Preston North End (A) League 1 Saturday 25/2/12.

[King Crimson]

poor lad.

His season is over.

Aston Villa's was in September. What's your point?


:mrgreen:

[SaigonSaddler]

poor lad.

His season is over.

Aston Villa's was in September. What's your point?


:mrgreen:

Villa are used to it though.... :D

[traymondo]

I know Preston are only a small club with limited resources, and hate to highlight the negatives today...but...
30 shots on goal and not a single one hitting the back of the net?? :x
Tends to indicate there is a problem with our strikeforce which (still) needs addressing if we're to build on this great run of form and maintain our Third Division status.
A bit like Wycombe appear to have done. Good job we played them last week.

There's always one :roll:

Ah c'mon, funk. It's not an acceptable strike rate.

[wednesburysaddler]

my first match home or away since the 2 xmas games so ill say it as i see it

couldnt believe it was the same walsall team as i saw against rochdale or any other match i attended before then.

they passed the ball well to feet along the ground were solid in defence and grof make crucial saves when he needed to.

flo looks like a breath of fresh air and really is skliiful on the ball and creates chances we werent earlier inseason.

17 quid in was reasonable good vocal away following with every fan getting behind team.

stand out performances from the whole team today and richard taundry gets mom for a faultless rightback display with a mention also of grigg and macken looking dangerous up front.

lovely to see football being played like it was from walsall today and preston looked god awful and im sure if it wasnt for their early season form theyd be down the bottom with us.

onwards and upwards now and hoping we can get the 3 points at orient which would put us in a better position with 2 home games to come where i think we could and should win 1 out of the 2 games.

[Ancient Moaner]

What a difference, this side is brimming with confidence...and ability at times. shame that flo's one on one against their goalie dribbled the wrong side of the bar. We were by far the better team, and, though they 'came at us' somewhat after the break, our defence stood magnificently solid. Grof is just getting better and better, Jeff will be rubbing his hands in glee when the offer comes in from a championship side, may well be our biggest ever transfer sale!
Flo is just UTTER class, he has, I have to say, made all the difference to the team. Just what we all called for, an attacking midfielder who can also bag goals. Butler was immense again, Taundry, Lancashire & Hurst were superb and made Preston look a very average team, two points lost yes (as the guy said to me after the match) but what a positive performance..
it makes watching the team sooo much more bearable. Taunds has deffo found his niche, please Deano, dow spoil it!
I have changed my mind now, relegation no longer a certainty, if we get relegated it will be because of a series of unfortunate results elsewhere, and not, any longer, due to the fact that we are tat.

UTS come on me babbies, we can do it! :D :D :D :D

[Sadders]

Good performance. The better side, with the better chances and the better football. Flo, Butler, Taundry, Macken & Hurst excellent. If only Patersons chance had clipped the under side of the bar instead of the top. Cracking volley from Beevers at the end and a missed one on one from Flo all in the second half says we should have won.


Just a mention to the PNE chap who needed 11 minutes of treatment. A broken leg in 3 places and a dislocated ankle. A career ending injury in potential. Wish him well.

[Duke]

Another very pleasing result , well done keep it going lads .

UTS :D

[Worsul]

Great performance today! Loved the way we passed the ball around. I don't know why we can't play like that every week.

Special mentions for Grof, Taundry and Cuvelier.

Relegation will soon be a distant memory.

[Darth Vader]

Quietest match thread, ever. :D

[priestley_saddler]

Thoroughly enjoyable match which both teams will feel they could and should have won. A neutral would probably say a draw was fair. I'm not sure if it was genuinely entertaining for a 0-0, or whether it just felt that way cus I'm so used to watching us play cack.

There guys injury looked innocous, and he was off the pitch I'm surprised the game was stopped, but probably a good job it was considering the extent of the injury (dislocated ankle according to their website). No blame attributed to Taundry for the challenge. Wasn't a foul, and he wasn't booed by their fans for the duration of the match either.

We were very lucky not to concede a penalty not long after, Sadler giving there bloke a less than subtle barge in the back as he went for a header. You've seen them given. Then in the 56th minute of the first half Grof rescued us twice with two brilliant saves.

There's been mentions above of Flo's one on one that went wide, but I thought he was fouled by the last defender as he went through. He stayed on his feet and dragged the shot wide, if he went down Preston were playing the last 25 minutes with 10 men. Grigg should have done better with a chance, choosing to dangle his leg at it rather than throw himself at it. He always seems to scared of getting clattered for me, needs to toughen up.

