. Best chance fell to Macken just before h/t, a good save from their keeper (his first appearance of the season I think) but from 6 yards out he should have scored.
Bees came into it more after the break - after we had had a promising 10 minutes though - and had a spell of pressure which resulted in a succession of corners. That was the only time we looked a bit rocky but they didn't capitalise and we finished the game pretty strongly. As has been noticed, Nicholls was played in down the left and rather snatched at his shot, which skimmed past the right hand post.
Before the game I'd have taken a draw, but we need to find a few wins and soon. I don't think we are currently playing like a relegation side. Apart from the back four, Paterson looked sharp (and when he learns the art of distribution will be some player) and Taundry seems to have found an extra gear recently. Chambers didn't contribute much in my opinion. I'd take a point at Carlisle too and in normal circumstances these away draws would be fine, but our inability to win at home is keeping us down with the strugglers.
A Brentford fan on the train thought I was a home fan. "That was a waste of 90 minutes" he said. I don't think it was from our point of view, plenty of promising signs to take away. And as has been said, so fitting that Jimmy didn't concede today.

[Chapin]

Have to agree with Addis it was Wacka's day. From the T shirts (expect to see them on ebay or replicas in the club shop on Monday) to the end with Jim chatting and having his photo taken with the fans.
As to the game best forgotten. We actually did ok as a team, doubling up even tripling up at times and put in some great blocks. Brentford ensured little or no football would be played. Pitch was awful, pretty hard and sandy but cut up a bit and the ball bobbled all over the place.
As most of the Brentford team were 6ft 9 they played a lot of hoof ball which Butler in the main kept heading away. When he didn't Manny did. Defensively we looked good Wacka only having 2 saves to make. Brentford though in reality only threatened from long throws and corners.
Midfield did a reasonable defensive job but offered very little going forward. Not helped by the fact Macken struggled to hold the ball up. Nicholls worked hard enough and set up Macken superbly in the first half but the main input from a striker should be putting the ball in the net and the opportunities he had today he wasted.

What I find hard to believe is Brentford are up near the playoffs. They looked a poor outfit today and I don't think it was us dragging them down to our level. Would have taken a point this morning and pleased Jimmy kept a clean sheet. Chap I was talking to on the station platform mirrored your comments re Paterson. Was it you Addis?

[SWS1]

In truth, we are only a bit of luck/good finishing AND a desperate tendency to chuck games away in the last few minutes from....
being where Brentford are! We haven't had a lot of good luck this season (Wendy a notable exception) although I expect the usual (mostly true) comment about decent teams "making their own luck" etc.
Perhaps today's game illustrates how weak the division actually is apart from the top few teams (against whom we haven't done too badly so far).
Glass half full, er, empty, er, spilled or I'll have another or something.
:|

[walsallfcconnor]

both sides could of easily won , fantastic game and class performance by Jimmy :)

[Exile]

Match report on front page. Sorry about the lack of preview.

http://upthesaddlers.com/wp/archives/20 ... my-walker/

[priestley_saddler]

Enjoyable day all round. We didn't play badly and could have nicked it, but Brentford will probably argue the same.

The day was all about Wacka and was the only reason a good number of the 243 Saddlers (including me) made the trip. What we lacked in numbers we more than made up for in volume as Wacka's name was sang throughout, as well as the obvious good support for the team. We were also joined in the away end by Oliver Lancashire and George Bowerman, and hats off to Oli who during the first half gave us a rendition of "Going down the Wednesbury Road". Top fella, and hats off to him!!

He's going to have a huge fight to get back in the team though as Butler and Manny excelled yet again. If we do relegated at the end of this season (and I don't think for one second we will), then it wont because of these two. Dominated everything and Butler probably just edged Manny for MOTM. Brentford were restricted to just one clear cut chance when Donaldson went through one on one, only for Wacka to role back the years and smother it like he used too back in his first spell.

It may well have been different though had the referee been any good, and for once we benfitted massively from the officials ineptitude. Just before half time Donaldson threatened to be through again, only for Sadler to take him clean out when he was the last man. Not sure if it was in the area or not, but regardless of that, if a foul is given Sadler must walk. Thankfully, he gave nothing at all and we kept 11 men on the pitch.

Going forward we look well set up for playing on the break, and to be fair we actually look dangerous when we do, until we get to the final third. That said, we still managed to create enough chances to beat a very ordinary Brentford side. All the best ones fell to Nicholls in the second half, while in the first Macken forced a top save from their keeper low to his left in injury time. If we accept that for the main we are defensively sound with a solid back four and two defensively minded central midfielders, and that most of our attacking play is going to come from the wings, then we are a right winger and a striker short of being a decent League One side. Scoring goals is currently our only major problem and, while its a pretty big one, is fixable. There's been a lot of comments on here just recently about how a lot of our players aren't good enough for League One. Plainly though, the majority of them are.

On the Richard Money thread there's also been a lot of nonsense spoken about how winning League Two was the minimum requirement with the squad he had. While that is clearly ridiculous, there are a lot of similarities between this team and the one he inherited. Under the Merson era, we were again comfortable enough in this league until we sold Fryatt in January and released Jorge, and replaced them with Madds Timm, Scott Fitzgerald and Andrew Barrowman. No goals in that team, and as a result we nose dived and were relegated. Dicky came in, some goalscoring was added, and we won League Two and made a decent fist of League One the season after.

I've gone off on a bit of a tangent there, but it does show how close we are. Brentford are 8th, 4 points off the playoffs, and are very ordinary. I very much doubt though that their fans want Rosler sacked and believe most of their players aren't good enough for League One (maybe they do, I don't know). We are two players short of being in Brentfords position. Nicholls is finishing isn't great, but the fact he's still the best striker we have speaks volumes. Solve this problem, and I believe Deano will even if only temporarily for some stage between now and the end of the season, and points tally will start to go up by more than one at a time.

[Willenhall Saddler]

Where is Bowerman again? One goalscoring threat in the entire squad and he dosn't make the bench, or am I missing somat? :?

Bowerman was in the stand with us along with Olly Lancashire.

[SWS1]

If we is allowed to go off at a bit of a tangent without getting our threads in a twist, how come Yeovil can get a player like Dean Parrett from Spurs?? :shock:
I hope DS has his fingers on the pulse (of loan players or good 'uns out of contract - not the Walsall strike force, which really does have a pulse if little else ... :lol: ). Cotterill ex Swansea would be magic. 8) But out of our league??? :(

[SWS1]

Where is Bowerman again? One goalscoring threat in the entire squad and he dosn't make the bench, or am I missing somat? :?

Bowerman was in the stand with us along with Olly Lancashire.

Why wasn't he playing? Injured?

[Willenhall Saddler]

Where is Bowerman again? One goalscoring threat in the entire squad and he dosn't make the bench, or am I missing somat? :?

Bowerman was in the stand with us along with Olly Lancashire.

Why wasn't he playing? Injured?

Not injured as far as i know.I think it's just Deano's wisdom that he's dropped him out the squad completely to make way for his pal Jarvis.

[WFC_Rob]

I've gone off on a bit of a tangent there, but it does show how close we are. Brentford are 8th, 4 points off the playoffs, and are very ordinary. I very much doubt though that their fans want Rosler sacked and believe most of their players aren't good enough for League One (maybe they do, I don't know). We are two players short of being in Brentfords position. Nicholls is finishing isn't great, but the fact he's still the best striker we have speaks volumes. Solve this problem, and I believe Deano will even if only temporarily for some stage between now and the end of the season, and points tally will start to go up by more than one at a time.

Agree completey - the reports of yesterday's game suggest that it's dead easy to identify our problem. Brentford's front two aren't world-beaters at this level but they will get you 20-25 goals between them, which bridges that gap between struggling near the bottom and challenging for the playoffs.