Everything else has already been said above.

[dajw_my_son]

I've read the stats as 20 shots at goal, of which 10 were on target (definitely not 30). Pity we couldn't nick one, especially the Grigg effort mentioned above. Any touch would have put it wide of the keeper, but I don't think he got anything on it.

[belgiansaddler]

God I feel rough, but what a fantastic day :D

We totally outplayed them for large parts of the match, even their fans in pub after were amazed they got a point. They were shocking, though as others have said Grof made a couple of fantastic saves. On that performance they could well slide down into trouble.

One of the better performances from us I have seen this season with everyone playing a part, except Grigg in my opinion. He simply does not work hard enough or look like he wants it enough. A pathetic attempt at a back flick from 6 yards when he should have burried it summed it up for me. 2 points lost but not going to complain about 7 points from 9. And if we carry on playing like that we will be fine.

Fantastic support as well. All in all the sort of away day that makes being a Saddler worthwhile.

[We-ARE-Walsall]

God I feel rough, but what a fantastic day :D

We totally outplayed them for large parts of the match, even their fans in pub after were amazed they got a point. They were shocking, though as others have said Grof made a couple of fantastic saves. On that performance they could well slide down into trouble.

One of the better performances from us I have seen this season with everyone playing a part, except Grigg in my opinion. He simply does not work hard enough or look like he wants it enough. A pathetic attempt at a back flick from 6 yards when he should have burried it summed it up for me. 2 points lost but not going to complain about 7 points from 9. And if we carry on playing like that we will be fine.

Fantastic support as well. All in all the sort of away day that makes being a Saddler worthwhile.

You wasn't that p****** , I never got a 3 am phone call ! :lol:

[belgiansaddler]

God I feel rough, but what a fantastic day :D

We totally outplayed them for large parts of the match, even their fans in pub after were amazed they got a point. They were shocking, though as others have said Grof made a couple of fantastic saves. On that performance they could well slide down into trouble.

One of the better performances from us I have seen this season with everyone playing a part, except Grigg in my opinion. He simply does not work hard enough or look like he wants it enough. A pathetic attempt at a back flick from 6 yards when he should have burried it summed it up for me. 2 points lost but not going to complain about 7 points from 9. And if we carry on playing like that we will be fine.

Fantastic support as well. All in all the sort of away day that makes being a Saddler worthwhile.

You wasn't that p****** , I never got a 3 am phone call ! :lol:

Only cos I couldn't find your number :D

[cumbria-saddler]

We should have won that! One of the best Walsall performances that i've seen for a long time! Probably since the Money season in league 1. We didnt play them off the park...but some of the stuff we were playing was great to watch, and most of it coming from Cuvelier. The defence was solid, midfield actually had a good game, Macken held the ball up well and picked some good passes, the only dissapointing player was Grigg, who just didnt move, and when he did he was slow and didnt go in the right direction.
Had loads of great chances... Paterson poked one wide in the first half when he should have done better, he also had a shot deflected onto the post that could have gone in, Lancashire could have done better from a corner, Cuveliers 1 on 1 i though had gone in, Griggs chance that someone else has mentioned, Beevers lob, ... and Bowerman was through to the edge of their area and was brought down, but not sure if it was a foul or not.
Also, can someone please teach Grigg and Nicholls the offside rule!

Grof - 2 or 3 outstanding saves, did nothing wrong.
Taundry - solid, did a few important tackles, distribution was good. Wasnt a foul on their player that was injured.
Lancashire - Solid.
Butler - Solid
Sadler - Did his job.
Paterson - looked lively again, but seemed to run sideways a lot instead of foward
Cuvelier - great player, hope he keeps it up for the rest of the season. My MOTM
Peterlin - quiet, but did nothing wrong, passed it well.
Hurst - had a good game
Macken - some neat passes, and held it up well at times
Grigg - lazy, and doesnt look at all confident. Drop him for the next game and start Bowerman. Must have been caught offside about 5 times.

Nicholls - slightly better than Grigg looked, but both kept being offside.
Bowerman - was faster, stronger and cleverer than Nicholls & Grigg.
Beevers - wasnt sure why we were bringing a defender on the way we were playing, but he nearly lobbed their keeper but he tipped it over!