Just to pick up on your point regarding Richard Money, whilst he did add goals, Martin Butler and Hector Sam were hardly the sort we'd have had to fend off other sides for. They were just good enough to put 50+% of their chances away. Our front two at present aren't doing that, which is why we're struggling. For all the praise Nicholls gets for running his socks off etc etc, he misses just about every chance he gets. He was the one who wanted to be given a run of games up front, so he's also the one who should be judged on what he's adding to the team. At the moment, the end result is next to nothing.

What I currently fail to understand is why, despite the fact that everyone knows we're struggling to score goals, Smith hasn't at least tried something different up front. I really can't see why Bowerman isn't at least given a place on the bench but that aside, why not try Gnakpa up front? Something needs to change because drawing every game won't keep us up.

[Ancient Moaner]

Where is Bowerman again? One goalscoring threat in the entire squad and he dosn't make the bench, or am I missing somat? :?

Bowerman was in the stand with us along with Olly Lancashire.

Why wasn't he playing? Injured?

Not injured as far as i know.I think it's just Deano's wisdom that he's dropped him out the squad completely to make way for his pal Jarvis.

Agreed, I just think Deano dont rate him, he is the best (sorry, ONLY) striker of note in our squad, yet dosn't even make the bench warming spot...what worries me about that is..if Deano dow want him in the team he certainly aint lookin for a striker! VERY worrying when it is obvious to all of us (Except Deano of course) that our main problem, that sits us in a relegation dog fight, is, that we cant score goals..FACT (as Sheff would say)

Sorry WFC bob........ I was typing virtually the the same message as you when you submitted your post!! :)

[brackley]

It was Jimmy's day today, and rightly so (great to see the team wearing Wacka 530 T-shirts when warming up and to see JW chatting to the fans at the end) but it was Andy Butler's 90 minutes. A superb defensive performance, throwing himself in the way of any player or shot that looked dangerous. Praise to Manny Smith too - they are an impressive pairing at the moment. In fact the whole back 4 look solid.
Good first half performance and we should have been ahead at the break. Brentford were pretty disappointing for a side who have been challenging for the play-offs, it must be said. But, and this is the story of our season, we created very little. Best chance fell to Macken just before h/t, a good save from their keeper (his first appearance of the season I think) but from 6 yards out he should have scored.
Bees came into it more after the break - after we had had a promising 10 minutes though - and had a spell of pressure which resulted in a succession of corners. That was the only time we looked a bit rocky but they didn't capitalise and we finished the game pretty strongly. As has been noticed, Nicholls was played in down the left and rather snatched at his shot, which skimmed past the right hand post.
Before the game I'd have taken a draw, but we need to find a few wins and soon. I don't think we are currently playing like a relegation side. Apart from the back four, Paterson looked sharp (and when he learns the art of distribution will be some player) and Taundry seems to have found an extra gear recently. Chambers didn't contribute much in my opinion. I'd take a point at Carlisle too and in normal circumstances these away draws would be fine, but our inability to win at home is keeping us down with the strugglers.
A Brentford fan on the train thought I was a home fan. "That was a waste of 90 minutes" he said. I don't think it was from our point of view, plenty of promising signs to take away. And as has been said, so fitting that Jimmy didn't concede today.

Pretty much agree with this.

Me and me Dad travelled to see Wacka's monumentus achievement and great to see him keep a clean sheet particularly as we are also both fully paid up members to the goalkeepers union :wink:

I actually enjoyed the game for a 0-0............ whilst not the most entertaining match, there was plenty of end to end play and in the first half we shaded it having reduced them to one long-range effort that Wacka palmed away with ease. The only heart in mouth moment was when their fella played a defence spliiting pass through the middle and only the quick thinking of Sadler saw him deliver a perfectly timed last ditch lunge to nick it off his toe preventing us going a goal down. :D

Paterson was his usual industious self pulling out wide on their right and cutting inside his man and unleashing a couple of efforts that went wide of the target. Nicholls casued some panic just inside the 18 with a well driven effort that was blocked............ and then minutes later as the half was coming to a close he picked the ball up wide on their right, hugging the touchline and skinned their right-back for pace forcing his way into the box - he cut it back to the penalty spot for an unmarket Macken to stroke it with the inside of his left foot that saw it spin crisply towards the bottom corner of the net only for their keeper to somehow get across and palm it away :twisted:

The second half you would probably have to say they shaded on the balance of play and number of corners they forced. We again defended superbly with Butler just a different class...........Manny was solid and Beevers also played his part.

We did struggle with their long throw-ins that were delivered like an arrow into our box and caused a few uncomfortable moments along with their high-hanging crosses into the box that saw a bit of ping-pong in the six yard box as the loose ball dropped dangerously before we finally cleared it. ........ Wacka made a decent block in the second half and that just about summed the afternoon up.

As so many times before we just lack a cutting edge in the final third. Macken the good old war-horse that he is just cant do 90 minutes and he has no pace.........Nicholls put in a decent shift, scuffed a chance in the 2nd half with his wrong foot but we never really tested their keeper at all.

This game was for the taking but without an effective attacking option to create opportunities and ultimately put them away we are left floundering. A solid workmanlike performance should have put Gnakpa on earlier in my view rather than the last 15!

BRACKLEY

[brackley]

I agree with Priestley............I also think we are not far from getting a decent side put together. Defensively we are top drawer and as anyone knows any successful side is built from the back!

Unfortunately, thats where it ends........... Chambers is too small and knocked off the ball on so many ocassions - we need someone alongside him that can give the middle of the park a bit of steel. and up front we need to find a long-term solution and alternative to Macken...... a striker with pace and an eye for goal. For me Macken is a player that we should bringing on for the last 15 minutes of a game at his age not giving him the bulk of games from the start....

A couple of decent additions in these key positions and we will start moving up the table - no question!

[bangsection]

If Smith doesn't rate Bowerman highly enough then signing a decent finisher in the transfer window is crucial, not least because our relegation rivals are already addressing this.

Trotta (on loan from Fulham) has scored 8 in 8 for Wycombe, while Brett Ormerod (on loan from Blackpool) is a reasonably decent signing for Rochdale and scored yesterday. Of course, both Wycombe and Rochdale are leaking goals at an horrendous rate at the moment so scoring goals might not actually keep them up. As alluded to above, scoring more goals would almost certainly keep us up, however, which is why it's so important for Smith to get someone in and for Gamble to find a bit extra in the budget to help him do it, if possible.

No sniggering at the back, please.

[WFC_Rob]

and up front we need to find a long-term solution and alternative to Macken...... a striker with pace and an eye for goal. For me Macken is a player that we should bringing on for the last 15 minutes of a game at his age not giving him the bulk of games from the start....

Pace and an eye for goal would be great - but to suggest we need to keep Macken on the bench is madness. Key to being able to put pressure on teams is the ability to hold the ball in their half. To use a Premier League example, Spurs have been able to play so well this season because they have a focal point in Adebayor up front who holds the ball up and brings others into play. Like him or not, that's the job Macken does for us.

Our style of football means we absolutely have to have a focal point/target man like Macken. None of our other strikers have an impact with their back to goal. We've seen what happens when, without Macken, we partner Nicholls with the likes of Grigg or Paterson - we have absolutely zero impact in the opposition's half of the pitch.

[latviancheese]

If we is allowed to go off at a bit of a tangent without getting our threads in a twist, how come Yeovil can get a player like Dean Parrett from Spurs?? :shock:
I hope DS has his fingers on the pulse (of loan players or good 'uns out of contract - not the Walsall strike force, which really does have a pulse if little else ... :lol: ). Cotterill ex Swansea would be magic. 8) But out of our league??? :(

Because heaven forbid, they built up a link with Spurs.