All in all a great day out, would have taken a draw before the game. Fantastic support from a lot of Saddlers, loudest away game i've been at for ages. Hope their player recovers soon.

[latviancheese]

Saw the challenge on FL show, nothing with it, he won the ball. I suspect the poor lad got his foot planted somewhere while the rest of his body moved. You cant get much worse than his injuries.

I was shocked too see a midfielder running at a defence before Cuvelier missed :lol:

[brummie saddler]

to darth vader...

There was no conga, i remember someone talking about the idea but it didnt happen, support was fantastic.

had to get a bottled water halfway through the first half as i had ruined my vocal chords already, our support as ever was vocally fantastic.

[Ancient Moaner]

to darth vader...

There was no conga, i remember someone talking about the idea but it didnt happen, support was fantastic.

had to get a bottled water halfway through the first half as i had ruined my vocal chords already, our support as ever was vocally fantastic.

Agreed Brummie, even an elderly couple just below me were joining in! Havn't seen a figure for away fans yet, anyone know how many made the trip up the M6?

[Darth Vader]

to darth vader...

There was no conga, i remember someone talking about the idea but it didnt happen, support was fantastic.

had to get a bottled water halfway through the first half as i had ruined my vocal chords already, our support as ever was vocally fantastic.

Agreed Brummie, even an elderly couple just below me were joining in! Havn't seen a figure for away fans yet, anyone know how many made the trip up the M6?

No idea. Been trying to find out, nothing as of yet...

[ws3]

to darth vader...

There was no conga, i remember someone talking about the idea but it didnt happen, support was fantastic.

had to get a bottled water halfway through the first half as i had ruined my vocal chords already, our support as ever was vocally fantastic.

Agreed Brummie, even an elderly couple just below me were joining in! Havn't seen a figure for away fans yet, anyone know how many made the trip up the M6?

409 i think.

[leics_saddler]

Whilst I joshed about our glorious past earlier in the thread, 7 from 9 is a superb effort from a team in our position.
They know they can do it now and that will get us more and more points with any luck and the odd goal. :D

[Wyrley_saddler]

I thought it was a very good game and the second best performance i've seen this season, 2nd only to Sheff United away.

Cuvelier really is a class above and was my MOTM. Unlucky with the one-on-one and I hope he keeps his head up and not let it get to him. If I was Deano i'd be on the phone to Tony Pulis trying to arrange a season long loan for next season! He's exactly what we've been needing all season.

The defense was solid, Grof being the pick of the bunch after a couple of decent saves. Taundry looks much improved after reverting to his original position as a fullback.

Up top I thought Grigg and Macken did well. Grigg just looks to be lacking a bit of confidence so hopefully he can bag a goal soon.

Before the game I'd have taken a point, but after I was dissapointed. 2 points dropped, but if you'd have said just over a week a go that we'd have taken 7 points from the next 3 games I'd have laughed. Hopefully we've turned a corner.

As for the Barton injury, all the best to the lad. I think it was a fair challenge, which was reflected by the referee not giving a free kick, he was just unlucky in the way he landed. Hope he was a speedy recovery.

I guessed about 400 Saddlers were there on the day so 409 would seem about right.

[Asps]

to darth vader...

There was no conga, i remember someone talking about the idea but it didnt happen, support was fantastic.

had to get a bottled water halfway through the first half as i had ruined my vocal chords already, our support as ever was vocally fantastic.

Agreed Brummie, even an elderly couple just below me were joining in! Havn't seen a figure for away fans yet, anyone know how many made the trip up the M6?

Oi less of the elderly. Mrs Asps really enjoyed the game Saturday :wink: :mrgreen:

[Ancient Moaner]

to darth vader...

There was no conga, i remember someone talking about the idea but it didnt happen, support was fantastic.

had to get a bottled water halfway through the first half as i had ruined my vocal chords already, our support as ever was vocally fantastic.

Agreed Brummie, even an elderly couple just below me were joining in! Havn't seen a figure for away fans yet, anyone know how many made the trip up the M6?

Oi less of the elderly. Mrs Asps really enjoyed the game Saturday :wink: :mrgreen:

Anyroadup I've got a bloomin cheek talking about old 'uns..I'm 64 myself! But dow tell my five-a-side team, or they'll drop me!